News (Noticias) for July 9th, 2008

I am trying a new format but things got a little messed will be improving. - Tomás

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is hitting the road to campaign for Barack Obama.

The Los Angeles mayor will travel to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to introduce the Democratic presidential candidate at a League of United Latin American Citizens convention. “*

In the spirit of letting readers know about potentially helpful resources:

The National Alliance for Hispanic Health has a toll-free hotline for Latinos looking for health information.

You can reach Su Familia help line at 1-866-783-2645.”*

El Centro, which offers support services to Latino families, was recently named winner of the 2008 National Council of La Raza/Annie E. Casey Foundation Family Strengthening Award for the positive impact the José Martí center has had on Latino families.

“It’s been a big help,” Victoria’s mother, Cecilia Martinez, said in Spanish through a translator. She was one of four parents who provided testimonials about the day-care center to the National Council of La Raza, the largest Hispanic civil-rights group in the United States.”*

The Brody File has learned that the Obama campaign held a conference call this morning with about 30 Hispanic Evangelical pastors. Immigration, faith and abortion were all part of the discussion. The call lasted about 30 minutes starting with an opening prayer and then closing in prayer as well. These calls will now start taking place every other week.

Obama’s faith based team was on the call along with the campaign’s Latino Vote Director. As for the groups represented, the National Hispanic Christian leadership Conference was on the call along with pastors from New York, Florida, Colorado, Texas, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and DC / Baltimore. “*

North Carolina’s Latino population has almost doubled since the beginning of the decade. But that growth hasn’t been accompanied by an increase in political power, because only a small percentage of Latinos vote.

It is a disparity some of the state’s Hispanic leaders are trying to address. “*

Fans can watch talented baseball players from the Dominican Republic this month without paying Major League prices.

The first New England Latino Baseball Series, a group of games featuring top Latino athletes, will be played during the month of July.”*

IODA, the global leader in digital distribution, marketing, and technology solutions for the independent music and film industry, today announced that Latin music labels Fuego and MCD Entertainment have partnered with IODA for worldwide digital music distribution. The Company also announced the addition of Latin music retailers Fuego Entertainment, iMusica and Agave Mobile to its Latin music distribution network. The new partners build on IODA’s already robust portfolio of independent Latin labels and retailers. IODA now distributes its portfolio of music to fans in more than 22 Spanish-speaking countries and to millions of Latin music fans in the United States. On the heels of its worldwide partnership with Telefonica, IODA made the announcement today at the Latin Alternative Music Conference in New York City.

Adding breadth and depth to its catalog of Latin music and retailers serving Latin markets, the new partnerships include:

– Fuego and Fuego Entertainment is a growing independent label and
digital retailer based in Miami. Under the partnership, IODA will
distribute the more than 2,000 tracks in Fuego’s artist portfolio.
Additionally, IODA’s more than one million tracks will now be accessible on
Fuego Entertainment’s digital retail site at www.fuegomio.com.

– iMusica, the largest service provider in Latin America and the world’s
leading digital distributor of Brazilian music, has established a presence
in 18 countries. Its network of digital retail stores includes those in
partnership with large portals such as Yahoo! and MSN as well as Claro,
TelCel, ComCel and more.

– MCD Entertainment, one of Brazil’s largest and most respected
independent labels, represents top-selling artists Barbatuques, Katia B,
Fortuna, Atman, BiD, Roberto Coelho, Palavra Cantada and Clube do Balanco.

– Agave Mobile, a cutting edge mobile content producer and distributor
with a focus on the Latino consumer, actively licenses and produces unique
content that speaks directly to its audiences, including short form videos,
mastertones and wall papers. Already a digital retail partner of IODA’s
through parent company MisRolas, Agave Mobile and IODA are expanding the
scope of their partnership to sell IODA’s Latin music catalog to mobile
partners and off-deck portals in the United States and Latin America,
including AT&T’s MEdia mall, Ideas Telcel, Telefonica/Movistar, Iusacell,
SendMe Mobile, ThumbPlay and Compera nTime. The deal also includes the
MisRolas branded BREW ringtone application.

IODA will manage all aspects of digital distribution for the new label partners. This includes making the label’s content available through IODA’s network of more than 300 digital retail outlets like iTunes, Amazon MP3, Napster and Rhapsody as well as through mobile distribution outlets like Sprint and Verizon.

