A worldwide NO MORE CHAVEZ demonstration will take place September 4th .

A US Citizen from Texas was detained in Michigan suspected of being an illegal alien because he was working as a migrant worker and looked Mexican. 

How many US citizens carry with them their birth certificate or passport?
Do you feel that you have to carry proof of your citizenship when traveling inside your own country????
If you do, please let me know why

This guy didn’t and he spent 17 days in jail:

For 17 days he was chained, jailed and threatened with deportation to Mexico. For 17 days Brigido Oregon, a West Michigan migrant farm worker from Texas, pleaded his innocence.

On the 17th day, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials confirmed he, indeed, was a U.S. citizen, and allowed him to leave jail.

You can read the whole article from the Muskegon newspapper here

In the last few days the Honduran senate and supreme court ousted a president that was set to disturb the democratic ways in Honduras, they call on the military to apprehend him and get him out of the country.

I think the only thing they did wrong was to get him out of the country, they should have detain him, have a trial and send him to jail.

For those who haven’t read or heard what this guy was up-to, he was a very rich rancher, business man, he became president and his term was supposed to end by the end of this year, he was supposed to transfer power in January of 2010. But lately he started the ways of Chavez and his other ‘friends’. He was calling for a vote to change the constitution so he could be re-elected. (same thing done by Chavez, Correa, and such)

The electoral authority said that according to the constitution, because of the coming elections (this fall), this type of consult could not be done. They could only be done 5 or 6 months after the new president took office. Of course this did not serve his purposes of staying in power indefinitely. So he was going to go ahead with the elections any way. He asked the military to provide support to the process and the Supreme court told them not to do so, so he removed the Chief military officer from his post.

Even though he was told repeatedly that those elections were illegal, he did not care about the rule of law. The day he was ousted planes sent by Chavez arrived with all the equipment to do this illegal (and most certainly rigged) election.

For these and other reasons he was removed and following their local laws Hondurans assigned the second in command to finish the presidential term.

I congratulate the people of Honduras, they had the foresight to stop the Cancer that Chavez and Cuba are spreading through Latin America. They have set forth the example for other countries to show that it can be done.

Chavez is complaining that Zelaya is an elected official and as such his rule should be respected, while at the same time, in his country he has disrespected all the elected officials that are not part of his communist movement. He has taken away funds, jurisdiction, offices, police force, and has assigned an overseer for only those Majors, Governors and other officials that were elected by the people and are not from his red party. He has eliminated all but one independent TV stations, and he has already ordered that the remaining one to be closed, by any means necessary… Every week they make up a new charge against them.

People take him as a crazy person and Bush’s White house just ignored him while he accumulated more and more power. There are no human rights or democracy left in Venezuela, following in his footsteps are Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua.

Chavez keeps saying that people should not be involved in a country’s own rule, but he and Correa have threaten to send troupes to Honduras to put Zelaya back. His intrusion in other countries is well know. There were a few street protest in Honduras and most of the people arrested were not from Honduras.

Varios groups that belong to the OAS have passed a resolution blocking comerce from and to Honduras, they same type embargo that they condemed a few month ago because it was done to Cuba.

I have read people complaining about Obama’s condemnation of the removal of Zelaya, I hope this is just a political move to make time, waiting until the Hondurans demonstrate that the move was within their rule of law; and once this is done the US as well as most of the world would recognized the new president. In his first interview Zelaya accused the US of being involved and I think that is what they are trying to dispel that.

I have been hearing about this couple of Spencer and Cindy? I think I forgot her name. The thing is why are they famous, why are people writing about them (including me), talking about them and paying them to show up at places???

There are number of those famous for being famous, that are very savvy at marketing themselves and fabricating stories to be in the news constantly. That woman having all of those babies to be famous, some are famous for partying, not really interesting people.

I do not get it.

I can see their point of view because they are making truck loads of money, but why do people follow? What is so special about them?

It may be a cultural thing or a generational thing…I don’t know.

Why focus on those people that do NOTHING, create NOTHING, CONTRIBUTE NOTHING?!?!?!?

Can somebody explain to me why?? Please…

I vote for boycotting those so-called celebrities, vanishing the non-talented people from the media. I learned that it is said that everybody has 15 minutes of fame, I really hope the we are past their 14.59…tic tac tic tac

I was watching a news report that talked about how some schools are banning hugs, or hugging among students. According to this news report it is all the new rage… hugging is new?

