From the great folks at St. Peter’s. I encourage all to attend. St. Peter’s is a wonderful parish filled with warm and inviting people, and their food is fantastic!
It’s an older story, back from March of this year. I came across it because it has been making its way through the Polish Press in the U.S. of late. Note that the BNP is Britain’s far right political party.
From Lancaster Unity (also here): BNP use POLISH plane in campaign poster despite plans to ban East European migrants
The British National Party was ridiculed last night for fronting its anti-immigration campaign with a picture of a Polish Spitfire.
Its poster for the European elections, for which its manifesto includes a ban on Eastern European migrant workers, shows the Second World War plane above the slogan ‘Battle for Britain’. But Air Force history experts have identified that the aircraft was actually flown by the RAF’s 303 Squadron —“ made up of expatriate Poles rescued from France shortly before Nazi occupation.
BNP party chiefs defended their use of the image and insisted they knew all about the background. But John Hemming, MP for Yardley, Birmingham, ridiculed this claim. He also condemned the far-Right party for using the image of Polish heroism in a campaign that includes stemming immigration from Poland.
He said: ‘The BNP often get confused and this happens because they haven’t done their research. This is just another example of them getting it wrong. They have a policy to send Polish people back to Poland —“ yet they are fronting their latest campaign using this plane. It is absurd to make claims about Englishness and Britishness fronted by this image. It’s obvious they just picked an image at random and they are really clutching at straws if they say this was deliberate.’
The 303 Squadron was the most effective Polish squadron during the Second World War. During the Battle of Britain Polish pilots shot down 203 Luftwaffe aircraft which stood for 12 per cent of total German losses in the battle.
A Royal Air Force museum spokesman said: ‘The Spitfire in the poster can be identified as belonging to 303 Squadron of the Polish Air Force by the code letters ‘RF’ painted in front of the RAF roundel. 303 Squadron operated Spitfires from Northolt, Kirton- in-Lindsey, Coltishall and other RAF stations in the UK between 1941 and 1945 after flying Hurricanes in the Battle of Britain.’
No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron-song
I cannot say how proud I am to have been privileged to help form and lead No. 303 squadron and later to lead such a magnificent fighting force as the Polish Wing. There formed within me in those days an admiration, respect and genuine affection for these really remarkable men which I have never lost. I formed friendship that are as firm as they were those twenty-five years ago and this I find most gratifying. We who were privileged to fly and fight with them will never forget and Britain must never forget how much she owes to the loyalty indomitable spirit and sacrifice of those Polish fliers. They were our staunchest Allies in our darkest days; may they always be remembered as such! — Group Captain John A. Kent DFC, AFC, Virtuti Militari.
In the no kidding department, a recent study published by the Immigration Policy Center finds Immigration Does Not Increase Unemployment:
There is little apparent relationship between recent immigration and unemployment rates among native-born workers, according to a pair of studies released May 19 by the Immigration Policy Center.
The reports analyze data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Census 2000 data . They are the first two installments of a three-part series, Untying the Knot, which seeks to —debunk the frequently misrepresented relationship between immigration and unemployment,— IPC said.
According to IPC, opponents of an immigration overhaul —frequently argue that immigrants ‘take’ jobs away from many native-born workers, especially during economic hard times.—
—We commissioned this report in order to take a serious look at whether or not immigration is in fact impacting unemployment among the native-born and what we have found is that scary rhetoric is not a substitute for good data,— said Ben Johnson, executive director of the American Immigration Law Foundation. IPC is the research arm of AILF.
—These findings are in line with other long-term studies conducted around the world which have shown that immigration has very little impact on native unemployment,— Johnson said. —In order to have a serious policy debate, we need good, honest numbers and that is what we believe we have provided in these reports.—
Unemployment Rates Similar in High-, Low-Immigration Areas
According to the reports, if immigrants took jobs away from native-born workers, one would expect to find a high unemployment rates in those parts of the country with large numbers of immigrants, particularly recent immigrants who are more willing to work for low wages and under worse conditions than long-term immigrants or native-born workers.
However, —analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau clearly reveals that this is not the case,— IPC said.
—The level of unemployment in the U.S. is painful, scary and difficult—”so we shouldn’t belittle it,— said Dan Siciliano, senior research fellow at IPC and executive director of the program in law, economics, and business at Stanford Law School. —However, the very notion that immigration has anything to do with unemployment does just that. It belittles the challenge of unemployment,— he said.
