Published time: September 10, 2014 16:03 Edited time: September 11, 2014 14:22 

 http://rt.com/usa/186744-citizen-militia-texas-border/

Members of the “Patriots” Huggie Bear (L, not his real name), Ray (C, no last name given) and Will (R, no last name given) patrol in their UTV near a camp of patriots near the U.S.-Mexico border outside Brownsville, Texas September 2, 2014. (Reuters/Rick Wilking)

Armed militias continue to patrol the United States-Mexico border seeking to repel any migration north, but critics warn that these self-styled ‘freedom defenders’ lingering on private land represent a powder keg that could have “disastrous” consequences.

Near Brownsville, Texas, a group of private citizens simply known as the Patriots were invited to watch 21 acres of border land owned by Rusty Monsees. The group, Reuters reported, has been on the land since early summer, when news reports announced that unprecedented numbers of unaccompanied minors from Central America had crossed the border. In the first half of 2014, around 52,000 children, among many others, attempted the trek, fleeing poverty, violence, and systemic abuse present in their home nations. Many have ended up warehoused in US military installations and other facilities awaiting their fate amongst an inhospitable, nativist climate. President Barack Obama has vowed some type of immigration reform via executive action in the face of an inert Congress. Yet Obama has said he will not move on reform until after congressional midterm elections in November. The numerous militias along the border join the US Customs and Border Protection as well as the Texas National Guard. The Patriots Information Hotline, a networking call center, claims 22 groups of “armed patriots” are patrolling the border, from Texas to California. The US Border Patrol has warned that armed vigilantes taking intimidation tactics too far could have “disastrous personal and public safety consequences.” Yet the Patriots back in Brownsville insist the description “vigilante” is unfair, and that they are not itching to fire their high-powered firearms. “Everybody has this bad taste in their mouth about ‘militias.’ They think we’re out here trying to smoke people and kill them as soon as they cross the border. Which obviously, is not the case,” said “Huggie Bear,” a member of the Patriots who is a former US Army infantry team leader. “Our goal here is to try to deter them from coming. They see us, they don’t know who we are, so that kind of scares people away for a while,” he told Reuters. Militia groups on the border have been invited by private landowners to patrol in certain areas, as is the case with the Patriots near Brownsville. Expenses are usually paid by the militia members, with sympathetic donors also offering support funding, according to Reuters. Monsees said he asked for help on his border land given “illegals” have allegedly poisoned his dogs and shot at his house. “If they [the militia] leave, I’m dead,” he said. Others in the area echo these sentiments, saying the militia groups give them a sense of peace. “Whoever says there’s not a problem by the border wall, they don’t live out here,” said Fernando Rivera Jr., a property owner in Brownsville. Rivera said his son patrols the family’s backyard with a shotgun to deter what he calls criminals from crossing the border. “Now, when they’re on patrol, it’s actually peaceful,” Rivera said. “The dogs don’t bark as much. I can actually get some sleep.” The militaristic Patriots are also equipped with all-terrain vehicles, thick body armor, plastic handcuffs to detain migrants and communications equipment that can supposedly reach Border Patrol agents. The only live fire the group has encountered, according to Reuters, was from Border Patrol, who thought an armed member of the Patriots was an undocumented immigrant. Once shots were fired, the Patriot reportedly dropped his firearm. No one was injured in the encounter. The situation exemplifies the challenges and worries the militias pose to law enforcement. “When there are situations with any individual who is bearing arms in public or on private property, there is always a concern amongst law enforcement of possible misidentification that can lead to friendly-fire tragedies,” said Eddie Guerra, sheriff of Hidalgo County in Texas. Regardless, groups like the Patriots stay vigilant. “If you spot them and shine your light on them, that lets them know that you’re there,” said Will, 25, who came from Indiana to join the Patriots. “Nine times out of 10, they’re not going to come over. “Even if they are going to try to cross again, we’re still making it harder for them, and that’s the reason we’re here.”

BBC. January 14, 2015.

Colombia’s president has said his government is for the first time prepared to begin talks on a bilateral ceasefire with Farc rebels.

Juan Manuel Santos said he had asked negotiators to start discussions “as soon as possible”.

He said a unilateral truce declared by the leftist rebels last month “has been a step in the right direction”.

The government had previously refused to join the ceasefire, saying the Farc would use it to rearm.

The two sides have been engaged in peace talks in Cuba since November 2012 to try to end decades of conflict.

