One of the Guatemalan immigrants, Willian Toj, who was apprehended and deported in May 2008 from Postville, Iowa wasn't just working illegally in the United States at the meatpacking plant to send money back home -- he was working to literally save the life of his mother.

Toj's story is but one of the heartbreaking tales profiled in the PBS-released film Guatemala: A Tale of Two Villages: U.S. immigration raid leaves lasting mark.

Alejandra Zamora suffers from Alzheimer's. Her daughter Rosita stopped sending her money after she was arrested in the Postville raid.
(PHOTO: Jennifer Szymaszek.)

Mexico-City-based multimedia journalists Greg Brosnan and Jennifer Szymaszek looked at Postville, Iowa, El Rosario and San Jose Calderas, Guatemala, three towns devastated by the ICE immigration raid in Postville.

Greg Brosnan and Jennifer Szymaszek are a multimedia production team based in Mexico City. The couple are freelance video producers for The New York Times.

Through their camera lenses, we see the extreme poverty and dire health issues that the families in Guatemala are suffering, along with, the suffering of the people left behind in Postville -- both undocumented immigrants and American citizens.

It is a haunting 15-minute video that should be required watching of everyone in Congress who will decide comprehensive immigration reform.

The good news is that the video is available to watch online.

Maricopa County Arizona is used to seeing protests staged against their infamous Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Yet, this Friday, there will be a different kind of protest against Arpaio in Maricopa County. This time, protesters will be marching with signs in hand that say things like "Sheriff Joe is retarded."

Sound juvenile? Yeah, but what do you expect from a group of kids?

This Friday, at 11 a.m., about 40 children will participate in the Phoenix human rights organization Puente's "Children's Walk for Family Unity." Some of the children have had one or both parents apprehended by Arpaio during his "immigration sweeps" throughout Maricopa County.

The children will march with their homemade signs starting at the County Jail, going to the federal building and ending up in front of Sheriff Joe's offices.

The march also has a cool theme: Monarch butterflies!

The children will be carrying or wearing butterfly wings as an analogy to the famous Monarch butterflies that make a yearly migration from North America to Mexico.

The butterflies represent a question that children torn between Mexico and the U.S. have been known to wonder about when wanting to know the answer to: "A natural migration for Monarch butterflies, why not us?"

(Editor's note: Story tip by Michael Vargas)

Does the name John Quincy Adams sound familiar?

John Q. Adams, sixth President of the United States

It should. He was the sixth President of the United States. He's also the latest President to be on Twitter joining former President Bill Clinton.

By this time, you should be thinking "Isn't Adams, like dead?" Yes, you're right but a strange thing happened. The Associated Press reports that a high school student examining Adams' archives discovered that he made diary entries that resembled tweets.

Then somebody at the Massachusetts Historical Society (guardian of Adams' archives) got the bright idea, and it really is bright, to post Adams' entries from 200 years on Twitter -- and they did.

The curious can see what Adams was "tweeting" about back in his day on his JQAdams_MHS Twitter page. Following the link to the Massachusetts Historical Society website on Adams lets viewers see the original diary entries and manuscripts.

If you're still fuzzy about the history of JQ Adams, read on:

John Quincy Adams was President of the United States from 1825-1829. The first President who was the son of a President, John Quincy Adams in many respects paralleled the career as well as the temperament and viewpoints of his illustrious father. Born in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1767, he watched the Battle of Bunker Hill from the top of Penn's Hill above the family farm. As secretary to his father in Europe, he became an accomplished linguist and assiduous diarist.

After graduating from Harvard College, he became a lawyer. At age 26 he was appointed Minister to the Netherlands, then promoted to the Berlin Legation. In 1802 he was elected to the United States Senate. Six years later President Madison appointed him Minister to Russia.

Serving under President Monroe, Adams was one of America's great Secretaries of State, arranging with England for the joint occupation of the Oregon country, obtaining from Spain the cession of the Floridas, and formulating with the President the Monroe Doctrine.

