Skip to content

Capitol Latino

“Politics, Culture, Reporters, Thieves”

19 April 2010 New Bunk Blog Blockquotes Banned

My last post demonstrates that blockquotes in this otherwise handsome WordPress theme are hideous.  They are especially poorly formatted for long quotes.  This is okay, as I hate blockquoting anything unless I absolutely must.  So if you notice that where most blogs would use blockquotes, I don’t, it’s not because I missed the memo.  It’s because you did, here.

Tags:

19 April 2010 NNIRR Reports Massive Raids on Immigrants in Arizona

The National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights issued a press release on Friday to draw attention to massive raids in Arizona to round up undocumented immigrants. From the press release —

More than 800 federal, state and local agents descended April 15 on four Arizona communities – Nogales, Rio Rico, Tucson and Phoenix ‐‐ in one of the largest dragnet immigration enforcement operations conducted by the Obama Administration. Isabel Garcia of the Tucson‐based Coalición de Derechos Humanos said, “Instead of bringing in the Department of Justice to investigate the immigration abuses and uphold our rights, the Obama Administration sics the ICE police on our communities.”

The raids come “on the heels of the passage of SB1070 in the Arizona legislature; the bill requires local law enforcement officers who have a ‘reasonable suspicion’ that someone is in the state without documents to determine that person’s immigration status. Arizona police will be able to subject any person to an immigration status check, even without that person having possibly violated any laws. The bill also allows citizens to sue a city, town, or county if they believe a law enforcement agency is failing to enforce this law. The governor of Arizona is expected to sign the drastic measure that would exacerbate racial profiling.”

“Ironically, the latest raid took place within days of a key deadline for the return of Census forms; the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) and over 200 groups across the country had urged Obama and the Department of Homeland Security to suspend such enforcement actions to support greater immigrant participation in Census 2010.”

This is a told-ya-so moment I’d normally celebrate with a loud leaping lap around the kitchen, but I can’t. Not with immigration reform, the issue nearest and dearest to my ordinarily cold political heart. I favor amnesty and long ago stopped trusting the Obama White House, especially in the immigration reform debate.

More to follow. Time to go to work.

Tags: ,

16 April 2010 Pablo Manriquez for NAHJ Online Director (at-large)

My name is Pablo Manriquez and mine is an at-large bid for the Online Director of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ). As I approach my candidacy, two nagging questions put me ill at ease.

My first question is procedural. “For each position,” reads the election notice emailed yesterday to NAHJ members, “the candidate must submit nominating petitions with 25 signatures from regular, lifetime and academic voting members in good standing, which can be faxed in. Petitions submitted by email must come directly from the members nominating the candidates.”

Thus, if I’m interpreting the rules correctly, emailed nominations are acceptable in lieu of signed faxes. This would be to my advantage, as I am quite new to the organization, having paid my dues only months ago.

My second question: What distinguishes the role of the “At-Large Director, Online” versus the “At-Large Director, General”? The man to answer these questions is likely unreachable at this late hour. But I’ve emailed him and will keep you posted.

Finally, it seems only-appropriate that a legitimate candidate for the Online Director showcase their candidacy online, that ideas & skillsets may be evaluated simultaneously. That said, tonight I build the Internet.

Tags: ,

15 April 2010 The Blunt Brigade

Twenty-two hours ago, the @BluntBrigade went micro, tweeting the sentence fragments, “Excited to announce our new site BluntBrigade.com! Online home to Roy’s grassroots action network.”

@BluntBrigade is the “Official Twitter account of Blunt Brigade, an action network of supporters, volunteers, interns and staff supporting Roy Blunt for U.S. Senate.”

That said, I have never agreed with anything I have ever heard Roy Blunt say. Our politics are antithetical. We only disagree. We met several times in Missouri, and I’ve seen him around on The Hill. I hate that rotten bastard. He’s a sassy Paul Bunyon and a dangerous moron who shouldn’t be allowed within an acre of any American political machinery. To elect him to Kit Bond’s empty Senate seat is like tipping our own American cow onto posterity’s already-splintered femurs. Don’t do it, Missouri.

