TravelStream™ news feed for member lavidanueva on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/lavidanueva en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:16:08 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/grand_canyon_ho/1194810780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/grand_canyon_ho/1194810780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/grand_canyon_ho/1194810780/tpod.html Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:16:08 -0500 I took a vacation from my civil rights work and toured Arizona and New Mexico and Colorado

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Cottonwood, Arizona, United States

    Here I am near Sedona, Az.  Now I know why the rich guys come here!  This is nothing short of Spectacular!  Wow!  The red rock formations are a gift from god to all mankind, not just to the rich and priveledged.  As I enjoyed this spectacular land my thought turned to the poor people of Tabasco and Chiapas in Mexico.  Many are fighting for their lives as I write this.  A terrible flood, the worst Disaster in Mexico's history says Felipe Calderone, has struck.  They are fighting the aftermath, food, water, diapers and basic human needs are not being met.I heard Eduardo Sotelo, El Piolin Por La Manana has been working hard raising funds for the relief.  I can't help but admire him for his work for the Mexican people.  Sure, he enjoys the ratings that come with such good deeds, but I am sure his efforts come from the heart, he seemed to be a sincere guy when I met him, though not partial to this gringo.I shared, along with my sadness for the people of Tabasco and Chiapas, a certain sadness for Eduardo.  From my point of view the poor guy is caught in the Hollywood work cycle, he can't leave his job to tour Arizona like I can.  What is all of that success and money for if you can't be happy or enjoy it?  I don't know if Eduardo enjoys all that he has but I would yearn for the freedom of adventure, to explore, to find those quiet places like the one Jon C. showed me, without all of the hollywood body guards and fan fare.  Each to his own.Eduardo, you too, are in my prayers and I knelt down and said one for you and for the terrible suffering in Mexico, and for the Mexican government which in my point of view has failed its people through corruption and greed, and for all people in the world who suffer in what ever way, through physical isolation and hunger, or from manufactured isolation that money can create.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/grand_canyon_ho/1194810840/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/grand_canyon_ho/1194810840/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/grand_canyon_ho/1194810840/tpod.html Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:03:00 -0500 I took a vacation from my civil rights work and toured Arizona and New Mexico and Colorado

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Cottonwood, Arizona, United States

    Here I am near Sedona, Az.  Now I know why the rich guys come here!  This is nothing short of Spectacular!  Wow!  The red rock formations are a gift from god to all mankind, not just to the rich and priveledged.  As I enjoyed this spectacular land my thought turned to the poor people of Tabasco and Chiapas in Mexico.  Many are fighting for their lives as I write this.  A terrible flood, the worst Disaster in Mexico's history says Felipe Calderone, has struck.  They are fighting the aftermath, food, water, diapers and basic human needs are not being met.I heard Eduardo Sotelo, El Piolin Por La Manana has been working hard raising funds for the relief.  I can't help but admire him for his work for the Mexican people.  Sure, he enjoys the ratings that come with such good deeds, but I am sure his efforts come from the heart, he seemed to be a sincere guy when I met him, though not partial to this gringo.I shared, along with my sadness for the people of Tabasco and Chiapas, a certain sadness for Eduardo.  From my point of view the poor guy is caught in the Hollywood work cycle, he can't leave his job to tour Arizona like I can.  What is all of that success and money for if you can't be happy or enjoy it?  I don't know if Eduardo enjoys all that he has but I would yearn for the freedom of adventure, to explore, to find those quiet places like the one Jon C. showed me, without all of the hollywood body guards and fan fare.  Each to his own.Eduardo, you too, are in my prayers and I knelt down and said one for you and for the terrible suffering in Mexico, and for the Mexican government which in my point of view has failed its people through corruption and greed, and for all people in the world who suffer in what ever way, through physical isolation and hunger, or from manufactured isolation that money can create.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/grand_canyon_ho/1194635700/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/grand_canyon_ho/1194635700/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/grand_canyon_ho/1194635700/tpod.html Tue, 13 Nov 2007 14:51:33 -0500 I took a vacation from my civil rights work and toured Arizona and New Mexico and Colorado

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Sedona, Arizona, United States

