The cable channel USA Network is known for its character-driven shows and it's "Characters Welcome" tagline. So, it makes perfect sense that as part of their community outreach they would play on their character theme and create a "Characters Unite" campaign.

Characters Unite, USA Network's community affairs program, was created in January 2009 to address the social injustices and cultural divides still prevalent in our society. It was created on the simple premise that life is richer when people see beyond stereotypes and appreciate individual differences.

To kick off the network's sponsorship of a national town hall meeting, moderated by former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw on Wednesday, December 2, to explore the country's divisions and find common ground to these social justice issues, a revealing poll entitled, "United or Divided," was released today.

In it, Americans across the country had very definite opinions on what the divisions are in this country that pits one side against another and who is not doing enough to heal those divides.

Among the findings:

Fifty-one percent believe that the amount of prejudice, discrimination and intolerance in the country is a very or somewhat serious problem.

A majority (55%) say that the amount of division and lack of unity among Americans has gotten worse over the past 10 years.

Only 5% of Americans believe that race relations are no longer a problem in the United States. Two-thirds (65%) believe that race relations are still a problem in the USA, but that we have come a long way, while half (30%) that many say that race relations are still a problem and we have a long way to go.

African Americans see things quite differently than Whites and Hispanics do on this question. African Americans are divided evenly as to whether we have come a long way (46%) or still have a long way to go (47%), while two-thirds of Whites (69%) and Hispanics (64%) focus on the progress that has been made.

Sixty-two percent said that gays and lesbians experience problems with prejudice because of their sexual orientation very or fairly often, followed by Muslims because of their religion (60%), and immigrants because they were not born in the U.S. (52%).

Language proves to be a real flashpoint; the increasing use of languages other than English bothers many Americans who otherwise are tolerant on issues of race and diversity. Most White Americans (54% unfavorable) express concern about the expanded use of languages other than English in daily life, while Hispanics (55% favorable) and African Americans (58% favorable) see this as a positive trend.

Americans believe that both Republicans in Congress (63%) and Democrats in Congress (52%) are doing more to divide the country than to unite it.

Fifty-five (55%) percent say Obama is doing more to unite the country, while 39% say he is doing more to divide it. There are predictable partisan differences on this question, with 85% of Democrats and 53% of independents describing Obama as helping to unite the country, while 77% of Republicans say he is doing more to divide it.

The town hall meeting, which will have a panel discussion to review the poll's findings and expand the dialogue on how the country can begin to overcome the challenges created by having a diverse nation, will be available live online from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. EST, Wednesday, Dec. 2. However, all viewers must register to watch it.

Yet, the campaign is more than just the poll and Town Hall event, it's also about getting people to interact with one another about their feelings on diversity, stereotypes and other issues. At the campaign's home site, visitors will find 50 different doable suggestions on how to create a more united country, take the pledge to do just that and how to share the message with friends and family.

As Latina Lista has documented, there is an increasing trend of intolerance among certain Americans towards people who are different from the mainstream. This campaign is a good first step in opening the nation's eyes to just how extent the problem really is.

What do Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mia Farrow and Rigoberta Menchù Tum have in common?

Well, aside from being advocates for peace, they also happen to share book credit in a special new cookbook called "Ingredients for Peace."

The 141-page cookbook, which supports the work of the Nobel Women's Initiative, features such dishes as "Tutu Chicken," "Peace Bean Salad" and "Activist Pasta" from Nobel Peace Prize Laureates and over 60 activists worldwide.

Sprinkled among the recipes are personal observations by the contributors, along with, short "peace bios" to let readers know exactly what area of peace for which each contributor advocates.

"...There are human rights activists and disarmament types -- from landmines and cluster bombs to nuclear bombs. There are people who work with refugee populations and those who try innovative means of conflict resolution. There are activists who do not believe nuclear energy is either "clean" or "sustainable." There are those who work for environmental justice and other supporting international humanitarian laws."

In addition to the recipes, peace bios and thoughtful commentary are also the URLs to organizations' web sites that cover a number of peace related issues.

For some in the world, the idea of peace is hard to swallow but this cookbook shows just how "fulfilling" it can be when people come together.

It's often been said that the best way to learn a new language is total immersion. Usually that means traveling to a foreign country or living in a place where only the language you want to learn is spoken.

With the Internet, learning a new language can take a whole new direction. It's no longer enough to just provide online lessons with audio and video components, while the Internet allows for people from different countries to actually connect with one another.

