tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16972925645976720292024-03-14T08:35:33.734-07:00Secret History: Reflections on Latin AmericaUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger309125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697292564597672029.post-83581490395524820152016-08-28T14:17:00.000-07:002016-08-28T14:17:20.916-07:00Endemic ViolenceIn the last two weeks Public Radio shows "All Things Considered" and "On The Media" have either proclaimed (Ari Shapiro on ATC talking about Honduras) or let their guests get away with (Bob Garfield, On the Media talking about Rio) calling violence in Latin America "endemic."
These old stereotypes of the fiery, violent Latino who is born to kill and has no control of their emotions are as old asUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697292564597672029.post-47000375085207219402015-09-22T12:14:00.001-07:002015-09-22T12:14:25.614-07:00Is Mary Anastasia O'Grady Really That Ignorant of Argentine Economic History?Foaming at the mouth - this time with glee - Wall Street Journal Chicago-school huckster and snake oil salesperson Mary Anastasia O'Grady has declared that Argentina has entered into an era of "hope" because Kristina Kirchner isn't on the October ballot. Thus, a reign of terror has come to an end. As O'Grady barks in the WSJ (13 Sept 2015): "Biblical pestilence, plagues, fire, drought, floods, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697292564597672029.post-64941670817028307012014-11-21T10:17:00.001-08:002014-11-21T10:17:57.942-08:00Puzzle Complete! Three Cheers and a Graham Cracker for Mary Anastasia O'GradyThe WSJ attack dog on Latin America Mary Anastasia O'grady has finished her floor puzzle. When in October of last year O'Grady went after Bolivia as some sort of commie-narco-fascist state, I mentioned that:
My guess is that O'Grady finally worked her way down as far as Bolivia with her Fisher Price "Nations of South America" floor puzzle and so decided to drop her discounted and tired theoriesUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697292564597672029.post-51989554347817072013-10-31T09:38:00.000-07:002013-10-31T12:20:02.291-07:00The Bolivian Narco-Islamo-Commie State: Folks at WSJ are Bored This WeekSomebody let Wall Street Journal fiction writer Mary Anastasia O'Grady slip the leash this week and she's arguing that Bolivia has become a narco-islamo-communist terror state. She tried before to argue that Nicaragua and Venezuela were harboring terrorists headed to the U.S. (all tosh) and now she's put Bolivia in her rifle scope of malarkey. My guess is that O'Grady finally worked Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697292564597672029.post-72252967654212650362012-12-31T13:05:00.002-08:002012-12-31T13:05:40.521-08:00Protesting the Reform of Article 24 ContinuesThe news from Veracruz is that (mostly Protestants) were out in the streets before Christmas protesting the reforms of Article 24. The fuss over this began back in late 2011 and early 2012, with opponents of the reform saying that any changes to the article would kill the secular state and provide huge benefits to the Catholic Church. The reform - which would allow the Catholic ChurchUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697292564597672029.post-18086822379722930822012-10-24T15:46:00.003-07:002012-10-24T15:46:44.577-07:00A Whole New World ...We have entered a new age... an age where politicians aren't afraid to think out of the box, color outside the lines, or draw new maps. Maps, apparently, that lack the rest of the Americas. "Fracaso" to both the parties for failing to engage the question of guns and drugs in the US relationship with Mexico, for ignoring Cuba, skipping over US coups in Latin America, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697292564597672029.post-52171796897773622522012-10-08T10:46:00.001-07:002012-10-08T10:46:14.576-07:00Chavez. Again.As everybody that follows Latin America knows by now, Hugo Chavez has pulled off another electoral victory. He's wielded the power of incumbency in a centralized economic state like a pro and benefited from the loyalty of increased state sponsored projects - not something that any incumbent can disitance themselves from. I think, however, that he did himself and Venezuela a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697292564597672029.post-4937126396888034582012-08-31T09:49:00.000-07:002012-08-31T09:49:02.186-07:00Ronald Reagan Tribute VideoUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697292564597672029.post-69768217076718104212012-08-28T12:14:00.000-07:002012-08-28T12:18:24.829-07:00Romney - Keeping Close to His Mexican Roots (Sort Of...)Ohio coal miners say they were forced to attend a Mitt Romney rally - without pay. Come on, Mitt. In Mexico - home of your forefathers and many of your cousins - the ruling PRI party had more class than that. When they would have employers bus in workers and force them to attend rallies the workers could count on being paid as well as a sandwich and a soda or beer.
http://Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697292564597672029.post-76851383576301512862012-07-26T10:00:00.001-07:002012-07-26T10:01:20.104-07:001960In this political year for the US, let's take a minute to remember some of those "great" Spanish ads that ran in the United States.
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697292564597672029.post-19216303838436517612012-07-06T10:46:00.000-07:002012-07-06T12:27:21.698-07:00Happy 25th, Iran ContraWith the "Fast and Furious" debate raging in Washington and Senator Issa hunting for heads from the Justice Department, let's take a moment to remember 25 years ago this summer when the nation learned via hearings in DC the extent to which Ronald Reagan and his advisors (let's remember the "President was briefed verbally" moment) were funneling weapons to Iran and the Contra terrorists in Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697292564597672029.post-68102452211269441622012-07-04T10:07:00.000-07:002012-07-04T10:07:19.272-07:00Poor GOP: So Close to Catholic Latinos, So Far From Catholic VotesMore on the use and abuse of Mexican History.
