Free Republic

Filmmaker Michael Moore will probably want to steer clear of one of his favorite leftist countries -- Hugo Chavez's Venezuela -- after he inadvertently insulted El Presidente and enraged the strongman's rabid supporters. Chavez's devoted followers (no doubt at Chavez's behest) are deriding Moore as a liar, racist, and coward -- all for the filmmakers outrageous statements about their leader during an appearance on a late-night talk show, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live." (A film clip of the Oct. 9th show may be seen here.) Moore described a strange encounter with Chavez during last September's Venice Film Festival. Chavez was there...

nstead of being simply a draw for Hispanic viewers, CNN’s four-hour documentary, “Latino in America,” turned into a political rallying cry for activist groups who are calling on the cable news channel to fire Lou Dobbs, a veteran anchor with well-known views on immigration.

Federal authorities have opened an investigation into allegations of “discriminatory policing” by the Suffolk County Police Department over how officers responded to reports of crimes against Latinos, a Justice Department spokesman said Monday. Latino residents and their advocates have accused the police in that Long Island county of systematically failing to fully investigate allegations of assaults on Latinos. After the highly publicized stabbing death of an Ecuadorean immigrant last November — prosecutors said that his attackers were driven by prejudice against Latinos — residents stepped forward with accounts of other attacks they believed were racially motivated. Some of those cases...

Folks, a while back I talked about Islamic Proselytism Increasing Among Latinos in New York and now this piece from CNN, Brooklyn family keeps Latino-Jewish traditions alive, sends me in the direction of an increasing "return to Judaism" movement in Latino communities that I've seen gaining exposure in the media: Every Friday evening, the Núñez family sits down to a traditional religious dinner. Like most families in their Crown Heights neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, their Jewish Sabbath meal includes blessings over the wineand bread, the company of family and friends and excellent food. But for the Núñez family, the...

US President Barack Obama has welcomed plans for a massive but controversial concert in Havana on Sunday by Miami-based music star Juanes. Obama told US Spanish language network Univision that the concert, which is expected to draw around half a million Cubans, could help improve ties with Cuba. Obama's Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had met the Colombian singer before he left for Cuba, with both drawing criticism from Miami's Cuban exile community for a performance they say will legitimize the island's communist regime. "My understanding is that he's a terrific musician. He puts on a very good concert," Obama...

As FNC's Sean Hannity devoted his show Hannity on Thursday evening to the plight of California farmers who are suffering unemployment because the federal government is withholding water from their crops in favor of saving endangered fish, Hannity began the show, specially titled "The Valley That Hope Forgot," by interviewing comedian and former Democrat Paul Rodriguez, chairman of the California Latino Water Coalition. Rodriguez, who last year supported Barack Obama but famously turned GOP after Democrats refused to help him and other farmers obtain water for their crops, made a plea for help to President Obama on Hannity's show: Mr....

It has all the hallmarks of the beloved telenovela: Heart-wrenching dialogue. Doors slamming amid tears. Over-the-top theatrics. But the titillating story lines are laced with medical advice. An expecting but bickering couple is encouraged to seek prenatal care. The uncle of a boy injured in a car wreck caused by a drunk teenager learns about state-funded health insurance. A character who doesn't like her figure gets some advice from a health care adviser: Stop eating so many tamales. --snip-- "It's a soap opera. So it's got the teenager who has some substance abuse issues. We have a family who is...

California's financial unraveling has prompted a long-overdue debate about taxes, regulation, and government spending, but the state's media and government continue to ignore what could be an even greater problem: the irreparable damage to California's human capital that nearly 30 years of unrestrained illegal immigration has achieved. This is not an immigration problem, or even an illegal-immigration problem, per se. A strong case could be made that, in terms of educational achievement, industriousness, and entrepreneurial acumen, Asian immigrants to California have proven superior to white natives of the state. Therefore, if California were to experience a wave of mass immigration...

by Debra Medina, Republican candidate for Governor of Texas It’s a shame isn’t it, that Republicans continue to ignore Hispanics especially here in Texas? The writing has long been on the wall that unless the GOP begins to better work with Latinos, the GOP will continue to lose races and be a minority party. It is equally important, of course, for the Latino community to realize that true political identity will be achieved only through participation in all national party structures - Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Independent, etc. We are not all the same and we shouldn’t all be attracted to...

I know HBO probably isn't really looked upon to highly around here (love trueblood, enterouge) But if anybody saw last night's stand up. As a conservative I have never felt more attacked in my life. As usual we were all accused of being racist for opposing Sotomayor....i mean forget the fact that she actually uses race as motivation for her rulings and basically ignores the constitution....it has to be racist why we oppose her... i mean lets all forget how the left treated Gonzelez under the Bush administration....that couldn't be racist... As a half latin person i'm amazed at how...

