Latino Rebels

Eva Longoria: Maid Characters in “Devious Maids” Are “Really the Heroes”

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:41:22 -0400

The maid characters in Lifetime’s “Devious Maids” are “really the heroes,” according to the show’s co-producer, Eva Longoria. In a story published by Fox News Latino, Longoria kept on task in defending the show, which she co-produced with “Desperate Housewives” creator Marc Cherry.

Here is what the FNL piece said:

Despite recently earning her master’s degree in Chicano studies, Eva Longoria said she doesn’t consider herself an “authority” on Latinos.
But it appears some in Hollywood feel otherwise.
With the television premiere of “Devious Maids” just days away, Longoria revealed why the show’s creator Marc Cherry wanted her on board as a sort of producing mentor.
“I’m not the authority of Latinos, but I definitely have a perspective that Marc respects,” Longoria said in an interview with E! News. “I’m a very big advocate in my community and so I’m happy to contribute in that way.”
With regards to the storyline, Longoria “always wanted to make sure that the girls are the moral compass of the show and that they’re really the heroes. And you’ll see that throughout the season.”

Later in the story, FNL ran a quote that Longoria gave the Canadian press: “It’s a fact that we do make up a large percentage of domestic workers, and so when somebody criticizes us saying, ‘Why are you telling their stories, it’s so stereotypical?’ I always say back, ‘You’re telling me their stories aren’t worth telling, that maids are not complex, that they don’t have a life, that they don’t have a story to tell, and they do.’”

The FNL story continues:

The Lifetime network, which picked up the show from ABC last June, is pulling out all the stops to attract Latino viewers.
In the statement, Lifetime’s EVP and General Manager Rob Sharenow said they were “thrilled to work with our distribution partners on making Devious Maids available in both English and Spanish.”
Sharenow said the move was done “to maximize the show’s crossover appeal among the broadest range of their customers.”
The show is based on a Mexican telenovela called “Ellas Son La Alegría Del Hogar” (They Are the Joy of Home).

The show, which has been a heated topic in the Latino blogosphere, has now begun to make the TV review rounds.

The Tampa Bay Times’ TV and Media Critic Eric Deggans wrote the following about the show: “Echoing stereotypes to make a creative point is one thing; evoking them to serve an empty soap opera is another.”

Syndicated TV critic Chuck Barney wrote: “The bottom line is that “Devious Maids,” while certainly not perfect, is much more see-worthy than “Mistresses,” ABC’s dreadful summer soap. Moreover, it has enough kooky class warfare, sexual shenanigans and whodunit intrigue to make for some escapist summer fun. In the meantime, let’s hope that the next prime-time TV show with Latinas at the forefront aims a little higher.”

LatinoBuzz’s Vanessa Erazo wrote the following for the HuffPost: “Just to be clear, I’m not giving the show a glowing review — it’s kinda like a crappyDesperate Housewives Latina redux. I, along with every other Latina, rolled my eyes when I heard that the show was about maids. But, I think it’s important to give the show a chance and to look at it critically. Let’s dissect what it does right and what it does wrong. Then we can be better prepared to demand the kind of television programming we want to watch.”

The show premieres on June 23 at 10 p.m. EST on Lifetime.

via LatinoRebels.com http://bit.ly/11P678R

Eva Longoria: Maid Characters in “Devious Maids” Are...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:31:26 -0400

Eva Longoria: Maid Characters in “Devious Maids” Are “Really the Heroes”

The maid characters in Lifetime’s “Devious Maids” are “really the heroes,” according to the show’s…

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Gallup: 87% of Americans Support a “Multifaceted Pathway to Citizenship”

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:41:17 -0400

Today Gallup released the findings of a new national poll about immigration and concluded that “a majority of Americans would vote for each of six different policy changes that Congress is considering as part of a comprehensive immigration reform bill.” According to the latest Gallup numbers, “support ranges from a high of 87% for a multifaceted pathway to citizenship that includes a long waiting period, taxes and a penalty, background checks, and learning English, to a low of 53% for a law that would vary the number of immigrants the U.S. lets into the country, depending on economic conditions.”

