Posts Tagged ‘iraq’
Shoe thrower gets sentence reduced
7 Apr 2009
It was good to read that the man who threw the shoe at George Bush in Iraq got his sentence reduced from three years to one.
Iraq’s highest court reduced the prison sentence Tuesday for an Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at former President George W. Bush from three years to one, a court spokesman said.
Abdul-Sattar Bayrkdar, the spokesman, said the decision was taken because the journalist had no prior criminal history. The Federal Appeals Court ruled on the defense’s appeal, which cited an Iraqi law stipulating a maximum sentence of two years for publicly insulting a visiting foreign leader.
El Salvador : Last Latin American Country in Iraq Leaving
1:57 pm By Maegan La Mala · El Salvador|Iraq War · Comments Off
24 Dec 2008
In exactly a week, the last Latin American country with troops in Iraq will withdraw.
According to remarks made yesterday by Salvadoran President Tony Saca, troops will withdraw from the country on December 31st. “Considering the lack of a United Nations resolution, the government of El Salvador decided to end our presence in Iraq,” Saca said.
Other Latin American nations that used to have troops in Iraq were Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic.
The Salvadorian contingent is made up of 200 soldiers. In the five years since the Salvadorian troops have been stationed, five soldiers have been killed.
Via / The Latin Americanist
Mainstream Media: Compassion first, truth last?
22 Dec 2008This story was interesting to me–I wondered at what was not said. *What* masked men, specifically, committed this horrible atrocity? Were they somehow connected to the invasion of the U.S? And even more to the point, why could this boy’s injuries be taken care of in Iraq? Is it because the hospitals there have been so bombarded and their supplies so depleted that they simply are unable to help?
And considering that few Iraqi’s are actually allowed into the U.S., why was this boy? Was it because the U.S. knew that his story would make us all feel really darn good and happy that the U.S. is in Iraq, helping those poor, unmodern souls?
(to be clear, I am *extremely* happy that this child is getting the help he needs, and as far as I am concerned, it’s the *least* the U.S. can do for him–but at the same time, I think it’s vitally important to be critical of these feel good immigration stories. Why is it ok and actually a *good* thing for certain people to immigrate to the U.S. but not others? Why are certain parts of people’s immigration stories so radically dismissed or left out of the public sphere?)
Spanish blogger Polonio 210 credits President Bush’s shoe ducking skills to the latest Wii game : “Wii Zapatilla”.
Now if only there was a game where we could throw shoes at Bush. My kids would love it and so would I.
Via / Mi Blog es Tu Blog
Bush Gets a Goodbye Gift in Iraq : Two Shoes to the Head
7:45 am By Maegan La Mala · Iraq War|Politics · 2 Comments
15 Dec 2008But the president’s message on progress in the region was having trouble competing with the videotaped image of the angry Iraqi who hurled his shoes at Bush in a near-miss, shouting in Arabic, “This is your farewell kiss, you dog!” The reporter was later identified as Muntadar al-Zeidi, a correspondent for Al-Baghdadia television, an Iraqi-owned station based in Cairo, Egypt.
In Iraqi culture, throwing shoes at someone is a sign of contempt. Iraqis whacked a statue of Saddam with their shoes after U.S. Marines toppled it to the ground following the 2003 invasion.
Unfortunately, the journalist missed (that or Bush’s reflexes are that good).
U.S. Govt. Wants to Recruit Mexicans for War
11:56 am By Maegan La Mala · Controversia|mexico|Politics · 3 Comments
27 Dec 2007
The U.S. government is reportedly attempting to play an interesting game of tit for tat. It’s offering undocumented Mexican immigrants a free pass to citizenship if they agree to fight for the U.S. in Iraq. Univision reports:
The U.S. government is carrying out recruitment campaigns aimed at Mexicans, mostly without papers, who are interested in going to the war in Iraq in exchange for citizenship, according to the El Universal newspaper.Ildefonso Ortiz Cabrera told the Mexican newspaper that he received the “invitation” when he was living in Phoenix, Arizona. He then decided to return to El Burrión, a town in Northern Sinaloa.
Isn’t it ironic that the government invites undocumented immigrants to fight but then forgets about the families of soldiers who have already done time in Iraq? Perhaps they know they probably won’t ever have to make good on the citizenship offer, since some won’t make it back alive.