Siciliano said the idea that immigration is causally linked to unemployment among the native-born is a —red herring distracting from the real causes of unemployment.—
According to the report, there is —no correlation between the number of recent immigrant workers in a given state, county, or city and the unemployment rate among native-born workers.—
For example, recent immigrants make up 8.4 percent of the population in the Pacific region (including California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii) but only 2.8 percent of the population in the East North Central region (including Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin). However, both regions have nearly the same unemployment rate, 10.8 percent in the Pacific region, and 10.0 percent in the East North Central region.
Another example cited in the report is between New Jersey, a state where recent immigrants make up 7.3 percent of the population, and Maine, where recent immigrants make up 0.8 percent of the population. Both states have similar unemployment rates—”8.3 percent in New Jersey and 8.1 percent in Maine, according to the report.
—Locales with high unemployment rates do not necessarily have large numbers of recent immigrants, and locales with many recent immigrants do not necessarily have high unemployment rates,— according to the report.
IPC said that on average, recent immigrants comprise 3.1 percent of the population in counties with the highest unemployment rates, which average 13.4 percent. Recent immigrants account for a higher share of the population (4.6 percent) in counties with the lowest unemployment rates (below 4.8 percent), the report found.
Immigrants Don’t Impact Minority Unemployment
Additionally, the report found that there was no connection between immigration and unemployment rates of native-born minorities, such as African Americans.
—On the question of race we find that there’s just no connection between immigration and unemployment,— said Rob Paral, senior research fellow at IPC and the principal of Rob Paral and Associates, a research consulting firm.
—The culprit when it comes to unemployment is not immigration,— Paral said.
In the 10 states with the highest shares of recent immigrants in the labor force, the average unemployment rate for native-born blacks is about 4 percentage points less than in the 10 states with the lowest shares of recent immigrants, according to the report.
Similar findings were found for the 10 metropolitan areas with the highest number of recent immigrants compared with the 10 metropolitan areas with the lowest number of recent immigrants.
—The absence of any significant statistical correlation between recent immigration and unemployment rates among different native-born racial/ethnic groups points to deeper, structural causes for unemployment among the native-born, such as levels of educational attainment and work skills,— IPC said.
As I have oft repeated, the people who complain most loudly about immigrants have other, more central issues, an animus against people of slightly darker skin tones, or against Catholics, or for a thousand other less well-informed/reactionary reasons. They’re the first to enjoy cheaper meals, lower cost construction, and the time and energy they saved not having to mow the lawn, plant the garden, or clean the house, all because José, Janek, Engjí«ll, Sonja, or Agnieszka did the work. They rarely speak against wage theft or the abuses these workers are subject to. They close their eyes, pay 10-20% less, and complain — Why can’t they just speak English?
Why? Because yes, they’re talking about you; your greed, laziness, and hypocrisy.
Huw gets it right in his I’m a bad Homosexual Activist and Californians and the Prop 8 thing… posts (thanks to the Young Fogey for the link). We stand to complain about high prices, high unemployment, unfairness from our comfort zone while the person working for us is getting squished. He says:
Making a —just for me society— instead of a Just Society is really rather sinful.
And I say Amen.
The PNCC, a Church founded by immigrants, understands the immigrant experience and honors people of all nations and cultures. The Lord asked us to go and preach to all nations because all are valuable in His sight. Human value is a totality and our call to value each person’s inherent dignity is absolute. That’s makes us, as Christians, as PNCC members, rather radical.
Jerzy Tumaniszwili (Jerzy Trapper), an Oregonian living in Beavercreek, received a promotion to Rear Admiral from the President of Poland, the Hon. Lech Kaczynski. Admiral is the highest rank in the Polish Navy, equivalent to General in the Army. Admiral Jerzy Tumaniszwili is a distinguished WWII veteran of the Polish Navy, decorated with Virtuti Militari and other orders. He served as artillery officer on the Polish Navy ships (ORP) Burza, Krakowiak and Piorun, settling in the U.S. after the war.
The appointment ceremony will take place at the Polish Hall in Portland on May 31, 2009. The day’s events begin with an 11am Holy Mass for veterans of WWII at St Stanislaus Church followed by a reception and appointment ceremony at 12:15pm in the Polish Hall in Portland.
Jerzy Tumaniszwili will receive the appointment from the Polish Ambassador in Washington, Robert Kupiecki, and General Leszek Soczewica. Polonia is invited to the ceremony.
An additional note of interest is that Rear Admiral Tumaniszwili is a Pole of Georgian descent. The following video covers some of the history of Georgian officers in the Polish Army between World Wars I and II:
Friend, Dr. Felipe Korzenny, Director of the Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication at Florida State University, and Senior Strategy Consultant for the Captura Group, and Lee Vann, Founder and CEO of the Captura Group have several new articles out examining different ethnic/cultural groups in the United States and their use of social media.