Tags: , , ,

22 March 2010 @ March for America on the National Mall in Washington DC on Sunday #JessieJackson

22 March 2010 @ March for America on the National Mall in Washington DC on Sunday

22 March 2010 @ March for America on the National Mall in Washington DC on Sunday

22 March 2010 @ March for America on the National Mall in Washington DC on Sunday

22 March 2010 DSC01752

22 March 2010 @ March for America on Sunday

22 March 2010 @ March for America on Sunday

20 March 2010 Untitled

Never in my life have I used an American Express giftcard, or any other credit card company’s prepaid plastic purchasing power. Clearly, these products were unnecessary in boom times, when I had a bank account a debt card and checks. Indeed, it hadn’t occurred to me. Instead, I’ve agonized over being unable to customize this WordPress blog’s domain & design. I still do, tonight, and I’m still not entirely sure why.

Tags:

20 March 2010 ZOMG!

Tonight I bought a $50 American Express gift card at CVS in order to finally give it a custom domain and edit its HTML/CSS. Hot mama. I hope this works.

UPDATE: It didn’t.

Tags: ,

19 March 2010 Time Fo’ Us to Start Making Some Changes

This blog will change in the next month or two. It will have a new title, a new look, a new co-contributor, and a new mission. For now, its greatest use to me is as a blogroll. Props for your patience. B. R. B!

Tags:

15 March 2010 March for America

Yesterday I got a message reminding me that Next Sunday, tens of thousands of people are expected to come to Washington, D.C. for the March for America on the National Mall in support of comprehensive immigration reform.

Tens of thousands of any people on the National Mall is good pictures & questions & contacts before work; and good money when my shift starts at 6PM, which is usually around the time many activists get hungry, and many more get drunk. I get tipped.

But the March for America is the first large demonstration on the National Mall for a cause I wholly support: comprehensive immigration reform. And so I look forward to it, and will attend with friends, amigos, and camera.

Tags: ,

15 March 2010 My Bubble Baron

I picked Malcolm Glazer to research as part of LittleSis & Alternet‘s  Bubble Barons project.   Glazer is famous for owning Manchester United & the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but according to his Wikipedia, “Glazer has owned a diverse portfolio of nationwide investments which include food service equipment, food packaging and food supplies, marine protein, broadcasting, health care, property, banking, natural gas and oil, the Internet, stocks and bonds.”

Transparency licks its chops.

Tags: , ,

20 February 2010 FDR was a Shitty Boss

Overheard on Capitol Hill–

“So apparently FDR used to have his Chief of Staff go with him into the tiny private bathroom in his office when he took a shit.”
“Say whaaa?  Why?”
“To take notes.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah.  Apparently he’d have his Chief of Staff in there with him to take notes while he brainstormed on the toilet.”
“Wow.  That sucks.”
“Well, this was before he was president, back when he was Senate Majority Leader.  Back then, I guess The Hill was still an all boys club, though…so I dunno, I guess it was okay to be in the bathroom stall listening to your boss (mischievous pause) shoot the shit!”
“Oooooh…slick!”
“Thanks.”
“You’ve used that one before, haven’t you?”
“Yep.”
“I figured.”
“Yep, you got me; but anyway, that same bathroom — the, uh, FDR bathroom — yeah, that’s the bathroom in my office.”
“No shit?”
“None.”

Tags: , , ,

19 February 2010 “CPAC is my kind of people.”

This morning I was awake early and preping to cover the Conservative Political Action Conference on my Huffington Post blog when I caught the above video on the CPAC website.  Of the many things “people on the Left” either don’t understand or notice, or won’t accept about personalities like Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh is that they are paid to get your attention and keep it over many, many broadcasts — and nowadays, across many more mediums than previous mediums’ personalities in the American political circus. 

When pundits say they aren’t afraid to “tell it like it is” or “ask the tough questions” or “stand up for what’s right” they are essentially saying that they aren’t afraid to make money by getting your attention, and keeping it.  I ain’t scared.  You don’t believe me?  Stay tuned, because I’m about to go fucking crazy saying shit Good Americans like you agree with, and that unAmericans are gonna reeeeeeally hate this time!  That’s Beck’s message here, and I can’t say I’m unintrigued by it; and so as far as I’m concerned, Beck’s doing a good job.  He gets my attention; he keeps it; and I’m going to stay tuned to see what happens next.

Tags: , ,

17 February 2010 Wednesday Terms

“politically Missourian”

  • staunchly skeptical
  • obnoxiously confident
  • locally hypernetworked

“Washington culture”

  • incentivized secrecy

Tags: , ,

17 February 2010 Overheard in Columbia Heights Tonight

A friend at NCLR tells a story of a Latino pulled over in California.
“Are you illegal?” asked the cop.
“No, sir, I’m undocumented,” the driver replied, and the cop let him go.

Tags: , ,