HispanicVista Columnists - April 25th, 2005

By Patrick Osio, Jr./HispanicVista.com

April 25, 2005

 

On breaking up a fist fight between two men, the policeman asked the smaller and showing the worst of it, “What started this?” – The badly bruised and bloodied man describes to the officer how the bigger guy came right up to him stomped on his toes, kicked his shins, slugged him on the mouth, the belly, then everywhere else. “When I finally realized he wasn’t going to stop, I started to hit him back.” The policeman asked the barely bruised and bigger man, “What have you to say?”

“The trouble started,” the big guy said, “when the little guy started to hit back.”

By Felipe de Ortego y Gasca

(sic)…There is a growing movement of Catonists in the American Republic who fear immigrants and what they augur for America’s future. Catonists are pessimistic about that future. Cato was a senator in the Roman Republic during the Punic Wars with Carthage in the third century BC. He was an "anti-intellectual monumentalist" who fed Roman fears of encroachment by decadent foreigners whose alien values, he contended, would disrupt the Roman political tradition and the organization of the nation. And though the Roman Empire was a multicultural enterprise, Cato was a Roman supremacist who believed that Rome was for the Romans. It was not multiculturalism that destroyed Rome, Samuel Huntington believes it will destroy the United States; it was the excesses of its leaders who believed that because of the power they wielded they had become gods…

By Erika Robles/HispanicVista.com

"The best thing the U.S. has to offer is opportunity, and the worst is racism," Jorge Ramos, anchorman for Noticiero Univision, writes in his book called "The other face of America." Although completely true, discrimination doesn't belong solely in American soil. Discrimination has become a part of life in most countries in the world; the only difference being the intensity which that racism is shown and acted upon.
The tendency to seize upon physical, cultural, religious and nationality differences is not limited to modern times. One would think that after witnessing certain world events like the persecution of the Jews by the Nazis, the genocide exercised by the ethnically distinct Tutsi herdsmen over the Hutu agriculturalists in Rwanda and Burundi in the 90s…

By Lois Romano

A decade after the Oklahoma City bombing, which killed 168 people and turned a spotlight on violent anti-government extremists, the number of paramilitary militia groups has dropped dramatically and other radical-right groups have splintered and fallen into disarray, according to terrorism analysts and law enforcement officials.

But those authorities say the threat from domestic terrorists remains strong and is worrisome because of "lone wolf" actors who may have associated with extremist groups and remain committed and violent. They point to people such as Eric Rudolph, who pleaded guilty last week to attacks at an abortion clinic and the 1996 Summer Olympics that killed two people.

By Bill Dahl/HispanicVista.com

Poppycock

     What if you couldn’t count? You probably wouldn’t have any use for the words you take for granted like countless, counter, countdown, Count Dracula, or catchy little nursery rhymes your parents taught you as a child. Yet God created us to count. Each of us is created to count for something. He will also call us to account for this. As the Bible says, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”  You can count on it.

     When it comes to the statistics that populate the U.S. immigration policy reform debate, I’m absolutely certain we’ve forgotten how to count. I am so convinced of this, I’ve created an experiment for you to complete to help you understand…

By Jason Ackelson, Ph.D.

Immigration Policy Center

New proposals for more fencing and Border Patrol agents along the U.S.-Mexico border only perpetuate an unsuccessful policy that does not effectively enhance national security or control undocumented immigration. Policymakers need to recognize that a truly smart border policy which will ensure security, facilitate trade, and justly manage migration will not be achieved by building yet another fence.

Highlights from the report:

By Richard N. Baldwin T. /HispanicVista.com

 

Of course "vigilante justice" is an oxymoron, a contradiction of terms. But if it caught your attention, that was my objective.

We should note that the word "vigilante" is a Spanish word that made itself into the American English language back when California was still part of México. The citizens in that territory became so alarmed with the prevailing corrupt and inefficient justice system under Mexican rule that they armed themselves and simply took the law into their own hands. They were regarded as heroes at the time and a lot of folklore grew up about that time in history.

But, in reality, note that this type of "justice" is without any "due process" to protect the accused before conviction in a fair trial. This type of justice was fairly common in the Deep South after the Civil War and was known as "lynching". In an orderly society, this type of action is neither condoned nor permitted. When it does exist, it is evidence of a breakdown in the system of laws.