     The Grand Canyon was really something!  I thought it would be a bit blah blah as an adult.  It was just as spectacular at 50 as it was at 10!  The new worries for me were traffic, and I managed that with my 40 foot home in tow!   I spent the night in Cameron, Arizona.  This is a really little town set in the spectacular desert.  It is obvioulsy an indian town, part of the Navajo Nation.  I learned a long time ago, the ugly little houses on the outside which dotted the hillsides held wonderful families and a healthy lifestyle on the inside.  Early the next morning I awoke, went outside and found this cool dude fueling up his Greyhound bus converted to an RV.  Me, being constantly the skeptic, was second guessing my decision on the Prima Vista Cruiser and the very night before had been looking at some of the bus for sale ads.  I was surprised at how little it took to get into a bus, less than a Vogue Prima Vista.  So here was my chance to see a conversion first hand.  Enter Jon C. from Arizona.  Jon spends his summers in the opulent town of Aspen or thereabouts.  He is living proof you don't have to have 20,000 square feet of house to be happy in God's country.  Jon was very happy to show me around his self renovated ex greyhound bus.  You could tell immediately this was a man of art and culture.  The first thing I noticed was this refrigerator door sticking out of one of the walls.  Jon told me most people really think it is a regrigerator and don't know it is a piece of art.  All around the salon were art pieces.  What struck me was the spaciousness of the bus.  Here was the same size vehicle as mine, albiet much taller.  It seemed to be almost twice the size!  Jon explained he was a designer and it was all in the use of light colors and a careful attention to avoid the clutter, the overhead compartments, the false ceilings.   Jon told me he did not want his bus to look like so many professionally converted buses, that is like a Hollywood whorehouse.....I was still determined Jon should see my pride and joy.   At the end of the day I guess we had a tacit agreement, we each liked what we had best!   Jon invited me to spend the night on BLM land not far away.  That sounded like a lot of fun to me!  Boondocking!  I do it all of the time but not on official boondocking territory!  So we parted ways and I told John I would try to head his direction if I could.   I finally got my things done and after traveling for what seemed a million miles, so much for a few miles down the road, I found the BLM land Jon had talked about out side of Sedona, Arizona.     Wow!  This was spectacular!  What a view, what an adventure, and I didn't have to pay those big fees the rich guys paid to put my rig in a park a half mile away, next to someone else's generator or airconditioner!   I am enclosing some photos of the trip which will leave me with wonderful memories.In the process of leaving, I lifted the first jack and the whole coach fell sideways.  All of the jacks came up just fine, but now my jacking system is dead.  One more thing to fix, I thought as I pulled off of the BLM land and headed toward nearby Cottonwood, Az.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/grand_canyon_ho/1194925500/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/grand_canyon_ho/1194925500/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/grand_canyon_ho/1194925500/tpod.html Tue, 13 Nov 2007 14:15:43 -0500 I took a vacation from my civil rights work and toured Arizona and New Mexico and Colorado

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Phoenix, Arizona, United States

    I took a few days off from my work as a civil rights activist and attorney and toured Arizona, New Mexico and the Grand Canyon.  Two weeks ago, a terrible flood hit Tabasco, Mexico when a dike broke in Villahermosa, the capital of the State of Tabasco.  Over 100,000 people were displaced from their homes.  The suffering, the hunger and the thirst, the lost ones....this disaster ranks as the worst single disaster in the history of Mexico.  I am keeping the people of Mexico and the states of Tabasco and Chiapas in my prayers.  Meanwhile, I hopped a plane to Phoenix Az. to pick up the motor home I plan to use for this adventure.  This is a Vogue Prima Vista Cruiser.  She is an older style motor home but one of the best every made!  Vogues compare to Prevost buses.  In 1990, so the story goes, a fellow by the name of Harvey Mitchell bought Vogue Motor Homes.  Always catering to high end users, Vogue had fallen on hard times.  Winnebago had made a large impact in the motor home market and Vogue had let its quality control drop.  Frankly, they had a bad reputation.    Enter Harvy Mitchell.  Harvey put the company back on the map by redesigning the interior of the motor homes.  These went for average so so units to luxury top of the line finishes.  There are no two Vogues identical, each was custum built.  Most feature marble floors, corian counter tops which in those days was top top of the line, and a bunch of toys!   This one has a washer dryer, leverlor jacks, generator and a fabulous master suite!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/grand_canyon_ho/1194667440/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/grand_canyon_ho/1194667440/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/grand_canyon_ho/1194667440/tpod.html Mon, 12 Nov 2007 23:17:36 -0500 I took a vacation from my civil rights work and toured Arizona and New Mexico and Colorado

