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11/14/07- Isabel Allende graced the capital city of Washington DC with her presence at a talk and book signing at the Organization of American States. It's a beautiful building located just across from The White House.
The place was packed as you can see from the pictures, and Allende kept very busy signing copies of her book for the large gathering of illuminaries from around DC. We ran into several Latin American ambassadors at the event among other folks. Everybody loves Isabel Allende.
(That's the Ecuadorian ambassador on the right)
(That's Isabel sitting on the fountain, signing books for everyone)
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8/14/07-Clear Channel's, WLW 700 Cincinnati, continues to mock immigrant Hispanics. Following is a translation of a WLW 700 Ad which recently ran mocking illegal immigrants:
{Music…Mariachi music playing}…”Illegal
aliens…they’re here and they don’t speak English, which makes talking to an
illegal alien difficult. So here are a
few useful phrases for next time you converse with an illegal alien. Si qualquiera pregunta les diga
sus estudiantes de cambio de Suecia……… If anyone asks tell them you're exchange students from Sweden. Tenga cuidado con esas xxxx de podar(?)…….
Be careful with those hedgeclippers around the garden. Stay tuned for more
helpful phrases on 700 WLW, The Big One.” [WLW's translation]
Below is a letter written by senior LULAC leadership to ClearChannel, WLW's parent company, which came to our attention most recently after the above 30 second broadcast. (We are working to get this 30 second broadcast up on our site, as soon as possible. Please check back.)
I know it has been some time since we last spoke, but I wanted to bring to your attention a concern with WLW 700 in Cincinnati.
In May of this year the station put up an offensive billboard "the Big Juan" in an effort to promote themselves with anti-immigrant English speaking listeners (see billboard below) by making fun of the Latino community.
LULAC Ohio Deputy Director Jason Riveiro rallied a broad coalition of organizations against the billboard and was successful in getting them removed.
General Manager Chuck Fredrick met with Jason and committed to cleaning up the stations act to prevent future offensive material claiming that the station made a change in policy and that he would have the final say on all advertising campaigns.
Unfortunately, Mr. Fredrick has already reneged on his commitment as the enclosed audio clip of a WLW 700 advertisement currently playing on the station underscores.
The local Hispanic community is outraged that the station is deliberately demeaning them in an effort to increase ratings and profit at the station. They are demanding that Mr. Fredrick be removed from his position and that the demeaning advertisements stop. They also want to have a community advisory board appointed in order to work with the station's management to prevent future misconduct by the station.
As you know the station feature's Bill Cunningham, the conservative talk show host, who has already had several Don Imus type incidents himself.
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Hispanic leadership is urgently working to setup meeting with ClearChannel to discuss the company's response to WLW's actions.
-Hispanic.com
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The immigration issue is being debated by our Washington lawmakers again.
Talk back! What are you thinking? Reply to this posting with your comments. We are send your responses to congresspeople on both sides of the issue before Congress votes.
As a group we have a greater voice, then as single petitioners.
We have relationships with a couple congressmen and women, but if you have a specific congressperson you'd like for us to send comments to, please specify that in your comment.
We will ensure all the comments arrive at the correct office.
-Hispanic.com
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6/21/07- On our way back from the immigration press event at the Capitol, one of our employees ran across these naked PETA protestors doing their thing right in front of the Spanish Embassy. Now remember this is ultra-conservative Washington DC we are talking about.
This is our friendly protestor who told us all about the cause and gave us some pamphlets.
She also just kept smilin' and posing for the camera, like she was posing for an Easter picture.
And yes, she really was topless, except for a bit of tape covering some crucial bits.
Many of the male passerby's were "studying" the view more than the pamphlets!
Oh the issue: right...well PETA is promoting it's Running of the Nudes instead of what is termed the "bloody Running of the Bulls", which they describe as a "cruel spectacle".
So PETA's inviting you to come on down to the Running of the Nudes. All you have to do is "strip down and join us." So if you choose to accept this mission, you'll be running nude down the cobblestones in Spain 2 days before the "Running of the Bulls".
These protestors were definitely pretty naked. The onlookers couldn't believe it! The policemen who were monitoring the protest looked like they were LOVING the view.
They were hanging out on their motorcycles just checkin' out the scene...
Here's another shot of our protestor lady. It was actually kinda embarrasing to be taking pictures of all these naked people, so we got out of there pretty quick and didn't stick around too long to snap more.
..After all, we are here to cover the issues.....
We work hard for you all...
