|
|
August 28, 2010
Posted by Jose Antonio Ponce in: Creative Writing, Freelance Author, Latino & Hispanic, Life Experiences, Lifestyle, Marriage, Men's Issues, Personal Experiences, Relationships, Sex, Women's Perspective
 “Jesus, I’m late. I’m is so much trouble.” She says.
“What’s the problem?” I’m puzzled. She regularly works after hours to get things accomplished. We’re working on a project together, nothing earth shattering. “It’s like….seven o’clock. Does he expect you home at a certain time?”
“No. It’s you. He doesn’t like me hanging out with you.”
“But we’re not hanging out. I mean….it’s work. It’s not like we’re having dinner or anything.”
“It’s don’t know,” she says, “He gets all weird and moody and he won’t talk to me.”
“Wow. Sorry. I mean….I didn’t know. I’ll try to be more discreet next time. Less enthusiastic.” I say this with conviction, but inside I’m jazzed. I’m a threat. I have crossed that boundary into another man’s territory and he actually feels threatened by me. I’m the big dog. Continue reading Jazzed
August 24, 2010
Posted by Carla René in: Accountability, Advice, African-American, Attitude, Biography & Memoir, Book Marketing Online, Book Review, Books, Business, Business Management, Cancer, Cap and Trade, Children, China, Climate Change, Commentary, Comments & Discussion, Communications, Communism, Community, Computers, Congress, Contributor's Audio/Video, Creative Writing, Current Events, Democracy, Democrat, Diet, Economic Crisis, Economics, Education, Energy, Entertainment, Environment, Environmental Issues, Faith, Family, Fiction, Finance, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Relations, Freedom, Freelance Author, General Topics, Geopolitical Events, Global Warming, Governance, Habit Change, Health & Fitness, Healthcare, Heroes, History, Homeland Security, Humor, Inspiration & Motivation, Internet, Internet Advice, Interview, Islam, Journalism, Latino & Hispanic, Legal, Life Experiences, Lifestyle, Literature, Marketing, Marriage, Medical, Men's Issues, Mental Health, Mexico, Military, Minorities, Morality, Motivation, Music, Native American, Nature/Wildlife, Non-Fiction, Nutrition, Opinion, Personal Experiences, Philosophical Genres, Poetry, Politics, Publishing, Question of the Day, Recovery, Relationships, Religion, Republican, Rhyme, Satire, Self-Help, Sex, Short Stories, Social Aspects, Social Classes, Social Issues, Sociology, Spirituality, Sports, Technology, Television, Terrorism, The Economy, The Media, The Pundit's Corner, The Writer's Corner, Travel, Uncategorized, Website Instructions, Weight loss, Wellness, Women's Perspective, Women's Rights, Working Women, Workplace, World Issues, Writing Essentials
Begun back sometime in 2001, this book was originally a fluke of an idea… [...]
August 22, 2010
Posted by Alan Caruba in: Accountability, Commentary, Current Events, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Relations, Governance, Homeland Security, Latino & Hispanic, Legal, Mexico, Minorities, Opinion
By Alan Caruba
It is increasingly obvious that the Obama administration is more interested in protecting Mexicans than Americans.
Case in point; Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has eleven suspects accused of murdering law enforcement officers in his maximum security county jail in downtown Phoenix. As reported in the August 18 Washington Post, “Justice Department officials in Washington have issued a rare threat to sue (Arpaio) if he does not cooperate with their investigation of whether he discriminates against Hispanics.”
“The standoff comes just weeks after the Justice Department sued Arizona and Gov. Jan Brewer because of the state’s new immigration law,” the Post noted. The latest word from Americans for Legal Immigration is that twenty-two States now have lawmakers developing versions of Arizona’s illegal immigration crackdown bill SB 1070.
So nearly half the States are aligning themselves with Arizona. Why? Continue reading Mexico, Bloody Mexico
May 17, 2010
By Alan Caruba
For some time now friends have been asking me why I haven’t written anything about the Arizona law, amnesty, illegal immigration, and Mexicans.
