“Are you the chinos I was looking for?” asks Darth Vader. “May the horse be with you!”
Me? In London, I’m a ‘culturally-American Mexican’
Where are you from?
That is a simple question, isn’t? Well, for some of us, the answer is not so straight forward.
My experience in London in the past four months has included fascinating dialogue with people I have come across. It is one thing I have come to expect from such a global city where you are bound to meet people from so many places around the world.
Such interactions have sparked in me the need to explore my conception of identity as part of my own self-discovery process. Primarily because most of us conflate place of origin and ethnicity with identity.
If I claim to be from a certain part of the world, what does that mean about the way others expect me to look, speak, act and be? In engaging in this inquiry, the first realization I have made is that the answer to the question of “Where are you from?” is very telling not only about one’s own perception of identity but also of the one imposed by others.
You won’t see THIS ad during the Super Bowl! (video)
Native Americans have many names, but they are not your mascots.
PREVIOUSLY ON MASCOTS AND INDIANS:
Super Bowl Sunday is guacamole’s biggest day (videos)
Americans will eat 100 million pounds of avocados on Super Bowl Sunday (that’s 100,000,000), mostly as guacamole:
Southern California Public Radio reports:
Avocado growers in Mexico have figured out that Americans need a lot of avocados about now, and they’re always ready to meet the demand.
“They step up their volume for those weeks leading up to Super Bowl, and they do it each year,” said Steve Taft, President of Eco Farms Avocados Inc in Temecula. His 40-year old business grows and packs avocados, but also imports them from countries like Mexico, Chile, Peru, and New Zealand. He said this time of year, about 90% of the avocados consumed in the U.S. come from growers in Mexico.
Baby Margaret sure loves her some guacamole:
Mexican biologists wonder: Where have all the axolotls gone?
You know those uber-cute salamander-like axolotls who are native to the lake system in and around Mexico City? They’re gone.
Growing up to a foot long (30 cm) and known as the “water monster” or the “Mexican walking fish”, its only natural habitat is the Xochimilco network of lakes and canals, which are suffering from pollution and urban sprawl.
Biologist Armando Tovar Garza, of Mexico’s National Autonomous University, described an attempt last year by researchers to try to net axolotls in the shallow, muddy waters of Xochimilco as “four months of sampling zero axolotls”.
Mas…Mexican biologists wonder: Where have all the axolotls gone?
Face of Jesus appears on toe of New Mexican woman (video)
¡K milagro! A miracle! After New Mexican Paula Osuna’s fiancé Sikey Benavidez rubbed holy dirt on her bruised toe, the face of Jesus Christ appeared! KRQE News 13 reports.
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Mas…Face of Jesus appears on toe of New Mexican woman (video)
Is this Chihuahua-Beagle (Cheagle) the world’s cutest mutt? (photos)
We like cute mutts and we cannot lie. We think this “Cheagle,” part Chihuahua, part Beagle, is the cutest.
There are more contenders in the Huffington Post mixed-breed photo gallery thang, but peep a few more Chihuahua-sorta cuties before you go, like this “Chi-weenie” — part Dachshund, part Chihuahua:
Mas…Is this Chihuahua-Beagle (Cheagle) the world’s cutest mutt? (photos)
New study: Beans (frijoles) are indeed ‘the magical fruit’
(PNS reporting from GUANAJUATO, MX) Researchers at Guanajuato University of Technology (GUT) have confirmed that beans (frijoles) are not only one of the oldest and best sources for protein in the Americas, but that they are indeed “a magical fruit.”
“Beans are one of the gifts from the New World to the rest of us,” lead researcher Dr. Germán Gutiérrez told a press conference here Tuesday. “They supply magical sounds, as well as protein and lots of fiber.”
Mas…New study: Beans (frijoles) are indeed ‘the magical fruit’
Breaking: Here’s how Obama plans to ‘give America a raise’
(PNS reporting from WASHINGTON) President Barack Obama plans to use his executive powers to raise the minimum wage for employees of Federal contractors and he wants corporate executives and local and state officials to do the same.
“Give America a raise!” he said in his State of the Union address Tuesday night:
In the coming weeks, I will issue an Executive Order requiring federal contractors to pay their federally-funded employees a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour – because if you cook our troops’ meals or wash their dishes, you shouldn’t have to live in poverty.
Additional Obama initiatives are aimed at the Latino community. Sources close to the President have told PNS to expect the Administration to implement these additional programs in the coming weeks:
Mas…Breaking: Here’s how Obama plans to ‘give America a raise’
‘Thug Notes’ beats ‘Cliff Notes’ for ‘Romeo & Juliet’ (NSFW video)
Sparky Sweets PhD is your host for Thug Notes, droppin’ some of da illest classical literature summary and analysis that yo’ ass ever heard. Educate yo’ self, son. This week, William Shakespeare’s hit play, Romeo and Juliet. [Adult language.]
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Mas…‘Thug Notes’ beats ‘Cliff Notes’ for ‘Romeo & Juliet’ (NSFW video)
George Lopez cartoon comedy ‘Órale #Chingón La Vida’ (NSFW video)
Is George Lopez just as funny when he’s a cartoon? POCHO blogs, you decide! [NSFW adult language.]
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Mas…George Lopez cartoon comedy ‘Órale #Chingón La Vida’ (NSFW video)
Pete Seeger, audience sing ‘Guantanamera’ in Spanish (video)
The late Pete Seeger always got everyone in the audience to sing along for Guantanamera — in Spanish. (Editor’s Note: That’s why they call it folk music. It’s music you sing, not just music you hear.)
