Colorado school plays 1st amendment right card

Things are getting interesting in our backyard.

Yesterday, in a public school in Aurora, a suburb in Denver, a 5th grader was suspended for wearing a T-shirt with a homemade Anti-Obama phrase.

Kids were asked to wear red, white and blue to show their patriotism; the 5th grader complied. The T-shirt is white and was printed in red and blue.

School offered him to change his shirt, wear it inside out or be suspended. He chose the latter.

It looks there are other precedents.

I can't help to wonder what would the school district done if any kid would showed in the school wearing a shirt smearing, let's say, McCain, Palin or lipstick... or some of these.

Although I still wonder why a 5th grader has to wear a shirt with a political message; should be there a line drawn stating when a kid is old enough to use free speech? Isn't that, by default, a violation of free speech itself? I'm puzzled.

H/T to Drudge Report

The View

The view, from the top of the house of a relative in Camaguey, while Ike was getting to them, up close and personal. The houses across the street were flooded up to their roofes...

A truck, apparently transporting evacuees, is seen here covered up to the wheels

A boat...
The water coming up to the second floor house...

There were only eigth steps left to get the water flooding the second floor's house... water level in the street up to your chest...

Some excerpts of the message I received, in my own translation. Names have been omitted, obviously, for security reasons:

"Mijita, this was horrible here. The street that you see completely flooded is mine, I have the river right there around the corner and the river's water started to come up to us around 4 p.m. and at 8 p.m. the water was already reaching a person's height.

There were only 8 steps left in my stairs to have the water in my front door ... I got a little nervious... I was alone, only with my neighbors that I took over my place because their house was completely flooded, it has very low ceilings and the water topped the ceiling of their home...

That nightmare is over and Thanks God, nobody from my family was seriously affected... now what we have left is the aftermath and the shortage... we are really going to feel it in a little while, when all the viandas that fell are gone... pero se que después nos la vamos a ver gris..."

But no, nobody there needs aid, not from the US nor European countries. No aid is needed; actually they are sending aid to Jamaica.

They only need credits and cash. Truckloads of cash. Credits to default (after defaulting half of the planet for 50 years) and cash to pocket.

I wish someone could tell me how on earth can you free yourself from being between the wall and a damned hard rock...

Scary

Scary.
Very scary "guilty by participation" story, from today's WSJ.

H/T to Babalú Blog

Holy internet and cached pages; smearers are trying to pick up their own crap!

Bloggers sniff out anti-Palin astroturf campaign– and the cover-up begins.

Michelle Malkin has details on the dirty trail left by a youtube video where, guess what?!, Sarah Palin was being smeared, one more time.

It also inclused the oximoronic statement from Ethan Winner.

Americans, have your umbrellas handy.
The (s) waste may spill big time, all over the place.

The "in your face" philosophy

Brought to you by Malkin's latest column.
Panic mode? Naaw! It's just you imagination.

Any similitude with the Rapid Response Brigades --in their most tropical version-- is purely coincidental.

Aid for Cuba: A labor of love

A true labor of love --very smartly conducted, by the way.

The Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul are making sure that donations and aid end up in the hands of the truly affected by the devastation of the hurricanes in Cuba.

Check the video and the story in Spanish here.

They are accepting food, water, medicine and linens for hurricane victims in Cuba at 500 NW 63rd Ave., Miami. It is possible they accept also monetary donations, since sending a container to Havana costs around $5,000. Call 305-266-6485 for more information.

Whaaat!!??

Well, people, apparently, I am not as paranoid as I've thought earlier today.

Indeed, the son of Democrat Representant from Tennessee is being associated with Palin's email hacking.

Wow!, se ha descubierto el agua tibia (and the gran jefe O will be covered with caca)

H/T to Babalú

Hackers, interrupted. (And somewhat, exposed)

The hacker said he went all over Palin's emails, read them all and found absolutely nothing incriminating or being hidden.

Apparently, he was really interested in finding more dirt to add to the pile.

Courtesy of one of her readers, Michelle Malkin has posted the story.

Creepy; I've said it before.

It could be true that I sometimes be a little paranoic, but you know what? The caca ended up landing in the head of those trying to fuel the PDS.

