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Loyalty and Loathing: Is Donald Trump the new Fidel Castro?

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saluteSince Donald Trump’s astonishing rise to power, there is only one other public figure I can recall that has drawn such extremes of loyalty and loathing: Fidel Castro in his prime.

I will no doubt get an avalanche of criticism from my fellow Cuban-Americans for making this observation. But that simply proves my point. Although at opposite ends of the political spectrum, both men are lightning rods for polarization. Their similarities are in political style, not ideology.

“…THEIR IMPULSIVE PERSONALITIES WERE CATNIP TO THE MEDIA.”

Mas…Loyalty and Loathing: Is Donald Trump the new Fidel Castro?

You can ‘Reach for the Stars’ with a plastic grabber thingy (video)

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TAPE RECORDING:

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write, shoot, cut and complete a short comedy video in 48 hours including this line of dialogue --"Am I missing something here?" -- a character named Lee or Leah Gregory, and a plaster grabber thingy as a prop.

SERGIO AND JULIO GONZALEZ OF IDAHO, USA:

OK.

Sergio Anthony Gonzalez explains via email:

Mas…You can ‘Reach for the Stars’ with a plastic grabber thingy (video)

Let’s get one thing straight: No human being is ‘illegal’

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immigrationmarch600“Could the president grant deferred removal to every unlawfully present alien in the United States right now?”

That’s how Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts referred to individuals lacking the proper documents to be in the country during a recent hearing on DAPA (Deferred Action for parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents).

“Alien” is the legal term to describe these individuals, but Justice Sonia Sotomayor also referred to them as “undocumented immigrants.” She objected to the phrase “illegal immigrants”, which she considers too harsh. Justice Sonia Sotomayor even explained that “illegal immigrants” associates them with “drug addicts, thieves, and murderers.”

Mas…Let’s get one thing straight: No human being is ‘illegal’

In the Pacific NW, these are not the droids you’re looking for (toons)

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star-wars-indian-art-8Artist Scott Erickson re-imagines Star Wars iconography in the style of the natives of the Pacific Northwest:

ALLIANCE=REBELLION : ALKI TUM TUM

We each live out our lives, as an amalgam of intertwined narratives, rooted both in chance and intention, influenced heavily by our environment. The Northwest’s distinctive sense of place, stems significantly from the visual gifts of the Indigenous Tribes of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Juxtaposed against a modernizing landscape, their sacred icons are pervasive as rain, depicting narratives as much from long ago, as they are from right here and now.

Mas…In the Pacific NW, these are not the droids you’re looking for (toons)

Watch: Mexican fashionistas demo what the cool kids will wear in 2035

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The students at Mexico City’s Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Moda de Casa de Francia designed and produced 20 “intelligent” pieces of clothing for your fashion-forward future. Twenty years from now, we’ll all be wearing black and white poofy mexi-burkas with built-in virtual reality. SPOILER: All the extra-cool kids will have gray hair, 3D printers and electric shoes.

Vatos Locos International: Meet Thailand’s ‘cholos’ (NSFW videos)

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What do a Buddhist meditation teacher and a Thai policeman have in common? They both think they are “Mexican gangsters” because tats, Pendletons, leaning like a cholo and saying “Fuck the popo!” [NSFW lyrics and explicit subtitles in English.]

Ditto two Armenian gang-bangers who were deported from Southern California back to the Old World; these vatos locos are fighting for Bashar al-Assad in Syria:

Mas…Vatos Locos International: Meet Thailand’s ‘cholos’ (NSFW videos)

A fashion trend from the 1990s — chanclas with socks — is back

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socks-and-thongs(PNS reporting from NEW YORK CITY) Some fashion trends from the 1990s have been back in vogue for a while — everything from flannel to baby doll dresses and chokers — but one fashion trend has insiders abuzz this Fall: Chanclas with socks, newly re-branded as Chocks.

Rebuffed by mainstream fashion in the 1990s, the once-criticized trend is finding its home in a world where Miley Cyrus’ trashy fashion thrives.

“Chocks are a spin on a traditional Chicano way of dressing,” said Marisol Mejia, a chola-turned-designer here who is making waves in the fashion world. “What you have to realize is that it’s all in how you wear it, not just what.”

Mas…A fashion trend from the 1990s — chanclas with socks — is back

PNS*Hot*Flash: Chicana frets – winged eyebrows or eyeliner?

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(PNS reporting from EAST LOS ANGELES) Veronica Gonzalez has a conundrum: Should she go rockabilly and do winged eyeliner or go chola and do winged eyebrows?

“It’s, like, hard, you know? I’m just trying to keep up with my heritage,” Gonzalez told PNS Wednesday.

