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Much like the rest of the nation, Alondra Garcia has spent the pandemic not quite knowing whats coming next.

The bilingual elementary school teacher from Milwaukee has had to contend with adjusting to virtual learning, a bout with COVID-19, and now a return to in-person schooling under Milwaukee Public Schools strict pandemic safety regulations. All the while, she was doing her best to teach the next generation.

It was very exhausting, Garcia said.

But Garcia had another set of uncertainties looming: She is a recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the Obama-era program that protects from deportation and provides a work permit to undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children.

While DACA recipients like Garcia avoided the worst-case scenarioa wholesale dismantling of the program after repeated attempts by former President Donald Trumpthey are still waiting for President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress to fulfill their 2020 campaign promises of immigration reform and a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants.

More than 6,500 DACA recipients and 70,000 other undocumented immigrants live in Wisconsin, according to figures from the American Immigration Council. Many of them spent the last 14 months working in essential jobslike meatpackingthat put them at high risk of contracting and dying from COVID-19.

Now, advocates say, its time for those workers to get rewarded with a clear path to citizenship.

You know what? Its about time we give this recognition that they have through this pandemic put the food on Americas table, said Tony Gonzalez, director of the American Hispanic Association in Wausau.

Three bills currently before Congress would provide that reward and deliver on Democrats promised reforms.

Throughout the first months of Bidens term, Voces de la Frontera Action, an immigrant and workers rights group based in Milwaukee, held marches and protests throughout Wisconsin advocating for the bills and pressuring Democrats to either pass them or roll them into a larger package that could be passed through budget reconciliation, a process that requires only a simple Senate majority vote rather than the 60 votes needed to overcome a likely Republican filibuster.

The White House is opposed to using budget reconciliation for immigration reform, saying it would prefer a bipartisan solution. But Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera, said she isnt holding out for Republican support.

We dont believe there is hope for bipartisanship, Neumann-Ortiz said. So our push is on Democrats.

Key to that push is Democratic Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Neumann-Ortiz said, due to her relative seniority and leadership position as Senate Democrats caucus secretary. Following a Voces de la Frontera event Thursday at the state Capitol, Baldwin released a statement through the group reiterating her support for immigration reform using whatever legislative path we can, including the budget reconciliation process.

Democrats have power now, and they need to wield it, Neumann-Ortiz said.

Garcia, who is involved with Voces de la Frontera and recently joined the group in a demonstration in Washington, DC, echoed that sentiment and warned Democrats may lose Latino support and enthusiasm if they dont deliver.

If we dont do something about it this year, I feel like people are gonna lose motivation, lose that optimism, lose that want to actually think its going to be possible, Garcia said.

Gonzalez lives and organizes within the heavily Republican 7th Congressional District currently represented by US Rep. Tom Tiffany, whose newsletters and press releases frequently invoke negative images of illegal aliens. Still, Gonzalez said, hes not giving up on the hope for wider support.

I propose just to bring people to the table and have a conversation, and have a real, good, robust conversation, Gonzalez said. No fights, no finger-pointingmore, Lets lay the ground of whats common, and how do we find solutions?

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Wisconsin Advocates Say the Time for Immigration Reform Is Now - UpNorthNews

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation was one of the most popular television shows of all time. It ran for 15 years on CBS, spawned several spin-offs, and entertained parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents endlessly with grisly crime investigations and detective camaraderie. Now the original crime scene investigators are coming back in a series revival called CSI: Vegas, and a new featurette catches up with Gil Grissom (William Petersen), Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox), and David Hodges (Wallace Langham), who return to help Maxine Roby (Paula Newsome) and her team face a massive threat.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (the ATM machine of television) followed a team of crime scene investigators employed by the Las Vegas Police Department who used physical evidence to solve various murder cases. But in the new series, theres a larger overarching problem that the characters have to face. A lab used to fake criminal evidence has been discovered, threatening to destroy the entire Crime Lab, undoing all the hard work theyve previously done, and potentially forcing the release of thousands of convicted killers back into society. Doesnt this sound like something Gotham City would have to deal with?

Jorja Fox explained what will be happening in the series premiere this fall, which seems to kick off with her character:

Sara is coming from the great wide open, the land of the unknown. She gets a phone call from a friend who is in trouble, a friend that the audience may recognize and love a lot, and next thing you know she finds herself at the lab and she meets this new dynamic, compelling, intriguing force of criminalists that are on the front lines of fighting crime in Vegas.

