Thursday, October 17, 2013

White Folk Ain't Allowed! (?)

As a child I developed some sort of fear, or hate towards white people. It came from the stereotype kids see on TV: Racist, radical, conservative rednecks. Whenever I came to the U.S., whether it was to visit a relative, or just shopping, I got nervous every time I saw a non-Hispanic person.
When I moved to Arizona, my school was still 97% Hispanic, so dealing with different races was not a big deal.  I tried my best to avoid dealing with other ethnicities, and I it worked, I graduated from High School without having to be friends with people with a different color of skin.
When I moved to Tucson, though, things shifted drastically. I attend to the University of Arizona, where there is a white majority, by little, and all kinds of races interact. I see Chinese, Japanese, Ausies, British, Jews, German, Eastern European, Native Americans, African people, African-Americans, and even Muslims. The thing is that now I am the minority, and in reality, it is not so bad. It is actually not bad at all; maybe because it is a University, and people tend to be educated by now. I have met people and made friends from different races, and it is awesome. Unlike the famous "Bubble of Beaners" Santa Cruz County is in Arizona, the Metro area of Tucson is a place where diversity and respect go by the hand. I have not experienced any hostilities, at all, which contradicts the stereotypes media sets to divide our society.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Why is Mexico Different?

How can we forget about the struggles countries like Syria, Libya, and Egypt are going through? It has all been part of the famous Arab Spring. This was anticipated, Arabs looking for democratization. For some reason, the world has focused on these countries, NATO and the UN itself have done everything they could to support the rebellion. With the excuse of a free world, western powers have bombed, invaded, and supplied weapons to Middle East.
This has been going on for 3 years. Yes, rebels want freedom, but is that really the reason we support them?
Our neighbor from the South, Mexico, has been through the same thing for years now, but nobody really seems to care. Although it is denied, Mexico has become a militarized state. There are checkpoints and unconstitutional searches, there are soldiers cruising around cities, with their weapons in plain sight, and there has been an increase on Mexican produced weapons. Everyday, the media in that country glorifies their armed forces, and brainwashing broadcasts happen all day.The same family has been in power for almost 20 years, and the people's vote was just a disposable paper. It all  got to a point where thousands of students from all over the country started to disagree. They started to go out to the main streets of the main cities to make a statement. Then, teachers, and other government employees started to go out to protest as well, against new laws and budget cuts. So did the indigenous peoples of that country, because the government was taking over their lands. Yesterday, just a couple of days before "El Grito de Independencia"- a ceremony that is the equivalent to July 4th to Americans- those who were protesting were violently displaced by the Mexican Federal Police. Though news articles, both American and Mexican, state that it was a nonviolent act, there are pictures and videos all over the internet that prove mainstream media to be wrong. With the Mexican Peso losing value everyday, budget cuts, teachers and students protesting, and people starving to death, Mexico is a time bomb.
Why is it, then, that the protests in the Muslim world are supported by Western Powers, while the protest in Mexico are ignored? There are millions of reasons: NAFTA has given the United States and Canada power over most Mexican industrial activities. Now, with their energetic reform, PEMEX will be a private company, which means that the Mexican state will not own it anymore, and that foreign people can buy their oil production. Those in power in Mexico, unlike those who were in power in Middle East, do not want to be a part of OPEC, which is pretty much America's number one enemy.
The thing is that Mexico's political struggle does not matter when it produces so much for us Americans. Unlike struggling Arab nations, Mexican leaders are not against NATO, actually, they support the economic interests of Western Powers. That is all the difference. Both middle east and Mexico have people starving and wanting a democracy; both have militarized states, and both have people protesting everywhere. It is all economics.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