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Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, United States

   Wow!  I have arrived!  I have not been this way for 40 years....when mom and dad took the family to visit this work of god.  I thought I would be disappointed......I wasn't.   The Grand Canyon is just as grand at age 50 as it was at age 10!  What was not so fantastic is the park's thinking on 40 foot motor homes.  Their idea of a good time is parking the thing and taking a shuttle to the various places.  I never was much for shuttles, so I didn't spend much time in park central!  Instead, I made that spectacular drive from Park headquarters to Cameron, Utah.  "Will there be places to pull over and look at the view/"  I asked one of the ladies at the Park Central restaurant.   "No....."  she said.   That was what I needed to hear.  If she said no then I figued I would surely find at least a place or two!  I found many, in fact it was only a few minutes into my trip when I was able to pull over and take the shot I used in the introduction.  
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/grand_canyon_ho/1194926280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/grand_canyon_ho/1194926280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/grand_canyon_ho/1194926280/tpod.html Mon, 12 Nov 2007 23:04:14 -0500 I took a vacation from my civil rights work and toured Arizona and New Mexico and Colorado

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Flagstaff, Arizona, United States

     I am off to the races.  It late in the day and my goal is to get somewhere outside of the park.  Rumor has it, camping in Grand Canyon National Park is a big no no unless you are in a designated spot....why pay rent to park next to someone else's generator?  So what I am after is a place on the side of the road.   My first try was a big bust.  I came to a gas station and restaurant at one of the crossroads.  The place was nearly vacant.     "Can I park here over night?" I asked?    "Sorry, but we don't let anyone park here over nights.  There is a trailer park across the street.  You can park there next to some one else's generator at an extravagent fee if you want to"....No thanks.   God has his plan.  I finally found a really cool spot way up the road.  I was only a few miles to the entrance to the park so I had a jump on the next day.  I settled in to my new home.....without a generator.  My luck, it didn't work.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/albuquerque/1193299560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/albuquerque/1193299560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/albuquerque/1193299560/tpod.html Thu, 25 Oct 2007 04:35:22 -0400 The National Immigrant Caravan-A tour of the U.S. by international radio star Pilolin in support of passage of the immigration bill before congress

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Hot Springs, Arkansas, United States