In The Multicultural World of Social Media Marketing social media usage patterns are explored. The study notes:
We aggregated information to find out what ethnic/cultural groups are more likely to visit social networking sites. We found broad diversity in social media behaviors among different ethnic/cultural groups and that emerging minorities visit social networking sites more frequently than non-Hispanic whites.
We then broke out the data for leading social networks, MySpace and Facebook, to see if there are any groups leading usage of the most popular social networking sites—”again, minorities lead the way, with English Preferring Hispanics being twice as likely to visit MySpace regularly than Non-Hispanic Whites. The relative importance of emerging minorities as compared with the traditional majority points to a major shift in social influence…
The study goes on to state:
Culturally, ethnic minorities tend to be drawn to collectivistic values and often look to one another to help guide decisions and opinions. In addition, ethnic minorities are more likely to leverage social networks to communicate with groups of family and friends who are geographically dispersed. Social media facilitates such collective sharing of information and communication.
We can take this information and juxtapose it to the role of the faith as a key expression of these “collectivistic values” and as a centering point for leveraging social networks essential to communication and collaboration in the Hispanic community.
In Reaching Spanish Preferring Hispanics on Facebook the authors reiterate the cultural ethic — ethnic minorities tend to be more collectivistic and go on to note that there is a dearth of culturally relevant content online.. While a certain type of relevancy — that which is considered current and trendy — is not important in the faith context, the other type of relevancy — that which begins with understanding, and speaks the language of the heart — is important.
Bishop Hodur’s National model continues to be an effective means of communicating with those in need of God’s power and healing. God is best communicated, is most clearly understood, in a cultural, national, and linguistic context that relates.
From TPM: What Part of Illegal Don’t Conservatives Understand — or Why do They Ignore Wage Theft
Wage theft is illegal. Yet rightwing politicians largely dismiss the problem and most systematically oppose laws to increase enforcement of wage laws. Yet at the same time in recent years, those conservative politicians have been attacking undocumented immigrants as undermining wage standards for native workers. The hypocrisy is palpable, but here’s a lesson: state legislators standing up against wage theft have been able to expose that hypocrisy.
At Progressive States Network, we’ve worked with community groups, advocates and legislators to promote wage enforcement directly as a counterpoint to anti-immigrant rhetoric and promote a policy agenda that builds support for all workers, native and immigrant alike. In states like Kansas, Iowa, and Connecticut, anti-immigrant legislation has been derailed once the issue of the failure to enforce broader wage laws entered the discussion. For example:
In Connecticut in 2007, a bill was introduced that would have made it a criminal offense to hire undocumented workers, but instead it was modified into a state law that goes after all employers who commit workers’ compensation premium fraud in order to cheat workers out of benefits.
When the Iowa Senate in 2008 approved SF 2416, a bill to toughen enforcement against employers who violate Iowa wage laws, it stalled movement in that chamber of an anti-immigrant bill approved in that state’s House and halted anti-immigrant legislation for 2008.
When the Kansas House in 2008 voted to gut an anti-immigrant bill by adding provisions to severely punish employers violating wage laws and exploiting undocumented immigrants, it led to deadlock on a purely anti-immigrant bill in the state Senate that lacked those wage enforcement provisions. Anti-immigrant politicians walked away from their own bill rather than support wage law enforcement amendments.
If anti-immigrant politicians resist such wage enforcement proposals, it just emphasizes that their supposed concern for wage losses by low-income workers is an empty smokescreen for hatred and nativism.
…
The point is that anti-immigrant resentment smolders across the country, partly because of racism and cultural xenophobia, but also with a greater number of people who recognize the unacceptability of illegal sweatshops, but wrongly have been told to scapegoat immigrants and the immigration system. When progressives stand up and attack wage theft directly and demand real enforcement of wage and hour laws, the elimination of illegal sweatshops will help blunt the effectiveness of much of the overall anti-immigrant political attack.
What most don’t seem to ‘get’ is that wage theft and other abuses heaped on workers — and most especially on undocumented workers — amounts to a new system of slavery. Call it indentured servitude or slavery, the effect is the same. State and Federal laws were enacted to protect all workers without concern over their status because to do otherwise would amount to complicity with corrupt employers. Employers who fail to abide by those laws, simply because the worker doesn’t speak English, or is undocumented, or is in some other way powerless, are no more than slave-holders.
People won’t buy goods from China because of its treatment of Tibet, but they feel perfectly content shaving a few nickels off their restaurant bill — those nickels being the unpaid wages owed to a new class of slaves.
