NEWS BITS & BITES

OVER 300,000 IN DALLAS IMMIGRANT PROTEST

NY TIMES - Hundreds of thousands of people, many waving American flags,
marched through downtown Dallas today to protest tougher immigration
restrictions proposed in Congress and to support legalizing undocumented
workers. Many of those who crammed into the streets of downtown Dallas
wore white clothing to symbolize peace. The sea of people, who chanted
"Si se puede" (yes, we can) and "U.S.A., all the way," wound through
downtown streets for at least a mile, surpassing all estimates of how
many would show up.

"We never anticipated it getting this big," said Lt. Rick Watson, a
spokesman for the Dallas Police Department. "The estimates were anywhere
from 20,000 to 200,000, but all of a sudden they started coming, and
they kept coming and kept coming. We estimate that we have 350,000 to
500,000 people down here today.". . .

"It's a good feeling that we are finally standing up for ourselves,"
said Robert Martinez, who is now an American citizen but said he crossed
the Rio Grande illegally 22 years ago. "For years we never say nothing,
we just work hard, follow the rules and pay taxes. And they try to make
these laws. It's time people knew how we felt.". . .

The march in Dallas was one of several held around the nation today in
cities including Miami, San Diego and New York. In Oregon's capital city
of Salem, for example, the state police estimated that 3,000 to 4,000
demonstrators took part in the march.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/09/us/09cnd-protest.html?hp&ex=
1144641600&en=df808c4f2e7d11bd&ei=5094&partner=homepage


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SOCIAL STUDIES, CALIFORNIA STYLE

LAW OFFICES OF R. SAMUEL PAZ, CULVER CITY CA - Louise Corales, whose 14
year-old son, Anthony Soltero, died on April 1 after committing suicide,
will speak to the community and ask for a prayer for her son this
Sunday, following the 11:00 a.m. mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in
Ontario, California. Eighth grader Anthony Soltero shot himself through
the head on Thursday, March 30, after the assistant principal at De Anza
Middle School told him that he was going to prison for three years
because of his involvement as an organizer of the April 28 school
walk-outs to protest the anti-immigrant legislation in Washington. The
vice principal also forbade Anthony from attending graduation activities
and threatened to fine his mother for Anthony's truancy and
participation in the student protests. "Anthony was learning about the
importance of civic duties and rights in his eighth grade class.
Ironically, he died because the vice principal at his school threatened
him for speaking out and exercising those rights," Ms. Corales said
today. . . Anthony's death is likely the first fatality arising from the
protests against the immigration legislation being considered in
Washington, D.C. Anthony, who was a very good student at De Anza Middle
School in the Ontario-Montclair School District, believed in justice and
was passionate about the immigration issue. He is survived by his
mother, Louise Corales, his father, a younger sister, and a baby
brother.

R. SAMUEL PAZ
(310) 410-2981 (310) 989-6815

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WHISTLEBLOWER - TWO DECADES WITH ATT - SAYS NSA HAVE CAPACITY TO VACUMN
ALL INTERNET INFORMATION INCLUDING YOUR E-MAILS

Based on my understanding of the connections and equipment at issue, it
appears the NSA is capable of conducting what amounts to vacuum-cleaner
surveillance of all the data crossing the internet -- whether that be
peoples' e-mail, web surfing or any other data.

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,70621-0.html?tw=rss.index

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LOCAL HEROES: SAN FRANCISCO WILL IGNORE IMMIGRATION LEGISLATION

EXAMIENR - Mayor Gavin Newsom said Thursday that the city will not
comply with any federal legislation that criminalizes efforts to help
illegal immigrants. The mayor also denounced a bipartisan congressional
proposal that would beef up border security and allow as many as 12
million illegal immigrants to gain legal status.

Newsom, who has not been afraid to wade into controversial national
issues such as gay marriage, appeared with a group of elected officials
on the steps of City Hall to support immigrants, "documented as well as
undocumented." Newsom also signed a resolution sponsored by Supervisor
Gerardo Sandoval, and passed unanimously by the Board of Supervisors,
urging San Francisco law enforcement not to comply with criminal
provisions of any new immigration bill.

