Home / Letters to Editor / Announcements / Columnists / Archive / About Us / Contact Us/VivaBeisbol

HispanicVista Columnists & Guest Columns

Week of December 27, 2005

 

HispanicVista Columnists & Guest Columns

Week of December 27, 2005

America by surfer boys & ski bums

By Patrick Osio, Jr./HispanicVista.com

   December 27, 2005

Mexico, your hypocrisy has been exposed by your own Human Rights commission.  You have absolutely no moral grounds for accusing the US of wrongdoing or imposing the very same border protection laws as you do. Here you are telling the US that it’s wrong to deploy military personnel along the US-Mexico border while you have for some time now deployed soldiers along your Mexico-Guatemala border. You cry out that border enforcement has contributed to the death of over 3000 Mexican and Central Americans while crossing the US-Mexico border while hundreds if not thousands of Central Americans have died or been mutilated falling off Mexican trains after crossing into Mexico from Guatemala.  You decry US Congress legislation calling for making illegal entry a felony, while you carry such laws in your books.

By Raoul Lowery Contreras/HispanicVista.com

   December 27, 2005

 

Proof that the anti-war, anti-Bush people among us are simply not operating on all cylinders is in their own words. Here from a Santa Barbara surfer boy, an Anglo native-born American with no military service, is his response to the article I wrote about the huge December 15th Iraq election.

"…right now updating myself on Israel's pending air strike against Iran."

By Richard N. Baldwin T. /HispanicVista.com

   December 27, 2005

 

FROM MEXICO

     As we wrap up the year of 2005, this seems a good time to look at some of the good things going on in México.... But it might be well to review some of the things that happened in México's past concerning separation of Church and State to understand our perspective.

By Steven J. Ybarra, JD/HispanicVista.com

   December 27, 2005

   Notas por La Casa Politica

I am opposed to the taking of life without a threat to one’s existence.  The death penalty is such a taking.  We remain the only "civilized" nation in the world with a death penalty.  I wonder why.

Arnold became the Terminator by taking the life of Tookie Williams. 

Hispanics? Wow!: New Book Highlights Impact

Vicious attacks against immigrants should be warning to rest of us

By Frank Gómez

For most Americans the mid-2001 Census report on Hispanics was a “wake up call.”  Hispanics, at 38.8 million, had become our largest minority.  Those numbers, from the 2000 census, were already outdated and inaccurate when announced.  Because the Latino population is growing faster than any other part of the population, and the Census accounted for neither its historic undercount nor the millions of undocumented Latin Americans in the U.S. 

 By Roberto Miranda

Many Americans are turning a blind eye to the vicious and inhumane actions being taken against undocumented people in this country. These actions are being conducted by law makers in government who have taken to using terrorism as the rational for attacking immigrants—legal and illegal.

According to the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance H.R. 4437, a federal law being pushed in Congress, is a law that will:

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Mental Health Benefits Project

Attached you will find a job listing for an Advocacy Associate position at the New York City Chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. 

From: Rubén Sálaz M

It falls to ordinary New Mexicans to set the record straight.

From:  Scott Kelley  

In my opinion, Roberto Lovato is just another illegal alien-loving buffoon…

From: Bob Haran

Mexico thinks it has a right to criticize the U.S….

Wall Street Journal REVIEW & OUTLOOK
The Colorado Congressman tries to make America the world's biggest gated community.
 …So there you have it. Tom Tancredo has done everyone a favor by stating plainly the immigration rejectionists' endgame--turn the United States into the world's largest gated community.

We are Tejanos and demand to be treated with respect!

By Julian Limon Fernandez

Let it be understood Los Tejanos are fed up and now it’s time to set the record straight.

Even though some may have Spanish surnames and speak Spanish it’s not fair for surveys to include the Mexican-Americans/Tejanos/Chicanos as Latinos…

National Immigrant Solidarity Network, Peace No War Network Alerts!

 More on the Sensenbrenner/King Bill and Next Steps in Comprehensive Reform Advocacy
National Immigration Forum
H.R. 4437: Observations from the House Floor Debate

Last week, the House passed H.R. 4437, the Border Protection, anti-Terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act.  If enacted and fully enforced, it would make millions of undocumented immigrants felons, fine or jail hundreds of thousands of American…

By Michael Flynn

Americas Program, International Relations Center (IRC)

President Bush’s “comprehensive strategy” on border security aimed at preventing “people from coming here in the first place,” announced last month, does nothing to address the growing phenomenon of global migration. What’s more, it leaves Mexico to clean up a mess it didn’t make.

