Archive for June, 2006
If You’re Going to Cross, Please Use the Ladder Provided
9:19 am By Maegan La Mala · Immigration · Comments Off
21 Jun 2006
Ranchers and other homeowners near the U.S./Mexico border are making it a little easier for immigrants coming into the United States, by providing ladders. Their reasons are not all that altruistic. Some Texas ranchers are adding ladders along their fences because they are tired of fixing torn down fencing and losing their animals through holes. But just because the ladders are there doesn’t mean people use them. Paul Johnson, a rancher in La Copa, just south of a U.S. Border Patrol highway checkpoint that went up 75 miles from the border said:
“They ignore it a lot,” Johnson said. “They’re afraid that they’re monitored by the Border Patrol.” Johnson plans to take the ladders down, worried about the message he’s sending. “I think what it does is give a signal that we are wanting them to cross there, don’t mind the crossing, and that kind of magnifies the problem,”
Other area ranchers like Michael Vickers, opt for something a little different, like ringing fences with 220 volts of electricity.
Via / Yahoo News
Italian pop star: VERY sorry about moustache comment
5:10 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Celebrities|Controversia|mexico|Women · 2 Comments
20 Jun 2006
Tiziano Ferro, the guy who started a firestorm when he said all Mexican women had moustaches, says he’s VERY sorry about those comments. I guess my comment on the fact that without countries like Mexico, dumb pop stars like him wouldn’t have a career was true — he’s effectively lost his following in Mexico and he’s feeling quite bad about it — especially since he’s got a new album out.
According to People en Español, he points to his own “insecurity” as the motivation for the comments:
“The truth is there is no justification for what I did”, Ferro told Televisa Espectáculos. “[What I said] was because I am immature and insecure. The pressure of the live program made me feel very timid and I started to act like a clown so people would laugh because I’m very insecure”, explained the singer, who will release his new album Nadie está solo on June 27.
Cough. Ahem. Ah…his new album coincidentally comes out next week.
Deep in the heart of Texas: How do we get them to vote?
3:13 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Politics · Comments Off
20 Jun 2006
That’s what Latino leaders are asking themselves, and why they will be convening in Dallas this week. The issue of boosting the Latino vote is a huge one, and if Latino turnout is finally increased, it’s anyone’s game to win or lose. Who will get the Latino vote, the Democrats or the Republicans?
More than 1,500 elected Latino leaders from across the nation will come to Dallas this week to discuss issues such as how to boost Latino voter registration and turnout, officials said.The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials will host its 23rd annual convention in Dallas for the first time Thursday through Saturday. The association chose Dallas to “showcase a city where phenomenal political progress is happening,” Executive Director Arturo Vargas said.
Jenny : Not Top on Her Block
12:29 pm By Maegan La Mala · Celebrities|Money · Comments Off
20 Jun 2006
Jennifer Lopez is less powerful this year compared to last, at least according to Forbes magazine. In the magazine’s recently published list of the 100 most powerful celebs, Jenny from the block ranked #59, down from her spot of #24 the year before. Apparently her music, perfume, clothes, and movies aren’t what they used to be. Other Latinos on the list include Eva Longoria along with the rest of her Desperate Housewives cast at #34, Cameron Díaz at #70, Brazilian Futbolero Ronaldinho at #53 and funny man George López at number 85.
Via / People en Espanol
Miami School Board Says No Nos Vamos a Cuba
9:46 am By Maegan La Mala · Books|children|Cuba|Education|Miami · 7 Comments
20 Jun 2006
By order of a Miami-Dade County school board the book “Vamos a Cuba” and its English-language version, “A Visit to Cuba” must be removed from all Miami-Dade County school libraries. Porque? According to one board member who supports the ban, Perla Tabares Hantman:
A book that misleads, confounds or confuses has no part in the education of our students, most especially elementary students, who are most impressionable and vulnerable.
What’s so confusing and misleading about the books? Well it shows Cuban children smiling wearing their school uniforms. Everyone knows Cuban children never smile! But other countries shouldn’t feel bad. The school board voted to get rid of books from the same series about Greece, Mexico and Vietnam (What no China? Oh that’s right the U.S. has billion dollar trade treaties with them). It’s one thing to get rid of books because they are outdated. It’s another thing to ban books because of their “political content”. I thought democracies didn’t ban books. Silly me.
