LA, we've got a problem

Today is vox populi all over that The LA Times is refusing to release the entire video copy of a banquet held for Rashid Khalidi at which Barack Obama was present. The party was reported back in 2003, but they don't even want to publish a complete transcript of the video.

What are they trying to hide and why are they trashing their journalistic integrity so badly? And, if they are not hiding anything, what's the big deal with no releasing the full tape then?

Only God knows; but people are starting to speculate.

And, if you are in need of some 150K --maybe to supplement your endangered income and 401k ;)-- there is reward being offered for the copy of the video.

Would the last journalist with an ounce of ethics, Poynter Institute and J-Schools, please, stand up? Ombudsmen anywhere?

H/T to Babalú, Michelle Malking and Hot Air

Another case of "Do as I say, but not as I do"

Obama & Co. don't want voters to be required to produce photo ID at the voting booths.

But he surely is requiring that everyone attending his coronation to show photo ID before entering the premises.

Got to love the guy's double-standars.

All that is on top of having his campaing rolling all over asking Americans to skip work on November 4th, so everyone can be 100% dedicated to the cult of this personality.

Emergency call to The One: Dude, if people does not work, from where on earth are you going to get the stuff you'll need to redistribute the wealth?

H/T to Michelle Malkin

What's for breakfast? Beware of heartburn

A lot.
In the past few days, I've been explaining this nation's breakfast menu --via email-- to family and friends.

(Impossible to reproduce here, since I've been doing that both in English and Spanish, to try to fill the huge gap Spanish media is giving away in this country. Isn't that amazing how language barriers can work for politics? but that's an idea for another post)

The prognosis for our stomachs, believe me, is not very promising:

We have, yet another evidence, of Bill Ayres communist crappy mind and Weather Underground's plan to "eliminate" all those die-hard Americans who refuse to embrace communism. Exhibit A is the 1982 documentary No Place To Hide and the interview the FBI agent inside WU back recently gave to Pajamas Media.

A slightly overlooked detail? In the living room of this guy's house was launched The One's campaign for the Illinois senate. And the few time he has been asked about Ayres, he has given a different version of the not-true story.

Welcome to the harvest of the sixties; a time-frame that, to paraphrase a friend, produced only one good thing: rock and roll music.

Did I mention that the FBI has evidence that Ayres and his gang received aid from castro's inc? And that the aforementioned evidence in the archives of The New York Times?

Exhibit B is The One's obsession with redistribution, that goes beyond taxes increases first for people making 250K/year, later for those making 200K/year and now for those making 150K/year. Actually, it could go to your 401(k)'s and to increase the higher earner's social security tax without increasing their benefits.

Check out the video where one of his mentors, Father Michael Pfleger , is saying that "...unless your are ready to give up the benefits, throw away your 401 fund, throw away your trust fund, throw away the money you put away..." we will be held responsible for what our ancestors did.

Isn´t that cute?
I wonder if he is talking about the part of my family that came from Spain during the colony, or the part of my family that came from Africa bringing their congo and carabalí heritage?

So, no, his 2001 comments on how the Constitution has flaws --that I bet he would gladly volunteer to fix-- are not the last thing. It's the beginning. (Audio here)

If you add to that pot Exhibit C; POR (Pelosi-Obama-Reid) Congress the most profligate of Bush years and you would only get a really bad scramble to start your morning.

I have casted my vote today. (Can you believe that? The first time in my thirty something years of live? I'm so proud of myself!--modestia aparte).

And I still have hopes because, despite what the media is giving for granted, the elections are not over yet. Voters always have said the last word.

But if that happens, I'm with Gusano: if the white pigeon does her business in Obama's shoulder during his coronation, people, I'm so out of here.

How did Congress spent our money in 2007?

This is how US Congress allocated the dollars we paid them in taxes.
(Click in the image to see it larger)

Have at it; and draw your own conclusions.

Source: http://www.federalbudget.com/ This graphic depicts the spending of 2007. Author: Gene Simmons, Founder, National Debt Awareness Campaign (NDAC)

101 for capitalists in training

The price of freedom, brought to you by Carlos Alberto Montaner.

Read it in Spanish here.

I --by no means an specialist in economic issues, lesser in capitalist's economic models-- have seriously asked myself and others if that pork-laden bailout plan was the only viable solution to the actual financial turmoil.

But the bailout has come to represent only the tip of what is to come to this country if the Redistributionist In Chief seize the White House.

When I first read about his tax's increase plan, I stated to myself and my inner circle: the minute that I fall into that bracket, I will resign my job and will become a stay-at-home living on welfare.

