NewsTaco

Hi there, this week I wanted to point out that NewsTaco snagged the only exclusive interview with @MexicanMitt, a character mocking the presidential candidate on Twitter. That’s my top pick this week, although we had a bunch of awesome stories that I wanted to draw your attention to.

Fun stuff included reminiscing about how Latinas have to have a good sense of humor to survive the barrage of nicknames slung their way growing up. News that 1 in 10 Hawaiians is a Latino was also interesting. Then there was some news about the KKK from Oklahoma, Tucson’s Mexican American Studies was shut down and Mitt Romney said he was “proud” to be endorsed by the author of SB 1070.

So check out our video and our stories and we’ll see you here next week!

Sara’s Top Pick:

• An Interview With Mitt Romney Twitter Parody “Mexican Mitt”

Culture:

• Being A Latina Means Having A Good Sense Of Humor
• KKK Recruiting In Oklahoma Doesn’t Go So Well
• I’m 32 And All My Friends Are Married But Me
• 1  In 10 Hawaiians Is Latino
• 6% Of Latinos In The U.S. Don’t Identify As “Latino”

Politics:

• Tucson’s Ethnic Studies Program Officially Shut Down
• Romney “Proud” Of Endorsement From SB 1070 Author
• Cecilia Muñoz Appointed Director Of The White House Domestic Policy Council
• Latino Immigration To U.S. Has Fallen To “Net Zero”

[Video And Screenshot By NewsTaco]

One in 10 Hawaii in residence identifies as a Latino, according to a recent report, this represents an increase of 38% since the year 2000. The Latino population in Hawaii represents 9% of the population, 89% of them were born in the U.S., and tended to come seeking work.

Broken down this means there are 120,841 folks identifying as Latino, and this figure was just 87,693 in 2000. The Honolulu Star–Advertiser reported that Maui has the fastest growing population of Latinos, at just under 15,000; the island of Hawaii counts about 21,400.

This Latino population includes Mexicans (29%), Puerto Ricans (36%), Dominicans, Latin americans, Caribeños, and other ethnic sub-groups, But The Honolulu Star–Advertiser reported that because it’s expensive to live in this state, the community tends to gather “on a pan-Hispanic basis.”

As we reported, Latinos have been coming and going in Hawaii since the 1700s. Don Francisco de Paula Marin’s arrival there as a 20 year-old Spanish sailor in 1794, another Spaniard planted the first pineapple in 1813, then in the 1830s Mexican cowboys rounded up wild cattle on the islands. Puertorriqueños have been moving to Hawaii since the 1900s to work on sugar plantations.

[Photo By Paul dexxus]

By Gabrielle Adelle, Courtesy The Young Folks

When the trailer first came out for The Descendants, I was pretty unimpressed. I love George Clooney and Alexander Payne, so having the two working together should be something I immediately find brilliant. However, the trailer really didn’t do anything for me. It didn’t look like a movie I would enjoy. After reviews and reactions from its showings at the Toronto, Telluride and several other film festivals, I started to become intrigued. Many critics and movie fans I follow and usually agree with were dishing out heaps of praise for this film. I was surprised and couldn’t wait to see the film myself. And I must admit that The Descendants totally deserves all this praise because it actually is one of the best films of the year.

The Descendants follows Matthew King (George Clooney), a land baron, trying to cope with his wife, Elizabeth, in a coma and two difficult daughters. When his oldest daughter, Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) reveals that his wife was cheating on him, together they team up to find the guy she was cheating wit, in order to confront him. All the while, Matt must decide whether he should keep or sell a large amount of beautiful Hawaiian land that his family inherited.

The Descendants is a family film. But not one you should take children to see. (There’s a ton of swearing.) It’s about a family, dealing with heartbreak and an impending loss of a loved one. They are far from perfect, and that’s what made them so interesting and relatable. Matthew spent a ton of time away from his kids, and when he’s left to take care of them, he is clueless. His youngest daughter, Scottie (Amara Miller), acts out and says stuff that is quite inappropriate for a 10-year-old. Alexandra is an angry 17-year-old, and past problems with alcohol and drugs are alluded to. Matthew finds himself in over his head, and when his wife’s indiscretion is revealed, it somehow miraculously brings his family closer. That’s what I find so crazy and awesome about this story.

One thing that sets the story apart is its setting in Hawaii. We all envision Hawaii as one big resort. The audience is taught that real life happens in Hawaii. It’s not vacation 24/7. It taught a lot about the American culture and life there. The story of Matthew’s ancestors and how he became entrusted with such a beautiful piece of land is something I found interesting.

The performances were excellent. George Clooney is at his best in this film. I can see him easily snatching up an Oscar nod for Best Actor. I was most impressed with Shailene Woodley though. I was vaguely familiar with her, since I watched a couple episodes of her ABC Family show, The Secret Life of the American Teenager. I found the show a bit too melodramatic for my tastes and stopped watching. But I assumed that Woodley didn’t have much talent. After seeing this movie, I’m a total idiot for assuming that because this girl has serious talent. All this time, she just needed some great material to show off what she can really do. The father-daughter chemistry between Clooney and Woodley was perfect. My favorite scenes were when the two of them teamed up. I definitely think that Woodley is contender for a Best Supporting Actress nomination.

This is a different kind of film for Alexander Payne. It’s still comedic, but it deals with a lot with emotion. In my opinion, this is my favorite Alexander Payne film. Payne really delivered on those emotional scenes, and he laced those sad scenes with humor. At some points, I found myself laughing, but then felt bad for laughing. Yet, it’s still not awkward. He put together an excellent script, and I’m thinking he’ll snag a nomination for Adapted Screenplay.

If like me, you didn’t like the trailer for The Descendants, don’t let that stop you from seeing it! The trailer doesn’t truly convey everything this movie is about; it’s really a film that is hard not to enjoy. As I said earlier, it’s one of the best films I’ve seen this year and one of the best family films ever made.

The Descendants is now playing in New York and Los Angeles. It opens in more cities Friday, November 18th.

Scientists may have accidentally discovered the cure for baldness, at least baldness due to stress. The researchers were studying stress-related stomach problems by injecting mice with a stress-blocking compound, which had the side effect of prompting hair growth.

Hawaii legislature approves same-sex unions, meaning civil unions in that state can begin on January 1 of next year, granting gay couples the same rights and benefits to married heterosexual couples.

Every year 10,000 babies are injured by their cribs or playpens, according to a new study which also found that the injuries mostly occurred when the babies were old enough to try to climb out of the crib or playpen.

The federal government is going after undocumented workers by asking companies to turn over their records for screening, about 1,000 companies, and the feds will be looking for non-legal workers.

Protesters continue to protest in Bahrain, even though 14 were killed recently in in Libya, where they are gaining steam.

[Photo By Jamison Wieser]

A totally unexpected and educative story from the Honolulu Weekly this week shows that Latinos have a long history in that state.

The story starts off talking about Don Francisco de Paula Marin’s arrival there as a 20 year-old Spanish sailor in 1794, moves on to discuss Latino demographics in Hawaii. In 2009 the Census Bureau reported 112,300 Latino residents in Hawaii, about 8.7% of the population there, with each island containing a population about 8% Latino.

There’s also discuss about a controversy in 2008 when a Honolulu city councilman made reference to “undocumented wetbacks” that served as a stimulus to get local Latinos organized. They launched a newspaper, Hawaii Hispanic News. Overall, a really interesting story, read more here.

[Image Courtesy U.S. Geological Survey]