Letting my inner maid out

by Eileen Rivera 

We’ve all heard the saying, “Be a lady in the parlor, a maid in the kitchen and a whore in the bedroom.” I can’t help you with being a lady, my pearls don’t come out of their box very often. I won’t help you with the bedroom, you’re on your own there. But I can help you with being a maid because I have a lot of experience and I can help you cut down your cleaning time, whether you’re a Mr. or a Ms. The recommendations you will read here are mine and based on years of trial and error.

Do we just envy rich people?

by Daniel Cubias

“There’s class warfare, alright. But it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war. And we’re winning.” —Warren Buffett

“Eat the rich!” —Aerosmith

In Manlio’s Argueta’s gripping novel, One Day of Life, soldiers of a repressive Central American government beat and abuse poor villagers. The peasants’ crime, as one militaristic thug puts it, is that “they don’t love the rich.”

Brazil: rising economic giant

by Eric Jude Cortes

Quick, name three of the world’s ten wealthiest countries…now. Ha! You cheated! You read the title of this article or saw the thumbnail photo that came along with it. So yes, you’re right, Brazil! Good job. Last week I wrote an article comparing the film Rise of the Planet of the Apes to the political and economic growth of Latin America. Reading your comments on Facebook, I noticed that some of you seemed to take umbrage at this. So today, I will oblige you, and promise to enlighten you on the Brazilian economy without referencing Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

World of whispers

by Nancy Sepulveda

Like most great discoveries, I stumbled upon the “whispering community” by accident. I was in the office, hard at work YouTube-ing, when I noticed a suggested video titled ‘Whisper Twelve: The Beatles’ (I can only assume it popped up thanks to my random Hey Jude search the day before). Curious, I clicked — and was transported to an alternate reality of calm and relaxation.

Do you have computer vision syndrome?

Digital devices, especially computers, are an integral part of our everyday lives and many of us spend upwards of eight hours a day looking at a computer screen. As much as we may love our computers, there is no fighting the tired feeling that comes with staring at a screen all day.

Here is an infographic that provides great tips for dealing with computer vision syndrome and keeping your eyes healthy.

A mathematical certainty?

by Greg Martinez

You may remember the line in the movie Titanic where the actor who played the ship’s architect, Thomas Andrews, said the sinking of the Titanic was a “mathematical certainty.” Lately that phrase has come into vogue to describe what some consider the inevitable collapse of the U.S. economy, just Google the term yourself. For years now, since the election of Barack Obama, right wing prophets of doom have been predicting that the national debt would catch up to us. The irony is that the last Republican President inherited a balanced budget , along with a Republican congress, quickly took us back to deficit spending and we now have one of the largest deficits in history.

The diversity game in corporate America

by Gerardo A. Canales

For some time we have all played the diversity game; corporations have created diversity programs and minorities have taken the available opportunities. As corporate diversity programs have evolved, they have increased the red tape along with procedural requirements. Now diversity metrics are global, more demanding and less local. Spend (a measure of how much a corporation spends on minority vendors) is replacing entrepreneurship as a metric and objectives are becoming business centric. Read: bottom line oriented, their bottom line.

Georgia redistricting: another kind of border-politics

by Kathrin Ivanovic

In a state that has gained a reputation of some of the harshest policies against its minority and immigrant communities, the Georgia Assembly decided to take up state-wide redistricting in its special session this summer. On August 19, the House and Senate Republicans passed two separate district maps that will likely lead their party to capture a super-majority for the next decade of politics in Georgia.

Pelo bueno o pelo malo?

by Cindy Tovar

 I was once in a relationship with a dark-skinned Venezuelan guy with very coarse hair. One day my mom asked me if I was prepared to have a baby con pelo malo, or “bad hair.” This wasn’t the first time I’d heard the term, but it still shocked me to hear the words come out of her mouth, especially because she was so serious.

Science 101: a major test for the GOP

by Ryan Almodovar

While stumping for his recently announced presidential campaign, Texas Governor Rick Perry ran into some trouble when asked a question by a young boy about the age of the Earth and his views on the theory of evolution. Perry stammered for the most part, answering that, “It goes back a long ways. I’m not sure anyone really knows…” and that, “…evolution. That’s one theory that’s out there…” He also made some public comments casting doubt on global warming, stating “I don’t think from my perspective that I want to be engaged in spending that much money on still a scientific theory that has not been proven and from my perspective is more and more being put into question.”