I didn't leave my homeland and my entire life behind, looking for freedom --of all sorts, including economic-- to end up working para el inglés here too.

It was my simple logic telling me that when you crush entrepreneurship and small business with higher taxes, you are cooking up your own recipe for disaster. Everything can only go bad from there: no incentive, no jobs, less revenue thus less taxes paid, you name it.

That was long before CAM wrote this column, where he clearly explains that "The true engine of the market economy is not its financial system but the amazing creativity of its entrepreneurs and innovators. The financial system enables all transactions with flexibility, the way blood flows through the body, but the central force is in the brains of the most creative citizens, in the institutional design and in the civic virtues of the population. It is true that, every so often, when we err because we made wrong decisions, an upheaval occurs, but those counter marches are proof that we are free."

What happened in Cuba in the sixties when all small business were nationalized, second in line after all big private companies?

Would you dare to compare the available assets to be redistributed back then with the ones that are being "spreaded" to all Cubans fifty years later? Would you dare to look deeper to see in which pocket the Cuban wealth ended up being redistributed?

--It's OK.
Didn't thought no one would.

First 100 Days of The One

Wanna bet how the government of The One, along with the Biden-Pelosi-Reid axis, is going to look.

Ugly. Very ugly.

Just take into account this precedent; just to mention the spending's case.

McCain's interview in The Glenn Beck Program

The Republican presidential nominee takes on the Redistributionist In Chief.

Here is the transcript.

And, for the rookies, McCain did comply with the request to explain why socialism is bad.

"It doesn't work, number one. It's been tried many times. Second of all, redistributing the wealth creates disincentives to entrepreneurship, capitalism, small business, free enterprise. If people know that their hard earned -- the fruits of their hard earned labor are going to be taken from them and given to others, then they are obviously going to have disincentives to work. The fundamentals of the free enterprise system is that less government is the best government."

Caricaturesque Friday

A quick caricaturesque note to pump this Friday and close yet another work week. A preview of Halloween in 2009...

H/T to Babalú Blog

Obama's most comprehensive résumé

All the information you need before heading to the polling place; not the kind of reading you would find in your Tuesday's paper.

Take notes, America.
You future it's at stake.

H/T to Hot Air

Talking about pork; no lipstick allowed

As you may already know, I work in health care. I’m a medical interpreter and cultural coordinator for a clinic that hosts a family residency program. And I also do cultural competency trainings for the medical staff.

Yep. That’s me: the moderate conservative and registered Republican advocating for being open-minded. Encouraging people to be more welcoming to differences; people who, on its majority, belong to the elite class of a city widely know to be the culprit of the liberal left --cars plastered in Obama posters included.

Given this context, yesterday I was preparing an email that we share with the staff, containing different articles and researches related to this topic.

I stomped with this Washington Post article announcing that recently passed legislation –that will take effect on January 2010– will require insurance companies to provide equal coverage for mental health and substance abuse, as they have with physical illness.

This is good news, I thought.

I’ve seen up close and personal the devastating effects that mental health conditions have in the overall well-being of a patient. Depression and anxiety do take a toll on people’s life. I thought insurance polices covered those conditions the same way they cover diabetes or high blood pressure; if it was not like that, then the change was long time overdue.

Where is she going will all this, you would think?

My shock hit when I read this:

“The change, which was included in the economic rescue package signed by President Bush last week, will take effect Jan.1, 2010, for most plans…”

Excuse me?

Can someone, please, explain this Cubanita over here what on earth has insurance coverage to do with bailing out the financial market to get them out of their own crap?

The bailout hasn’t started to spread my hard-worked earned taxpayer money and we already have troubles with transparency. Word is out there that up 10% of that chunk of money could go to bonuses. And the worst part is that they do not want us to know in detail where that money is going. Is someone trying to hide something? Noooo! How come?!

So, are we “rescuing” the economy or funding all sorts of interests and long overdue legislations with the taxpayer’s monies?

Why?

Banging my head against … Longs Peak.

(It's good that my insurance plan will cover completely mental health issues... I am going to need therapy. Lots of therapy.)

Monday was all about Sarah Palin in Colorado

Sarah Palin speaks at the Budweiser Event Center in Loveland, during her second stop in Colorado on Monday October 20th, 2008. Photo source: Dennis Shroeder, Rocky Mountain News.