At least, that's what the creators of the social media language learning site Livemocha thought.

Realizing that the world is getting smaller and smaller with billions of people traveling and emigrating between countries, the creators of Livemocha recognized that learning a new language is quickly becoming a necessity.

But the problem was: How do you get people proficient in speaking a new language before they actually have to use it?

Taking a page from social network sites that link people from all over the world, Livemocha created an online international community where people learning a new language actually go online to practice, via webcam, with a native speaker.

But perhaps the coolest thing about the Livemocha method is how they keep people motivated to stay with the lessons -

For most people with little free time, learning a language can take a back seat to their busy lives. Through competitions, a language buddy system and community encouragement, Livemocha provides the tools to keep learners motivated and making steady progress.

Livemocha has free classes, along with, premium services that cost. There are written exercises as part of the lessons, and another cool feature of the site is that they provide a virtual keyboard with the characters from that country's alphabet so as to type the lessons correctly - that means accent marks!

The site offers classes in 30 different languages. Among them are: English, Spanish, French, Hindi, German, Portuguese and Mandarin Chinese.

As a testament to the effectiveness of Livemocha, the creators just got back from London, England where their "Active English" program was awarded the 2009 English-Speaking Union's President's Award.

While not everybody can enjoy the benefits of growing up biculturally, there's no reason to go through life anymore not being bilingual or trilingual, etc.

The art of the future is communication -- in the language that best does that.

Al Frente de Lucha Community Center , based in Weld County, Colorado develops and implements a variety of programs to help the local Chicano/Mexicano community address critical community issues. Issues range from combatting the Latino dropout rate to assisting those families impacted by local work site raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In addition, Al Frente de Lucha provides information to the community on how to participate in the decision-making of local policy and programs affecting their lives.

Al Frente de Lucha is run by Ricardo Romer and Priscilla Falcon. Both Ricardo and Priscilla were a big part of the Chicano movement in Colorado.

Understanding that among Latino youth there is a need to learn more about Latino history and culture, Romer and Falcon created The Tierra Amarilla Youth Brigades-Leadership Institute (T.A.Y.B.).

The T.A.Y.B. is a camp that consists of culturally relevant classes and various work projects that develop and broaden the life experiences of the young people they serve.

Today is the 68th anniversary of when Pearl Harbor in Hawaii was bombed by Japanese forces, and which triggered the U.S. entry into World War II.

In line with how our nation physically remembers/salutes the loss of American lives in horrific (historic) events in our country, state governors, one after another, are issuing proclamations to mark this day as "Pearl Harbor Day."

It is a day that for many Latino families takes on special significance.

It's estimated that anywhere from 250,000 to as many as 750,000 Latinos and Latinas served in the armed forces during World War II. Yet, their stories were never known outside their immediate families. The U.S. Latino & Latina World War II Oral History Project has changed that.

This organization, based at the University of Texas at Austin, has championed the presence of Latino/a World War II veterans so no one ever forgets and new generations of Latinos/as know the proud contributions of those who came before them.

Today, there is a vital Latino contribution in honoring all those who died at Pearl Harbor. In a 2008 story from Latina Lista's Hometown News Partner Hispanic Hawaii News, there is one Latino whose sole job is to relive Pearl Harbor day in and day out so no one forgets.

Read Mexican-American relives Pearl Harbor bombing

When people talk of hiphop, it's understood that it's not just about the music.

Hiphop and rap represent a whole subculture that overtook the music industry and made the nation aware that urban youth face a totally different life experience than youth living in the burbs.

Over time, even though the "burb youth" adopted rap as their own, the beginnings of rap and hiphop remain a lyrical history lesson of what was happening with urban youth in the nation.

Now, a new site created by Black Youth Project makes it easy to trace the history of what rap music reflected during those times.

Graph depicts how often the term "police" was used in rap songs from 1989-2009.

The Rap Lyrics Database is the first in the nation to let users search through the lyrics of the most popular rap songs over the last 20 years.

"The Rap Lyrics Database is a rich resource for anyone interested in knowing what is important to urban youth," said Professor Marcyliena Morgan, Founding Director, Hiphop Archive at Harvard University.

 "One can search the top hiphop recordings of the last 20 years to reveal trends in lyrics that reflect various attitudes and crises among our youth. Searches like "teacher," "education," "prison," "justice," "death," etc. result in graphs and lyrics that suggest that the best MCs addressed the major issues affecting their communities."

