There was stiff competition for this honor, but immigrant scourge Laura Ingraham captured it when she insulted MSNBC anchor José Diaz-Balart for...wait for it...being bilingual. After the inevitable firestorm, the semi-blonde pundette apologized and then added,”I have a Latina living in my house who basically runs the show.” Cuidado (that means careful) she doesn’t get deported, Laura, or you might have to do the laundry yourself.

 

Just what we needed, an internet domain of our very own, .soy. A clever attempt to microtarget Latino vegans? Or corner the elusive Cuban Chinese restaurant market? As always, Google is inscrutable. If they’d had more than 3% Latinos on staff, someone might have told them how silly and patronizing this was. No doubt it will go the way of Google Glass. Remember that?

 

No Missing Link

Our nation’s capital won’t be the same without Hispanic Link. It’s provided opportunities, encouragement, and a desk for generations of aspiring Latino journalists. But never fear, rumors of its demise have been greatly exaggeated. The ever-feisty and indefatigable Charlie Ericksen will still be telling it like it is from San Diego.

Bridge to Nowhere

Ay, dios mio, now I’ll never find out what will happen after Marco arrested Fausto. The Bridge was my favorite show, and those pinche gringos at the FX network canceled it after the second season cliffhanger. El Paso never looked so noir, and Demian Bichir was superb as a world-weary cop in Juarez, walking a tightrope between integrity and survival.

Encuentro Award

Kudos to the DREAMer rapid-response team of Erika Andiola and Cesar Vargas for threatening the digestion of politicians everywhere.  They encountered Rep. Steve “Cantaloupe” King chomping on a burger in Iowa, and their bizarre discussion with him about immigration, captured on YouTube, is priceless. A few minutes earlier and they might have caught Sen. Rand Paul, who turned tail and ran for the Canadian border.

 

Fusion, a joint venture between Univision and ABC, has yet to find its groove. A year after its uber-hyped launch, Fusion’s audience is so small that it can’t be measured by Nielsen, according to NPR. Despite Jorge Ramos gamely tweeting, its heavy-handed targeting of millennial hipsters falls flat, according to the millennial hipsters we spoke to. And if Univision is sold (particularly to a competitor of ABC, as seems likely) its new owner might well defuse it.
Now a quarter century old, Austin’s SXSW (all the cool kids call it South By) has grown from a scrappy street fair to a corporate lollapalooza, with prohibitively high ticket prices and boozy, occasionally dangerous crowds. Its vaunted interactive festival has also lost its luster. Once it launched Twitter, but last year’s keynoter was Mindy Kaling. And for all the cutting-edge hipness, it’s pure whitebread, with few Latinos on- or offstage. We locals leave town, which should tell you something.
Sofia Vergara is a talented actress with a light comedic touch, and a smart businesswoman, so why does she keep channeling Charo? Not for the money, since she’s already one of Hollywood’s highest paid women. This year, Colombia’s sexiest export might have finally jumped the shark with a baffling appearance on the Emmy Awards, whirling on a pedestal in a tight gown. ¡Dejalo ya, Sofia!
Hispanic Heritage Month, a once-laudable attempt to celebrate our culture, has devolved into a banal marathon of pseudo-glitzy galas, rubber chicken enchilada luncheons, and politicos speaking bad Spanish. This year’s festivities seemed particularly tone-deaf, taking place while thousands of refugee children from Central America were held in subhuman conditions at the border. Can we boycott our own month next year?