By Sal Osio, JD

Mi Punto de Vista

From the Publisher’s Corner

August 5, 2009

                 Mexico is known for its demagogues – self inflating populists whose real agenda is their own empowerment - who exploit the clamoring needs of the people by promising unrealistic and unsustainable benefits. In the last Mexican presidential election, won by Felipe Calderon, his opponent Manuel Lopez Obregon literally hijacked the electorate in his refusal to acknowledge his loss in a fair election. His behavior typifies the populist demagogue politico who has plagued Mexico since its independence from Spain some two centuries ago.

By Patrick Osio, Jr./HispanicVista.co

August 5, 2009

         The debate over medical health reform has divided into warring camps as to whether we should or should not keep the present system. Opponents claim the nation is heading into socialized medicine and the other side proclaiming we cannot continue to ignore the millions of citizens that lack insurance and are unable to afford medical services.

For the Hispanic community lack of reform has grave consequences

By Richard N. Baldwin T. /HispanicVista.com

August 5, 2009

From Mexico City

        In December of 2008, in a column titled "You Gotta Know When to Fold", I wrote that there are only three options for México in the continuing Mexican drug war. Namely continuing the present hard line fight against the cartels, working with the US in a bi-national effort to reduce the drug market that fuels the cartels, or to unilaterally reduce the anti-drug effort in México. Needless to say, this third option evoked some strident opposing commentary from readers 

By Raoul Lowery Contreras
August 5, 2009

      I have never watched the movie “Grapes of Wrath” from beginning to end. I ran across it this afternoon and watched some of it.

Not having lived through the 1930s most of us have no idea what it was like for the “Joads” (the family portrayed in the movie) to be displaced from their sharecropping land in Oklahoma or from small town Arkansans to lose their little bits of land, stores and jobs picking cotton. Most of us don’t know what 25 or more percent unemployment was like or what life after 65 was like with no Social Security. 

 By Liz Halloran

     Sonia Sotomayor made history Thursday, winning approval from the Senate to become the next Supreme Court justice - and the first Hispanic to sit on the nation's mightiest bench.

    Sotomayor's confirmation came despite strong Republican opposition and on a mostly party line vote of 68-31. But the partisan bickering surrounding Sotomayor isn't likely to end once she is sworn in on Saturday morning. In less than a month, the court is scheduled to rehear arguments in a high-profile campaign finance case

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. (Photo: Getty Images)

Sonia Sotomayor made history Saturday when she was sworn in as the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice.

 By Carlos Luken 

Following Mexico ’s National Action Party’s (PAN) electoral debacle last month and the ensuing resignation of party leader German Martinez , political analysts considered that a house cleaning would soon follow.

And they proved to be correct; alas it came with a vengeance that promises to cast doubts on the party’s position and on President Felipe Calderon’s up to now, firm political hold and untarnished image.

By Andrew Kohut

   From the very beginning Barack Obama’s nomination of Sonia Sotomayor was a no-win situation for the Republican Party — and that is the way it has played out. Yes, by not going all out to oppose her nomination, the G.O.P. probably did not worsen its woeful standing among women and Latino voters. But the likely sizable Republican vote against Judge Sotomayor, and the very tough criticism of the New York judge from the “unofficial” Republican leaders —

 Sage Advise – not followed

By Linda Chave

Republicans who vote against Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s elevation to the Supreme Court aren’t likely to pay any electoral price for their opposition. Confirmation votes simply don’t resonate much with the general population, one way or the other.

Republicans should focus instead on immigration issues if they want to attract Hispanic voters.

The only Hispanics (or women, blacks or any other group) for whom a confirmation vote is important are members of the small pool of elites and advocacy organizations from which such nominees generally are picked. Activists from the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund might be in a snit about Republican opposition to Judge Sotomayor, but how many of them would be likely to vote Republican anyway?

 Sage Advise not followe

By Cesar V. Conda

Senate Republicans should not vote along party lines against Judge Sotomayor’s nomination. There is nothing in her record or sworn testimony that disqualifies her for the Supreme Court, and certainly nothing that would justify a party-line “no” vote from Senate Republicans.

We need to fix the G.O.P.’s Hispanic problem, or we could find ourselves on the losing end of future presidential elections.

Those who opposed her nomination used a few speeches and cases to paint her as an extreme judicial activist. While Judge Sotomayor is not a strict constructionist, her views are well within the judicial mainstream; in fact, some of her rulings are considered too conservative by some liberal lobbying groups.

By Sergio Sarmiento

U.S. fan: “Something’s wrong when I can’t raise an American flag in my own country.”

The Giants’ Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with capacity for 75 thousand spectators, was full this last Sunday during the finals of the Gold Cup soccer match between the teams from Mexico and the United States. The Mexican team beat its rival “in its own territory” for the first time in ten years. Nevertheless, as is already usual in the soccer matches between Mexico and the United States, the stadium looked like anything except American.

 By George W. Grayson
August 5, 2009

At a  May 30, 2009 news conference, Mexican Attorney General
Eduardo Mora-Medina  Icaza labeled La Familia Michoacana (or
La Familia)  Mexico's most  dangerous cartel.  He based this
assessment on  the bloodcurdling  cruelty perpetrated by the
shadowy,  pious  organization;  its  ability  to  bribe  and
threaten politicians;  its spectacular  surge  in  producing
methamphetamines; and  its access to high-powered weapons in
Michoacan state,  in southwestern  Mexico, where 10,311 arms
were confiscated  last year-more  than in any other state in
the country.

 By J. Acosta

It has been a truism for thousands of years that sex sells. Instead of delineating the technical or functional superiority of a product, marketing experts put the product next to a perky-breasted young woman with pouty lips to imbue it with the promise of so much more. The not-so indirect implication to women: If you buy our product, you can look like this, feel like this, be desired like this. And to men: If you buy our product, you get her.

It's been the American way since America's had a way. Sex was the Great Motivator of Madison Avenue. But not anymore.

Because the number one seller is no longer sex. It's fear.

The proposed $45-million legislation to increase awareness about breast cancer means well but would do more harm than good.

By Steven Woloshin and Lisa M. Schwartz

It's hard to oppose cancer education. That is probably why the proposed Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young (EARLY) Act has 363 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives. The $45-million bill, which seeks "to increase public awareness regarding the threats posed by breast cancer to young women," is well-intentioned and emotionally appealing.

It is also a big mistake.

Patrick Osio, Jr. has written,  The Mexican Perspective: Establishing Personal & Business Relations by Understanding Their Culture & Protocol,   a short but intensive E-book on the Mexican perspective on numerous issues between our two countries. The E-book is also an in depth primer on Mexican culture and protocol for better understanding that allows establishing personal and business relationships, and how to avoid the most common faux pas that can ruin relationships and business deals. Literally this book has been of immense help to thousands, you too can gain from Mr. Osio's lifetime experience.  ONLY $9.95

For information on purchasing, write to HVCstore@aol.com

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