By Andrew L. Jaffee

The Absolut Vodka company recently ran an ad campaign which re-drew the map of North America, showing California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, and Texas as re-conquered by Mexico. The Absolut ad’s sentiments coincide with radical Latino groups who expouse “anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism, homophobia and other expressions of hatred.” Absolut has apologized for its ridiculous ad, but too little, too late. Vote with your wallet — buy SKYY Vodka, made in the USA:

… In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the Mexican-America War (1846-1848). With the signing of this treaty, the United States gained control of what was to become the Golden West, including California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and parts of Colorado and New Mexico. Today, SKYY® Vodka, the number-one vodka produced in the United States, spoke out against suggestions by Absolut® Vodka to disregard that treaty, as well as the joining of Texas to the Union in 1845, as depicted in Absolut’s recent advertising.

“Like SKYY Vodka, the residents of states like California, Texas and Arizona are exceptionally proud of the fact that they are from the United States of America,” said Dave Karraker, SKYY Vodka. “To imply that they might be interested in changing their mailing addresses, as our competitor seems to be suggesting in their advertising, is a bit presumptuous.” …

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

So now, “THE Absolut vodka company has apologised for an advertising campaign depicting the south-western United States as part of Mexico…” This “depiction” is the same sentiment advocated by the Nation of Aztlan, which “calls for the United States to return ‘Aztlan’ territory - Aztlan being the mythic homeland of the Mexican people, or Aztecs, which according to legend is found in the American Southwest or Northern Mexico. The group’s nationalist message is blurred by frequent appeals anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism, homophobia and other expressions of hatred.” Isn’t that special? Absolut sure has a strange (offensive? hateful?) — idea of its target audience. Here’s an example of the Absolut campaign imagery:

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Mexican local and national government seems unwilling to crack down on continual gang-related drug violence. Certainly, many illegals are just seeking jobs in the U.S., but when did America become responsible for solving Mexico’s rampant corruption and unemployment problems? Certainly, a good number of illegals are drug gang members seeking to acquire turf and revenue in the U.S. Read the following, then think about whether the U.S. should have an open-door immigration policy:

Mexican medical investigators are working to identify four burned bodies discovered on a ranch near the Mexican border town of Palomas, which is across the border from Columbus, New Mexico. …

The latest violence in the border town of 8,000 came the day after the town’s chief of police requested U.S. asylum saying that he feared for his safety.

Luna County deputies and border patrol officials said that Chief Emilio Perez was under the protections of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

Also last week, Colmbus Mayor Eddie Espinoza reported he had been getting a root canal in a Palomas dental office when two armed man burst in and robbed the dentist.

Officials believe the surge in violence in and around Palomas signals an escalation of a turf battle by rival drug gangs along the U.S-Mexico border.

DOH! Notice that the Palomas police chief didn’t ask the Mexican government for asylum.

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by Michael Rubin*

While the United States has focused its attention on Iranian activities in the greater Middle East, Iran has worked assiduously to expand its influence in Latin America and Africa. Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s outreach in both areas has been deliberate and generously funded. He has made significant strides in Latin America, helping to embolden the anti-American bloc of Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua. In Africa, he is forging strong ties as well. The United States ignores these developments at its peril, and efforts need to be undertaken to reverse Iran’s recent gains.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

… Chavez’s use of the words “for now” in his concession speech echo a statement he made after his failed attempt to overthrow the government in 1992. After that, “for now” became a rallying cry for his supporters. …

El Jefe Chavez lost yesterday’s election, but don’t think he’s given up on becoming Venezuela’s dictator-for-life. He blamed his own supporters for defeat, even after he tried to buy their votes. But the majority of Venezuelans saw through his cynical pandering, and instead rejected Chavez’s more megalomaniacal proposals. In the final analysis, Chavez’s election grandstanding (his big mouth) — threatening to “cut off exports of oil to the U.S., Venezuela’s biggest trading partner” — seemed to convince a majority of voters that he was a danger, not an asset, to the country.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

The Left would have you believe that opposing illegal immigration makes you a “racist,” but according to a story in the Albuquerque Journal, “Many Hispanics are among the strongest opponents of illegal immigration.” Here’s more:

…But more than half of Hispanics say that the United States has too many immigrants from Latin America. …

These viewpoints have a voice on the national level with You Don’t Speak for Me, a Hispanic group appalled at what they see as anti-American acts by the pro-immigration movement.

Al Rodriguez, a retired U.S. Army colonel, said he started the organization in May 2006 when he saw pro-immigrant marchers take down American flags.

“That’s what really hurt me as I’m a military retiree,” he said. “I said, ‘Well, wait a minute, these folks aren’t speaking for us.’ ”

Rodriguez said his group quickly grew to more than 5,000 members. …

Of course, the usual suspects label people like Rodriguez as “traitors” (Uncle Toms).