U of A and Beyond

As up to this moment, I am at the actual University of Arizona, typing this entry. It is just amazing, being here, and having access to all kinds of knowledge. But just as in high school I planned to be here, and study hard, now, I have to think of what follows. True, this is barely my first college semester, but it is never too early to start planning my future.
Going to school is not something I just do for myself; I do love to learn, though that is not the only reason. Growing up at a Hispanic community, with high rates of high school drop-outs, and just high levels of poverty, made me realize that it is not easy to come out of that hole. People here, and around the world, will never overcome hunger, and ignorance if they do not get a little push. That is why I would love to help others once I graduate. I would like to take this knowledge to poor people, whether they live at a ghetto here in the U.S. or they are part of an African tribe that struggles for survival. Maybe join the peace corps, to go meet different cultures, learn from them, and teach them about our society. I would love that feeling one gets deep into their heart and soul after helping someone who really needed help. I want to explore the deepest, most absolute poverty, and help those who are in it. I want to write about what I see, and publish it, and make people truly aware of what is going on in fellow people's lives. I would love to raise money, and give scholarships to kids who do not want to stay at the ghetto, and to educate those who are abroad. I will not save the world, but I will try my best to leave a statement, for people to work hard, not only for themselves, but for humanity in general, for all of us brothers and sisters.
Today, I have not chosen a major, I cannot decide whether I want to be an economist, who can educate others in the ways of finance and life and general, or a journalist, who can re-educate those who do not know about poverty and despair.
It is all a wonderful dream, graduate from college, and go volunteer for humanity; the issue with that is that graduating from college is not a given thing. According to the U.S. bureau of census, out of all college students who graduate, less than a fifth part are Hispanic. The reason for this to happen is that it is hard to get informed about what is out there: what helps I can get, and what is going on around me in general. It is hard to understand technologies, and the use of internet at this point. The good thing is that I have a descent idea of it. I kind of get where to search for scholarships and loans. I do understand what are reliable sources of information for my papers, and how I can contact people to help me solve my problems. The internet is just one of the biggest tools ever invented by mankind; right now I am using it to express my thoughts of college, and my future. In the past I have used it to let others know the things I like and the things I hate. I have used this tool to make friends, and to get in touch with instructors. Today, I plan on use it as much as needed to make my biggest dream come to life. I am getting schooled at the University of Arizona, with great instructors, books, and all kinds of other commodities, the biggest one of them being this net we all surf through everyday.
I do not study for the glamor of being a college student, or the satisfaction of being a higher class American in the future; I do it because I believe is the right track to take in order to do something for everyone else.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

University of Arizona: My Biggest Dream



As I grew up along the Mexico-US Border, I remember going to the Tucson Reid Zoo from time to time. On our way there, we would pass this huge red brick structure, that had green pastures, and youth walking all over it. It was beautiful to see people from all races, all ideologies, and all backgrounds, assembled there. I asked my parents what that was, and it happened to be the University of Arizona. Ever since, my life has focused on being there, being a student, go to their basket ball and foot ball games, learn inside of their classrooms, and walk through those green pastures that still are a charm for me.
The University of Arizona is over 100 years old, and it is located in the center of Tucson, Arizona. it is recognized for its amazing student life, and relative low costs. The official mascot is the wildcat, Wilbur, along with his girlfriend Wilma. The thing that is so amazing of this, is that students feel the cardinal red, and navy blue colors every time they wear a School tee.
When I was accepted into the University of Arizona, I felt the satisfaction a father feels when seeing his kid graduate from high school yet the fear one feels when he is about to become a father. It is not easy to explain. I did not know what to do, nor how to react. There are no written instructions for what to do once a dream comes true. After that, I visited the actual campus for the first time in my entire life. It was just perfect. Seeing all the other students enjoying their college career, the fresh air that had the campus so full of life, my first visit to the student union: Pure happiness.
File:University of Arizona mall.jpg
Now, I am 6 days away from my first day of school at the U of A. I am scared off my butt, but also, I feel that life is about to begin. It is not the kind of fear one feels when facing something horrible. It is the kind of fear one feels when walking up at their high school graduation for their diploma. It is what I was wating for, yet I never really thought of what it was going to be like. Anyway, the only thing to do there is to bear down.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Chris Christie: Smartest Republican in America?

Might be a fatty, But that's better than being a dummy.

