Tag: David Magallanes

Bilingual commentary — The Transformative Power of Seasonal Living

by Community Contributor • March 22, 2024 • Comments Off

Are you intrigued by the concept of “seasonal living”? It captured my interest when I read about it on The Smallest Light, a website dedicated to marketing services. One of the articles on this site, written by Laura McMahon, describes ways to celebrate the arrival of spring in our homes.

This article reminds us of the psychic power of a celestial turning point: the occurrence of the vernal equinox. On this day, just as on the autumnal equinox in the fall, day and night are of equal length. This astronomical, seasonal, and spiritual event occurs at the tipping point as winter morphs into spring, the season that contains the promise of renewed life.

Bilingual report — Fresh Attacks on Migrants…and Citizens

by Community Contributor • March 15, 2024 • Comments Off

Much of the population of this country is of migrant stock. Some are newly arrived, while others are the progeny of immigrants (such as I am).

The newly arrived naturally favor speaking their native tongues until they gain proficiency and confidence in the English language. Their children and grandchildren who grow up here may turn out to be fully bilingual. On the other hand, they may, to one extent or another, lose the language of their parents and grandparents as they become fully assimilated into the American fabric.

Bilingual commentary — Leap Year: A Tale of Science and Conspiracy Theories

by Community Contributor • March 7, 2024 • Comments Off

Every four years, we get to experience a phenomenon known as “leap year.” This occurs when February has 29 days rather than its usual 28. The “leap” refers to the reoccurrence of days from one year to the next. Normally, a given date that occurs during a given year will occur one day later in the subsequent year. For example, January 1, 2023, occurred on a Sunday whereas January 1, 2024, occurred on a Monday of the following year.

Bilingual commentary — How and Why to Vote Responsibly

by Community Contributor • March 1, 2024 • Comments Off

As I was filling out my ballot for the coming election here in California, most of the items were fairly easy choices for me (one of them at the top of the ticket was very easy). But then I came to the choices for judge for the Ventura County Superior Court. We are directed to vote for only one.

I stared at the names. One of them was immediately recognizable because I had seen his name in news items about some of our local civil and criminal trials. His credentials seem impeccable.

But then I realized that I knew essentially nothing about the other three candidates.

So why is it so important to vote for judges and not just skip over this section of the ballot?

Bilingual commentary — The Mysterious Letter X

by Community Contributor • February 23, 2024 • Comments Off

The letter X is one of the simplest, yet most enigmatic letters in use today. We’re not even sure how to pronounce it sometimes. The story of its origins is fuzzy.

Just look at the word for the name brand “Xerox.” One word, two very distinct pronunciations for x.

In Mexican Spanish, x has a place in the evolution of the language. It has generally replaced j in such words as “México” vs. “Méjico,” “Texas” vs. “Tejas,” and “Oaxaca” vs. “Oajaca.”

Bilingual commentary — Roman Numerals and the Super Bowl

by Community Contributor • February 16, 2024 • Comments Off

The first Super Bowl, which could have been known as “Super Bowl No. 1,” was played the year I graduated from high school in 1967. “Super Bowl No. 2” followed in 1968, and so on, until we got to “Super Bowl No. 4” in 1970.

The “footballerati” started to think that this numbering system for the Super Bowl games was getting a bit “boring.” Lamar Hunt, the late owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, decided that the Super Bowl needed a more eloquent numbering system…something that would make it sound more important, dignified, and even “magisterial.”

Bilingual commentary — Is a College Education Affordable?

by Community Contributor • February 9, 2024 • Comments Off

Who can afford college?

This question is uncomfortably popping up more frequently lately. There has been much chatter about student debt, upward-spiraling tuition, lower wages for college graduates, and employers’ increasing willingness to hire people without college degrees. This discussion has led young people to more seriously weigh their options after high school.

The specter of near-lifetime student debt looms large in young people’s decisions.

