Oh my, Sophia Loren was quite a beauty!!! She STILL is (in spite rumours of her passing, which are totally untrue!). We love so many of her films, but this on "Boy on a Dolphin" with the late Alan Ladd she sings the beautiful "S'agapo" (in Greek that means I love you):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzmwwPqYWWo
We also are fans of "It Happened in Naples" - she has given so much to the cinema of our world!!!
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
One of the Happiest Songs I've Heard....
Whenever I feel down, this is a song that gets my bones moving and my mind free and my hands clapping! It's a beautiful African-American gospel song composed by Edwin Hawkins called "Oh Happy Day".
Please enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD2D6eter7M
Please enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD2D6eter7M
Monday, September 26, 2011
Spoons Made From Cornstarch....
Was watching a French chef on PBS who is very concerned about the environment. He spoke of a "plastic-like" spoon made from cornstarch, which is 100% biodegradable. In his very busy restaurant in New York City his sous-chefs needed to taste the sauces all day long, and for hygiene reasons they needed to use a utensil they could throw away. I'd never heard of such a thing, so I looked it up.
Yes, it's true. Here is one company (there are hundreds - just put "spoon from cornstarch" in a Google search and they'll all pop up):
http://biodegradablestore.com/plantware_high-heat_utensils-spoon-case.html?category_id=65
I really like this idea. Some friends of ours were visiting relatives in another state and they were appalled that they do not recycle ANYTHING.....and all those plastic forks, spoons, knives (much to the horror of our friends) were just thrown in the garbage....where they will never decompose. Plastic doesn't biodegrade.
We also have some very stubborn friends who believe that "climate change" is all a hoax thought up by the government!! Ay!Ay!Ay!.....we have polar bears dying off in the Arctic because the ice is no longer capable of supporting them. We have the President of the Maldive Islands pleading with United Nations to help come up with a solution before his entire nation is swallowed up by the ocean. Yet, it's a "hoax"? I don't think so.
I remember taking a bus in Mexico from one city to another - it was about a 5 hour trip. The buses in Mexico all have movies, but it was one I'd seen many times before, so I began looking out the window. What I saw disgusted me......I don't think there was even a 50 meter space in that entire trip where there WEREN'T plastic bottles (from water, soda, etc.). I asked a relative why they don't recycle the plastic and he said it was too expensive and no-one had the revenue to start up such a recycling plant.
This is IT, guys!! As far as I know - this is the only planet I know of that can support human life. If we "break it".....we can't "fix it".
I wrote once about the "banana plant rule" - there is another item - the coconut. It can provide water; it can provide protein eaten raw, it can be used to make "milk" used in curries and many dishes. It provides copra. The coir husks can be used as mattress material....and the shell can be polished (or even not polished) and used as a bowl to hold food.
We must come up with more ideas for going green.
Yes, it's true. Here is one company (there are hundreds - just put "spoon from cornstarch" in a Google search and they'll all pop up):
http://biodegradablestore.com/plantware_high-heat_utensils-spoon-case.html?category_id=65
I really like this idea. Some friends of ours were visiting relatives in another state and they were appalled that they do not recycle ANYTHING.....and all those plastic forks, spoons, knives (much to the horror of our friends) were just thrown in the garbage....where they will never decompose. Plastic doesn't biodegrade.
We also have some very stubborn friends who believe that "climate change" is all a hoax thought up by the government!! Ay!Ay!Ay!.....we have polar bears dying off in the Arctic because the ice is no longer capable of supporting them. We have the President of the Maldive Islands pleading with United Nations to help come up with a solution before his entire nation is swallowed up by the ocean. Yet, it's a "hoax"? I don't think so.
I remember taking a bus in Mexico from one city to another - it was about a 5 hour trip. The buses in Mexico all have movies, but it was one I'd seen many times before, so I began looking out the window. What I saw disgusted me......I don't think there was even a 50 meter space in that entire trip where there WEREN'T plastic bottles (from water, soda, etc.). I asked a relative why they don't recycle the plastic and he said it was too expensive and no-one had the revenue to start up such a recycling plant.
