The university (UCLA) now has so many separate identity-group graduations that scheduling them not to conflict with one another is a challenge.
The women’s studies graduation and the Chicana/Chicano studies graduation are both set for 10 AM Saturday.
The broader Hispanic graduation, “Raza,” is in near-conflict with the black graduation, which starts just an hour later.

Planning was easier before a new crop of ethnic groups pushed for inclusion.
Students of Asian heritage were once content with the Asian–Pacific Islanders ceremony.
But now there are separate Filipino and Vietnamese commencements, and some talk of a Cambodian one in the future.
Years ago, UCLA sponsored an Iranian graduation, but the school’s commencement office couldn’t tell me if the event was still around.
The entire Middle East may yet be a fertile source for UCLA commencements.

In the words of the 1990s LA Riot Victim Rodney King, “Why can’t we all just get along?” (or at least graduate together.)

When I was in college there was one commencement ceremony.
Just one. It worked very well.
Hispanics sat next to Asians and Blacks and Whites.
Nobody felt intimidated to be graduating with another ethnic group.
We all listened intently for our names and once called went on stage excitedly to get our diplomas.
Some fraternity groups taped the letters of their fraternities to their caps, but other than that everyone wore the same graduation gown, except for magna cum laude and other people graduating with honors (based on educational merits-not race) No purple sashes for Vietnamese members or pink triangles for Lesbian and Gay people as Adolph Hitler would have them do.

Now, graduates (at UCLA) usually wear identity-group markers—a Filipino stole or a Vietnamese sash, for instance, or a rainbow tassel at the Lavender event.
Promoters of ethnic and racial graduations often talk about the strong sense of community that they favor.
But it is a sense of community based on blood, a dubious and historically dangerous organizing principle.

Now how are we supposed to exist in a country if everyone runs to their own groups to graduate from college of all things ?
College educated people should be able to live with diversity-no run from it.
One can identify strongly with a racial or ethnic group and still graduate in the mainstream graduation.
When I graduated with the mainstream population at my college my ethnicity didn’t change.
Neither did that of any Black, Asian, or Hispanic.
Gays did not become straight, Heterosexuals did not become homosexual, everyone was just happy to graduate.

I think this segregated graduation is a bad idea, something that would make all the civil rights leaders from the 1960s turn in their graves, but unfortunately many don’t think so.
If you read the article, the tragedy according to UCLA officials is not that separate graduations exist, but that they cant schedule them all.

Tags: Segregation, UCLA, Racism, Graduation, University

Tags: Immigration, Illegal_Immigrants, Glenn_Beck

Some free advice Paris, next time don’t act like the law is a joke.
You might get the maximum sentence.
In my opinion Paris should be happy that the judge sentenced her to only 45 days instead of the maximum of 90.
Some free advice Paris, next time don’t act like the law is a joke. You might get the maximum sentence.

Tags: West_Side_Story, Musical

Tags: Country, Carrie_Underwood

For example I told a couple today that when Buzzurro and I went to Venice we stayed in Mestre, which is on the mainland, and a simple 5 minute train ride away from Venice because it is much cheaper.
A travel agent working on a commission is not going to tell clients how to save money.

Why won’t it ever happen ? Simple. I’m a 40 year old menstruating woman who is married with no children.
Women of that age group are seen as old bags. Completely useless and non-productive in society.
Most jobs have maximum ages (age discrimination “a bestia” (translation-to a great extent)).

As a 40 year old, finding a job is nearly impossible and as a menstruating female who is of child bearing age and married with no children I would be seen as a walking uterus only and nobody in Italy wants to risk hiring an employee with maternity leave.

Tags: Mestre, Mestruo

Tags: Gary_Burton

As you probably know, Paris Hilton was sentenced by a California court to 45 days in jail for violating multiple times a probation after being convicted for DWI.
She drove with a suspended license at 70 mph in a 35 mph zone, with her headlights off, and she failed to enroll a mandatory alcohol education class.

Today I learned that her parents, Kathy and Rick Hilton, thanks to their political influence, are trying to have her daughter pardoned by Ca. Governor Schwarzenegger.

“Kathy and Rick are exploring ways to try to get her sentence reduced,” a source said. “That includes approaching politicians, including Gov. [Arnold] Schwarzenegger.”

DWI is a quite hateful crime, because it puts other people’s lives in jeopardy. Drunk drivers are losers, post-adolescential losers, biologically but not psychologically mature losers, 30-40-50+ years old losers that never grew up… Many are the reasons why a person gets behind the wheel under the influence. In any of those cases, we are talking about human trash. We, in NM, have a big problem with many of those drunk scumbags out there who think getting drunk and then driving is socially acceptable, is cool.