Via / Yahoo News
Nacho Libre: Racist?
6:42 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Movies|race · 15 Comments
19 Jun 2006
There’s lots of buzz right now around the new movie Nacho Libre”, in which comedian Jack Black portrays a Mexican lucha libre hero. I first heard about the movie a few months ago when a friend sent me the trailer, and I have to admit that the thought “racist” did cross my mind. I haven’t seen the movie and probably won’t, not because of the racism issue, but because it doesn’t look all that funny to me. But others have, and are commenting on the issue of whether the movie is to be taken as racist against Mexicans or just good clean fun:
The Orlando Sentinel’s movie blog says:
We’re on tricky ground, here. The movie could be accused of Catholic bashing, wrestling fan bashing (mouth-breathing morons, even in Mexico, it suggests) and a serious case of political incorrectness. But I don’t think it reaches the level of racism.Put-on accents can be racist. What is Apu of The Simpsons but a week-in, week-out stereotype?
Crooks who stole JLo’s wedding video: guilty
2:03 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Celebrities|Justice · Comments Off
19 Jun 2006
Ah yes, folks, the first JLo post of the week. Apparently we missed this back when it originally happened, but it seems that some fools decided to steal JLo and Marc Anthony’s wedding video and then “hold it ransome” for a million dollars. The goons have plead guilty to the crime:
One of two New Jersey men who were arrested after they allegedly tried to sell Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez’s stolen wedding video back to the couple for $1 million pleaded guilty Wednesday to attempted grand larceny.Tito Moses, 31, an ex-convict from Newark, admitted in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court that he tried to get a $1 million ransom for the stolen video. He said he and an accomplice negotiated with a man they thought was a Lopez-Anthony representative.
The “representative” was in fact an undercover detective, prosecutors said.
The judge in the case says the crooks will be looking at 1 1/2 to three years in the slammer for swiping the laptop containing the video from Marc’s Cadillac Escalade back in 2005, then later trying to sell it back to JLo and Marc’s “associate” for one million dollars.
Via / CBS News
Photo via HiStar.com
Jessica Alba Wants to Be Mas Flaca
12:52 pm By Maegan La Mala · Celebrities|Chismes · 2 Comments
19 Jun 2006
Proving once again that Hollywood is concerned about the body image of young women everywhere, one skinny actress wants to be skinnier, at least that is what is being reported. In Touch magazine reported that Jessica Alba said:
I have curves, but I don’t really like them. I wish I was skinnier and taller.
If girl was any mas flaca she wouldn’t be here! So is Jessica a victim of her industry or is she just as mush to blame for perpetuating the skinny = pretty equation?
Via / Hollywood Rag
Crossing the Border is More Expensive Thanks to Immigration “Reform”
9:37 am By Maegan La Mala · Immigration|Money · Comments Off
19 Jun 2006
President Bush’s move to send National Guard troops to the U.S./Mexico border may be working to slow down people crossing the border in an unusual way. It has been reported that the cost “smugglers” are charging to help those cross the border has gone up in recent weeks by as much as $2,000. This sharp increase in prices has caused people hoping to enter the U.S. to postpone or cancel their trips until they can save more money and has led others to try and make the crossing on their own, without help. Francisco Garcia, a volunteer at a migrant shelter in Altar, a farming town of 7,000 that has become a major gathering point for those heading to Arizona said:
With all this new security, it is obvious the migrant flow will have to move to more dangerous routes, and smugglers are using this argument to increase their prices.
Via / Que Pasa
Utah Enforces It’s English Only Law
2:19 pm By Maegan La Mala · Controversia|Internet|language|Politics · 3 Comments
16 Jun 2006
Utah has a state law in its books from 2000 that makes English the official language of the state and the Governor, Jon Huntsman Jr. intends to use it. He shut down a state-owned informational website because it contained Spanish. The site, www.espanol.utah.gov, was started only a few weeks ago as a Spanish language companion to the state’s official website. The site contained information on how to access services including state health and tax services. Well seems like the English only speaking population didn’t appreciate the gesture and called the Governor’s office to complain that the website violated state law.
Hola!
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