Free Republic

The one thing guaranteed when one uses race as a means to power is absurdity. The actual truth is ignored for the optics that can be spun to serve those pursuing power. And the absurdity arises from the simple fact that many folks see the actual truth plainly but choose to ignore it for the power that the optics promise. Those were my thoughts as I drove over the bridge from San Diego to Coronado on a sunny and humid August day. The small town, home to the Navy SEALs, had made news this past June during the Division 4-A...

There are very few places in the country where tortillas are as important as they are in New Mexico. Now a Chicago company thinks it has an invention everyone will love. It’s a first-of-its kind toaster made just for tortillas. But when it comes to homemade tortillas, Irene Dominguez, will tell you there’s nothing like a fresh one straight from the grill. Jay Guthrie, with Duran Central Pharmacy, said for the last 30 years every morning batch of tortillas gets started with Dominguez, and customers agree. “They’d never be as good as Duran’s homemade tortillas,” Sharon Johnson said. The start-up...

ESPANOLA, N.M. - A New Mexico man said he discovered the image of Jesus Christ on a tortilla he was preparing on Ash Wednesday. David Sandoval of Espanola said he was shocked to discover the face of Jesus on his food, but he has always been a believer in Christianity, KOAT-TV, Albuquerque, reported Thursday. "It became even more astonishing, with it being the first day of Lent," Sandoval said. "I passed it to my mom and the same response came from her, 'Oh my God.'" Sandoval said he posted a picture of the image on Facebook and the response has...

PALM SPRINGS — A man died Tuesday after he was crushed by a tortilla oven behind an out-of-business supermarket. The man was part of a three-person crew attempting to load the 3,000-pound commercial oven onto a truck when it fell off a manual forklift, said Palm Springs Lt. Sal Abruscato. "We do not suspect any foul play at all," Abruscato said. "This is a horrible accident." The oven was one of many items auctioned off at the supermarket Monday, he said. The person who bought it hired the crew to deliver it.

A spell of unusually cold weather in northern Mexico has severely damaged the maize crop in the state of Sinaloa. Officials estimate the losses could amount to four million tonnes of corn - 16% of Mexico's annual harvest. President Felipe Calderon said everything possible must be done to re-sow the fields over the next two weeks. There are fears the losses could force up the price of the corn tortillas that most Mexicans eat with every meal. Officials say up to 600,000 hectares (1.5m acres) of maize have been lost to frost in Sinaloa, which is home to some of...

A Starr County family is wondering if a mircale took place in their kitchen on Tuesday afternoon. Melinda Solis told Action 4 News that she was warming up flour tortillas for her teenage sons after school around 4 p.m. Tuesday. Solis said she was spreading out the cooked tortillas when her mother noticed something unusual. One of the tortillas had a large brown spot that resembled the Virgin Mary holding the Baby Jesus. Solis, a mother of four who was raised Catholic, said she and her family are saving the tortilla. The La Grulla area woman said they are not...

A 22-year-old Guatemalan immigrant was crushed to death when he tumbled into the mixer at a Brooklyn tortilla factory early this morning, police said. Juan Baten, 22, often had to reach into the mixer to help the dough along, sources said, but at 2:30 a.m. his hand was snagged by one of the blades, and he was sucked inside. The powerful turbines broke his neck and killed him instantly, police said. Baten, who lived with his common-law wife Rosario Ramirez and their 7-month-old daughter Daisy, moved to New York from the tiny village of Cabral six years ago, shortly after...

A worker was found dead on Monday morning after falling into a Tortilla mixing machine Monday morning in Brooklyn, New York. It all happened at about 2:30 a.m. at Tortilleria Chinantla when police responded to a 911 call of an unconscious man. When police arrived they found the body of the 22 year-old Hispanic man who appears to have fallen victim to an industrial accident.

McDonald's Tests Big Mac in a Tortilla Fast-Food Giant Rolls Out Snack Wrap Mac in Markets Including Houston, Wisconsin By Emily Bryson York Published: March 23, 2009 CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- McDonald's might have to come up with a new "two all-beef patties" jingle for its newest product. The chain is testing the Snack Wrap Mac, which puts a new spin on the old classic: half a beef patty, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions -- wrapped in a flour tortilla. McDonald's spokeswoman Danya Proud said the $1.49 wrap is being sold in an "advertised test" in several U.S. markets, including...

Mexico's Poor Seek Relief From Tortilla ShortageLorne Matalon in Reynosa, Mexico for National Geographic NewsJune 4, 2008 During a protest in México City in January 2008, 28-year-old secretary Anibel Ordonez was one of many chanting "Tortillas si, Pan no!" while waving some of the flat corn disks in the air. The chant was a play on the initials of Mexican President Felipe Calderón's National Action Party, the PAN, which also means "bread" in Spanish. It was also a potent reminder of the effects of skyrocketing food prices on Mexico's poorest citizens. Tortillas are filling—Mexicans eat up to ten every day—but...

Feeling hair in her mouth, a 16-year-old vegan from Partille outside of Gothenburg looked down to discover a mouse cadaver in her bag of tortilla chips. “It was terrible. I went through the roof when I heard what happened,” said Thomas Sällström, the girl’s grandfather. He arrived at his daughter's house shortly after his granddaughter realized a mummified mouse was nestled among the chips. “They were just sitting eating chips like you would on any normal Saturday night and then this happened,” he told The Local. “She didn’t actually eat the mouse, but did get some hair in her mouth.”...

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican central bank governor Guillermo Ortiz on Wednesday urged the government and food companies to renew price caps for tortillas that have acted as a buffer against inflation. Tortillas, thin corn patties, are a staple of the Mexican diet. After a price rise began fueling inflation toward the end of 2006, the government pressured food producers and retailers to limit prices for corn flour and tortillas. "For consumers, the price containment so far has been a success, and from my point of view it is important that this containment continues," Ortiz told reporters, according to a...

MEXICO CITY — Soaring international demand for corn has caused a spike in prices for Mexico's humble tortilla, hitting the poor and forcing President Felipe Calderon's business-friendly government into an uncomfortable confrontation with powerful monopolies. Tortilla prices jumped nearly 14 percent over the past year, a move Mexico's Central Bank Gov. Guillermo Ortiz called "unjustifiable" in a country where inflation ran about 4 percent. Ortiz pinned the blame on companies monopolizing the market and blocking competition. "We clearly have a problem of speculation," he said. Economists also blame increased U.S. production of ethanol from corn as an alternative to oil....