Monday, March 31, 2008
Obamba
I've always loved this guy on "I Love the 70s" and "I Love the 80s" .... I never knew he was half Italian and half Colombian. Whatever his background, I love this video!
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Proof that the Celts were in Northern Spain
You can always tell who was tromping around in a country by the music they left (and the faces -- there are a lot of redheads in northern Spain).
Enjoy this clip of Hevia, and his music that - believe it or not - is very typical of Asturias ...
Happy Day After St. Patrick's Day!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Concierto por la paz
Juanes tiene la camisa blanca - and so do tens of thousands of others who want PEACE.
A message of peace from the Colombian-Venezuelan border .... initiated by Juanes, joined by Alejandro Sanz, Juan Luis Guerra, Carlos Vives, Miguel Bosé and Ricardo Montaner ...
I was at the Juanes concert at Madison Square Garden on March 6, and we were a little surprised that he mentioned the Colombian-Venezuelan-Ecuadorean situation only once, and seemingly in passing, rather speaking out a lot during the concert.
But I also realized at the time that Juanes seems more comfortable sending his message through his songs and his actions, rather than just through speeches. Indeed, his songs have always reflected that message, and he did speak through his songs that night.
And then two days later, he spoke definitively through his actions, by announcing that he was organizing this concert. In less than a week, this is what he pulled together.
Miles de personas asisten hoy domingo vestidas de blanco en las adyacencias de un puente fronterizo entre Colombia y Venezuela para el concierto gratuito denominado "Paz sin Fronteras" promovido por Juanes y al que invitó a media docena de artistas internacionales.
And here's Carlos Vives speaking -- I love his message, too, and how he shares it.
I know it will take more than music and white shirts to bring about peace in this region ..... but I also know that the only way to start is by creating a critical mass of people working together for a positive change.
¡Viva Juanes, and all the other artists who participated in the Concierto por la Paz sin Fronteras! Let's hope the positive spirit generated here carries over into more positive action in the future, by each and every person who attended the concert ... or watched it on TV ... or saw it on the internet ... or read about it in this blog.
A message of peace from the Colombian-Venezuelan border .... initiated by Juanes, joined by Alejandro Sanz, Juan Luis Guerra, Carlos Vives, Miguel Bosé and Ricardo Montaner ...
I was at the Juanes concert at Madison Square Garden on March 6, and we were a little surprised that he mentioned the Colombian-Venezuelan-Ecuadorean situation only once, and seemingly in passing, rather speaking out a lot during the concert.
But I also realized at the time that Juanes seems more comfortable sending his message through his songs and his actions, rather than just through speeches. Indeed, his songs have always reflected that message, and he did speak through his songs that night.
And then two days later, he spoke definitively through his actions, by announcing that he was organizing this concert. In less than a week, this is what he pulled together.
Miles de personas asisten hoy domingo vestidas de blanco en las adyacencias de un puente fronterizo entre Colombia y Venezuela para el concierto gratuito denominado "Paz sin Fronteras" promovido por Juanes y al que invitó a media docena de artistas internacionales.
And here's Carlos Vives speaking -- I love his message, too, and how he shares it.
I know it will take more than music and white shirts to bring about peace in this region ..... but I also know that the only way to start is by creating a critical mass of people working together for a positive change.
¡Viva Juanes, and all the other artists who participated in the Concierto por la Paz sin Fronteras! Let's hope the positive spirit generated here carries over into more positive action in the future, by each and every person who attended the concert ... or watched it on TV ... or saw it on the internet ... or read about it in this blog.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Geraldo Rivera vs. Bill O'Reilly on immigration
VERY worth viewing .... wow. EXCELLENT. Good for Geraldo ... he is so
right that racism is at the heart of this debate.
In the middle of this first clip, listen to what O'Reilly says when Geraldo compares the Irish, English, etc. getting 76% of the visas
allowed in 1924, while the Italians got 3% and the Mexicans got 0%. Go
to minute 2:38 to see the O'Reilly response ..... !!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I literally jumped out of my chair when I heard what O'Reilly said -- ask my friend Liz, who was with me -- and wanted to reach through the screen and grab him. I am still speechless.)
Geraldo vs. O'Reilly, Clip 1
In the second clip, they really go at each other.
Geraldo vs. O'Reilly, Clip 2
For the record .... My grandparents all came here in the early 1900s.
It happened to be "legal" at the time. But had it been "illegal" ....
I'm sure they would have found a way to come anyway. In one case they
were literally starving (no work, no food, no future, no hope, etc. in
Sicily) and in the other they were victims of religious persecution
(Jews from Russia and Poland). People don't come here to take advantage
and be criminals ... they come here to make a future for themselves and
for their families. And in the process, they make enormous contributions to this nation.
As Rivera very clearly points out, racism and xenophobia have always been part of the immigration debate. So perhaps it is the triumph of hope over experience when I say that I sincerely hope that this negative propaganda will stop, and that these racist attitudes and policies will start to change, once the administration does.
In the meantime, I will continue to promote positive messages about the mix of languages and cultures that enrich our lives, our nation, and our world.
And I will be heading out to my local bookstore for the book "His Panic", by Geraldo Rivera ...
right that racism is at the heart of this debate.
In the middle of this first clip, listen to what O'Reilly says when Geraldo compares the Irish, English, etc. getting 76% of the visas
allowed in 1924, while the Italians got 3% and the Mexicans got 0%. Go
to minute 2:38 to see the O'Reilly response ..... !!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I literally jumped out of my chair when I heard what O'Reilly said -- ask my friend Liz, who was with me -- and wanted to reach through the screen and grab him. I am still speechless.)
Geraldo vs. O'Reilly, Clip 1
In the second clip, they really go at each other.
Geraldo vs. O'Reilly, Clip 2
For the record .... My grandparents all came here in the early 1900s.
It happened to be "legal" at the time. But had it been "illegal" ....
I'm sure they would have found a way to come anyway. In one case they
were literally starving (no work, no food, no future, no hope, etc. in
Sicily) and in the other they were victims of religious persecution
(Jews from Russia and Poland). People don't come here to take advantage
and be criminals ... they come here to make a future for themselves and
for their families. And in the process, they make enormous contributions to this nation.
As Rivera very clearly points out, racism and xenophobia have always been part of the immigration debate. So perhaps it is the triumph of hope over experience when I say that I sincerely hope that this negative propaganda will stop, and that these racist attitudes and policies will start to change, once the administration does.
In the meantime, I will continue to promote positive messages about the mix of languages and cultures that enrich our lives, our nation, and our world.
And I will be heading out to my local bookstore for the book "His Panic", by Geraldo Rivera ...
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