!Hackers contra Palin, seremos como...!

While commuting this morning to work, I was listening to KCOL 600 and almost chocked when I heard the news about hackers getting into Sara Palin’s email account on Yahoo, her family's photos and the screenshots posted on the Internet.

Creepy.
More than creepy.

Later, while checking Michelle Malkin’s details on it, I honestly couldn’t help to wonder why they didn’t do it with ‘the other’ – I mean, ‘The One’.
Coincidence?

Risking myself to sound paranoid --which I don’t care very much, because you've heard the rule, this my blog and I blog what I want, but that's not the point being talked here-- I wonder if the Reloaded Rapid Response Brigade, Version USA, might remotely have something to do with this.

They did try to do a fine nice job with the radio show on WGN in Chicago and its interview with David Freddoso about his book “The Case Against Barack Obama”.

I may know a thing or two about Rapid Response Brigades and, guess what? They are usually lousy workers and it is very hard for them to really do a fine job. (Actually, Glen Beck took it to national spotlight, way more beyond the Chicago airwaves)

The caca trace is easy to identify and well, also the smell.

The feds are investigating. Civil suit, anyone?

It might end up like the Cuban story (cuento):
Brujo, gran caca, no jefe indiO.

Elemental, Watson!

They hit again.

Copper thefts are having the great time of their lives in the area where I live. With the price of copper going up, there are not limits for them.

This time, they hit the local Meal On Wheels, a United Way sponsored group that provides cooked and frozen meals for the elderly and low income residents that can not cook for themselves, most of them in rural areas of the county.

The nonsense question is unavoidable: what are we waiting to have the recycling centers –or whoever buys this scrap metal—to check and double-check the people they are buying from and the origin of those materials?

Or do we now have to be mentally prepared to face a power outage -- I mean, a plain and dirty apagón-- every time anybody out there wants to make easy money?

Late, but not forgotten

We should never forget. Actually, we have to remember that this nation saw evil, up close and personal. We owe to the almost 3,000 innocent lives lost. We owe it to the future generations.

America proved to be an outstanding society in the 9/11 aftermath. We have to avoid the loss of innocent victims in the hands of terrorism, but we need to go back to that society we became back then. We have the potential; we just need to rise the will.

I DO wear lipstick

(Photo source: Digital Vision / Getty Images)


Rosy and pinky shimmered shades, if I can choose (and perfume, of course).
A very well applied red lipstick can work wonders.

And no, I'm not a pig.

Este individuo se acaba de poner la soga al cuello, él solito. Which proves, one more time that, no matter how many years in Harvard (or how much silk you use) ... you know the Cuban saying; it will be the same.

Un (f) believable.

No, I don't believe in innocent gaffes, specially when the phrase has been all over the place (and any human being ears) for quite a few days.

The Drudge Report, Babalú Blog and Michelle Malkin have already pitched into this one.

McCain's campaign already requested an apology.

Huy, huy, huy... BHO, this is going to hurt.
Literally.

--Classy, very classy--

(Al león se le cayó la melena)

Back to normal breathing

Finally, we got news from the family back in el terruño.

They weathered the whole thing relatively easy and, Thanks God, the house didn't flooded, the water tank didn't fell from the roof and the couple of existing glass windows survived.

No electricity (most of the capital is without power) and only a couple of home telephones are working in their block. But they are OK.

Relatives in Punta Alegre, a fishermen town in Ciego de Ávila, were not that lucky. Seawater flooded the town up to the main street, which is in a considerably higher location.

I don't even want to think about the fate of the modest houses whose backyards were piers hooked up inside the water. The whole town became incommunicado after the phone call that brought us these news.

Ike landed in Cuba, for the second time, west of Havana, closer to the limits with Pinar del Río province. Yes, the same Pinar del Río that was savagely beaten by Gustav.

Union contracts and religious beliefs: Houston, we have a problem

This post has been removed by the author due to contradictory pieces of information that I found after writing it. In the future, might address the issue affecting the city where I live again, once I can have a better picture, thus, a more informed opinion.

