9:31 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Food|Health|Texas · Comments Off
22 Jul 2008
The world is now safe from and for tomatoes. It’s those spicy Tex-Mex jalapeños that are not taking the heat for a nationwide salmonella outbreak.
Federal officials investigating a three-month-old salmonella outbreak have isolated the bacteria in a jalapeño pepper from a small distribution facility in McAllen, Tex., and yesterday warned consumers nationwide to avoid eating raw jalapeños or products that contain them until more is known.
So baby, if you like it raw and spicy, too damn bad.
Via / The Washington Post
7:18 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Activism|Los Angeles|Movies · Comments Off
22 Jul 2008Back in 2006, we wrote up about how celebs and activists were getting behind the struggle of some Los Angeles residents who were fighting to protect 14 acres of community farmed land smack in the middle of the city from the city. Now there is a documentary about the struggle, called The Garden. From the website of the film:
The fourteen-acre community garden at 41st and Alameda in South Central Los Angeles is the largest of its kind in the United States. Started as a form of healing after the devastating L.A. riots in 1992, the South Central Farmers have since created a miracle in one of the country’s most blighted neighborhoods. Growing their own food. Feeding their families. Creating a community.
But now, bulldozers are poised to level their 14-acre oasis.
The Garden follows the plight of the farmers, from the tilled soil of this urban farm to the polished marble of City Hall. Mostly immigrants from Latin America, from countries where they feared for their lives if they were to speak out, we watch them organize, fight back, and demand answers:
Why was the land sold to a wealthy developer for millions less than fair-market value? Why was the transaction done in a closed-door session of the LA City Council? Why has it never been made public?
And the powers-that-be have the same response: “The garden is wonderful, but there is nothing more we can do.”
If everyone told you nothing more could be done, would you give up?
Sadly, there aren’t any scheduled screenings up on the website, but just checking out the trailer you should be moved.
4:17 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Uncategorized · Comments Off
21 Jul 2008As much as I love me some Jay Smooth, I don’t know if I completely buy the argument that we need to call peeps out who are being racist based on their actions and not on the fact that they are racist. Why? Bueno porque there are so many subtle ways of being racist without saying the slurs and making the watermelon jokes. Can’t I do both? Can’t I just smack ‘em upside the head?
What do you think?
Via / Ill Doctrine
2:44 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Politics|Spain|TV|Venezuela · Comments Off
21 Jul 2008Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez is all about making up lately. First he becomes friendly with Colombia’s Alvaro Uribe, and now he wants to hug it out with King Juan Carlos, the same King Juan Carlos who told Chavez : Why don’t you just shut up aka Porque no te callas.
Somehow, porque no me das un abrazo isn’t as catchy or reggaeton worthy.
Via / The Latin Americanist
12:44 pm By Maegan La Mala · Movies · 2 Comments
21 Jul 2008Went to the movies this weekend and saw the preview for Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Can you say extreme unease? What could possibly go wrong with a movie about dancing, Spanish-accented Chihuahuas (watch the clip and see how the dogs lose their accent once they start singing hip/hop sounding song)? Should we ask Taco Bell? The confusing part for me is if you look at the list of Latin@ stars they recruited for the film, pretty much all the big guns are there, even my Salmita.
Could there be something redeeming in a Chihuahua movie? Why is the lead Chihuahua character voiced by a non-Latin@? I guess we’ll have to wait until October 3rd to get our answers!
11:58 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Blogs|Events|Internet|Politics|Texas · Comments Off
21 Jul 2008For many of us independent Latino bloggers, going to Netroots Nation wasn’t an option for financial reasons. While I take issue with a conference that claims to be changing the face of progressive politics while pricing independent political bloggers out, the fact remains that conversations happen in these spaces that we need to be a part of.
XicanoPwr, via Matt Ortega, posted a video recording of the “Our ‘Dos Centavos’: Strategies For Latino Bloggers.” panel. The panel tackled issues of importance to the Latino blogomundo including why we blog, the issues we blog about, and our (in)visibility.
11:36 am By Maegan La Mala · france|Spain|Sports · Comments Off
21 Jul 2008
This year’s Tour de France is the most competitive (and hence, most interesting) it’s been in years. I admit to being obsessed with this year’s tour (it has nothing to do with large groups of men in skin tight suits pumping up huge hills. I swear.), especially with my main man, Alejandro Valverde and his team Caisse d’Epargne. Valverde and Caisse d’Epargne have both taken some hits this Tour: Valverde began the Tour with a huge crash and Caisse d’Epargne just lost one of it’s strongest members (Oscar Pereiro) to a horrible crash. But Valverde has vowed to fight on. And in yesterday’s stage, he did exactly that, fighting through the uphill climbs in the Alps to move up into 9th place from 14th. The best part was when Tour announcers breathlessly proclaimed Valverde was “biking like the true Spanish King of the Mountain he is.”
I love anybody who can be proclaimed a ‘true’ King of the Mountain. Mhm.
9:58 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Colombia|history · Comments Off
21 Jul 2008Ok so no one saw the two actually drinking Colombiana with beer. I was drinking refajo as the President of Colombia and Shakira celebrated Colombian independence and called for an end to the cycle of violence in their country.
Shakira and Uribe are joined by Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva and Peruvian President Alan Garcia. Eleven of the hostages that were rescued together with Ingrid Betancourt were also present in Leticia.The Colombian pop idol called on guerrillas, who still are involved in a war against the government to demobilize and work with the government towards peace.
Later she performed together with fellow Colombian singer Carlos Vives. Hundreds of thousands of people were visiting the border concert.
Via / Colombia Reports
7:58 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Arts|Events|New York City · Comments Off
21 Jul 2008
Over the weekend I had the opportunity to catch the very packed Museum of Modern Art exhibition on Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí , his paintings and his films.
The exhibit, on view at the top floor of the MOMA through September 15, features 130 paintings, drawings, scenarios, films, and sculptures by Dalí. It is really interesting to see how the same themes and images: melting clocks, cut eyeballs, and ants, appear across the different mediums. Among the films being shown is Un Chien andalou, made with Luis Buñuel, featuring an unforgettable and cringe worthy eyeball cutting scene.
6:08 pm By Maegan La Mala · Colombia|Latin America|Politics · Comments Off
20 Jul 2008
The headline is an understatement. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Colombian cities (video after the jump) and towns — as well as in other countries– on Sunday to protest the continuing captivity of FARC hostages.
Recently freed FARC hostage Ingrid Betancourt — the causa célebre‘s celebrity — was on hand for the protest in Paris along with a bunch of other celebrities of the Latino farándula:
In Paris, Betancourt led chants of “No more hostages!” as she addressed a crowd of several thousand people who came to watch artists perform in a square across the river Seine from the Eiffel Tower.Colombian star Juanes, Spain’s Miguel Bose, and French artists Renan Luce and Michel Delpech were among the singers playing at the concert.
At Betancourt’s side was the socialist Bertrand Delanoe, who told the crowd: “Our duty is to continue fighting for the liberation of all hostages in Colombia.”
VivirLatino is a daily publication published by Mamita Mala Media, dedicated to featuring all the latest politics, culture, entertainment of interest to the diverse Latin@ diaspora.
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