The problem with trying to see all sides of the problem is that, sooner or later, you have to pick a side. That is what Americans are doing in light of the recent law passed in Arizona; a law that mirrors a federal law that, quite simply, is not being enforced.
What exactly were Arizonans expected to do in light of the fact that their border with Mexico is now a war zone?
A typical bachelor, I pretty much have the same thing for lunch every day, a soft tortilla in which two thin slices of smoked turkey are placed. Thirty seconds in the microwave and about six bites later lunch is over. And every day I look at that damned tortilla and I think about Mexicans.
Not Carlos Slim, one of the richest men in the world, but those poor souls trekking across deserts or sneaking in any way they can because, presumably, Mexico sucks so badly that their only hope is the land of the free and the home of the brave. Continue reading Thinking About Mexicans
May 6, 2010
Posted by Antonio de la Vega in: Democracy, Economic Crisis, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Relations, Freedom, Geopolitical Events, Governance, History, Latino & Hispanic, Mexico, Morality, Native American, Opinion, Politics, Social Aspects, Social Issues, Sociology, Uncategorized, World Issues
La ley SB1070 además de polémica debe encerrar otras razones de fondo, para llevar a la reflexión sobre los temas relacionados con el movimiento de personas en el mundo. [...]
April 5, 2010
By Alan Caruba
It is amazing how little national coverage there is of the vicious drug wars next door in Mexico that are driving Mexicans across the Texas, Arizona and New Mexico borders to seek asylum under the threat of death for themselves and their families.
It is a war that now includes the murder of U.S. consulate staff and an American rancher. There are other casualties who have already fallen victim to murder and rape about whom the national media make little or no mention.
On April 1, The Washington Times published an excellent and extensive report on the border violence, written by Ben Conery and Jerry Seper. “For more than two years, U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials have been warning that the dramatic rise in violence along the southwestern border could eventually target U.S. citizens and spread into this country.”
The U.S. shares a 1,951-mile border with Mexico. It is so porous that millions of Mexicans and others from South America and the Caribbean have simply walked across while others are busy exporting drugs into the nation. Estimates of how many illegal aliens reside in the U.S. range between 12 and 20 million. Continue reading Mexico: The War Next Door
March 23, 2010
tango in the air
by Paul Perry
it was in a house
on Colodrero street
I used to sit in the yard and drink bourbon
while sitting under the large ficus tree.
and as the sun went down
the sounds of a Bandolion started echoing through the leaves
and the chirping birds even seemed to stop to listen.
there was a five story building next door
which was once a factory,
that an Italian man by the name of Carmelo
turned into makeshift apartments.
and from within one of those enclosed spaces,
there was a guy who played tango melodies like Libertella. Continue reading tango in the air
March 1, 2010
I first saw Paul Perry’s poems here on Speak Without Interruption. The four or five poems Paul had posted in a blog here (‘no damn Yankee’, ‘waiting on a train’ , ‘a babe on the subway’ , ‘love this place’ and ‘towards’ – all present and correct here) grabbed me immediately and were the main reason I asked Bob Grant, the owner of SWI, to be allowed to contribute to the site myself. So I not only have Paul to thank for his poetry; SWI has several absolutely outstanding writers and has fed me with some of my favourite novels of recent years – Bob Ellal’s ‘By These Things Men Live’, Mel Nicolai’s ‘The Case’, George Polley’s ‘The Old Man & The Monkey’, Steve Sangirardi’s ‘Monday Afternoon’, Minnette Coleman’s ‘The Blacksmith’s Daughter’ and Bill Hazelgrove’s ‘Rocket Man’, not even to be exhaustive.
