Archive for March 12th, 2009
Jueves Jams: Gloria Trevi is F-ing Nuts
6:13 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Bizarro|Funny|Music · Comments Off
12 Mar 2009When I first heard this blast from the past I must admit I was disturbed by the subject matter — did I hear right? Is this really a song about someone ODing on pills and coming back to basically stalk their ex-BF under the guise of “guardian angel”?
Check out that bathtub scene!
It’s so bizarre. And so classic and so 80s, I just had to share in an attempt to lighten up your Thursday afternoon. Hang in there, it’s almost the weekend!
Via / YouTube
Obama Lightens Up on Cuba
5:24 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Cuba|Latin America|Politics · Comments Off
12 Mar 2009Much to the chagrin of right-wing Cuban Americans, President Obama is moving towards a more open relationship with Cuba after 40 years of abysmal dealings between the two countries. He’s not lifting the embargo just yet (I fear riots might break out in Miami should that ever happen) but he is lightening restrictions on visits to the island by those Cuban Americans who have family there. 5 years after restrictions were enacted by Bush, Obama’s shaking things up a bit, allowing those with family in Cuba to visit the island once a year for as long as they choose.
In its 2009 budget bill, Congress took away the U.S. Department of Treasury’s funding for enforcement of more restrictive rules that only allowed visits to immediate relatives once every three years.That meant the trips were still illegal — but the U.S. government did not have the funding to investigate it.
On Wednesday night, the Treasury department lifted the restrictions all together, making annual trips to Cuba legal. A rule posted on the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s web site shows Cuban Americans can now follow the regulations that existed prior to Bush’s June 2004 toughened rules.
The rollback also means people can visit more distant relatives, including those by marriage.
While this isn’t the extent to which I wish things would happen in U.S.-Cuba relations, it is a step ahead which I personally applaud. Havana, however, has remained — uncharacteristically — tight-lipped on this new development, which also includes a hike in the amount of money can be sent back to Cuba by Cuban Americans, which was previously limited to $100 per month.
Meanwhile, not everyone is happy.
Via / Miami Herald
A little Salmita ogling
12 Mar 2009Ai, it’s been such a long time since I’ve had the opportunity to ogle and hump over the latest picture/words of my Salmita. This comes at just the right time.
The Mexican actress, famed for her curvy figure, used to be flat-chested when she was younger and regularly prayed for a bigger bust.
She even put her hands in holy water to try and make a miracle happen.
She said: “My mother and I stopped at a church during a road trip we were making from our home in Mexico.
“When we went inside the church, I prayed for the miracle that I wanted to happen. I put my hands in holy water and said, ‘Please God, give me some breasts!’”
It’s so wonderful how connected Salma and la Macha really are–I’ve actually prayed the same thing! Although it must be admitted, the praying happened under different circumstances (that’s all I think you need to know for now! :->).
May God always answer our prayers in such a blessed way.
Amen.
National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers
2:07 pm By la Macha · Family|Health|society|Women · Comments Off
12 Mar 2009Over at Viva La Feminista, fellow Chicana blogger, Veronica, has an interesting post up about how today is the National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers.
Today we would be more correct to call Gunn’s assassination as an act of terrorism. One that was repeated six more times in the United States. Terrorism that occurred in homes and at work places. Terrorism that are committed by fellow Americans. Dr. Gunn was a simple man providing health care to women.
As the bumper sticker says, don’t believe in abortion? Don’t have one.
In light of how the Catholic church is treating a fellow Latina and survivor for her decision (and her mothers!) to protect her own health and life, I think it’s a small thing to take a moment from our day and offer profound thanks to abortion providers, and also to remember all those women who are currently denied the right to abortion access, whether it be because of imprisonment, immigration status, youth, or inability to afford the proceedure.
El Salvador: Elections Come With a History
8:37 am By Blogs Media · El Salvador|Politics · Comments Off
12 Mar 2009
With the presidential elections in El Salvador just a few days away, many here in the U.S., especially those who are not Salvadorian, don’t understand or have a sense of the complicated politics in the Central American country. Most don’t even know anything about el Salvador save stories of gang murders.