In the political tradition of the early 19th century, Adams as Secretary of State was considered the political heir to the Presidency. But the old ways of choosing a President were giving way in 1824 before the clamor for a popular choice...

Have you ever dreamed of being the person who finds a cure for cancer? Or maybe a cure for malaria in Africa? Or even helping scientists with the study of global warming?

Well, there's now a way you can and you don't even have to have college degree -- just a computer and a Facebook account!

The program, a collaboration between Intel, the National Science Foundation and Facebook, is Progress Thru Processors and revolves around the concept of "volunteer computing." The idea is that while your computer is idling one of three organizations identified by the National Science Foundation, will be utilizing your computer's processor for their research.

The program capitalizes on times when a PC is not using the full extent of its processor power to run complex calculations for one of the research projects and sends the information back to the project's home servers.

The program will only be active when the computer's processor is not being fully utilized; when the computer needs the full processor performance, the program will sit idle.

The three research projects that are immediately available for the program are: Rosetta@home, which is searching for cures for cancer, Alzheimer's and other diseases; Climateprediction.net, which is looking to finding better predictive models for climate change; and Africa@home, a study that is searching for ways to combat malaria in Africa. All three require heavy computational analysis to achieve their goals

To participate, go to the Facebook page of Progress Thru Processors, download the application and literally do nothing but sit back and know you're helping the world.

There's no doubt that the Presidential campaign of 2008 will go down in history for a variety of reasons. One of those is the amount of political activism it inspired among people who never before dreamt of getting involved in politics.

Political activism is alive and well wherever we look -- from Facebook to even soccer fields!

This weekend, there will be a special tournament taking place for the first time in California that plans to mix soccer with politics. It's called the Worker's Cup Soccer Tournament and it was organized by local unions and community groups.

The tournament will bring together members of Warehouse Workers United (WWU), National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), Pomona Economic Opportunity Center (PEOC), Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA), Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE), and local residents.

The area where the soccer tournament will take place, California's Inland Empire, is characterized as being ground zero for the Great Recession with nation-leading rates of unemployment and foreclosures.

To give area workers a respite from their daily worries, organizers decided to create a day of fun but putting to use political organizing skills they fine-tuned during last year's national elections.

While several hundred workers and their families are expected to turn out and watch 10 teams compete for trophies, the day will also include free health care screenings, letter-writing and petition signing campaigns, along with, music, face painting for the kids and free food and drinks.

The Worker's Cup soccer tournament will give workers and their families a unique opportunity for a day of fun and activism. With letter writing to elected officials like Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a petition directed at Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano calling for a humane approach to immigration reform, and health screening by the Inland Empire Community Health Center, the soccer tournament will raise awareness on a range of issues from the Employee Free Choice Act to health care reform.

Remember a few years ago when the mainstream television networks wanted to capitalize on the popularity of telenovelas? They created their own telenovelas and even developed a dedicated channel, MyNetworkTV, to telenovelas.

What happened? They all flopped.

It quickly became clear that telenovelas were best left to those who know how to create them. Well, Univision, who doesn't create their own original telenovelas, is embarking on their own telenovela experiment -- a webnovela.

This Wednesday, August 12, is the debut of Univision's Vidas Cruzadas.

Starring two popular telenovela stars, Kate del Castillo (La Misma Luna/Under the Same Moon) and Guy Ecker, the webnovela is the second webnovela from Univision. It's about the story of Mariana (Kate del Castillo), an independent woman, who is disillusioned with love after several failed relationships and decides to become a mother through artificial insemination. What she doesn't count on is her "Prince Charming" crossing her path and how he will change her life.

What is interesting about this project is that while telenovelas are always about the Latino life experience south of the border and entail the stereotypical storyline of poor girl meets rich man who rescues her, amid tears, angst and evil villain, this webnovela promises to reflect the life of Latinos in this country where exists another type of drama.

The 15 episodes will last 3-5 minutes.

