NewsTaco

Monday June 18, 2012

Henry Cisneros fighting prostate cancer (San Antonio Express-News): “But these days, the former San Antonio mayor and U.S. housing secretary also talks a lot about RADs, or radiation absorbed dosages, speaking in the same energetic, enthusiastic tone, as if explaining a new pension fund in which his company is investing. It’s almost like he’s not talking about cancer. His cancer.”

Cocaine, Inc.: How A Mexican Drug Cartel Makes its Billions (New York Times Magazine): A pretty amazing insight into the Sinaloa cartel. It’s a definite longread, but it’s absolutely worth it. “It’s a curious rivalry between these two organizations, because their business models are really very different. The Zetas have diversified beyond drugs to extortion, kidnapping and human trafficking, blossoming into what officials call a ‘polycriminal organization.’ Sinaloa, by contrast, has mostly tended to stick to its core competence of trafficking. ”

“El Paso Times” to El Paso ISD trustees: Resign (TM Daily Post | Texas Monthly): “But anyone who picked up an El Paso Times on Sunday was reminded that the city’s problem isn’t misconceptions about safety in the border city, but rather, government corruption. As part of the fallout from the latest scandal, the newspaper published a rare front-page editorial calling for the resignation of five school board members. ”

Who is Marco Rubio? Life Story Revealed in Manuel Roig-Franzia’s Biography (The Daily Beast): “Like Bill Clinton, he is a young man in a hurry, accumulating power by leveraging personal relationships. And, as was once said of Nixon during his VP years with Ike, he is an old person’s idea of what a young person should be like. But rather than being a plastic young conservative who spends his youth fantasizing about coat-and-tie cocktails with William F. Buckley, Rubio is a relatable member of his generation. He does not listen to patriotic hymns on road trips, but rap, spitting along to the sounds of Snoop Dogg.”

Hats Off to the Soft Drink Industry for Giving Attention to Hispanics and Blacks (Ad Age): This was an interesting column, to say the least. The original column complimented marketers for recognizing the minority market and not ignoring it. The thing is, many marketers don’t give a damn where their money comes from. The only color they care about is green. Also, I learned about it from Gawker, which went after the original column’s author’s claims with their signature snark. It also caught my attention because of a conversation I had with our publisher, Gilberto Ocañas, last week about how companies market to Latinos. I appreciated Gawker noting the flaw in David Morse’s argument about Hispanics choosing sugary over diet drinks. Also, a disclosure: I’m a fat guy who consumes more sugary drinks than I should.

A Waiting Game for Homeowners Trying to Sell Short (NPR): How many of you have homes in financial paperwork hell trying to sell your homes or purchase one? “Banks are often accused of dragging their feet when a homeowner wants to sell for less than the balance on the mortgage. A lot of those “short sales” might be better dubbed “really long and drawn out” sales. New federal guidelines, though, could now push lenders to approve short sales faster.”

Playing a Video Game to Remember an Historic Day — Or to Forget It (Kotaku): I thought this was a pretty cool column, especially the sheer numbers to come out of people playing immediately after last month’s insane EPL final minutes (for the life of me, I can’t find the link, but I will and post it here). How many of you have tried to recreate something in the World Cup, Primera Division or the NFL via your video games? I know I have.

Lens on Immigration: ‘Adolescence Deported’ (CNN): This photo essay of a family broken apart when their mother was deported is interesting. There’s also some background on the family in words as well as an audio interview. An interesting stat from the copy. “Nearly 50,000 children had parents who were removed from the country during the first half of 2011, according to a report that Immigration and Customs Enforcement presented to Congress in March.”

Bill Richardson: Latino Presidential Candidate Coming Soon (Fox News Latino): The former governor of New Mexico passes along his insight into the next Latino presidential candidate, essentially saying a strong, viable candidacy is two or three election cycles away. During the interview, he cites San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio. I notice he didn’t (at least in the transcript summary, he may have said it in the video) mention his successor, Susana Martinez.

Rising Republican Star (Latino USA): Don’t say I can’t segue. Latino USA has an audio profile of New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and how she’s risen in the ranks of the Republican party and tried to deal with a contentious legislature in her state.

Is Hispanic the New Black? (Bloomberg): As a 2010 LatinoMetrics survey found, 30 percent of Hispanic voters considered racism to be a factor in anti-immigrant views. After calls for electric fences and the like in this year’s Republican presidential primary, it’s doubtful that number has declined. If Republicans opt for a continued stonewall on immigration, they risk alienating Hispanic voters for the long haul.

President Obama made a political decision on immigration. So what? (Washington Post):  In the immediate aftermath of President Obama’s decision to stop deporting young illegal immigrants on Friday, Republicans stayed silent as they sought to calculate the right response — one that would walk the fine line between alienating their political base and sending (another) negative signal to the Hispanic community they badly need to court.

Spanish-Language Talk Show Icon Cristina Saralegui Gets Political, Endorses Obama In Campaign Ad (Media Bistro):  One of the most famous faces ever to appear on Spanish-language TV is getting political. Journalist Cristina Saralegui, who for 21 years hosted “El Show de Cristina” on Univision, is endorsing President Obama in a new campaign commercial.

Is it time for the term ‘minority’ to be replaced? (Albany Times Union): Statistically, racial groups that have come to be known as minorities (African American, Latino, Asian, mixed race and others) are becoming less of a ‘minority’ in America. As this shift continues,  should there be a new term to replace “minority”?