-Hispanic.com
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6/21/07- Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) announced their continuing support for the Immigration Bill and the Farm Workers of America in a press conference today in conjunction with the United Farm Workers.
Here's the pic's from the Senate Building! Farm workers from all over the nation were in attendance to show their support for the bill. A few quotes below:
Senator Feinstein: Those workers [farm workers] who have toiled and done jobs that effectively no American would want to take.
Senator Kennedy: 70,000 children of permanent legal residents have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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6/16/07- Thoughts and prayers for the family and friends of missing Specialist Alex Jimenez and Private Byron Fouty.
The ID cards of the soldiers have been found in an al Qaeda safe house north of Baghdad, but there is still no further word on their whereabouts.
Jimenez hails from Lawrence, Massachusetts and attended school in the Dominican Republic, where his family is originally from. He later returned to the US, enlisted, and married Yadelin Jimenez. Jimenez's parents are Ramon Jimenez and Maria Duran.
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6/11/07- Hispanic.com was fortunate to speak with Angela Kelley of the National Immigration Forum, and Rich Stolz, Deputy Director for Public Policy at the Center for Community Change about the immigration bill issue.
Angela Kelley, National Immigration Forum
Is there a chance the bill will come back? I think is very possible, I don’t think the bill is dead. There’s been a lot of work (since the bill was withdrawn) by the Democratic and Republican Senators who put it together. The Republican Caucus meets every Tuesday. And President Bush is coming over tomorrow to address the Republican caucus about the immigration issue. It’s not often he does this.
He’s going to try and shake out some Republican votes. There are also some Democrats too who are not in favor with the bill as well. From our estimates we have 40 Democrats who support the bill, this means we need about 20 Republican votes.
…When the bill comes back, folks should stay tuned…some amendments will make it better, some will make it worse.
If this bill comes back…it will come back exactly as it left off…This week the Senate is working on an energy bill.
Rich Stolz, Center for Community Change
We should all be concerned about immigration as a community. People need to understand what’s at stake. While a comprehensive bill is being developed in Senate, it is very important we respond with strength & send clear messages of what’s acceptable & not acceptable. Consequences of not passing the bill are several:
-It will lead to continued exploitation of certain workers
-Continued deaths of people crossing border
-It will continue keeping families separated
-It will continue putting the dreams of immigrants and undocumented workers on hold
I don’t think we should underestimate our own strength.
Next week there is a major event for children and families. It is on June 19th. It’s a pro-immigration rally led by 1000s of pro-immigration activists and allies. There will be a prayer service, then a procession to the White House and then the Senate. It will focus on raising aware on the impact of immigration on families.
-Hispanic.com
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From time to time, I want to post what I consider to be
vital info for the visitor to Honduras. One such topic is Honduran beer. I used to poo-poo Honduran beer because I found the quality to be very inconsistent. Instead, I used to buy Heineken, the real stuff imported from Holland. It was a real bargain compared to the States. A bottle of Heineken was normally only $1.50-$1.80 in a restaurant. But now things have changed. The
Cerveceria Hondurena was bought a few years ago by
SABMiller, and the quality has markedly improved. At the same time, Heineken is no longer imported from Holland and is now imported from Costa Rica where it is bottle under license. One swallow and you will know its not the 'real' thing.
So now I proudly drink Honduran beer. In general Honduran beers are quite light and contain 4.5% - 5% alcohol.
What are the local brews? Here's my take on the Honduran brands:
Barena- Think Honduran Corona. It's in a clear, transparent bottle with a light flavor and very easy to drink.
Port Royal- Think Honduran Michelob. The namesake comes from
Roatan. It's a cold filtered beer, and the one most people are familiar with since it's the one that's exported. This is considered the Honduran quality beer
Salva Vida- Think Honduran Budweiser. It's a very light tasting beer. Personally, I find it has very little flavor, but then I don't think Budweiser has any flavor either. This is probably the most popular Honduran beer.
Imperial- Think Honduran Heineken. This is a pilsner style beer with a little more intense flavor. This classic formula has been brewed since 1930, and is sometimes considered Tegucigalpa beer. While all the beers are brewed in San Pedro Sula, Imperial is more widely distributed in the capital.
Imperial is my personal preference, but when its not available I drink Port Royal.
Finally, beer in Honduras is quite a bargain, generally selling for about 20-30 lemperas ($1.00- $1.50). With prices like this, one can afford to, as they say in New Orleans, 'laissez les bons temps roulez!'
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5/18/07- We spoke with U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., by phone earlier today. She discussed the Senate’s proposed immigration bill.