“IODA has the unique combination of a deep understanding of the independent music industry backed by a strong distribution network and one of the best back-end technology infrastructures we’ve seen,” said Roberto Ruiz, International Relations Director of MCD Entertainment. “We are confident that IODA will connect our large catalog of artists with even more music fans around the world through both traditional and emerging outlets.”

Fans who use digital retail sites Fuego Entertainment, iMusica and Agave Mobile, will now have access to IODA’s large catalog of independent music. Each with a strong regional presence, these digital retailers will expose millions of fans to new music from around the world.

“Digital music sales in Latin America continue to grow as we provide increasingly easy access to music online in nearly 20 countries,” said Felippe Llerena, Executive Director of iMusica. “Adding IODA’s catalog of quality music to iMusica will give our users the ability to discover and purchase music from a much broader set of independent artists than ever before.”

“The forward-thinking business models of our digital retail partners focused on Spanish-speaking markets are giving independent artists access to an important global fan base,” said Kevin Arnold, founder and CEO of IODA. “By providing the opportunity for labels like Fuego and MCD to connect with fans through retailers like iMusica and Agave Mobile, we expand the number of fans for independent artists worldwide. Symbiotic relationships like these fuel our passion for this business and we are delighted to have such quality partners with which to work.”

About IODA

IODA, the Independent Online Distribution Alliance, is the industry-leading digital distribution company for the global independent music community. IODA provides comprehensive services to record labels, physical distributors, and artists, including license negotiations; media encoding and metadata management; and royalty payment administration and reporting. The company also offers promotional support through a dedicated marketing division and through the IODA Promonet (www.iodapromonet.com), a promotional distribution network that provides qualified podcasts, blogs, and other promotional sites with access to pre-cleared, legal music and other promotional assets from IODA’s labels. Founded in 2003, IODA represents a rapidly expanding roster of over a million tracks from thousands of independent labels around the globe. IODA also distributes independent film and video content for over 2000 titles. IODA was named one of FORTUNE magazine’s 25 Breakout Companies for 2005. The company’s website is www.iodalliance.com. “*

Finding bilingual information on starting and running a business just got easier thanks to a new partnership between the League of United Latin American Citizens and the National Hispanic Business Information Clearinghouse.

In keeping with its commitment to improve the economic condition of Hispanic Americans, LULAC is adding an “Entrepreneurial” button to its web site to link members to NHBIC’s robust collection of online business resources.

“LULAC is pleased to partner with NHBIC to bring this valuable business resource to our members and web site,” says Rosa Rosales, LULAC’s National President. “Connecting Hispanics to information on how to finance, manage and market a successful business fits LULAC’s vision of economic empowerment.”

This new addition to LULAC’s web site is quick and easy to use, adds LULAC National Executive Director Brent Wilkes. “Just go online, log on to www.lulac.org and click on the ‘Entrepreneur’ button to access NHBIC’s remarkable network of business resources. We also look forward to unveiling the new ‘Entrepreneurship’ button at our national conference in Washington D.C.”

According to NHBIC founder Salvador Gomez, the BIC resources include pre-screened business information from hundreds of online sources, arranged in strongly defined categories he calls the “Three Ms of Business: Money, Markets and Management.”

Technology is another category aspiring business owners will find helpful, says NHBIC President Michael Barrera, in addition to links to local and national government agencies, business associations, and NHBIC’s network of Latino organizations around the country.

The League of United Latin American Citizens is the largest and oldest Hispanic Organization in the United States with thousands of volunteer members providing community-based programs through more than 700 local LULAC councils nationwide.

NHBIC, a not-for-profit organization, launched its bilingual web site in 2007 to provide information to Hispanics starting or expanding a business. Its purpose is to empower new and established entrepreneurs, build wealth in the Latino community, and boost Hispanic contributions to the U.S. economy.

NHBIC’s lead corporate sponsor is Western Union, to date contributing $2 million through its “Our World, Our Family” global economic opportunities program. NHBIC is also funded by a $3.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. “*

E-Myth Worldwide(TM), (www.e-myth.com/) the leader in online business success education, has launched E-Myth Spanish(TM) (es.e-myth.com/) to support the business development efforts of Spanish-speaking small business owners. Designed for the increasing number of Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs world-wide, E-Myth Spanish will provide training in the business success systems that E-Myth has offered in English for the past 30 years.