Gallup also wrote the following:

Over three-quarters of Americans support four of the six proposals in the June 15-16 Gallup survey. In addition to the pathway for citizenship, increased border security wins broad public support, as do a proposal that would allow engineers and scientists who earn graduate degrees in the U.S. to remain in the country and work, and legislation that would require business owners to check the immigration status of any employee they hire.
Fewer Americans —although still a majority— would vote for a law allowing a business to hire an immigrant for an open position after unsuccessfully searching for an American willing to do the job.

This latest poll is in stark contrast to a May poll from Quinnipiac University which “found that 52 percent of registered voters nationwide believe undocumented immigrants ‘should be allowed to stay in the United States and to eventually apply for US citizenship,’ down from 59 percent…” According the reports about that poll, “30 percent said that those undocumented immigrants should be required to leave, a jump from 25 percent who said the same a month ago.”

Gallup’s latest poll also said that “Five of the six immigration policy measures receive majority support from Democrats, independents, and Republicans, despite the intense partisan wrangling in Congress over immigration reform. The exception is the proposal to vary the number of immigrants allowed into the country based on the economy, which Democrats and independents generally favor but falls short of majority Republican support.”

Gallup continued: “The largest difference between Democrats’ and Republicans’ views is found on the proposed measure requiring employers to check the status of employees they hire: 90% of Republicans support this, compared with 74% of Democrats — a 16-percentage-point gap. Further, while 81% of Democrats support increasing the resources provided to the Border Patrol, Republicans, at 95%, support it almost universally.”

As for implications about the poll, Gallup wrote:

A majority of Americans support each of six different immigration reform proposals when asked about them individually in a referendum format. However — as was seen in the debate over the Affordable Care Act — support for proposed legislation as a whole and support for its constituent parts can sometimes differ. Therefore, although Americans’ widespread support for the six immigration proposals seems to suggest they would favor the type of bill the Senate is currently debating, this may not necessarily be the case.
Additionally, controversies in Congress have arisen not just over the bill’s specific provisions, but also over the order in which the provisions become law, with some legislators insisting that the border security goals must be reached before other components of the bill kick in.

You can read more about the poll’s methodology here.

via LatinoRebels.com http://bit.ly/12L6SVp

Gallup: 87% of Americans Support a “Multifaceted Pathway...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:30:06 -0400

Gallup: 87% of Americans Support a “Multifaceted Pathway to Citizenship”

Today Gallup released the findings of a new national poll about immigrationand concluded that “a…

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Latino Rebels Interviews Smiley and Chuy, Puppet Leads of “Hey Vato” Web Show

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:44:25 -0400

This is a Latino Rebels first.

Yesterday we interviewed Smiley and Chuy, the two puppet leads from “Hey Vato,” an edgy web comedy series that our friends at Pocho.com shared with us last year. The show has a dedicated cult following, and its creators are now trying to raise funds for a 15-minute short film. We have gotten to know the creative guys behind the show —Robert Vasquez (co-creator, voice of Chuy), Juan Rodriguez (co-creator, director), Marc Rivera (co-creator, voice of Smiley)— and they are REALLY SUPER NICE and HUMBLE. We also always thought that their show was unique. And after making a contribution to their IndieGogo campaign, we asked to interview Smiley and Chuy.

Here it is. Our first puppet interview.

For more information about the show, watch its IndieGogo trailer.

The show has a Facebook page, and you can catch all the episodes on YouTube.

And here’s the show’s theme song, “Pan Dulce” by Gagdet Car.

via LatinoRebels.com http://bit.ly/15jOdfB

Latino Rebels Interviews Smiley and Chuy, Puppet Leads of...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:27:58 -0400

Latino Rebels Interviews Smiley and Chuy, Puppet Leads of “Hey Vato” Web Show

This is a Latino Rebels first.

Yesterday we interviewed Smiley and Chuy, the two puppet leads from

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Video of Brazilian Police Sitting Down with #ChangeBrazil Demonstrators Goes Viral

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:56:21 -0400

We got this one from @marentesluis via Twitter.

@arodomus 1 more ex. of Brazil’s extraordinary events.Police sitting with demonstrators @latinorebels @viaSimonRomero http://bit.ly/11O3cxb
— Luis Marentes (@marentesluis) June 19, 2013

So we checked it out.

