Native American population almost back to pre-Columbian levels

nativeamericanpopulationSamuel W. Bennett’s GET DATA website features charts/graphs and infographics about current events, sports, news, culture, and history. We thought this log-scale graph of the native (in red, of course) and white population in the U.S. was fascinating, sad, and maybe, just maybe, encouraging.

His description:

After disease and war decimated the Native American population from an estimated pre-Columbian 5 million to a low of a few hundred thousand in the late 1800s, the American Native American population has recently approached the pre-Columbian population. The…figure shows that the population of American Native Americans from 1492 to present.

His chart that ranks Tolerance, Racism and Xenophobia in the United States shows we’re lots more tolerant than some other countries, but still have big-ass problems with gays, immigrants and “foreign languages,” not that this is news to us.

Mas…Native American population almost back to pre-Columbian levels

Pocho Ocho top ways El Chapo could escape again

elchapotunnelMexico has recaptured fugitive drug cartel jefe El Chapo Guzman –– who notoriously tunneled out of a high security prison last summer –- but the criminal mastermind isn’t done yet.

Sources tell our correspondents that Guzman’s narcotrafficante associates are already working on plans to bust the gangster out of his next cellblock; we’ve compiled this list of the Pocho Ocho Top Ways El Chapo Could Escape Again:

8. Trained bats

7. Incredible shrinking ray

6. Those gigantor worms from Tremors

Mas…Pocho Ocho top ways El Chapo could escape again

What the past can teach immigrant advocates of today

[POCHO amiga Nancy Landa aka Mundo Citizen was a DREAMer before it was cool. Brought to the U.S. as an undocumented child, she was elected student body president at Cal State Northridge. And then she got deported.]

In paying my respects to those who came before me and their struggle due to their legal status, I share an excerpt of this 1995 L.A. Times article featuring the first undocumented student body president of California State University, Northridge, Vladimir Cerna (1996-1997), about his life and advocacy efforts to fight the Donald Trumps of his time.

Mas…What the past can teach immigrant advocates of today

Emilio Estefan: ‘Todos Somos Mexicanos’ (video, lyrics, credits)

estefanWe at POCHO have been around so long we remember when even Mexicans didn’t want to be Mexican. (We think that was just about two weeks ago.)

But Miami-based Cuban-American Emilio Estefan and his friends are all Mexicans now, at least in a music video.

By the way, we at POCHO also remember when Emilio Estefan threatened to sue the L.A. Weekly because of a “Mexiled” column that Lalo Alcaraz wrote portraying Estefan as the Fidel Castro of the Latin Grammys. Oh, but that was so long ago…

Let’s all be Mexican instead! Mexican, tu sabes, is the new black.

Mira y escucha: Todos Somos Mexicanos:

Mas…Emilio Estefan: ‘Todos Somos Mexicanos’ (video, lyrics, credits)

Trump represents the real GOP: Xenophobic, mean-spirited, pro top 1%

trumpheadroomIt’s not true that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump only represents the extreme wing or “crazies” of the GOP. As a leader in numerous polls, Trump exemplifies the true colors of the GOP: xenophobic, mean-spirited and pro one-percent.

Despite how the other GOP presidential candidates or Republican leadership view him or distance themselves from his vitriolic language, Trump’s boorish behavior and disdain towards Latino immigrants represents the Republican party’s political platform.

While Republican leaders have acknowledged that it’s impossible or not feasible to deport over 11 million undocumented immigrants, they have rejected a pathway to citizenship for those who live and work in America’s shadows. In lieu of citizenship, key Republican leaders propose a form of legal status without the opportunity for citizenship. Essentially, Republican leaders argue for a legalized, second-class group available for exploitable cheap labor.

Mas…Trump represents the real GOP: Xenophobic, mean-spirited, pro top 1%

Iowa analysis: Hatred for poor edges out homophobia, racism

Former Sen. Rick Santorum's election campaign rubbed up behind Romney's muscular Iowa presence

(PNS reporting from IOWA) Hatred for the poor won in Iowa yesterday,  squeaking by second-place entry homophobia and runners-up racism and tax evasion in the hotly-contested GOP caucuses.

In a stunning, almost come-from-behind finish, current homophobe and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum ended the caucus vote in a number two position, rubbing up right behind human simulation Mitt Romney.

Mas…Iowa analysis: Hatred for poor edges out homophobia, racism