This was my comment on Paul’s blog at the time: Continue reading Review of ‘Buenos Aires: a train ride down the rainbow’, by Paul Perry
December 1, 2009
1
Joseph Fernandez had just turned twenty five. On his birthday, he and his mother went to the church. At five o’clock in the morning, the old woman came into his room and shook him by the shoulder. “Joseph,” she said; “get up!” Then she shuffled out, leaving him to rub his eyes at the sun, which was just beginning to show itself through his window. Dressed, the two of them walked down the long street to the church. Joseph favored his game leg, the left one, the one crushed in the accident. His mother walked ahead of him, slowing every now and then and glancing over her right shoulder, as if to make sure that her son was still following after her. One never knew about that young man. Slowly, they climbed the long steps into the church, stopping briefly at the basin to dip their fingers and cross themselves, then moving silently into the body of the church. Genuflecting and crossing themselves again, they took their places in a pew, way down in front, where his mother liked to be. Joseph recalled having let his eyes run to the altar, which stood in awesome and overpowering silence behind the rail where he would soon receive that bit of Christ’s body that was his. He saw Christ hanging on His Cross, and to one side, the beautiful figure of Mary, His Mother, dressed in blue and white. It seemed to him as if She were smiling down at him. He crossed himself rapidly several times, shivering slightly, recalling the first time he had stood in the field and the Virgin had come to him in a vision. She had been smiling at him. He looked quickly sideways at his mother. Her head was bent and her lips were moving rapidly with her prayers. Wisps of grey hair had straggled loose from the bun at the back of her neck and hung by the side of her face. He wanted to reach out and touch her, but didn’t. Instead he looked back at the Virgin and became lost in Her beauty, almost feeling as though She were holding him, one of her lost ones, in Her arms. Continue reading Fernandez’ Tale
November 8, 2009
Posted by Tim Roux in: African-American, China, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Relations, History, Homeland Security, Islam, Journalism, Latino & Hispanic, Military, Morality, Politics, Religion, Republican, Sociology, Terrorism, Women's Rights
In Britain it is now a criminal offence to make any statement which might incite racial hatred. So, if you go around saying that all Irishmen are stupid or all Welshmen are thieves, then you may well find yourself helping the police with their enquiries and facing a sharp fine or even a term of imprisonment.
Some commentators consider this law to be draconian but it does take a clear political stance and one thing I have learnt over my lifetime is that nearly all racism is neither random nor ‘naturally’ grassroots-derived but rather politically or economically motivated, indeed directed.
Once upon a time, not so long ago, black Africans were slaves or treated as slaves. They were shackled, they died in transit under inhuman conditions, they were worked to death, they were unpaid. How do you justify treating a fellow human being this way? How can it be possible even legally to rape and execute black Africans at whim?
There was a simple answer. Black Africans were not human, they were sub-human. Indeed, they hailed from another, lesser, branch of the human family altogether. And there was no shortage of commentators and pseudo-scientists who popped up to argue that black Africans were so bestial that they were really no different from a cow or a horse, that they were incapable of moral understanding (probably the most obscene argument in history), that they were beyond civilisation and, yes, if you measured their brains they were smaller and lighter than a white man’s. Continue reading Should there be a law against it?
September 15, 2009
Posted by psuedowriter in: Accountability, Current Events, Democracy, Economic Crisis, Economics, Education, Environmental Issues, Family, Finance, Geopolitical Events, Latino & Hispanic, Opinion, Recovery, Social Aspects, The Economy
In the greater scheme of global brotherhood and advancement, all of the aims of these “special schools” are wonderful things. In the meanwhile, the taxpayers of today are suffering, and I don’t think most of us like it. [...]
September 13, 2009
A partir del punzante, humorístico y crítico artículo publicado recientemente en esta SWI por Tim Roux expuse en el mismo el comentario que ahora incluyo aquí a modo de artículo modificado y ampliado. [...]
September 11, 2009
2nd e-mail from the person that filed the complaint.
Thursday, 2/12/09, 9:49 AM
As parents it is our responsibility to make sure our son is safe and doesn’t do thinks like pull down blinds. As responsible tenants it is our job to make sure that nothing in the apartment is damaged and if something becomes damaged during our tenancy, we of course know we will be financially responsible for all damages we incur. As the landlord of this property I’m sure you would write this financial responsibility in the lease. If you feel that the only reason you would not rent to us, is because of our young child, and the slight possibility that he might pull down your blinds I assure you there are plenty of ways of resolving this issue. One being that we would remove the blinds as we have done at our current residence and will put them back when we vacate the unit. If after reading this email you still feel that you can not risk the liability, I would appreciate and email letting me know that we are denied. Thank you.