Knowing that the internet is the future of television, the production team has also created sites on Facebook and Twitter.

Unfortunately, if you're not Spanish-proficient, you may not entirely understand the dialogue. Too bad with all this technology that someone doesn't invent a simultaneous audio translator!

Then all Latinos can enjoy a bit of "culture tv."

A new study titled Study of Recent Vocations to Religious Life reports that among the "religious-in-training" the majority are Latino.

The new members' total is likely higher than the 4,000 surveyed, as some religious institutes did not respond. The study's findings, which did not include diocesan priesthood, show an increased diversity in ethnicity, age, and life experiences among new members.

Among those in training:

21 percent are Hispanic, 14 percent are Asian or Pacific Islander, and 6 percent are African/African American, which is a shift from 94 percent white among finally professed

43 percent are under 30

The study, commissioned by the National Religious Vocation Conference (NRVC) and conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University, illustrates what is happening in institutions and, even countries, with Anglos as the majority -- their membership/citizenship is getting older and dying out.

This report underscores how these institutions, and in this case the Catholic Church, realizes that to remain vibrant and relevant they must make a conscious effort to diversify their ranks.

In addition to reporting the high number of Latinos entering religious vocation, there was another interesting response in this survey of what drew younger people to religious life:

Many younger members seek to wear a religious habit, a practice that has diminished in most religious institutes in the past 40 years

In other words, they want to wear a uniform. Interesting ...

Each year, hundreds of people get together to share and learn how to better use social media and technology to influence the national dialogue. The annual convention is called Netroots Nation (NN).

Netroots Nation amplifies progressive voices by providing an online and in-person campus for exchanging ideas and learning how to be more effective in using technology to influence the public debate. Through our annual convention and a series of regional salons held throughout the year, we strengthen our community, inspire action and serve as an incubator for ideas that challenge the status quo and ultimately affect change in the public sphere.

Held this year in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, NN brings local, state and national politicians together with bloggers, grassroots activists and social justice organizations in an unique forum that lets people mingle, get to know one another, learn from each other and share their respective ideas on how to keep this country great. NN features 70 panels, 20 training sessions, a screening series and a wide variety of events.

In the past, only attendees of NN could enjoy the great speakers and stimulating on-stage conversations that NN brings to its audiences. Yet, it was only a matter of time before NN organizers started implementing the very technology that has been the impetus for today's progressive movement.

This year, there will be live stream convention coverage, a virtual component in Second Life at Second Life with Netroots Nation featuring an interactive session and caucus with real-world attendees, a Twitter feed (#nn09), as well as, Facebook updates.

Also, C-SPAN and C-SPAN 2 will cover all of the keynotes and several of the panels live.

The keynote speaker of NN and who will kick off the event on Thursday is former President Bill Clinton. Check the site's website to see it live.

There has been ongoing debate for years about the merits of breastfeeding. Everything from whether or not it's beneficial for the baby to the ethics of breastfeeding in public, the topic always stirs passionate debate.

Well, it seems that for the city of Laredo, Texas, breastfeeding is the way to go. City officials have declared the month of August as Breastfeeding Awareness Month and are even sponsoring a Breastfeeding Baby Shower for city residents where experts will explain the benefits of breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding supplies the best nutrition for babies and helps them form strong immune systems to fight illness. Breastfed infants have fewer ear infections, incidences of diarrhea, lung infections and infections of the brain and spine. Recent studies confirm that children who were breastfed have higher IQs and a decreased risk of becoming overweight or obese later in life. In addition mothers who breastfeed their babies also receive health benefits including reduced risks of breast and ovarian cancer and osteoporosis.

However, breastfeeding remains a personal choice for women, but some would like to change that.

It's reported that the United States Breastfeeding Committee has a petition circulating to send to President Obama:

Given all of these benefits, the United States Breastfeeding Committee joins the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in recommending that infants be exclusively breastfed for six months, and continue to breastfeed for the first year of life and as long afterward as mutually desired by the mother and infant. Yet only a handful of states are currently meeting the federal government's own Healthy People 2010 breastfeeding targets. Additionally, significant disparities in breastfeeding continue to exist, with non-Hispanic black and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups experiencing lower breastfeeding rates.