«  Sheriff's Dogs, ICE Raids, Piolin Por La Manana, Lou Dobbs, Illegal Immigrants              SHERIFF DOGS, IMMIGRATION, ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, ICE RAIDS, THOUGHTS ON EDUARDO SOETELO a/k/a PIOLIN POR LA MANANA, IMMIGRATION REFORM, LOU DOBBS, SEAN HANNITY     Let me tell you about the Otero County Sheriff, then I will talk about Eduardo Sotelo el Piolin Por La Manana, Lou Dobbs and Sean HannityThe Otero County sheriff's department near alamogordo, New Mexico delivers pizza.  When they are not hard at work delivering pizza, they work for animal control.  Have to corral those animals, ya know.  Finally, in their spare time they work as sheriff's deputies.  At least that is what they allegedly said they did according to the El Paso County Times.              Our public servants, charged with serving and protecting the public, were performing 'normal policing activities" when they banged on the door of a supposed illegal immigrant at 4:30 in the morning.   Based upon police abuse throughout the U.S. a knock on the door in the middle of the night in the Fatherland, oops, Homeland is getting to be normal.            According to the allegations, when the deputies roused the people living in the home, they demanded to be let in saying they worked for "Mia's Pizza".   Word is getting out to our immigrant population.  You should not open the door to pizza delivery boys and other weird people who knock on your door at 4:30 in the morning.  The frightened people in the house must have heard the news because they did not open the door.  Next, the allegations say, the honest sheriff's deputies claimed they worked for animal control.  They demanded the residents open the door because their dog bit someone.  Maybe our residents were wondering how their cat could have been confused for a dog. Maybe the only animals around were the unprofessional fools claiming to be pizza delivery boys.  The frightened residents did not open the door.Meanwhile, one of the deputies decided to climb in a window like real police do in the movies.  He could not get in so he climbed back out.  You can imagine an immensely over weight full time pizza delivery boy who is a part time sheriff's deputy trying to pull his fat belly off the ground.  Having found his belly stuck beneath the window, he drops to the ground.  The Times does not say this and maybe it didn't happen that way.  Why else couldn't the deputy get through an open window?  Finally, in frustration, our deputies told the truth, an apparently rare event for them.   "Otero County Sheriff's Department, come outside."  The people inside opened the door.  Sheriff's deputies changed their story again.   They first allegedly were investigating a dog bite, but maybe they saw the cat, then they were investigating a refrigerator outside the house.  I didn't know refrigerators were dangerous these days.  The family says they were taken outside while our law abiding deputies allegedly searched the house.  Dangerous refrigerators hide in strange places.Lucy T., who is only 14 years old, said she asked the deputies if they had a warrant.  According to the Times, the police response was "We don't need a warrant because of the refrigerator."  Maybe they were afraid the refrigerator had crossed the border illegally.In the United States of America where I grew up we did not allow police to waltz into houses without an order signed by a judge.  We were protected by the 4th amendment to the Constitution preventing searches of private property without a warrant.  Maybe they figured a judge was too smart to sign a warrant to search inside a house for an illegal refrigerator sitting outside."Other alleged incidents in the lawsuit include deputies telling a woman she had called 911 when she hadn't, and a deputy bursting into a house supposedly looking for "Tony""  according to the Times. You have to be stupid to lie about a 911 call.  Most of them are recorded.  But then, they must be desperate for deputies in Otero County.  All the good talent has been deported. As it turned out, the 'huge round up' by our deputies posing as animal control netted several citizens and legal residents.  They also found some undocumented workers.  That is the problem. One solution to abusive police activity is to file a law suit.  When the county pays lots of money for violating the law they are sworn to uphold, the illegal activity by the police will stop.  In the alternative, they are going to have to write a lot of traffic tickets.  The problem for our undocumented workers, they have already been deported.  It is hard to win a lawsuit when you can't be present for the trial.Many legal experts agree, don't open the door for strangers.  Ask them for a warrant to search.  Don't sign anything.  Ask for an attorney if they question you. Don't lie.  If you say you are a U.S. citizen and you are not, you are permanently barred from the U.S.  Try to remember names and badge numbers.  If you are a witness, take pictures.This especially applies if you are a U.S. Citizen or Legal Resident, unless you like getting hauled down to the dog pound in the middle of the night until ICE or the police or the guys in the movies figure which breed you really are.You have to wonder why the sheriff's department brazenly breaks the law, assuming the allegations are correct.  Is it a complete lack of supervision?  Is the guy in charge arrogant, or is he dumb?  Or is it a failure of the judiciary to insist the sheriff's department follow the law or suffer consequences, which usually amount to dismissed cases?  What ever the problem is, if the allegations are true, the Department made a mockery of the law and the constitution and gave a black eye to every honest police department in the (father) land.  Worse, they have placed an entire community in fear.  Victims of crime will have to think twice before calling the dog pound for help.http://www.co.otero.nm.us/Sheriff/Sheriffs%20Site/ItsLa w.htm Here is a message from your local sheriff:http://www.co.otero.nm.us/Sheriff/Sheriffs%20Site/ItsLaw.htmAbout Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity and Michael Savage, do you think they will stand up for the Otero County Sheriff's deputies?  I guess they might on grounds of fair and balanced reporting.  We are begining to learn what fair and balanced means by the way these fellows carry on.  Someone forgot the 911 terrorists were not Mexicans.Now about Eduardo Sotelo, Mr. Piolin Por La Manana.  It is my opinion these kinds of police abuses are going to continue until we pass fair immigration reform.  That won't happen until the Latino community unites with other oppressed communities.  The last proposed immigration reform was not fair.  We need a united village to force our congress into fair laws.  Those who are really interested in immigration reform should look for unity.  That gives Eduardo Sotelo some pretty good reasons to correct the horrific error he and his team committed with me when his security team booted me off Piolin's caravan for freedom after using some hateful words, and after the Piolin bunch roasted me on the radio show the next day.I recently found myself in an odd position of defending the great radio show host whose team treated me like garbage.  Many people are angry at Piolin Por La Manana because immigration reform did not pass.  I explained to them one person cannot do it all, even if he thinks he can.  This is a process.  There are many parts to it.  One part is for Eduardo Sotelo to invite little guys like me into the immigration battle.  You do that by treating us fairly.  Another part is for guys like me to start talking about the immigration abuses going on in the country.  I am doing my part.Tim Paynter is an attorney and human rights activist who is in hiding from dangerous refrigerators.  He calls Mia's Pizza when he needs help from law enforcement because he gets a quicker response than when he calls 911.  He is thinking about getting some dangerous dogs so he can prevent animals from getting stuck in the window.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/albuquerque/1192598940/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/albuquerque/1192598940/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/albuquerque/1192598940/tpod.html Wed, 17 Oct 2007 01:59:29 -0400 The National Immigrant Caravan-A tour of the U.S. by international radio star Pilolin in support of passage of the immigration bill before congress

