Posts Tagged ‘Politics’
Villaraigosa and Bustamante threatened
9:24 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · California| Controversia| Immigration| Politics · 1 Comment
25 Apr 2006
Hate rears its ugly head again in the immigration debate, with two prominent Latino politicians en la mira of anti-immigrant elements who threaten their lives. LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Lt. Governor (California) Cruz Bustamente have both been on the receiving end of threatening correspondence. Governor Schwarzenegger announced this news, but the two Latino politicians are playing down the incidents, according to Reuters:
Villaraigosa, son of a Mexican immigrant, said threats “come with the turf” and has also not increased his security.“There is nothing to worry about. … You can see by my face that I’m not concerned about that,” Villaraigosa told reporters.
The threats have taken on various forms, with Reuters pointing one out in particular that read “The only good Mexican is dead Mexican”. Not very original, I must say.
Via / CNN.com
Photo via USA Today (Dan MacMedan)
Latinos to take the vote left in CA
6:22 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · California| Politics| States · 2 Comments
7 Feb 2006
That’s what a new survey is saying.
Seventy percent of Californians who have registered to vote since 1990 are Latino, providing a growing benefit to Democrats and posing a threat to Republicans, according to a new voting report.
The Field Poll on election trends also said that there is partisan split between coastal and inland counties that favors Democrats but is slowly shifting in favor of the GOP as the more Republican inland population grows.
Evo, the (anti) fashionista
1:35 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Bolivia| Fashion| Politics · 1 Comment
2 Feb 2006
The New York Times reports today on the fashion rage that is sweeping Bolivia as a result of the couture of President Evo Morales. It seems that everyone and their mom wants a copy of the now infamous sweater that Evo wore during his audience with Spain’s president, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the King of Spain, Juan Carlos and other European dignitaries:
Lately, though, it is not just Mr. Morales’s oratory or policies that are getting attention, but his clothing, especially the multistriped sweater he wore to meet world leaders last month during a tour of Madrid, Beijing and beyond, before his inauguration on Jan. 22. Copies of the sweater are flying off the shelves in La Paz, the capital, at $10 each.
The State of the Union: Same Story for Latinos except for Spanish Commentary
8:54 am By Maegan La Mala · Bilingualism| Immigration| Politics · 2 Comments
1 Feb 2006
It took President Bush all of about 8 minutes to mention 9-11, weapons of mass destruction, and Bin Laden, making the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq central themes in last night’s State of the Union Address. The speech, which lasted a little under an hour, had a minute or two about what’s on the mind of most Latinos, immigration. Bush said he understood that immigrants play an important role in the economy of the United States but stood firm in promoting his visiting worker program and offering no amnesty to undocumented immigrants.
Perhaps the biggest difference in this year’s State of the Union Address was that there were two official Democratic reactions. One came in English from Tom Kaine, the Governor of Virginia and one in Spanish from Antonio Villaraigosa, the mayor of Los Angeles.
90 year old former Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet, was fingerprinted and had his mugshot taken yesterday as part of his indictment in the killing and disappearance of nine people in the 1970’s. The booking took place in Pinochet’s mansion in a suburb of the Chilean capital of Santiago, where he has been under house arrest.
Via / Terra.com
Latinos Can Wait in Texas
30 Nov 2005
Texas governor Rick Perry, much like California’s Arnold Schwarzenegger is not afraid to show his true colors. While Schwarzenegger alienates Californians by scapegoating teachers and nurses for the ills of the state, Perry is alienating Latinos and other minorities by showing them that they are not a priority.
Perry has called for a special election to take place January 17 to fill a vacant House of Representative position in a West Austin district, while an inner city Houston seat has been vacant since May. The inner city position will finally be filled this month, but it is strange that it took so long while the other district was filled so quickly (The West Austin position became vacant in November). The district that will be filled without much wait is overwhelmingly Anglo while the other seat which took over seven months is dominated by minorities. What a coincidence.
