POSTED // Dec 17,2008 - Dear Readers: A couple of columnas ago, I published a short list of my favorite books regarding Mexicans and Mexican-Americans and urged ustedes to submit better choices so that gabachos can have a Christmas shopping list for their favorite Mexicans, or to understand nosotros better. Muchos responded, and below is a list of the most-recommended tomes, along with my brief descriptions. But before e...

POSTED // Dec 16,2008 - Curses, Foiled AgainnA man who robbed a gas station in Aurora, Ind., tied up the clerk and then ran out the door with a carton of cigarettes. The robber stopped, however, when he realized he’d forgotten the bag of money. Police said he tried to re-enter the store but couldn’t because the door was equipped with an electronic lock.nn• Police responding to the theft of an ATM in Leav...

POSTED // Dec 10,2008 - Curses, Foiled AgainnAfter New Hampshire state police stopped a vehicle going 69 mph in a 45-mph zone, the driver identified himself as Jonathan Brackett. When asked, however, he spelled it “Jothan.” Trooper Chris Storm eventually learned the driver was Paul Sans, 26, who was wanted for burglary. A drug-trafficking charge was added when passenger Alicia Kelley, 20, voluntarily produced...

POSTED // Dec 10,2008 - nARIES (March 21-April 19)nIt’s an ideal time for you to throw a party for all the people you’ve ever been and all the different selves who live within you now. Invite the teenager who once seethed with frustrated potential and the four-year-old who loved nothing more than to play. Include the hopeful complainer who stands in the shadows and dares you to ask for more, as well as the br...

POSTED // Dec 10,2008 - I heard it’s possible to live for an extended period of time, not just short-term, on nothing but potatoes and milk. Is there any truth to this? If I could really get all the nutrients I need from just potatoes and milk, it sure would make my grocery shopping easier. —Joshua B., Olney, Maryland n nExcellent question, Josh. With hard times coming, we’re all going to have to e...

POSTED // Dec 10,2008 - Dear Mexican: Many times, as I cross the border into the United States, I see bald cholos buying images (posters, blankets, baby bibs) of Al Pacino in Scarface. Where does such an obsession for this ugly Cuban come from? Is Tony Montana replacing la Virgencita de Guadalupe in cholos’ living rooms across America? —Proud to be an Illegal Alien n nDear Wab: Author Ken Tucker recently...

POSTED // Dec 3,2008 - nARIES (March 21-April 19)nThe European Union has had rules banning the sale of ugly carrots with knobby protrusions, cucumbers that are grossly curved, and equally unaesthetic specimens of 24 other fruits and vegetables. Recently, that changed, however. The stiff standards were relaxed. “It makes no sense to throw perfectly good products away, just because they are the ‘wrong’ s...

POSTED // Dec 3,2008 - Curses, Foiled AgainnPolice said that Enrique Vega Jr., 29, used a screwdriver to rob a Mexican restaurant in Fresno, Calif., then made his getaway on a bicycle. He crashed, however, impaling himself on the screwdriver, which severed an artery in his thigh, and he bled to death. n• When two men kicked in the front door of an apartment in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and demanded cash, the resident t...

POSTED // Dec 3,2008 - Without gravity, how do female astronauts menstruate while in space? —Gayle, Ventura, Calif. nFor a while there, Gayle, the question wasn’t how women would menstruate in space but whether it was too risky to find out. nAlthough the first female cosmonaut, Valentina Tereshkova, had flown in Vostok 6 in 1963, women were excluded from the U.S. space program during its early years. The off...

POSTED // Dec 3,2008 - Dear Mexican: Why is it that those of us who oppose illegal immigration are called racist by many Mexicans? Personally, I think Hispanic people are beautiful and a diverse people who contribute tremendously to our culture (and spicy hot as well!). At the same time, I oppose illegals who wander across the border as if they just won the lottery, with no regard for our laws or culture, not knowing a ...