His fast actions in attempting to stop the bleeding until help got there may very well have saved her life.  Aside from the fact that he ran towards danger as others ran away from it I want to point out that Daniel Hernandez was only 20 years old.  This young man appears to already have a direction for his life at a time when others his age are still partying their way through college. In addition, Daniel Hernandez has shown a mature attitude and a humble nature that isn’t even being displayed in our seasoned politicians.

We are living in very trying times for Hispanics.  There is so much hatred that is being flamed by the political shock jocks that it is falling on many targets but Hispanics have received the majority of that animosity.  I’ve read so many articles and blogs that portray Hispanics as a people that have absolutely nothing to contribute, that we are nothing but leeches sucking on REAL Americans and that we are incapable of being intelligent that I wonder what possible effect my little site can have.

Well maybe it can’t do much but it can say how very proud Daniel Hernandez has made me as a Hispanic but most of all as an American.  Today Daniel turned 21.  Happy Birthday Daniel.  I wish you many more.

Yet even as jaded as I am I was shocked at the level Robert De Posada sunk to help the Republicans.   De Posada formed a group called Latinos for Reform.  He bought air time on Univision to run an ad.  Unbelievably that ad told Hispanics NOT to vote!  De Posada knows that the majority of Hispanics are Democrats and are not going to be convinced to vote Republican.  The only way he could see to help Republicans is for Hispanics not to vote.

His strategy was to try to convince Hispanics that Democrats have not done anything for them.  He wanted us to punish the Democrats by not giving them our votes.  Apparently De Posada, who has been the director of Hispanic affairs with the Republican National Committee, is truly a Republican.  He has bought into their belief that we are so stupid that we will buy into anything they throw at us.  He honestly thought Hispanics were so ignorant that we would not see through his pathetic attempt to suppress our vote for the benefit of the Republicans.

Had he truly believe the trash he was talking he would have been trying to encourage Hispanics to vote for Republicans.  To encourage ANYONE not to vote is unAmerican.  Robert De Posada you are not only a disgrace to Hispanics but to America herself.  Cheers to Univision who pulled De Posada’s ads and refused to air anything else from the sham group Latinos for Reform.

In case you’re wondering, Robert De Posada did vote.

When the verdict was read Derrick dropped his head and his parents cried.  What a change from their demeanor after the first trial.  All the cheering and clapping.  All the victorious comments.  It seems they completely forgot the fact that their son had helped to kick a man to death.  I can understand a person would be happy that their child was not convicted but it’s not like it was self-defense.  Four people harassed a couple of mixed ethnicity and then beat the man to death.  How could they have forgotten that part?  How could they act like their son was the victim?

I know it’s discouraging to know that these pockets of hate are alive and well.  Still, I believe it will get better but not on it’s own.  We will have to work at it.   We have to continue to shine a light on the rotten, diseased portions of our society.  They are the exception, not the rule even though it sometimes seems otherwise.  We have to raise our voices and demand justice when such horrendous acts are perpetrated no matter who the victim is or the perpetrator.

My sincerest thanks to the federal jury, the all Anglo federal jury, that found these two scumbags guilty on all counts.

This story is a crime mystery.  From the beginning almost every single Hispanic in it is either a maid, a gardener or a gang member.  Naturally she has to make them illegal where she can but those that are Americans she makes sure they have criminal histories.  The areas she has them living in are either Colonias (she calls them ciudads) or the poorest parts of the city.

Her choice of terms to describe characters and their actions are just as bad.  The Hispanic women are “yakking”.  One of the women the main detective speaks to has “a voluptuous body that was pouring out of her bikini”.  Both women are later deemed to be liars just because the detectives decide it rather than being based on any evidence.  No surprise there.  Pretty much every Hispanic is assumed to be lying.  Her offensive descriptions continue throughout the whole book.  At one point she has the wife of the main detective refer to two individuals as “cholos”.  Last I knew that was a derogatory term.  When I read it I thought, what’s next?  Is she going to refer to someone using the N word?  Gee, what a surprise when she did.  Of course, that vulgar term comes out of the mouth of a Hispanic character.