These ‘new slaves’ are us. They are our grandparents and great-grandparents, the people Bishop Hodur stood with when they were abused by the coal bosses of Pennsylvania. That is our legacy. I stand with workers, to protect their God given humanity and dignity. As a Church we must stand with workers so that the words of a deceased coal miner won’t have to be recorded again (from King coal: a piece of eastern Pennsylvania history by Jill M. Beccaris and Christine Woyshner in Social Education, January 1, 2007).
Forty years I worked with a pick and drill,
Down in the mines against my will,
The Coal King’s slave, but now it’s passed
Thanks be to God I am free at last. –Tombstone of an anthracite miner in Hazleton, Pennsylvania.
From Columbia University: Professorship will focus on research and education within university’s East Central European Center
Columbia University recently completed a $3 million fundraising effort to establish its first endowed chair in its Polish studies program at the university’s East Central European Center.
—The new chair in Polish studies reflects not only Poland’s historical contributions to art, literature and the sciences as the birthplace of such notable figures as Czeslaw Milosz, Frederick Chopin, Marie Curie and Pope John Paul II, but also recognizes its current prominent position as a member of the European Union,— said Nicholas Dirks, Columbia’s vice president and dean of the faculty of arts and sciences. —Students will benefit from the wide array of studies we offer that pay tribute to the remarkable achievements that Poland has realized culturally, economically and politically.—
Following an international search to fill the professorship, a scholar specializing in one of the social sciences as it pertains to Poland and its neighbors will join Columbia’s faculty.
The announcement of the endowed chair took place in Warsaw on Wednesday, March 25. A formal ceremony was organized by Poland’s Consulate General in New York and the Foundation for Polish Science. It was attended by Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland’s minister of foreign affairs, Bogdan Zdrojewski, minister of culture and national heritage, and Aleksander Grad, minister of state treasury, among others.
During the ceremony, Foreign Minister Sikorski thanked the institutional and individual donors and emphasized that he was personally —touched and proud— that a project that was so important for Poland was successfully completed.
—The Polish studies chair provides a marvelous and timely opportunity to engage our Polish and central European colleagues in the university’s planned worldwide network of Columbia Global Centers, which are designed to mobilize scholarship around the globe to address the multiple challenges facing us all,— said Kenneth Prewitt, vice president for Global Centers at Columbia.
John S. Micgiel, director of the Columbia’s East Central European Center, led the five-year fundraising program that culminated in a final transfer of funds last month.
—Our ability to reach out successfully to Polish business was the direct result of the engagement of Consul General Krzysztof W. Kasprzyk of the Polish Consulate General in New York, Professor Wlodzimierz Bolecki of the Foundation for Polish Science in Warsaw, and especially Polish Consul Dr. Ewa Ger,— said Micgiel. —Their connections and determination to make links between Poland and Columbia built on our earlier efforts to establish a Polish studies professorship among Polish-American institutions and individual donors.—
The Kosciuszko Foundation, which promotes Polish culture, education and history in the United States, was one of the original proponents of the Polish studies chair at Columbia and helped facilitate fundraising, along with Warsaw’s Semper Polonia Foundation.
The Brooklyn-based Polish Slavic Federal Credit Union, headed by Bogdan Chmielewski, was the first corporate donor to the project, contributing more than $500,000. The credit union capped off the effort with an additional check for $181,000.
—This is a truly historic and prideful day for Polonians and all Polish-Americans,— said Chmielewski, who attended the ceremony in Warsaw. —Poland’s visibility within the hallowed halls of U.S. academia will increase greatly. Furthermore, there will be heightened awareness of Poland’s vast contributions to world culture.—
Other major donors include the Warsaw Stock Exchange, led by Ludwik Sobolewski; The National Depository for Securities, headed by Elzbieta Pustola; ENEA, an energy conglomerate led by Pawel Mortas; Poland Energy Group, led by Tomasz Zadroga; the Special Economic Zones of Katowice, Warmia and Mazury, Pomorska and Kostrzyn-Strubicka, and the Malopolska Agency for Regional Development, with Piotr Wojaczek, acting on behalf of the regional zones; and the Bogdan Fiszer Silesia Capital Fund, led by Bogdan Fiszer.Antoni Chroscielewski coordinated fundraising efforts on behalf of the Polish Army Veterans Association.
From The Valley Independent: Polish community celebrates centennial of former church
Sto lot (100 years) was celebrated by persons of Polish descent in Monessen on Sunday.
The former St. Hyacinth Catholic Church was founded in 1909 by people who emigrated from Poland, and Sacred Heart of Jesus Polish National Church had its beginning in 1929.