Gonzalez said that if she went rockabilly it would not only look cute with her new cats-eye glasses, but she would be able to dress more girly. If she went with the chola eyebrows, then she would have to wear more khaki and that’s just not her color.

Mas…PNS*Hot*Flash: Chicana frets – winged eyebrows or eyeliner?

Adidas honors Juneteenth by releasing ‘Shackle’ sneakers

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Adidas and fashion designer Jeremy Scott honored the nation’s Juneteenth holiday today by releasing the new JS Shackles sneakers, which feature orange plastic cuffs, evoking the très à la mode suffering of black slaves in 19th Century America.

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, honors African-American  heritage by commemorating the announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas in 1865.

Adidas’ celebratory post on Facebook went up with the question: “Got a sneaker game so hot you lock your kicks to your ankles?” Many FB users commented that the shoes as “slave wear” and asking why anyone would want to voluntarily wear shackles.

Mas…Adidas honors Juneteenth by releasing ‘Shackle’ sneakers

Here’s the winner of our ‘caption this POCHO photo contest’

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The response was huge after we posted a snapshot from the notorious American Apparel California Farmer ad that has been decried and debated, and even spoofed by artist Julio Salgado.

This pic is striking, regardless of what you think of it, making it a prime candidate for CAPTION THIS POCHO PHOTO. The judges had to sort through a mound of over 60 entries, many hilarious, some painful, one an accusation of racism, but we finally picked one. It wasn’t easy, but the POCHO Caption Selection Committee selected the caption by the poster known as

Mas…Here’s the winner of our ‘caption this POCHO photo contest’

What to wear in Monterrey when listening to cumbia and huffing glue

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We don’t really know what to say about this, so we’ll let VICE tell the story in this report from Monterrey, MX:

Every Sunday afternoon, after dancing all weekend at bars and clubs around town, a bunch of Mexican Colombianos gather outside the 7-Eleven at the bottom of the Latino Tower in downtown Monterrey. Taking their cues from LA’s cholos and some mythical ideal of tropical Colombia, they wear huge plaid and Hawaiian shirts over the baggiest Dickies you’ve ever seen. These are color-coordinated with their Converse and shoelaces whenever possible (one kid we met rotates four pairs of Chucks with seven different colors of laces) and then topped with a customized baseball cap worn just tight enough that it doesn’t cover their whole head but gingerly rests on their bangs. Every visible inch of hat space is cluttered with airbrushed or embroidered writing, including its wearer’s nickname, his girlfriend’s name, his clique’s name, the radio station he listens to, the neighborhood he’s from, etc.

Mas…What to wear in Monterrey when listening to cumbia and huffing glue

Mujeres: Wearing Victoria’s Secret doesn’t make you a model

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Supposebly, I was supposed to sex it up for my boyfriend Manuelito. He said the romance was gone and we needed to spice it up. So I did what any girl would do — I went to Victoria’s Secret.

I spent a long time in that store, too. I looked at everything they had — from those bras with the gel to make you look like you have more cleavage to the ones that scrunch your chi-chis together to make you look muy sexy and even considered those itty bitty tangas that would inevitably get lost somewhere in your pompis.

After all that looking around, I wondered: how do these tiny women manage to be so chichonas anyway?

I finally settled on something and went home to make it a special night. I lit sexy cinnamon candles, the kind that smell like churros, put on my new brassiere and waited for Manuelito to come over. Once he got there I was so excited! But, as it turn out, we were both in for a shock.

Mas…Mujeres: Wearing Victoria’s Secret doesn’t make you a model

Spring cholo fashion tips from Le Smoké light up Montebello

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XXXXL pants are de rigeur
(PNS reporting from EAST LOS) Fresh cholo fashion tips brought style and fabulous funké decadence to the Montebello Town Center over the Easter weekend at fashion magistrate Le Smoké’s semiannual Eastsider Estilo Eshow, Low Rider Expo and Petting Zoo.

Le Smoké is celebrated for his ground-shaking declaration in 2006 that burgundy was the new red and periwinkle would not be considered blue. His list of do’s and don’t’s is always the highlight of the show.

Le Smoké, a 13-year Communications Sciences major at Unincorporated East Pocho City College and a 15-year veteran of the mean streets of Pocho Hills, a struggling suburb of Mission Pocho Viejo, uses the cutting edge of fashion rather than a prison shank to do his stabbing.

Mas…Spring cholo fashion tips from Le Smoké light up Montebello

You might be a Latino hipster if…

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Austin hipsters (photo by NewsTaco)

First off, you may be asking yourself, “What is a hipster?”

Hipsters are the contemporary derivative of beatniks and manifest particular philosophies, fashion and food choices, professional and geographic preferences and, inevitably, are the butt of many jokes.

Why did the hipster burn his mouth on the pizza? Because he ate it before it was cool.

Mas…You might be a Latino hipster if…