One comment that really irritated me (out of the many she threw out) was when she referred to a vehicle as being old but that it could not belong to a migrant worker because it was “too clean”.  Wow!  Kellerman did put in one Hispanic that has an education.  I guess even she saw how bigoted her portrayal of Hispanics was.  That Hispanic is a female high school counselor.  But I guess doing that was more than her prejudiced little heart could handle.  She had to make her a counselor in a gang-riddled high school on the poor side of town.  She describes her as “lips painted deep red” and “wore a red shirt under a black suit with no stockings”.

With “no stockings”???  What, is that to show what a sleaze she is?  Or to insinuate that she isn’t knowledgeable about appropriate business attire?  Not a blatant enough slam for you?  Okay, she goes on to have this poor woman go out to dinner with one of the detectives who takes her to a restaurant that serves duck and Angus steaks.  She is so flummoxed that she freezes when ordering and he has to make a suggestion for her.  I guess “steak” and “duck” are words that are too big for her to read.  Ok, ok, I realize she’s trying to portray her as being out of her element but give me a break.  French cuisine maybe but steak and duck?

This book is loaded with the most unflattering stereotypes she could think of.  Of course, they do not apply to the professional blacks, and Asians that are part of investigative team.  Nor are they ever used to describe the Anglos or Jews.  Faye Kellerman, we call you out as the bigot that you are.

(And as a side note, you need to do more research in the technical aspect of police work.  You have a lot of errors).

Thank you Wingstop.  It was that easy.  In one quick sweep they included a representation of the population’s majority group along with its two biggest minority groups.  I wish you well and also hope that other businesses learn from your example.  Wingstop earns our two thumbs up rating.

The anger and hatred is blatant.  I would like to thank the Republicans for that.  They are well aware that people will go to the polls if they are afraid and/or angry.  Republicans played on those two emotions, with Hispanics as the scapegoats, all with the ultimate aim of getting back in power.  Power.  That’s what it’s all about for them but what they’ve done is shameful.  I want to believe that it got out of hand for them.  I can’t imagine any decent human being really wanting people to be in this mindless mob mentality.

The comments I saw after this article I’ve seen over and over after other articles.  From all that I’ve read I’ve come to the conclusion that all Hispanics are illegal, we are only capable of manual labor jobs that pay pennies an hour, we’re all on every form of welfare there is, none of us can speak English, we’re too lazy and/or stupid to fill out the paperwork to become legal immigrants and because of us America is going to collapse.  I’m still waiting for someone to say that the world is going to implode because of us.  I haven’t seen it yet but it’s probably coming.

I am an American.  I love my country.  I would give my life for it.  I look upon anyone who would jump in front of the president to stop a bullet with a heart bursting with pride.  It doesn’t matter who the president is.  It’s the office and what it represents that matters.  I get so angry at the comments, especially those saying Hispanics are un-American, that I’m tempted to answer but then I think of this quote from Nietzsche:  “Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you”.

We do need to push on.  We do need to continue trying to get people to understand the issues we face.  But we need to always be on guard that we never become monsters.

Nick Morris, a student in the Klein ISD, tore down a Mexican flag that was being displayed on a wall and threw it in the trash.  The flag was being displayed along with other items referencing Cinco de Mayo.  The Klein ISD gave Morris, according to him, a three day in-house detention and required him to pay for the cost of the flag.  Morris then went and cried on conservative radio about how unfairly he was treated.

Since then the Klein ISD has had to deal with a huge conservative backlash accusing them of being anti-American and of disrespecting the American flag.  The school has been picketed and they have received a large volume of angry emails.  Unbelievable.  This child damaged a sanctioned school display and destroyed personal property and all these conservatives are defending him!?!