“It really shows a very basic and fundamental disrespect for the needs and concerns of Hispanic Texans,” said House Mexican-American Caucus Chairman Pete Gallego, D-Alpine.
Via / San Antonio Express-News
Court: “English Only” unfair
4:09 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Bilingualism| California| Justice · Comments Off
24 Nov 2005
A landmark ruling has come down in a Southern California case challenging the state’s “English only” instruction rule for ballots, in which voters say they were misled by signature gatherers and were unable to know that because they didn’t speak English. A win for voter’s rights advocates:
The trustee, Nativio V. Lopez, had come under fire for seeking exemptions to the state’s English-only instruction requirements and was partly blamed for the district’s lack of new school construction. He was recalled by 71 percent of voters.
The decision Wednesday by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals could be used to force election officials throughout the state to require multiple-language petitions for ballot issues, voting-rights advocates said.
It means “non-English-speaking voters have the opportunity to participate in the entire electoral process, from beginning – which often means deciding whether to sign a petition – to end, in the voting booth,” said former Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund attorney Thomas Saenz, who represented the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Orange County Registrar of Voters.
Via / San Jose Mercury News
If you love it so much, why don’t you marry it?
5:51 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Bilingualism| Politics| TV · 5 Comments
17 Nov 2005
As a follow-up to Rebecca’s post on Florida state senator Leslie Miller’s proposal to teach children Spanish in school from grades K-2, I wanted to comment on an exchange I witnessed between Senator Miller and (shiver) Tucker Carlson on the latter’s cable television show which left me despising Carlson even more. Not just because he’s a Republican but because he came off as a childish idiot. In response to Miller’s question of why we shouldn’t start teaching kids Spanish early and let them decide later if they want to continue:
CARLSON: Well, I’ll tell you why. Look, it sounds like you’re open to voluntary solution, which is certainly better than the compulsory one. But there are a lot of things you’d like your kids to know. You know, you’d love to learn them—how to learn to play the xylophone, or the accordion, or speak Esperanto or, you know, learn a lot about Finland.
He’s comparing learning Spanish, regarded by most as second most important language in the world to Esperanto and the xylophone. (He also said “learn them”. Jeez.)
Rooney and “negro”: a question of intention
6:02 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Celebrities| Politics| language · 1 Comment
4 Nov 2005
The hottest topic on the blogs today: CBS’ Andy Rooney’s proclamation on the Imus in the Morning show of his regard for the word “negro” to qualify individuals of African-American descent:
ROONEY: The word negro, which is a perfectly good word, it’s a strong word and a…a good word. I don’t see anything wrong with that.
On the blogs, I’ve read several people defending Rooney’s stance by saying that “negro” is used as a term for black people in Spanish-speaking countries. In Spanish, they say, it’s not offensive, so why should it be in English?
Sigue la batalla
1:32 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · California| Politics · Comments Off
31 Oct 2005
As a follow-up to some recent posts on California gubernatorial candidates’ courting of the Latino vote via Spanish-language ad campaigns and town hall meetings, I offer you some excerpts from a piece from today’s edition of the LA Daily News:
The governor taped a town-hall forum on Spanish-language Univision that aired statewide over the weekend, even as opponents launched their first Spanish-language TV ads featuring Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa attacking the governor’s proposals.The high-profile events are just the latest campaign efforts aimed at courting the 2 million Latinos registered to vote in California, accounting for 14 percent of the statewide electorate.
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- Pedro Julio Serrano on the Murder of Lopez Mercado
- Bay Area Community Members to Hold Vigil and Release Statement about Murders in Maryland and Puerto Rico
- Transgender Day of Remembrance and Latin@s
- Dear Troll(s):
- Puerto Rican, Latino Clergy, Theology Professors, Community Members To Condemn Brutal Hate Killing of Gay Puerto Rican Man
- Vigils for Justice y en Memoria de Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado
- Russell Athletic rehires fired union organizers
- When Things Go Wrong…Terribly Wrong.
- Official VivirLatino Statement on Lou Dobbs Leaving CNN
- Sexual Violence Against Women in Immigrant Detention