So the team will still be solving crimes just as they did all those years ago. But even in the six years that the show has been off the air, crime scene investigation has changed. As William Petersen notes in the video, The way we solved crimes 20 years ago is a lot different than the way they solve crimes now. Its a different world. So expect to see some new investigation techniques and technology assisting the team this time.

CSI: Vegas will also star Matt Lauria as Joshua Folsom, Mandeep Dhillon as Allie Rajan, and Mel Rodriguez as Hugo Ramirez. The show is executive produced by Jason Tracey, who will also serve as showrunner, and Jerry Bruckheimer is also back as an executive producer. Uta Briesewitz directs the premiere episode and also executive producers along with Jonathan Littman, KristieAnne Reed, Anthony Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn, Ann Donahue, Craig ONeill, Cindy Chvatal, and star William Petersen.

CSI: Vegas is coming to CBS in the fall line-up this year on Wednesdays at 10:00 P.M. ET/ 9:00 P.M. CT, but a specific premiere date has not been locked down yet.

Continue reading here:
'CSI: Vegas' Teaser Welcomes Back the Original Crime Scene Investigators - /FILM

Are sex workers being unfairly targeted by tech companies? Heres how social media censorship affects adult industry influencers.

According to a Centro University study, social media censorship is costing sex workers hundreds of millions of dollars a year. A survey sent out to adult industry influencers back in February revealed startling results, with nearly half of respondents reporting that one of their social media accounts (on Twitter or Instagram) had been banned in the past year. Nearly 1 in 10 reported that both of their accounts had been banned.

Some adult industry influencers also reported that their accounts had been shadowbanned, meaning their traffic and engagement fundamentally came to a halt.

Though most of these influencers play by the Terms of Service, avoiding explicit content, monitoring what sorts of things they link and advertise, and keeping an eye on their followers and hashtags, they find themselves with banned accounts nonetheless. They often dont know just where and how they violated the Terms, and they often have no chance to appeal.

This comes at a detriment to their very livelihoods.

FanCentro VP Kat Revenga says, Social media censorship isnt some theoretical issue for adult influencers, it robs them of huge amounts of income. The majority of adult influencers are small business owners who use the income to pay rent and put food on the table, and the arbitrary closure of an account can be devastating, depriving them of tens of thousands of dollars.

CentroU wanted to see exactly how much an adult industry influencer could be affected by unfair social media bans, and created a profile of a typical adult influencer. They reported that someone earning $4,000 per month in January could easily drop to under $1,000 per month in July. By the end of the first year, they reported, an influencer suffers over $30,000 in lost income.

Revenga went on to say, Social media has enabled a new generation of independent adult influencers to thrive, and to own what they produce, but the true power rests with the social media companies. Their arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement is costing an already marginalized population hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

CentroU is a free school for adult influencers and sex workers.

Photo at topby Seyi Ariyo on Unsplash

Continued here:
Social Media Censorship Is Costing Sex Workers and Adult Influencers Big Money - Hornet

Herman Mashaba's party, Action SA, has released a billboard with names and faces of various political party leaders with labels such as criminal, crook and fraud next to their names. He said that the refusal by media houses to flight the billboard amounted to censorship.

A screenshot of Action SA's election billboard.

JOHANNESBURG - The election season has not reached fever pitch yet, but the new kid on the block, Action SA, is already crying foul.

Herman Mashabas political project accused media houses on Tuesday of refusing to flight an election campaignbillboard in which leaders of various parties were labelled as anarchists, criminal and divisive among others.

Mashaba said through a statement that the refusal to flight their campaign amounted to censorship.

The aim of the billboard was not to target the individuals featured on our billboard, but rather to expose a political system that results in the selection of compromised candidates by political parties to serve in some of the highest public offices in the land.

"This system serves political parties instead of serving the people of South Africa. Despite the right to the freedom of speech entrenched in our Constitution, no less than six media owners refused to flight the billboard for fear of political reprisal, vandalism or defamation, Mashaba said in a statement.

The controversial billboard features Democratic Alliance (DA) chairperson Helen Zille and Solly Msimanga, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema, and from the African National Congress (ANC), Mashabas party targeted suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule, Zandile Gumede, Geoff Makhubo and Bathabile Dlamini.

Meanwhile, political parties representing the named leaders in the Action SA billboard were contacted for comment. Eyewitness News received only one, saying that "commenting would give it traction."

Download the Eyewitness News app to your iOS or Android device.

