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Archive for September, 2006

Dice%20Alic.jpgKumbia King Cruz Martinez and his wife grupera star Alicia Villareal have reported ex friend A.B. Quintanilla to Mexican authorities, citing that they have received threats from Quintanilla.

According to a press release sent to Peopleenespanol.com by the couple, “yesterday (Tuesday)…Quintanilla received an order in which he was notified that must before Public Ministry No. 3 for ‘crimes in general’, result of accusations presented by Mrs. Alicia Villarreal and Mr. Cruz Martínez”. The release also said that they cannot give more details about the legal action “out of discretion” and that for the same reason the couple will not be making statements.

So WHY put out a press release?

It’s been a rough couple of months for A.B., between the ongoing war with Martinez, and the unfortunate video of him at a Mexican airport. I’m personally tired of hearing about his antics, but report on this for all of you who are not.

Via / People en Español

Xuxa had to learn to be sexy

12:47 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Brazil| Celebrities| Women| sex · 1 Comment

29 Sep 2006

xuxa.gifRemember Xuxa? Yeah, that hot little number that all your anglo friends’ moms would turn off when you were watching “a kids show” on “the Spanish channel”. Her legendary sexy kids show has circled the globe, and has even been parodied by The Simpsons. Now, Xuxa’s coming clean about how she learned to be sexy:

Actress and singer Xuxa, who still reigns supreme in the world of children at 43 years of age, revealed in an interview the secrets that made her a sex symbol two decades ago, when she was still a virgin.

A pencil helped make a pretty, innocent blonde with blue eyes, who still slept with a teddy bear into a femme fatale, according to Istoé Gente magazine.

She had never made love but was already considered a sex symbol. How could she show a face of desire if she had never done anything, Xuxa asked herself. Laughing, the “reina de los bajitos” remembers her first sessions as a model and when she got her director instructions from the: “Bite the pencil, Xuxa! Now imagine that the sun is in your eyes. Keep wrinkling your brow, with your eyes almost closed. Now suck on the air. That’s a face of desire!”

Yuck. What I find ironic is that Xuxa started her career as a porn star, in a movie in which she seduces a 13 year old, and someone thought it would be great idea to make her into a kids show idol.

Via / El Confidencial

Ugly Betty is Beautiful Fluffiness

12:05 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · TV · 5 Comments

29 Sep 2006

Ugly%20Betty.jpgLast night ABC premeired Ugly Betty starring America Ferrera as the fea Betty Suarez. The show, partially produced by la bella Salma Hayek (who makes a guest showing as a gun toting telenovela maid), is a light, fun look at an “ugly” Latina assistant struggling to find her place in the superficial world of a fashion magazine. The show is based on the popular Colombian novela Betty la Fea. This English language version features the fashion capital of the world, New York City, as one of its main characters. Betty is a Queens College graduate and the street on which she lives with her widowed father and single-mother sister looks nearly identical to the Corona, Queens street I spent part of my childhood on (complete with the 7 train passing in the background).

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Is Corporate America Firing Latinas for Being Latina?

9:42 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Careers| Labor| Women| race · Comments Off

29 Sep 2006

bear_stearns_logo_large.jpgAccording to a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Sally Hatwig was fired by Bear, Stearns & Co. for revealing that she was half-Latina.

Hartwig, who worked for the firm for about three months, claims she was unfairly criticized about her performance and terminated in July 2004 because of her national origin, according to the lawsuit.

Not surprisingly, the worldwide investment banking and securities trading and brokerage firm is denying the claim.

“We believe this case is completely without merit,” Bear Stearns spokesperson Elizabeth Ventura said. “She was terminated during her probationary period due to poor job performance.”
Ventura said Bear Stearns treats discrimination issues seriously and has procedures in place to hear and act on employee concerns.
“She never expressed an issue of bias while she was an employee here,” Ventura said. “This issue only came up after she was terminated.”

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David Bisbal afraid to sing rancheras

6:20 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Celebrities| Chismes| Music · Comments Off

28 Sep 2006

bisbal.jpgSpanish pop star David Bisbal — an Operación Triunfo graduate and a major hit in Latin America — says he would love to sing rancheras alongside los grandes de la música mexicana, but is afraid it will be taken as an offense by the Mexican people. I guess with the recent controversies that have caused the Mexican public to bite back, “el chico de los rizos de oro” is a little paranoid:

According to the Almería-born singer who now lives in Miami, he would love to record rancheras, but is convinced that many people would see it disrespectful. No one really understands why.

Whatever the reason is, he says it would be a great honor to record this type of music with Mexican artitsts Vicente, Alejandro or Pedro Fernández.

I like how they group Pedro in there as if he were actually part of the family…

I was going to say that the Mexican people had no problem with Rocío Dúrcal singing rancheras, but then again, Bisbal ain’t no Rocío Dúrcal.

Via / El Semanal Digital

Almodovar’s “Volver” in Oscar running

2:43 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Celebrities| Movies| Spain · 3 Comments

28 Sep 2006

01_main.jpgPedro Almodovar’s new film Volver, which has received rave reviews all over the world, has been chosen to represent Spain in the Oscar running for Best Foreign Language film by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The film, which earned special recognition for its female cast members at the Cannes film festival (yet fell short of taking home the Palm D’Or) has also been named “Best Film of the Year” by the International Federation of Film Critics. Now, speculation is mounting as to whether — in addition to representing Spain in the foreign language category — Volver will also be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar.