There's no argument that breast milk is the best nutrition for infants but breastfeeding also has to be the best choice for the mother too.

Ever since the Republicans chose to ridicule Sotomayor for her usage of the words "wise Latina" in a speech she gave, it has become the battle cry and impetus for countless "wise Latina" groups to be formed, products created and, in this case, a poem.

The following poem written by Efren Paredes, Jr. captures the Latino pride that was shared when Sotomayor was sworn in and is very much worth a read.

In addition to the poem, I wanted to share with readers one of the cutest products yet to take advantage of the "wise Latina" term.

The "Wise Latina in Training" bib is available at Latin Baby USA

The Wise Latina
by Efrén Paredes, Jr./Tlecoz Huitzil

Saturday morning,
protected by the colossal frontal columns
of the nation's Supreme Court
that were once like prison bars
seeking to lock you out of its halls --
before the blinding glare
of flashing cameras
bouncing off adorned walls
absent any images celebrating
your likeness --
there you stood,
the Wise Latina.

Your confirmation hearing
the true identity politics,
the underpinnings of tilted scales,
an indictment of a racist patriarchal system
that stains justice
with its misogynist ways.

Opponents clamored to defame you,
attempted to relegate you
to a footnote in history,
dismissing you
as a child of affirmative action,
as another marginalized brown face,
like the ones they built the wall
along the Mexican border to keep out.

August 26, 2009 is the 89th anniversary of women getting the right to vote. Otherwise, known as the 19th Amendment.

To celebrate this very important democratic milestone in our nation's history, HerStory Scrapbook compiled over 900 links to articles, editorials, and letters in The New York Times Archive for the last four years of the fight for women's suffrage.

Starting with 1917 and going through 1920, visitors can read photocopied articles taken from the pages of the New York Times during those pivotal years.

From 1917 - 1920, The New York Times published over 3,000 articles, editorials, and letters about the women who were fighting for, and against, suffrage. The HerStory Scrapbook includes more than 900 of the most interesting pieces from that period. It is the equivalent of having had someone save articles from The Times in a scrapbook for prosperity.

It is a great site to bookmark, share, review and wonder why after 89 years we aren't farther along than we are.

In a move that I can only characterize as "odd," the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has decided to amp up their PR when it comes to border security by creating their own social network.

Visit Our Border

Dubbed Our Border: A Southwest Border Civic Network, the site carries "blog posts," which are only reprints of speeches delivered by DHS Secretary Napolitano at various events, discussion forums (Customs and Border Protection, Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Citizenship and Immigration Services), photos of the border wall and region and videos - government produced.

It is an interesting attempt by DHS to make themselves appear more transparent and "seemingly" responsive to people regarding the border issue but because of certain censorship the government is imposing the site is far from a free exchange of opinions that traditional social networks foster.

DHS will use the network to communicate the department's policy, post photos and videos, and engage in dialogue, according to the policies detailed on Our Border. The department administers the network and plans to eventually use Ning's live chat feature on Our Border, according to DHS' privacy impact assessment.

So far, the site has 128 members who have posted their names and towns. Out of the 128 people listed as members, only 40 people have actually posted photos of themselves.

Another factor that might deter people from feeling completely at ease in speaking their minds is the fact that the Ning company requires users to submit personally identifiable information (PII) such as e-mail addresses and dates of birth when registering.

Though DHS has promised not to collect, gather or put that information into their records database, for who knows what, the possibility that someone might do it, is enough to re-evaluate the need to join yet one more social network where more than half the people don't even want their faces shown.

With all the restrictions DHS is imposing on the site, it seems disingenuous to try to use social media to present a "false front," if you will.