Despite reports out there stating otherwise, yesterday was all about Sarah Palin in Colorado:

McCain's campaign also said there's no truth to a CNN report citing anonymous sources as saying the Arizona senator is giving up on Colorado. "We see the race tightening both internally and in public polling. We are within striking distance in the key battleground states we need to win," said Jill Hazelbaker, the McCain campaign's national communications director. If anyone is pulling the plug on Colorado, you couldn't tell it by the candidate traffic through the state.

People packed up the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, stood in line since the early morning hours, amid the cold, in Colorado Springs and broke records of people attending a Republican Party rally in Mesa County since 1974.

It was spirit-lifting experience, although the Secret Service was kind of slow in the doors and some people were not able to enter the Loveland facility. But even those who could not make it, were thrilled by the experience.

Check the participants testimonies in the podcast and audio archives from Mornings with Keith & Gail in KCOL 600.

There is not doubt that this little corner of ours could play a crucial role on Nov.4th. I pray it will play it for honor and love of what this country is, and not for the pseudo-socialist crap of One whose only actual tangible idea is to spread the wealth.

(Too bad the over-Botoxed, threats-spreading guy will be also in Greeley today... Yikes!)

Justice has been served

Today, a federal court in Miami awarded three Cubans with 80 million dollars, after a lawsuit filed against Curacao Drydock, a joint-venture of (c)astro's inc to repair ships in Curazao.

This three men modern-day slavery nightmare is finally over.

You know, back in Alamar, I used to lived in a soviet-style building built by... sailors, mostly mechanics.

I've seen, up close and personal, how my closest friends and lifelong neighbors have always dream to be "selected" to go to Curazao.

It's their only hope to earn some dollars and keep up the food in their tables, especially after the fact that most of them have been landed --with no overseas trips-- after the1990's crisis and the special period camped in the island, with not intentions of leaving.

This a good news and a happy ending for an unbelievable sad story. However, I can't help to think about those back in Cuba still seeing a season in Curazao as their own salvation. Only if they knew...

Now, there is one question that remains unanswered.
When the Cuban workers in Moa will have their day in court?

Do as I say, but not what I do

Which is the same, in pure Cuban, of saying "Haz lo que yo digo, pero no lo que yo hago".

And, since I humbly recognize that I am not very good in the political correctness and diplomacy department, I call it a plain and simple hypocrisy.

Mexico and Cuba --represented by quintessential AB (r)oque-- have signed an agreement to deport back to the island all Cubans that illegally arrive to Mexico trying to head to the US.

Dizque que pa' combatir el tráfico humano.
Human traffic my shoes.

No further comments.

Would the last decent journalist, please, stand up?

I am a former reporter.

Former in the sense that I do not work in a newsroom anymore --for now. But anyone related to the life of a reporter know this is a fantasy.

Once you become a journalist --despite the type of journalist that you choose to be-- you will always be a reporter. You will be inked up to your veins forever. There is no way around it.

That's why when I analyze the media coverage of this presidential election, and the politics of this country in general, in the past few years, I feel verguenza ajena.

Seriously, I have felt ashamed of this profession that I hold so dear, although I know that I do not have any direct responsibility with the lack of ethics of so many lousy journalists out there.

George, from Babalu, asked if there are any honest reporters left. I told him that maybe, those of us that are not working as journalists anymore?

For sure there is one left: Orson Scott Card.

Read his column and get a grip of the filthy state of the MSM journalism here.

I won't get tired to repeat it: his text should become mandatory study material in journalism schools and should be printed and posted in newsrooms all over the country.

It's the touchable proof that the 4th power have sold its soul.

I can only pray that it is not too late to get her back.

And what's wrong with fighting for a plumber?

Isn't that supposed to be what politicians do?
Fighting for the average Joe?

Or the big banks, the high top executives, the voting registration banks and the housing market are the only areas politicians should be involved?

This is absolutely outrageous.

I guess there is no decency left in this guy. At all.
America, be careful what you wish for...

H/T to Claudia @ Babalú

The impact of an inconvenient truth

Priceless.

It’s the only way I can describe –after quite a few days out fighting between an upper respiratory infection and my house’s carpet replacement– the face to face match between Tito the Construction Worker and the press attending a McCain rally.

The reason?

The hunting spree the media went on after Joe The Plumber dared to ask His Highness an inconvenient question and everything got caught on camera.

The guy is not running for anything, and boy, he did got checked!

The (m)essiah’s answer left no room for interpretations: I’m all for spreading the wealth. People, the trouble here is not a matter of associations anymore; the trouble here is the core set of the beliefs this candidate have.

