I just got back from watching

Slumdog Millionaire.

AllI have to say is this:

Beautiful Film. Makes you think.

Unacknowledged Americans

When I graduated High school back in 2000 it was a bit rare to hear about undocumented students going on to colleges or universities. As a matter of fact, most any immigration talk was a bit taboo, since it was, and continues to be, such a fragile subject.

However, as the years have passed I've come to notice more and more of our youth are seeking a higher education and pursuing their educational goals. These students are not only plowing through the many barriers that they face for being undocumented, but they are doing so with high marks, good GPAs, community service, along with a full load of advanced classes, extracurricular activities and juggling jobs.

I find this phenomenon nothing short of astounding, and representative of the very ideals that this country promotes: determination, perseverance, hard work.


These are just a few examples, there are countless others who are moving forward with each day.

There's Hector, Gina, Gustavo, Anna and the other 30 or so Hurtados who attend Santa Clara University.

http://media.www.thesantaclara.com/media/storage/paper946/news/2007/04/12/News/Undocumented.And.Unemployed-2837679.shtml

Or Karina and the many others that attend UCLA

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-me-freshman2-2009feb02,0,7890948.story


Or Juan at Harvard

http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=93908896a13de0a3aafac5c1a3732130

Torta Dreams (and other thoughts of food)

A piece of avocado smeared my lip as I bit in to the delicious combination of jamon, queso, crema cebolla, lechuga and jalapenos. I took a slurp of my coke and I was in heaven.

I love tortas. No, I have a passion for tortas. Infact I love food! Now, I'm no foodie or food snob, at least not in the conventional use of those terms. I don't go nuts over pates, cheeses or caviar.

No I'm not that kind of foodie, I am a street food foodie.

I drool at the sight of a well prepared taco al pastor, my heart pounds faster at the first bite of a falafel pita from the "falafel drive in", my stomach rejoices when chicken tiki massala and nan enters it's realm, I get giddy over samosas and chaat, and I almost weep at the taste of carnitas from gilroy's "Carnitas Michoacan".


I guess the love for street food is inherent in me, since I hail from Mexico City. The D.F. is known for its multitude of street food vendors, from tacos and gorditas, to bunuelos, churros and God knows what.

One of the things that i greatly look forward to is the day that I'll be biting into a samosa in Mumbai, or having some dim sum in Shanghai, or a fish tacos in Tabasco!

Monday Night Blues

EDIT:

I'm doing better, thanks to some wise words and so this post has been made invisible in order to not fixate on it and move forward.


***Warning: The post that is about to follow contains traces of self pity and wallowing. Apologies to all. *******


Or maybe this is it?

Joe Arpaio

Dear Sir,

Thank You for your continued criminalization and persecution of Illegal Immigrants. I really strongly believe that your doing us a great favor by jailing mothers, fathers and workers, after you "catch" them "being" illegal during one of your "routine" traffic stops. In fact I'm so grateful that I'm willing to overlook the fact that there are 40,000+ felony arrest warrants that go un-served.

However, I'm especially thankful that you opted for putting these "illegals" in this concentration camp of yours. By doing so you have move one step closer to being removed from office and possibly prosecuted.

Signed,
Just another one of your wetbacks


-Seriously though. How is this still happening in this country?! Japanese concentration camps, Jim Crow, Operation Wetback, Slavery, and the list of "lessons from the history" continue.