Via / Univision
Related: NYT Slideshow “A Mexican Killed in Iraq”
Liveblogging the Univision Republican Debate
8:43 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Health|Miami|Politics|TV|Venezuela · Comments Off
9 Dec 2007
On to Latin America, everyone in the audience clapped upon mention of the failure of Hugo Chavez’s constitutional reform.
How would you deal with Chavez? Ron Paul was booed when he said that he would talk with Chavez. He said we created the Chavez’s and Castro’s of the world by butting into their affairs. Mitt Romney said that Chavez is no friend of the U.S. but that Chavez isn’t the people of Venezuela and vice-versa. Giuliani agreed with Mitt Romney. Giuliani said that Chavez is acting like a dictator and should be treated as one.
First it Was The wives: Now Immigrant Vets’ Parents Face Deportation
12:48 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Immigration|Politics · 3 Comments
7 Sep 2007Earlier this summer, I wrote about how the wife of a U.S. soldier in Iraq faced deportation. Not satisfied with going after the significant others of those who have risked their lives (and sometimes lost) in Iraq, the Department of Homeland Security is now targeting undocumented parents of Iraq war vets.
Three years after U.S. Army Private Armando Soriano, 20, died fighting in Haditha, Iraq, his father is facing deportation. Soriano is now buried in Houston, Tex., his hometown, where his parents, undocumented workers from Mexico, are currently living.
What’s even sadder about this story is that Soriano was able to get a green card for his mother, but not his father. So not only did the couple lose a son, now they may lose each other. Should there be some special consideration for families of vets?
Almodovar takes to the streets to protest war
1:45 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Celebrities|Spain · Comments Off
20 Mar 2007
He didn’t make it to the Oscars, the Golden Globes or the Goyas, but Spanish superstar director Pedro Almodovar did attend an event of a different kind this past Saturday in Madrid. Almovodar led a group of around half a million of his fellow Spaniards in saying no to the war in Iraq:
Almodovar told the private Europa Press news agency he was protesting “the barbarities they have been committing in Iraq for the past four years.”“We’re here for peace and for the closure of Guantanamo because it is a disgrace for civilization,” he added.
Spain currently has no troops in Iraq, as President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero pulled all of his men from the region back in 2005, which makes the protest and the fact that Spaniards — famous or not — continue to pressure world governments to pull out of Iraq all the more admirable.
Today, 300 senators and officials from all Spanish political parties except the right-leaning PP (ousted from government after the March 11th, 2004 terrorist attacks) came together on the steps of the Congreso de los Diputados in Madrid to protest the war as well.
Via / Yahoo! Entertainment
Latinos On Bush Bolstering Iraq Troop Numbers
4:08 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Politics · Comments Off
11 Jan 2007
I, like many people last night, tuned in to listen to President Bush announce the deployment of at least 20,000 more troops into Iraq. Also watching were many people of color, including Latinos, who are being agressively targeted for recruitment into to U.S. military. Just this morning I witnessed two young men of color inside a local recruiting station being chatted up to sign on that dotted line. While my personal opinion is that more troops will only serve to make a bad situation worse and cost people’s lives unjustly, according to an article in today’s El Diario/ La Prensa, Latino opinion in NYC is mixed.
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.
About | Advertise with us | Contact | Twitter
blog advertising is good for you
blog advertising is good for you
- Karen: Have you see the census figures for 2010? Latinos are not all that diverse. Most" Latinos" are Mexic [...]
- Maegan La Mala: Hi Karen, I agree but only in part. I think that people do get up in cults of personality but th [...]
- Maegan La Mala: I haven't heard anything about a rally being held Jose Luis. i know Presente.org is organizing a pet [...]
- Karen: Also, Al Sharpton, now a host on MSNBC, brought attention to the Trayvon Martin case because he knew [...]
- jose luis: when the rally is going to be held in SAn Diego..if there is on??? [...]
- Washington DC Bound
- By Land & By Sea Drawing Attention to Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera
- Welcome to NY Secure Communities
- DOJ Puts Sheriff Arpaio on Notice. Who Will Put the DOJ on Notice?
- VL at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival: Babygirl
- 45th Precinct Residents to File Complaint Against Abusive NYPD Officers
- Monday Musica : Maga Bo – Quilombo do Futuro
- NYC : Confronting Police Violence in the Courts – May 19, 1-3pm – Justice Committee Workshop
- Passage of NYS DREAM Fund No Dream Come True
- No Surprise in the S-Comm Task Force Sham
