Volume XXVIII Number 18 May 7, 2004

FrontPage Stories

Wings Over Gillespie Air Show Soars Despite Heat

By John Philip Wyllie

Thousands of Southern California history and aviation enthusiasts braved record temperatures to attend El Cajon’s 10th Annual Wings Over Gillespie Air Show last weekend. The three-day event provided show-goers a chance to see and in some cases to ride in some of the nearly three dozen vintage military airplanes on display. In addition, a wide variety of military collectibles were available for a price. Rows of tables offered everything from ace autographs to Zero replicas. Perhaps more importantly, the event provided history buffs a rare opportunity share in the experiences of people whose actions have been chronicled in a plethora of books and magazines.

Lance Corporal Alex Torres is at left and former Capt. Reynaldo Gallardo.

81-year old Reynaldo Gallardo, one of the last remaining “Aztec Eagle” pilots from Mexico’s WWII Escuadron 201 was back again, making his second show appearance. He was joined by a dwindling number of fellow WWII pilots as well as others from the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Marine Reserve Lance Corporal Alex Torres, recently returned from the fighting in Iraq, was one of the youngest. While nearly 60 years separated their service, neither man had any regrets about answering the call to duty or in fighting for what they believed.

For the rest of the story:

Barrio Logan “Revision” Maps to Be Unveiled Next Week
By Raymond R. Beltrán
For the past 26 years, the Barrio Logan community has held onto the Barrio Logan/Harbor 101 Plan, which was developed by the City of San Diego Planning Department. This is, at best, a report that documents the barrio’s environmental, socio-economic and land use compatibility issues, including solutions and visionary maps constructed by the city’s planning department, some community residents and the U.S. 32nd Street Naval Base.


The End of the “Mexican School”
By Lisa Jennings
Sylvia Mendez, a 67-year-old Southern California retired nurse and grandmother of two, is not a lawyer, professor, or policy maker. But for many in the Hispanic community, her name is synonymous with the defeat of legal school segregation.


State Misses Lead Poisoning’s New, Immigration Face
By Mary Jo McConahay
SEASIDE, Calif. — Elevated levels of toxic lead are being found in the blood of children at a small airy clinic in this central coastal town of 33,450 people. The culprit may be grasshoppers captured 2,000 miles away in Mexican villages, lovingly fried with garlic, salt and lime and sent by the pound in care packages to family members here.

California Legislators Examine Civil Rights Abuses Since September 11
By Shelana deSilva
Dalvir Sangha is a Sikh postal worker in Sacramento, California. In the atmosphere following the September 11 terror attacks he often felt nervous passing a particular house along his normal route. He had clearly heard someone threatening to shoot him. Then on July 19, 2002 the threat was made real.

Kerry Must Be Tough on Patriot Act
By Earl Ofari Hutchinson
Two months before the Iowa Caucus, John Kerry tore a big page from the ACLU’s play-book and lambasted the Patriot Act as snooping and intrusive — a bad law that should be repealed. Kerry then was a stuck–in-mid-pack centrist, a Democratic presidential hopeful whose candidacy had garnered little public enthusiasm or political traction. He could afford to let fly at anything Bush favored or said. Not anymore, and now he thinks he must watch what he says about the Patriot Act.


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Stories

A Mother’s Day Sentimiento!
By Joe Ortiz
Mother’s Day has a special meaning for me, as I’m certain it has for so many of us. As we prepare to honor that blessed woman in our respective lives, whether it is by greeting card, long distance telephone or that special brunch, this holiday (more than others) is one that needs to be most revered.


Celebrarán el “Día de las Madres”
Por: Paco Zavala
Cada año, con mucho, pero muchísimo amor, todos los seres humanos bien nacidos le rendimos homenaje a nuestra progenitora,a nuestra querida madrecita.


MITOS SOBRE LA CELEBRACION DE LA MADRE
Por Diana Gomez
Por qué celebramos a la “MADRE”... la historia cuenta que en Inglaterra hace muchos años se le obsequiaba a las mamas una tarta o pastel en reconocimiento de ser mamás. En Estados Unidos durante el año de 1906 el Presidente Wilson declaró que el segundo Domingo del mes de Mayo se celebrara el Día de las Madres en honor a su Mamá que había fallecido. Lógico es que celebremos a la mujer como Madre por el gran significado que encierra la palabra “MADRE”.


Graduating Latina Serves as Role Model for High School Dropouts in Low Wage Jobs
On Mother’s Day 1984, 17-year-old Leticia Ortega started her first day on the job as a drugstore clerk. Like too many Latinas, she had dropped out of high school, trading a student’s life for that of a single mother working full time.

