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ColumnsPolitics

Media Outlets Profit in Trump Era

IMAGE: Donald Trump during presidential campaign. iStock photo (Getty Images)     The legendary king of late night TV, Johnny Carson, would sometimes blame a “slow news day” for the lack of comedic material for his standup. It was a different era. No CNN 24-hour news, no other networks doing the same, no political pundits spreading their hype on television and the Internet, no social media. Times have changed, though, especially now that The Donald…
Pedro Chavez
March 14, 2018
AnécdotasEspañol

Travesía al norte: segunda parte

IMAGEN: Bombas petroleras en las afueras de Bakersfield (Oildale). Parecidas a las que vimos aquella noche. Getty Images.     ÚLTIMO PÁRRAFO DE LA PRIMERA PARTE: Dos semanas más tarde partimos hacia el norte y el estado de California. Nuestro padre quería que nos esperáramos, pues estaba ganando bien en su cargo de tractorista en El Centro. Pero nos fuimos de todas maneras. Nuestra madre insistió. No teníamos destino alguno, excepto que pensábamos quedarnos en…
Pedro Chavez
December 28, 2016
EspañolPeripecias

Las peripecias de un cachanilla – I

IMAGEN: Entrada a la base aérea Albrook, Zonal del Canal, República de Panamá. Mi barraca estaba ubicada en la planta alta del edificio en el lado izquierdo. * * * PRIMERA ENTREGA. INTRODUCCIÓN Y UN POCO DE MÍ. Soy mexicano, pero en mis venas se han metido rasgos de todos lados. Es que he sido muy vago y por cosas de la buena fortuna he andado por varios rincones del mundo. Allí he conocido otras…
Pedro Chavez
April 20, 2016
ColumnsStories

The Trek North: Part Six

PHOTO: Fig tree like the ones in Figarden in 1962. Getty Images.   Working as a helper on a fig-picking tractor did a lot for me. More than anything, I felt good about getting a check each week. Every Saturday I would ask my father to take me to the small store in Figarden so I could cash it. I usually bought a soda and an apple turnover, sometimes other things. One had to buy…
Pedro Chavez
January 16, 2016
ColumnsPolitics

Business as Usual

PHOTO: A Walmart Supercenter, similar to the one in Chula Vista.   NOTE: Wrote this column in 2010 after a visit to the store mentioned below. Something tells me that not much has changed since then and it is still business as usual at the Walmart stores along the U.S.-Mexico border.   This one is probably the busiest Walmart store on the face of the earth. But no one has to tell you that if…
Pedro Chavez
January 7, 2016
ColumnsPolitics

Pesos for Pizza

NOTE: Wrote this column in January, 2007, right after Pizza Patrón in Dallas announced that it would accept Mexican pesos as payment for their food at their outlets. The marketing move worked. Photo from Getty Images.   A pizza chain’s marketing ploy seems to be bringing its spinners more than what they had in mind from some irate folks who sense that America is becoming too much like Mexico. On the other hand, there’s a…
Pedro Chavez
December 15, 2015
ColumnsStories

The Trek North: Part Three

PHOTO: Figs on a tree branch, similar to the ones we picked in Figarden, California. Getty Images.     It took about an hour to get to Delano after leaving Bakersfield. We were all hungry, but for some reason food no longer mattered much, especially for those of us that were older. We wanted to find work. The local farm employment office gave us the name and address of a Mexican labor contractor that needed…
Pedro Chavez
December 1, 2015
ColumnsStories

The Trek North: Part Two

IMAGE: Oil pumps, similar to the ones we encountered in Oildale. Getty Images.   Once we had our permanent resident visas, our mother wanted to leave right away for the United States. Our father wanted to wait. It was in August, a time when he had plenty work. He thought it would be best to save some money before embarking on the trip north. Our mother felt differently and said that not much would be…
Pedro Chavez
November 24, 2015
Border TalesColumns

Food for Thought: The Guard at the Border

NOTE: Wrote this fictionalized story in May 2006, as part of Border Tales, a crazy idea I had then about making fun of some news items. It’s all fiction, written just for fun. (PHOTO: U.S. Mexico border area at Big Bend National Park, looking south from the Texas side. Getty Images).   The tall man was wearing a camouflaged uniform, similar to those worn by American soldiers in Iraq. He was carrying what looked like…
Pedro Chavez
November 23, 2015
ColumnsStories

The Trek North: Part One

IMAGE: Local passport photo of our mother and the first five of us. Left to right: Amanda, Rosa Carmina, our mother Lydia, Julio César (in her arms), Armando, and me (Pedro).   There was no triple wall then, in 1962, the year we crossed the border between Mexicali and Calexico in our way to a place that promised us a better future. Triple walls are abundant now in myriad spots along the geopolitical line that…
Pedro Chavez
November 19, 2015