News (Noticias) for July 11th, 2007

“It would appear not since the latest contributor to the Hall of Fame of Beyond Bad Taste thinks its okay to wish death upon a group of Latino kids who only want to go to school.

Extremist Conservative radio talk show host, Michael Savage, referenced the news story about some California Latino college students who have gone on a fast to get Congress attention to pass the part of the immigration reform bill that will let them work legally and attend school. It is known as the Dream Act.”

“The ironic thing was that while Elis walk was frontpage news on the Al Dia web site, the story didnt get one mention on the newspapers sister publication The Dallas Morning News web site the same day.

Is it because the English-language paper doesn’t feel Hispanics are their readers or that Hispanics only speak and read Spanish?”

“ADVERTISING IN SPANISH-LANGUAGE MEDIA IS booming — and consumer magazines are some of the biggest winners, according to research and analysis firm TNS. Magazines targeting Hispanics experienced 14.3% growth in revenue in the first quarter of 2007, compared to the same period last year. Moreover, publishers — and marketers — are rolling out new Spanish-language and bilingual products at a steady pace.”

“Lectura Books has been publishing and distributing bilingual English and Spanish childrens books since 2001. The press focuses on quality bicultural and bilingual literature to offer Latinos a reflection of their diverse cultures and histories through relevant stories. The dual-language focus allows for Spanish-speaking parents and their children – who are learning English at school – a way to learn language together and be inspired by life-changing literature. Lectura Books partners with some of the best writers and artists from the Latino community to create books that inspire reading and dialogue. For more information, vist Lectura Books website.”

“Reggaeton superstar Tego Calderon is making the rounds to promote his new film “Illegal Tenders.”

The film is directed by top filmmaker John Singleton, and the film is the acting debut by Tego, whose maiden thespian effort reveals another exciting facet of his career. The film is due to open on Aug. 24.”

“Four years in Miami can seem like a breeze, even with hurricanes. But these past years have not been any years, at least to me: I have had the honor of representing Mexico in Miami during one of the most interesting times both for Miami and the Mexicans who work and live here.

Within a relatively short period of time, Miami rode more than successfully the deceleration that affected the U.S. economy at the beginning of the century, partly thanks to the influx of monies escaping Latin American countries in trouble; enjoyed and suffered one of the most amazing expansions of real estate — the destination for most of the foreign capital; and endured two of the most active hurricane seasons on record. Little Havana, without losing any of its Cuban charms, is rapidly turning into Little Latin America. Europeans, taking advantage of a strong euro, are competing with Northeastern snowbirds for investment opportunities. And a cutting-edge performing-arts center is up and running.”

“The two Chilean actors are confirmed to star in the new mini series La Flor Pálida, loosely based on Lopezs own life “

“Hispanic PR Wire, the Los Angeles Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), and the Hispanic Public Relations Association (HPRA) are hosting a professional development panel in Los Angeles on Thursday, July 19, 2007 titled “Maximizing Your Multicultural Initiatives in 2007.” The program will be moderated by Romina Bongiovanni, vice president, Edelman Multicultural and HPRA president and will feature Manny Ruiz, president and CEO, Hispanic PR Wire and Leslie Yngojo-Bowes, president and founder of U.S. Asian Wire; Kevin Hooks, senior vice president of the Axis Agency, Weber Shandwick’s multicultural marketing partner; and Jimmy Lee, vice president, IW Group, a leading Los Angeles-based agency targeting the in Asian community. Similar programs are traveling to dozens of PRSA chapters during the “2007 Hispanic PR & Marketing Strategies Tour.”

The distinguished panel will feature insights on the following topics:
– What are the key facts and figures about the U.S. Hispanic, African American and U.S. Asian markets?
– What are the top trends in multicultural/ethnic public relations?
– What kind of research should be conducted prior to executing a multi-ethnic campaign? What resources are useful?
– What are the common mistakes that marketers make in targeted multicultural or integrated campaigns?
– What kinds of campaigns are especially suited for multicultural outreach? Which ones aren’t?
– How are these ethnic groups driving the Web 2.0 era? What are the dynamics of each segment?
– What are the similarities and differences in media preferences among the different ethnic groups?
– What are the key ingredients of an effective multicultural marketing program?