Considering that I am still waiting for the portion of wealth that was supposed to be spread all over my “hombre nuevo generation”-self by (c)astro’s robolution, bear with my in this issue, would you? By the way, my colostomy-castro chronic post traumatic stress disorder also prevents me from learning these lessons; but these are just my opinions ;)

Going back to Tito, the Colombian born but USA made construction worker that revamped the original concept of the 1st Amendment right, I can’t help to wonder why the media in this nation have gone down into such a deep filth.

There are only a few days to know for sure what path this country will follow in the next four years. All the Titoes, the Rosies and the Joes out there need to come out and speak out THEIR truth and ask THEIR questions.

(I wish I could have done it today, but a mere lunchtime hour wouldn’t have been enough…)

H/T to Babalú Blog and Hot Air

Catching up with a whole ajiaco...

-Couldn't watch the last presidential debate, and although I didn't had any high hopes -been kind of down around here lately-, ended up loving the "Senator Government" line and the priceless role of Joe the plumber. By the way, we have such fine bartenders over here in colorful Colorado; couldn't try the concoction tonight, though.

-Re-discovered the luke-warm water with the complete guide for the ACORN voter fraud and signed petitions and emailed my representatives in Congress about it. You should also go there and sign it.

It is our right as voters, we put them there and give them our trust, we pay their salaries, there has to be some sort of accountability;evidently, I still have faith in the system, despite soooo many individuals whose heads I want to see rolling throughout the floors in Washington.

(I still wonder who and when will be held accountable for the meetings and lovely teas between Nancy Pelosi and her aides with el socotroco de chavez, la Piedad and all those thugs from las FARC)

-Surprise! El tubo-andante endorsed Mr. O, for the second time in a matter of weeks. Weird, eh? Who would have imagine something like that?

The psych connection calls my attention, though. In a moment when it is more politically incorrect than ever to critize the Messiah, so pena of being call RAAAACIST, el tubo andante brings the race card to the table. Coincidence?

I guess it would have been to dream too much to expect him to mention how his dictatorship holds the record of having the Black citizen that served the longest sentence as political prisoner for opposing castro's dictatorship. I'm talking about Eusebio Penalver; I'm not talking about Mandela.

-Another surprise! the 107th rumor about Sarah Palin. Duh? Guys, some creativity, please. This is getting boring...

-Eduardo Verastegui endorses McCain. I saw the ad in Spanish last night, in Univision. Good for him! His golden nugget? Latinos needs to understand that this election it is not a matter of voting along party lines, is a matter of going back to our values and voting for them.

Almost my own words that I've been tirelessly repeating over and over since all this election frenzy started. Too bad there are so many Latinos out there eating up the entire liberal cake they wouldn't even smell in Latin American countries... Verastegui will come to Colorado and I really hope that he would do a nice job bringing the Latino voters over here back to the reality and the roots that otherwise most of them always defend.

-Sarah Palin will come to Northern Colorado next Monday. The exact site has not been disclosed but it could be nice to be able to be there. I'm getting more concerned, with each day that passes, about the path this swing state where I live is taking in this November... not good, not good AT ALL.

As a closing note: we already received our ballots in the mail. They are REALLY long. I am in a sort of weird state of mind where, despite being absolute and positively decided on how will I vote on the issues and on the candidates; I can't happen to sit down and face the whole thing... I wonder if I am secretly waiting for a miracle to happen... that's silly, I know very well the miracle is in my hands, and in the tip of my pen.

-Some heads involved in mortgage scams and frauds (targeting Latinos, mostly monolingual Spanish-speaking families) have started to rolled around the streets of my neighborhood.

I remember that, almost a year ago, when I first spoke to Mark Strodtman while still working for the newspaper, he said he was here to help people, to help the Hispanic community (to achieve the American dream). Have I heard this a lot lately or is it my imagination?

But the core question in this issue is still on the air: when the heads of the big fishes in this mortgage mess are going to start rolling in Washington's floors?

--Cubanita out. The kiddo is calling--

Back from the sicker of the sick-team... and more

Pretty bad cold, right before flu shots availability, has been making our lives miserable for the past few days. My entire household is coughing like old dogs, with the sole exception of, well... our dog.

The weather is back to the usual beautiful sunny and cooler days in colorful Colorado, though. And there is always the good news that this presidential elections are not about race, AT ALL. Right? Especially, if Michelle Obama says that “African press International is supposed to support Africans and African-American view,” and she went to state that, “it is strange that API has chosen to support the racists against my husband".

Sure. And my fevers, sore throat, ear infection and bronchitis are the result of my sick imagination.