Obama’s immigration move wins support in battleground states (Los Angeles Times):  President Obama’s decision to extend administrative relief to an estimated 800,000 young illegal immigrants has won favor with Latino voters in key battleground states, according to a new poll.

Arizona’s Immigration Law: Police Agencies Prepare for New Lawsuits (Fox News Latino):  As the nation awaits the Supreme Court’s decision on Arizona’s controversial 2010 immigration law, opponents of SB1070 are preparing to sue police departments on claims that officers racially profile, while supporters are set to sue police agencies for failure to enforce the law.

Soccer attendance in stadiums across the U.S. has surpassed that of either the NBA or the NHL, a change that comes partially because soccer stadiums just are larger and have room for more people, according to BNET. But, there’s also the fact that the sport is becoming more popular, at least recent deals to broadcast the World Cup next year.

BNET broke it down:

Nonetheless, it appears that soccer is well on the road to becoming America’s third favorite sport, after…American football and baseball. That will have a major impact on sports sponsorship and advertising budgets…

Here’s how the most recent attendance numbers break down:

1. NFL: 66,960
2. MLB: 30,352
3. MLS: 17,872
4. NBA: 17,319
5. NHL: 17,126

We’ve written about how the NBA, NFL and MLB are serious about reaching out to Latino audiences, and it’s widely recognized that soccer is a more popular sport outside the U.S. — such as Latin America. It would be interesting to see if and how soccer leagues are reaching out to Latinos and whether their attendance played any part in boosting these attendance numbers.

[Photo By flomar]

All the stress was on the Argentines as they came out to meet the Colombian Copa América squad in Santa Fe, Argentina at the Estinaslao Lopez stadium. As the host nation, Argentina was going to have to show considerably more effervescence than it had recently shown. Mediocre showings are not Argentina’s strong suite, and most of the time they come undone by themselves.

The Argentines dominated from early on, moving the ball laterally and keeping control. The Colombians buzzed around the midfield like curious bees, while the Argentine squad poked it’s head in places where it doesn’t belong. For example, Colombia’s first foray into Argentine territory came almost five minutes into the match.

Aguilar was the first player to make it personal, sliding cleats first into Messi a little after the sixth minute. This only served to ignite the Argentines and makes it’s potent naptha take flame. But, then the Argentines started throwing themselves on the floor and taking every evasive maneuver like some personal affront. And this dragged on for several minutes until in minute 17, Negron took a penalty shot that skimmed the pole.

And then in minute 20, Ramos take it to the front door of the goalie and was not more successful because of a miscalculation on his part, and the tide seemed to be shifting a little. By 25 minutes, the sense of touch had returned to the match, but Argentina was showing signs of the Chilean stoppage exhibited yesterday in the match against Mexico.

The game was so physical that in certain spots the match seemed dragged down and muddled by the intense physical showing. In minute 26, Colombia’s Moreno took it, again, to the front door and was stopped only by his inaccuracy. By minute 40, it was getting more and more customary for Colombia to be taking shots on goal.

The one hour mark did not see much difference. If anything, on the Argentine side, Aguero was put in and La Velce was put on the bench. It got to the point that Cantor and his sidekick were already talking about the advantage for Colombia if it tied. And within seconds of Aguero coming in, Argentina was already looking a little more lethal. It makes one wonder why Batista would have taken so long to put in Aguero in the first place.

In minute 65, Burdisso gets a bloody noes and Aguilar almost scores again, but no dice. The game ended in a 0-0 score which benefits Colombia which scored two against Costa Rica, while Argentina just had 1 goal from another tie with Bolivia. Lackluster, completely lackluster match.

Yago Cura is a writer based in Los Angeles. He edits the online journal Hinchas de Poesia and moderates the blog Spicaresque. Follow him on Twitter @theshusher

[Photo By Vectorportal.com]

Odas a Futbolistas/Odes to Footballers is a cycle of odes written by Yago S. Cura and Abel Folgar to commemorate the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The odes laud yesterday and today’s most popular and enigmatic fútbol players.

Ode to Teófilo Cubillas

Five goals in subsequent World Cups, eight years apart.
That’s like a six minute moon-mile followed by Marathon Calculus.
That’s like Pele calling you heir apparent at F.I.F.A.’s Drosophilia lab.
That’s like Messi leading you to the Ephedrine Caucus.

I say, always be wary of boyish-men that can evade aging pathogens.
Men they call Boy or Kid are flagrant eternalists— fugitives from codices of nature,
refugees from the Kingdom, commuters in an Appalachian parking lot.
As the facts sheets display, you made name in Mexico ’70 despite
Peru’s initial poor showing. And who could blame Peru, the squad left
Lima as the Earthquake Mammon began grumbling for peasant blood?

In fact, Peru vs. Bulgaria stands out in World Cup Annals especially
because Cubillas and Co. were able to rally back and best the Bulgarians
3-2 (after Bulgarians scored two in first half).
The real spectacle was that Cubillas and Co. were able to play at all
for the graphic yellow projectionists had descended on Mexico City
with news about the ghastly toll the earthquake gulched.

You see, the thing about Cubillas is that he proved he could not be stirred
or pressured into mistakes. Regardless of who he was megging, he moved
at a pace of his predeliction.

With that balón control he was saying, the onus is on you to route from me
control of this leather finesse. He was saying, perhaps your vocabulary
is a tiny bit insufficient for this largesse.

Yago Cura is a writer based in Los Angeles. He edits the online journal Hinchas de Poesia and moderates the blog Spicaresque. Follow him on Twitter @theshusher

[Photo By Kevincure]