WHEN: Thursday, July 19, 2007 8:30-9am Registration/Networking 9-10am Breakfast/Program

WHERE: Luxe Hotel Sunset Boulevard 11461 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles CA 90049

COST: PRSA/HPRA Members: $20; Non-members/guests: $30; Associate members and students: $15

Register online at www.prsa-la.org

Speaker Bios:

Manny Ruiz, president and CEO, Hispanic PR Wire
Manny Ruiz is the president and CEO of Hispanic PR Wire (HPRW), the nation’s leading Hispanic press release wire service. In addition to his duties at HPRW, Ruiz is a managing partner of Hispanic Market Pro, a service that produces professional development audio conferences for Hispanic marketers, Hispanic Digital Network, the nation’s first network of Hispanic publications online, LatinClips, a leading U.S. Hispanic monitoring service and ConTexto Latino, the PR industry’s first Hispanic editorial features service. Between his various roles, he also co-publishes the nation’s only monthly Hispanic PR newsletter, The Hispanic PR Monitor. He is currently a co-chair of the Public Relations Society of America’s (PRSA) Diversity Committee and is a former board member of PRSA’s Miami Chapter and a previous co-chair of its Hispanic Market Section. Prior to HPRW, Ruiz was a founder and media relations director of the National Hispanic Market Practice of Porter Novelli (PN). While at PN, he played a central role in the success of Florida’s anti-teen smoking campaign “truth.” He spearheaded Florida media relations for “truth” which for two consecutive years swept all of the PR industry’s most coveted awards including the PRSA Silver Anvil Award of Excellence.

Leslie Yngojo-Bowes, president and founder, U.S. Asian Wire
As president and founder of U.S. Asian Wire, Inc., Leslie Yngojo-Bowes has drawn on twenty-four years of experience in news distribution, broadcast television and radio, providing her with expertise in media relations, marketing, on-air promotion, music programming and production. Before developing U.S. Asian Wire, she served as the domestic media relations manager for global news distributor, Business Wire in New York. Prior to that, she served as creative services associate at WNBC-TV in New York. She also worked in the promotions and programming department at WWOR-TV in Secaucus, New Jersey. Yngojo-Bowes began her career in radio, having worked at three major market classical music stations: KUSC radio in Los Angeles, WQXR radio in New York, and KKHI radio in San Francisco. Her appreciation of diversity in journalism, and its impact on all facets of media, was whetted while studying broadcasting at City College of San Francisco 1983-1986 and communications arts at New York Institute of Technology 1986-1990. Yngojo-Bowes, a native of San Francisco, currently resides in New Jersey with her husband, nationally acclaimed singer and voiceover talent Tom Bowes, and their two children.

Kevin Hooks, SVP, The Axis Agency
Kevin Hooks brings Weber Shandwick nearly 15 years of urban marketing and public affairs experience. As Senior Vice President of the Axis Agency, Weber Shandwick’s multicultural marketing partner, Hooks is responsible for further developing the company’s urban marketing suite of services. These efforts cross a broad spectrum of consumer disciplines including African-American, entertainment, and retail. With an extremely diverse background, Hooks has established strategic marketing partnerships for Warner Brothers, CBS, Showtime Networks, Paramount and BET. He has also managed the on-screen marketing initiatives for Lexus, UPS, Motorola, Proctor & Gamble, Campbell’s Soup Company, Evian, Bombay Sapphire and many others. Before joining the firm, Hooks was Vice President/General Manager of UPP Entertainment Marketing where he managed all day-to-day operations. Previously, Hooks managed the African-American gifting portfolio for State Farm Insurance Companies. During his tenure he established partnerships with NAACP, National Urban League (NUL), National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI), The National Association for Black County Officials (NABCO), The Bayou Classic and many others.