If they were really sincere about connecting to people who care about what happens at the U.S.-Mexico border, they should ease up on the restrictions, have someone write daily blog updates about what's going on with the agency, encourage people to create a greater profile than just their name and town and accept video from members to post on the site.

While this is a first step, it's one that's already a step backwards if they don't do a better job of illustrating their sincerity in reaching out to people rather than just erecting another platform to get their news and views out.

While volunteering is always good for the soul, not to mention the community, it's now also good for a free or discounted night at a posh hotel.

Sage Hospitality is the mother company of such fine hotels as Marriott, Starwood, Hilton, various water resorts and over 50 hotels/resorts across the country.

Part of their corporate philosophy is to give back to the community. This time, they want to give back to the people who are helping the community be a better place to live.

Give a Day, Get a Night is a campaign that supports volunteerism.

Complete 8 hours of volunteer service to a registered 501(c)3 non profit organization to qualify to receive 50% off the published room rate -- or maybe a complimentary night (limited availability).

The offer goes through December 20, 2009. Just follow the guidelines on how to register for the discount/free room and be sure to have the necessary documents to prove you volunteered.

As Sage Hospitality proves -- the rewards for helping others can come full circle.

It doesn't matter what side of the political aisle you shout from, an uniting fact is an appreciation of the men and women who serve in our nation's military.

Those soldiers who are dispatched to the Middle East, and other high-risk areas, face such trauma that their lives may never be the same again and what thanks do they get from the rest of us?

Lately, while traveling, there have been small signs of people trying to show their gratitude to these soldiers returning from combat -- allowing them to be the first to disembark from a plane, walking up and shaking their hands or having their meals bought or paid for by appreciative strangers.

Unfortunately, not all of us may be able to spare an extra ten when it comes to showing appreciation to our military or feel too shy to walk up to someone who doesn't know us. In turn, some of these soldiers feel a little awkward in knowing how to receive such attention.

Yet, there is still a way to show gratitude to these men and women for their military service.

A national campaign focused on getting Americans to thank our military personnel is underway. It's called The Gratitude Campaign and it doesn't involve money, a handshake or even a verbal thank you -- only a simple gesture.

Starting with your hand over your heart (like you're saying the Pledge of Allegiance), extend your hand down, palm up and arm still bent at the elbow and stop right above your waist. It resembles the American Sign Language sign for "thank you" but there is a slight difference to the gratitude sign.

Organizers of the campaign want people to do this, and not feel shy about it, whenever they see a person in uniform. As the tagline for the campaign says:

When it comes to sharing stories of family experiences, there isn't a Latino family who hasn't had at one time or another sat mesmerized listening to abuela or tio relive memories that are either funny, sad or scary -- but never boring!

These stories are so good and offer such insight into Latino life that it seems a shame that the stories aren't told to a wider audience -- now, they can be.

Launching Sept. 24, a new oral history initiative, funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, called StoryCorps Historias aims to find those family stories and record them for posterity.

The program allows friends and family to interview each other, with help from StoryCorps facilitators, for 40-minute recordings that are saved on two CDs, one for the family to keep and the other for the Library of Congress. Sometimes stories will be aired on public radio.

The goal of the initiative is to record more than 700 interviews from across the country to reflect the diversity that exists within the Latino community.

The interviews will be collected in one of three ways: Door-to-Door, MobileBooth or StoryBooth services. Each of these methods will be available in select cities across the country but communities can bring the initiative to their communities by visiting the website and making a request.

Families who want to participate in the initiative can explore a variety of options from renting a story kit to downloading a do-it-yourself guide.

It's important that the Latino life experience be included in any national project about American life. Otherwise, history will forget.

We know we're a nation of gordos (fatties).

And most of us are willing to take personal responsibility for the poor lifestyle choices we've made that have gotten us to the point where we tip the scales. Yet a new study shows that some women had no choice but to get fat -- that is, if they wanted to put food on the table for their families.

A new study shows that women enrolled in the government's food stamp program can thank Uncle Sam for being contestant material for "The Biggest Loser" show.