By Morton M. Kondracke,

  Despite massive agitation for a restrictionist immigration policy, a new poll shows surprising support for proposals to allow foreigners and illegal immigrants to obtain work permits and earn their way to citizenship.

The poll, by GOP pollster Ed Goeas and Democrat Celinda Lake, ought to encourage President Bush to push for immigration reform against concerted opposition from radio talk show hosts and some GOP conservatives who denounce his work-permit proposals as “amnesty for law-breakers.”

The poll, conducted for the pro-reform National Immigration Forum and the American Immigration Lawyers Association, shows that Americans would support reforms even more liberal than Bush’s

By Steven J. Ybarra, JD/HispanicVista.com

 

OK, so I have been a sloth and not paying attention to my loyal reader.  I know that there are those who want my opinion to stir discussion and debate about the serious issues of the world.  Let us do a little history review.  I think that the Italians are the bane of the existence of mankind (read more about this slight exaggeration).

Once upon a time a Jewish council had a problem with an upstart rebel.  This rebel, among other things, wanted the people to be able to communicate with their god without the intercession of a bunch of robe wearing, holier than thou.  So in order to remedy their problem the council went to the Roman governor (appointed by the Italian government) and asked him to put this rebel to death.  The reason that the council had to take it to the Italians was that they had no death penalty in their Jewish legal system for this crime! 

By Tom Barry, Laura Carlsen, and John Gershman

President Bush says we must “stay the course” in Iraq , and he promises to continue during his second administration the radical foreign and domestic policies laid out during his first term. We believe it is time to change course.

But can the course of U.S. foreign policy ever truly be altered?

Has there ever been a model for a dramatic shift away from militarism and unilateralism toward international cooperation and peace?

The answer to these questions is yes.

By Domingo Ivan  Casañas/HispanicVista.com

 

I did some research via the American Diabetes Association regarding Diabetes among Latinos in the USA and was amazed to find out what high percentage are becoming diabetic.  Diabetes is a disease that effects the body’s ability to produce or respond to insulin,  the hormone that allows blood sugar to enter body cells and be used for energy.

There are three types of diabetes: type-1, type-2, and gestational diabetes.  Type-1 diabetes, or insulin-dependent account for about 5% to 10% of all diagnosed cases of diabetes.  Type-2 diabetes, or non-insulin dependent diabetes, is the most common form of diabetes in general as well as in the Latino community accounting for 90% to 95% of all diagnosed cases.  The risk factors for type-2 diabetes include older age, obesity, family history,  physical inactivity as well as race and/or ethnicity.

'By Grace Hsiang
Pacific News Service, Youth Commentary,

Today in my sociology class, the teacher asked the students to volunteer our own experiences with racism or ethnic harassment. I imagined the responses would once again feature the ongoing battle between white vs. minority. Instead, to my surprise, most of the students told of being discriminated against and marginalized by members of their own ethnic group.
In the Asian community, the slurs heard most often are not terms such as "Chink" or "Jap," but rather "FOB" ("Fresh Off the Boat") or "white-washed" (too assimilated). When Asian Americans hit puberty, they seem to divide into two camps, each highly critical of the other.

By Laura Carlsen

When Vicente Fox ended the 71-year reign of Mexico ’s Institutional Revolutionary Party in the 2000 presidential elections, many observers heralded it as the beginning of a long-overdue transition to democracy. Now President Fox, in a concerted effort with members of the former ruling party, has closed the door on that transition.

By orchestrating a pseudo-legal offensive against Mexico City’s popular mayor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Fox has not only dashed the hopes of Mexicans for a real democracy, but has also destroyed the political capital he gained back in 2000.

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Mexico City’s central square to protest Congress’s decision to strip López Obrador of immunity to prosecution granted elected officials.

By Roberto Rodriguez
Column of the Americas
Roberto Rodriguez & Patrisia Gonzales

He lived, wrote an epic poem, then died.
That seems to be the obituary that many observers have settled upon for many a 1960s-'70s-era icons. The latest icon to move on has been Denver's Rodolfo Corky Gonzalez.
In the past 12 months, preceding him have been Lalo Guerrero, Octavio Romano, David Risling Jr., Lalo Delgado & Gloria Anzaldua.
Many of these icons led full lives, yet their memories have been reduced to a song, a poem, a play, a book or but a single act or an idea. Typical of the era, they may never see the pages of a history book.