Today, Monday, August 19th, 2013, Governor of New Jersey evolved to some kind of prodigy republican. Chris Christie became the second governor in America to ban "Gay conversion therapies".
As we all know, Republicans are famous, or are stereotyped, for being "Very religious", in other words, homophobic. The thing is that, it does not matter how religious you are, THINKING IS INHERENT TO HUMANS. Homosexuality is not a disease, nor a choice people make. It is the way they are born, just as some people are born with brown hair, and others with red hair, or can we also give therapies for people to have all the same hair color? No. It is deeper than any thought, its in peoples' genes. This man, Christie, appears to be one of the first Republican figures to understand this; he is not like those republicans from Tennessee, or Texas, who even label and prosecute homosexuals. Apparently "Jersey" is not full of Snookies as we all thought. Good for Governor Christie and the people of New Jersey.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

10 Reasons Why Kurt Cobain is the BEST MUSICIAN IN HISTORY

So in my desperation to try to understand all those Nirvana fans across the world, I did my research on the band, and on the front man, Kurt Cobain. Here, I will expose the 10 most interesting facts, that made me love this man.
OK, I cannot do that. To my liking, Cobain is an overrated, pretty worthless musician, and here are 10 reasons why I dislike him so much.
1.-Kurt Cobain was a dirty JUNKIE! That's right, just like Hendrix did, Cobain used to take large amounts of LSD and heroin throughout his existence.
2.-Cobain was selfish ever since he was a kid. He would not obey his own father, just to show how rebellious he was.
3.-Cobain was not "himself"; he was what others did not want to see. He wished he was gay just to make society mad: What?
4.-Cobain is  a HIGH SCHOOL DROP-OUT. It is not to be mean or anything... Well, it is, if you cannot make it in the SUPER EASY AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM, YOU ARE LESS THAN TRASH.
5.-Cobain's lyrics are plain BORING.
6.-Smells like teen spirit is the result of an ACCIDENT. Even the bass player of Nirvana, Krist Novoselic, thought it was ridiculous, but Cobain forced them to play it anyway. The lyrics of the song make no sense what so ever, and, despite Cobain "did not want to be famous", he wrote it thinking of it as a "pop" song. WHAT?
7.-Dave Grohl said that Cobain thought music came first, and lyrics came second, though Nirvana's tunes have poor both musical and lyrical value.
8.-Cobain had overdosed on heroin before his death, and still kept on being a junkie.
9.-Though he had just had a daughter, he went ahead and killed himself, after using ridiculous amounts of heroin.
10.- All of this facts being public, people still consider Cobain a poet, a special someone, someone who was going to change the world. Cobain was a junkie, uneducated, and overrated after his death.
It is sad to me seeing people criticize today's pop stars, and glorify Cobain, when he was the exact same thing, if not worst, since I think Justin Bieber is addict to heroin or some drug of that kind.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

PWNED: America?

Really?
How is this protecting others?
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Maybe we need a new Captain America movie, maybe we need to win a world cup, or more gold medals at the Olympic games, or maybe, just maybe, America should wake up, and start doing the right thing. With everything that is coming out to light, and people like Manning, or Snowden, or even anonymous war veterans who speak about the war crimes American troops commit over seas, or even about what happens in plain sight, here in America. The American public needs some sort of triumph, something to make us feel proud of our nation, instead of making us dislike our own army. It is not a secret anymore that the American army is committing crimes the size of Nazi Gernamy's horrors. Killing civilians, including women and children, torturing, and feeding the tremendous hate that already exists towards us is everyday life in Middle East.
If the war on the middle east ever ends, and if the government-assuming that they are really spying us- ever stops spying, who is going to answer for this horrors? Who is going to face justice, and pay for their crimes against humanity?
Those who speak peace when cause war have no shame, and to me, it is a mistery how they sleep at night. What do they tell to their children? How can they be so sick, so rotten on the inside to hurt civilians so much, and to lie to us, and to try to keep secrets in plain sight? How is the economic crisis, global warming, poverty, and bad education, the fault of minorities such as the Islamic people, or Hispanics ourselves? Why don't they just start making extermination camps all over Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan? Why is diplomacy not an option for Israel, nor to Muslim nations? Is Vietnam happening all over again? Are we bringing back insane troops, whose eyes have been tortured by a senseless war? Who made America the police of the world? Why  are the main requests at USASpending.gov about cleaning up the environment, helping people pay off their mortgage, and help students pay for college, and none of those is about growing an even bigger military? Why does the American budget has the military as a priority, and education receives not even one tenth of the whole budget? What if America is falling to pieces, and we don't see it?

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Mexico, Mexico, Mexico...