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Hero. Rebel. Revolutionary. These are words one often hears in association with Ernesto Che Guevara. …

- BBC

These are words one often hears about Che from historical illiterates and wannabe, middle class “revolutionaries.” You know, the ones who walk around wearing Che t-shirts; the ones whose entire belief systems are solely based on the t-shirt they are wearing. Yesterday, Cuba “officially” commemorated the 40-year anniversary of Che’s execution. This sham pageantry was in reality a commemoration of dictatorship; a reminder of the prison in which most Cubans live. Here’s a historical reminder of what Guevara really stood for:

…Che himself admitted to ordering “several thousand” executions during the first year of the Castro regime. Felix Rodriguez, the Cuban-American CIA operative who helped track him down in Bolivia and was the last person to question him, says that Che during his final talk, admitted to “a couple thousand” executions. …

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

President Hugo Chavez threatened on Monday to take over any private schools refusing to submit to the oversight of his socialist government, a move some Venezuelans fear will impose leftist ideology in the classroom. …

- Associated Press

First of all, there’s nothing “socialist” about Hugo Chavez’s Venezuelan government. Marx and Engels wanted to create a utopian “state in which the working class and poor peasantry exercised direct control on management of industry and society through democratically elected soviets or councils.” Chavez is concentrating all power in his own hands. He’s clamping down on the free press and is paling around with the very anti-Semitic Iranian President Ahmadinejad. Chavez has taken direct control of Venezuela’s oil wealth, as well as the country’s electrical and telecommunications companies. The money will certainly go into his own pockets. Most recently, Chavez has moved to take direct control of Venezuela’s central bank and military, and is busy editing the constitution to make himself president for life.

There is nothing “socialist” going on in Venezuela, just the exploits of another cheap thug following in the Castro/Mugabe/Milosevic tradition: absolute power forever. Will Venezuelan students be able to differentiate between Chavez’s megalomania and Marx and Engels’ teachings?

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By Mark Krikorian*

(Click here to read “Fixing Immigration”)

I was delighted to see Yuval Levin engage the issue of immigration, particularly its most basic element — the shape of our policy for legal immigration — rather than the conceptually simpler matter of enforcement. I also welcome some of Mr. Levin’s specific recommendations, especially that family-based immigration should extend only to the nuclear family and that assimilation into American society should be given a higher priority.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

El Jefe, Hugo Chavez wants to change Venezuela’s laws to allow him to own and control everything — all of his country’s wealth, human rights, ideas, news, etc. In other words, Chavez is about to become the next dictator in the Castro/Mugabe/Milosevic tradition: absolute power forever. Still want that Che Guevara t-shirt? From the AFP:

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Those of us who support legal immigration won a small victory today, but the battle is just beginning. “A fragile bipartisan compromise that would legalize millions of unlawful immigrants suffered a setback Thursday when it failed a test vote in the Senate, leaving its prospects uncertain…” But “the measure…got a reprieve when Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he would give it more time before yanking the bill and moving on to other matters.” This “compromise” is President Bush’s pet, and would open the floodgates to illegal immigration. The President is really looking to ensure a cheap supply of labor, even tough he cloaks his aims in other language (sophistry). His plan is basically an amnesty that rewards people who have illegally entered the U.S. What we really need is legal and sustainable immigration, not an illegal tidal wave.

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Newest Data Shows Latin American Immigrants Make Heavy Use of Welfare

By Mark Krikorian

WASHINGTON (June 6, 2007) — As they debate legalization for illegal immigrants, Senators would do well to keep in mind the most recent data on welfare use by the people in question. According to the Department of Homeland Security, nearly 60% of illegal aliens are from Mexico and 80% of the total are from Latin America as a whole. A new Center for Immigration Studies analysis of 2006 Census Bureau data, which includes legal and illegal immigrants, shows use of welfare by households headed by Mexican and Latin American immigrants is more than double that of native households. Among the findings:

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

I wouldn’t put a lot of credence into what El Jefe Castro says. After all, he’s a “communist” leader worth $US900 million. His “communist” economy is a disaster, and Cuba is one of the poorest countries in the Americas. If not for tourism and money sent by Cuban expatriates, there would be complete economic collapse. Castro executed three Cubans for trying to escape their “worker’s paradise.” El Jefe jailed 75 poets, journalists, economists and other dissidents because they dared to express political opposition. Now Castro has gone off the deep end, criticizing the use of biofuels, which by the way “will lower carbon dioxide emissions, ensuring a cleaner environment.” Still think El Jefe is “progressive?” From the BBC:

Cuban leader Fidel Castro has written a second newspaper article within a week, again criticising US biofuels policy.

Writing in the Granma newspaper, Mr Castro said a US drive to back crop use for fuels would raise prices and cause more hunger in developing countries. …

He said [the use of biofuels] “…means none other than the internationalisation of genocide…”

So, Castro wants us to burn more fossil fuels? Damned if we burn fossil fuels and pollute more; damned if we burn ethanol and pollute less. Ah, we have a surplus of grains, so there’d be no effect on “developing countries…” Oy, amateurish economics and environmentalism…

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Remember the old jingle for Chiquita bananas? Cute, huh? Well, no. Instead of working with U.S. and/or Columbian authorities to fight terrorism, Chiquita Brands International Inc. was paying off terrorists — in old-style protection money:

U.S. banana producer Chiquita Brands International Inc. pleaded guilty Monday to doing business with a terrorist organization for paying protection money to Colombian paramilitaries between 2001 and 2004.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Stop the presses: Mayan priests are upset about President Bush’s planned visit to Guatemala. No doubt, Maya civilization rose to great heights, but it also degenerated into an imperialist, egomaniacal bloodbath. Who needs history when the revisionists can sanitize it?

Mayan priests will purify a sacred archaeological site to eliminate “bad spirits” after President Bush visits next week, an official with close ties to the group said Thursday.

“That a person like (Bush), with the persecution of our migrant brothers in the United States, with the wars he has provoked, is going to walk in our sacred lands, is an offense for the Mayan people and their culture,” Juan Tiney, the director of a Mayan nongovernmental organization with close ties to Mayan religious and political leaders, said Thursday.

Oy, vey.

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