Morris said he felt it was disrespectful to the American flag.  How, young Morris?  It wasn’t in place of our flag.  I wasn’t being flown above our flag.  Where was the disrespect?  It was just part of a display.  I suspect the disrespect was just in its existence.  In the minds of intolerant, bigoted people its existence could be vary disrespectful.  But of course, that’s only the Mexican flag.  Apparently the school has not had any similar problems when they’ve displayed German or other flags.

Since this young man has obviously not been taught to give the respect he thinks he deserves, in fact has been encouraged in his delinquent, self-important behavior, I have no doubt I will probably see him again.  I won’t be surprised at all when eventually some officer is having to walk him in our back door in handcuffs for committing a hate crime.

When an individual is arrested we DO attempt to verify their immigration status and we are well within our rights to do so.  If there is a doubt regarding their legal status a hold is placed on them for investigation by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).  The individual is also offered the right to contact his consulate for whatever help they can offer.  That is another requirement that must be met.  Sheriff Clarence Dupnik of Pima County, Arizona says his agency has been checking immigration status of the individuals they arrest all along and does not agree with this law.

So if that’s the case what additional rights could Arizona be fighting for?  They say they are just repeating the federal law but the federal law does not say anything about “reasonable suspicion” which is what Arizona law enforcements officers will use when deciding to demand to see someone’s papers.  This is mind-boggling for me.  They already have the right to question someone in custody so the only thing left is to be able to question someone just out on the streets going about their daily business.

In other words they will look at you to decide if you look like an illegal alien.  Well what does an illegal alien look like?  What are the determining factors?  How will they be able to articulate it in court?  There is no way around it, this is racial profiling.  Any idiot who says they cannot see that, does not want to see it.  And to make it worse the law gives the right for any individual to sue the police if they don’t feel they are enforcing the law.  There’s always going to be someone who doesn’t know the facts but feels the situation was not handled the way he wanted it handled.  This really opens up the door for frivolous lawsuits against law enforcement.  GOP hypocrisy at its best.

I have to give it to Dr. Pat Bertroche, a congressional Republican candidate in Iowa.  The Republican party has sunk so low that it’s just not easy for them to shock the general public anymore.  However, Dr. Bertroche has managed to one up even the sleaziest attacks by his party.

While giving a speech regarding illegal aliens Dr. Bertroche said, “I think we should catch ‘em, we should document ‘em, make sure we know where they are and where they are going. I actually support micro-chipping them. I can micro-chip my dog so I can find it. Why can’t I micro-chip an illegal? That’s not a popular thing to say, but it’s a lot cheaper than building a fence they can tunnel under.”

I wonder how long it will take for him to realize the expense of micro-chipping and monitoring all the illegal aliens and to decide instead that spaying and neutering them is cheaper in the long run.  Why not?  He can do that to his dog so he should be able to do it to an illegal alien too, at least by his logic.  Dr. Pat Bertroche we know your ilk and call you out as the bigot that you are.

This is purely a political thing.  Republicans here are well aware that the majority of Hispanics vote Democrat.  If they gave Hispanics full representation then they would end up making three of the four new districts Democrat.  That’s just not going to happen.  When it comes to politics, power will almost always win out over fair.  The reality of the situation is that if they pitch it just right they may be able to swing just enough Independents to vote Republican in that ‘leans Democrat’ district to get a Republican elected.  So that 70% increase will only have 25% representation.

I have no doubt they think they would do a better job of representing us than the Democrats would anyway.  I also have no doubt that they would still insist on as few as possible Hispanic achievements be taught in school.  They would still complain that people should not be speaking Spanish.   They would still act as if every Hispanic is illegal until proven otherwise.  They would still act as if we should only be hired in menial jobs and the list could go on and on.

We may not like this situation but can we really blame the Republicans completely?  Let’s face it, we have the numbers.  What we don’t have is the interest to go out to vote.  We desperately need to change that.  Republicans speak sneeringly of the “browning” of Texas.  Well I have news for them, Texas was brown long before they got here.  It’s time we stood up for what we are and what we believe in.  The Republicans will always be happy to minimize our influence.  Whether we let them or not is up to us.