Visitors can search the lyrics of rap songs that made it to Billboard Music's top rankings from 1989 to February 2009 in three ways: "(1) by the list of songs that appeared on the charts for 20 weeks or more (indicating heavy radio and video play), (2) by only the number one songs from the Rap charts, or (3) both lists at the same time."

What's cool is that the database also allows for keyword searches and brings up not only the songs in their entirety that have that word but a graph that shows in which years that word was most often used in rap songs.

All in all, it's a cool site that has a lot of potential with one goal -- increasing the understanding of mainstream (music, media, society, etc.) as to how rap artists view life and feel life treats them -- with the understanding that the artists aren't just speaking for themselves.

In 1999, of 24 shows that premiered on the major television networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX), not one show had a single person of color in a lead or regular role.

Ten years later, the report is better, not great, but better.

According to the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), of the TV and film roles for 2008:

72.5% went to Caucasians, 13.3% African-American, 6.4% Latino-Hispanic, 3.8% Asian & Pacific Islander, .03% Native American and 3.8% other/unknown.

The ninth annual Network Television Diversity Report Card, issued by the National Latino Media Council (NLMC), notes that while there has been "incremental" progress at all four of the networks, there are still some glaring omissions of Latina/o talent being perpetuated.

For example, both ABC and NBC lack enough Latino directors. The only network that excels in this category is CBS who not only grants directing opportunities of hit shows to Latino directors but lets them direct multiple episodes.

However, CBS had the lowest number of Latino contestants on their reality shows in the past three years and NBC received a "F" for failing to include Latinos/as in its creative team.

Another area the report card gave low marks to was casting.

...it became apparent that there is a lack of diversity in the casting teams of each of the networks. Predictably, a diverse casting team will be better at reaching people of color through their networks and relationships.

The NLMC also gave poor grades to mainstream media for not doing enough to combat hate speech.

In the last couple of years we have seen countless reports of vicious hate crimes against Latinos that result in death and great bodily harm. Indeed, the FBI has reported that there was a 40% increase in hate crimes against Latinos in just the past few years.

We are certain that this is a direct result of the "immigration hysteria" fueled by
irresponsible TV and radio talk show hosts that spread inaccurate and hateful messages about Latinos...

Mainstream media needs to do a better job at covering the stories on hate crimes to raise awareness of this problem. And because of the significant lack of positive media images of Latinos in the U.S., and because we do not have sufficient access to the airwaves, the American Latino community is at great risk.

If hate speech is allowed to continue, it will be a tremendous disservice to Latinos and non-Latinos across the country, who hear anti-Latino speech and may assume the information being disseminated is correct.

The final overall diversity grades for the networks for the 2008-2009 season were:
ABC B+
NBC C+
CBS B
FOX B+

Though there exists debate in some circles on whether or not President Obama deserves the Nobel Peace Prize he was officially awarded today in Oslo, Norway, the fact remains he was selected for a reason.

As Norway's Prime Minister Stoltenberg rationalized, "You have really created a new climate of international cooperation through your very strong emphasis on the need for dialogue."

It is not hard to see that the election of President Obama serves as inspiration and hope to global leaders that the United States now has a president who understands international cooperation and thinking things through before declaring pre-emptive strikes.

The following is the text of President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech.

President Obama receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway.

A Just and Lasting Peace

Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Distinguished Members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, citizens of America, and citizens of the world:

I receive this honor with deep gratitude and great humility. It is an award that speaks to our highest aspirations - that for all the cruelty and hardship of our world, we are not mere prisoners of fate. Our actions matter, and can bend history in the direction of justice.

And yet I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the considerable controversy that your generous decision has generated. In part, this is because I am at the beginning, and not the end, of my labors on the world stage. Compared to some of the giants of history who have received this prize - Schweitzer and King; Marshall and Mandela - my accomplishments are slight. And then there are the men and women around the world who have been jailed and beaten in the pursuit of justice; those who toil in humanitarian organizations to relieve suffering; the unrecognized millions whose quiet acts of courage and compassion inspire even the most hardened of cynics. I cannot argue with those who find these men and women - some known, some obscure to all but those they help - to be far more deserving of this honor than I.

But perhaps the most profound issue surrounding my receipt of this prize is the fact that I am the Commander-in-Chief of a nation in the midst of two wars. One of these wars is winding down. The other is a conflict that America did not seek; one in which we are joined by forty three other countries - including Norway - in an effort to defend ourselves and all nations from further attacks.

