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Daily Archives: August 8, 2008

Olympic Related Protest Results in Injuries

August 8th, 2008

Apparently, Ms. Mala is Ms. Mamita Downer when it comes to the Olympics. To which I have to say, BOO on Ms. Mamita Downer. And never fear, Vivir Latin@s, you always have La Macha to bring you your daily dose of random Olympic updates!

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I will start by pointing out two major stories to keep your eyes on. First, out in San Francisco, the organization Students for a Free Tibet has been on top of Olympic centered protests for a while now. SFT are against the colonial occupation of Tibet.

Thus far, SFT staged protests in Beijing (which resulted in three arrests) and San Francisco. The protest in San Francisco has some especially ugly undertones to it: there is a strong possibility that Chinese embassy officials cut the rope of a protester that was hanging from the roof of the embassy.

The second big story to pay attention to–my Spanish darling Antonio Valverde is a favorite to win cycling gold at these Olympics! The King of the Mountain begins his ride to victory tomorrow.

And I’ll be watching on the Canadian station, so I may actually enjoy the broadcast.

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U.S. Wants You : Young Latino Men, Even If They Have to Drag You Kicking and Screaming

August 8th, 2008

uncle_sam11-23-2004-b.jpgThe U.S. Military is so desperate to fill in the blanks that dead soldiers have left, that they are threatening to send high school students to jail if they dare to choose college over boot camp.

The recruiter from the Greenspoint Recruiting Station in Houston was suspended last week after a recording of his threats aired on a local CBS affiliate, KHOU. The recruiter, Sergeant Glenn Marquette, warned 18-year-old Irving Gonzalez that he would be sent to jail if he decided to go to college instead of joining the military, even though Gonzalez had signed a non-binding contract that left him free to change his mind before basic training.

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Olympics in China Have Officially Begun (Yawn)

August 8th, 2008

_44905140_70941755-9992-4c51-b2ee-d7794e51d898.jpgExcuse me for not getting all excited about the Olympics. I’m just not a sports person (except for South American futbol) and the whole scene of President Bush going to China to support U.S. athletes and speaking about human rights is just a little surreal, to put it mildly.

That said, the 2008 Summer Olympics have begun in China with an over four hour opening ceremony.

The BBC seems to have some of the better coverage but good luck trying to see the events online.

Image Via / BBC

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What is a Jibarito Sandwich?

August 8th, 2008

UrbanjibaroIn 2005, I had an opportunity to visit Chicago for a few days for a business conference and as soon as I arrived to the hotel my conference was being held at, I recieved an email on my blackberry from a friend Dulce Ramos. Dulce Ramos is a Chicago native and very successful woman that has an amazing career in real estate as well as very unique women’s shoe store called the Pump Room Boutique. I decided to call Dulce to let her know I was in town and before I knew it…she was at the Hotel picking me up to give me the Chicago Express Latino Tour.

You see…I had written an article inquiring about the existence of Latino Life in Chicago and Dulce really wanted to show me how proud the Boricuas are out in Paseo Boricua. What I encountered was fascinating, all these really nice shops and boutiques with very interesting themes and personality all of their own. She asked me if I wanted to have a “Jibarito” and I looked at her with a puzzled look…I had no idea what she was talking about. She took her time to explain it to me as we drove to a place called “Borinquen Restaurant” which is also known as the home of this Mysterious “Jibarito Sandwich”.

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Spain Says it Won’t Abide by Harsh EU Immigration Directive

August 8th, 2008

The Vice President of Spain, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega cleared up any possible doubt about her country’s stance on Europe’s harsh new immigration directive — “The Return Directive” — which would criminalize immigrants and allow them to be held up to 18 months before deportation. Speaking at a roundtable on immigration in the Dominican Republic — and flanked by her party’s Secretary of Integration, a Dominican immigrant and naturalized Spanish citizen, Bernarda Jiménez — De la Vega made things perfectly clear:

De La Vega said “[The Directive] has not been applied and will never be applied,” and asked that Latinos looking to immigrate to Spain “remain calm”, stating that Spain’s national laws provide for a maximum of 40 days detention if immigrants are picked up by authorities. In a serious tone, De La Vega ended her statement by saying “Is that clear?” She also urged potential immigrants not to worry about the economic slowdown which has left many in the construction business — a key sector for immigrants — jobless because Spain is poised to “continue growing”, insinuating that foreign labor will still be in demand.

Wow, sounds exactly like when our politicians talk about immigration, right?

Via / Público

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Texas Executes Another Latino 48 Hours Later

August 8th, 2008

Amid international outrage and diplomatic pressure, the state of Texas has put to death yet another undocumented immigrant who was allegedly denied his right to see consular officials after arrest.

Earlier this week Mexican national José Medellín was executed, and last night Honduran national Heliberto Chi was put to death at Huntsville Prison. Al Jazeera reports:

Heliberto Chi, 29, was pronounced dead at 23:25 GMT after receiving a lethal injection at a death chamber in Huntsville, the Texas department of criminal justice said in a statement on Thursday.

The execution took place after the US Supreme Court rejected his final appeal.

Chi, who was living in the US illegally, shot his former boss dead and wounded a colleague in 2001 during a robbery in the Texan city of Dallas.

The New York Times reports that Chi’s last words were “God forgive them, receive my spirit.”

Via / Al Jazeera

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