This is IT, guys!! As far as I know - this is the only planet I know of that can support human life. If we "break it".....we can't "fix it".
I wrote once about the "banana plant rule" - there is another item - the coconut. It can provide water; it can provide protein eaten raw, it can be used to make "milk" used in curries and many dishes. It provides copra. The coir husks can be used as mattress material....and the shell can be polished (or even not polished) and used as a bowl to hold food.
We must come up with more ideas for going green.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Reason, Season or Lifetime....
There is a very wise old saying that "friends" come into your life for one of three purposes - for a "reason" (perhaps to teach you something then they're on their way, having taught you what God intended them to teach). A "season" - this means you can have a friend to support you through thick or thin....but they may move away or have a disease like cancer or Alzheimer's that takes them away. And there is then the "lifetime" category. Let me tell you that very, very few can fit into that category....mostly, it would be your spouse or child/children.
I think of my dear friend, Elaine, who at 89 yrs. of age taught me how to use a sewing machine...God bless her!!! She was so patient, so kind with me....would be the first to say "that's OK" when I made an error. Alas, she is gone now - and I miss her a lot, but I will NEVER forget what she taught me.
Recently, I was asked by one of my "lifetime friends" how to make "seitan" - i.e., a Japanese word for "fake meat" from WHEAT GLUTEN. I will be posting that recipe soon for anyone who wishes.
Cheerio! Have a good night all,
CD
I think of my dear friend, Elaine, who at 89 yrs. of age taught me how to use a sewing machine...God bless her!!! She was so patient, so kind with me....would be the first to say "that's OK" when I made an error. Alas, she is gone now - and I miss her a lot, but I will NEVER forget what she taught me.
Recently, I was asked by one of my "lifetime friends" how to make "seitan" - i.e., a Japanese word for "fake meat" from WHEAT GLUTEN. I will be posting that recipe soon for anyone who wishes.
Cheerio! Have a good night all,
CD
Thursday, September 22, 2011
The Labyrinth That is Life.....
Life is so, so mysterious!!! I had a childhood friend in Sri Lanka named "Molly Thanjaraayar". Her family and my family were so intertwined that we came to think of one another as cousins - her Dad my Uncle, her Mum my Aunty.
Molly and I tried to keep touch over the years. She married and her husband was sent (her coming as well) to Bahrain and the former Trucial States where he worked as an engineer.
One day I received a letter (snail mail in those days!) that she and her husband and daughter would be moving to Melbourne, Australia, and she gave me the address. I wrote, but the letter came back - "no such person at this address". I was lost....didn't know what to do.
That was around 1990. I felt so saddened that we would lose touch forever. I knew Molly's Dad had passed away, but SOMEHOW (and it very well could have been my imagination!) - I believed her mother was accepted as a Tamil refugee in Toronto. That was all I could remember. I would look into it when I had more time.
Finally, sometime in 2003 my husband and I would establish a Bed & Breakfast and one room would be dedicated to Molly's late Dad "Uncle Thanjaraayar". I created a website, etc. I had more free time on my hands than previously, so I was DETERMINED to find Molly's Mum (and thru her Molly and her sister Menaka). I didn't know where to start, but it was 2003 the Internet was UP and ALIVE - I looked up the white pages in the entire Toronto area for the surname "Thanjaraayar". I sent out 36 letters asking if they might be related to Aunty or Molly or have any idea how to find them. The letters went out to ALL the suburbs of Toronto: Mississauga, Scarborough, Markham, Ajax, Pickering. The folks here at the local post office were really surprised when I ordered 36 stamps for Canada and mailed them all. It was a momentous occasion in their lives. They'd never seen that before.
Then I waited and waited. One by one the letters came back "no such person at this address", "no such address" (you get the picture). And each letter that was returned was like a knife to my soul. I cried one day in utter despair telling my husband (who comforted me) how hopeless this all seemed. In that letter I had also included my phone number and email address. About 30 letters came back unopened.