Excerpt from wife’s response to May 18, 2009 letter from “2nd Consultant of Fair Employment & Housing”.
As (1st Consultant ) I talked to suggested, I attended and completed the Fair Housing training class (5/18). I was glad that I went. I learned that I don’t have to be afraid of coming forward with the truth regarding why I considered renting to other applicants. While I was showing (complainant) the unit, they allowed their son to play with the dials of the stove, turning on the gas, turning on the dish-washer and pulling on the nine foot-long blinds (not the cord as you wrote in your letter). I witnessed that the ( parents) didn’t discipline their child. (The father) played ball with his son. The ball was either a child-sized basketball, or a football. They threw the ball back and forth over the kitchen counter and the hanging light. I had a hard time keeping my smile up. I couldnt’ help but conclude that the (parents) were not responsible … Continue reading Political Correctness Gone Wrong # 4
September 3, 2009
The first e-mail that my wife wrote:
Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 2:26 PM,
I received the documents that you faxed over. I looks quite impressive. I appreciate your interest very much. However, what happened at my showing (twenty potential renters showed up) last night after you were gone led me to a concern. A couple came by with a young son about your son’s age. The boy pulled down my 9 foot blinds (in the living room) and almost got his face cut. I was so afraid for him. As you might recall, I have three large ceiling to floor glass-doors in living room, master bedroom and kitchen, all with the standard vertical blinds, to which I could do nothing to prevent it from being pulled by a small child.
So, I don’t think I can afford that liability. I am still in the process of reviewing candidates, however, I must be honest with you that the liability issue is on my mind. If you don’t hear from me by tomorrow, please move on. I wish you all the best.
______________________________________________
The follow up letter to the phone conversation that was posted with PCGW #2
May 18, 2009
Dear Ms. (my wife):
Pursuant to our conversation today I attempted to review with you the complainant and conciliating process. You informed me that because English is your second language you need to have our communications in writing. I am sending you this letter to (address). Continue reading Political Correctness Gone Wrong # 3
September 1, 2009
Posted by Antonio de la Vega in: Cancer, Education, Health & Fitness, Healthcare, Latino & Hispanic, Lifestyle, Medical, Mexico, Native American, Nature/Wildlife, Nutrition, Religion, Self-Help, Sex, Social Aspects, Social Classes, Social Issues, Sociology
Recientemente la Universidad Autónoma de México (U.N.A.M.) presentó el resultado de un esfuerzo monumental, consistente en la construcción de una enciclopedia multimedia especializada en la medicina tradicional mexicana. [...]
August 21, 2009
Posted by dacipha in: African-American, Attitude, Education, Family, Health & Fitness, Inspiration & Motivation, Latino & Hispanic, Mental Health, Nutrition, Uncategorized, Weight loss, Wellness, Women's Perspective, Working Women
Smooches, my beautiful ladies! Please understand that I am not the fitness connoisseur. I speak as a concerned woman. This article is to encourage you to be the beautiful woman that God has called you to be. My desire is for you to be emotionally, mentally, spiritually, socially, physically and financially whole. It is very important for women to focus on their health. I am exasperated with the obesity issue that is sweeping the nation. It sickens me. I honestly do not want my fabulous sisters facing high risk of heart attacks, high blood pressure, diabetes, hypertension and strokes. I would have it that you all will prosper as your soul prospers. To be quite frank with you, your physical appearance is a reflection of your mental condition. Please do not misunderstand this statement. I am not saying that you must wear a size two! I am not proclaiming that being skinny is superior and that being an awesome size ten is sub standard or second rate. You can be marvelous regardless of your body form or figure. The essential detail is that you are a healthy size two, eight or even fourteen.
My main focus is that we learn how to take care of ourselves just as well as our children, husbands and families. We are very important too. I have learned that if I am ‘no good’, my children and significant other is at a total disadvantage as well. Your well being is more important than a job, business or situation. You are the most important being in your life and your health should be top priority. Continue reading Get In Shape, Girl
August 18, 2009
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse in: African-American, Democracy, Education, Freedom, Governance, Latino & Hispanic, Minorities, Morality, Opinion, Politics, Social Classes, Social Issues
Each post will be less than 700 words.