As everybody along the U.S. Mexico Border should know by now, drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero was released after 28 years of imprisonment. Some people do not even know who this man is, but by the title "drug lord" we can assume how bad he is. Here is a list of facts about Rafael Caro Quintero, and also, my opinion of why his release was either a mistake, or a clear act of corruption made by the Mexican government.
1.-Caro Quintero founded "El Cartel de Guadalajara" around 40 years ago.
2.-This cartel shipped large amounts of marijuana into the United States.
3.- He killed Enrique Camarena Salazar, a DEA agent who was investigating the case, after this, Caro Quintero tried to flea to Costa Rica, but he was sent back to Mexico, where he was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
4.-According to Anabel Hernandez (A Mexican Journalist, who wrote Drug Lords), Caro Quintero was a very close friend to Garcia Luna, who was the secretary of public security during Calderon's government.
5.- Caro Quintero was released around one week after Raul Salinas de Gortari was released. Raul Salinas is Carlos Salinas's brother, Carlos was the president of Mexico when NAFTA was signed around 20 years ago.
6.- It is important to understand that after Carlos Salinas's presidency, Mexico had  Zedillo, who was not a friend of Salinas; after that, they had 12 years of their conservative party, so both Salinas and Caro Quintero had no chance to get out of jail what so ever. Then, Peña Nieto came along, heavily influenced by the Salinas family, and under his government this two criminals were released.

Friday, August 9, 2013

Otaco: PWNED

Hace unos momentos, mientras checaba mis noticias de Facebook, vi el post de un otaco. Era lastimoso, y sentí la responsabilidad de hablar sobre eso.
Lo primero que se vino a mi mente fue "¿Quien putas le dará like?". Todo el mundo sabe que ni de juego se pone en una relacion con alguien así. Me equivoque.
Pensé "Este mundo ya no vale la pena", pero sentí gran alivio al ver que no era gente de gran valor.
Lo que resultó trágico para mí, fue que ¡Rechazó a la única mujer que le dió like! 

Atención, no digo que la mujer fuera una modelo; pero es precisamente por eso que los otacos tienen un sello de virginidad eterno.No es mi intención ser un bully, ni burlarme de la mala fortuna de otros, ya que la vida ha sido de otro matiz para ellos. Solo expongo el producto de una sociedad quebrada.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Facebook
As innovative as Facebook might be, some people appear to not understand what this social networking service is for. Seeing that I got more and more disappointed of humanity every time I read my news feed, I decided to post some of the dumb things I see. I know most of them are in Spanish, but that's because most of my Facebook friends speak mostly Spanish.
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Foto



Well, those are some of the random posts I saw while making this post.

Monday, August 5, 2013

The Film Industry Can Kiss My ... !
It's been a long boring summer. I say so, because I've worked most of it, and I have not had much time to go out with friends and do fun stuff. Most nights, as I sit alone in my room, I think of watching a movie, so that I am not bored out of my mind. Some of the movies I've seen this summer are Red Dawn, White House Down, Batman 1, 2, and 3, The Darkest Hour, among others. These are pretty cool movies; there are guns, there is drama, and there are nice effects, which reveal that those movies had a high budget. The issue here is that, although the film industry is amazingly rich, PLOTS in movies are getting pretty bad. How is it possible that 1 (ONE) man defeats a well trained, well equipped, army that has taken over the White House? How did we even let a group of terrorists to take the White House in the first place? How did a group of teenagers defeat the Korean Army that had invaded us, according to Red Dawn? Why was the guy with the mask so strong, if his little girl friend was the monster that came from underground in Batman 3? Once one thinks about the kind of things that happen in movies, it gets kind of annoying. I guess movie writers need a vacation or something; they're running out of ideas.

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Has America Failed?
There is a lot going all over the world, and here, in America, things are not looking nice. The national debt is over 15 billion dollars, kids are dropping out of high school and college, more and more low income families are staying in poverty, rather than working their way out, and the U.S. Government is still fighting this imaginary kind of mini cold war against an enemy that, not only does not exist, but also has taken our personal liberties away. The need of our government to see our nation as this great empire that only keeps on growing and getting stronger is just ridiculous. The United States is in deep doo doo. The unemployment rate is just bizarre, the poverty rate is pretty high, and financing wars in the middle east is just not working. If the current administration does not react to this, whoever the next president is, regardless of the party they belong to, is going to live hell for 4 years.
The old excuse of "BUSH F*CKED UP" just does not work anymore.