The arrogant spoiled PH was given a chance when she went under probation, and she screwed it up when she repeatedly and severely violated street laws, so let her spend 45 days behind the bars.

I strongly hope she won’t be pardoned: that would be very un-American.

Tags: Paris_Hilton, DWI, Booze

Annamaria Franzoni, an Italian woman who has been sentenced to 16 years of prison for brutally killing her 3-year old son, will not serve a single day in jail.
In 2002, she bludgeoned multiple times her son’s head. In 2004, she was sentenced to 30 years, and today the appeal court reduced the sentence to 16 years.
I know my limits, so I know I’m not able to explain to our non-Italian readers how this was possible.

Tags: Franzoni, Cogne, Italy

It was love at first taste.
It was simply heavenly biting into that fried dough and putting some sweet honey on top.
I really wondered why the restaurant even bothered to put dessert items on the menu.
I went back to California and searched earnestly for sopapillas.
I figured the word was Spanish so they would be most likely to be found in Mexican restaurants.
I searched all the Mexican restaurants I could find.
Finally I asked a Mexican friend if she heard of any restaurants that sell them.
“A sopapilla ? Is that like a torta (sandwich) ? I’ve never heard of it.” and with that I gave up my search.
I thought I would never eat a sopapilla again.
Now, years later, I find myself to be a resident of the state of New Mexico which seems to be the only state which serves sopapillas in many of it’s restaurants.
I can eat them whenever I want. How great is that ?
Sopapillas, after all, are New Mexican cuisine and not Mexican at all.

A recipe for sopapillas:

SOPAPILLAS

Sopapillas have been a New Mexico favorite for hundreds of years.
Derived from Indian fried bread, they are generally served hot with cinnamon and honey for dessert. Light and scrumptious! Makes approximately 20.

1 3/4 cups sifted flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp solid vegetable shortening
2/3 cup cold water
1 cup corn or canola oil
honey and/or cinnamon sugar to taste

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl.
Cut shortening in using two knives until it forms a coarse mixture.
Gradually add cold water.
Mix together just enough to hold together as you would if making a pie crust.
Turn out on a lightly floured surface.
Knead gently until smooth.
Cover and let dough sit for five minutes.
Roll into a rectangle about 12″ x 15″. Dough will be very thin.

Cut into rectangles about 2″ x 3″ in size.
Heat oil until a drop of water sizzles when dropped into it in large skillet.
Drop a few sopapillas at a time into the oil.
Turn them over three to four times to make them puff up evenly, then fry for two to three minutes on each side, until they are golden brown and puffed up like small pillows.
Dust with cinnamon sugar or pour small amount of honey over the sopapillas.
Serve hot.

Tags: NM, New_Mexico, Food, Sopapillas, Yummy_Yummy

In a letter addressed to Prof. Librescu’s wife Marlena, one student described how he climbed out the window, but paused on the ledge to look back.

“I saw your husband still standing there. He was holding the door closed and looking over his shoulder to make sure everybody else was safe. It was the bravest thing I have ever seen and I will always remember his courage,” the student wrote.

Another simply wrote: “I think he saved my life.”

He will be missed.

Tags: VA_Tech_Shooting, Virginia_Tech_Shooting, US_News, Librescu

Tags: PC, Bill_OReilly, Joanne_Ostrow, Undocumented_Immigrants, Illegal_Aliens, Denver_Post, Political_correctness, Fox_Derangement_Syndrome

Today many people, both in the United States and abroad, have been saying that the awful incident was caused because there is no gun control in the US.
The tragedy in Virginia Tech has been used by many calling for a complete ban on handguns in the US. I think they are all wrong.

What happened in Virginia was caused by one completely deranged lunatic. If he were not around there would be no tragedy. He is the cause, not the guns. The guns did not shoot themselves. Therefore
banning guns won’t do anything to stop the next tragedy. The crazy lunatics who want to kill will still be free. If that person wants to murder a lot of people and then commit suicide after he/she will do it regardless of whether guns are available or not.
I don’t know if there is a right solution to use to avoid tragedies like this, but I do know that it is not a ban on all guns.

Having said that, I send my deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the victims.

Tags: VA_Tech_Shooting, Virginia_Tech_Shooting, Second_Amendment, 2nd_Amendment, NRA, Gun_Countrol, US_News

Most of the jobs I had in Italy simply did not pay me on time.