Bilingual commentary — Learning English Can’t Be Easy

by Community Contributor • February 2, 2024 • Comments Off

We who have spoken English all our lives cannot possibly appreciate the magnitude of the gift we possess. English has become the de facto “universal language” that people throughout the world resort to when they have the need for a common tongue.

Most of the rest of the world who wants to learn English struggles mightily with the immense challenges posed by this lingua franca.

Bilingual commentary — Raising A Daughter

by Community Contributor • January 26, 2024 • Comments Off

This is an updated version of one of the first articles, with this same title, that I wrote for Amigos805 in October 2011.

I have had the experience and privilege of raising a daughter. Many people throughout the years have indicated to me their belief that I had accomplished this task successfully. It was not always easy nor without considerable reading, research, reflection, and discussion with other parents.

Bilingual commentary — Pre-Columbian Custom on a City Bus

by Community Contributor • January 19, 2024 • Comments Off

I was on a city bus in Oxnard recently when I found myself fascinated by a female passenger that had boarded.

I know…that statement appears to be borderline salacious, but let me explain.

The woman with a dark complexion appeared to be indigenous Mayan. I’ve spent some time in Yucatán, Mexico, so I recognize the Mayan profile, including the majestic shape of the nose, when I see one. It is distinctively different from the indigenous profiles that hail from other parts of Mexico.

What struck me even more was the ease with which she was caring for her very young child, maybe one year old.

Bilingual commentary — Preparing For the Collapse of Society

by Community Contributor • January 12, 2024 • Comments Off

Previously I was not known to be a pessimistic person by my friends and colleagues. Quite the contrary. They know me as someone who is forward-looking and generally optimistic about life.

Until recently.

Just over three years ago, I breathed a sigh of relief—not so much because Joe Biden had won the presidency, but rather because Donald Trump had lost.

However, by that time Trump had already primed his supporters to reject the possibility that he could lose. That Biden’s win was not exactly a landslide only served to infuriate his base as they disregarded all evidence supporting the results of the election.

Bilingual commentary — Natural vs. “Miracle” Weight Loss

by Community Contributor • January 5, 2024 • Comments Off

The 2023-2024 holiday season is now in the rearview mirror. Many of us will be resurrecting those weight loss resolutions that perhaps we had attempted last year (and the year before that, etc.).

Now, suddenly, there are new, shiny objects that glisten on our lifestyle horizons: weight-reduction drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy.

The gravitational pull of these “miracle drugs” is too strong to dismiss them as mere fads. Even the respectable, time-honored Weight Watchers organization appears to welcome these drugs into the fold after spending decades encouraging traditional lifestyle-based changes in people’s lives, such as dieting and exercise.

But before conventional dieters cast their calorie tables and food portion scales overboard, they need to seriously consider the numerous downsides of these drugs.

Bilingual commentary — It’s Been Quite a Year

by Community Contributor • December 15, 2023 • Comments Off

Editor’s note: Amigos805 welcomes local guest columns, letters to the editor and other submissions from our readers. All opinions expressed in submitted material are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the viewpoint of Amigos805. By David Magallanes •…

Bilingual commentary — The Pros and Cons of Arranged Marriages

by Community Contributor • December 8, 2023 • Comments Off

was talking with a female friend recently about her ongoing search for a marriage partner. This is not unusual for a woman in her twenties. Her approach, however, is largely unusual in our culture. She is willing to consider submitting her destiny to an “arranged marriage.”

She is of Middle Eastern heritage, though raised in the U.S. from an early age. Some traditions such as arranged marriages, as anathema as they may be in American culture, endure in some ethnic families. There are many reasons why individuals might be open to accepting an arranged marriage for themselves.

There are also a lot of reasons to tread carefully into an arranged marriage, or to avoid one at all costs.

Bilingual commentary — Jack Benny and Rochester: The Dawn of Civil Rights on Television

by Community Contributor • December 1, 2023 • Comments Off

I remember when I used to gather with my family around a small-screen, black-and-white television. It was the mid-1950s when the Civil Rights era was starting to take shape.