Sleepless in the Rockies (UPDATE)

No, this time does not have anything to do with my super busy and curious toddler. This time has to do with another mischievous individual that insist in making our lives miserables: Ike.

No news from home since an early Monday morning email. They should be weathering the worst while I write this.

Four people dead; two electrocuted, two crushed by falling things. The fatal victim's counting could get tricky, though. Lots of people injured and lots of other that haven't even been registered because of the lack of access to a lot of communities.

I don't even want to think about the relatives in Yaguas, near Boca de Galafre, in Pinar del Río, and their modest house with dirt floors. Or the ones in San Juan y Martínez leaving way too close to a river that happily floods with the tiniest rain.

The Cuban government today rose the price of gasoline up to a 60%; a commodity that Cubans are already paying in the convertible pesos they are not being paid with.

Great timing. Right when they are asking for credits to default and cash to fill their pockets, but denying the so needed aid to the hurricane victims. Don't you just love these winds of reform?

What's next? Sticking la escoba (you know where) y a barrer la factoría? Jeez! I really need to drop it now and go to get some sleep.

_________________________

Ike's damages in Cuba are still not 100% documented and/or accounted for.

If you want to help the hurricane's victims, you can do go here and do it through the Pan American Development Foundation, one of the few NGO's that can provide disaster relief in Cuba.

(H/T to Val Prieto, from Babalú)

Back to our own backyard

No, I couldn't attend the McCain-Palin rally in Colorado Springs last Saturday.

I was enthusiastic about going there, just to see what it's like, but when you have to work, you have to work.

I did secured a free ticket, though. I was glad I requested right after Palin's VP acceptance speech; they were sold out.

When I learned I couldn't make it, I gave it to my co-worker and office-space buddy.

She barely got in; she saw around 200 people left outside because the place was overbook and fire marshals wouldn't allow more people for security reasons.

She did bring me a button, as a token of gratitude. It's nice to spend a big chunk of your day and a very small physical space with someone that shares your views and is eager to learn about things, and eager to teach about others.

We are both, definitively, in a very anti-conservative, "leaning-too-much-to-the-left" uncharted waters; basically, a minority.

(I hung it in my rear-view mirror, so the dude from my work's parking lot who has a "Free Tibet" sticker next to a picture of Che "The Butcher of La Cabaña" Guevara, can see it very well.)

Then, we both learned this morning that McCain is leading in the polls. (Although the only polls that would rely on are the exit polls, right one election day). This is becoming, with no doubts, a very interesting and tighter race.

We also need to do a lot of homework; there are 18 ballot initiatives in Colorado for this November. And I thought my first trully vote was not going to be challenging or interesting at all!

I want to make sure I make an informed choice, especially when critical issues like defining where person hood begins, and effort to tweak Colorado's TABOR, and other to obligate you to enroll in a union in order to be hired (hellooo?!), and even the very same process to submit ballot initiatives.

On top of that, in the humor & sarcasm department, I just found this site where crazy rumors and smears against Sarah Palin are being tracked. Boy, there are a lot of people out there that really don't have anything good to do with their lives...

(H/T to Michelle Malkin & HotAir)

Ay, Cachita, no te olvides de los nuestros!

No news from the family back in Cuba since early this morning.

We're up here, way too high above sea level, while they're down there, waiting for the sea to come inland the usual 12-15 blocks. It's what always happens...

The relatives' house in Chambas, Ciego de Ávila, has been packed up with the surrounding neighbors since yesterday. It's the only house in that part of town built with blocks, therefore, able to resists the winds.

The rest of those souls saw the roof of their wood, old and dilapidated houses flying all over the place. The picture is not nice, they said.

A closed relative, resident of Havana, was sent to work in Pinar del Rio after hurricane Gustav. Not nice views either.

He've told us what we're have seen in the news and in the newspaper pictures is absolutely nothing compared with what he saw right there, up close and personal. Not even the 50% of it.

Only in Los Palacios, half of the houses are completely destroyed; inhabitable. There we'll have thousand of families living in "temporary shelters" for the next, what?, 20 years?

Viñales is not even the shadow of what it used to be and now, when Ike goes over that area again, is the same nightmare, part II.