(And, of couse, the O camp is saying is bogus, but API is sticking by its story)

H/T to Val Prieto at Babalú.

I just don't get this

I really can't understand why we --citizens and voters-- allow things like this to happen.

There are unscrupulous people out there by the tons. No question asked. But they can only conduct their dirty business (voter registration frauds --ACORN anyone?--, scams and the alike) if we open that door for them.

Yes, all those who needs someone else to push them to register to vote are guilty by association, by irresponsibility; you name it.

With the sole exception of elderly citizens that can not move, I don't see a single reason why a citizen legally qualified to vote has to wait for someone to to come and ask him/her to register to vote.

You know, a few months ago (Jeez! I can't remember the date!) MDH and I attended our naturalization ceremony in a local elementary school, where we received our citizenship's certificates.

Do you want to know what was the first thing I did the next morning?

I downloaded the voter registration application from my local Clerk & Recorder's website. We completed them, attached the photocopies of the requested documentation and dropped them in the mail.

As easy as 1-2-3.

And a few days later we received two little cards confirming our registration and asking to call them if we detected any mistake in the information.

We didn't need any voto latino group to hunt us down at the Wal-Mart exit. We knew that voting is our right, but it is also our responsibility.

I mean, is like a "no brainer". Well, maybe not so... maybe it is just a matter of --one more time-- that we don't take things for granted.

We have been so deprived of our voices and our rights and so evilly manipulated that we do know a thing or two about how crucial is to get involved.

That's why I don't get it.

Ahora sí que se tostó!

Cuba could start exporting oil, kind of soon, according to the reflexive guy. Duh?

Could it be that someone messed up the bags and the tubes connection?

Meanwhile, in Santa Clara, in plain day light, local residents protest in the street when passing by they saw boxes clearly labeled as "Humanitarian Aid" being unloaded directly to... the Cubalse store.

Yep; one of those where you have to pay in dollars, at prices inflated to their own's pocket convenience.

Fresh news from the tropical desert

Fresh news just received from el caimán confirmed that shortage of food is already affecting Havana. Seriously affecting.

Nothing in the east side of the city markets in (the worthless) Cuban pesos. Had to travel to the neighborhoods in the west (Vedado and Miramar) to get some basics --which is a very relative concept when talking about basic food in Cuba.

See, the thing is that they (castro's inc) need to prioritize the supplies for the hotels and their own high elite of boot-lickers --so they don't loose any money to their pockets-- and recollect all the money they can (even selling donated canned food in dollars), despite having recognized that they can not repay the outstanding debt they have with a whole bunch of countries.

Sweet!
But the entire fault, as usual, is the embargo.
The litany is so old and wasted that it is not even fun anymore.

Fall cleaning; trapeando the whole house

The challenge of watching the VP debate while getting my papichulo his bath, his stories and everything needed to go to sleep didn't undermined the fact that Sarah Palin trapeó el piso con Biden.

She is just a natural.

(Photo source: El Nuevo Herald/AP)

Exactly what any good psychologist would prescribe for the mind of this nation.

The senior citizen looked weird, fake smiles, kind of snorting, overtime in the tanning bed..? Over botoxed, that is! And what about the pointing finger! Caught on camera, exactly like you know who...)

I still don't get the purpose of this debates if the moderators don't ask real questions to received real "hot-issues"answers. It's kind of a repetition of the daily regular news, but in face to face setting.

And what a moderator we got today, that looked like wanting to hide under the desk in case someone from the audience ask her to disclose her dirty laundry. (I've got to tell you, there is something really wrong with J-schools out there.)

Palin looked great. (Even AP recognized it!)

There were moments where I felt that, amid all the preparation and tension, she could loose her down-to-earth style; but it didn't happen.

She just cleaned the entire house and, literally, trapeó el piso with the other guy.

The "O" channel and los pioneros listos

I listened it this morning, while commuting to work, in KCOL 600 show "Mornings with Keith and Gail". His own satellite TV channel? Shut up.

I know, it's paid advertising, businesses rules and all that. But, what's next? 8 hours speeches?

I wonder why do I have the strong impression that I have seen that movie before... well, it's good that here in the US I have more choices to change the channel. Back in castrolandia there were only two; both of them with the same crap.

Then came the children chorus.

And they played the clip on the radio.

And I dialed the station number.

I barely could comment on the air with Keith and Gail; I just had this damned knot in my throat and thousands of memories piling up my mind.

I am SO been there, I am SO done that and I am SO sure that it is not good, that it REALLY hurts.