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Vyacheslav Brolotov
7th April 2012, 03:04
Ok, so I have recently been reading TheGodlessUtopian's thread on "Queer" News and have found the concept very useful. So, I have decided that, considering I am Latino (not Hispanic; Hispanic is a term more traditionally used for people from Spain, not Latin America), I will make a thread in which I will post at least one news story everyday that concerns the Latino/Hispanic worldwide community. Thank you TheGodlessUtopian for the idea!

Here is the first story of this thread that I hope lasts for many years:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/06/gay-rights-latino-support_n_1408180.html

This story sort of mixes in Latino interests with homosexual interests, which worries me because I think that TheGodlessUtopian might have beaten me to it. Needless to say, this story is of historical significance. Latinos/Hispanics have been known worldwide to be very conservative in tradition. I can see that that tide is changing in the United States of America, at least when it comes to attitudes on homosexuality, an issue that the Latino/Hispanic community has been portrayed as being very reactionary on and quite frankly is.


A study released by the Pew Hispanic Center (http://www.pewhispanic.org/2012/04/04/when-labels-dont-fit-hispanics-and-their-views-of-identity/1/) on Wednesday found that 59 percent of U.S. Latinos say homosexuality should be accepted by society. Second generation Hispanics go further, with 68 percent of those surveyed saying the same.

This is amazing. Roughly half of the general Latino population (I think Hispanics were excluded in this poll. Sorry) is for homosexuality being accepted by society.


69 percent of 18-29 year olds and 60 percent of 30-49 year olds say that homosexuality should be accepted by society. However, for Latinos, where you were born seems to be correlated with your thoughts on the issue, according to the study. 53 percent of foreign-born Latinos in the U.S. say homosexuality should be accepted, where as 68 percent of second generation Latinos say the same. But as Latin American immigration slows, and more Latinos are native born, some believe that the proportion of Latinos born abroad will fall even further in coming years.

Yet, we do see that attitudes change according to different ages and places of births, which is to be expected. Older Latinos are obviously more conservative, whether they were born in the United States or not, because attitudes all over the world were more conservative in the past, not to mention what is traditionally taught to Latino children by their parents on the issue of homosexuality.

Obviously, Latinos that were actually originally born in Latin American nations are also more likely to be conservative on the issue of homosexuality, because those are the places where the Latino culture originates from and the traditional Latino culture is, unfortunately, very homophobic. For example, the colloquial word in the Dominican Republic and many other Latin American nations for homosexual is pajaro, which means bird. Also, there are few real legal protections for homosexual in many Latin American nations that actually work.


The study comes just a week after internal documents from the National Organization of Marriage were made public which revealed NOM's strategy of pitting Latinos against gay equality in order to pass a ban on gay marriage in Maine. According to a report by The San Francisco Chronicle, the internal documents, "describe a strategy to make opposition to same-sex marriage 'a key badge of Latino identity' and 'a badge of youth rebellion to conformist assimilation to the bad side of Anglo culture." Furthermore, the documents outlined the strategy to "drive a wedge between gays and blacks - two key Democratic constituencies," and utilize "glamorous, young Latinos and Latinas, especially artists, actors, musicians, athletes, writers and other celebrities willing to stand up for marriage."

^^^^This is what really pisses me off about how conservatives view Latinos (liberals are not much better, though). They try to reassert the traditional Latino values in us that benefit their agenda, but ask us to get rid of the parts of our culture that do not benefit them. They are racists; plain and simple. They even want to manipulate anti-white and anti-black sentiments that some ignorant Latinos might have. They love racial unity when it benefits them, but try to divide races when they see fit to advance their ignorant goals. So, basically we have a bunch of white, probably fat, guys sitting around at NOM trying to discover ways to divide the nation just so icky gays won’t get married. How disgusting.

Well, I cannot speak for all Latinos, but I stand in solidarity with the homosexual community worldwide, especially the revolutionary homosexuals on this website who know that they cannot achieve their goals of true egalitarianism without the victory of the proletariat first.