I truly believe this is the one and only time we will have to do an immigration bill. We are going into a presidential year…it will not come up…[during the presidential year. We’ll] have to wait for the new president, and we don’t know how involved they’ll be…
[The bill provides for:]
-safe and secure borders
-stronger employer sanctions
-a path to legalization for the 10-12 million people here undocumented…
What were the compromises?
The only way we got Republican support for the legalization program was [through] some reform of process…After the existing list of green cards…given out in about 8 years…the methodology for green cards [will go] on a point system more based toward those who bring work experience.
And [there will be a] stop to what they call “chain migration”. This piece is 8-13 years away...Under the present system there is no limit as to how many people the green card holder can bring in as their extended family. After the 8 years…the green card [holder] would only be able to bring in their spouse and children. That was the tradeoff that was key to getting this bill put together.
The question was could we get a bill any other way. There is no other way to get a bill at this time. This bill is subject to modifications on the floor. The key is to get 60 votes to close off the bay...The house may have a different bill...So those will have to be reconciled - So we are still a long way away…
[Will this take away jobs from the workforce?]
…We all know there is [another] workforce in this country, and many people have assumed jobs Americans no longer want. It’s a hidden economy. And they live in fear…The question comes is America better served bringing these people out of the basements into the living rooms, where they can become a upwardly mobile part of our society.
[How likely do you think this will pass?]
…If we pass the cloture vote we will get the votes to pass this bill.
Because it’s a compromise, everybody has something they don’t like…Everybody knows we need to do certain things…The key thing is should there be a path to legalization for that huge body of people who live in the shadows. How do you get it? And how do you get the votes to get it?
Note: Our thanks to New American Media.
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5/14/07- Cincinnati's WLW-AM orchestrated an ad campaign for May sweeps with a play on their motto "The Big One". Instead they called it: "The Big Juan", with a Mexican man in a sombrero, a donkey, and Mexican flag. After extensive community protest, WLW has taken down all 82 billboards it posted. We spoke with Jason Riveiro, president of LULAC Ohio. Copy of LULAC Ohio's 5/14/07 Letter to WLW-AM
Q: Where are things right now with WLW?
A: We’ve gotten an apology. Tuesday we are meeting with the general manager of WLW to discuss 3 topics.
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Developing a community relationship and perhaps developing a community advisory board.
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Arranging for a follow up meeting with other community leaders. It’s an opportunity for these organizations to express their concerns. You may notice we had over 20 community organizations sign a petition for the billboard removal. Many local organizations have had concerns in the past with WLW including Jewish and Islamic local groups.
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For the station to show commitment by sponsoring or co-sponsoring local international community events.
Q: When Clear Channel, WLW’s parent company, got wind of the situation- what happened?
A: They sent it back to WLW at the local level.
Q: What did WLW say?
A: After I sent out a press release last week, I got a call back from the GM who was very apologetic. The GM said he was new to the role and wanted to work with us.
Q: Has the community backed you?
A: Well, yes and no. Ohio is a conservative state…it has its pockets, it's been mixed. Next door to Cincinnati’s county is where there is a sheriff who has been sending invoices to Mexico charging them for illegal immigrant costs.
Also WLW is known in the community for its reputation for being against immigration
The first teaser billboard they put out before “The Big Juan” was a billboard titled “Radio Para Gran Americanos” with Mexican flags on it. This was very obviously directed at Hispanics. This was intentional and political. This billboard was for people who spoke Spanish. This came out a month before the other billboard, and Hispanics in the community originally thought it was a new radio station for Hispanics…obviously it turned out it wasn’t.
We are trying to give this a positive twist for the community. Next month we are we are hosting a press/media forum which will be attended by all the major media in the city and their top executives. This event will showcase the local Hispanic population's facts and how to better market to this segment of our community.
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Many ask this question: what is the difference between a Hispanic or Latino? Related questions include: which term to use? Some insist on the usage of one term over the other, while others do not mind either term.
Many Hispanics/Latinos would agree that the usage of Hispanic or Latino, both, or neither, is a personal preference.
A few polls have attempted to address the Hispanic or Latino topic, but the results have been widely divergent and dependent on the polling group.
The U.S. Government uses Hispanic on all federal forms and documents, but some private individuals use Latino notwithstanding.
Some experts say some division can be found because oftentimes older age groups tend to prefer Latino while younger ages prefer Hispanic. Of course proving this theory is difficult.
Similar to the definitions for Hispanic, there are no right answers to these questions.
Hispanic or Latino or both? Or does it matter?