The Jim Crow laws, constructed to blatantly deny equal rights to African Americans, were in full force in many states. These laws repressed Blacks in ways that are unimaginable to us today.

What we viewed on TV was almost completely from a white perspective. There were very few Blacks in the programming of that time. The few that were shown to us appeared in stereotypical roles: nannies, maids, porters, janitors, and criminals.

I also remember watching The Jack Benny Show with my father, a blue-collar worker who enjoyed situational comedy. Jack Benny was a character portrayed as an affluent, though endearingly “cheapskate,” white Jewish man. He was a renowned comedian before, during, and after World War II.

Guest commentary — The Surprising History of Oxnard’s Teatro Boulevard

by Community Contributor • November 17, 2023 • Comments Off

I’ve lived in the Oxnard/Port Hueneme area for nearly 50 years. Throughout that time, I’ve driven past the “Teatro” on Oxnard Boulevard at least a couple hundred times. I hadn’t realized how little I knew about it.

I had a vague understanding of its history. I’ve since learned that the building was constructed in 1929 around the time that “palace theaters” were flourishing in this country.

The venue was originally called Boulevard Theater, but its name changed to Teatro Boulevard in the 1960s in recognition of its importance to the Latino population that supported it. It was a thriving Spanish-language theater in its heyday. In fact, it was the only Spanish-language theater in Ventura County at the time. I seem to recall seeing a couple of films there in the 1970s.

Bilingual commentary — How My Generation Learned Classical Music: The Cartoons

by Community Contributor • November 10, 2023 • Comments Off

Those of us who grew up in the 1950s received a classical music education not available to later generations. We learned about a wide range of classical music—but not by attending prestigious schools or institutions for rich kids. All we had to do was sit at home and watch the cartoons of that time on our TVs. Those television sets displayed black-and-white images on hopelessly small screens.

Listening to some of that music now as adults conjures images of archetypal cartoon characters in our heads. Hearing some of the music by Strauss, Liszt, Chopin, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Rossini, Schubert, Smetana, von Suppé, and a host of other composers instantaneously recalls visions that we will forever associate with iconic pieces composed by these artistic giants.

Bilingual commentary — National Greasy Foods Day: A Warning or a Celebration?

by Community Contributor • November 3, 2023 • Comments Off

Last week I noticed that October 25 was National Greasy Foods Day. Initially, I didn’t know if this was a joke or a celebration.

As it turns out, this day is deemed worthy of a “limited celebration.” This culinary observance is meant to celebrate greasy foods, which we all love, but only as a “special treat” of which we should partake only occasionally.

There are many good reasons to emphasize the “occasional” nature of this kind of food that, unfortunately, many of us tend to crave.

Bilingual commentary — Why Study History?

by Community Contributor • October 26, 2023 • Comments Off

During my elementary and high school years, my history teachers were passionate about imparting their knowledge and perspectives. One of my problems at the time was that I did not appreciate their wisdom and incisive insights into the forces that shape our world.

Looking back, I wish I could have allowed them to fill the vessel that should have been receptive and overflowing. Like most young people, I would venture to say, I did not see the point in learning about a world that, I thought, “no longer exists.”

But the world of the past is still very much in our midst, just as our ancestors have had a powerful hand in shaping who we are today.

Bilingual commentary — Humorous Yet Dangerous Confusion on the 101

by Community Contributor • October 19, 2023 • Comments Off

We in Ventura County have some interesting challenges along the main artery of transportation in our region—Highway 101. Some of these challenges would be hilarious if they were not also dangerous. And what might be humorous for the locals could be dangerously confusing for drivers from outside our area.

A cousin who lives in Los Angeles was driving north toward Santa Barbara along the 101 last week. North of Ventura he came upon the road construction that we here are all too familiar with. We know that as we approach “the split,” we commit to a single lane, bearing either to the left or right, and continue heading north. Simple, right?