Since Glenn Beck's failed crusade to Jerusalem (see The Guardian article here) I've lost track of the nutter, but back in May he apparently took a shot at Eva Longoria for comments she made on the Bill Maher show stating that the United States had occupied Mexico. Beck seeks to, erm, set the record straight regarding the "Mexico was occupied Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697292564597672029.post-50754270388294345742012-07-04T08:37:00.002-07:002012-07-04T08:44:37.399-07:00Post PRI 2012: Pay For the Votes You Bought, CabronesHey, if you're going to buy votes, pay up. These ladies from Atzcapotzalco have a few palabrotas for the PRI.
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697292564597672029.post-48349902452649994422012-07-03T13:41:00.002-07:002012-07-03T13:42:08.277-07:002012 Election - the PRI IS Back.Reports of hormiga style vote stealing (a few hundred here, a few hundred there), armed robbery of ballot boxes, mis-counting, bribery, and an interesting hacking job by anonymous showing that AMLO won has the outcome of the 2012 election a little more up in the air than the pundits in New York and D.C. are reporting. Hold on to your hats folks - if there is a shred of justice left in Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697292564597672029.post-64831303639933170952012-01-03T10:56:00.000-08:002012-01-03T10:59:09.709-08:00Historia Mexicana - ala Facebook.Mexican History / Historia Mexicana is now on Facebook. Richard Grabman of Editorial Mazatlan and Jason Dormady (yo) have gotten together to create a Facebook page to post information on history in Mexico. You can find it here. Please sign up or come participate.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697292564597672029.post-22679808534618624962011-12-06T12:44:00.000-08:002011-12-06T12:47:30.534-08:00In the last years of the Porfirio Diaz dictatorship, Bishop Banegas y Galvan of Querétaro made the following observation, inteded to chasten the wealthy in Mexico: “You rich men, there is no other way open: either you must open your hearts to charity and reduce the hours of work and increase wages, or you are accumulating hatred and resentment . . . and your riches and yourselves will be buried.”Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697292564597672029.post-79673495983789288552011-12-01T13:17:00.000-08:002011-12-01T19:53:52.942-08:00Freedom University - F.U.[,] Georgia.Lorgia Garcia Pena, Pamela Voekel, Bethany Moreton, and Betina Kaplan are four professors at the University of Georgia in Athens that have decided to take on the the not-so-peachy state and the UGA Board of Regents' decision to ban undocumented students from the state's top three campuses. Freedom University is a clandestine (at least the classroom is Bat-Cave secret to protect the alumnos) Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697292564597672029.post-47121733234608356972011-11-15T14:36:00.001-08:002011-11-15T14:40:01.625-08:00The Evergreen(card) StateWashington's famously conservative East Side (the area east of the Cascades) is reaping the fruit of campaigns to remove undocumented workers from the state. Recent ICE raids have had a chilling effect on the number of workers in the state for apple picking, and at the end of October signs abounded from Wenatchee to Yakima begging for workers - at $10 an hour. When few were forthcoming, pickersUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697292564597672029.post-50869997121885674722011-11-15T10:17:00.000-08:002011-11-15T10:31:04.447-08:00Force, Manda Bala, and ChileAside from the upheaval of moving and changing jobs, I've also been distracted from blogging by some long exchanges on Face Book with "friends" in that medium. In one recent exchange a computer programmer from Iowa informed me that all taxation is forced, but that force is justified for security, like police, jails, and the army, but not for "forced" charity. Enter the protests in Chile.As Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697292564597672029.post-21967174912533263132011-11-14T14:55:00.000-08:002011-11-14T14:58:53.035-08:00Collective MemoryHistorians are guardians of our collective memory - something like keepers of the flame of identity. Why, then, are academic historians so frowned on by society in general? I suppose that our contrarian projects (and nature, at times) makes it look less like we are keeping flames and more like we are peeing on the fire.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697292564597672029.post-49644024908297761092011-09-12T10:11:00.000-07:002011-09-12T10:31:01.945-07:00(Un)employed In MexicoIt looks like the unemployment rate in Mexico has fallen to just under 5%. Back in July when the numbers started to show the number of Mexicans returning to Mexico was hitting agriculture and construction, the U.S. news media began to take notice. Now the numbers look like they've dipped below 5% - something that could have consequences for both the U.S. and Mexico. Not only might the U.S. begin Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697292564597672029.post-34298316655247438932011-09-07T09:13:00.000-07:002011-09-07T09:19:51.304-07:00Same Sex With A Different DemographicIt looks like living in the PacNW will provide a lot of fodder for the blog as we gear up once more. This from Oregon and KUOW:Gay marriage supporters in Oregon are trying to win over support from theLatino community. They're targeting Spanish speakers in a new radio ad campaign.The ads mark the first concentrated effort to build support for gay marriageamong the Hispanic community in Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697292564597672029.post-12279274079007458312011-06-29T12:46:00.000-07:002011-06-29T12:47:47.542-07:00Phew - I'm Back!Well, I haven't dropped out of the blogosphere - I've just been out and about with students for the last few weeks. I'll also be starting a new job in Washington state in a few weeks ... but I should be back in the saddle full-time shortly.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697292564597672029.post-63741291408184700992011-06-01T07:44:00.000-07:002011-06-02T10:58:09.209-07:00Back in the USSAr - izona: No Papers For You!Gestapo-zona, um, Arizona has passed a new law that stops the state from accepting identity cards from foreign consulates. No longer can you use consular IDs to get a drivers license, or even a library card. The Matricula Consular is attacked by supporters of the new law as a sham because the consulate is often not meticulous in verifying the identity of the person that applies for the card. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697292564597672029.post-57747644198739734142011-05-28T08:35:00.000-07:002011-05-28T08:36:37.584-07:00No Mas Sangre in an Upside Down WorldUpside Down World does it again. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0