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Hot Springs, Arkansas, United States

LITTLE DOG CROOKS SHOOTS ILLEGAL ALIEN,  Some comparasons with EL PIOLIN POR LA MANANA, EDUARDO SOTELO I will talk about little dog Crooks first, then about Eduardo Sotelo, Mr. El Piolin Por La Manana, a/k/a Mr. Sotelo.Robert       "Little Dog" Crooks thinks he is a pretty smart guy.  We do too.              He is the fool who produced the video of a Minuteman, probably little dog himself, murdering an illegal Alien by shooting the Mexican with a rifle.  The video  appeared on YouTube.  http://www.youtube.com/TheCockroachHunterAs you can imagine, the video was not well received by the local chapter of the minutemen, the El Campo minutemen, who god has appointed responsible for that part of the border.   People who march through the desert handing out water bottles to dehydrated illegal immigrants want to protect their reputations.  They say the rifles they carry and the Glock 9's protruding from their belts are for protection against attacking cactus.  Sure.  I never shot an attacking cactus before.  Instead I just turned tail and ran.Little Dog was one of the founders of the Minuteman movement.  Apparntly he is a pretty talented guy.  Maybe that is how they convinced him to pitch his tent in a remote part of the desert, presumably as far away from the official minuteman meeting post as possible.  They said they would send money to keep him going, according to and article on the internet.  That was 18 months ago.  He says they never got around to sending money.  Well, good talent is never appreciated.We know Little Dog is devoted to handing out water bottles because he is still out there.  Most of us would have realized we were being suckered and quit a long time ago.  But then, maybe Little Dog is not so dumb after all.  He sure got his fellow minutemen up in a dither!So here is Mr. Crooks, Little Dog himself, sitting in the desert with no money and nothing to do.  He says he and a friend got tired of bashing captain Bush's proposed immigration plan so they decided to go into the motion picture business.This original production is shot through a night vision rifle scope.  "I got him." Says a voice on the video. "He's low crawling.  Guy with a backpack.  I bet ya it's probably full of dope."   Our Bruce Willis wannabe says in a hushed voice.  It is night and we can see a man skirting along a the top of a ridge near El Campo on the U.S. Mexican border. Our supposed illegal alien makes his way along the trail and eventually climbs up a rock.  Mr. Bruce wannbe screams out,"Hey Puto" (male whore).  The target hears the slur and ducks behind the rocks.  When he reappears, he is on his hands and knees peering over the ledge.  'I got him" our soon to be Hollywood legend says."He is prarie dogging now.  He heard me!"  A voice comes over the radio.   "Where you at?  What is your 20?"  (that is minuteman talk for where are you?)     Little dog Bruce replies, "He's up there on the, uh, smuggler's trail," "I don't have a visual." The voice on the radio laments. Just then the guy wearing the back pack slowly rises from behind the rocks.  "You know what?  I'm going to take a fuckng shot."   I didn't know Bruce Willis liked to shoot men in cold blood but our Hollywood actor has a different Bruce Willis interpretation. Boom, Boom.  Two rifle shots are heard in rapid succession.  Our target falls backward out of the picture.  "Oh fuck, I got him dude!" the guy with the rifle laughs like he is having an orgasm.  "I fucking got him!"Then we hear, "Dude, what are we going to do?"  A little panic is setting in now.  The voice on the radio instructs, "Get the shovels, get some lime" and then " and hey, grab me a 12 pack, too"Roger that.  We fuckin nailed him, dude!" laughing with glee.  "We fucking nailed him!"\The next scene is of a grave covered with desert rock."Audios, Asshole"  Mr. Dog says.              After the video appeared on YouTube an investigation was launched.  The local sheriff was contacted who said he knew Mr. Crooks quite well.  The grave was investigated and it was not occupied.              Little Dog makes the argument, "Do you think I would murder someone and then post the video on YouTube?"  Well, you have to admit, a rocket scientist would not have waited 18 months in the desert for a resupply of water bottles and K.Y. jelly.                   The video caused lots of waves. When I showed it to a group of immigrants the effect was sheer horror, disgust and outrage.  We didn't know Mr. Crooks was a fake when we previewed it.  Doesn't matter.  It is just as offensive as a joke as it is if it were the real thing.  It tells us what the minutemen are really thinking as they pick blisters off of their feet after running from Cactus all day.                The El Campo Minutemen don't agree.  They, too are outraged.  But their outrage is not for the grief and offense caused to Latinos and people with reasonable minds.  Their outrage is someone might figure out why they really carry rifles and glock 9's through the desert:  Maybe they would like to do the same thing as Mr. Crooks does in his video but they aren't dumb enough to video tape it.     One of their spokesman says "I have a press release all ready to go if this hits the American media. We will isolate this incident and these people from the rest of us to minimize damage to the Minuteman movement.              El Piolin Por La manana, Eduardo Sotelo, is kind of like the El Campo Minutemen.  He wants us to think he is for equality for everyone.  The reality is, his security team booted this guerro off of his caravan to Washington D.C. and then made me out to be a bad guy on his radio program.  If the El Campo Minutemen want us to think they are ashamed of little pup's snuff film then they should make it right with the immigrant community.  If Eduardo Sotelo is serious about unity, then he should make right what he and his security team have done wrong with me.    I think they are both fake.     Lot's of us think Little Dog is pretty smart.  He is helping us rally pro immigrant forces who are outraged by his behavior.  A lot of bad people think Eduardo Sotelo, El Piolin Por La Manana is pretty smart.  According the nut case on Lone Wacko, an internet site, booting a white guy off an Hispanic Caravan for Freedom helped rally racist forces who oppose immigration.  Heck, it must not have been that bad.  They really boosted Piolin's ratings with that puclicity stunt.  Sheesh, what are these guys thinking?
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/albuquerque/1191483600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/albuquerque/1191483600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/albuquerque/1191483600/tpod.html Thu, 04 Oct 2007 03:45:45 -0400 The National Immigrant Caravan-A tour of the U.S. by international radio star Pilolin in support of passage of the immigration bill before congress