This is the first entry—an introduction.
There will be several more on this topic.
By Lloyd Lofthouse
During America’s Civil Rights era, laws were enacted with the intent to correct wrongs in America. I strongly agree that it was wrong to segregate schools and provide an education for people of color inferior to the education offered to whites. It was wrong to make people walk in the gutters because the sidewalks were reserved for whites. It was wrong to have one bathroom for people of color and another for whites. It was wrong to deny someone the right to a job due to color or religion. It was wrong to deny someone the right to rent or buy a house or apartment because of race or religion. It is still wrong for violent, racist groups like the KKK and white supremacists to terrorize and victimize anyone they do not approve of. To fix those wrongs, government organizations were created to enforce these new laws.
Today, most people are terrified to publicly express honest opinions about topics that fall under political correctness and what has gone wrong with the complex system designed to correct those inequalities. Since this column is going to cross that line, there is a strong chance I will be criticized for what I write. There may be incidences where what I write will be taken out of context.
Because I am white, I may be the wrong person to write this column. After all, to many, I’m already guilty due to my skin color. It doesn’t matter that my father was a second generation American and my grandfather was born on the boat inside the three-mile limit. It does not matter that my mother’s ancestors arrived with the Pilgrims and started out in the New England states as indentured servants. Continue reading Political Correctness Gone Wrong # 1
August 15, 2009
I came to America
from Chile
because someone said life would be better here
I sold my ranch
my mules
my guns
and traveled here to live
to make a new start
and to find a wife
but here, I am alone
bored
I have to pay
to dance with a woman
and more to drink with her
my guitar won’t stay in tune
and there is no one to hear my love songs
Continue reading I Came To America
July 3, 2009
Posted by Antonio de la Vega in: Attitude, Congress, Democracy, Freedom, Geopolitical Events, Governance, Latino & Hispanic, Legal, Mexico, Politics, Social Aspects, Social Issues, Sociology
¿Será el voto nulo como el futuro termidor (cuya etimología alude al hecho de dar calor) de la democracia mexicana? Así definen algunos al fenómeno, en franca y preocupada alusión al undécimo mes del calendario republicano francés, que empezaba el 19 de julio y terminaba el 17 de agosto, y durante el cual (“9 de termidor”) se suscitó el episodio del golpe de Estado con que la Revolución Francesa dio fin al Terror e instauró en su lugar la reacción de la Convención (27 de julio de 1794). [...]
June 26, 2009
Posted by Antonio de la Vega in: Attitude, Communications, Democracy, Governance, Habit Change, Internet Advice, Journalism, Latino & Hispanic, Marketing, Mexico, Opinion, Politics, Social Aspects, Social Issues, Sociology, The Media
En estos días muy próximos a las elecciones intermedias en México, los temas de discusión central han sido el voto nulo y el voto blanco. Al buscar en Google la combinación exacta “voto nulo” obtenemos 495 mil referencias. Con la combinación “voto blanco”, 363 mil referencias. [...]
May 29, 2009
An Open Letter to Sonia Sotomayor
by John Armor
Dear Sonia, May I call you Sonia? We’ve just met but I feel I’ve known you forever, because of your “compelling story.” I’m an elderly, white male who’s a lawyer. But wait, I’m not that dull and dismissible. I’ve had my “story” moments.
Remember that psychologists’ list of the ten worst things that can happen to a person? Losing your job, or house, getting divorced, going bankrupt, facing death, burying a child. You know, nasty stuff. I’ve been through almost everything on that list, some more than once. You pick yourself up and continue on as best you can. Big whoop.
Having a “story” does not qualify anyone for the Supreme Court (or other high offices). Here are some examples. There have been four men who fit the following definition: They were born in humble circumstances, far from the centers of power in their nations. They suffered many losses and defeats in their early careers. Still, each of them became the leaders of their nations at a time when their nations faced potentially fatal wars.