One day I received an email from a person in Toronto named "Kami" (Kamini). She wrote so sweetly: "My mother was a Thanjaraayar and alas, I am not the RIGHT Thanjaraayar, but the love you have for this family so moved me that I will pray for you day and night to find them. Every time I felt at my lowest point, somehow Kami would email me and encourage me not to give up faith. She was quite sure I would find "my family". We began to write back and forth on other issues as well - Kami and her husband were longing to have a child and thus far had not. I and my husband were longing to adopt a child but always obstacles loomed in the way. We began to encourage one another on this issue - I prayed with all my might that Kami and her husband would have children and she prayed that I would find "my family" and that we would be able to adopt our daughter.
ONE MORNING at around 6:00 a.m. our time - the phone rang - it was Molly, calling from Australia (but not Melbourne.....Sydney, instead!). Miracles happen - their daughter had the flu and could not sleep the previous night.....she (the daughter) didn't even know why, but with high fever began to search the Internet and put her Grandfather's name in - and UP POPPED our Bed & Breakfast with contact numbers and all. The voice at the other end of the line (Molly) asked "Do you know who this is?" - I KNEW!!!!
More surprises would come. My information about Molly's Mum living as a refugee in Canada was very wrong. In fact - Molly's sister, Menaka (whom I NEVER thought of looking for in Toronto as I had no idea they'd migrated there) lived in nearby Toronto. And yet another surprise - Uncle Thanjaraayar's nephew Tony who was also quite close to my family, as well as his wife.....had ALSO migrated to Toronto!
In the weeks that ensued many phone conversations took place and it felt so wonderful to finally be in touch with a family who had been so much a part of my life growing up.
But there were even more surprises - my new friend Kami (she and I have kept up a friendship over 8 years now!!) was finally expecting a child (or, as we USED to say in antiquated terms in Sri Lanka "term of confinement".....I swear! That's how we called being pregnant). AND we were able to adopt our lovely daughter and we were able to meet Molly, her sister Menaka (& their lovely family), and Cousin Tony (and their lovely family), and Aunty (who spends half the year in Australia/half in Canada). We were able to know Molly's daughter with much more clarity and fondness - oh, how we wished we could've attended her wedding!! In 2011 - our daughter would meet Molly's daughter, husband and two sweet daughters in London!
AND - the friendship with Kami??? We are still great, great friends. She and her husband now have TWO beautiful children. We try to see them as well every time we are in Toronto area. We still call or email one another frequently.
Imagine this labyrinth of a journey!! I had only set out to reunite with friend Molly, but look at the richness we gained along the way!!! Life is precious and beautiful....sometimes (I know I've been writing a lot about the DARK side of humanity lately) we need to remember how BEAUTIFUL it CAN be.
Molly and I tried to keep touch over the years. She married and her husband was sent (her coming as well) to Bahrain and the former Trucial States where he worked as an engineer.
One day I received a letter (snail mail in those days!) that she and her husband and daughter would be moving to Melbourne, Australia, and she gave me the address. I wrote, but the letter came back - "no such person at this address". I was lost....didn't know what to do.
That was around 1990. I felt so saddened that we would lose touch forever. I knew Molly's Dad had passed away, but SOMEHOW (and it very well could have been my imagination!) - I believed her mother was accepted as a Tamil refugee in Toronto. That was all I could remember. I would look into it when I had more time.
Finally, sometime in 2003 my husband and I would establish a Bed & Breakfast and one room would be dedicated to Molly's late Dad "Uncle Thanjaraayar". I created a website, etc. I had more free time on my hands than previously, so I was DETERMINED to find Molly's Mum (and thru her Molly and her sister Menaka). I didn't know where to start, but it was 2003 the Internet was UP and ALIVE - I looked up the white pages in the entire Toronto area for the surname "Thanjaraayar". I sent out 36 letters asking if they might be related to Aunty or Molly or have any idea how to find them. The letters went out to ALL the suburbs of Toronto: Mississauga, Scarborough, Markham, Ajax, Pickering. The folks here at the local post office were really surprised when I ordered 36 stamps for Canada and mailed them all. It was a momentous occasion in their lives. They'd never seen that before.
