Blog: Origin of the 12 grapes on New Year's Eve, Nochevieja

"The grapes could not be sold and the growers were faced with a rotting harvest and mounting losses. As astute merchants, they decided to create a "ritual" event to sell the grapes."

http://mylatinovoice.com/politics-and-us/25-lo-que-es/1475-las-12-uvas-the-latino-tradition-of-the-12-grapes.html

NYT: Univision to produced its own Latino shows in USA

"About 35 million people speak Spanish in the United States, and Univision is watched by about 3.5 million of them on an average night, making it the nation’s dominant Spanish language network."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/business/media/07univision.html

Recap on the rise of fall of Starmedia dot com hype and fraud allegations

"Dot-Com Years

Espuelas, a skilled marketer armed with cash from his successful IPO, was the mastermind of massive public relations campaigns on his own behalf. During the height of the .com bubble, a brief image of Espuelas often appeared within the 15 second top-of-hour video spot on CNN, amongst renowed politicians and celebrities. His public relations firm continually referred to Espuelas as "The Hispanic Bill Gates", a term that the media would accept and recapitulate in articles and interviews referencing Starmedia. As time went on, employees noticed increasingly reckless behavior in Espuelas. In one particularly odd moment, an angry Espuelas allegedly turned over a table of food on top of Quepasa.com founder Jeffrey Peterson amidst a disagreement at a meeting in San Antonio, Texas in February of 1999. In Miami, a team of twelve blue-haired "Starmedia girls" followed Espuelas between media conferences."

http://en.allexperts.com/e/f/fe/fernando_espuelas.htm

L.A.Times; Do Latinos like the Chipmonks Sqeakquel?

"Fox's "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" collected $50.2 million over the weekend and $77.1 million since it debuted Wednesday. Its crowds were 70% families and heavily Latino."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2009/12/biggest-weekend-in-box-office-history.html

Pew study: US born Latinos most likely to be online

"Latinos who were born in the U.S. were much more likely to go online than those born outside the U.S. This gap persisted even after accounting for differences in education levels, household income and English proficiency, the report said."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g7zPXJySO3utkWefP-z6-ievJVuwD9COD5900

LA Times: Cal. Governator nominates Latino Republican Abel Maldonado for Lt. Governator

"With tears occasionally welling in his eyes, (Abel) Maldonado (state Sen. of Santa Maria) recalled a childhood spent picking strawberries alongside his parents. And now, he marveled, he was accepting the nomination for lieutenant governor. "Only in America can that happen," Maldonado said."
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-week29-2009nov29,0,839190.story

AsburyParkPress: anti-immigrant Dobbs vs pro-immigrant Menedez in Senate challenge?.

"Lou Dobbs, former CNN host and populist doyen of the anti-illegal immigration crowd, says he is seriously considering running for U.S. Senate in New Jersey by challenging Sen. Robert Menendez, one of the nation's most ardent supporters of immigrant rights — legal and illegal — when his term is up in three years."

http://www.app.com/article/20091127/OPINION01/911280305/Lou-Dobbs-in-campaign-mode