But for out-of-towners, the choice is unexpected and confusing. Most of these drivers, including my cousin from a town as large as Los Angeles, have never in their driving lives encountered such an unusual split on a highway as wide as the 101.

Bilingual commentary — Are STEM Degrees Falling Off Their Pedestal?

by Community Contributor • October 12, 2023 • Comments Off

When I was starting my higher technical education, I was studying “vacuum tubes.” These might as well be classified now as archaeological artifacts that young people can view in museums. Vacuum tubes were ubiquitous in the primitive computers of that time. They were also visible in everyday, household life—in radios, televisions, and guitar amplifiers.

Bilingual commentary — The High Price of Illiteracy

by Community Contributor • October 6, 2023 • Comments Off

I was recently listening to a radio program discussing illiteracy and poverty in our country. These two intractable problems in our society are inextricably linked to each other. They also explain a lot of the darker forces that are shaping our future—and that of our children.

As I searched the Internet for some insight into the aforementioned forces, I came across a few uncomfortable propositions. I was reluctant to accept them. But I had to admit to myself that there were good reasons to at least entertain the possibility that these propositions contained some truth.

Bilingual commentary — A Pulsating Anger

by Community Contributor • September 29, 2023 • Comments Off

This article, in its original form, was first published in Amigos805 on September 1, 2015. It is as relevant today as it was eight years ago.

On those difficult days that we all have, we can feel that “something” in the air as we drive our cars through traffic, walk along the street or the corridors of the office building, read editorial columns or letters to the editor, or as we take a daring plunge into online comments about any news item.

That “something” is unmistakable. It’s that suffocating, toxic, deadly anger that lingers and permeates all levels of our society. From impoverished neighborhoods to elegant offices, from busy highways to quiet campuses, from our homes to boisterous marketplaces and busy factories, the anger simmers. It too often explodes in this most abundant nation on the planet. But that “abundance” is material; our national soul is crying for some semblance of healing, but that healing is elusive.

Bilingual commentary — Oppenheimer and Prometheus

by Community Contributor • September 22, 2023 • Comments Off

My eldest grandson recently invited me to watch the blockbuster film, Oppenheimer, with him. He told me that he preferred watching it with me rather than with peers. This grandson knew that I had lived through the Cold War between the U.S. and the now-defunct Soviet Union. He understands that I have a perspective that his friends can’t possibly possess. I felt honored.

Bilingual commentary — The Epidemic of Male Loneliness

by Community Contributor • September 8, 2023 • Comments Off

I have often thought about the burdens that girls and women have—burdens that are unique to them. It is often difficult, if not impossible, for men to comprehend the joys and traumas of childbirth, the stress of dealing with the menstrual cycle, the health issues that men will never have to consider for themselves.

I also sympathize with women’s constant need to protect themselves—from men. Certainly, female-on-male abuse and violence exist, but male-on-female brutality and assault is several orders of magnitude greater.

Women have one huge advantage over men that induces a secret jealousy in men: the ability to form deep and meaningful relationships with other women.

Bilingual commentary — The Connection Between the Tooth Fairy and the Little Mouse

by Community Contributor • September 1, 2023 • Comments Off

How could we have gone through those early stages of losing our baby teeth without the help of the famed tooth fairy?

We all have a preconceived image of this ethereal creature, which has been solidified by Disney’s introduction of fairy creatures into our lives. We in the U.S. got our first glimpse of the tooth fairy in 1908, when the Chicago Daily Tribune published an article about this beloved creature. The myth was rebooted in 1927 when Esther Watkins Arnold published the book, “The Tooth Fairy: Three-Act Playlet for Children.”

Bilingual commentary — Trying to Grasp Infinity…and Beyond!

by Community Contributor • August 25, 2023 • Comments Off

“Infinity” means, quite literally, “without end.” Since humans could reflect, they have pondered infinity. Very likely, the first inklings of infinity occurred as the earliest humans contemplated the night sky replete with what seemed to be an infinite number of stars.