In alphabetical order they were, Adolf Hitler, Abraham Lincoln, Benito Mussolini, and Joseph Stalin. True, they are all dead white guys, but they were in all the papers. Like theirs, your story proves that you are persistent. But, like theirs, persistent in what purposes? Continue reading An Open Letter to Sonia Sotomayor
May 19, 2009
Imagine growing up in a privileged environment where your skin color, your ancestry, your hair texture was never a part of how you made friends and influenced people. You were at the top of your class because you were the best, not because of affirmative action or the fact that your father made the most money. Your first job was for twice the average salary of a fresh college graduate because the people that your skills were exceptional. You thought the world as they put it was your oyster. Pearls lined all roads for you.
As you climbed the ladder of success you fell in love with someone equally inspiring. Happy to have a soulmate both socially and intellectually you got married and your husband’s top of the heap job took you south where you were accpeted by his loving family and friends. All was well until you discovered overnight something that you never noticed before- you are black. Continue reading Racism- When Things Stay the Same
May 16, 2009
Posted by Alan Caruba in: Accountability, Current Events, Democrat, Foreign Affairs, Geopolitical Events, Governance, Homeland Security, Latino & Hispanic, Mexico, Opinion, Politics, The Pundit's Corner
 By Alan Caruba
Among the latest news out of Mexico was the discovery of four U.S. citizens found in a van, strangled, beaten and stabbed in the border city of Tijuana. The victims, ages 19 to 21, were two men and two women from San Diego and Chula Vista areas.
In 2008, 6,292 Mexicans were killed in the drug wars between the drug cartels. In the first eight weeks of 2009, there were already a thousand casualties, some of them beheaded. By way of comparison, in six years of war in Iraq, this exceeds U.S. losses by more than three thousand.
In mid-March, however, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, third in the line of succession to lead the nation, told a crowd of legal and illegal Hispanics that enforcement of federal or even local laws regarding immigration is “un-American.” She called the illegal aliens in the audience, “very, very patriotic.”
No, Madame Speaker, the patriotic, indeed the constitutionally responsible thing to do is to enforce the laws of the nation. You even took an oath of office to do so.
It is an open secret in Washington, D.C., that Obama and his fellow Democrat travelers in Congress want to push through an amnesty in order to increase the number of voters likely to support Democrats in coming elections. Congress has a short memory and no doubt has conveniently forgotten the firestorm of protest that erupted when the Bush administration attempted the same thing. Continue reading The War on Our Southern Border
April 28, 2009
Recientemente recibí el correo de un familiar acerca de la epidemia de INFLUENZA en México. Anoto y añado algunas precisiones que bien cabe aclarar. Sirva este texto a modo de aportación. [...]
March 22, 2009
Posted by Antonio de la Vega in: African-American, Geopolitical Events, Humor, Journalism, Latino & Hispanic, Native American, Politics, Social Aspects, Social Classes, Sports, Uncategorized, Women's Rights
Prudencia, timidez, lentitud pueden ser los motores que impulsen a “Hablar sin interrupción”. Durante la próxima visita del presidente Obama a México, espero que estas tres “virtudes” sostengan al diálogo y proyecten no ya nada más dos países o dos gobiernos, sino dos grupos humanos… [...]
March 9, 2009
Posted by Antonio de la Vega in: Education, Family, Fiction, Freelance Author, General Topics, Journalism, Latino & Hispanic, Lifestyle, Literature, Native American, Nature/Wildlife, Non-Fiction, Philosophical Genres, Poetry, Politics, Religion, Short Stories, Social Aspects, Social Classes, Social Issues, Sociology, The Media, The Writer's Corner, Writing Essentials
… Mi interés particular es sentar el precedente para que los lectores anglosajones se acerquen más a la cultura latina, la comprendan cabalmente y, por otra parte y viceversa, que los lectores hispanohablantes reconozcan el potencial de sus culturas… [...]
|
Books by SWI Contributors
|
The Gaslight Journal is Done
Begun back sometime in 2001, this book was originally a fluke of an idea… [...]