Puerto Rico Sun

New Years Wishes Originally uploaded by Pandarine . Photo by "Pandarine." View her collection at flickr. For my Puerto Rico Sun friends, happy new year!! Peace, love, joy, happiness, health, wealth and everything good in the new year. Clarisel

Oceano Atlantico Visto desde El Yunque Photo by Gilda D. Padilla, puertoricosun Originally uploaded by clarisel .

SOURCE: Hispanic PR WIRE Technology Online Holiday Shopping Not So Feliz for Latinos (HISPANIC PR WIRE - CONTEXTO LATINO)--Area malls and retail stores are often brimming with holiday shoppers come this time of year, hoping to find the perfect gift for loved ones and friends. But as any hurried shopper can attest, sometimes the crowds at the stores and long lines at the checkout counters can take the "merry" out of the holiday season. That's why many shoppers look for alternative ways to do their shopping that don't involve the hassle of getting in the car and spending all day at the store. Online retailers offer the convenience of fast shopping from the privacy and comfort of your own home. With the click of a button you can purchase gifts and have them shipped directly to your house. Some will even do the wrapping for you. However, as Latinos and other ethnicities are learning, not all of these online retailers make shopping convenient for those who speak

El Yunque Originally uploaded by GinoPR . Stop in and view scenic photos of El Yunque as well as surfer-in-action shots by photographer Gino Ferreira on flickr. Just click on "GinoPR" for more information about Gino.

Urban Train Originally uploaded by clarisel . SAN JUAN -- Puerto Ricans are finally boarding the famous "Tren Urbano" with officials offering free service for the first few weeks. Passengers are definitely taking advantage of the free weekend service of the Urban Train, which runs 11 miles from Santurce to Bayamon. While many passengers are now taking the train to just go out for the day to sightsee, others are using it to go to work, shop and do business. The train was scheduled to open in 2001, but has faced construction delays, safety problems and rising costs. The price tag has nearly doubled from $1.2 billion to $2.3 billion, with the federal government paying about 40 percent. The cost of a train ride will be $1.50 single fare, which also includes a connecting bus ride, sometime next month.

La Pava Originally uploaded by clarisel .

Puerto Rico has a new governor-elect: Anibal Acevedo Vilá of the pro-commonwealth Popular Democratic Party. Results will be certified next week, but Acevedo Vilá will be the island's next governor. Acevedo Vilá has won the recount challenge to the governor's seat. This comes a month and a half after the Nov. 2 elections and a host of legal challenges and controversy.

Health St. Jude Halloween Promotion Raises More Than $3.2 Million to Help Save the Lives of Children Fighting Cancer Worldwide MEMPHIS, Tenn., Dec. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Businesses across the country united to help fight childhood cancer through the 13th annual Halloween Promotion benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital(R) and helped to raise more than $3.2 million. During the month of October, participating establishments recognized a $1 donation to St. Jude by writing the donor's name on a pumpkin-themed wall pinup. Hundreds of thousands of pinups were posted throughout the country on the days leading up to Halloween. Sponsored by Coors Brewing Company, the month-long promotion involved restaurants and retail outlets. Since the promotion's inception in 1992, more than $24 million has been contributed to the hospital's mission of finding cures and saving children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. "Our Halloween Promotion partners did a tre

FYI: Puerto Rico Sun is listed in the "links directory" of boricua.com.

Source: PRLDEF statement December 20, 2004 REVIEW OF 2004 ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE PRLDEF INSTITUTE FOR PUERTO RICAN POLICY -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At the PRLDEF Institute for Puerto Rican Policy, 2004 was a year of much activity as our small crew worked tirelessly to promote a positive policy agenda for Puerto Ricans and other Latinos. This included: Promoting increased civic participation and discussion of critical issues facing Latinos in this Presidential election year by: ● Challenging the television networks’ inaccurate exit poll findings that 44 percent of Latinos voted for the President, when the actual figure was closer to 39 percent and the Democratic challenger probably received the same level of support as he did in the 2000 election. IPR wrote op-eds on the subject in newspapers like the New York Post and participated in forums sponsored by think tanks like Demos. ● Providing and participating

