I never thought the first of the two major political parties to nominate the first Hispanic presidential candidate would be the Republican Party. Wow, this really is a shocker for me!
Click here to read a snippet on theweek.com and here for commentary from NewsTaco.com.
Did you ever think there was a chance that the Republicans would nominate a Latino before the Democrats?
Above is the speech President Obama gave to the nation explaining the status of the deficit and debt ceiling issue.
I thought the president did a good job explaining the crisis and why he is pushing for the deal he proposes. He put it in a way that the average citizen can understand and framed the debate between the idea of shared sacrifices versus preserving the wealthy's tax breaks.
I agree with the president that their should be shared sacrifices and by a combination of spending cuts and tax reform we can balance the budget.
I am intentionally keeping this post brief because I know people's heads are probably spinning with all the facts and opinions that have been laid out this past month.
I will end with my suggestion to President Obama and the Congress; separate the two issues. Give the deficit issue its due diligence and work out a solution that is healthy and right for the country and not something that is being forced to be compromised while both branches of government hold guns to the same hostage's head, the American people. Send a clean debt ceiling bill to the president and continue to work on creating more jobs and balancing the budget.
I still don't get this whole blog thing, but if I must I must.
I believe we as Hispanics should take a stand with this immigration thing. Arizona is the state that started these anti-Hispanic laws. They have a high valued event this coming week. One that they have been waiting years for.
If you haven't guessed it by now, it's the Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. It's an event in which players and celebs compete against each other in a softball game, home run derby, and concluding with the All-Star Game. It is a big event for the state, the MLB, and advertisers across the country.
We should boycott the game and all that leads up to it. Not only attending it, but watching it on television. I believe that it will not only show Arizona that we mean business, but also the networks and advertisers.
I firmly believe that the players and celebs should boycott this event as well. With Hispanics making up about 30% of the players in the league, more than either of the other three major sports in the United States, they and us should use this opportunity to take a stand against blatant racism.
Senator Dick Durbin, Democrat from Illinois, has re-introduced the DREAM Act in the U.S. Senate. The DREAM Act will give undocumented people, who immigrated to the U.S. as a child by their parents, legal status. These were children who did not make a decision to come to the U.S. but are here because of decisions that their parents made for them. These children have been educated in our public schools and depending on the state they reside in, can attend college, but after graduation they will not be able to be legally hired anywhere.
The Republican Senator from Texas, John Cornyn often cites his support for a version of the DREAM Act, but has only voted for it once in 2003. Recently, he was giving a speech at the NALEO convention in San Antonio and was interrupted for his record on the DREAM Act. With the re-introduction of the bill and the treatment he received from NALEO, it looks like John Cornyn has a chance to change minds.
Senator Cornyn has a chance to be included in the next version of Profiles in Courage. I have come up with plan for Senator Cornyn to earn a "pathway to leadership."
1. Sign up to be a sponsor of the bill 2. Work to change what he thinks is wrong with the bill 3. Actively lobby other Republican Senators to join him 4. Help recruit House Republicans and public support for the bill 5. Most importantly, vote for the DREAM Act
The Senator has a chance to make his actions match his rhetoric. We will have to wait and see if he has the courage to do it. I hope he doesn't choose the Senator McCain route and sell out.
As we come to another year of Fourth of July festivities. It reminds me of the way many Americans might celebrate the holiday.One of them being with an old fashioned cookout.
Now I have expressed myself to my peers at the TNA Show, how a good old fashioned burger should take precedence on this great occasion and that the masking of the great beefyness and open fire is just outrageous.
Now many of you will pull out the gas grill and for the point I'm trying to make, we will leave that debate for another day. Today its about the burger and all of it's simple glory. Now some people I talk to have told me how they love to mix their beef with various seasonings and pre mixed concoctions. And to them I say, how dare you. How dare you cheaply,dress up a hooker and parade her in front of your family as pristine. Shoving stale, over-marketed and overpriced seasonings into peoples mouths and expecting them to praise what you have cluelessly gelled together.
Now as the fellas on the TNA show like to call me, Culinary Scientist, I cannot sit by, nor tongue tied and watch as people pawn these epicurean disasters off, as some sort of great foodie experience.Now I get people like to show off and even believe that they can pull off some great culinary adventure. After all its just cooking, right? So wrong.All you have succeeded in doing, most of the time, is grilling individual meatloaves.Then they are placed in between hamburger buns and told to your unsuspecting guests that they are the best burgers in the world.BULLSHIT!
A burger should be bold, yet simple enough for an eight year old to assemble. Have a natural taste with subtle help from kitchen staples (salt and pepper). And these spices should only go on top of the meat not worked into it like a deep tissue massage.And please people, use some fat in your beef product.If you go under the 20% fat ratio, I hope you have plenty of beer cause most of the time these burgers are going to dry out on you. On the other hand if you go over that same ratio of meat to fat, you will see your money drip away into the fire and turn your 1/2 pound burger into about a 1/4 pound when it's all said and done.
Now for the toppings. I like to keep these to a minimum also, as to not mask the heart and soul of what I am trying to enjoy. Now we can have the old mustard versus ketchup debate. But that falls under the "debate for another day" category. Now you have your lettuce, tomatoes, pickles,onions and cheese. Now all of these have cousins that can easily destroy the essence of the burger and your pocket book, so be careful.
On to the more exotic or as I like to say shameful toppings. Avocados,mushrooms, chili, watercress and barbecue sauce have no business in or around a hamburger.We are not going to reinvent the wheel, and again mask the glory of almighty beef.Reserve this kind of behavior to yourself and to the privacy of your own backyard.If any of these has entered your mind during a backyard bar b que then you are truly a lost cause.
Now I'm not saying don't expand your horizons and explore possibilities. I'm saying don't give me meatloaf or some other faux burger and expect me to praise your failure. The best burgers are done with as little help to the beef as possible and the rest(toppings) are just after thoughts.
So if you plan to cook burgers this holiday weekend,just some words of advice, to help you on your way to grill jockey supremacy.
JohnAnthony-The Tna Show Producer Culinary Artist All Around Nice Guy
I never thought the first of the two major political parties to nominate the first Hispanic presidential candidate would be the Republican Party. Wow, this really is a shocker for me!