Then I waited and waited. One by one the letters came back "no such person at this address", "no such address" (you get the picture). And each letter that was returned was like a knife to my soul. I cried one day in utter despair telling my husband (who comforted me) how hopeless this all seemed. In that letter I had also included my phone number and email address. About 30 letters came back unopened.
One day I received an email from a person in Toronto named "Kami" (Kamini). She wrote so sweetly: "My mother was a Thanjaraayar and alas, I am not the RIGHT Thanjaraayar, but the love you have for this family so moved me that I will pray for you day and night to find them. Every time I felt at my lowest point, somehow Kami would email me and encourage me not to give up faith. She was quite sure I would find "my family". We began to write back and forth on other issues as well - Kami and her husband were longing to have a child and thus far had not. I and my husband were longing to adopt a child but always obstacles loomed in the way. We began to encourage one another on this issue - I prayed with all my might that Kami and her husband would have children and she prayed that I would find "my family" and that we would be able to adopt our daughter.
ONE MORNING at around 6:00 a.m. our time - the phone rang - it was Molly, calling from Australia (but not Melbourne.....Sydney, instead!). Miracles happen - their daughter had the flu and could not sleep the previous night.....she (the daughter) didn't even know why, but with high fever began to search the Internet and put her Grandfather's name in - and UP POPPED our Bed & Breakfast with contact numbers and all. The voice at the other end of the line (Molly) asked "Do you know who this is?" - I KNEW!!!!
More surprises would come. My information about Molly's Mum living as a refugee in Canada was very wrong. In fact - Molly's sister, Menaka (whom I NEVER thought of looking for in Toronto as I had no idea they'd migrated there) lived in nearby Toronto. And yet another surprise - Uncle Thanjaraayar's nephew Tony who was also quite close to my family, as well as his wife.....had ALSO migrated to Toronto!
In the weeks that ensued many phone conversations took place and it felt so wonderful to finally be in touch with a family who had been so much a part of my life growing up.
But there were even more surprises - my new friend Kami (she and I have kept up a friendship over 8 years now!!) was finally expecting a child (or, as we USED to say in antiquated terms in Sri Lanka "term of confinement".....I swear! That's how we called being pregnant). AND we were able to adopt our lovely daughter and we were able to meet Molly, her sister Menaka (& their lovely family), and Cousin Tony (and their lovely family), and Aunty (who spends half the year in Australia/half in Canada). We were able to know Molly's daughter with much more clarity and fondness - oh, how we wished we could've attended her wedding!! In 2011 - our daughter would meet Molly's daughter, husband and two sweet daughters in London!
AND - the friendship with Kami??? We are still great, great friends. She and her husband now have TWO beautiful children. We try to see them as well every time we are in Toronto area. We still call or email one another frequently.
Imagine this labyrinth of a journey!! I had only set out to reunite with friend Molly, but look at the richness we gained along the way!!! Life is precious and beautiful....sometimes (I know I've been writing a lot about the DARK side of humanity lately) we need to remember how BEAUTIFUL it CAN be.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Enough is ENOUGH!
We could not believe today's story of an incident in Veracruz, Mexico, yesterday at RUSH HOUR (5:30 p.m.) - keep in mind Veracruz was quite away from the drug cartels and is not a border town.
At 5:30 p.m. 2 trucks on an overpass in downtown Veracruz began DUMPING bodies onto the road below (freeway) - a total of 35 bodies were dumped. 23 were male, 12 were female - all had been tortured, hands clasped behind them. Drivers began to "tweet" one another to stay away from this place (lest they run over bodies). The bodies were grotesque - purplish, tortured, semi-naked (once a torturer begins, he rarely covers up or dresses the corpse!).
This whole incident made us want to vomit. Granted, supposedly, these 35 victims were all involved in drug gangs and it was probably an act of one gang acting against another - but aren't there human limitations to what is and what is not acceptable?? I don't care how much gang A hates gang B or C - but you DON'T dump bodies on a freeway!