Still, we are at war, and I am responsible for the deployment of thousands of young Americans to battle in a distant land. Some will kill. Some will be killed. And so I come here with an acute sense of the cost of armed conflict - filled with difficult questions about the relationship between war and peace, and our effort to replace one with the other.

Today's Spotlight on a non-profit serving the Latino community is Avance.

Since 1973, AVANCE has helped parents prepare their children for school by focusing on what parents can do during the critical first three years of their child's life.

AVANCE primarily serves Hispanic families in low-income, at-risk communities. It has grown into over 90 program sites in ten chapters across Texas. It is expanding the model into New Mexico and California.

The goal of AVANCE is to educate Latino parents on how to be supportive and effective parents, teach them about the stages of childhood development with classes in early childhood and promote and encourage that they read to their young children daily.

As documented by the Dallas chapter:

Parents who go through the program are reading to their children at least 3 times per week. Those who complete the Parenting Education Program show a significant increase in knowledge in child development and parenting skills and more of the parents spend more time volunteering at their children's schools each week.

Three- and four-year-olds who graduate from the program and who enter Pre-Kindergarten or Kindergarten rate average to above-average on school readiness (93 percent in 2003-2004).

Long-term evaluation of the Texas-wide AVANCE organization has shown that more than 94 percent of the children graduate high school and 43 percent go on to college.

Given the amount of mothers and young children AVANCE services, there is always a need for donations. Prospective donors can choose to either donate at the national level or from among the many local chapters in Texas, New Mexico or California.

One of the most aspirational goals that personify the "American Dream" is the notion of creating a business that is carried through the generations of a single family.

Aside from small local businesses, there is no greater example of that American Dream than in the wine industry -- or so we thought.

For decades, we've watched the television commercials, seen the billboard signs and believed the hype that the wines we share with our family and friends come from the vineyards of families like our own.

Over the last year, thanks to the good work being done at United Farm Workers, we are learning how these vineyards are not very family-friendly when it comes to their workers.

Now, we know it's because families "like ours" aren't running them.

A new report titled The Myth of the Family Winery: Global Corporations Behind California Wine untangles the vines of marketing deceit to show us the true landscape of the California wine industry, which helps explain why the lives of their farm workers are seen as nothing more than expendable commodities.

According to the report:

Six of the seven producers that own 82 percent of U.S. wine are global corporations.

Six of the ten top wine producers also own spirits and beer brands.

The Wine Institute, despite its tag line of the "Voice of California Wine," is controlled by executives from Diageo, Constellation Brands, Foster's, and Brown-Forman, multinational conglomerates all based outside of California and with product portfolios that also include major spirits and beer brands.

Because the bottom line is all about the business, these conglomerates have little interest other than growing their own profits. Unfortunately, as a big business dealing with a product that really requires responsibility and accountability, both from the companies and consumers, it's disheartening to read of these companies' agendas that counters a way to keep more people safe and potentially help lower the nation's deficit.

The California wine industry promotes an image of small mom and pop vintners in picturesque, rolling hills and valleys of Napa, Sonoma, and around the state. In reality nearly all of the leading wine producers in California are massive corporations that are integrated with "Big Alcohol," multinational conglomerates promoting and controlling politics in Sacramento and Washington, D.C.

...the global corporations that own California wine are determined to deregulate alcohol in every state through diminishing the three-tier alcohol system, consolidating distribution, and most importantly, by applying undue influence on the political process that includes defeating efforts to increase alcohol taxes and fees at both the state and federal levels.

When it comes to the 2010 Census, there has been so much attention given to those Latino leaders who are still trying to convince people not to register for the census - which is not a cool move, by the way - that it's not even realized that there is a much bigger problem on the horizon with the 2010 Census that could adversely impact Latino families.

A new report by The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Why Are Young Children Missed So Often in the Census? tells us that:

According the Census Bureau's Demographic Analysis, young children are missed at a higher rate than any other age group. In the 2000 census, there was a net undercount of more than 1 million children under age 10. More than three- quarters of a million children under age 5 were missed, which amounts to 4 percent of this population group.

Minority children have higher undercount rates, and the share of children age 0 to 4 that are from a racial or Hispanic minority population rose from 41 percent in 2000 to 47 percent in 2008.

More children live in families with one or more undocumented immigrants. Nearly half (47 percent) of unauthorized-immigrant households are couples with children. The number of children with at least one unauthorized-immigrant parent increased from 3.9 million in 2003 to 5.5 million in 2008.