Other News:

This is also sort of interesting:
http://a57.foxnews.com/img.foxnews.com/static/managed/img/fn-latino/politics/660/371/Poll%201.jpg
Now American Latinos need to learn how to say, "Fuck presidents! Where are my workers' councils?"


Last notes: I hope that I will not end up doing this thread all by myself. I am asking that all other people with good news stories on Hispanic/Latino issues post here. I might get lazy or sick one day (I have vision problems) and not do any stories, so expect a discussion to still go on if you guys really care (which it is ok if you do not).

Also, people from Spain and other Spanish speaking territories, please feel welcome to add to the conversation. I am sorry, but I am Latino (Salvadoran, Cuban, and Dominican), so I do not really become excited by Spanish stories. I will try my best to do some stories from and about Spain, but they will most likely be rare.

I am Latino, yet I am not very good at my mother tongue of Spanish, so do not come writing to me in Spanish and expect me to write back to you in an understandable fashion! You can post stories in Spanish (please do), but do not try to converse with me in said language, unless I feel comfortable enough one day to spark up my own conversation with you. Your Spanish gets a little rusty when you have been speaking only English since you were five years old.

I am going to make a Latino group on RevLeft (specifically for Latinos, but Hispanics and other races can join). Please join.

Here is the group: http://www.revleft.com/vb/group.php?groupid=940

Thank you!
¡Gracias!

Vyacheslav Brolotov
7th April 2012, 03:09
This thread does not only have to be for news; it can also be for discussion topics such as Latino/Hispanic issues, struggles, music, literature, TV, cinema, culture, history, etc, etc.

And this thread is also not exclusionary. People of any race can post!

Veovis
7th April 2012, 03:14
For example, the colloquial word in the Dominican Republic and many other Latin American nations for homosexual is pajaro, which means bird. Also, there are almost no legal protections for homosexuals anywhere in Latin America.

The entire country of Argentina (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Argentina) would like to disagree with you.

Vyacheslav Brolotov
7th April 2012, 03:29
The entire country of Argentina (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Argentina) would like to disagree with you.

Not all Latin American nations are the same, but if you think that that is what I was trying say, then that's too bad for you. I was trying to say the exact opposite when I used the word "almost."

You misunderstood.

Vyacheslav Brolotov
7th April 2012, 03:35
The entire country of Argentina (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Argentina) would like to disagree with you.

Fixed for more clarity.

Vyacheslav Brolotov
7th April 2012, 04:43
CORRECTION: A prior version of this article stated that "69 percent of 18-29 year olds and 60 percent of 30-49 year olds say that gay marriage should be accepted." In actuality, the study found that 69 percent of 18-29 year olds and 60 percent of 30-49 year olds said that homosexuality should be accepted.

RedSonRising
7th April 2012, 05:02
Good thread. I'll try and contribute as much as I can.

Prometeo liberado
7th April 2012, 05:20
What do you feel are the differences between the word Chicana/o. Some view this word as a source of pride while others consider it more demeaning and derogatory.
Your take. Also what you feel is the history of the word.

TheGodlessUtopian
7th April 2012, 17:58
Great contribution friend, just make sure to keep the fire burning and update regularly. :thumbup1:

Vyacheslav Brolotov
7th April 2012, 18:03
Great contribution friend, just make sure to keep the fire burning and update regularly. :thumbup1:

Did I beat you to that story? :lol:

TheGodlessUtopian
7th April 2012, 18:07
Did I beat you to that story? :lol:

You might have beaten me to it but there are so many stories all of them blend together after so long. I will check my own thread and see for sure.

Also, if you haven't done so already, I would recommend finding some Latino specific news sites;it is no fun digging through a dozen sources in hopes of finding a story about your cause.

Raúl Duke
8th April 2012, 19:31
I personally find the survey quite surprising...from my understanding. I feel it should be looked into more.