More than Mexicans Crossing the Border byPaul L. Williams, Ph.D.thelastcrusade.org [caption id="attachment_887" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="MS-13 Member with Arabic tatoos (Police Photograph)"][/caption] Al Qaeda and the Latino Gang-Bangers The situation at the border now poses a grave threat to national security. Agent Mike Scioli of the U.S. Border Patrol confirms that the Tucson sector of the Border Patrol is facing a worsening problem with Mara Salvatrucha, a Salvadoran street gang that now controls the flow of arms, drugs, and illegal aliens into the U.S. Two members of the violent gang were collared last week in Tucson and Nogales. Twenty have...

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Many Latinos say they know how Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates felt during a recent arrest because they believe police often racially profile Hispanics, too. Gates, a noted African-American scholar, has said he was arrested at his home in large part because of his race. Police say he became disorderly when asked for identification after a report of a possible break-in. "Professor Gates' case resonates with us because he is a prominent academic at a very prominent institution, but it is a reality that occurs on these streets every day," said Vicente Alba-Panama of the...

I have lived in Watsonville, California a small city for the last 34 years. I have seen it change from a small truly multi-cultural town of Italians, Japanese, Croatians, Serbians, Filipinos, Mexicans and other ethnic groups to a town that is 90% Hispanic. Now we have the gangs, the crime, the collapse of the school district, our hospital went bankrupt and the local real estate market is in the toilet. Our local Strawberry Festival lacked funding to continue this year and an outside promoter came in to keep it functioning for at least another year. Unfortunately it appears that the...

Thank you Mr. Chairman. I testify today not as a wise Latina woman, but as an American who believes that skin color and national origin should not determine who gets a job, promotion, or public contract, or who gets into college or receives a scholarship. My message today is straightforward, Mr. Chairman: Do not vote to confirm this nominee. I say this with some regret, because I believe Judge Sotomayor’s personal story is an inspiring one, which proves that this is truly a land of opportunity where circumstances of birth and class do not determine whether you can succeed. Unfortunately,...

Here is video today of Sen. Lindsey Graham questioning Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Graham confronted Sotomayor with her quote from numerous speeches in which she said she would hope that a "wise Latina woman would come to a better decision (as a judge) than an average white male." Graham worked the exchange to a high point where he pointedly told Sotomayor that if he, as a white male, had ever said anything even close to what she did, his career would be over. He asked her if she could understand that? She said that she could understand how...

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's chief counsel, Thomas Saenz, has been tapped to become president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the organization announced Tuesday. Saenz has been one of Villaraigosa's closest advisors since taking the post in August 2005, recently serving as the mayor's lead representative in negotiations with city labor unions over salary and benefit concessions to help close the city's $530-million budget gap. And he helped to successfully defend a city ordinance that required hotels near Los Angeles International Airport to pay a "living wage" to workers. Saenz also was one...

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor defended herself Tuesday against charges that her speeches and rulings show racial bias, telling a Senate panel vetting her nomination that critics had misunderstood her record. "I want to state upfront, unequivocally and without doubt: I do not believe that any racial, ethnic or gender group has an advantage in sound judging. I do believe that every person has an equal opportunity to be a good and wise judge, regardless of their background or life experiences," Sotomayor said. Sotomayor, President Barack Obama's pick to become the high court's first Hispanic and third woman, was responding...

(CNN) — As the Senate Judiciary Committee begins hearings on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, a Latino group is launching a radio ad in Florida highlighting Republican opposition to the first Hispanic nominee to the high court. The ad, sponsored by Presente.org and Progressive Change Campaign Committee, features past remarks from conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh declaring Sotomayor a 'racist," and attacks Republican Rep. John Mica of the Florida's 7th Congressional District for not denouncing the remarks. Full English translation of the ad: Sonia Sotomayor is set to be the first Latina and Puerto Rican to serve on the...

The Big Fix – Part Three RIGGED, ILLEGAL, RACIAL, and INTRUSIVE Strike One. In violation of Article 1, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution, President Barack Obama has assumed complete control of the 2010 Census. This Article, which concerns the legislative rather than executive branch of government, stipulates that the “enumeration” be conducted by a commerce official under the supervision of the Senate and the House of Representations. It reads: Representation and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers … . The actual Enumeration shall be...

"Suzanne", a female caller to Mark Levin's show on June 25th, revealed the ominous secret of the Democrat health care reform effort. "I want to tell you that last week I attended a conference on health care reform sponsored by La Raza. And I will tell you that what they had to say, Mark, is scarier than anything that's been said so far on the health care plan. The kind of comments that were made and the notes that I took... they started the conference out by saying "America does not need health care reform, but Latino immigrants need health...