E-Myth Worldwide delivers personal and web-based coaching to small business owners based on the approach articulated by Michael Gerber in his bestselling book The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It. A Spanish-language version El mito del emprendedor was published in 1997 and is an indispensable handbook for small business owners, franchisors and entrepreneurs around the globe.

“According to a report by RDA Global Research, there are an estimated 2 million Hispanic owned-businesses in the U.S.,” said Bill Schlegel, Chief Executive Officer at E-Myth Worldwide. “We have a proven system for training small business owners to succeed in any industry, anywhere in the world. With the launch of E-Myth Spanish we will help Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs succeed.”

The first of E-Myth’s programs to be offered in Spanish is Mastery Impact!(R), a comprehensive, 12-month personal coaching program that provides the framework, inspiration and skills necessary to take any business to the next level of success. With the help of an E-Myth Business Coach, clients improve the performance of every aspect of business by strategically developing and implementing proven business systems.

“I knew the Mastery Impact! coaching program was going to change my business when in just 20 minutes of strategic work we came up with an innovation that saved us $20,000,” said Pablo Hernandez O’Hagan, Chief Executive Officer at Ingenia Group in Mexico City. “The Mastery Impact! program was the best investment we’ve ever made in our business.”

To support E-Myth Spanish in Latin America, E-Myth has partnered with Mas tiempo, mas dinero, mas vida S.A. de C.V. which has exclusive distribution rights in Mexico.

“Members of the Mas tiempo, mas dinero, mas vida executive team started out as E-Myth clients,” said Mas tiempo, mas dinero, mas vida Chief Executive Officer Rodrigo Laddaga. “We substantially improved our business and our lives as Mastery Impact! clients and now we want to share this program with fellow small business owners in Mexico and Latin America.”

E-Myth Spanish is available at www.e-myth.com/spanish or by following the “E-Myth en Espanol” link located in the top right corner of the E-Myth website at www.e-myth.com.

About E-Myth Worldwide
E-Myth Worldwide is a business success education company that delivers comprehensive, web-based programs. For more than 30 years, the company has trained business owners to work on their business, not just in their business, by building the strategic systems crucial to success. E-Myth provides entrepreneurs with the growth strategies and skills necessary to build predictable, sustainable and successful businesses. The company’s programs, systems and tools are based on the principles articulated in founder Michael Gerber’s bestselling book, The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It. Visit www.e-myth.com for more information about E-Myth.

(C) 2008 E-Myth Worldwide, Inc. All rights reserved. Information is subject to change without notice. E-Myth and the E-Myth Worldwide logo are trademarks of E-Myth Worldwide, Inc. All other brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.”*

Daisy Ramirez, Founder and President of Potencia Energy Drink, the fastest growing Hispanic energy drink in the USA, is proud to announce the formation of the Juan Ramirez Foundation. (Juanramirezfoundation.org)

Daisy, who recently lost her father in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, is determined to take all of the knowledge and perseverance her father instilled in her and turn this tragedy into a positive by helping others in need — especially the older and the very young. “I came to the USA less than 10 years ago searching and working hard toward the American Dream. After several hard years America has given me many opportunities and now is the right time to do this,” Daisy said. “Hopefully, America will help me on this initiative also,” she added.

Daisy has always been interested in and very motivated to help those in her native country by raising money and other specific items. Some of the first initiatives will be to partner with a local hospital or clinic to ensure good quality healthcare is available for seniors without options and to create a situation where compassion and healthcare are synonymous.

Secondary initiatives will be to collect used wheel chairs, eye glasses, good shoes, medical & personal necessities and some clothes and toys. We will then ship them to Honduras for distribution to the most needy.