2.9 MILLION CHILDREN OF MEXICAN HERITAGE ARE AMONG NEARLY 4 MILLION LATINO CHILDREN LIVING IN POVERTY
The Children’s Defense Fund Urges Passage of the Fair Minimum Wage Act to Help Lift Latino Families Out Of Poverty
Washington, D.C. - The Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) joins millions of people in celebrating Cinco de Mayo, a day to honor Mexican culture and heritage.

LATINO EDITORIAL CARTOONIST TAKES HIS MESSAGE MAINSTREAM WITH ‘LA CUCARACHA’
By Marcelo Ballve
Q: During California’s recall last year, your cartoons were very critical of Gov. Schwarzenegger. How do you think he feels about you receiving the award?


Juan Solis Celebrates a Second Chance at Life After Five Years Away from Home
Solis will receive the Sharp HealthCare Eagle Spirit Award for his tireless determination
“Bingo!” Juan Solis shouted in the middle of game time at Sharp Cabrillo Skilled Nursing Facility in Point Loma.


LA COLUMNA VERTEBRAL
Por Rafael Ponce de León
La marcha del millón: Por la vida de las mujeres
Días atrás, cientos de miles de personas marcharon por el centro de la capital en defensa de la libertad reproductiva y en contra de la política del presidente George W. Bush, que, según los manifestantes, alienta la erosión de ese derecho y perjudica la libertad de las mujeres a elegir.

The Community Can Help the Reservists and National Guard
By Cruz Bustamante, Lt. Governor
As the weather grows warmer and the days get longer, we are reminded that summer is fast approaching. However, the shadow of war has made the days seem less bright here in our Golden State and across the nation. As we go about our day-to-day lives, it is important that each of us take the time to remember our soldiers overseas and the families they have left behind.


Editorials

Editorial
Secretary of Defense Rumsfield States the System Works!
Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq may become a gaping wound in the American psychic of what is to be an American. The atrocities that were carried out against the prisoners of war in Iraq and Afghanistan bring shame to our sense of what and who we are. If the conduct of the members of the Armed Forces, is an indication to the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield that the system works in America, we are in deep trouble in this country.


Commentary
México-Cuba 1959-2004 RIP
By Andrés Lozano
As I write, Mexican and Cuban diplomatic relations are on the verge of collapsing. It is a momentous time. Since Castro’ seizure of power back in 1959, Mexico has maintained shamefaced relations with Havana’s murderous regime. Successive legal, yet illegitimate Mexican administrations, found expeditious holding a hostage relationship in order to curb revolutionary tinkering within Mexico fostered by the Cuban regime. Not anymore.


Comentario:
México-Cuba 1959-2004 RIP
By Andrés Lozano
Conforme escribo, las relaciones diplomáticas entre México y Cuba están a punto de colapsarse. Es un momento trascendental. Desde la brutal toma del poder por Castro en 1959, México mantuvo relaciones vergonzantes con el régimen criminal de La Habana. Sucesivos gobiernos mexicanos legales, pero ilegítimos encontraron expédito someterse a una relación de rehén para evitar intromisión revolucionaria en México patrocinada por el régimen cubano. No más.


Commentary:
The In-Crowd
By Robert B. Reich
It’s an economy where educational credentials and connections count for more and more. A degree from one of the Ivies or from a Stanford, Michigan or Berkeley isn’t exactly a bus ticket to fat city—but it sure helps. At the very least, you need a bachelor’s degree just to get on the highway.


Commentary:
Bush is like a Schoolyard Bully
By Ernie McCray
The ABC bigwigs who censured Nightline for airing the names and photographs of our troops who were killed in Iraq said that they did so because they felt the show was motivated by a “political agenda.” And I say: So what?

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH
What horror! My stomach turns as I contemplate the chilling photographs of torture in the Abu Gharib prison in Iraq. I ask myself, “What has Bush done to our soldiers? Why should the Muslim world thank this administration for its “freedom” when we are raping its women?”

Etc. Etc. Etc.
Entertainment, Reviews, Sporting news, and other tid bits

La Esquina - arte de la comunidad
Baja California to Vancouver:Estado Reflectivo de Una Conciencia Social
por Geneva Gamez
Fotografías elegidas para proyectar un propósito sin causa. Expresiones frías, cuartos vacíos que gritan en desesperación hacia un calor ausente. Otros cuartos asimilan una frialdad irreparable, una conformidad hacia lo que la vida les proporciona. Las imágenes de los videos reflejan la falta de vida del artista que nos lleva aún más lejos en el pensar que no tenemos nada más de qué sostenernos. Una imagen de una mujer vestida de blanco, con su cabello suelto brinca libremente en el aire, en ocasiones suspirando gratuitamente al que le brinda esta oportunidad de ser, otras veces proyecta un coraje hacia él mismo. Mi estado de ánimo está confundido entre tanta farsa, entre tantas ideas vagantes, tantas imágenes nutriéndose sobre la misma fuente de las ironías que nos rodean.