CONDITION CRITICAL: The Absence of Latinos Among Policymakers in New York City’s Voluntary Hospitals by Annette Fuentes (New York: PRLDEF, December 2004), 66 pages To download a copy of the full report as a PDF file, go to: http://www.prldef.org/lib/Condition_Critical.pdf Key Findings ● Six of 13 New York City voluntary hospitals surveyed had no Latinos on their boards of trustees; one hospital had two Latino members (representing only 2% of their trustees) and two hospitals had one Latino member (1% of trustees). ● One of 13 hospitals had a Latino president/CEO; the same hospital had Latinos in 33% of its senior management positions. ● 12 of 13 hospitals had no Latinos in any senior management positions. ● The Greater New York Hospital Association and the Healthcare Association of New York, the two largest industry lobbying/trade groups, had just one Latino each on their boards of trustees, representing 3% and 2% of members, respectively. ●

The Reading Life By Vivian Lake, Puerto Rico Sun Book Editor Memoria de mis putas tristes by Gabriel García Márquez Vintage Books, $10.95) This is the first novel from the author in ten years. Anticipation was so feverish that bootlegged copies of the book hit the streets in his native Colombia weeks before the official publication date. A revised ending written at the last minute has made the pirated versions obsolete. When the book finally hit the stores, sales were clocked in at 1,000 volumes per hour. One wonders what his compatriots have to say about this unexpected story. A few guesses: Offensive, sad, misogynistic, ridiculous. Not words usually associated with the beloved Gabo. A 90 year-old man wants a last fling with a young virgin for his birthday and falls in "love" for the first time. Not even García Márquez's formidable talent (still very much in evidence here) can make this story poignant or compelling. Set in the Colombian coastal city of Barranquilla

Originally uploaded by minusbaby . Photo by "minusbaby." Check out minusbaby's work at flickr.

Felicidades. In this month of sending holiday wishes, consider sending an e-card of Puerto Rico. Reminder -- My photos are now part of the photo collection at the Escape to Puerto Rico site. My work is located under the categories: Old San Juan escape.topuertorico.com/postcards/oldsj8.shtml Churches escape.topuertorico.com/postcards/church4.shtml Folklore escape.topuertorico.com/postcards/folklore3.shtml Please visit and send an Isla del Encanto e-card. Thanks.

In the News COMING UP ON DEMOCRACY NOW! Thursday, December 9: * A look at the contested Puerto Rican election of 2004: The candidate narrowly leading in last month's governors race is charging the U.S. government with acting as a colonial ruler for seizing control of ballot counting in the protracted election. A Boston-based federal judge has decided to step in and overrule Puerto Rico's Supreme Court on how to run the recount. Last week 20,000 people protested outside the federal courthouse in San Juan to denounce the decision of U.S. District Judge Daniel Dominguez. Some demonstrators held signs reading "Stop the federal coup, respect Puerto Rico." Gubernatorial candidate Aníbal Acevedo Vilá said the U.S. judge's move "tortures the island's residents and holds them hostage." * A discussion on the future of the nation's labor movement For more information, www.democracynow.org.

Guitar, maracas, oh my! Originally uploaded by clarisel . !Feliz Navidad! Thanks for your support of the Puerto Rico Sun project. Peace and love always. Clarisel

Community News IPR Policy Forum BORICUAS IN GOTHAM Puerto Ricans in the Making of Modern New York City Wednesday, December 8, 2004 6:00 pm (followed by a book signing reception) PRLDEF Conference Room 99 Hudson Street, 14th Floor (between Franklin and Leonard Streets in Manhattan; #1 or 9 subways to Franklin St.) This forum will critically examine issues in the writing of the history of the Puerto Rican community in New York City as presented in the newly-published book, Boricuas in Gotham: Puerto Ricans in the Making of Modern New York City -- Essays in Honor of Dr. Antonia Pantoja (Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener Publishers, 2004). Boricuas in Gotham, edited by Gabriel Haslip-Viera, Angelo Falcón and Félix Matos-Rodríguez, attempts to recover that history from 1945 to the present through the writings of leading scholars in the field. The book’s contributors are: José Cruz (SUNY-Albany), Angelo Falcón (PRLDEF and Columbia University), Fernando Ferrer (NYC Mayoral Ca

Zero Improvement for Hispanic Workers: Hispanic Unemployment Rate Unchanged, Significantly Higher Than National Rate WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the government reported that the Hispanic unemployment rate continued to be disproportionately higher than the national average. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for Hispanics was 6.7 percent, with 1.3 million Hispanic Americans looking for work -- a 16 percent increase since President Bush took office. The national unemployment rate was at 5.4 percent; with today's weak job numbers, 1.2 million private-sector jobs have been lost over the last four years. The average length of unemployment is at a 20-year high, and manufacturing jobs have been lost three months in a row remaining at a 54-year low. Americans working hard to provide for their families need good jobs and a growing economy. "Today's lackluster jobs report makes clear that the economy has not 'turned the corner,