Official Addresses a World Trade Organization Summit
"Free trade is not an end in itself but rather a means for better living standards and the human development of people at all levels," said the prelate in his address delivered in English.

Interview With President of Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music
VATICAN CITY, DEC. 24, 2005 (ZENIT.org).- Gregorian chant has been unjustly abandoned and its place in the life of the Church should be recovered, says a Vatican aide.

Vatican-Watcher's Book Goes Beyond the Myths
 In a new book on Opus Dei, an American journalist tries to separate facts from fiction about the personal prelature.
The volume is entitled "Opus Dei: An Objective Look Behind the Myths and Reality of the Most Controversial Force in the Catholic Church."

We're "Neither Angels nor Demons," Says Spokesman
 An Opus Dei spokesman has expressed satisfaction with a new book on the personal prelature written by an American journalist.
Marc Carroggio, who oversees Opus Dei's relationship with international journalists in Rome, said he was satisfied with the book just published by John Allen.

Patrick Osio, Jr. has written 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.

About the author

Table of Contents

Excerpts from the manual

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

COMMENTARY

THE BEST FROM THE NET

December 27, 2005

At Year’s End, Where Are We on Comprehensive Immigration Reform?

National Immigration Forum

 Washington DC – As 2005 winds down and Congress wraps up for the holidays, advocates for comprehensive immigration reform are looking to next year and to the U.S. Senate.  According to Senate leadership, we can expect a debate early next year on measures that address immigration reform in ways that go beyond the enforcement-only approach embodied in legislation recently passed by the House of Representatives. The following is a statement by Angela Kelley, Deputy Director of the National Immigration Forum, a pro-immigrant advocacy organization in Washington.

The Border Is a Common Ground between Us
By David Bacon
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

The House of Representatives has just passed HR 4437, by Wisconsin Republican James Sensenbrenner, incredibly with the votes of over 30 Democrats. It is the most repressive immigration bill in decades, and would deprive immigrants of important due process rights, divide families, criminalize undocumented status, and drive those without papers even further underground. Other Congressional proposals are even more extreme. Some, like Colorado Representative Tom Tancredo, would institute mass deportations on a scale dwarfing even the shameful roundups of the 1920s and 30s.

Don't do Chávez a favor in Bolivia

The Christian Science Monitor's View

Dec 22, 2005

Anti-Washington feelings run deep in Latin America, and the US would only strengthen the likes of Venezuela's Hugo Chávez by challenging Bolivia's newly elected president, Evo Morales. To govern, socialists like him may need a bullying Yanqui.

The Bush administration must sit tight, and wait to see if Mr. Morales, Bolivia's first Indian president and the first to win more than 50 percent of the vote, can actually hold his troubled Andes nation together.

Fear Drives US-Mexico Policy

By Kenneth Emmond

Miami Herald Mexico Edition

December 27, 2005

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."

Former U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt spoke those words during his first inaugural address, at the darkest moment of the Great Depression.

Wise words they were, too, reassuring Americans that they can prevail over any and all adversity if only they confront the uncertainties of the future in a sane, adult manner instead of giving in to panic.

Illegal Immigration Explained - Profits & Poverty, Social Security & Starvation

By Deborah White

Why the Federal Government Can't End Illegal Immigration

Illegal immigration into the United States is a highly profitable proposition for both employers and the US government, and it also benefits Mexico, which is the largest source country of undocumented immigrants into the US.

In Fall 2005, the US and Mexican governments are silently, and actively, enticing illegal immigrants to enter this country and to work illegally. Poverty-stricken immigrants respond to the financial enticements...and then are blamed by US citizenry for illegally being in the US.

Police-state methods no answer to terror

By Gene Lyons

Arkansas Democrat Gazette

December 21, 2005

Anybody who rationalizes George W. Bush’s illegal use of secret, warrantless wiretaps against American citizens is no friend of democracy. They may call themselves “conservatives.” But they might with equal accuracy dub themselves Martians or Zoroastrians. In reality, they are ideologues who place party over country, enemies of the Constitution and its freedoms. There’s evidently no outrage they won't rationalize so long as a Republican’s doing it.