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Action SA's Mashaba slams media houses over 'censorship' of election billboard - Eyewitness News

Matthew McConaughey has been quietly making calls to political experts as he weighs up whether to run for Governor of Texas, according to a report.

The Oscar-winning actor, 51, revealed in an interview last month that he wasconsidering a run for Governor of Texas in 2022 but did not reveal for which party .

Reactions ranged from joyful enthusiasm of fans and those impressed by his recent Texas winterstorm reliefdrive and gun-control campaigns, to stark warnings tostay out of Texas politics and eye-rolls in established Republican and Democratic political circles in the Lone Star State.

Now, insiders have toldPoliticothat the Hollywood star has quietly started making calls to political experts to take the temperature before he decides whether to throw his hat in the ring and run against current Republican Governor Greg Abbott, 63, who has indicated that he will seek a third term.

The Independent has contacted Mr McConaugheys representative for comment.

Republican strategist, Karl Rove, said of Mr McConaugheys potential run: I find it improbable, but its not out of the question.

He added: The question is: Would he run as a Republican? A Democrat? Independent? And where is he on the political scale? He says he has a funny phrase about being a hardcore centrist, but what party would he run under?

Matthew Dowd, founder of Country Over Party and former chief strategist on the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign, told Politico: I think theres an impression of, Do we really need another celebrity candidate in the midst of this?

But Brendan Steinhauser, an Austin-based GOP strategist, said: Im a little more surprised that people arent taking him more seriously, honestly. Celebrity in this country counts for a lot its not like some C-list actor no one likes. He has an appeal.

When Mr McConaughey first mooted a run earlier this year, many dismissed him as yet another inexperienced, Hollywood star interfering in politics and warned him not to look to the increasingly long list of celebrities-turned-politicians - former presidents Donald Trump andRonald Reagan; and former California governorArnold Schwarzenegger, as his role-models.

CNNpolitical analyst Jim Moore warned theTrue Detectivestar: You are not prepared. Be kind to your state and yourself. Stick with what you know.

But following a March Gallup poll that revealed a record-high 62 per cent of Americans feel that a third party option is needed, some have started eyeing the A-lister from Austin, who has refused to align as a Republican or Democrat, as a potential candidate.

On 10 March, The Libertarian Party of Texas, the state arm of the USs third most popular party, tweeted: Hey, @McConaughey, can we talk?

Matthew McConaughey speaks during "One World: Together At Home" presented by Global Citizen on April, 18, 2020

(Getty Images for Global Citizen)

Third, or minor, parties have historically performed poorly in American politics. This is largely attributed to first-past-the-post (FPTP), which favours a two-party system, creating less room for smaller parties who cannot gain any representation without an outright win.

Since 1990, just six (2 per cent) of governors out of 369 have been elected from minor parties. The most recent was Alaskas Bill Walker, a Republican turned Independent, who merged his campaign with Democratic nominee Byron Mallott in 2014. He dropped out of the 2018 race after low polling.

Only 53 Independent candidates for governor (14 per cent) have won at least 5 per cent of the vote.

An Independent, third-party candidate has never won a presidential election, not counting fresident George Washington who ran as an Independent but supported by the Federalist party.

Only once did a major party come third in a general election. In 1912, former president Theodore Roosevelt, represented by the Progressive Party, surpassed the Republicans to come second but was beaten by the Democrat Woodrow Wilson.

Not exactly a rounding endorsement for Mr McConaughey to run as a third-party nominee.

But Bekah Congdon, vice-chair of the Texas arm of the Libertarian Party, who tweeted at Mr McConaughey and is hoping to set up a meeting, said that following what some see as disappointing leadership by Republican Abbott, there may be an opportunity.

She told The Independent: Texas has for so long felt like a completely red state and we know its not. It has been about 26 years since a Democrat won a statewide electron here [Ann Richards 1991-1995] so its clear we have been stuck in one way of thinking for such a long time and that is holding us back as a state.

Founded in 1971 following the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, the Libertarians focus on the rights of individuals over government intervention. They bill themselves as culturally liberal and fiscally conservative, supporting same-sex marriage but also gun-rights (which Ms Congdon admits might not align with the actors previous campaigns on gun-control).

In 2016 the party appeared to be on the rise. It counted two ex-governors as its presidential candidates and received 4.5million (3.3 per cent) votes in its most successful national election result ever.

But in 2020, following a polarising four years, its popularity faded. Libertarian vice presidential candidate, Spike Cohen, who promised free ponies and zombie power, and presidential nominee Jo Jorgensen won just 1.86million votes (1.18 per cent).