The initial website is up and running and the Corporate documents are being processed. The Juan Ramirez Foundation will be applying for NOT For profit status. “*

Anita Santiago Advertising (ASA) announced today that Sofia Escamilla, Vice President Media Director, and Francisco Letelier, Vice President Creative Director, have been named Managing Partners of the agency, effective August 1, 2008. (Photos and interviews available upon request)

“Sofia and Francisco have made invaluable contributions to the culture of ASA in terms of both strategic leadership and client service. In partnership, they have played instrumental roles in the continued growth of the agency. As an agency, we do not look at media and creative as separate departments; they work together seamlessly in delivering unique integrated marketing solutions to our clients, and that is exactly how Francisco and Sofia work,” said Anita Santiago, founder of ASA. Santiago continued, “Francisco and Sofia are true management partners and this promotion is in recognition of their value to the agency and the vital roles they will play in its future.”

Francisco Letelier is an advertising veteran with over 20 years of experience. He joined ASA six years ago, after working in key creative executive positions at agencies including Leo Burnett in Chicago and La Agencia de Orci in Los Angeles.

Sofia Escamilla joined ASA three years ago as media director. Her distinguished career spans more than 12 years working at agencies such as Western and La Agencia de Orci.

About Anita Santiago Advertising:
Founded twenty one years ago and based in Santa Monica, California, Anita Santiago Advertising is a pioneer in Latino advertising, offering clients a full range of marketing and promotional services. Clients include IKEA, Nielsen Media Research, BBVA Compass Bank, United HealthCare, Picturehouse and See’s Candies. “*

Business Wire today announced the launch of LatinoWire, a multi-channel platform, designed to reach the fast-growing and influential Hispanic market, anchored by an exclusive distribution relationship with impreMedia, the No. 1 Hispanic news and information company in the United States in online and print.

LatinoWire’s comprehensive reach includes more than 1,200 Hispanic print and broadcast media nationwide. The backbone of the LatinoWire network is its unique access to the powerful and prestigious impreMedia Digital platform, the most dynamic vehicle available to reach the vibrant Hispanic community.

Business Wire’s Hispanic content and multimedia assets– in Spanish and English– will be displayed on impre.com (www.impre.com), a web portal that includes a digital network of impreMedia’s daily, weekly and monthly publications. The impre.com network of websites attracts approximately two million unique monthly visitors, generating 7.2 million monthly page views. Impre.com consistently ranks among the top Spanish-language news networks visited by U.S. Hispanic Internet users. LatinoWire can be accessed online at www.impre.com/latinowire.

ImpreMedia is the nation’s largest Hispanic publisher, in online and print, with print publications in seven of the top 10 Hispanic markets, reaching 17 markets in total, three of the nation’s top 10 Hispanic DMAs and representing 65% of the U.S. Hispanic population. Its high-profile portfolio of media properties includes: El Diario La Prensa (the #1 Hispanic daily in New York, and the nation’s fastest-growing newspaper); El Mensajero (#1 Spanish-language newspaper in San Francisco); Hoy Nueva York; La Opinion (the nation’s #1 Spanish-language daily newspaper, based in Los Angeles); La Prensa (Central Florida’s leading Spanish-language newspaper); La Raza (Chicago’s #1 Spanish-language newspaper); Rumbo (Texas’ No. 1 Spanish-language newspaper network with newspapers in Houston, San Antonio, and the Rio Grande Valley ; and Vista magazine (the United States’ most read, dual-language, general interest magazine among Hispanics).

“ImpreMedia has quickly established itself as the nation’s premier Hispanic multimedia company, providing unparalleled access to a highly desirable demographic audience,” noted Cathy Baron Tamraz, Business Wire’s president and CEO. “We are extremely proud to be affiliated with the dominant leader in a market destined to grow in importance.”

“We are extremely pleased to partner with Business Wire and to bring Business Wire’s LatinoWire content to our online readers on an exclusive basis,” said Arturo Duran, CEO of impreMedia Digital. “Through our unique partnership, impre.com users will have the ability to receive news directly from the companies making announcements, all with one convenient click. We believe that this is a significant benefit for those who come to impre.com for the latest in business and financial news affecting the Hispanic community.””*

On the eve of the 2004 presidential election, the Republican Party threatened to challenge the qualifications of 35,000 registered voters in Ohio, and went to court to secure their right to do so. For the most part, this turned out to be a smokescreen, or what Steven Rosenfeld has aptly called a “perfect football fake.” Not only did it force the Democratic Party to send its own voting rights advocates to inner-city polling places to defend the challenged voters, but it served as a distraction that allowed other methods of voter disenfranchisement to escape detection.”*

A free opera performance at Colorado College this evening tells the story of a Mexican immigrant family and a teenage girl’s struggle to come to terms with her father’s culture.

