On the Politics of Fear

by Nick Baez

“Ignorance breeds monsters to fill up the vacancies of the soul that are left unoccupied by the verities of knowledge.” – Horace Mann

When Rosie G. wrote her article last week, she posed the question, “How do we come to fear so much?” While I will not bore you with a detailed explanation of the underlying physiology of fear, I wish to instead note that fear is often used as a means for organizing citizens under a common goal.

Quite often, this takes the form of a quest to identify a “smoking gun” cause for economic and social upheaval. Moreover, what is typically identified by policy-makers as a root cause for such upheaval reflects a marked disconnect from reality. Whether we are told to be fearful of “welfare queens,” immigrants, or “entitlement programs,” a thorough examination of the data consistently shows that the narrative of fear is not grounded in fact.

What Does It Mean for Latinos to “Blend In”?

by Daniel Cubias

Recently, I wrote a post that received more, shall we say…passionate comments than usual. The article was about the Kansas politician who cracked a truly hilarious, knee-slapping joke about gunning down undocumented people like vermin.

In any case, among the hundreds of comments were people who said I was right, people who said I was wrong, and people who said I was a race-baiting hatemonger bent on destroying America.

Petition to make Alvaro Uribe Mayor of Philadelphia

by Eric Jude Cortes

Dear Mr. President:

As Americans, we value democracy, and at the same time glorify those who make decisions with the brutal hand of force. Abraham Lincoln suspending habeas corpus during the Civil War, William McKinley provoking a war with Spain in order to expand the American empire, and Ronald Reagan bankrolling numerous conflicts in order to end the Cold War; all of these individuals became American icons with the help of a little heavy-handedness.

In this spirit, we the undersigned individuals, present you, former president of Colombia Alvaro Uribe, with a humble request. It would please us greatly if you, with your experience as a hardnosed Conservative fighter of guerrillas, would tame a soiled nest of rats on America’s East Coast, by becoming the Mayor of Philadelphia.

It takes a real man to cry

by Arlene Olivencia

I was raised with both my parents. I’m the oldest of three, the youngest being the only male sibling. I can count on one hand the times I’ve seen my Father cry. With the exception of my brother’s childhood, as an adult, I can’t recall a single tear. In a house with three women, the opening of a soda bottle can set off a chain reaction of emotional outbursts, and my female friends aren’t any better. How can we account for this? Simple: Men don’t cry.

Are we truly happy?

by Rosie Galvez

A couple of months ago, a good friend and I were having a conversation about happiness. She stated that being happy is only a momentary feeling or emotion. She did not believe it’s a permanent state of mind. At first, I couldn’t decide about that, but have noticed this topic seems to be coming up a lot lately.

About a month ago, Oprah did a show about happiness. According to the survey done on her show, most people are happy in their lives. I don’t know about that since I don’t see or hear a lot of people being happy.

The listening party: Jennifer Lopez – LOVE?

by AJay Rodriguez

When we last heard from Jennifer Lopez, she was “Fresh Out the Oven” while showing us her “Louboutins.” Those were her first promotional singles for her upcoming album release LOVE?

Unfortunately, those tracks didn’t make the final cut on the album. Instead, they were used to finish off her contract with Epic Records, and her album LOVE? was postponed, awaiting a new record label to call home.

In comes Island Def Jam to save the day. Head L.A. Reid was now poised to take the album in a new direction, with new promotional singles and new mixes of tracks that were leaked in 2010. And that’s when the trouble begins.

Being Latino Partners with Telemundo for ‘Digital Influencers Day’

Being Latino is in Miami as part of Telemundo’s Digital Influencers Day. With Telemundo’s understanding that social media platforms are an integral part of reaching today’s Latino–the largest users of social media, especially via smartphones–they open their doors to Latino digital influencers such as Being Latino for an open discussion.

Habla Texas

by Eileen Rivera

The folks at  HBO Latino are bringing us another edition of their great Habla series. We’ve all enjoyed the Celebrity Habla, where the spotlight has been placed on our own stars. There has been participation from the likes of Jimmy Smits, Esai Morales, Bernie Williams, and NYC’s own Luis Guzman and La Bruja herself. The legendary Rita Moreno told the folks at HBO Latino that, despite all the awards she has received, she is most proud of her segment on the Habla series. The segment is what she wants her grandchildren to remember.

Pancho Villa and Akira Kurosawa were white (didn’t you know?)

by Ulises Silva

Before you read any further, you should know that, if you’re a leprechaun, a unicorn, Latino, or Asian, you don’t exist.

At least, that’s what Hollywood says.

In Hollywood, it’s all about make-believe. After all, film studios make their money by making crazy stuff up—though I’m still not sure what made them think a Yogi Bear movie was the way to our wallets. As long as moviegoers fork over $12 to suspend disbelief, studios will keep making crazy stuff up—like alien invasions, intemperate fish, and anything Roland Emmerich looks at.

Everybody’s Latino: The Kamikaze School

by Ryan Almodovar

I’ll level with you here – I can’t stand YouTube. People will argue that it’s a great way to share media, but in all honesty, you’re just enabling annoying people with webcams to film their crap and mouth off. Naturally, when Charlie Sheen – a veritable master of filming crap and mouthing off – went off the deep end a few weeks ago, people took to YouTube to exploit his newfound ‘winning’ ways. One such parody, a dub of Sheen’s quotes over Eminem’s “Hi, My Name Is,” was created by a group calling themselves Kamikaze School. Some lousy flash animations ensue, but in the end they got enough views to garner some attention for themselves.