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MY LAI VET SAYS: HERE IT
COMES AGAIN IN IRAQ
Tony Swindell
recalls "Butcher's Brigade" in '69; says "gooks"
have now become "ragheads", every adult male is an
"insurgent" ... atrocities against Iraqi civilians
are soon going to explode in America's face; US Government's courtroom jihads against terror
stumble. Alexander Cockburn on Lodi case where Feds paid $250,000
to man who "saw" world's three top terrorists at mosque.
As neocons
and Israel lobby howl for US to bomb Teheran, an Iranian outlines
simple path to peace. CounterPunch
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The prodigal holiday hath returned.
May 1st, also known as May Day, has come back to the United States
with a vengeance. This is the day of protest forged in the heat
of the 19th century US labor movement to celebrate the fight
for the eight hour day. It is also the holiday celebrated all
around the world, except right here in the country of its birth.
Yet this year, in a delicious
twist of fate, mass May Day protests will return to the United
States led largely by people born beyond its borders. May Day
2006 is being called the Great American Boycott, "A Day
Without Immigrants," or "A Day Without Latinos."
It is a day where immigrant workers, and their allies, will remove
their labor, purchasing power, and presence from the economic
workings of the United States. Nativo Lopez, president of the
Mexican American Political Association, one of the organizers
of last month's million strong protest in Los Angeles said. "We
are looking forward to a major action in all large US cities
where immigrants make up a significant proportion of the workforce.
We are asking people not to go to school, or work, or shopping
and instead to go out and protest"
While countless industries
and work sites would be hampered by such actions, there is one
multi-billion dollar enterprise which would be absolutely crippled:
"The Great American Pastime" itself, Major League Baseball.
MLB is adored by politicians of all stripes. Throwing out the
first pitch is the sure-fire way to get good press and cheap
applause from a friendly crowd, (unless you're Dick Cheney and
you throw like a fetus. Then it's lusty boos for him and "wiretap
day" for all 30,000 people in attendance.)
Right wing pundits like George
Will who normally see immigrants as little more than something
to demonize, love writing about baseball as "the fabric
of our Nation." Without Latinos, this fabric would fray
like it was smoked
with a Mariano Rivera fastball. Without Latinos baseball would
be about as interesting as being trapped in an elevator with
George Will.
Of the top ten hitters in the
National League, six are from Latin America including reigning
Most Valuable Player Albert Pujols. In the American League, five
of the top ten are Latino, including batting leader and 2003
MVP Miguel Tejada. Latinos dominate the pantheon of the games
superstars like never before. Eight of the last 10 AL MVPs have
been won by immigrants, seven by Latinos. In the thirty years
before that, the number was three (Jose Canseco, Willie Hernandez,
and the immortal George Bell). At this past springs World Baseball
Classic, the new reality was laid bare, showcasing a US team
that couldn't compete with its Latin American or Asian rivals.
This is a result of a profound
demographic shift that has saved baseball from the sporting scrap
heap. Currently 36% of Major League players were born in Latin
America. According to ESPN Deportes this number will reach 50%
in the next twenty years. Almost one third of all minor leaguers
are from the Dominican Republic alone. Of course much of this
is a function of Major League owners searching for talent on
the cheap, setting up baseball academies south of the border
where players can be signed in their early teens for pennies,
and then discarded if they don't make the cut. As one player
said to me, "The options in the DR are jail, the army, the
factory, or baseball." Many prospects make it to the United
States for minor league ball and then stay, illegally, to chase
the dream of never working to death in a factory. The outer boroughs
of New York City are filled with semi-pro teams of men on the
other side of thirty still thirsting for that contract, hoping
it comes before the INS comes knocking on their door.
No Major League player has
come out publicly (yet) and said they are joining the national
boycott. Doing so would be more than a mere act of solidarity.
Despite the prominent role they play in the game, there is only
one owner of Latino descent, one general manager, and only a
handful of managers. Players routinely speak about being mocked
by reporters for their lack of English skills, and denigrated
in the press. Like All Star Moises Alou said last year, "In
the minor leagues, people think all Dominicans, Mexicans and
Venezuelans are dumb."You think if a guy doesn't speak English
it's because he's stupid. You go to the Dominican and try to
have conversation in Spanish, and see how easy it is." 15
games are set for May 1st. They would show how important they
have become to the game by nursing that blister on their foot
and staying home. No Pedro, no Manny, no Pujols, no baseball.
Dave Zirin is the author of "'What's My
name Fool?'": Sports and Resistance in the united States.
He is speaking at the conference Socialism 2006, June 22-25,
in New York City, with Etan Thomas and Toni Smith. See www.socialismconference.org.
Contact him at dave@edgeofsports.com
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