These were legal jobs with only one being a nero or under the table.
I had to send E-mail after E-mail begging fto be paid my salary.
I had to do numerous telephone calls only to listen to the same excuses about how my information is wrong in the computer, the computers are down, the banks are slow…all reasons why I could not be paid.
There were bills to pay, and it’s not as if the bill collectors will wait not for their bills to be paid.
If I weren’t married while I was in Italy with a working husband I would probably be in jail somewhere because I couldn’t pay my bills..

How could a country even function like this, I often thought to myself.
Needless to say after my stay in Italy, when I returned to the United States I really began to appreciate the fact of timely paychecks in the US.
I remember after my first temporary job in the US I proudly said to Buzzurro: “Look! my paycheck arrived IN THE MAIL one week after I worked!”
He smiled, but my mother was in the same room and thought I was nuts for saying that.

Americans who have not lived in Italy cannot comprehend how a person can have a legal job for a relatively large employer and not get paid on time.

Yesterday I received an Email from a friend still in Italy.
After months of searching for a job in December 2006 she found one.
It was with a large department store in Italy.
She was very happy.
She liked it and got along well with the customers.
Now she isn’t so happy with it.
Why ?
She hasn’t been paid since day one of her job.
That was four months ago.
She’s been working for 4 months without any financial reimbursement.
What is the reason for an Italian employer to not pay it’s employees their salaries when they state by contract that they will ?

Are they hoping the employees will simply forget that they are owed tens or hundred of dollars ?
Are they hoping to get rich on the few cents of interest they get by not paying the salaries ?

Do they want their employees to miss time from work while they are in court doing a bankruptcy hearing ?
What is the reason ? I never understood this, and I still don’t.

Tags: Italy, Italy_vs_USA

Tags: Albuquerque, ABQ, NM, New_Mexico, Balloon_Fiesta

Tags: Santa_Fe, NM, New_Mexico, Land_of_Enchantment, New_Mexico_Drivers

Tags: Chocolate, Yummy_yummy

(Hat tip to Sandmonkey).

Tags: Venezuela, Chavez, Communism

Positive aspects of living in the USA:
- I earn 4 times what I was making in Italy for the same job
- if I want to quit my job and find another one, I have realistic hopes to find it (instead of Italy, where, once you find whatever permanent job, you’d better keep it until you retire)
- if we’ll want, for any reason, to leave New Mexico for another state, I have hopes to find another job soon somewhere else in the USA, see above
- people here are MUCH more civil than in Italy
- customer service is, generally speaking, much better than in Italy (see below what I write about customer service in NM)
- I do not live anymore in a country (Italy) where WHO you know is 98% the key to success
- United States has many beautiful places to see (New Mexico included)
- I don’t live anymore in a country (Italy) where a lot of left-wing people are communists, and a lot of right-wing people are bigots
- since 2006, I have again the hope that, if I want to improve, I can. I didn’t have this hope at all in Italy.

Positive aspects of living in NM:
- weather (among other things, I LOVE the lack of humidity)
- stunning landscapes and amazing skies
- laidback lifestyle
- generally speaking, low cost of life (with the exception of Santa Fe)

What I “complain” about living in the US:
- sometimes you have to struggle against your insurance to have it pay your medical expenses they HAVE to pay
- I try to keep in touch with my Italian friends, but apparently, after my move and the initial curiosity, a whole bunch of them… doesn’t seem interested in friendship anymore.
Friendship is a two-way thing, if only one gives and the other doesn’t, in the long run I will get bored and I stop calling and sending emails. To them (the whole bunch, not my few real friends), I say, cordially: go get screwed
- the “language barrier”, that, with time, and improvement effort from the two only neurons of mine, becomes more and more thin
- US chocolate sucks !! It is gross !!

What I complain about living in NM:
- they don’t have a clue on how to clean roads from snow (or they are too lazy to do it properly)
- NM’s motto is “the land of enchantment”. NM’s REAL motto is “the land of mañana”, where, with “mañana”, they mean tomorrow, the next year, maybe….
I had great expectations about the efficiency levels in the US, after experiencing bureaucracy Italian style for more than 35 years. Plus, I was spoiled by the real American efficiency after spending three months in New Jersey + New York.
So…
Italian customer service oftentimes is not courteous neither efficient.
NM customer service sometimes is not efficient, but courtesy is never missing.
Inefficiency with a smile.
So…
I don’t know where, in the United States, J.Doe and I will be in five years, maybe here in NM, maybe not.
Surely, we won’t be in Italy except as tourists.

Tags: Living_In_America...I_Feel_Good_!