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Houston, Texas, United States

             Eduardo Piolin Sotelo, Dick Cheney, Michael Chertoff, ICE Raids and Points of view.             Let me talk about the ICE raids first.  Then I will address Piolin, or better Eduardo Sotelo, Mr. Chertoff and Wyoming's prize, Dick Cheney.I love hearing different points of view.  Some of them are amusing.  When I heard ICE's point of view about the surge operation in L.A. where they "rounded up" (whoa doggie!) 1300 head of cattle, oops I mean "illegal immigrants" I choked, it was so absurd.             According to  Jorge Field, an ICE officer, ICE is very gentlemanly-like when they knock on the door in the middle of the night. "We try to do it as calm and peaceful as possible. You know we are not banging on doors, knocking them down. We're just knocking and you know explaining who we are and if we can just step inside and talk to the occupants,"       You can hear Jorge now.  "Hello, my name is Jorge, and uh, well you know, ah heck, I work with your friendly government agency called ICE, and gosh would you mind if I stepped in?  I really have to pee!  Oh, don't mind the other six guys with me dressed in bullet proof vests, guns drawn and tazers at the ready, we drank a lot of coffee this morning."     Jorge provided the first quote for KABCTV News 7 which proudly announced it was the only local station allowed to go along.       Gee, I wonder why only News 7 was allowed.  Must be something about superior coverage.  Or maybe it is that point of view thing. Guys who bang on doors in the middle of the night might not want everyone to see what they are doing.             ICE must not work the same in Idaho.  According to reports by the Associated Press, Dana Ayala, a victim of abusive tactics by ICE in Idaho states:      "They pounded on my door so hard that my walls shook,"  Mrs. Ayala said after ICE burst into her home in the wee hours of the morning. "My 19-year-old son opened the door to see what was happening, and six agents armed with guns, Tasers and flashlights pushed their way into my home."     Thanks to the only news team that was allowed to witness the L.A. raids, we know ICE gently knocks on Doors and asks if they can step inside to pee.Channel 7 reports Georgie Field as saying,  "officers don't want to go in too early in the morning because it's too disruptive to family members and neighbors"     That is not how it works in Idaho:     "It is clear that ICE agents terrorized the community, including U.S. citizen children who were sleeping when the raid occurred," said Leo Morales, a community organizer for ICAN "In several homes, children were left crying as ICE agents interrogated parents and hauled them away."  As reported by the Associated Press.            I guess they figure it is not disruptive to wake little children up before the crack of dawn.  But that is in Idaho.  Maybe it happened in L.A. too but then maybe the entire T.V. crew was in the bathroom at the same time....dicks usually are.             Jorge Field says their gentle knock and mild interruption policy works best in the morning: "I think the environment is easier to control. More people are ... you're gonna catch more people in bed. Most of the family members are in bed. When you come back in the evenings, everybody is up, neighbors are up" Field said.       My point of view, one man's neighbor is another man's witness.  But ICE must not be thinking that way or Channel 7 would have told us, right?    I guess we are back to that point of view thing again.  Would you find it interrupting to hear a banging at your door so hard it rattles your walls?  Then a rush of agents into your house with guns drawn and tazers at the ready, while you watch everyone in the house, young ones included, being roused from the bed and herded into the living room?       I guess only illegal aliens feel that way...and Mexican American citizens confused for illegal aliens...and Afro Americans...and well heck, you too?      If Channel 7 had been interested in fair reporting they might have caught the discrepancy in Georgies statements.  On the one hand he does not want to disrupt the little kiddies in the house or the neighbors.  On the other hand he says he goes in early to maintain control.  He likes catching little children in bed.  Lots more control that way, don't you think?      So which is it senor Field?  Are you trying not to be disruptive or are you trying to catch everyone in bed so you can intimidate them before they get their wits about them?  Your hairdresser wants to know.  So do a lot of other folk who think a knock on the door and herding people into vans sounds a lot like history repeating itself.  But that was the Fatherland.  This is the homeland.       So what happens to the poor fool who opened the door thinking if he didn't they might bash it in?    "When the fugitives are in custody, they're taken to the ICE processing center in Santa Ana where they are photographed, fingerprinted and interviewed." Says the Channel 7 report.    A victim of an ICE raid in Colorado said the "interview" took three hours during which time he was fully shackled.  It probably would have been too much trouble to take the shackles off to let him use the bathroom.  Or maybe he had to pee so bad that is why he signed the consent for deportation.     