Sony Picture Classics (who recently released a fabulous Almodovar retrospective) plans to release Volver theatrically in December. I can’t wait.

Via / 20 Minutos

big-gulp-super-3.jpgBeing a NYC chica who uses mass transit to travel and bodegas for some of her fast food shopping needs, the news of 7-Eleven Inc. dropping Venezuela-owned Citgo as its gasoline supplier after more than 20 years doesn’t really impact me. Pero it probably will influence drivers across the U.S. and the oil market in Venezuela. According to the corporate heads from the convenience store chain, the decision was at least partially motivated by Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez’s recent comments before the United Nation’s General Assembly.

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Immigration Reform is Homophobic

9:00 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · GLBT| Immigration · 1 Comment

28 Sep 2006

immigration.jpgOne aspect of immigration and its so-called reform that is rarely addressed in the mainstream media is how GBLT immigrants and their families are impacted. Certainly there are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender immigrants of varying statuses within the United States. Unfortunately all the immigration “reform” proposals on the Congressional table choose to be blind to that fact.

Under current U.S. immigration laws a same-sex partnership–even if the couple has been joined in a formal civil union or marriage ceremony–is not considered sufficient grounds for sponsorship.

The United States falls behind 19 other nations that recognize lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender relationships for the purposes of immigration.

Read more…

Water…

9:33 pm By Maegan La Mala · Environment| Food| Latin America · 5 Comments

27 Sep 2006

siula_glacier.jpgBecause not all of us care about Paulina…

Everyone should know that the human body can only function for a few days without water. That the human body is blah-% water. In other words, water is life. Water is important. However, frozen water is probably even more important.

Glaciers are huge sheets of ice. Similar to the iceberg that we all saw in Titanic, except glaciers reside on land and slowly cut a path through the land they rest upon. They’re remnants of the last ice age, water trapped on land, isolated from the bodies of water they came from. The bodies of water they’d like to return to… Why are they so important?

Currently, most of the glaciers in South America, tropical glaciers, are steadily declining in mass. (As are most of the tropical glaciers around the word.) They’re getting smaller. Which shouldn’t be a big deal, right? After all, they’re just ice, right?

The thing is, that for the people who live near these glaciers, i.e. everyone who doesn’t live in the huge already over-populated big cities of South America, the slow melt of glaciers provides the only source of fresh water. Water used for drinking and for sustaining agriculture. Glaciers have been sustaining life in the valleys of the Andes Mountains for thousands of years, melting in the summers, irrigating the fertile land, and regaining their mass during the winter months. A perfect system.

However, as the Guardian Unlimited reports:
Andean glaciers are melting so fast that some are expected to disappear within 15-25 years, denying major cities water supplies and putting populations and food supplies at risk in Colombia, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina and Bolivia.

The culprit is a rise in temperature. Global warming.

The end result: this melt will not only effect the Andean populations in South America, but also the large coastal cities such as Lima and Santiago de Chile. Less water, coupled with the daily contamination of Andes from mining, such as this gold mining project taking place on the Chilean/Argentine border–a project that involves the removal of three glaciers–could lead to an extinction of our Andean peoples, and even denser populations in the big cities. The latter which would result in even poorer living conditions in our big cities. (As if the slums could get any worse.)

It’s up to us to do something about this. Less electricity. Less air conditioning. Walk some more. Plant those trees. Plant wheatgrass on your windowsill. Write to your congresspeople, your president. Buy less gold. The valleys of the Andes Mountains are worth it.

Image via / Lee Chai ©2004 (Siula Glacier / Perú)
News via / BBC News and The Guardian Unlimited and The International Press Service News Agency

26773.jpgI am not sure whether to applaud this or ask the question: “why internet cafes and not places for them to live?”:

The government of the Argentine capital inaugurated the first “cybercafe” for children and adolescents who live on the street, the first of five of these facilities expected to open in the city.

More than a simple cafe with internet access or just a place where one can play games online, the new facility is a “learning and recreation” space to help better the living conditions of “these children that have lost almost everything,” said Jorge Telerman, Mayor of Buenos Aires, during the opening of the cafe.

According to Spain’s 20 Minutos, these cafes will offer, on top of internet access, recreational and educational activities, and light meals.

The idea for this project was supposedly born from data that showed that homeless children in Argentina spent 60% of the money they receive panhandling on cybercafes.

While on the surface it seems like a great idea — providing internet access, and therefore access to information, education, and the world in general to these children — my mind can’t help but wonder why more basic needs aren’t covered first, like a home, foster parents, meals and education.

What do you think? Is this a good idea or does it overlook these children’s well-being?

Via / 20 Minutos

Image via 26Noticias.com.ar


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VivirLatino is a daily publication published by 2 Mujeres Media, dedicated to featuring all the latest politics, culture, entertainment of interest to the diverse and influential Latino and Latina community in the U.S.

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