Mexico builds border wall to keep out assholes from the U.S.A. (video)


In a much-criticized move, Mexico has finished construction of the border wall to keep out assholes from the United Estates.

American officials were mum after their own calls for more enforcement on this side of the border, but some politicians are mad enough to consider canceling their own Mexican spring break vacations.

Mas…Mexico builds border wall to keep out assholes from the U.S.A. (video)

Star Wars loteria cards: Just the mashup you were looking for

Artist Chepo Peña was inspired by Mexican loteria cards and George Lucas’ Star Wars to create these graphics. George Lucas said thanks, Chepa, but don’t sell them.  So he stopped selling them but still keeps them on the Internets. There’s more info over at the TextMex blog (by our amigo Memo Nericcio) and Chepo Peña’s site is here.

Mas…Star Wars loteria cards: Just the mashup you were looking for

PNS*Hot*Flash: Mexico fights bird flu outbreak with drones

(PNS reporting from GUANAJUATO, MEXICO) Mexican corporate chicken farms are fighting the bird flu outbreak in the central state of Guanajuato with specially-equipped drones, PNS has learned.

Over 582,000 chickens infected with avian influenza will be killed robotically by Depredadors, a Mexico-only model of the well-known American Predator drone.

The Depredador (photo) runs on high octane aviation fuel made only from sugar cane; the domestic Predators rely on high-fructose corn syrup.

“We’re taking every precaution not to kill innocent civilian chickens,” a spokesman for Industrias Bachoco SAB, Mexico’s biggest chicken producer told PNS Monday, “but shit happens, no?”

Mas…PNS*Hot*Flash: Mexico fights bird flu outbreak with drones

POCHO thanks La Virgen de Guadalupe for helping us break the ñews

Today is the Feast Day of La Virgen de Guadalupe, the Empress of Latin America, celebrated every December 12.

La Virgen has consistently helped POCHO break the ñews. Here are a few of our favorite stories that included Nuestra Señora:

Mayan weed bombs scar U.S. field, Trekkies prepare for Apocalypse

Every day brings us closer to the End of the World as We Know It on December 21 (synchronize your chronometers with our MAYAN APOCALYPSE DOOMSDAY COUNTDOWN CLOCK in the right column.)

All over the Internets, extremely concerned Trekkies are banding together to wear “expendable red” jerseys on The Last Day, so they can “die as Mr. Gene Rodenberry intended.”

And policia stationed near San Luis, AZ found a freshly-plowed field on the American side of the Colorado River scarred by craters and dotted with payloads of Mayan Marijuana apparently shot by cannabis cannoneers using a pneumatic cannon.

Pneumatic cannon? Federales found an empty industrial-sized CO2 canister, presumably propellant, in their hood.

Mas…Mayan weed bombs scar U.S. field, Trekkies prepare for Apocalypse

Ñewsweek: Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Señor Twinkie

There were these Pilgrims, OK? They were like undocumented boat people refugees fleeing religious oppression in England and they drove all the way to America. Err, sailed over. And there they met these Noble Native Americans who taught them how to plant corn with fish and everyone had this amazing turkey dinner together because they were all thankful.

Later on they killed each other for discounts on flat screen TVs and the chance to bust unions and bankrupt Twinkies. What? You missed these headlines? Here are the week’s big estories, as POCHO once again breaks the ñews:

Mas…Ñewsweek: Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Señor Twinkie

Inspired by Snoop Lion? Mexico wants to change its name, too

I was once reading a delightful conversation online between inbred racist trolls on their favorite punching bag, Mexico; they joked about making Mexico the “51st state.”

One idiot brilliantly observed that this genius plan might not work because “I think they have states, too.”

Wow. Yes, Mexico has 31 states, and one Federal District,  presumably where the Federales park their horses. (A little backwater ranchito called Mexico City.)

But Mexico, as it turns out, also doesn’t have the name “Mexico.”

On its independence from madre España in 1821, Mexico became the Estados Unidos Mexicanos or “Mexican United States.” It’s said that  this United States-like name inspired the also freedom-loving people south of the border, and the name became official in 1824.

Outgoing Mexican President Felipe Calderon just sent the Mexican Congress proposed legislation to change the country’s name officially to simply “Mexico.”

Mas…Inspired by Snoop Lion? Mexico wants to change its name, too

Sofia not Latina? Disney preps real Latina princess: Meet Malinche

(PNS reporting from BURBANK) Now that an embarrassed Disney has explained that the animated character Princess Sofia the First is NOT a Latina princess, the studio was quick to announce that a real Latina princess is in the works, this time for a feature-length film.

Princess Malinche will be the heroine of Disney’s next animated film, due for release in the summer of 2014, according to a statement issued today.

The tentative cast already includes Catherine Zeta Jones as the voice of Malinche, Justin Bieber as Cortés and Paul Rodriguez as Fray Xicken.