Univision (as usual) had the most graphic photos of all - purplish/grey/tortured corpses lying atop one another.
Today - President Calderon issued a STRONG admonishment towards the USERS of drugs (that would be USA!) as a partner to blame.
In my previous writings I have written about Human Rights violations of ALL kinds - of Jews in WWII, of Argentines during the "disappearance" years when thousands and thousands of individuals were rounded up and dumped (WITH weights) into Rio Plata, of Chileans rounded up during the rule of Pinochet (dumped into the ocean after rape and torture), about Chad and its cruel dictator, and I haven't even started on the GENOCIDE of Muslims in Bosnia!!!.....have written about the millions killed in "Kampuchea" (Cambodia) during Pol Pot.....
Many THINK that if we would magically just make all drugs LEGAL ALL this cruelty would go away. NONE of the incidents in Chile, Argentina, Chad, Bosnia, or "Kampuchea" had ANYTHING to do with drugs. Actually, there is an element of mankind that is SO EVIL we dare not even know that side. It is an evil side willing to TORTURE (and eat lunch in-between!) and regard dead corpses as just junk that needs to be disposed of.
Personally, I have never met such a cold-blooded killer or torturer, but I know they are out there. The psychopaths of the world....what a horror this was in Veracruz.
At 5:30 p.m. 2 trucks on an overpass in downtown Veracruz began DUMPING bodies onto the road below (freeway) - a total of 35 bodies were dumped. 23 were male, 12 were female - all had been tortured, hands clasped behind them. Drivers began to "tweet" one another to stay away from this place (lest they run over bodies). The bodies were grotesque - purplish, tortured, semi-naked (once a torturer begins, he rarely covers up or dresses the corpse!).
This whole incident made us want to vomit. Granted, supposedly, these 35 victims were all involved in drug gangs and it was probably an act of one gang acting against another - but aren't there human limitations to what is and what is not acceptable?? I don't care how much gang A hates gang B or C - but you DON'T dump bodies on a freeway!
Univision (as usual) had the most graphic photos of all - purplish/grey/tortured corpses lying atop one another.
Today - President Calderon issued a STRONG admonishment towards the USERS of drugs (that would be USA!) as a partner to blame.
In my previous writings I have written about Human Rights violations of ALL kinds - of Jews in WWII, of Argentines during the "disappearance" years when thousands and thousands of individuals were rounded up and dumped (WITH weights) into Rio Plata, of Chileans rounded up during the rule of Pinochet (dumped into the ocean after rape and torture), about Chad and its cruel dictator, and I haven't even started on the GENOCIDE of Muslims in Bosnia!!!.....have written about the millions killed in "Kampuchea" (Cambodia) during Pol Pot.....
Many THINK that if we would magically just make all drugs LEGAL ALL this cruelty would go away. NONE of the incidents in Chile, Argentina, Chad, Bosnia, or "Kampuchea" had ANYTHING to do with drugs. Actually, there is an element of mankind that is SO EVIL we dare not even know that side. It is an evil side willing to TORTURE (and eat lunch in-between!) and regard dead corpses as just junk that needs to be disposed of.
Personally, I have never met such a cold-blooded killer or torturer, but I know they are out there. The psychopaths of the world....what a horror this was in Veracruz.
Monday, September 19, 2011
"Operation Wetback" and the nasty consequences
It is so strange - we have many well-educated friends who refuse to believe that there was such a thing as "Opertaion Wetback" in the early 1950's in USA where thousands and thousands of Mexicans (AND many Mexican-Americans!) were forced across the Texas border (by Texas Rangers) during the anti-Hispanic era of Senator McCarthy, President Eisenhower and then-appointed INS Commissioner Joseph Swing.