And let's now even go to the aid issue.
More of the same.

I also hope that Mother Nature knows what it's doing.
At the end of the day, there is a close relationship between "that" and the acts of God.

Virgencita de la Caridad, ampáranos ahora más que nunca. Today, your day, Cubans in the island can not take you out, dress you with flowers and candles and pray in front of you. Us, out here, are trying to fill their place. Amen.

Meanwhile, my house is under a senseless and desesperate state that I can not even begin to describe...

Taking on journalism lessons

During the past few weeks it has become clear, I think, that I'm really excited about this election year. The average American or someone from any other country in the world may take this for granted. I don't.

I've said it before: it's the first time in my entire life that I will vote, freely, in a democratic election --gossips and dirty politicians moves aside. Therefore, for me, it is a big deal.

I can't not afford the luxury of not exercising a right inherent to me as individual, a right that I was robbed from, in the most disgusting manner, during a huge part of my adult life.

I do know (from seeing, reading and reporting other elections and political issues) that at the end of the game, this is just a bet; some sort of gamble where you just try to make your best informed decision.

It's dirty business, but as I see it, it is our business and we, as citizens with a voice through our vote, have the civil duty to deal with it. Whether we are right or wrong, only time will tell.

It doesn't hurt to do your homework, though.

Thanks to my fellow Cuban blogger (and former reporter) from Bilingual in the Boonies, last night I found myself checking the site PolitiFact; actually, way tooo late at night. Haven't check it completely, but apparently looks like a starting point.

OnTheIssues.org is another one often mentioned everywhere.

However, in this last one, just in a couple of minutes, I found some disturbing assertions, in the segment Sarah Palin on the issues:

Palin's on abortion: - Opposes stem cell research. (Aug 2008)

Coincidentally, I was reading a column today in American Thinker (that I linked to my previous posts) that analyzed and looked back in original sources and interviews every single thing posted, said and threw at our faces by bloggers and the media after Palin's news of being chosen for VP.

According to the Patrick Casey, the column's author, she said "she opposes the expansion of only one small segment of stem cell research - embryonic stem cell research, which happens to be the overwhelming research favorite of abortionists and liberals." [Which is, BTW, my own position on the issue]

So, what do we have left, especially after the unethical and unprofessional methods used by my fellow journalists, reporters and bloggers in the past few days?

I say barely nothing.

If the fact checkers need to be fact-checked, the only thing we have left is our gut instinct, and our luck in the gamble.

Till now, my gut instinct takes me to Palin and "The sisterhood of the hockey Moms".

(I know, I know, maybe my whole thing with politics and elections is just a pretty bad side effect of the environment where I was born and raised and because of the un-mentionable... so, please, spare me the trauma, would you?)

Homerun con las bases llenas, brought to you by "The sisterhood of the hockey Moms"

For the first time in my thirty something (short) years of age, I have stopped my house’s craziness at dinner time and, under no influence of any substance, I willingly sit in front on my TV to watch a politician speech.

When I told MDH what I was up to do, he just gave me a look like: “Are you sure you are not out of your mind?”.

And while dear son almost buried me with blocks, legos and books, I completely ate Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech (and those who spoke before her: the governor of Hawaii was impressive, Huckabee did a great job and Giuliani was great as usual, specially with the “nada, nada”) on C-Span.

(Palin power photo from AP/El Nuevo Herald)

Do not take my word for it because I’m a rookie on these leagues, but I totally agree that woman is a promise; a bright promise for the future of the American society.

It is understandable, up to a certain point, why the radical left and the Democrats (and the MSM that feeds them) of this country are in panic mode.

Palin’s selection as VP has left them in shock.

They just don’t know what to do.
They know they don’t have the balls to confront her; they know they are weaponless and that makes them go nuts and do the shameful things they have been doing since last Friday.

Palin’s speech (yes, written by a professional speech writer, like all speeches from all politicians, including the messiah) was spotless.

And she definitively killed several birds with only shot; being the most important the way she put McCain’s image into the entire nation’s eyes. (More on Lady Sarah's speech here, here and here)

And, while MDH –who is not as involved in the political debate as I’ve been lately­– was little step by little step, getting closer to the TV, he finally sit next to me when she said: ‘In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.’” (“Did you hear what she said,” he asked. “Yes, I did,” I said.)

