http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/community/tag_rss/immigration In the midst of all the attention focused on the presidential race and Prop 8, the statewide measure that would take away basic civil rights from certain classes of people, a county measure in Los Angeles is beginning to heat up. Measure R, put forth by transit officials proposes to raise $40 billion for light rail, buses and road work through a half-cent sales tax hike is beginning to garner the attention it deserves in the final moments of this election calendar. Anyone living in Los Angeles will quickly tell you about the nightmare of living in a metropolis whose leaders long gone, decided against the foresight of developing a public transportation system that you would easily find in New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco-Oakland Bay area and Washington, DC. And unlike many of those urban centers, the population continues to grow thanks to its climate, immigration (legal and illegal) and Hollywood dreams. Housing and transportation needs are busting at the seems and the transit officials are asking residents to fund a broad range of improvements through a sales tax increase. http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/elliottpetty/CLQX http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/elliottpetty/CLQX/commentary#comments Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:12:27 PDT http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/elliottpetty/CLQX Elliott D. Petty Elliott D. Petty 1 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/CLQX/ Cross posted at Calitics There's a protest from 3-5pm today at Blackwater's new Otay Mesa facility, and tomorrow Jeremy Scahill will be doing a special Courage Campaign Conversation tomorrow afternoon at 4pm. In a little noticed vote yesterday, the Merida Initiative passed easily through the House of Representatives 311-106. It provides $1.6 billion with an emphasis on training and equipment to fight drug cartels in Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America, because as Rep. Brian Bilbray explained: "Either we can go after these cartels in Ensenada, or we can fight them in Escondido," said Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Carlsbad), who voted for the plan. "I'd prefer that we move now and take care of this problem south of the border. The drug wars in Mexico and in other regions have grown horrendously violent, and their destructive ways must be quashed." It's tough to directly take issue with any of that, but where does it lead? Potentially to some unpleasant places. In September, the Defense Department opened up five year contracts in support of counter-narcoterrorism efforts to five private companies, including Blackwater USA. "The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract could be worth up to $15 billion for the awardees." The Army Times analyzed the content of the contracts, describing: http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/CLXf http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/CLXf/commentary#comments Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:24:02 PDT http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/CLXf Lucas O'Connor, Courage Campaign Lucas O'Connor, Courage Campaign 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/CLXf/ Imagine having to say goodbye to your wife and child against your will. Imagine telling your little boy he's going away for a couple months on vacation when the reality is it will be years before you see him again. Tony doesn't have to imagine. Click the video to the right to watch Tony's heart-wrenching story. Tony and his wife Janina came from Poland 18 years ago. They were married, started a business, had a healthy happy son and were living the American dream... ...Until 1 week ago, on June 8, 2007, when Janina was deported. http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/michaelditto/VMk http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/michaelditto/VMk/commentary#comments Sat, 16 Jun 2007 01:18:42 PDT http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/michaelditto/VMk Michael Ditto Michael Ditto 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/VMk/