And we are glad that we did. As the #ChangeBrazil events continued to get share globally, this is one of the videos that resonates with us. This is change and this is hope.

via LatinoRebels.com http://bit.ly/11O3aoP

Video of Brazilian Police Sitting Down with #ChangeBrazil...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:53:49 -0400

Video of Brazilian Police Sitting Down with #ChangeBrazil Demonstrators Goes Viral

We got this one from @marentesluis via Twitter.

@arodomus1 more ex. of Brazil’s extraordinary…

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Sheriff Joe Issues Arrest Warrant for Man Who Tweeted a Death Threat About Him

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:41:23 -0400

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is now searching for tweets that threaten him to issue arrest warrants on people who don’t agree with him. Yesterday the Twitter profile of America’s Self-Proclaimed Toughest Sheriff shared this:

I want to extend my thanks to my deputies and security staff for keeping me safe in the face of threats to my life…http://bit.ly/11y1lfS
— Joe Arpaio (@RealSheriffJoe) June 18, 2013

The link lead to this release published by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office:

Another Threat to Kill Sheriff Joe Arpaio Leads to Arrest Warrant of 22 yr-old California Man
(Phoenix, AZ) An arrest warrant has been issued for Caesar David Nunez, 22 (DOB 12/30/90), of Culver City, California, for threatening to kill Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in April 2013. The warrant to arrest Nunez was issued today and follows a thorough investigation by Maricopa County Sheriff’s detectives who traveled to the Los Angeles area to work with officers from the El Segundo Police Department to track down the perpetrator.
Nunez’ threatened on April 24th, “I want to personally blow Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s head off.” During an interview with Sheriff’s deputies, Nunez admitted to the threat saying he was driven to write it because of the illegal immigration rhetoric surrounding Arpaio.
The same was also true for Scottsdale resident Ignacio Carbajol. He was arrested by Sheriff’s deputies on February 25, 2013, for a threat made in January of this year. Carbajol admitted to detectives that the death threats he made against the Sheriff were because Arpaio’s stance on illegal immigration drove him to want to kill the sheriff. Carbajol’s threat read, “He should see the color of his skin and where he comes from…stupid motherfucker…let’s kill him. I will kill him for free. I am going to Arizona to kill that asshole.”
Recently, a mail bomb addressed to Arpaio was intercepted by alert postal workers in Flagstaff, Arizona on April 12, 2013. A federal investigation into this situation is on-going.
In 2012, a Tennessee man, Adam Eugene Cox, was arrested due to a death threat against Sheriff Arpaio. The Cox arrest followed an investigation by Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies and Knoxville, Tennessee authorities.
Chief Deputy Jerry Sheridan says every death threat against the Sheriff must be thoroughly vetted. Sheridan says all necessary steps to ensure the safety of Sheriff Arpaio are taken by detectives who continue to investigate all threats made against the life of the Sheriff, both nationally and internationally.
Sheriff Arpaio has received many death threats through the 20 years he has been in office, but the last year has seen these threats become more intense. Perhaps most alarming, a number of drug cartels based in Mexico have reportedly targeted the Sheriff for execution.

Photo of Ceasar David Nuñez

An advanced Twitter search of Nuñez’s alleged tweet show no public posting of the tweet. If Nuñez admitted to tweeting it out, the tweet doesn’t appear anywhere on Twitter. None of the news reports mention Nuñez’s Twitter handle nor do they back link to the tweet. The only proof that a tweet was sent is MCSO’s release.

via LatinoRebels.com http://bit.ly/11nxGJJ

Sheriff Joe Issues Arrest Warrant for Man Who Tweeted a Death...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:34:44 -0400

Sheriff Joe Issues Arrest Warrant for Man Who Tweeted a Death Threat About Him

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is now searching for tweets that threaten him to issue arrest…

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Kris Kobach Now Saying Immigration Protesters Used “KKK Type Of Intimidation”

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:59:18 -0400

Earlier this week, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach was invoking the Second Amendment when describing a protest in his front yard by immigration activists. Today, according to the HuffPost, Kobach is now claiming that Sunflower Community Action advocates were employing tactics perfected by the KKK.