We could take it optimistically in face-value; but here's my cynical theory:
Latinos don't mind of the existence of gay people and do not care about going out of their way to deprive them of their rights as much as conservative WASPs do (always getting into people's businesses, those gringos; why don't they mind their own business), but within one's own family the issue may be more pessimistic as in perhaps many Latinos would not like if their own children/relatives were gay. Of course, I hope to be wrong, but in the case of my family while one of my gay cousins was accepted irrespective of his sexual preferences my lesbian cousin was/is rejected by her family (aunts/uncles of mine).

Ocean Seal
10th April 2012, 15:33
I personally find the survey quite surprising...from my understanding. I feel it should be looked into more.

We could take it optimistically in face-value; but here's my cynical theory:
Latinos don't mind of the existence of gay people and do not care about going out of their way to deprive them of their rights as much as conservative WASPs do (always getting into people's businesses, those gringos; why don't they mind their own business), but within one's own family the issue may be more pessimistic as in perhaps many Latinos would not like if their own children/relatives were gay. Of course, I hope to be wrong, but in the case of my family while one of my gay cousins was accepted irrespective of his sexual preferences my lesbian cousin was/is rejected by her family (aunts/uncles of mine).
This is true, the one gay cousin that I had was not visited by his brother on his deathbed.

arilando
10th April 2012, 16:51
This thread does not only have to be for news; it can also be for discussion topics such as Latino/Hispanic issues, struggles, music, literature, TV, cinema, culture, history, etc, etc.

And this thread is also not exclusionary. People of any race can post!
Off course that's a given.

Vyacheslav Brolotov
11th April 2012, 03:25
Well, since I have recently been drowning in homework, I have not posted anything on here for the past three days.

Now I am back and a little disappointed that no one else jumped in to continue the news . . .


I'm kidding:).


News:
This one goes out to TrotskistMarx. He asked us to pray for Chavez' health the other day. Well, Presidente Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Republic (Dominican Liberation Party) must have heard him:
http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/local/2012/4/10/43254/Fernandez-prays-for-Chavez-hails-relations-with-Venezuela



Fernandez prays for Chavez, hails relations with Venezuela


Santo Domingo.- President Leonel Fernandez on Tuesday noon hailed Dominican Republic’s relations with Venezuela, and praised president Hugo Chavez’s solidarity and cooperation with his country and other Latin American nations, via the Petrocaribe oil pact.
Fernandez said the Venezuelan leader’s solidarity and collaboration with Latin America links him to the history and social progress of the hemisphere’s peoples.
The chief executive spoke after a mass for Chávez’s health officiated in the National Palace chapel, with the presence of Venezuela ambassador Alfredo Murga, Vatican nuncio Jozef Wesolowski and all cabinet ministers.


This one is for all my Iberians that also happen to be potheads:):
http://www.cnbc.com/id/47003725