The observance, held in St. Vincent de Paul Jozwiak Hall, featured many ties to their Polish heritage, including the food, entertainment and homage to Our Lady of Czestochowa.
The Rev. Dennis Bogusz, a former pastor of St. Hyacinth Church before it was merged into Epiphany of Our Lord Church, along with other Monessen parishes, was keynote speaker.
“I enjoyed my time at St. Hyacinth,” the priest said.
He reminded the audience that May 3 is a significant day in Poland – marking Polish Constitution Day, signed in 1791.
“This is a very important day for Poles,” he said, “as we also honor Mary, Queen of Poland.”
Dan Zyglowicz, Greater Monessen Heritage Museum board chairman, was master of ceremonies.
He credited Dorothy Jozwiak with the successful Monessen Polish heritage exhibit at the museum. It may be viewed until June 1, Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Jozwiak spoke of the history of Our Lady of Czestochowa as a tribute was presented at her icon.
Led by Dolores Yonek, four children – Mary Grace Steffy, Stephen Palli, Gianna Gaul and Sarah Palli – placed flowers in front of the icon.
Dorothy Janol and Irene Babinski lit candles at the shrine as Jozwiak paid tribute to: Polish immigrants, founders of the churches and schools, clergy and religious, parish and civic organizations, fraternal groups, business establishments, veterans, and people buried in St. Hyacinth Cemetery…
A wonderful article from the Boston Review: God’s Work: What can faith-based activism do for labor?
—I came to Washington to work for God, FDR, and the millions of forgotten, plain, common workingmen,— recalled Frances Perkins. And so she did. From 1933 to 1945, Perkins helped create the core features of the New Deal state: minimum wage and maximum hours laws, legal guarantees for workers’ rights to organize and join unions, prohibition of child labor, Social Security, unemployment compensation, and fair labor standards. For all of the New Deal’s limitations, its laws and programs tamed Upton Sinclair’s —Jungle,— encouraged broad economic security and prosperity, and created, in economic terms, the most equitable America in history. And it was promoted and protected not only by strong unions but also by religious leaders, thanks to the prominence of a social gospel in the Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish traditions at mid-century. During her twelve years as secretary of labor, Perkins herself spent one day a month in contemplative retreat at a convent. For her, the reference to God was not simply a rhetorical flourish.
Since the 1970s economic inequality has surged to levels not seen since the 1920s, Dickensian abuses of workers have returned, and deregulation has enabled the worst economic catastrophe since the Great Depression. President Obama’s Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, faces challenges not unlike Perkins’s. Yet today, as in the 1930s, crisis also creates the opportunity for a bold new direction—”a New New Deal, potentially more inclusive of the nation’s diverse labor force than Perkins could have imagined. Might the nation’s churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples again have a role in rescuing a wayward economy?
In addressing this question, Solis can learn much from Kim Bobo, founder and Executive Director of Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ). Bobo’s goal is to revive America’s justice-seeking prophetic tradition, with a particular focus on economic justice…
The PNCC has a strong tradition as an advocate for working men and women. Its immigrant and democratic roots were formed by men and women who were workers, who knew degradation at the hands of mine bosses, and who looked forward to a brighter, more democratic future. John J. Bukowczyk covers a lot of history in the Labor, Radicalism, and the Worker chapter in his book: Polish Americans and Their History: Community, Culture, and Politics
The PNCC connection is both historic and full of opportunity. Knowing what I know from my 9-5 job, Ms. Bobo is correct in her assessments:
Labor laws today are such a mess that they bewilder and deter those who need them most. As Bobo notes, they are —woefully inadequate,— —incredibly confusing,— and barely enforced. She tells the story of Anka Karewicz, a twenty-year-old Polish immigrant to Chicago who, in order to stop a single employer from cheating and demeaning her and her fellow workers, would have had to contact three different federal agencies (the Department of Labor, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and two state agencies. Karewicz gave up.
Whatever a person’s ethnic background, whatever their status, the Church, our democratic Church, cannot stand by as the exploitation of working men and women continues. We are to stand with them, pray for them, and work together for a brighter future for all of God’s children.
From Interfaith Worker Justice: Check out the new IWJ worker rights website, Can My Boss Do That?
Can My Boss Do That? is a one-stop source of information on an entire range of worker rights topics, from whether you have the right to go to the bathroom to workers compensation, health and safety, and the right to organize a union.
IWJ is launching the website in the face of the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes, in which millions of workers are losing their jobs or fear for their job security. The website provides concrete resources for the unemployed, their families, and worker advocates, including topics such as keeping health care benefits, unemployment compensation, your rights during layoffs, “can they fire me?”, getting your last paycheck, and looking for work.