The opera features elements of Mexican and Hispanic-American cultures — Spanish and English woven together, prayer to the Virgin Mary, and spirits of the dead that communicate with the living. But the themes in “En Mis Palabras,” or “In My Own Words,” are universal, said Deborah Morrow, director of education programs for Central City Opera, which commissioned the piece. “*

Solera National Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Solera National Bancorp, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: SLRK), announced today that it has launched Solera DepositXpress, a Remote Deposit Capture service that enables commercial customers to scan checks at their desktops and electronically send check images and deposit information directly to the bank. The basic requirements to participate in the service include a personal computer, an internet connection and a check scanner. “*

USA Boxing is pleased to announce a new alliance with Golden Boy Promotions, one of the leading boxing promotional companies in the world, under which USA Boxing and Golden Boy Promotions will collaborate on numerous marketing, media, broadcast and consulting efforts.

“Golden Boy Promotions has set the gold standard in terms of a top-quality approach to the sport and business of boxing,” said USA Boxing CEO, Jim Millman. “This alliance will help USA Boxing accelerate its growth and development in many areas, while giving our elite athletes the benefit of more time spent with Oscar de la Hoya.”"*

As a fellow Chicano, I read former Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales’ recent Op-Ed article, “What Latinos want from their president,” with interest. I can assert with confidence that he remains hugely unpopular in our community. Latinos have called him everything from a token to a sellout to a “Pancho” — a derogatory term for a Mexican American who exists only to serve a white man.

Also, as a fellow attorney, I was curious to read what Gonzales had to say now that he has been out of office for nearly a year. His tenure in the White House and the Justice Department was stormy to say the least, culminating in his leaving office in disgrace. I wondered if Gonzales, like former Bush spokesperson Scott McClellan and a host of other Bush administration refugees, might provide new insights into his role in history.”*

During a ceremonial signing of a new immigration bill on Monday in Joplin, Gov. Matt Blunt said the state of Missouri could not wait for the federal government to respond to what has become a serious national problem.

“This significant legislation will protect the safety of Missouri families and the security of our jobs from the threat of illegal immigration, and I am pleased that Missouri’s legislators responded to my call for action where Washington has failed to act,” Blunt said.”*

Although few immigrant day laborers realize it, they have the same right as any worker to sue employers for unpaid back wages, even if they are here illegally. In recent months, advocacy groups in the Washington region have been helping such workers file administrative claims and lawsuits, and in some cases they have won.

For José, whose last name is being withheld because he is not in the United States legally, a District superior court judge ruled in February that his claim was more credible than his employer’s. “*

The race between Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Raul Martinez is a virtual dead heat, according to a new poll by Bendixen & Associates, with Republican Diaz-Balart favored by 41 percent of those polled and Martinez, a Democrat, capturing 37 percent.”*

Growing up in the Dominican Republic, Wendy Canelones was curious about the custom her grandmother and great-grandmother had of lighting candles on Friday afternoon.

She assumed it was just an old habit. But she was unaware — as were her relatives — that they were carrying on a centuries-old Jewish tradition of welcoming the Sabbath with the lighting of candles every Friday at sunset.”*

“The ICE raid in Postville has returned Postville to the state it was in 15 years ago,” said Brackett. “All of the work we have done to embrace the diversity of our community, and all of the efforts to build up our community have been destroyed overnight.”"*

The language wars flare up whenever insecure Americans worry that English is becoming passé.

It’s a cultural paranoia that is laughably off the mark. According to research, children of immigrants stand a better chance of losing their native language and speaking only English than never learning English at all. Still, it’s a fear that is resistant to facts. I ought to know. I’ve seen it up close.”*

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain has called on his Democratic rival Barack Obama to meet him face to face in informal town hall-style debates across the country. It was easy to see why Tuesday after the two gave competing, formal speeches to a crowd of prominent Latinos.

McCain, a four-term Arizona senator well known and respected by Hispanics, gave a stock economic speech repeated word for word from the day before. He won only polite applause.”*