The story of Malinche follows her idyllic upbringing in the then-Aztec empire in what is now Mexico during the early 1500s to her whirlwind romance with Spaniard Hernán Cortés, and finally to the epic drowning of her own children in the river.

Mas…Sofia not Latina? Disney preps real Latina princess: Meet Malinche

Dead and more dead in the drug war and only ‘The Silence’ (video)


When the kids ask why all these people are dying in Mexico’s Drug War, what do you say? The unmistakable David Hidalgo of Los Lobos (with harmonies by Jackson Browne) sings of The Silence on this Los Cenzontles tune recorded by the veteran East Bay collective in L.A.’s Echo Park in February. Closing guitar solo by Eugene Rodriguez.

H/T Sam Quiñones via NewsTaco.com

Need Dia de los Muertos-inspired loteria-looking woodcut prints? ¡Orale!

POCHO amiga Donna Atwood is a graphic artist in Phoenix with a love of the Southwest. She writes she was

born in San Antonio, TX to predominantly German parents. Maternal grandfather unknown. So, I believe we have “esqueleto en el armario” in my family. I am definitely inspired by Mexican art, especially after studying Mexican art history in college. And this is Phoenix, with a healthy Hispanic population. So, I am immersed in it.

Her most recent project is a set of woodcuts (technically they are “linocuts”) inspired by Mexican loteria cards.

Peep the loteria images below (plus two extras), and if you like, visit her store on Etsy where they are available as signed, numbered, limited-edition prints.

Mas…Need Dia de los Muertos-inspired loteria-looking woodcut prints? ¡Orale!

Why do I discipline my daughter – and dance – in Español?

As a small girl, I refused to speak Spanish with my mother.

She was born in Sonora, MX and grew up speaking nothing but Spanish so this must have frustrated her. Now, I think, wouldn’t it have been easier to just learn the language while I was small?

Thankfully, I finally realized the value of being bilingual in my teen years and made a commitment to become fluent in Spanish during high school.

I watched only Spanish TV and every summer my mom would drop me off in Hermosillo to be immersed in the culture and spend time with my cousins. It was a lot of fun, and it worked.

Now that I am a mom, I think I might have figured out why I refused my mother’s native language for so long. Just the other day, my daughter acted out in public over the absence of her sippy cup and the first words that came flowing out of my mouth were, “Mi hijita, no me grites. Espérate por favor.”

The situation caught my attention when everyone around us stopped what they were doing and looked at us, confused. That’s when I realized I raise my daughter in English but I discipline her in Spanish.

Mas…Why do I discipline my daughter – and dance – in Español?

Guns, drugs, a plane – three men on ‘La Cañada (The Cliff)’ [video]


La Cañada (The Cliff) A film by Carlo Corea. Spanish with English subtitles (Spanish dialog NSFW if people at work don’t like Spanish adult language.)

Emilio and Nicolás, two drug dealers, are filling up their private plane with packages of cocaine in the Mexican mountains when a peasant stumbles into their operation. The Indio asks for a ride to the other side of the cliff.

The decision divides Nico (the boss) and Emilio (his helper), who must face the consequences of their decisions.

Mas…Guns, drugs, a plane – three men on ‘La Cañada (The Cliff)’

You’ve got to ask yourself one question: Do you ‘feel locky’? (video)


Se hacen llaves (Feeling locky): After a long day at work, Misifús Godínez just wants to go home and rest. Nevertheless, a broken key and a peculiar locksmith will stand in the way for peace. (Después de un largo día de trabajo, Misifús Godínez solo quiere llegar a su casa a descansar. Sin embargo, no contaba con que una llave rota y un cerrajero muy peculiar se interpondrán entre él y su tranquilidad.)

Rockin’ Los Angeles Oaxacan marching band style (video)


Click, watch and share for 91 seconds of pure musical joy! If you can, listen real loud and/or with headphones for the amazing live sound recording and KILLER tuba playing! (That’s actually a Sousaphone, a modified tuba that wraps around the player’s body and is specially-designed for marching bands.) This Oaxacan marching band heralded the opening of FIOBFrente Indigena de Organizaciones Binacionales (Indigenous Front of Bi-national Organizations) — in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday. Sam Quiñones shot the video and has the story, via our friends at NewsTaco.com.

  • And what about that chica on the bus bench? What is she thinking?

Pocho Ocho favorite Mexican fireworks

Used to be you could always celebrate the Fourth of July along the border in the most patriotic way: by detonating illegal Mexican fireworks.

Here are some of our favorite dangerous Mexican fireworks from when men were men, and fireworks were weapons grade bundles o’ fun!

8. Guadalajara Guarheads
7. Tijuana TNT
6. La La La La La Bomba

Mas…Pocho Ocho favorite Mexican fireworks