Secretary Snow and The Wall

By Fred Rosen

Miami Herald Mexico Edition

December 27, 2005

Earlier this month, U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow paid a friendly visit to Mexico. He met with his Mexican counterpart, Secretary of Hacienda Francisco Gil Díaz,…

In a joint press conference held by the two secretaries, Snow was asked about the significance of a possible leftist victory in Mexico's upcoming presidential elections. The secretary replied…

The End of Bolivia?
B Michael Radu
Foreign Policy Research Institute
If fascism  is simply  defined as  statism plus  racism  and hatred of  democracy, December  18 witnessed  its coming  to power in  Bolivia, Latin  America's poorest,  as well as its most dysfunctional  and unstable,  country. Since  achieving independence in  1825, Bolivia has had 189 official military coups (one  every 11  months, on average), and since 2000 it has had  five presidents,  two of  whom were  democratically elected and  chased out of office by radical mobs led by Evo Morales, who  on December  18 received  a slight majority in the presidential  election.   So  much  for  the  Bolivians' thirst for democracy.

We Have Little Patience with the Poor

By Cynthia Tucker

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Dec 24, 2005

If you can't talk politely about the poor during the Christmas season, when can you?

I'll take the chance that the bitter culture wars can be suspended for a day or two -- call it a Christmas truce -- so we can have an uplifting, if still spirited, debate about our responsibilities to the impoverished.

What the Spanish - Language Media Are Saying About Sensenbrenner's Harsh Bill

New America Media, Commentary, Translated and Compiled by Douglas Rivlin, Dec 19, 2005

A draconian immigration enforcement bill sponsored by Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-NY) is being brought to the House floor by the leadership in the House of Representatives. The ethnic media have been closely covering this story for their communities.

Los Angeles Time’s EDITORIAL

Where 'Che' left off

December 26, 2005

THINGS JUST KEEP GETTING more complicated down south. Evo Morales, the president-elect of Bolivia, has promised to make himself America's "nightmare." Two days after his election Dec. 18, he referred to President Bush as a "terrorist." Oh, and have we mentioned that he used to be the leader of a coca-growers' federation, and that he is intent on pulling out of Washington's coalition of the willing in the drug war and encouraging the production of coca?

NEWS  

Of Interest Around the Net

Governor: 'Show me a 50-foot wall and I'll show you a 51-foot ladder'

Napolitano bludgeons border-fence proposal
WorldNet Daily – December 21, 2005 - Despite recent momentum in Washington for the construction of a physical barrier on the Mexican border to prevent illegal aliens from coming into the U.S., some of the strongest opposition is being voiced by the governor of one of the border states.

Businesses oppose verification plan for workers

By Kent Hoover

Employers may have to get Uncle Sam's permission to hire future workers.

That's the effect of a new requirement in the House's immigration reform bill. Two years after enactment, employers would have to submit the Social Security numbers or alien identification numbers of new hires to the federal government, which would compare these numbers to government...

2nd Chance at Amnesty to End Soon

Thousands of illegal immigrants who applied under a 1986 program and were disqualified on a technicality have until Saturday to reapply.

By Anna Gorman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

December 26, 2005

Almost 20 years have passed since Congress approved an amnesty for nearly 3 million immigrants living illegally in the United States, but for perhaps as many as 100,000 undocumented residents, the door is still open.

Plan for U.S.-Mexico border wall plan seen as full of holes

By Hugh Dellios

 The 14-mile border fence at the edge of this town has stopped lots of illegal immigrants from crossing into the United States at this spot. But it has not stopped them from trying.

Every day, the agents of Mexico's Grupo Beta border patrol collect the homemade ladders and other devices immigrants leave behind...

GOP Hopes High for New Border Efforts

Proposals include hiring more agents and getting employers to stop using illegal immigrants, but some say a guest-worker program is crucial.

By Nicole Gaouette, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON — December 28, 2005 - After decades of government failure to stem the tide of illegal immigration, the Bush administration and congressional Republicans are putting forward ambitious enforcement programs they say will finally lead to effective control over the nation's borders.

South of the Border, the Christmas Bonus Is Sacred

By Marla Dickerson

Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

December 21, 2005

MEXICO CITY — As a gardener, Carlos Bonilla Torres endures a series of indignities much of the year.
Clients order him to scoop dog droppings, tote furniture and wash their cars for no extra pay. Some never speak to him except to complain that the grass needs mowing. He bears it all for $134 a week.