Jimmy Lee, VP, IW Group, INC.
With 14 years of public relations and marketing experience, Lee has become an expert in conducting results-driven communications and outreach campaigns targeting the Asian Pacific Islander American community nationwide. He began his career at State Farm Insurance, where he spent seven years as a public affairs specialist and community relations supervisor. Since joining the IW Group seven years ago, Lee has helped lead the agency to national recognition. PR Week ranked IW the seventh fastest growing public relations firm in the country and the Best in Asian PR in the U.S. In 2006, the Los Angeles Business Journal ranked IW among the top 10 PR firms in the Southern California region. In 2006, Lee was selected and featured in PR Week’s annual career guide as one of the top 11 rising stars in the PR industry. As head of the company’s public relations, Asian newswire and media monitoring divisions, Lee has helped leading corporations and government entities to develop effective strategies and tactics to communicate with Asian Americans. His current clients include leading corporations, such as: American Airlines, Blue Cross of California, First 5 California, MetLife, Nissan, Sprint, Wal-Mart, and others. Lee has also served as PR and/or Marketing strategist for other notable clients such as: ABC Television, AT&T, California Department of Health Services – Tobacco Control Section, Gilead Sciences, Hennessey X.O., Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Authority, Merrill Lynch, The California Wellness Foundation, TRUTH, UPS, White House Office on AAPI, among others. He also has extensive experience in strategic planning, media relations, government relations, event coordination, promotions, marketing and community outreach.

Romina Bongiovanni, vice president, Edelman Multicultural
Romina Bongiovanni, vice president, Edelman Multicultural and president of the Hispanic Public Relations Association (HPRA), is a seasoned Hispanic public relations expert, and currently leads the Edelman Multicultural practice in the Western Region as vice president. Bongiovanni provides strategic counsel and oversees national campaigns for clients such as Starbucks, Microsoft Windows Vista, SC Johnson and Loreto Bay. Prior to Edelman, Bongiovanni worked at RL Public Relations, where she was responsible for planning and executing public relations campaigns for clients such as Sears, Roebuck & Co., the California Milk Processor Board (Got Milk?), the National Honey Board and Johnnie Walker “

“-AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) has announced a comprehensive bilingual Web site of parental controls designed to educate and empower Hispanic parents in managing content that is appropriate for their families. AT&T Smart Limits(TM) brings together parental control features in Spanish for the full suite of AT&T services ”” wireless, wireline, high speed Internet access and video ”” into one online portal.

The site ”” accessible via www.att.com/controles ”” provides information and directions in Spanish on how to use parental controls for wireless, Internet, video and home phone services from AT&T. With features ranging from content controls to TV channel and phone-number blockers, parental control for these AT&T services helps establish sensible boundaries around the technology that children and teens use on a daily basis.

”Children and teens are more connected than ever and are exposed to a torrent of content from different sources, some of which may not be suitable for their age,” said Laura Hernandez, AT&T executive director-Multicultural Marketing. “AT&T is committed to helping parents protect their kids’ connected experience by offering an intuitive, easy-to-use way of managing content and deciding what is appropriate for their families.”

A recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center suggests that younger and more acculturated Hispanics use the Internet and wireless phones more frequently than Spanish-dominant and older adults.