The undercount of children results in reduced funding for needy families. Census counts are used, in whole or in part, for more than 140 programs that distribute more than $400 billion of federal funds to states and localities...

The report's author found that Census officials don't even have any estimates for the undercount rates of Hispanic, American Indian, or Asian children from the 2000 census. In fact, the author found that there exists a persistent pattern over several censuses showing racial and Hispanic minorities are more likely to be missed than non-Hispanic whites.

A variety of reasons are proposed in the report as to why children are being undercount -- not enough room on the old census forms, parents either get distracted or tired of filling out the form or questions aren't understood completely, etc.

Yet, the repercussions for not filling out the forms are real:

When children are not counted accurately we don't get a true picture of our nation, and communities don't get their rightful share of public funds or political power. A recent analysis by Census Bureau staff identified more than 140 federal programs that use Census Bureau data in the distribution of funds.

In addition, school planners are confronted with more children than they expect, resulting in increased class size and over- crowded schools.

Another analysis shows how the estimate of children in poverty is affected by the undercount of children in the Decennial Census.

Not to mention that inaccurate data may lead private foundations and nonprofit organizations to make mistaken decisions about where to focus resources or may lead the private sector to miss business opportunities.

In these changing times where more accountability will be placed on local institutions and families to make sure families stay as healthy as possible and children are fully prepared academically to achieve success, every extra program that aids in those areas needs the federal financial resources to continually effect the kinds of changes that will benefit today's children, who are tomorrow's adults -- and caregivers of this nation's economy.

Those three bold-typed phrases in the paragraph sums up what is usually wrong or missing in most institutional reports when it comes to the Latino community. It's nice that someone is actually acknowledging the fact that "what we know" doesn't always jive with "what we hear."

When it comes to Latinos pursuing college degrees, the degree of unknown information can be staggering, given the complex demographics of the Latino population.

The latest report trying to shed light on Latinos' educational goals actually does shine a little brighter than most reports because it has the advantage of reams of research over the last decade on who Latinos students are and how they have fared in pursuing higher education.

The general profile of Latinos in education emphasizes a minority of the population yet drives the majority of public policy for Latinos.

Elected officials seemed more focused on persistence in college while service providers were more focused on college access.

Students did not consider accountability measures such as graduation rates or college rankings as factors influencing their college choice.

Many Latino students valued higher education and balanced work and family responsibilities to get their education.

In short, this report is a refreshing analysis of the attitudes that have both helped and hindered success of the Latino community and offers honest assessments of who are today's Latino students.

According to the report, program shortfalls in getting more Latino students interested in going and staying in college is due to the fact that officials aren't working from the correct profile of Latino students.

Citing current data about Latinos puts the profile of Latinos in perspective. Clarifying this profile of Latinos does not imply the issues of immigration, language acquisition, and high school completion are not important or relevant policy issues. In fact, these are critical issues to address.

 However, it is not accurate to characterize the majority of Latinos in education today by this limited profile and doing so can marginalize policy efforts to serve the population well.

Finally, a report that tells it like it is!

In many ways, the publishing industry has been like the proverbial canary in the mines. Long before the economy started tanking, publishers, from newspapers to books, noticed that people were changing their reading habits and becoming more frugal with their dollars.

While it wasn't good news for publishers, it was even worse news for book authors -- especially Latina/o authors. Already marginalized in the mainstream book publishing industry, Latina/o authors found that when it came to promoting their books they couldn't look to their publishing houses to do much, if anything at all.

One woman noticed this.

Her name is Jo Ann Hernández and when she's not reviewing books for Latina Lista or writing her own novels or blogging on her own site, she has always been advising other Latina/o authors how to promote themselves. Now, she's created a special site just to help those same authors launch their careers -- starting in cyberspace.

BronzeWord Latino Virtual Book Tours is a one-stop shop for authors who want to reach the Latino market. The way the virtual book tours work is Jo Ann and her staff contact various Latino bloggers about hosting a virtual book tour on their site with a particular author. The author makes a commitment to visit those blogs during the scheduled times and interact with the blogger and their readers.

In addition, Jo Ann and her staff provide media services for authors -- everything from creating audio interviews, video book trailers and teasers to still photography book trailers. 

The site also provides book lovers with news of where the latest book tours can be found and who are the next Latina/o authors on the horizon.