La Esquina - arte de la comunidad
Bound By Tradition
She was raised with boundaries
Knowing her place as a young woman

Cheap but Exotic Vacation Destinations
By Albert Simonson
San Diego has super weather compared to most places. But let’s face it - summer gets pretty hot, dry and stifling.


El Caballero de la Armadura Oxidada
Por: Paco Zavala
La historia de: “El Caballero de la Armadura Oxidada”, es una radiografía de lo que infinidad de seres humanos debíamos de hacer para mejorar nuestra condición moral y espiritual, competir y estar en condiciones de salud mental y de poder adjuntar a nuestras vidas una compañera (esposa) y disfrutar de la procreación y compañía de una familia, en la que brille la felicidad y el amor y no justificarse con decir: “Así soy yo” y no hacer absolutamente nada, cuando se ofenda o se cometa una lamentable equivocación que afecte, infrinja reglas o la misma vida de nuestros seres queridos.

VATICAN ART AND HISTORICAL OBJECTS ARRIVE IN SAN DIEGO: THE CRATES ARE OPEN!
Saint Peter and the Vatican: The Legacy of the Popes
Crates are being pried open at the San Diego Museum of Art for the summer blockbuster exhibition Saint Peter and the Vatican: The Legacy of the Popes. The 390-piece exhibition is being removed from crates and installed in preparation for its West Coast debut on Saturday, May 15, 2004.


“Festejando a las Madrecitas” Returns: Fourteenth Annual Mother’s Day Celebration
On Sunday, May 9, the community of Carlsbad hosts the 14th annual Festejando a las Madrecitas, (Festival of Beloved Mothers) celebrating Mother’s Day through the arts. The free event takes place at Holiday Park on Pio Pico Avenue and Chestnut Avenue.


Mosaico de Actividades Culturales en Tijuana
Por Paco Zavala
Ha transcurrido el 5 de mayo, fecha histórica para el pueblo mexicano y para las fuerzas armadas mexicanas.A 142 años de haber acontecido este hecho heróico, aún se recuerda al Gral. Ignacio Zaragoza, en aquel parte que le envió a Don Benito Juárez, en el que dijo “Las armas mexicanas se han cubierto de gloria”; esto lo dice todo, lamentablemente todo lo que estos hombres hicieron y pensaron para el futuro del país todavía esté esperando, el progreso y la pobreza del pueblo esperan.


VAMOS AL CINE:
Verano de película
Por Jose Daniel Bort
La industria del cine vive en perenne estado de queja sobre los dividendos de las películas, pero la verdad es que desde 1991, cada año ha batido el record anterior de ventas establecido el año pasado. En 2003, se hicieron un poco más de 9 mil millones de dólares, con los estudios Disney y New Line (creadores de la saga de “Lord of the Rings”) a la cabeza en la carrera por la efectividad en sus películas.


VAMOS AL CINE:
Excesos que dejan sordo: Hugh Jackman no puede salvar a Van Helsing
Por Jose Daniel Bort
Es probablemente la película más ruidosa jamás filmada. La mezcla de sonido es tan gigantesca y estrepitosa, que prácticamente impide seguir el ritmo de las secuencias de la nueva confección del director de The Mummy, Stephen Sommers.


Villa a winner with the discuss, looking to pass on her knowledge
By John P. Wyllie
When Andrea Villa joined Bonita Vista’s Track & Field Team as a sophomore two years ago she hoped to make an impact as a runner. The onset of painful shin splints caused her to change course however, and look in another direction. Still wanting to be a part of the team, Villa decided to capitalize on her upper body strength and focus on throwing the shot put and the discus. Now a senior, she has established herself as one of the premier discus hurlers in the South Bay. With a 3.5 G.P.A and a long list of accomplishments through extracurricular activities such as Campus Task Force and Best Buddies, Villa is the complete package.


Jesus Chavez To Wed Soldier On Eve Of Iraqi Deployment
By Fiona Manning
Former world 130 pound boxing champion Jesus ‘El Matador’ Chavez will marry his long-time sweetheart, US National Guard Intelligence Office Anuisa Stroklund today on the eve of her deployment to Iraq.


Heinrichs Names U.S. WNT Roster to Face Mexico on May 9 in Albuquerque, N.M.
U.S. Women’s National Team’s head coach April Heinrichs has named the 18-player roster that will face Mexico on Sunday, May 9, at University Stadium in Albuquerque, N.M., in the USA’s second domestic match of 2004 and the second of six games across the country before the team leaves for Greece in early August. The match will be broadcast live at 1 p.m. MT (3 p.m. ET) on ESPN2.