Here is what the HuffPost shared about Kobach’s latest comments:

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R) continued to push back Tuesday against aweekend demonstration by pro-immigration advocates, arguing that the gathering outside his home was an example of a “KKK type of intimidation.”
Speaking to radio host Glenn Beck, Kobach repeatedly described the Sunflower Community Action activists as “the left,” saying they had “crossed the line” by coming to his house instead of his office.
“I don’t feel like I’m going to be able to shelter [my young children] from it much longer,” he lamented to Beck.
Kobach said he planned to seek legal recourse against the group by filing charges under “the Klan laws … a set of laws that say you cannot intimidate an official by trespassing on his property or threatening violence.”

Later in the article, Kobach kept going:

Nonetheless, Kobach said that using legal protections crafted in response to the Ku Klux Klan would be particularly appropriate.
“They’re just not wearing white cloaks, but this is exactly KKK type of intimidation,” Kobach told Beck, who quickly seconded the comparison, saying the activists had “learned from the Klan.”
Kobach went on to decry the “brazenness” of the group, arguing that many of them were likely undocumented immigrants themselves because they were speaking Spanish. He also claimed that this kind of “mob” protest violates the principles of American discourse.
“It looks like from the video there’s probably a significant number of illegal aliens, saying ‘Si se puede’ and all of that,” Kobach said. “This gets to the very core of what our American system depends on, which is we don’t have mobs, we don’t have this kind of pressure put on decision-makers.”

via LatinoRebels.com http://bit.ly/19P7AUx

Kris Kobach Now Saying Immigration Protesters Used...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:51:18 -0400

Kris Kobach Now Saying Immigration Protesters Used “‘KKK Type Of Intimidation”

Earlier this week, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach was invoking the Second Amendment when…

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“Hey Vato:” The Latino Rebels Interview from Latino...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:36:37 -0400

“Hey Vato:” The Latino Rebels Interview from Latino Rebels on Vimeo.

You can go to indiegogo.com/projects/hey-vato-short-film and help Smiley and Chuy.

More at heyvato.com

VIDEO from @CarlaDauden: “No, I’m Not Going to the World Cup” #ChangeBrazil

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:41:26 -0400

The following video by @CarlaDauden was recorded right before massive protests occurred last night in Brazil.

You can follow @CarlaDauden on Twitter or on Instagram.

Here is the text that went with the video:

TODAY (Jun 17, 2013) thousands of people are going to the streets of São Paulo to protest against the raise in the prices of bus tickets.
This video was recorded right before the recent protests started, but with all of this going on, it becomes even more evident that the World Cup and the Olympics should not be our priority. The world has to know about what’s really going on. Please share #changebrazil
I know this is a brief overview, so if you want to know more about the problems discussed in the video, please check the links below:
A Nova Democracia (The New Democracy)-http://bit.ly/15emb55…
Domínio Público (Public Domain)- http://bit.ly/11kuZZu
http://bit.ly/uWHHD2…
http://on.fb.me/15gB6eW;
http://bit.ly/11kuZZz…
http://bit.ly/15emcpF…
http://bit.ly/11kv0N4…
Marcelo Lacerda - http://bit.ly/15emcFX

via LatinoRebels.com http://bit.ly/11lFbRy

VIDEO from @CarlaDauden: “No, I’m Not Going to the...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:32:43 -0400

VIDEO from @CarlaDauden: “No, I’m Not Going to the World Cup” #ChangeBrazil

The following video by @CarlaDauden was recorded right before massive protests occurred last night…

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#Palabra

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:00:16 -0400

#Palabra

Sergio Romo Now Hawking an Ice Cream That “Only Tastes Illegal”

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:41:00 -0400

Looks like the momentum from Sergio Romo’s brilliantly genius FU moment when he wore a “I Just Look Illegal” tee last year during the San Francsico Giants’ World Series parade is over. That powerful message clearly struck a chord with many, and Romo was celebrated as an athlete speaking out.

Now that message has become an ice cream product.

Fail.

We got this news from Buzzfeed, which reported that Northern California’s Three Twins Ice Cream signed Romo to endorse a new flavor, “Sergio Romo’s Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream.” The ice cream’s packaging shows a smiling Romo next to two of the Twins in sombreros. Under that image, there is the tagline: “It only tastes illegal.”

The tagline is trying really hard to jokingly play tribute to Romo’s shining moment, and the joke falls flat. There was something empowering about what Romo did last year, and his latest product just seems to mock it.