She shot at Obama with heavy artillery and trash out the dirty rumors of the past days, while focusing the presidential candidate assets and all that, with a chic and glamorous style.

Without quitting her real American family background, her 21st century mother of five style; pit-bull's force and lipstick included.

The more the media and leftist bloggers try to trash her out, the more she’s giving them una galleta sin mano. Whoever saw the speech last night couldn’t have missed her family’s takes on camera.

Bristol and her boyfriend is the cutest sweetheart couple ever –ate that, whether you like it or not. Piper has a gift for public appearances, waving at the audience like her Mom and even licking her hand on camera, to fix her baby brother’s hair.

Handsome husband. Proud parents. Great dressing style, beautiful legs and let’s not even go to the ‘proud Mom of a disabled child’ part.

That’s real life in today’s American society. And I think that people down to earth is what this country needs, pronto.

Time might prove us wrong. It can happen in politics where, at the end, everything is nothing more than a well-informed bet. But I don’t think that’ll be the case.

Should the experience issue proves to be a real issue (which I personally don’t think so), I rather have a down-to-earth VP with on-the-job-training, than a pseudo-communist of séptima categoría gambling in the job, trying to be a president.

Today I feel so optimistic, blessed for being Cuban-American and lucky for having the opportunity to vote in a free and democratic presidential election for the first time in my life, that I fixed myself this morning with my best pencil skirt, hair-do and patent black high heel pumps.

Lipstick could no be absent; you know, we are setting a trend and we have to keep up the style up the circumstances! :)

H/T to Babalú, Claudia4Libertad and Michelle Malkin.

Plain and shameful dirty move (UPDATED)

Impossible to go around the bushes: the dirty move against Sarah Palin is so disgusting that I don't even know where should I start talking about it.

Even if she doesn't make it to the office, even if she doesn't excel at the job, even in the worst case scenario, all this is plainly WRONG.

(I wonder of this Daily Kos is the parent company of Kaos en la Red; they seem to be in the same line of business)

The first word that comes to mind is envy.
Envy and panic mode.

Envy from the radical left of this country that not even in their wildest dreams could even be a simple all American woman as Palin is. Envy from the media that is so biased and so rag-styled that I can not even believe it.

And panic mode from the Democrats that do not have what it takes to win over a simple American, Mom, wife, someone who came from the bottom; someone that until recently, lived the simple live most Americans (including myself) live.

I identify with her because she is the face of an American family of these times.

Maybe that's the reason why the attacks have been so dirty and so vile (pun very well intended; at first I thought of posting the covers, but now I refuse to use my blog to bash nother mother, like I am). Because those behind them, don't give a damn about the lives of the average American families.

I bet they are so busy with their carbon footprint and the next reusable cloth bag they'll get at the grocery store that they are not thinking in the consequences of their attacks.

There is a young woman and a baby whose lives are going to be marked forever.
But they don't care.

Pregnant teenagers are real life in this country, so what's the big deal? I feel sad for this girl because in a moment where she should be enjoying the happiness of pregnancy, along with her Mom's success, evildoers out there are trying to mess up her life. And having a disabled child and commit to love him and raise him takes a big time courage and an oversize set of ovaries.

Is not this what feminists are always calling for?
Oh, wait, but since they weren't the protagonists so they have to attack it in such a dirty move?

But that is not what bothers me the most.

What bothers me the most is that this whole gossip does not have anything to do with her credentials and aptitude to be our next VP. That is something that will be proved in the different arena. The whole thing is just doing evil for the sake of doing evil.

As I've always said, I will not put my hands in the fire for any politician, but the public should not impose a public sentence and judge based solely in rumors. And it looks that this was precisely the goal of the leftist bloggers and media that echoed the whole thing as prime time news.

And we, as public, should have enough neuronal capacity to see the move and wait for the facts before believing a story. Sadly, not everyone does that and blindly follow the media's lead --whether is right or wrong.