And "for Mexican nationals, the bus ride to the border will come before the end of the day."  Says Channel 7.     Wow!  The Mexican Consulate moves quickly. Law requires informing the Mexican Consulate when a Mexican national is incarcerated.  That is what we demand of the Mexican government for U.S. citizens in the pokey.  Presumably, ICE follows all of the rules so the Mexican ambassador must not be taking many siestas.  Otherwise, how could they review all of the files, suggest legal counsel, immigrants don't have a right to a court appointed attorney, and give their blessing on the bus ride home, all in the same day?               Talk to Michael Chertoff when the Mexican government starts treating U.S. citizens the same way.  Imagine being tossed into a Mexican carcel and not even the U.S. consulate knows where you are!  Turn around is fair play, but not in America. Water boarding isn't torture either, at least not according to Vice President Chaney.             Does everyone get sent home?     "Of the 1300 hundred who have been arrested, 45 had been previously deported from the United States. They are now being prosecuted for illegal reentry and facing up to 20 years in prison."Then the news reports say:              "Caught up in one of the biggest immigration stings ever, convicted criminals are swept back into their own countries, the kind of outsourcing no one complains about."             That is unbiased reporting.  How could anyone object to this kind of "outsourcing"?  I guess the reporter thought he was pretty funny when he came up with "outsourcing" for deportation.      Maybe no one will object to one day "outsourcing" except the Mexican national who sneaks back across the border after deportation so he can see his wife and kids.  Add to that, level headed Americans who don't think the father-land idea was a winner.  Add to that my Jewish friends who find the parallels to Nazi Germany horrifying;  add to that the gays and lesbians who resent the immigration's position that homosexuality is immoral and a bar to migration; add to that my African American brothers who remember how a god fearing nation used to treat them and add to that any fair minded American who resents overzealous government intrusion.            ICE is only looking for criminals during their midnight raids, but they deport  lots of nice guys they find along the way.  And who is considered a criminal?  According to the unbiased reporting of News 7, you only have to be convicted of reckless driving to be a bad guy these days.  Hmmm, guess we better raise taxes on the poor so we can incarcerate every U.S. citizen who is convicted of reckless driving.               Look at the bright side.  Since the ICE raids began, public sentiment has been changing.  The internet is hopping with reports of ICE abuse.  A new immigrant's rights group is starting in Denver to rally fair minded citizens to the cause.  Sad to say, those who are getting deported now are helping us march to immigration reform including a path to citizenship for poor people working in America.             A final note, if the knock comes in the middle of the night, don't open your door.  You don't have to.  Even ICE admits that:             "The warrants the officers carry don't allow them to bust into the house. Either the woman comes out or ICE officers just wait around."             Best to stock up on lots of food and drinks.             Now, about Edward Piolin Sotelo, the radio station host whose thug security crew threw this gringo attorney off of his caravan to Washington D.C. while asking equal treatment for all.   I remain shocked these guys have not put this false story about me right.  Edward tells us all about unity but he is not practicing what he preaches.  That is really sad because in my point of view, the way to immigration reform is through unity.             What unity?  How about every minority rights group in the U.S.?  How about every Chicano who is afraid he is going to be confused with an illegal immigrant?  How about my African American brothers who find the strong arm tactics of ICE repugnant?  How about the gays and lesbians, the mentally ill, the poor white trash who can't afford attorneys?  How about every guerro attorney who grieves when he gets calls from frightened mothers asking about their husbands incarcerated by Immigration, while hearing children crying in the background for a father they may never know?             It is easy to ask the big wigs to talk on Piolin's radio show but if Eduardo Piolin Sotelo is not willing to be a good example then he is contributing to the problem.  I have to wonder, actually have heard, about other people who feel Piolin did not treat them right.             Come on Eduardo, El Piolin, Mr. Sotelo, when are you going to put fair immigration reform in front of money and ratings?  It is still not too late, and I bet you could make some ratings hay out of it at the same time! 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/albuquerque/1187334120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/albuquerque/1187334120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lavidanueva/albuquerque/1187334120/tpod.html Fri, 17 Aug 2007 03:25:37 -0400 The National Immigrant Caravan-A tour of the U.S. by international radio star Pilolin in support of passage of the immigration bill before congress