A right-wing party has dominated Salvadorian politics for the last 20 or so years at the expense of “minority” populations like indigenous peoples. Roberto Lovato from Of America gives us some historical context:
To understand the current presidential elections in El Salvador, you have to understand the cities, towns and campo, El Salvador’s countryside, located outside the capital of San Salvador. What follows is my attempt to provide further context for the media’s description of the horse race between the FMLN and the ARENA parties. A good starting point is the fact that both parties trace all or some of their political roots to Izalco, a relatively small town in the western, coffee-growing part of the country. Izalco is also home to one of the largest concentrations of El Salvador’s small (less than 1% of the population) indigenous population….
And you can find the indigenous presence in the deep, dark soil of Izalco’s history. Almost all of the children from Izalco’s Mario Calvo school pictured above are descendants-great, great and great, great, great, grandchildren- of the 20,000-30,000 indigenous people who rebelled against deadly poverty and abuse and were then slaughtered in 1932 by General Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez, the dictator who perpetrated what is known as “La Matanza” (the Great Killing). Martinez and his troops did all this in less than a month, according to scholars like my friend Aldo Lauria-Santiago, whose book is pictured below with a cover of the Izalco volcano.
Jueves Jugete : Pantech Matrix Pro
6:44 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Features|Tech · Comments Off
12 Mar 2009
Oh how did I ever live without a smartphone? Recently I was given the opportunity to try the new Pantech Matrix Pro available from AT&T and now I am officially hooked. What was it about the Pantech Matrix Pro? Well I’ve never had a smartphone so the experience of having a device that let me access my email, check out VivirLatino, use twitter, take pictures to post on twitter and make phone calls has changed me for life even if it is a Windows Phone.
Yes the Pantech Matrix Pro uses Windows Mobile 6.1 pero I got over that quickly besides, Windows Mobile is handy for edting Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, which you can do on this phone.
The Matrix Pro is not a touch screen phone pero it is shiny and pretty enough that my AT&T touch screen phone user hermana wanted to play with it. The steel-blue metallic finish of the phone also makes it susceptible to fingerprints, especially toddler prints, pero the phone comes with a felted protective cover that is also good for wiping off greasy dedito marks.
One of the selling features is a dual sliding backlit keyboard. One is a regular numerical one for all your calling needs. The other is a full QUERTY keyboard for all your texting, tweeting, emailing and surfing needs. A downside to the dual keyboard is that it makes the phone a little bulky and it feels a little heavy in your hand (2″ x 4.2″ x .9″ (WxHxD) and weighs in at 4.3 ounces to get all specific).
The Matrix Pro features a large LCD screen, which produces great images and video if you are surfing You Tube.
Speaking of surfing, the Matrix Pro does not have wifi on it, which worried me at first since I had heard from AT&T users that the 3G network was a little, um, unreliable. Pero, I must say that in the days I was playing with the phone, I never had a problem once getting online.
Other features include a MicroSDHC slot for additional storage, a proprietary USB connector to synchronize and charge the phone, which means yes another cord to carry around. However I must say that the phone charge lasts a pretty long time even with near constant use.
It’s a quad-band GSM and tri-band UMTS phone which means you can use it globally. It supports Bluetooth 2.0.
Oh and it has a camera, a 1.92 Megapixel digital camera that takes good quality pics and video.
Apparently you can also do video sharing with AT&T Video Share to send live video during a phone call to a user with a compatible phone. Also, the Matrix Pro has GPS support for location-based services such as AT&T Navigator and other online direction programs for the chronically lost.
All in all, I really like this phone for a smartphone novice like me, or for a more experienced smart phone user, it’s a good option.
You can check out an online device simulator for the phone aqui and then buy it here.
You’ll have to drop $179 on a 2 year AT&T contract after a $50 mail in rebate.
Hola!
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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