One person said it best when she told Three Twins the following: “If its what i think it is (spicy chocolate) cant wait to try it, but i Don’t care for the slogan either. Why not something like “you MexiCan’t get enough”?” Yeah, why not?

Another individual asked, “I love it! but i dont like the line about the illegal maybe your design team can come up with something a little less tacky…”

We tend to agree about the tackiness on this end. This ice cream isn’t about the tee shirt Romo wore and the message it conveyed. This is about ice cream and a forced connection with Romo that, quite frankly, misses the mark. There is a reason why the Three Twins Facebook page continues to explain the connection, and even then, it still feels forced. Romo’s World Series parade moment was about how labels keep dehumanizing us. This new product is about ice cream

As for Romo? A little bit of his shine wore off a bit. He’s still cool in our book, but here’s hoping this product doesn’t start a new trend of “illegal” products. We already have seen enough.

via LatinoRebels.com http://bit.ly/19NvHCZ

Sergio Romo Now Hawking an Ice Cream That “Only Tastes...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:40:28 -0400

Sergio Romo Now Hawking an Ice Cream That “Only Tastes Illegal”

Looks like the momentum from Sergio Romo’s brilliantly genius FU momentwhen he wore a “Do I Look…

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Perry Vetoes $1.5 Million in Funding for UT’s Center for Mexican American Studies

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:56:33 -0400

The Daily Texan reported yesterday that the University of Texas’ “Center for Mexican American Studies (CMAS) took another cut Friday when Gov. Rick Perry line-item vetoed $1.5 million in funding to the center approved by the Texas Legislature.”

Perry issued a statement where he explained that “he vetoed the funds for the center and other programs because they had not been requested with regular budget ‘formula funds’ and instead were requested as ‘special funds’ outside of the University’s legislative request.” The statement also said the following: “Because of the growth in special item funding, there is less state money to teach college students, which contributes to rising tuition. If the Department of Mexican-American Studies is a priority, the University can use its $2.2 million appropriation for Institutional Enhancement.”

According to the article, the line-item veto also applied to other special item funding requests, such as the Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M International University. The article stated that “the center will still receive a $400,000 budget increase next year as part of the University budget appropriation, said University spokesman Gary Susswein. Budgeted funding to the center declined 60 percent between 2008 and 2012, according to the center.”

The article also published reaction from CMAS staff and students:

Nicole Guidotti-Hernandez, associate director of CMAS, said the center had been planning to use the additional funding to help develop into a full department capabale of setting the standards for its own faculty hires.
At present, the program’s restricted funds and status as a center means it cannot set the standards for recruitment of new faculty, which has already resulted in a potential faculty member choosing another department during hiring, Guidotti-Hernandez said.
“UT could not compete with other schools, in particular with their salary offers, which is a shame because the candidate is currently the CMAS Carlos Casteñeda Postdoctoral Fellow,” Guidotti-Hernandez said. “We should have been able to retain her and CMAS did everything we could on our end to do so.”
Mexican-American Studies graduate student Jaime Puente said the veto was constricting available resources for graduate students at the University.
“It’s terrible,” Puente said. “It’s part and parcel of what I think is a concerted effort by Rick Perry to attack the University of Texas. If the center can’t fund its graduate students, it will definitely affect recruitment.”

According to the CMAS website, the center was “born out of the activism of the civil rights movement” and “was established in June 1970:”

The mission of CMAS is to serve Texas and the nation as a leader in the intellectual development of Mexican American studies. Faculty and students affiliated with CMAS have worked to enhance our understanding of Mexican American cultural practices, historical development, and socio-economic conditions, as well as the broader Latino experience, and to strengthen the presence of Mexican Americans and other Latinos in the intellectual terrain, both within and beyond US borders.
CMAS accomplishes its mission by offering an undergraduate degree program, a master’s degree program, and a graduate portfolio program for masters and doctoral students. CMAS engages in community outreach efforts throughout the academic year that include hosting various lecture series, organizing an extensive public programming calendar, and fostering a variety of community and research partnerships.

via LatinoRebels.com http://bit.ly/14gtV7D

Perry Vetoes $1.5 Million in Funding for UT’s Center for...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:45:28 -0400

Perry Vetoes $1.5 Million in Funding for UT’s Center for Mexican American Studies

The Daily Texan reported yesterdaythat the University of Texas’ “Center for Mexican American…

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