RASQUERA, Spain - What about growing marijuana to pay off crushing municipal debt? One Spanish village put the idea to the vote Tuesday, and a majority of its citizens approved — but not the 75 percent needed.
The referendum in Rasquera, population 960, in the northeastern Catalonia region represented a quirky and legally touchy illustration of Spain's deep financial woes.
The seven-member town council first approved the idea in March, but it ignited such controversy that the mayor agreed to put it to a referendum in the hamlet of mostly retirees.
For the plan to go ahead, the yes camp needed at least 75 percent of the vote, but just 308 people said 'Si' — only 56.3 percent — while 239 said 'No,' according to results published on the village's Website.
The result effectively ends the idea to lease a plot of land to an association of marijuana buffs in Barcelona who wanted to pay Rasquera €1.3 million ($1.7 million) over two years. About 40 jobs — growing, harvesting and packaging the pot — were envisioned.
The payment by the pot-smoking group ABCDA would have been about equal to the debt owed by this picturesque pueblo that sits at the foot of a mountain range with a castle dating back to the 12th century.
Rasquera is not alone with its debt problems. Spain's economy crashed after a real estate bubble and many cities and towns are desperately trying to cope by cutting spending for health care, education and jobs. Spain has the highest unemployment rate in the 17-nation eurozone at nearly 23 percent — just shy of 50 percent for young workers — and it's about to enter another recession.
Pallisa could not be reached for comment Tuesday. But Jose Maria Insausti, an adviser to the town council, said the mayor thought the pot-growing idea was "a good solution for the local economy and if somebody else has better idea, let them come forward."
Under Spanish law, consumption in private of cannabis in small amounts is allowed. Growing it for sale, or advertising it or selling it are illegal.
Officials with the government's National Drug Plan have said growing marijuana in large amounts as planned in Rasquera would be against the law, and have vowed to block any attempts.
Mayor Bernat Pallisa insisted that the initiative was legal, however, because ABCDA had pledged that the marijuana grown in Rasquera would have been for private consumption by its 5,000 members.
Pallisa had pledged to resign if the referendum failed. Insausti did not immediately return a message left on his cell phone seeking information about the mayor's plans after the results were released late Tuesday.


Discussion topic: What are some special words from your national dialect of Spanish?

From my Dominican side, there is the word, "heavy." "Heavy" means "cool" and it was adopted by Dominicans from the Americans after the short American invasion of the island (according to my grandmother).

Raúl Duke
11th April 2012, 22:06
zafacon is wastebin in Puerto Rican Spanish
Lonchera is lunch box, same dialect
Just a few plain ones....although some of them are also used by Dominicans due to cultural exchange (migration pattern).

Vyacheslav Brolotov
12th April 2012, 07:21
zafacon is wastebin in Puerto Rican Spanish
Lonchera is lunch box, same dialect
Just a few plain ones....although some of them are also used by Dominicans due to cultural exchange (migration pattern).

We stole those words from you. :)

Vyacheslav Brolotov
13th April 2012, 03:35
Two Earthquakes Strike Mexico Hours Apart



MEXICO CITY – Only hours after a similar temblor caused buildings in Mexico City to sway and citizens to evacuate high rise apartments, a strong earthquake struck off the coast of Mexico early Thursday morning.
Authorities said neither quake left major damage nor victims.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported a 6.9 magnitude quake hit the waters between the Baja peninsula and the northern state of Sonora at 12:15 a.m. local time.
Mexico's Copper Canyon: A Hidden Oasis
Residents in the city of Hermosillo woke up as their beds swayed and their ceiling fans shook. Luís Enrique Cordova, director of emergency services in Sonora, said confused residents clogged the phone lines of the civil protection office in Hermosillo, the largest city and capital of the state, where some 700,000 people live. But Cordova said no major damages have been detected in the region.
"I was on my bed, leaning against the wall, and the fans kept moving non-stop, side to side," said Carlos Morales, a teacher in Hermosillo.
The temblor was centered 82 miles (133 kilometers) northeast of Guerrero Negro, and 133 miles (215 kilometers) west of Hermosillo, and it hit some 6.4 miles (10.3 kilometers) below the surface.
It follows a 6.4 magnitude quake which struck a sparsely populated area in the mountains of western Mexico on Wednesday, and caused multi-story buildings to sway more than 200 miles (322 kilometers) away in Mexico City.
Mexicana Flight Attendants Turned Calendar Girls Feud after Success
Wednesday's tremor was the latest in a series of strong shakes to hit Mexico City since a powerful 7.4-magnitude quake hit southern Mexico three weeks ago. But this was not an aftershock of that one, USGS geophysicist Dale Grant said.
Last month's big earthquake was felt strongly in the nation's capital, and it damaged hundreds of homes and killed at least two people near the border between Guerrero and Oaxaca states. Mexico's seismological service said that quake has been followed by close to 400 aftershocks, including one of magnitude 6.0.

Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/04/12/two-earthquakes-strike-mexico-hours-apart/#ixzz1rsqalPZW


Obama looks to Americas summit to lift Latino support
(http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/12/americas-summit-obama-idUSL2E8FC83420120412)


WASHINGTON, April 12 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama takes his re-election campaign to Colombia this weekend, using the Summit of the Americas as a platform to tout his trade record and convince millions of Hispanic voters back home he cares about the region.
Spending time with leaders in Cartagena, Colombia, is a way for Obama to fight an impression he has neglected Latin America since taking office in 2009 to focus instead on hot spots like Afghanistan, Libya and the Middle East.
Obama needs the support of Latino voters to win key states like Arizona, Colorado and Florida in the Nov. 6 vote. He will stop in Florida, whose large Hispanic population may be pivotal to his prospects, on the way to the summit on Friday to talk up trade opportunities with Latin America.
Though the Democratic president is polling well ahead of Republicans with Latino voters, many have been disappointed by his failure to deliver on a campaign promise for immigration reform and by record deportation numbers during his presidency.
The Obama administration's push to deepen economic ties with Asia has further frustrated many Hispanics who would have liked the Obama White House to pay more attention to Latin America.
"It makes it seem as if it doesn't have a focus for the Americas," said Stephen Johnson of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.
The Colombia visit will be Obama's fourth trip to Latin America as president. He will also go to Mexico in June for a Group of 20 leaders' summit.

'UNIQUE' RELATIONSHIP
In Cartagena, Obama is expected to come under pressure to lift Washington's embargo on Cuba and rethink the war on drugs, both issues he is unlikely to delve into with his re-election campaign in full swing.
The president will seek instead to emphasize commercial ties that could sprout from U.S. trade deals with Colombia and Panama and potential energy projects with Brazil and elsewhere that could help boost hiring in the United States.
Senior White House aide Ben Rhodes said Obama would also stress the family and linguistic ties that connect the United States and Latin America on the three-day, two-night trip.
Past U.S. presidents have also visited Colombia but Obama will be the first to stay there overnight, a nod to improved security in the country that has made gains against drug and guerrilla violence.
Rhodes said that although Obama has focused a great deal of attention on "trouble spots" like Afghanistan, the president recognized "there is a unique quality of the relationship we have with the Americas" to build on.
Hispanics are the largest and fastest-growing minority in the United States, totaling more than 50 million people.
About 22 million are eligible to vote in November, when Obama is expected to face off against Mitt Romney, a Republican who took a hard line on immigration to compete in the primaries and who lags far behind in polls among Hispanic voters.
Latinos supported Obama, the first African-American U.S. president, by a two-to-one margin in 2008, helping him beat Republican John McCain in closely fought states including Virginia, North Carolina and Nevada.
During his Friday stop at the port of Tampa - a gateway for U.S. exports to Mexico, Brazil and Argentina - Obama will lay out his election-year case for closer economic engagement with Latin America.
Christine Sierra, a professor of political science at the University of New Mexico, said the speech would help underline Obama's message that increased trade can help the region prosper and also benefit U.S. businesses.
"He is going to draw on the gateway to Latin America (idea). He's appealing to business interests, which can also include the conservative Republican Cuban-Americans," she said, saying "Latinos are essential" to ensuring a November win in Florida.
Although Obama has said the comprehensive immigration reforms he promised in 2008 would have to wait for a second term, he may use the Tampa stop to contrast his vision with that of Republicans who have called for tougher border security in their campaign appearances.
Romney, whose bid for the Republican nomination was basically secured when rival Rick Santorum quit the race this week, has said he supports "self-deportation" of illegal immigrants rather than having the government round people up.
Cecilia Munoz, director of domestic policy at the White House, told a conference on Thursday that immigration reform was something Obama was committed to, blaming Congress for the lack of action on the issue Hispanics care deeply about.
"It remains a priority for this president," she said.