Researchers found that the average user of food stamps had a Body Mass Index (BMI) 1.15 points higher than non-users. The link between food stamps and higher weight was almost entirely based on women users, who averaged 1.24 points higher BMI than those not in the program, the study found. For an average American woman, this would mean an increase in weight of 5.8 pounds.

The study also found that people's BMI increased faster when they were on food stamps than when they were not, and increased more the longer they were in the program.

The researchers are quick to point out that they can't prove the food stamp program, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), causes weight gain but based on the study's findings, it's clear there is a strong link.

Regardless of what happens to healthcare reform, it's clear the government has to clean up its own act of including foods in the program that are healthy and nutritious and don't put people already vulnerable at further risk simply because they are poor.

One of the reasons why Latina Lista was started (in 2004) was because there was a sadly disappointing lack of Latina voices in the blogosphere. Thankfully, since then, a lot of Latinas listas have come online sharing their voices -- but there are still areas where Latina voices are extremely underrepresented. One of them is in the talk show TV realm.

For some reason, television, whether it be cable or the networks, have long overlooked Latino talent. The announcement that George Lopez will have his own TBS talk show, Lopez Tonight, come November does little to erase the fact that there are no Latina voices hosting a talk show -- hasta ahora!

Putting a Latina twist to The View concept creates a new online show called "Let's Talk."

Let's Talk is a 15 minute "Anytime" internet talk show with a unique perspective on culturally relevant topics with universal appeal.

Let's Talk! is a ground breaking English-Language talk show featuring four intelligent, opinionated, hilarious, dynamic and professional Latinas. Emmy-award winning host and actress Marabina Jaimes (Storytime); actress-comedienne Dyana Ortelli (Curb Your Enthusiasm); Bel Hernandez, Publisher of Latin Heat, a print and online magazine; and actress Kikey Castillo are ready to tackle any subject.

Found on the Latin Heat web site, the talk show promises to dish about issues that are important to everyone -- but seen from the unique perspective that is totally Latina!

About time!

Since 1971, every President has issued a proclamation for Women's Equality Day. The day was designated, through legislation by Congresswoman Bella Abzug, to honor the day women were given the right to vote.

In fact, the theme of this year's Women's Equality Day is remember Congresswoman Abzug and how the right to vote was won.

As you'll see in President Obama's proclamation, he goes a little further in that he includes women of various communities who have advanced the rights of women over the years.

Unfortunately, women still aren't fully equal when it comes to being afforded some opportunities and, of course, pay scales, but it's an ongoing process that at least is advancing for most, if not all.

Happy Women's Equality Day!

WOMEN'S EQUALITY DAY, 2009 - - - - - - - BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION

Today, our country renews its commitment to freedom and justice for all our citizens. As we prepare to celebrate this women's day of equality, we reflect on the sacrifices once made to allow women and girls the basic rights and choices we freely exercise today. The future we leave to our daughters and granddaughters will be determined by our willingness to build on the achievements of our past and move forward as one people and one Nation. The fight for women's equality is not a woman's agenda, but an American agenda.

We honor the resilience, accomplishments, and history of all women in the United States. We celebrate the courageous women who fought to uphold a fundamental principle within our Constitution -- the right to vote -- and in so doing, protected the cornerstone of our vibrant democracy. These visionaries of the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 sought to ensure that our country lived up to its founding ideals.

Although only one, Charlotte Woodward, at the age of 81, had the opportunity to exercise her newfound right, the struggle reminds us that no righteous cause is a lost one. We also commemorate women like Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, a poet and lecturer who formed the National Association of Colored Women; Antonia Pantoja,
a tireless advocate of education equality within the Latino community; Sarah Winnemucca, a voice for peace within the Native American community; and Patsy Mink, author of Title IX and the first woman of color and Asian American woman elected to the United States Congress. These women's talents, and the contributions of countless others, built upon the framework of 1848 and forged paths for future generations.