"San Francisco stands foursquare in strong opposition to the rhetoric
coming out of Washington, D.C.," Newsom said. "If people think we were
defiant on the gay marriage issue, they haven't seen defiance."

It is not the first time San Francisco has weighed in on the immigration
issue. In 1989, the Board of Supervisors made San Francisco a "City of
Refuge." The ordinance forbids city resources from being used to enforce
federal immigration laws or to gather or disseminate information
regarding the status of residents of the city. The Board of Supervisors
passed a resolution reaffirming the ordinance in January.

http://www.examiner.com/Top_News-a70996~Mayor__City_would_ignore_
Legislation_if_it_were_to_pass.html


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YOUTH-LABOR COALITION HAS FRENCH GOVERNMENT ON ROPES

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE — France's ruling party held a final day of talks
with unions on Friday over a divisive youth jobs reform, as business
leaders called for a rapid end to the crisis to avoid harming the French
economy. Unions and student groups — in a position of strength after two
months of demonstrations that have drawn millions into the street — have
threatened more mass protests unless the measure is abandoned by the end
of next week.

French President Jacques Chirac has already effectively suspended the
contested First Employment Contract (CPE), asking the ruling Union for a
Popular Movement (UMP) to draw up a new law after consulting leaders of
the protest movement.

Several commentators said Chirac's government appeared to have all but
given up on the youth contract, which makes it easier to fire under-26
year-olds, but was looking for a way to repeal it without losing face.
"How to come up with a measure that looks, tastes and acts like an
abrogation, but is not called an abrogation?" summed up an editorial in
the left-wing Liberation newspaper.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-04-07-france_x.htm

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ALBERTO GONZALES, STILL AT LARGE, SAYS WARRANTLESS DOMESTIC WIRETAPS
COULD BE OKAY

DON EGGEN, WASHINGTON POST - Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales left
open the possibility yesterday that President Bush could order
warrantless wiretaps on telephone calls occurring solely within the
United States -- a move that would dramatically expand the reach of a
controversial National Security Agency surveillance program.

In response to a question from Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) during an
appearance before the House Judiciary Committee, Gonzales suggested that
the administration could decide it was legal to listen in on a domestic
call without supervision if it were related to al-Qaeda. "I'm not going
to rule it out," Gonzales said.

In the past, Gonzales and other officials refused to say whether they
had the legal authority to conduct warrantless eavesdropping on domestic
calls, and have stressed that the NSA eavesdropping program is focused
only on international communications.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/06/
AR2006040600764.html?nav=rss_nation


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RUSSIANS TO GIVE AIR PASSENGERS LIE DETECTOR TESTS

ADRIAN BLOMFIELD, LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH -  Millions of passengers
traveling through Russia soon will have to take a lie detector test as
part of new airport security measures that could eventually be applied
throughout the country. The technology, to be introduced at Moscow's
Domodedovo airport as early as July, is intended to identify terrorists
and drugs smugglers. But many passengers will be chilled by the set of
four questions they will have to answer into a machine, including, "Have
you ever lied to the authorities?" The machine asks four questions: The
first is for full identity; the second, unnerving in its Soviet-style
abruptness, demands: "Have you ever lied to the authorities?" It then
asks whether either weapons or narcotics are being carried. To cut
delays, passengers will take the tests after taking off their shoes and
putting baggage through the X-ray machines. He doesn't get his shoes
back until he satisfactorily answers the questions. Each test will take
up to a minute. "If a person fails to pass the test, he is accompanied
by a special guard to a cubicle where he is asked questions in a more
intense atmosphere," says Vladimir Kornilov, IT director for the
airport. The fully automated instrument to be used, known as the "Truth
Verifier," is hardly the polygraph familiar from old spy thrillers.
Passengers will simply speak into a handset. Thanks to
"layered-voice-analysis technology," the system, developed by an Israeli
company, can even establish whether answers come from the memory or the
imagination. The technology already is being used by some insurance
companies in Britain to screen telephone claims for fraud. "We can
understand that something like this could be uncomfortable for some
passengers, but it is a necessary step," Mr. Kornilov says.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/06/
wlie06.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/04/06/ixnewstop.html