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Dallas tx, Texas, United States

     One of my friends called me the other day to tell me I got another bad hit on the radio.  Not sure if it is true.  Wish I could get this Piolin Eduardo Sotelo thing settled.  My friends tell me it will never happen.  If you must eat crow, better do it while it is fresh, this is not fresh and it is getting more ripe by the day.  Sheesh....      Meanwhile, immigration reform is still a distant light on the horizon.  At least some of the newspapers are writing More pro immigrant articles.  I read in a Brownsville paper many of our immigrant friends are giving up on the American dream.  The discrimination is so thick you can cut it with a knife.       It is just not worth it for some.  Why come here to work your guts out, then get the cold shoulder or worse, suffer unequal treatment under the law, listen to Hispanic bashing and yeah, they say it is immigrant bashing but since most immigrants are Hispanic, it is a little bit of the same, don't you think?   Then if you have kids, well heck, will they really be better off here, where there are no educational opportunities, nothing more than the prospect of continued living under repression, hate, low wages, continued poverty....       Meanwhile, lots of food is rotting on the vine....while the heart and soul of the American conscience rots along side.     We need to register our voters, we need to voice our opinions, frankly, I think we need a big change in Washington, and some of our state congresses.   Let's tell the rush Limbaugh's, the Sean hannitys, the tom tancredos, the Barbara Butchers, democrat Pueblo Colorado who supported putting prisoners to work in the fields at .60 cents an hour while charging farmers $9.60 an hour, more than they paid migrant farm workers, and let's tell everyone else who joyfully gains notoriety at the expense of a few, why don't you go to Russia......
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