The AT&T Smart Limits site includes tools for monitoring and managing access to content from all sources:
– Wireless Smart. Provides information on controlling wireless purchases and online access and restricting mobile phone access to certain Web sites. This includes restricting the purchase of premium subscriptions and downloads, such as games, ringtones and graphics.
– Surf Smart. Offers tools for blocking Web sites that contain inappropriate and/or mature content, including how to customize security settings for each child to ensure their safety while online.
– Watch Smart. Shows how to manage your family’s TV experience, including filtering features based on movie or TV ratings and blocking channels.
– Talk Smart. Provides information on protecting children from pranksters and unwanted callers and on blocking calls to 900/976 numbers. It also disallows calls from unknown numbers.
In addition, AT&T offers the following tips for helping families enjoy the safest connected experience:
– Talk It Through. Make it a plan to talk to your kids about the rules of TV viewing, Web surfing and cell phone use at your home and let them know about the dangers of online and phone strangers and proper usage of communication whenever you are away.
– Know the Digits. Learn to recognize familiar phone numbers from your family’s circle of friends to identify any changes in patterns. Companies offer itemized bills to show calls, and most of today’s phones and mobile phones store dial information for review.
– Keep Computers Visible. Internet access is a great tool for your family, but to ensure the safest experience, monitor usage and keep the computer in a place accessible to the entire family. Learn how to filter Web sites and establish security settings and limit screen time ”” just as you would TV ”” depending on age.
– Get Tech Savvy. Learn to navigate mobile phones, phones, satellite TV and computers in your household. The more you know, the better you can guide your family’s experience.
Parents can visit espanol.att.com to access Smart Limits, navigate consumer education information and access an Internet Safety Game in Spanish, which helps create awareness about online perils for younger Web surfers.

Note: This AT&T news release and other announcements are available as part of an RSS feed at www.att.com/rss.
Find More Information Online:

Related Releases: Web Site Links:
AT&T Unveils Suite of Parental Controls
AT&T Web Site
Espanol AT&T Web Site
AT&T Smart Limits Web Site
Pew Hispanic Center
Related Media Kits: Related Fact Sheets:
AT&T Internet
AT&T Smart Limits
AT&T Smart Limits
Technorati Tags: AT&T, Parental Controls, Pew Hispanic Center, Internet

About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T operating companies, are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. Among their offerings are the world’s most advanced IP-based business communications services and the nation’s leading wireless, high speed Internet access and voice services. In domestic markets, AT&T is known for the directory publishing and advertising sales leadership of its Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations, and the AT&T brand is licensed to innovators in such fields as communications equipment. As part of its three-screen integration strategy, AT&T is expanding its TV entertainment offerings. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at

“A mushroom weighing more than 20 kilograms has been picked in a forest in Mexico’s southernmost state of Chiapas, university officials say.”

“An obscure guerrilla group that has been barely active for a decade took responsibility today for a recent series of pipeline explosions in central Mexico.

The Peoples Revolutionary Army, which until now has been active mostly in Guerrero, Oaxaca and other southern Mexican states, said in a communique that “several platoons” of its militants blew up the pipelines in the past week as part of a new campaign.”

“Admit it, youve probably fantasized about being holed up in a hotel room with hunky Spanish actor Javier Bardem. You just never pictured him dressed down in a pair of bright white crocs while munching on chocolate chip cookies, right?

“I guess the image that I have of myself doesnt correspond with the image people see from the outside,” says Bardem, relaxing on a couch at the Regency Hotel on a particularly hot Friday afternoon. He leaves a trail of crumbs behind as he gets up to open the balcony door, letting in a hint of a breeze”

“What if you could trap summer in a glass?

Whenever I make gazpacho, thats the trick I think I’m pulling off.

There is something so immediate and fresh about this cold Spanish soup that my body temperature goes down just thinking about it. Its lightness and refreshing lift of tartness seem tailor-made for Houston’s crushing midsummer climate. The fact that gazpacho requires no cooking makes it even more Texas-friendly”

“ITS a saga fit for one of Spains great film directors. In the early 1960s, on a wine estate in Old Castile, the teenage son of one of the winery workers is collared by the winemakers as he walks past their offices one day. They need another taster. It doesnt matter that he doesnt know anything about wine.

In a blind tasting of 20 wines, the young man, Mariano Garcí, is the only one of the group to pick out the two wines that are identical. He is put to work in the winery and by the time he is 24, he has become chief winemaker at Vega Sicilia, a legendary bodega winery that once boasted Winston Churchill among its fans, and for more than 100 years was the only notable wine producer in the region.”

“For Victor Toro, last week seemed like any other week in his life as one of the best-known advocates for immigrants and other dispossessed people in New York City. He met with other activists in Rochester to discuss what they should do about the recent collapse of the immigration bill in Congress.