Ms Congdon said that Mr McConaughey appealed because of his independent spirit.

He isnt Republican or Democrat and does a lot of pointing out negatives and positives on both sides. Wanting to stop nasty political rhetoric and bridge that divide, she said.

It has been building over the years as he has become more vocal here. He is someone who is relatable, someone who people like and respect, and has an enviable platform.

Speaking toThe Longview News Journal in March, Mr McConaughey said he was serious about the right leadership role but was put off by bipartisan politics.

He said: For me, I need politics to define its purpose before I would choose it as a possible lane for me to pursue. I dont know that politics is my category where I would be the most useful I am looking for where I would be the most useful and it may be that I could be more useful as a free agent.

He then gave a trademark, rambling monologue in which he appeared to endorse a third option, outside of mainstream politics.

Ive said this analogy a few times before, but someone told me: There aint nothing in the middle but dead armadillos and yellow lines. I said, Well, Im walking right down the yellow lines, right in the middle of the highway right now. And the armadillos are free having a great time, because right now, both sides are so far to the right or the left, there arent even tires on the pavement.

Ms Congdon concluded: Its hard to tell if hes serious, but were here for it if he is.

Born in Uvalde, Texas in 1969, the actor hit the big time in 1993s coming-of-age film, Dazed and Confused, before starring in a slew of critically-panned romantic comedies in the 2000s that painted him as a talentless hunk known for giving winding, nonsensical interviews and his catchphrase: Alright, alright, alright.

In the 2010s the actor, who was once arrested for playing the bongos naked, launched a comeback which he called a McConaissance, appearing in multiple hits including The Wolf of Wall Street in 2013 and winning an Academy Award for his role in Dallas Buyers Club in 2014.

Over the last few years the actor, along with other Texas-born stars like Beyonc and Sandra Bullock, has become increasingly active in civic life in his home state. In the wake of disasters, he has made large financial donations and been boots-on-the-ground with his foundation, Just Keep Livin, that opened in 2008.

Matthew McConaughey makes plea for Hollywood to embrace Donald Trump

In 2017 he ruffled feathers when he called for the entertainment industry to get behind Donald Trump and be constructive during his presidency.

A year later he spoke at gun-control rally, March for Our Lives, where heurged law-abiding, gun owners to take one for the teamand give up some of their gun rights.

At the start of the Covid pandemic, the city of Austin broadcast the Matt Signal, using the well-liked actor in a series of PSA ads to persuade residents to stay at home and practise social distancing.

In fall 2020, signs of a potential political future for Mr McConaughey began to emerge. The star, who was appointed Minister for Culture and visiting film professor by his alma mater, the University of Texas, in 2019, started to tell multiple media outlets that he was looking for a leadership role where he can effect change.

When a freak snowstorm hit Texas in February and crippled the states power grid, leaving thousands of residents without heat and electricity, Mr McConaughey was one of several Texas-born celebrities to fundraise.

Soon afterwards, the magazine,Texas Monthly, published a piece titled Matthew McConaughey and Beyonc Did More for Texas Than Ted Cruz lambasting the disgraced Texas senator who was caught breaking lockdown rules to escape the storm with a trip to a Cancun, Mexico.

In April, after months of denying it, the actor casually told Houston-based podcast, The Balanced Voice, that running against Gov. Abbott in 2022, is a true consideration.

On social media his mooted run has received mixed reviews. Some are calling for Beto or bust, referring to Beto ORourke, the Democratic politician who lost the Texas Senate race to Mr Cruz in 2018 and the presidential nomination in 2020.

But even if Mr McConaughey declined the invitation from the Libertarians (whose own candidate selection system would be his first hurdle) many believe there could still be space for a third party, or a high-profile, Independent candidate.

The most recent high-profile success story is Vermonts Bernie Sanders, the longest-serving Independent senator, who has switched back and forth between Independent and Democrat several times.

While his 2016 and 2020 Democrat presidential runs were unsuccessful, some analysts credit Senator Sanders grassroots campaigns with pushing the party further left.

In March a New York Times op-ed conceded that the time may be right for a third-party of the liberal centre to rise, showing respect for the outcome of elections, the rule of law [and] freedom of speech but scepticism of identity politics ... dictators and demagogues.

Conservative columnist Bret Stephens wrote: This is not a political party, yet. But it could be the seeds of a party.

Alright, alright, alright.

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Matthew McConaughey is making calls as he mulls a run for Texas governor - The Independent