Undocumented immigrants: The invisible victims of 9/11

memorialflagsThe undocumented immigrants impacted by the bombing of the World Trade Center were practically invisible to the government and agencies that were supposed to help them, two academics reported Tuesday.

The victims and their families were never properly counted because of their social and political isolation from wider society:

  • Immigrants without papers distrusted law enforcement and were wary of drawing attention to themselves.
  • Even if they did come forward, they lacked the paperwork necessary to prove claims and receive assistance.
  • Public opinion linking immigration and terrorism after 9/11 exacerbated the risks of coming out of the MIGRA closet.

Study authors Alexandra Délano and Benjamin Nienass explain:

Mas…Undocumented immigrants: The invisible victims of 9/11

1900 sing ‘Cielito Lindo’ in Jalisco = Guinness World Record (video)


Over 1900 people in Jalisco, the official-looking English-sounding allegedly Guinness World Records guy says in the video, set a new world record this week for the most people singing a “round.” The round in question was Cielito Lindo, and the town was Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico. Some news channel from Indonesia reports, you decide.

PREVIOUSLY ON JALISCO:

Mas…1900 sing ‘Cielito Lindo’ in Jalisco = Guinness World Record (video)

Official spokesman for U.S. Hispanics quits: ‘It’s a bullshit job!’

spokesman(PNS reporting from MIAMI) Gerardo Lamas, the official spokesman for all Hispanics in the United States, resigned Wednesday night.

“This is a bullshit job and I’ll never be able to please anybody,” he told PNS in a late-night phone call. “I mean, I’ve been at this for a while, and let me tell you, it hasn’t gotten any easier. Que effin’ lastima, right? I’m throwing up my hands!”

“The truth is it’s ridiculous to expect one person to be able to speak for millions from diverse backgrounds, geopolitical situations, economic castes and region-specific cultures,” he said. “Rachel Maddow calls, Fox News calls, Esteban Colberto calls, and even your guy Al Madrigal from The Daily Show calls. Thank God for Caller ID!”

Mas…Official spokesman for U.S. Hispanics quits: ‘It’s a bullshit job!’

A burrito is not a sandwich, Massachusetts judge rules

qdoba640
(PNS reporting from MASSACHUSETTS) A burrito is not a sandwich, you idiots, according to a court decision announced here last week.

Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Locke made the ruling as he threw out a lawsuit brought by a Panera restaurant seeking to stop White City Shopping Center in Shrewbsury from leasing space to a franchisee of the Qdoba Mexican Grill chain.

Panera’s lease prevents the center from renting space to a (competing) sandwich shop.

From the Associated Press:

[The judge] cited Webster’s Dictionary as well as testimony from a chef and a former high-ranking federal agriculture official in ruling that Qdoba’s burritos and other offerings are not sandwiches.

Mas…A burrito is not a sandwich, Massachusetts judge rules

It’s a long, hard road from Central America to El Norte

borderflyersEscaping criminal gangs in Central America and crossing Mexico to enter the U.S. without papers is only the first step in a long journey, a journey with an ending that remains unknown.

The Intercept tells the story:

A few nights ago, Ana crossed illegally into the United States from Guatemala. Her husband paid a coyote $4,000 to smuggle Ana and their son through the lowland jungles of southern Mexico, up the San Pedro river to the Texas border.

“A gang was after us,” Ana says in a daze, digging her knuckles into her cheeks to stay awake. She and her child were just released from a 48-hour stay at a detention center where it was too cold to sleep.

Mas…It’s a long, hard road from Central America to El Norte

Massive ancient Mayan cities found deep in Mexican jungle

junglecityArcheologists have re-discovered two ancient Mayan cities deep in the Yucatan jungle — massive cities with plazas, buildings and pyramids, some over six stories high.

One spectacular find was a monster mouth portal carved with a stylized earth monster eye and fangs along the doorway jamb (photo.)

The cities, Lagunita and Tamchen, flourished in what is called the Late and Terminal Classic periods (600-1000 A.D.).

Discovery News has the story:

Mas…Massive ancient Mayan cities found deep in Mexican jungle

Kilometer-long earthquake fissure splits Sonora (drone video)


An earthquake last week opened up a giant fissure in the desert west of Hermosillo, in the northern Mexican state of Sonora. The crack in the earth is 1 kilometer long and up to 25 feet deep in some stretches. This drone video shows Nature’s awesome power.

Maybe I grew up in a Latino and African-American neighborhood

navarrobannerMaybe I grew up in a mostly Latino and African American neighborhood because that was where my parents could pay rent.

Maybe they could only pay rent there because my parents immigrated into this country with only a bag of clothes. Maybe they worked 16 hrs a day 7 days a week in ranches cutting cabbage. Maybe they worked 2 or 3 jobs, and yet it was barely enough to get by.

Mas…Maybe I grew up in a Latino and African-American neighborhood

Local Chicano decides to start calling himself ‘Hispanic’

hispanicguy(PNS reporting from IRVINE, CA) Roland Vega, 33, formerly known as “Rolando,” has come to an important moment in his life: He’s transitioned from a “Chicano” to a “Hispanic.”

The decision to change the way he self-identifies came as somewhat of a shock to his family and his homeboys, but not necessarily to Vega’s former Hispanic fraternity brothers.

He made the announcement on Facebook Sunday night.

“You know, Roli — er, I mean, Roland — was always the most radical Chicano in the fraternity, but c’mon man, he was studying accounting. I kinda always knew he was going to end up a Hispanic,” said Ed Taboada, Vega’s college roommate.

Mas…Local Chicano decides to start calling himself ‘Hispanic’

Been indicted and it feels so good: The Governor Rick Perry Story

rickperryhorseWhen news broke Friday that GOP presidential nominee wannabe Texas Governor Rick Perry (photo) was indicted on two counts of abuse of power, we were pissed off because we were in the middle of a conference call and didn’t that grand jury know our meeting schedule and publishing deadlines?

We realized later, however, that we had a treasure trove of Perry-ana that could be given fresh life on the Interwebs with a cool big-ass image of Perry, a clever headline and lots of SEO-friendly keywords.

POCHO proudly presents PREVIOUSLY ON INDICTED TEXAS GOVERNOR RICK PERRY THEATRE:

Mas…Been indicted and it feels so good: The Governor Rick Perry Story

Alaskans praise candidate who will save us from illegals with tats

joemillerracistmailer (PNS reporting from ANCHORAGE, AK) Some they call him Joe, some they call him Doh! but one group of Alaska voters is 100% behind Joe Miller, the Tea Party-affiliated candidate who is seeking a United States Senate nomination.

“His campaign mailer (click on photo to enlarge) convinced us that Miller will do a great job keeping the thriving Latino community of Alaska in check,” read a press release issued Thursday by Cecilia Jones, the president of National Organization for Minorities, Advertisements, Media Exposure and Symbolism. “And that especially goes for your drug-dealing border-crossing tat-wearing illegal alien Democrat voters!”

Mas…Alaskans praise candidate who will save us from illegals with tats

Robin Williams reads Pablo Neruda’s ‘Sonnet XVII’ (video)


In the film Patch Adams, Hunter “Patch” Adams — played by the late Robin Williams — “commits himself into a mental institution. Once there, he finds that using humor to help his fellow inmates gives him a purpose in life….”

Sonnet XVII
By Pablo Neruda

I don’t love you as if you were a rose of salt, topaz,
or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
I love you as one loves certain obscure things,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.

Mas…Robin Williams reads Pablo Neruda’s ‘Sonnet XVII’ (video)