Some Border Patrol Agents Take a Chance on Love

It's an open secret: By day they deport illegal immigrants, but at night they date them.

By Nicholas Riccardi, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

DOUGLAS, Ariz. — December 26, 2005 - The forbidden romance between the Border Patrol agent and the illegal immigrant began in a gym.
Maria Terrazas, 31, met Jose Ruiz three years ago at LM's Body Builders in this remote border town. Terrazas, a waitress and mother of two, knew Ruiz was a catch. As a Border Patrol agent, Ruiz belonged to an elite class in town: available men with good jobs and an education.

Should all born in U.S. be citizens? - Birthright citizenship hotly debated

By David Crary, Associated Press 

NEW YORK – December 27, 2005 - A proposal to change long-standing federal policy and deny citizenship to babies born on U.S. soil to illegal immigrants ran aground this month in Congress, but it is sure to resurface - kindling bitter debate even if it fails to become law.

At issue is citizenship provided as a birthright since the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868.

RNHA lauds President Efforts for Puerto Rico’s Self-Determination

WASHINGTON D.C. - Dec. 23, 2005 Today the Republican National Hispanic Assembly (RNHA) commends President Bush and the White House Task Force on Puerto Rico for their report providing measures for full enfranchisement for the citizens of Puerto Rico. The RNHA salutes the President for his courage and leadership on this issue.

Mixed Messages: Agents see losing battle, backward policies

By Sara A. Carter,

The smuggler wasn't difficult to spot. He sat high on a hillside at a place called Cap Rock, large binoculars in hand, watching U.S. Border Patrol agents below as they policed the Mexican border near San Diego.

 

Mexico seeks anti-fence alliance 

 BBC News – December 22, 2005 - Mexico is trying to form a united front in Latin American against a US plan to build a fence along hundreds of miles of its southern border.

Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez said he had spoken to other countries in the region and that they would work together against the proposal.

Mexico Admits Poor Treatment of Migrants

By MARK STEVENSON, Associated Press Writer

MEXICO CITY - Dec 21, 2005 - Mexico's federal Human Rights Commission acknowledged on Wednesday that the country uses some of the same methods in dealing with illegal migrants that it has criticized the United States for employing.

CHC ‘livid’ at DCCC on border bill

By Josephine Hearn

The Hill

Several members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and their allies off Capitol Hill were furious that House Democratic leaders urged some of their colleagues to vote for an immigration-enforcement bill.

Democratic leaders encouraged members of the Democrats’ Frontline program — which aids the party’s 10 most at-risk incumbents — to vote for the bill to avert Republican attacks that could paint the vulnerable members as soft on illegal immigration, Democratic aides and lobbying sources said. Every Frontline member ultimately voted for the immigration bill, which enjoyed the support of 36 Democrats overall.

Hiring-rules enforcement nonexistent

In Denver, it's been three years since any fine was imposed for failure to verify workers' immigration status.

By Bruce Finley

Denver Post Staff Writer 

December 22, 2005

While Congress wrestles with new legislation to crack down on employers who hire illegal-immigrant workers, enforcement of an existing prohibition has all but ceased.

Not a single employer in the Denver area has been fined for three years, records show, and federal authorities have targeted only a handful of employers nationwide.

GOP Lawmaker Relishes Role as a Flamethrower

Illegal immigration, and not party loyalty, is Rep. Tom Tancredo's burning issue.

By Mark Z. Barabak

Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON — December 27, 2005 - As night settles over the Capitol, Tom Tancredo is seated in his congressional office, smoking a fat cigar and nursing a plastic tumbler of scotch.
The president is unhappy with him, the Colorado Republican says. So are GOP House leaders. One congressman, a California Republican who wants Tancredo run out of the party, is badmouthing him all over town. Tancredo exhales a billow of blue smoke.

From Beverly Hills to Tijuana jail to Hall of Fame for Caring Americans

TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) - December 26, 2005 - The cell at the end of the dark hallway barely fits a cot, a desk and a folding chair. Still, this is home for Sister Antonia Brenner, an American nun who was raised in Beverly Hills, California, but abandoned a life of privilege to live in a notorious Mexican jail.

Her neighbors are no longer Hollywood stars, but murderers, drug runners and human smugglers. They know her as "angel de la carcel" -- the "prison angel."

Patrick Osio, Jr. has written 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.