When you saw his pasty pale-skinned face, your eyes became glued to TV. You debated his innocence as if he was O.J. Simpson. Blowhards, from Nancy Grace to me to Dr. Phil kept track of his every movement.

He is Joran van der Sloot, and ever since his high profile role in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway came to light, the mere mention of his name could directly lead to production of a Dateline NBC Special. But to those who have shuddered at the amount of media attention given to a double-murderer there is hope, as two recent events spell the end of Joran van der Sloot’s time in the spotlight.

Recently in Lima, a Peruvian court found Joran van der Sloot guilty in the murder of Stephanie Flores, the daughter of an influential businessman. He was sentenced to 28 years in prison for strangling the young woman, after becoming enraged that she used his laptop and found stories on the internet linking him to the Natalee Holloway disappearance. Now, for the next 14 to 28 years, this animal will be left to rot, literally, in a harsh Peruvian prison.

The same week Joran van der Sloot was found guilty, an Alabama judge declared Natalee Holloway legally dead. The decision enables family members to clear up inheritance issues and estate issues. Holloway’s body was never found.

To us, the outsiders, combined with Joran van der Sloot’s imprisonment, the declaration of Natalee Holloway’s death decreases the likelihood that we’ll be hearing much more about this story. And we shouldn’t. After all, people are murdered all the time, so not to take away from the suffering of Natalee Holloway’s family, but there are plenty of other murders that could have been given media attention. Instead of highlighting more meaningful events, the media turned a death into a circus and a murderer into a celebrity.

To learn more about Staff Writer, Eric,randomly bump into him on the street and politely ask him some questions.

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of
the author and should not be understood to be shared by Being Latino, Inc.

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Photo: Stony Brook University

Names on a page. That’s all students are when they take the SAT and ACT tests. Depending on the name, you won’t be able to tell if the student is supposed to be a boy or a girl, or even what they look like. This was one of the reasons that some students were able to pay others up to $3,600 to take the test for them.

Lawmakers are seeking to make cheating on the SAT and ACT exams impossible with a new system that would create unique, digital DNA code assigned to ID cards for each student. Researchers at Stony Brook University are currently working on this new system that will prevent cheating.

Read more at CBS New York.

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of
the author and should not be understood to be shared by Being Latino, Inc.

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The saying goes No dejes para mañana lo que puedes hacer hoy; but tomorrow always seems like a better day to get anything done.

If you find that you avoid attending obligations promptly and give different excuses (like “I work better under pressure”, “I like things last minute”, “I just cannot find the right time to do it”, “something came up”) to postpone your duties, you may have a procrastination problem. Isolated incidents do no harm, but if you do this often, you have fallen into a damaging pattern of behavior.

Procrastinating essentially means putting things off, or delaying something that needs immediate attention; distracting ourselves with activities that are not a priority (like Facebook) in order to leave all the important things (like work) for later and/or never. Procrastination fills the gap between intention and action. It’s the time used/wasted between making a decision and acting upon it, setting the goal and taking steps.

Because this is a chronic problem that can seriously harm careers and relationships, we’re providing a few guidelines for you to start being your most productive self:

Check your motives: if your motivation is not strong enough, your plans will not stick. Ask yourself: Why am I doing this? Is this important? What do I expect to gain? Once you realize what really matters to you, you can eliminate from your to-do list the things that you’re not putting your heart into or aren’t essential and focus on the ones that are.

Take back control: it’s your life. You, as an adult, must be able to regulate your behavior in a way that serves your best interests. This includes setting realistic goals, and exercising impulse control. Identifying your impulses will help you stop yourself before getting off-track. For example, if on your way to (an important activity) people text you to meet up and you cannot resist, get ahead of your impulse by turning off your phone. It eliminates temptation.

Stop self sabotage: keep in mind that it is you, and only you, who is ruining it for yourself. You know in the back of your mind that later may never come, things may never get done, and you still let it slide. You put things off because they’re too hard, or too easy to even worry about, but in either case you’ll see no gain until you take action.

Punish/Reward yourself: find something you like doing for fun (like partying or playing video games) and use it as your reward-punishment system. If that paper did not get typed this week, you’ll have to skip Thursday night drinks or your game-date with your nephew until it’s submitted. Don’t worry about it being good, just worry about it being done.

START! The only way to get rid of paralysis is to make one move. Take the first step, make that appointment, write the title of the essay, show up to the gym, put the laundry in the cart.

The only time to stop procrastinating is now.

Staff Writer, Luna Garcia

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of
the author and should not be understood to be shared by Being Latino, Inc.

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Photo: Goya.com

Plátanos are a wonderful part of the Latin American diet and can be served in a number of ways. Here is a wonderful recipe, from Goya, that covers chicken in plátanos.