While the tours and media services are not free, the price is small when compared to the sales potential that can be generated, not to mention, the market reach among Latinos.

As Jo Ann said, "No one can "shout out" like Latino/as."

College education costs are rising so quickly and steeply that a lot of students are losing hope that they will ever achieve their dream. For low-income immigrant students, both legal and undocumented, that hope to achieve a college education is even slimmer -- until The Esperanza Education Fund.

Founded only in 2009, The Esperanza Education Fund is already making headlines with their mission of awarding college scholarships to immigrant students who live in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, regardless of their citizenship status.

The cool thing about the Washington, DC-based organization is that it is an all-volunteer group of young professionals who are lawyers, economists, documentary filmmakers, entrepreneurs, designers, consultants and educators who came together because they care about the growing education gap in the capital region among the immigrant population.

This immigrant population faces a severe education deficit. Immigrants in the area are three times more likely to lack a high school diploma than their native-born peers, and 50 percent more likely to have never gone to college.

This education gap creates a serious economic disparity. Foreign-born families in the capital region are nearly twice as likely to be poor as native-born families. Immigrants in the capital region need access to higher education, and to the opportunities and leaders that higher education forges and provides.

There are two scholarships awarded: $5,000 for two-year degrees and $10,000 for four-year degrees. In addition, the recipients further benefit by being enrolled into an intensive academic and professional mentorship program sponsored by the Esperanza Education Fund.

The organization has no formal office or any other kind of overhead that would subtract from the scholarship awards. Yet, that doesn't mean they don't need money to fund the scholarships.

Since they were founded, the group has had a number of successful campaigns to raise money and so far have been able to award $50,000 in scholarships to six immigrant students who were selected from 250 applicants.

The selected students were from Bolivia, India, Vietnam, Guatemala, St. Lucia and El Salvador. They included a budding civil rights activist, a future doctor, a math prodigy, a young community health advocate, a future entrepreneur, and an engineer.

The Esperanza Education Fund wants to help put the esperanza (hope) back into the lives of more students who already feel their situations are hopeless.

There are several ways to support the Esperanza Education Fund, and the return on this investment is the hope of a brighter future for our nation with such talented individuals on the horizon.

Tamales are always a popular staple of Mexican-American Christmas dinners -- but whoever has enough tamales?

In other words, what person can only eat one?

It's unfortunate, but not enough Latinas/os know how to make tamales from scratch. Usually, abuela or mom or tia guides us in putting the masa together, preparing the hojas and the meat, etc.

Sandra Vasquez knew this.

It was the impetus for her invention the Mas Tamales Masa Spreader to help tamal-making go faster and easier.

There's no better way to show how her masa spreader works than with making tamales. With step-by step video instructions, Vasquez walks viewers through on how to make the kinds of tamales everybody will pile their plates with.

She even provides the masa and meat recipes (with low-fat and "light" versions) -- in case abuela doesn't want to share her's yet!

It seems like every other month there's a new report about Latinos and the Internet. The vast majority of the research suggests that Latinos are closing the digital divide, especially when it comes to using mobile devices to do it.

The Pew Hispanic Center is the latest to release a report confirming that more and more Latinos are using the Internet. The Pew Hispanic report, Latinos Online, 2006-2008: Narrowing the Gap, found that Internet usage among Latino adults increased by 10 percentage points compared to only four percentage points among whites and two percentage points among blacks.

Because so many Latinos rely on cell phones, the authors of the report confess that the report's findings may underestimate the increases in Internet use for Latinos. However, there were some other findings that proved to be less indisputable:

Among Latinos, English-reading ability was linked with internet use-- 81% of Latinos who read English very well were online, as compared with 63% of Latinos who read pretty well, 52% of Latinos who don't read English well, and 24% of Latinos who can't read English at all.

Conversely, Spanish-reading ability was not associated with internet use at all among Latinos.

Among Latinos ages 18 to 34, 77% used the internet; among those ages 35 to 49 65% used the internet; among those ages 50 to 64, 53% used the internet, and among Latinos ages 65 and older, one-quarter used the internet.

Among internet users, 64% of Latinos lacking a high school degree had a home internet connection in 2008, as compared with 84% of Latino high school graduates, and 94% of Latino college graduates.

The Latino population may be increasing, and it's a fact that it is, but one particular area where there is a sore lack of Hispanic representation is on corporate boards and among senior corporate management.