On Friday, his meetings completed, Mr. Toro boarded an Amtrak train to return to his home in the Bronx. But Mr. Toro is an illegal immigrant. And it was on that train that he was discovered. He was arrested, jailed and then released early Monday morning after posting bond.

He now faces deportation.”

What really surprises me is that the border patrol is making sweeps on Amtrak trains!

“Suddenly, United States border patrol agents entered Mr. Toro’s car and went from seat to seat, asking passengers whether they were citizens, residents or visitors. Mr. Toro answered, in Spanish, that he was not an American citizen.”

“The mayor of Hazleton, Pa., has long cited a May 2006 shooting death as the impetus for pushing one of the nation’s strictest community crackdowns on illegal immigrants.

But on Friday, prosecutors dropped homicide charges against the two illegal immigrants accused of shooting the man, Derek Kichline, 29, depriving the mayor, Louis J. Barletta, of one of his main arguments for kicking illegal immigrants out of this northeastern Pennsylvania city of more than 30,000.”

“A few weeks ago I took Samuel to see the magic show at the Cochran library in Stockbridge. While waiting in the children’s wing with my 15-month-old daughter Ava, I noticed an interesting book on the table. I don’t remember the title or have any idea what it was about; it caught my eye because it was written “en Espanol.”

This made me curious, so I asked my friend Kathy White, the children’s librarian at Cochran, if there were many other Spanish titles available here. She said no, but many more were needed because there were plenty of Spanish-speaking visitors in the children’s room each week.”

“The dealer lot is jammed with cars and trucks, all of them shiny and preowned, most of them late-model, many carrying low mileage and hefty sticker prices.

Not unlike many other car lots in town. Except here, all the signs are in Spanish, the staff is all Latino ”” as are virtually all the customers ”” and the TV in the showroom stays tuned to Univision.

At Familia Auto Sales, 1007 Summit Ave., Greensboro auto magnate Bob Dunn is dealing ”” en Español.”

“The Latino Cultural Center presents Hecho en Dallas/Made in Dallas, an annual juried exhibition of Dallas-area artists. In its 4th year, Hecho en Dallas/Made in Dallas features 11 talented artists from the Metroplex: Ivonne Acero, Adián Aguirre, Miguel Casanova, Gary Grogan, Juan Hernández, Rubén Miranda, Sharon Neel-Bagley, Andrew Ortiz, Giraud Polité, Steve Riley and Orawin Rungisnan. The exhibition features recent artworks in a variety of mediums, including photography and printmaking.”

“The national Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights has issued a statement criticizing the San Diego Minutemen for their protests at a Fallbrook church that facilitates the hiring of day laborers, describing the groups actions as Catholic bashing.

“The Catholic League is calling upon non-Latino Catholics in Southern California to join with Latino Catholics to condemn the flagrant anti-Catholic bigotry of the San Diego Minutemen,” Catholic League president Bill Donohue said in the statement. “Regardless of whether one is sympathetic or not to the plight of illegal immigrants – and/or the grievances of legal immigrants – there is one issue that all fair-minded persons should be able to agree upon: there is no role for bigotry in this dispute.””

“Last fall, California comedian Frank Lucero spent a month in Iraq and Afghanistan entertaining U.S. troops.

“It was an experience of a lifetime. Ill never forget it,” Lucero said. “It was awesome to be out there with those guys, make them laugh and give them a little taste of home. When it got rough, I just pictured these guys out there for six months to a year. We were only out there for a month.”"

“In her first month on the job, Elise Shore, 45, has spoken against Gwinnett County’s new ordinance requiring contractors to make sure they do not hire illegal immigrants on public works jobs. She also has spoken against a proposed law against loitering in Cherokee County that would ban day laborers from gathering to seek work.”

“Marc Anthony, who stars in “El Cantante,” León Ichasos biopic of the Puerto Rican sonero Héctor Lavoe, had a simple reason for wanting to play the singer on film.

“If my life were a movie, he would be a big part of the soundtrack,” Anthony told Viva. “When I was growing up, his music was always playing in the background.”"