That was one of those times when I felt the Alien that I am. I come from a planet where we show affection. I used to hug and kiss (in the cheek) all my friends since elementary school (that is as far as I can remember). We hug and kiss our friends, specially if we haven’t seen them for a couple of days. With family we do, every time we see each other.

I guess the way we show affection is pretty much cultural. I have had to get used to not kissing and hugging people here, and when I visit my planet I feel awkward the first couple of days, when everybody wants to hug me. Then it all comes back and I feel that warmth of the embrace, the affection, and since I am the one outside the planetary circle, the hugs for me tend to be longer, as if we were trying to make up for lost time, or as my Mom would put it, “recharging my batteries”.

Have you heard about the Free Hugs Campain…if not here it is

Hey you don’t know what you are missing, hug somebody today!!

I came across this news story and could not believe it, a man got expelled from a university for claiming to be African-American. This is absurd!!!

What was the problem you may ask, well he is white. This guy is a white man from Africa who became a US citizen, how should he call himself? In this era of hyphenated nationalities or ethnicities what is right and what is wrong?  Who is a real African American, a Black American or an African that became American? Who makes the rules? 

Paulo Serodio says he is.

Born and raised in Mozambique and now a naturalized U.S. citizen, Serodio, 45, has filed a lawsuit against a New Jersey medical school, claiming he was harassed and ultimately suspended for identifying himself during a class cultural exercise as a “white African-American.”

After Serodio labeled himself as a white African-American, another student said she was offended by his comments and that, because of his white skin, was not an African-American.

According to the lawsuit, Serodio was summoned to Duncan’s office where he was instructed “never to define himself as an African-American … because it was offensive to others and to people of color for him to do so.”

You can read the rest of the story here

His was instructed to never define himself as what he is African-American, because the label here in the US has certain parameters that never accounted for other possibilities. African Americans can only be black? How about a black person from Europe, that comes to America, could they be European American? they certainly do not have the African American culture. How about a person of Asian descent, that is also Latino? What can they call themselves, they look Asian but have the Latino Culture. It is 2009, we have an “African American” president. The world is getting smaller by the minute. Isn’t it time to open our minds and our hearts and stop the bickering?

Apparently we do… according to a research done by the Associated Press, after it  interviewed at least 55 US citizens that have been detained for immigration violations for time ranging from a day to years and also some have been deported. How can you accuse a US citizen of immigration violations when they are not immigrating?!?!  Read the article here

How can we improve the system so that this doesn’t happen anymore?

Imagine spending hours, days, maybe years  in jail for being assumed to be foreigner in your own country… do you carry your birth certificate or passport with you at all time??? If you don’t maybe you should.

I have been watching Obama’s trips overseas and he surprised me as I think surprised the rest of the world. He went to Europe and admitted the US responsibility on the global market crisis and also told the rest of the world that they are responsible as well and that all should work on it.

But when he went to the meeting of the American countries he blew them out of the water, even the crazy Chavez. I read the critics saying that he shouldn’t have  shaken Chavez’s hand, that he is sending the wrong message, they obviously know nothing about Latin America, the people, the culture and that explains how come their politics have been so wrong. Ignoring Chavez and not shaking his hand would have given him more power and more ammunition against the US.

After eight years of the US ignoring the neighbors to the south, and taking the countries that used to be allies for granted, now some of those allies are declared enemies or moving to the dark-side, because they found support and attention somewhere else.

Obama comes and says I admit we made mistakes and we want to start over, lets fix this. I am willing to work with you…and as you know when people apologise and tries to make a mend people turn around.

Chavez is like a spoiled child, a diva, he wants to always be the center of attention; he started rallying the countries that he is paying off, to boycott Obama and boycott the entire meeting. He was prepared to go against anything and Obama came without the famous US arrogance  he smiled, shacked his hand and said hello.  He was blown out of the water, so much so, that to get people’s attention back to himself, he had to run into a meeting to give Obama a book, he had to use Obama’s spotlight to be in the spotlight. Now in his country  they are asking him, why where you sucking up to Obama? You have said the you hate the US, are you a Yankee lover now? What is this about?