The 2009 HACR Corporate Inclusion Index published by the Hispanic Association for Corporate Responsibility (HACR), found (unsurprisingly) that of the 114 Fortune 100 businesses surveyed (better word would be "participated") "only 6% out of 384 open board positions are held by Hispanics. And of the 1,281 executive and director positions available, Hispanics held only 61 positions."

But that's not all the bad news.

The HACR report found that when they asked the participating companies how much in a given year is their percentage of total philanthropic dollars distributed to the Hispanic community, the answer was deeply disappointing.

On average, those who responded invested only 2.52% of all foundation and corporate dollars to the Hispanic Community.

The average corporate giving distributed in 2008 of those who responded, was approximately $31 million. Of these dollars, $1.37 million were directed to the Hispanic community.

With the need so great in Latino communities across the country and non-profits struggling to meet those needs, it's obvious that corporate America has exhibited little interest or desire to partner with non-profits that service Latinos.

Given what we know of the future of Latinos in this country, if current conditions persist, this report should be a wake-up call to Corporate America that they need to step up to the plate and help accelerate achievement and success in the Latino community -- because, quite literally, the future of this nation's economy depends on it.

Buñuelos are another favorite food to eat during the Christmas season among some Latino households. They look like sweet, deep-fried tortillas.

Easy to make by mixing together some basic ingredients, deep frying and topping it off with cinnamon, a buñuelo is a perfect accompaniment to hot chocolate, coffee or just by itself.

(Recipe courtesy of Mexgrocer.com)

Buñuelos can be of any size, especially depending on the expertise of the cook -- as we see in the following video.

The new Sí TV show titled Latino101: The Class You Never Took due to premier on January 8, 2010 on the English-language Latino cable channel has a lot of potential -- too bad only Latinos are going to be watching it.

The network describes the show as:

Our hilarious group of comics, celebrities, and experts deliver lessons on Latin pop culture, family, religion, and more. This is one class you'll never cut.

Seeing just a few minutes of the trailers, it's evident there's some substance in these shows that lean hard for laughs. For example, some of the questions explored such as: "Why Quinceañeras cost more than college" or "The only point of agreement between Cubans and exiled Cubans is the guayabera", illustrate that there are serious topics within the Latino community that need to be brought out into the public dialogue.

While this show undoubtedly wants to entertain, a.k.a. make a joke of everything, it would be awesome if the show could balance the treatment of the topics with both humor and seriousness. Then pitch this show for syndication on the regular networks.

If networks aren't interested, release it to online sites for rebroadcast.

In this coming year where everyone is anticipating a lot of Latino-bashing once the immigration reform bill starts getting seriously addressed in Congress, a show like this, that explains and dispels the stereotypical myths, is more important than ever.

Needless to say, it will take Latinos having a sense of humor and seeing the humor in the misperceptions that will be regurgitated by opponents of immigration reform to keep a collective cool during what will prove to be a bruising time in history.

While December 25 is recognized as being THE day to share gifts in the United States, and around the world, there is another day that is equally important to most Latinos worldwide -- Three Kings Day or Dia de Los Reyes Magos.

January 6 is the traditional day when most children in Latin America expect to be remembered with a present from the Three Kings who traveled far to bring their special gifts to the Baby Jesus.

For too many children whose families observe the day of Los Reyes Magos money to buy gifts just isn't available whether they live in the United States or Latin America. So, Latinos in Social Media (LATISM) and Being Latino teamed together to create a unique online toy drive and fundraiser:

The first annual Three Kings Day Online Toy Drive & Fundraiser benefits The Children's Aid Society's Latino Outreach Initiative and the United Nations Children's Fund [UNICEF].

The goal of the toy drive and fundraiser is to collect at least 400 toys which can be distributed to needy Latino children in the United States and to raise at least $1000 to help programs working for the survival, basic education and health needs of disadvantaged children in Latin America.

"In these tough economic times, it's more important than ever to make sure that disadvantaged children in the US and Latin America enjoy the holidays and have access to basic necessities. LATISM is proud and excited to partner with the Being Latino network to help world-renowned organizations such as the Children's Aid Society and UNICEF in their continued efforts to provide these services," said Elianne Ramos, LATISM DC Media Relations Manager.

To launch the toy drive and fundraiser, a live Twitter party will take place on December 30, 2009 at 8 p.m. EST. Twitter users should use the hashtag #latismtoydrive or enter latismtoydrive in TweetChat.com.