Having taught college math, I often talked with my students about “infinity,” but in a mathematical sense. For instance, we discussed infinite iterations, infinite limits, an infinite number of classes of numbers, the infinite number line, infinitesimal differences, infinitely large numbers, infinitely small numbers, the infinite decimal nature of constants such as “pi.”

Bilingual report — American Checkmate, 2024

by Community Contributor • August 18, 2023 • Comments Off

In chess, “checkmate” occurs when the “king” on the board is threatened with capture and has no way out. At that point, the game is, for all intents and purposes, over.

We in the United States are being checkmated by Donald Trump, the current GOP frontrunner for the presidential primary nomination. Rather than a checkmate of the king, the very foundation of our country is being threatened. Increasingly, it appears that there is no way out of the upcoming fraught battle for the very soul of the nation.

Bilingual commentary — Chicano English

by Community Contributor • August 11, 2023 • Comments Off

Throughout the United States, speakers of English use many different variations of Standard English. For example, the English spoken by the Creoles of Louisiana is quite different from the English spoken by Mexican Americans in Los Angeles, the elites in Boston, and residents of the Bronx in New York.

All of us have heard, or used, Black English. It is distinct in its pronunciation and grammar, differing somewhat from the Standard English that is taught in our schools. This variant of English used to be called, somewhat condescendingly, “Nonstandard Negro English.”

In the 1970s, Black scholars decided to rebrand this form of English as “Ebonics” (Ebony + Phonics). It was an attempt to normalize and respect the English spoken by the majority of African American students in the Oakland, California area. The school board made the decision to account for this background in the students that they served while teaching them Standard English in the classrooms.

Bilingual commentary — The Birth of Mexican Spanish

by Community Contributor • August 4, 2023 • Comments Off

In 2021, we recognized, or mourned (I won’t say “celebrated”), the 500th anniversary of the Conquest of Mexico. On August 13, 1521, Tenochtitlán fell into the hands of the Spanish conquerors led by Hernán Cortés.

It was the beginning of the end for Indigenous Mexico. It was also the birth of modern Mexico, along with a unifying European language. The conquerors also introduced a new religion that was forced to shape itself around the contours of indigenous beliefs.

One would hope that when a student chooses to study the Spanish language, it would mean that the learner will become conversant with native speakers of Spanish. The problem is that “native speakers” of Spanish include both European Spaniards and Latin Americans, whose Spanish is similar but at the same time demonstrate distinctive differences.

Bilingual commentary — Writing as a Barrier for Students

by Community Contributor • July 28, 2023 • Comments Off

Bilingual commentary — Why Don’t We Follow the Rules?

by Community Contributor • July 21, 2023 • Comments Off

Why are so many of us reluctant to follow “the rules.” As it turns out, there is a whole slew of reasons why we just can’t “behave.” But why would we want to, anyway?

There are reasons that rules exist in society. There may be some rules that are unnecessary, coercive, or frivolous. But for the most part, in our country, at least, rules permeate our lives to protect us and others. They also make life better for all of us.

Bilingual commentary — Is Teaching Conventional English and Math “White Supremacy”?

by Community Contributor • July 14, 2023 • Comments Off

A California high school English teacher, Marta Shaffer, has declared that teaching proper English grammar in our classrooms sustains white supremacy in our education system.

Either Ms. Shaffer has a point, or she is someone who searches tirelessly for supremacist underpinnings where there may be none—or at least not to the extent that she perceives.

Bilingual commentary — The Upsides and Downsides of Being Rich

by Community Contributor • June 23, 2023 • Comments Off

Mae West, the renowned and controversial actress whose career spanned several decades over the 20th century, was spectacularly successful. She used her considerable affluence to invest wisely in San Fernando Valley real estate. By all measures, she was a wealthy woman.