This was a dirty move aimed to diminish Palin's protagonism. Pure envy and lousy panic mode. And I believe that I'm not the only one that think so.

For the first time in many, many years I am --willingly-- turning the TV and the radio on to hear/see a politician speech. That says a lot, coming from someone really sick and tired of the verbal incontinence of you-know-who.

I'm waiting to hear Palin's speech tonight and I'm making plans to attend the rally in Colorado Springs this Saturday. And the only reason I'm interested is Sarah Palin.

I want to see and listen to her in person because I want to draw my own conclusions, without the radical left and the unethical media biasing my judgement.

And yes, I will run the risk and I will also vote for her.

H/T to Michele Malkin, Babalú, Claudia4Libertad and Pajamas Media

Honoring my favorite (and brilliant) weblogs

Despite my anaphilactic-type of allergic reaction to blog posts and email chains, I think that sharing little awards like this Brillante Weblog Premio 2008 enhances the red among us, bloggers, and provides a way to thanks other out there for their hard work in this new "weblogandia".

Therefore, I'll take advantage of the fact that Aguaya Berlín, from Dessarraigos Provocados included me in her list. First, to humbly say "Gracias", and second, to honor those bloggers that I admire and read --literally-- on a daily basis.

I don't know if they even care (my favorites) about this online awards, but that's is not what it's important. What is really important is that I personally identify and enjoy their writings and commitments, amid different styles.

Up to some point they have become, in a very short period of time, like a huge net of friends that I haven't met personally, but that I know I can always count on.

These are mandatory stops in my daily rounds --without an specific order. (Well, yes, the first one is always the first one... it just goes perfectly with my morning coffee):

1. Babalú Blog, because it's a place where you go to learn, to laugh, to share and to hear different views. Is a virtual island where it's impossible to forget where you come from; where you can keep yourself up to date with everything remotely Cuban and/or Cuban American. A place where you can meet hard-working people from all walks of life, all together for the same goal. It's place to play hard ball; not flojitos (as) allowed.


2. Generación Y, because is a place where you are constantly reminded that she's doing what we weren't able (or willing) to do, because is keeping us wired with that reality that prompt many of us to look for a future in a different place. Because is making history; because it can definitively make a difference. A huge one.


3. My Big Fat Cuban Family, because is my inspiration. A warm, lovely and Cuban-food-smelling home where you don't need to be invited. Its doors are always opened to family and friend gatherings, wonderful memories, unbeatable home-schooling lesson and the unforgettable aroma of our Cuban kitchens back home.


4. Uncommon Sense, because is a labor of love, solidarity, compassion and commitment. It's a direct plug to the stories of those suffering the most, those enduring the things that some of us couldn't even imagine that were possible or happening in our homeland.


5. Entendiendo el Caos / Understanding Caos, because Garrincha's cartoons have become like my very own hatha yoga to release the stress of this 21st century live. Con esas lombrices siempre largo las tripas riéndome... and when you have a good cartoon, well, you barely need words.


6. El Imparcial Digital because Eufrátes del Valle's chronicles are priceless. It's like going back to our place without needing to pay a plane ticket. The memories, the places, the pictures; they always bring me back to the streets of the city where I grew up, the things I enjoyed when I was a teenager and a young women (younger than now, I mean)... it's like traveling back on time and re-living those memories that will always follow you, no matter where you live.


7. Claudia4Libertad and her other Non-Cuban Blog (Sigi-Licious) because she cares, because she speaks up for the voiceless, because she loves everything Cuban, and speaks Spanish, and is a wonderful Mom... and because she is cool, and because I consider her my friend.

Big Thanks to Aguaya. And big thanks to those mentioned above, for welcoming me to the bloggers community, for their commitment and their support. For being all tied-up with the motto that, along with our very own posts and experience-sharing, we are also blogging for a cause. For the cause of those whose voices are silenced or severily downplayed. Gracias.

Now, to meet the requirements, I'll add the rules to pass on the award, should you want to keep it going:

* When receiving the award, write a post showing it and citing and liking the blog that gave you the recognition.

* Choose your favorites; 7 minimun, linking their pages to your blog.

* Add the rules to your post.

* Let your favorites know you've given them the recognition.