To even TRY to fathom how this racism developed, you need to understand how it started:
In many counties in the southwestern United States, Mexican Americans were not selected as jurors in court cases which involved a Mexican American defendant.[19] In 1954, Pete Hernandez, an agricultural worker, was indicted of murder by an all-Anglo jury in Jackson County, Texas. Hernandez believed that the jury could not be impartial unless members of other races were allowed on the jury-selecting committees, seeing that a Mexican American had not been on a jury for more than 25 years in that particular county. Hernandez and his lawyers decided to take the case to the Supreme Court. The Hernandez v. Texas Supreme Court ruling declared that Mexican Americans and other cultural groups in the United States were entitled to equal protection under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.[20]
Many organizations, businesses, and homeowners associations had official policies to exclude Mexican Americans. In many areas across the Southwest, Mexican Americans lived in separate residential areas, due to laws and real estate company policies. This group of laws and policies, known as redlining, lasted until the 1950s, and fall under the concept of official segregation.[21][21][22][23] In many other instances, it was more of a general social understanding among Anglos that Mexicans should be excluded. For instance, signs with the phrase "No Dogs or Mexicans" were posted in small businesses and public pools throughout the Southwest well into the 60s.[15]
The effort began in California and Arizona in 1954 and coordinated 1075 Border Patrol agents, along with state and local police agencies. Tactics employed included going house to house in Mexican-American neighborhoods and citizenship checks during standard traffic stops.
Some 750 agents targeted agricultural areas with a goal of 1,000 apprehensions per day. By the end of July, over 50,000 illegal aliens were caught in the two states. An estimated 488,000 illegal aliens are believed to have left voluntarily, for fear of being apprehended. By September, 80,000 had been taken into custody in Texas, and the INS estimated that 500,000 to 700,000 had left Texas of their own accord. To discourage illicit re-entry, buses and trains took many deportees deep within Mexican territory before releasing them.
Tens of thousands more were deported by two chartered ships: the Emancipation and the Mercurio. The ships ferried them from Port Isabel, Texas, to Veracruz, Mexico, more than 500 miles to the south. Some were taken as far as 1000 miles. Deportation by sea was ended after seven deportees jumped overboard from the Mercurio and drowned, provoking a mutiny that led to a public outcry in Mexico.[1]
Civil rights violations
There were widespread allegations of abuse against Mexicans and US citizens of Mexican descent, including harassment and beatings.[3] Lawsuits were filed and settled in favor of victims
THEREIN lies the problem - there was not just the deportation of illegal Mexicans, but anyone "Mexican-looking" including Mexican-American citizens were herded to Mexico like cattle.
The Mexican Repatriation refers to a mass migration that took place between 1929 and 1939, when as many as 500,000 people of Mexican descent were forced or pressured to leave the US.[1] The event, carried out by American authorities, took place without due process.[2]. Some 35,000 were deported, amongst many hundreds of thousands of other immigrants who were deported during this period. The Immigration and Naturalization Service targeted Mexicans because of "the proximity of the Mexican border, the physical distinctiveness of mestizos, and easily identifiable barrios." [3]
The Repatriation is not widely discussed in American history textbooks;[4] in a 2006 survey of the nine most commonly used American history textbooks in the United States, four did not mention the Repatriation, and only one devoted more than half a page to the topic.[4]. Nevertheless, many mainstream textbooks now carry this tpoic, while susequenetly ignoring other mass deprotations and repatriations of European immigrants (all in the guise of multiculturalism). In total, they devoted four pages to the Repatriation, compared with eighteen pages for the Japanese American internment[4] which affected only one-tenth as many people.[1]
These actions were authorized by President Herbert Hoover and targeted areas with large Hispanic populations, mostly in California, Texas, Colorado, Illinois and Michigan.
We even have friends who cannot understand and DO NOT BELIEVE that in the 1920's discrimination against Mexican-Americans was such that they were not admitted into many Universities. MANY Mexican-Americans (especially those of lighter skin, green or blue eyes) would "pass" for Whites and legally change their names to whatever "Anglo" name came up in the phone directory. Like I said, these are well-educated people who certainly know about discrimination and human rights violations of every OTHER race or religion, but because this information has been minimized in American school textbooks - they can't "fathom it" as real.