To help/donate to the fundraiser, follow these guidelines:

• Make a monetary donation ONLINE through the specially set up Chipin/PayPal account (http://bit.ly/7B8yL0). Monetary donations will be accepted until January 3rd, 2010.

• Make a toy donation by sending new, unwrapped toys to: The Children's Aid Society -105 East 22nd St, New York, NY 10010. Please use codename: LATISMTOYDRIVE09. Toy donations will be accepted until January 3rd, 2010.

• Follow and Retweet Toy Drive message using #latismtoydrive on Twitter

• Write about it on your blog

• Post the LATISM Toy Drive/Fundraising widget on your blog (http://bit.ly/5urQXF)

• Broadcast the LATISM Toy Drive/Fundraising link through FaceBook & LinkedIn pages/groups

In what has become a kind of fun tradition at Latina Lista, rather than toast the New Year just yet, I like to post what psychics think will happen in 2010.

There are several psychic sites out there making 2010 predictions but one by a psychic named Nikki is the most extensive list of predictions I've seen anywhere. With all the predictions she makes, it's no wonder she gets more than a few right.

Another psychic actually tackles the immigration issue: President Obama will initiate an Immigration Reform by Summer of 2010 which stirs controversy in the streets of America as protesters collide with each other....causing a major divide in this country greater than the medical reform debate... .

And psychic, Barbara Soblewski Garcia, always has some interesting, if not conservative, insights into the future as well.

If there's one encouraging sign, none of the predictions I've read say anything about the world ending!

2010 Psychic Predictions

The tempo of the US economic recovery period may be disrupted with a few unexpected natural and an international conflict but however fast or slow, one thing for sure is that the unemployment rate will be the lowest in the third quarter of the year since the recession began.

From my perspective, we have about a 75-80 percent chance of 2010 being one of the most financially favorable years that we have seen in a long time.

The stock market will continue to show productivity offering new opportunities for investors and business, indicating a more aggressive period of recovery and economic growth. We will also see a great deal of new start up business ventures now.

Real estate continues to rebound throughout the year.

A better year ahead for the Airline and all those businesses associated with travel and tourism.

The world won't end in 2012 but we do have the risk of a very bad inflation period that could offset the entire global community. Success will depend on what is set in place to cap interest rates, inflated government spending and taxes in 2010 from the impending inflationary exploits that occur in 2011.

Energy saving and new environmentally friendly products and devices are plentiful and in demand this year.

Global warming and clean air are top priority issues for all industry around the world as scientist show the urgency in respect to the earth as well as the numerous numbers of illnesses and deaths associated to pollution.

Holographic gaming is introduced and becomes a hit in Las Vegas entertainment although its origin was actually created and intended for health and science purposes.

Disruptions/Conflicts

Some of the disruptions in 2010 are natural disasters such as earthquakes, fires, and volcano's. To read more on the great earthquake of California, please refer to my article, California Earthquake - Psychic Prediction.

View a video version here //www.youtube.com/user/Butterfly6257#p/f/2/Pu9dEpKfZgo

The unusual climate changes are directly related to Global warming.

The H1N1 was a very difficult pandemic but it is not over. I am sensing mutations of the virus that may not be detected but thought to be something altogether different.

Investigations into the cause of a nuclear plant incident will examine a terrorist affiliation but determined an accident by human error.

Space/Science

China's deep space and robotic exploration programs expand with in a new joint effort involving Russian technology that not only study climate changes, solar system but also has the capabilities to study changes deep beneath the planets surface.

There may be a few minor changes for China's first Mars probe but will have a successful launch. It will be transmitting an abundant amount of atmospheric data that could effect how we map climate changes and view our world in the universe.

Unauthorized experiments in human cloning are exposed when a human DNA marker is found in a deep sea creature.

With this decade winding down, it's been interesting to look back to see what kinds of things that once were considered indispensable are now obsolete: floppy disks, answering machines, cassettes...the list goes on.

Yet, one thing that has never gone out of style is the calendar. Whether it's hung on the wall or a desktop feature, it's still a handy tool to plan our schedules.

So, as a way to give Latina Lista readers a little gift to start the New Year and to show my immense appreciation for the support that has been given me over the last year, I have created a special downloadable Latina Lista 

Of course, it can be printed out on regular computer paper but I've found that using photo paper makes it sturdier for hanging.

At the least, when looking at it, you'll be reminded that Latina Lista is your source for Latina/o-inspired news.

Have a safe and happy start to the New Year and see you in 2010!

Marisa Treviño