Seeger [‘s] intention [was] that [Guantanamera] be used by the peace movement at the time of the Cuban missile crisis. He urged that people sing the song as a symbol of unity between the American and Cuban peoples, and called for it to be sung in Spanish to “hasten the day [that] the USA… is some sort of bilingual country.”
RIP.
Expect these Pocho Ocho ‘surprises’ in the State of the Union
White House insiders indicate the President’s State of the Union address tonight will have a few surprises for the Congressional and TV audiences.
Here are the top eight:
8. The NSA will intercept Republicans’ text messages to each other and display them on the JumboTron in real time
7. President Obama will be sporting snazzy new Uncle Sugar costume
6. Mass wedding performed according to Sharia Law
Mas…Expect these Pocho Ocho ‘surprises’ in the State of the Union
Tawny River: ‘Aye, Marijuana! ¡Mira la luna!’ (music video)
It’s a love song, tu sabes, from Tawny River. This guy just totally loves this gal named Mary Jane, and she makes him feel like he’s walking on the Moon!
Penis size lie sends suitor outside to shiver in the cold
(PNS reporting from BROOKLYN) Bank loan officer Leticia Martinez dumped her almost boyfriend Uriel Loya and kicked him out of the house after their first full-on sexual encounter Sunday night.
“He was saying he was gonna give it to me, and that I ain’t never seen nothing like this, and all that bullshit. Ugh! So lame!” Martinez, 25, lamented to PNS.
“Why do guys always have to lie about how big their pipis are?!”
Loya, 28, an architect, was quiet after leaving Martinez’s rent-controlled apartment, shivering, pacing on the sidewalk, looking up at her window, hoping she would give him a chance to explain.
Mas…Penis size lie sends suitor outside to shiver in the cold
Lalo Alcaraz, Al Madrigal and Maria Conchita Alonso (audio)

POCHO’s Jefe-in-Chief Lalo Alcaraz and Migrant Editor Al Madrigal were on the LatinoUSA airwaves to give a partial “thumbs up” to Maria Conchita Alonso‘s foray in politics with an ad backing a Tea Party candidate for Cali governator. It’s funny, they say, and looking at her entry on IMDB, she probably needed the work. Also, Alonso’s decision to feature her Chihuahua named Tequila (photo, above), wasn’t a stereotypical thing to do at all.
20 signs you may be Mexican American [@omgitseddieg video]
Oh Em Gee, It’s Eddie G came up with 20 indicators of Mexican-Americanism. Sound familiar? Someone you know? You can follow Eddie on the Twitter.
Your skin, your hair — what ARE you, anyhow? (video)
A spoken word meditation on skin, hair, race, ethnicity, categories and stereotypes from Amani Hayes-Messinger. Since you were asking, she’s from Boston.
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Mijo, these Tenis are nice, pero solamante uso Botas
Muchas gracias for the regalos de mi Cumple! I thought the libros were great. Is this the book about that show on HBO con los lobos? We don’t watch HBO much porque tu Mom sees her Novelas y esa muchacha Rachel Maddow. Se enoja after watching her program. Va hacer volunteer con la guera, Wendy Davis. Dice qu no vieno a este país para que sus hijas no tenga oportunidades.
Pero, tu sabes I like leyendo better than seeing la Tele. Mijo, internet surfing counts as reading! A mi me gusta leer los periódicos en Mexico y el New York Times. Si, tambien leo el Perez Hilton. Mijo, I don’t have to be reading Enrique Krauze todo el tiempo.
Bang Data has mad ‘Amor Califas (California Love)’ [audio]
The Bay Area’s Bang Data is in love ♡ with the Golden State. And Amor Califas California Love is in Spanglish, just like we like it.
Obama’s List: Pocho Ocho things more dangerous than alchohol
Former stoner Barack Obama doesn’t think marijuana “is more dangerous than alcohol,” according to The New Yorker:
“As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life. I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol,” the president said.
But if mota is not more dangerous than alcohol, what is? Here are the top eight contenders:
Mas…Obama’s List: Pocho Ocho things more dangerous than alchohol
Homies have a dream: ‘Raza for President’ (video)
Is it time for a Homie in the Casa Blanca?
Try the College de Frijoles app: It’s college on your phone! (video)
It’s college! On your phone! Only $199!
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Mas…Try the College de Frijoles app: It’s college on your phone! (video)
Jesus Christ and Sarah Silverman: A fetus is not a person (NSFW video)
Nice Jewish girl Sarah Silverman (her sister is a rabbi in Israel) gets to spend some quality time with fellow Jew Jesus F*cking Christ; it turns out Jesus has a mission for Sarah. [NSFW adult language.]
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Mas…Jesus Christ and Sarah Silverman: A fetus is not a person (NSFW video)
¡Mira! Meet ‘Mi Madre’ (Vine video)
Rudy Mancuso wants you to meet his mom. No moms were tortured in the making of this video. [With these Vine videos, there’s an audio/speaker/volume icon that pops up when you hover over the top-left corner on the video.]
PREVIOUSLY ON RUDY MANCUSO:
OVNI al sur de la ciudad de México/UFO south of Mexico City (videos)
Jesus Correa was fast with his camera two weeks ago when he spotted an unidentified flying object south of Mexico City, capturing the OVNI in three separate videos in one day.
…Correa posted the videos on January 12, 2014. He says he caught them earlier in the day. The first two videos show an object floating around the sky during the day. The object appears to be shiny and elliptical. It moves slowly, but unsteadily, as if it may be floating in the wind.
Mas…OVNI al sur de la ciudad de México/UFO south of Mexico City (videos)