To even TRY to fathom how this racism developed, you need to understand how it started:
In many counties in the southwestern United States, Mexican Americans were not selected as jurors in court cases which involved a Mexican American defendant.[19] In 1954, Pete Hernandez, an agricultural worker, was indicted of murder by an all-Anglo jury in Jackson County, Texas. Hernandez believed that the jury could not be impartial unless members of other races were allowed on the jury-selecting committees, seeing that a Mexican American had not been on a jury for more than 25 years in that particular county. Hernandez and his lawyers decided to take the case to the Supreme Court. The Hernandez v. Texas Supreme Court ruling declared that Mexican Americans and other cultural groups in the United States were entitled to equal protection under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.[20]
Many organizations, businesses, and homeowners associations had official policies to exclude Mexican Americans. In many areas across the Southwest, Mexican Americans lived in separate residential areas, due to laws and real estate company policies. This group of laws and policies, known as redlining, lasted until the 1950s, and fall under the concept of official segregation.[21][21][22][23] In many other instances, it was more of a general social understanding among Anglos that Mexicans should be excluded. For instance, signs with the phrase "No Dogs or Mexicans" were posted in small businesses and public pools throughout the Southwest well into the 60s.[15]
The effort began in California and Arizona in 1954 and coordinated 1075 Border Patrol agents, along with state and local police agencies. Tactics employed included going house to house in Mexican-American neighborhoods and citizenship checks during standard traffic stops.
Some 750 agents targeted agricultural areas with a goal of 1,000 apprehensions per day. By the end of July, over 50,000 illegal aliens were caught in the two states. An estimated 488,000 illegal aliens are believed to have left voluntarily, for fear of being apprehended. By September, 80,000 had been taken into custody in Texas, and the INS estimated that 500,000 to 700,000 had left Texas of their own accord. To discourage illicit re-entry, buses and trains took many deportees deep within Mexican territory before releasing them.
Tens of thousands more were deported by two chartered ships: the Emancipation and the Mercurio. The ships ferried them from Port Isabel, Texas, to Veracruz, Mexico, more than 500 miles to the south. Some were taken as far as 1000 miles. Deportation by sea was ended after seven deportees jumped overboard from the Mercurio and drowned, provoking a mutiny that led to a public outcry in Mexico.[1]
Civil rights violations
There were widespread allegations of abuse against Mexicans and US citizens of Mexican descent, including harassment and beatings.[3] Lawsuits were filed and settled in favor of victims
THEREIN lies the problem - there was not just the deportation of illegal Mexicans, but anyone "Mexican-looking" including Mexican-American citizens were herded to Mexico like cattle.
The Mexican Repatriation refers to a mass migration that took place between 1929 and 1939, when as many as 500,000 people of Mexican descent were forced or pressured to leave the US.[1] The event, carried out by American authorities, took place without due process.[2]. Some 35,000 were deported, amongst many hundreds of thousands of other immigrants who were deported during this period. The Immigration and Naturalization Service targeted Mexicans because of "the proximity of the Mexican border, the physical distinctiveness of mestizos, and easily identifiable barrios." [3]
The Repatriation is not widely discussed in American history textbooks;[4] in a 2006 survey of the nine most commonly used American history textbooks in the United States, four did not mention the Repatriation, and only one devoted more than half a page to the topic.[4]. Nevertheless, many mainstream textbooks now carry this tpoic, while susequenetly ignoring other mass deprotations and repatriations of European immigrants (all in the guise of multiculturalism). In total, they devoted four pages to the Repatriation, compared with eighteen pages for the Japanese American internment[4] which affected only one-tenth as many people.[1]
These actions were authorized by President Herbert Hoover and targeted areas with large Hispanic populations, mostly in California, Texas, Colorado, Illinois and Michigan.
We even have friends who cannot understand and DO NOT BELIEVE that in the 1920's discrimination against Mexican-Americans was such that they were not admitted into many Universities. MANY Mexican-Americans (especially those of lighter skin, green or blue eyes) would "pass" for Whites and legally change their names to whatever "Anglo" name came up in the phone directory. Like I said, these are well-educated people who certainly know about discrimination and human rights violations of every OTHER race or religion, but because this information has been minimized in American school textbooks - they can't "fathom it" as real.
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