In this weeks edition of Flashback Fridays we turn our attention to El Rey de La Cancion Ranchera, Vicente Fernandez and one of his most recognizable songs “Volver, Voler.” This song is about a long lost love in which the singer is yearning to return to but is coming to grips with the reality that this will never happen. The song itself is a short one but the lyrics, combined with the power and passion in which “Chente” puts into it has left such an impression in Ranchera music that it is one, if not the most popular song in the artist’s impressively long discography. 

Written by Fernando Z Maldonado, this song has been covered time again by artists such as Costa Rican singer Chavela Vargas, Spanish Latin Grammy Nominee Concha Buika, Chicano Rock band Los Lobos, multi-platinum artist Lucero, as well as Vicente Fernandez’ own son, Alejandro Fernandez, but none have been able to leave an impression the way Vicente Fernandez has.

With his trademark “Charro” suit, wide brimmed hat, and accompaniment of Mariachi, Chente has performed in the largest and most prestigious venues in the world. In a career spanning five decades he has also countless awards and recognition throughout the entertainment industry, as well as regularly topping the charts throughout this journey. Chente claims to have 300 unreleased songs, meaning there are a possible 30 more albums that have yet to be released even after retiring. So here’s to looking forward to more of El Rey de La Cancion Ranchera. Like fine wine, he only gets better with time!

The top networks: CBS, NBC, FOX and ABC se unieron in their programming on Tuesday night for what are the political Academy Awards. The biggest night of the year for politicos (other than presidential election day, the World Cup of politics): the State of the Union Address.

However, for us Latinos there was something missing. The largest networks for Hispanic America were absent in providing this critical programming, instead choosing to broadcast their bread and butter, telenovelas. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with catching an episode or two or three or getting hooked (not that I speak from experience) on the promise of a happily ever after, but there is also nothing wrong with showing them at a later time or postponing for the next day.

Now, I will give Univision and Telemundo some credit. They did broadcast it on their other networks, Galavision and Mun2 respectively. However, these networks have a much lower viewership than Univision and Telemundo.

Univision Network states on their website, “No other network has such an unparalleled connection with America’s youngest and fastest-growing consumer group.” They are the media leader when it comes to the Hispanic audience, therefore they should lead by example. Let’s make that connection they speak of count. People rely on them for educational content, especially when Hispanic political involvement is critical for our nation’s future. What we must realize is that we must not only vote, but we must be educated on our vote and an important component to this is to be exposed to significant political events such as the annual State of the Union address.

This address is not second best; therefore it should not be passed on to your second best channel. And no, it is not enough to run “highlights” later when most people go to bed. There is a reason why the nation’s top networks delay their award-winning, multi-million dollar programming and make room to provide this educational content for their viewers. It’s that important.

As we work to have Hispanic America’s political voice heard, we can’t help but look to our powerful media allies to assist with information. At the end of the day if we are not unidos, it does not matter how many Hispanics there are, we will still not be represented well.

To learn more about Luis, visit Contigo Global Philanthropy.

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of
the author and should not be understood to be shared by Being Latino, Inc.

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But what’s Friday without a little music? Join us in celebrating Friday’s arrival with some of the team’s Friday-themed favorites.

This one is made for chair-dancing…

But if you prefer something a little more mello…

And the favorite of some of our team (we’re shaking our heads too, play at your own risk)…

Happy Viernes, from the Being Latino team!

Some may be students, part-time workers or anyone else trying to supplement whatever it is they’re earning. Some of them may be good enough for you to stop and listen for a while to enjoy their sounds, others not so much.

But what if a famously, classically trained musician set up shop (dressed as any other busker) and played his best pieces? Would you recognize talent and beauty when you heard it, or would you tune it out with the rest of the world? In 2007, The Washington Post had Joshua Bell, one of the nation’s great classical musicians, do just that. Watch the results:

Read the full story at The Washington Post.

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of
the author and should not be understood to be shared by Being Latino, Inc.

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Photo EFE

Over the years, the rise in childhood obesity has been an issue that many have spoken out against. The lack of nutrition in school lunches and the fact that some school have gotten rid of recess, haven’t necessarily helped the matter.

But a big question is how to get children excited about exercising? One way is to make it fun and engaging. Reggaeton duo Edgardo Y D’Niel seek to do just that as the new spokesmen for Puerto Rico’s “A Moverse” campaign, which seeks to motivate children and teens to exercise.This campaign is a response to the juvenile obesity that affects about 32 percent of Puerto Rico’s population.

Read more at Fox News Latino.

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of
the author and should not be understood to be shared by Being Latino, Inc.

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While stumping on Florida’s famed Space Coast, Gingrich made new commitments to the space program – a program that has been largely diminished by the Obama administration. His claim is that by his second term, the United States will have an established base on our moon, and be well on our way to a manned mission to Mars.

Read more at Politico.com.

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of
the author and should not be understood to be shared by Being Latino, Inc.

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