She was not born wealthy, however. Her mother, who had worked as a corset model, was a German immigrant. Her father was a “prizefighter.”

One of Ms. West’s most famous quotes is: “I’ve been rich, and I’ve been poor. Believe me, rich is better.”

Bilingual commentary — Are We Setting Up College Students for Failure?

by Community Contributor • June 16, 2023 • Comments Off

I taught college mathematics for over 40 years at a local community college. During that time, I witnessed how poorly prepared most incoming students were for college mathematics. In fact, the vast majority required some level of “remediation.”

“Remediating” students meant that they may have had to begin their college math journey as far down as “Basic Mathematics.” This lowest level college class taught them (or reviewed for them) how to add, subtract, multiply, divide, handle fractions and decimals, and deal with some elementary geometric concepts (circles, squares, rectangles, etc.).

Bilingual commentary — The Pros and Cons of Owning a Dog

by Community Contributor • June 9, 2023 • Comments Off

People often seek the company of a pet. Their reasons for doing so vary as much as their personalities.

Deciding whether to take on the responsibilities of owning a dog can be fraught with conflicting needs. For example, you may anxiously anticipate the joys of having a furry companion but end up loathing the many inevitable inconveniences that this entails.

Let’s first ponder some of the advantages of owning a dog.

Bilingual commentary — Google Maps: AI for Our Daily Lives

by Community Contributor • May 26, 2023 • Comments Off

Artificial intelligence (AI) may have burst upon the scene just last November, but it has been a part of our lives for at least several years. We may not have called it “artificial intelligence,” but many of us have been using it for years for our mundane tasks.

Google Maps is one clear long-running example of AI in some of our lives. It became available to us in 2005, not quite 20 years ago. The younger generations may feel particularly adept at using many of the more esoteric features of this app. But those of us of the boomer persuasion might have used Google Maps long ago simply as a digital version of the old Thomas Bros. paper map books that were sold in grocery stores and bookstores before the era of Google Maps.

Bilingual commentary — Are Latinos “White”?

by Community Contributor • May 19, 2023 • Comments Off

I had a moment of angst three years ago as I filled out the 2020 U.S. Census form. I froze in my tracks, just as I had with employment forms in the past, when I saw a question asking me to denote my race. I am thoroughly aware that much of the U.S. population, especially in the more conservative states, would not consider me “white.”

Their assessment is based solely on my appearance. I’m not particularly dark, but neither am I of “fair skin.”

In light of recent developments in our country, I am now less willing to declare myself as of the “white” race on any form inquiring about my ancestral background. However, in the following Census question inquiring about my ethnicity (as opposed to “race”), selecting “Hispanic or Latino” was an obvious choice.

Bilingual commentary — The Attacks on Jill Biden Are Attacks on Women

by Community Contributor • May 12, 2023 • Comments Off

For MAGA conservatives, women are fair game. Members of the extreme right wing of the conservative movement can pursue and verbally attack women with impunity. In fact, it raises their profile as they become heroes within their authoritarian, paternalistic tribes.

This was demonstrated recently when right-wing TV host John Fredericks lambasted First Lady Jill Biden on several fronts.

Bilingual commentary — Israel and the U.S.: A Tale of Two Countries

by Community Contributor • May 5, 2023 • Comments Off

As I read an article this past week about the 75th anniversary of the founding of Israel, I found myself wondering, for a few moments, whether I was actually reading about Israel or the United States.

Israel has been contending with a hyper-religious, ultra-Orthodox contingent in its government that is very influential regarding national policies. Since December of last year, Israel’s government has taken a hard turn to the right, guided by ultraconservative, extremist lawmakers who have strong authoritarian tendencies and who have no intention of negotiating with the Palestinians regarding their statehood. The history of the Palestinian territories has been fraught with dizzying complexity since 1916, around the time of World War I.

Page 3 of 14

« 1 2 3 4 5 … 14 »