What a smile and a handshake can do, Obama acting like a true diplomat, and an intelligent man disarmed the uncouth and bloody military dictator.

The truth is that nobody can stand Chavez, but the people that surround him and the countries that support him are like leaches feeding of the oil and money he is giving away. His has almost absolute power in his country, but he is not as loved as people think, people are threatened to attend rallies and vote for him.

I hope that this is the first of more changes towards LatinAmerica and that we can help stabilize and rid the area of the totalitarianism cancer.

Last year I wrote about the Dream Act here about many immigrant youth that were brought to the US usually as infants and that are Americans in almost every way, except they are undocumented. In the article I cited at that time there were a few that didn’t even know they were undocumented, until it was time to get a driver’s licence or go to college, because they could not do either one.

That is where The Dream Act comes in, it is a project to help those kids go to college. It is not to pay for their college education, it to allow them to go. They had no say in what country they were raised, they had no say in coming here; but they are here now, they are great members of society, they are good students and they want to pursue a higher education.

 The Dream Act was introduced on March 26, 2009.  You would probably ask, why do I care? Why should I support them, they are not here legally? Well  first, it was not their choice, second they are already here, they have been raised as Americans, and lastly, as members of society wouldn’t you rather have these kids go on to college and become part of the engine that moves the country forward? would you rather they be unemployed or worst? They have so many possibilities, they can find the cure for AIDS or Cancer or Parkinson’s, they can improve the way of life of their own communities, they can be anything that they set their minds to be. Would you want that possibilities for yourself or your own. Well they are your own. Read their stories here they are not an abstract idea, they are real, they are Americans from every corner of the world and they come in all shapes, colors and sizes. Help them become the better future for America…

Here are some things you can do to support the DREAM Act:

1. CALL – The National Council of La Raza has a page to help you call your congressional representatives in support of the DREAM Act.
http://capwiz.com/nclr/callalert/index.tt?alertid=12988601

2. FAX – America’s Voice has a page to help you fax your congressional representatives in support of the DREAM Act.
http://americasvoiceonline.org/page/speakout/DaretoDream

3. EMAIL – Change.org has a page to help you email your congressional representatives in support of the DREAM Act.
http://www.change.org/ideas/932/view_action/ask_your_congressperson_to_support_the_dream_act

4. PETITION – Dreamactivist.org has the official petition in support of the DREAM Act.
http://dreamact2009.com/

5. TEXT – Text “Justice” (“Justicia” for Spanish) to 69866 to be the first to know when the DREAM Act is introduced.  FIRM’s Mobile Action Network is an excellent way to stay connected and have maximum impact at just the right moment.
http://fairimmigration.wordpress.com/2009/03/20/action-join-the-fight-for-immigrant-rights/

I have been off what happens in Detroit for a while, but I have friends there and they keep me up to date. The latest soap opera, reality show, is not the former major…although he is still in the news; This new instalment is the city council….

I think this is better than a reality show, everyday there is something new, and you can even find the videos on YouTube.

My friends suggested that I should check out the Detroit Free Press and of course I went to the local TV stations websites.

Apparently there is a big controversy, because there is a deal on the works for over a year, that would turn over management on a local convention center to a group formed by the state, a couple of counties close to Detroit and the city of Detroit. The city is currently bankrupt, the last major was trying to sell the tunnel (that goes from the US to Canada) to the Canadians, in order to come close to balancing the budget. They cannot afford the maintenance and renovations needed for the place.

But after a short deliberation the city council voted no for the deal, their reasons…the (white man) racist state wants to take what belongs to us. They said that “they are all racists up  in Lansing” :(  Are you kidding me? Then the city council president pro-temp, said on camera to a white UW worker that was teling her that the deal would creat jobs, she responded that those worker looked like him, not like her…(they were white not black)

Then the new Major vetoed the council’s vote (the guy she called Shrek when he was the council’s president) She said it was not valid but a  the same time called a meeting to veto the veto… Well in this meeting they were arguing back and forth and then a council member broke out in song (it turned into a musical)

This is what she said:

“European rulers have traditionally taken what they wanted from other people, be they white, be they black or be they brown.

“No one is taking anything,” Collins said of a transfer of Cobo Center to a regional authority, as she and some in the audience began singing “Onward Christian Soldiers.”