By Aracely Sifuentes
Pacific News Service, Commentary

The old pope, John Paul II, was lauded in the media as a "Global Pope," a "Pope of the Youth," and an "ambassador for peace." The truth is, he didn't have any real influence on the spiritual lives of young Latinos like me. Can a new pope, supposedly even more conservative, even come close to reaching us?
In the Bay Area and throughout California, I see young Latinos abandoning Catholicism, not embracing it.
I grew up in a traditional Mexican Catholic family. I went to Catholic school, attended mass, received my first communion -- I was even in the church choir. But five years of college opened my eyes to different ways of thinking. Once I understood that the Catholic Church was a major player in the mental and material colonization of the Americas, I became turned off to the institution altogether.

By COHA Research Fellow Alejandro Macias and COHA Research Associate Adam Kleiman

On April 7, the Mexican congress voted to remove Mexico City’s left-of-center mayor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador from office, stripping him of the immunity from prosecution which is normally enjoyed by elected officials. The measure, which López Obrador’s supporters believe was directly orchestrated by President Vicente Fox, is a questionable political maneuver to eliminate the populist mayor’s chances of running for the presidency in 2006. The conflict continues to fuel an already precarious situation for Washington throughout Latin America: the reemergence of left-leaning governments and a contentious OAS secretary-general election, which up to now have eluded Washington’s control. As of today, no one really knows who will win the OAS tally, and it could be that any unannounced candidate will surface on May 2 and sweep the contest.

By Mary Jo McConahay
Pacific News Service, Commentary/Analysis

Joy, consternation, and for some, outright shock is reverberating among Catholics worldwide at the first sight of their new pope in his red robes, Benedict XVI. The most conservative regard the German Joseph Ratzinger as their champion, with his influential rock-hard stands against gay unions, cloning and the ordination of women, and against any dismantling of the firewall between Catholicism and every other religion in the world. Liberals regard him as medieval, a threat to theological exploration of sexual ethics, pluralism and a Church for the third millennium.
Now he is pontiff of all, and both sides are holding their breath.

By John Eger

Outsourcing has become a code word for the outflow of American jobs. Not surprisingly, according to a Business Week Magazine special report published recently, manufacturers in the U.S. are having both hardware and software done by companies they contract with worldwide. This they say is not outsourcing. The new word is "collaboration," After all, this is what globalization is all about, they argue.

Clearly, global corporations have, together with their PR agencies, found a more palatable way of talking about a huge and growing problem for America. But the questions remain, where does it all end, and importantly, what are Americans doing, or going to do, to keep jobs in the U.S.?

By Doug Chin
The introduction of two bills that would allow the use of race, ethnicity and national origin as a factor in determining admissions to our state public colleges and university has rekindled the I-200 debate and the need for affirmative action.
Opponents of the bills -- namely John Carlson, Tim Eyman, and Seattle Times editorial columnist Bruce Ramsey -- argue against the use of racial preference and claim that, at the least, I-200 has had no impact on the racial mix of the student body at the University of Washington and, at best, resulted in the most diverse class in the history of that institution. Comparing the population percentages of each of the major racial groups in 2000 with the incoming UW freshmen class for 2004, they suggest that:…

Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR)

A week after she was praised in Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People" issue (4/18/05), the magazine went a step further by making far-right pundit Ann Coulter the subject of a lengthy April 25 cover story.  Readers who might have looked for a critical examination of the overexposed, factually challenged hatemonger found something else: a puff piece that gave Coulter a pass on her many errors and vicious, often bigoted rhetoric.
Throughout the article, Time reporter John Cloud gave Coulter every benefit of the doubt.  Her clear, amply documented record of inaccuracy was waved away.  Coulter's notoriously vitriolic hate speech was alternately dismissed as a put-on or excused as "from her heart," while the worst Cloud could say about her was that she can "occasionally be coarse." 

Patrick Osio, Jr. has written a short but intensive manual on the Mexican perspective on numerous issues between our two countries. The manual is an in depth primer on the culture and protocol for better understanding Mexicans that in turn allows establishing personal and business relationships, and how to avoid the most common faux pas that can ruin relationships and business deals.

The manual is available through Electronic delivery for $9.95 making it possible to download the manual to save on your hard drive, printing its entirety or particular sections while reaping considerable savings over printed copies.