‘Real belief’
In a televised address on Wednesday, Mr Santos said peace was closer than ever and it was now time “to de-escalate the intensity of the conflict”.

“We’re closer than ever to secure peace and make it a reality for us, our children and our children’s children.

“I have given instructions to the negotiators to initiate as soon as possible a discussion on the point of the definitive bilateral ceasefire and end of hostilities.”

Mr Santos added that high-ranking military officials had already been appointed to manage the process.

Correspondents say up to now the president has been under pressure from the military not to discuss a bilateral truce because of concerns that the Farc would use it to rearm.

For years, talks of a truce between the government and the rebels was simply unthinkable, says the BBC’s Arturo Wallace in Bogota.

But his latest announcement means the government believes the talks are entering into the final stretch, our correspondent adds.

On 20 December the rebels declared an indefinite cessation of hostilities, in an unprecedented move.

Some 220,000 people, most of them civilians, are estimated to have been killed since the Marxist-inspired rebels launched their armed struggle in 1964.

I support a constitutional amendment overturning the Citizens United Supreme Court decision. It is time to restore control of elections to the will of the people, not the wallets of the super-rich.

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http://pac.petitions.moveon.org/sign/petition-for-a-grand?source=s.fwd&r_by=8638452

HAVANA, Cuba, Jan 15 (acn) Cuban doctor Felix Baez, who overcame the Ebola virus, which he got in Sierra Leone, returned to that Western African nation to continue fighting the disease along his comrades with the Henry Reeve international medical brigade.

Cubadebate website published a series of photos of the doctor along his comrades in Sierra Leone announcing his return.

An internal medicine specialist, Baez announced in December 2014 that he would return to the African nation to finish the job he started, once he fully recovered from the disease.

The 43-year-old doctor returned to Cuba after having been released from the Geneva-based Cantonal University Hospital, where he received treatment against Ebola.

In response to the World Health Organization call to fight Ebola in Africa, Cuba sent three brigades to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea to fight the virus.

According to the World Health Organization over 8 thousand 800 people have died from the Ebola virus in Africa.

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LAST MEMBERS OF CUBAN FIVE RETURNING TO CUBA:

Wed Jan 14, 2015 at 12:39 AM PST

by GwenneddFollow for Gwennedd

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/01/14/1357635/-Woot-Bernie-Sanders-Just-Screwed-over-the-Republicans?detail=email

January 15, 2015

Communist Party calls for elections to be a paid holiday

Premier Selinger’s proposal yesterday for a permanent voters list to replace the “costly” enumeration process is flawed and anti-democratic. The Premier is reported to believe that a permanent voters list will “increase voter turnout,” but facts contradict this belief.

Elections are the most important of all government spending, touching on core issues of democracy and governance. It is alarming that suddenly the two main parties in the Legislature are reportedly “eager” and “willing” to discuss or implement this proposal.

A permanent list is more likely to be inaccurate for the poor, students and discriminated groups, tilting elections in favour of the wealthy and those who face no discrimination.

The Premier needs to explain why turnout actually declined in the 2008 federal election, the first that used the National Register of Electors, to 59 per cent, the lowest in history. Studies show enumeration is better than a permanent voters list in terms of both accuracy and costs.

Inaccurate permanent lists are part of a pattern of voter suppression in North America which includes the effective disenfranchisement of about 500,000 people in Canada because of last year’s so-called Fair Elections Act.

A far better way to boost turnout is to make the provincial election a paid holiday. This would demonstrate the esteem Manitoban’s have in the electoral process.

Failure to make it a paid holiday and instead to create a permanent voters list will show how much the large parties truly value the full meaning of democracy. A full pubic discussion, with hearings across the province, are needed before “costly” enumeration is axed.

More paid holidays would also be a job-creating measure.*

Information: Darrell Rankin, Leader, Communist Party of Canada – Manitoba (204) 586-7824

* * * * * *
*Considering there are 250 work-days in a year, profits may decline by 1/250, or .4% because of lost production. Increased hiring to make up for this loss and to maintain market-share would boost hiring and payroll income, growing the domestic market and compensating profits in the long-run. More paid holidays (eg, International Women’s Day or International Workers’ Day) have the same economic effect as a shorter work week or reducing the pension age. The experience of Britain’s Ten-and-a-half Hours Bill (1848) and the 40 hour work week supports this contention. – DR