Summer may be winding down but there's still time for one more getaway with the amigas -- and to get started all you need is a Facebook account.

Las Brisas Ixtapa

The Mexican chain of fabulous Brisas hotels and resorts is sponsoring a Facebook-only contest aptly dubbed "Brisas, Chicas and Margaritas."

To enter the contest is very easy:

1. Have a Facebook account

2. Become a fan of the Brisas Hotels & Resorts Fan Page

3. Click on the "Wall" tab

4. Choose an item that best represents friendship to you. In the comment box that reads "What's on your mind?" describe why the item represents friendship using 140 characters or less.

5. Next, click on the second icon on the bottom-left titled "Photos," then click on "Upload a Photo" to attach the picture of the item.

6. Finally, click the "Share" button to upload your contest photo and description

There is one grand prize: "trip package for four (4) girlfriends includes: roundtrip, coach-class air transportation for you and your three (3) girlfriends to Mexico; 3 days and 2 nights' accommodations at one of Brisas Hotels & Resorts beach properties (Acapulco, Huatulco, Ixtapa or Manzanillo). Brisas will welcome the winners with margarita cocktails by the pool."

If that wasn't enough, once the fan page reaches 2,000 fans, the resort chain will donate $2000 to the Fondo Para la Paz, a non-profit registered in both Mexico and the U.S. which has worked for 15 years promoting "community led-development and building social capital to improve living conditions" in rural indigenous villages in Mexico.

The contest started August 17, 2009 and ends Sept. 17, 2009. The winner will be notified around Sept. 30 either thru an email, or what else -- their Facebook account!

Who knew social media could be so intoxicating? :)

By now, anyone who has ever used classified listings to buy or sell something knows about Craigslist. Yet, with the huge Spanish-speaking readership in the country, it was only a matter of time that a Spanish version would be created -- and it has been!

It's called Clasilistados.

"Clasilistados" means "classified listings in Spanish". Clasilistados.org was born as a necessity to serve the USA's biggest, most unrepresented and underserved minority: The Spanish speakers with US spending power.

With more than 47MM Spanish speakers in the USA and no tangible service that could offer this community a solid platform of classified ads, Clasilistados launched in Jan of 2009. The business model can be defined as "free classified ads with basic features, and paid ads for those who need more exposure and premium functionalities ".

Targeting those cities with high Spanish-speaking populations, Clasilistados is in the first phase of building up awareness of its product to attract users to post their announcements and/or items on the site.

Creating eleven categories ranging from personales and comunidad to servicios and trabaja temporal, the site hopes to fill the needs of Spanish-speakers.

It's an ambitious project whose time has come.

By Kate Shellnutt
News21

Traditional greetings--"buenos dias" and smacking kisses, one on each cheek--sound out over the organ music 22-year-old missionary Charisse Horn plays at a Sunday morning service in Logan Square.

A year ago, she'd never spoken a word of Spanish. Now, as one of about 35 Spanish-speaking missionaries in Chicago, she worships, gives testimony and reads El Libro de Mormon, or the Book of Mormon, all in Spanish.

"I remember what it was like when I first came," said Charisse, who grew up outside Salt Lake City and moved to Chicago a year ago to serve in heavily Hispanic--and pretty heavily Catholic--neighborhoods on the North Side, like Avondale, Hermosa and Logan Square. "It was overwhelming."

The number of the Spanish-speaking Mormon congregations in the U.S. has grown by more than 80 percent in the last decade, now up to around 700. A majority of these are in the southwest--home to plenty of Mexican-Americans- but more urban Mormon churches are also holding services in languages other than English.

"It's indicative of the LDS efforts to reach out and pay more attention to inner-city locations where the population tends to be more diverse," said Paul Reeve, religious history professor at the University of Utah.

In Chicago, Hispanics, which account for about a third of the population, make up more than half of converts to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as more missionaries are reaching out to inner-city populations in Spanish. About a quarter of the 32 congregations on the city's North Side are Spanish-speaking.