Puerto Rico Sun readers who took part in PRSUN's poll on who they want as the next governor of Puerto Rico say they prefer change over the status quo. Forty-four percent said they want current Resident Commissioner Luis Fortuño of the New Progressive Party (pro-statehood) to become the island's next governor.
Meanwhile, the current Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila of the Popular Democratic Party (status quo/pro-commonwealth) came in second with 28 percent of the votes.
Rogelio Figueroa of the Puertorriqueños por Puerto Rico Party received 16 percent and Edwin Irizarry Mora of the Puerto Rican Independence Party received 8 percent of the votes. Four percent chose the "other" option.
A total of 25 readers took part in the PRSUN poll, which closed today.
Thanks to everyone who participated in the poll and remember to vote in Tuesday's election.
Friday, October 31, 2008
PRSUN Poll: Readers say they prefer Obama
Seventy percent of Puerto Rico Sun readers who took part in the snap poll here at www.prsun.blogspot.com, said they want Democrat Barack Obama to be the next president of the United States.
Twenty percent said they want Republican John McCain to be the next president.
Ten percent said they want someone else to be president, choosing the "other" option.
A total of 60 readers voted in the PRSUN poll, which closed today.
Thanks to everyone who voted.
Now, remember to vote in the real election on Tuesday.
Twenty percent said they want Republican John McCain to be the next president.
Ten percent said they want someone else to be president, choosing the "other" option.
A total of 60 readers voted in the PRSUN poll, which closed today.
Thanks to everyone who voted.
Now, remember to vote in the real election on Tuesday.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Featured Video: 'Under the Vieques Pier'
Today's featured video from the PRSUN Video group is by Ricky "Rigglord" Flores.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Featured site: www.festivaldelcuatro.org
The Festival Del Cuatro organization is celebrating The 3rd Annual Festival Del Cuatro in California on Saturday, November 15.
A Tribute to Puerto Rican Women
Come to the Third Annual Festival Del Cuatro in California on Saturday, November 15, at Garrison Theater on the beautiful campus of Scripps College in Claremont, California. This year, the festival will honor Puerto Rican women and all women who struggle in supporting a cause. Thus the festival will feature three of the best cuatro players in the world, all who happen to be women: Emma Colón Zayas, Maribel Delgado, and Nelian Colón. They will perform traditional Puerto Rican music on Puerto Rico’s national instrument, the cuatro. Tickets are available.
For more information, visit the site.
The Festival Del Cuatro organization is celebrating The 3rd Annual Festival Del Cuatro in California on Saturday, November 15.
A Tribute to Puerto Rican Women
Come to the Third Annual Festival Del Cuatro in California on Saturday, November 15, at Garrison Theater on the beautiful campus of Scripps College in Claremont, California. This year, the festival will honor Puerto Rican women and all women who struggle in supporting a cause. Thus the festival will feature three of the best cuatro players in the world, all who happen to be women: Emma Colón Zayas, Maribel Delgado, and Nelian Colón. They will perform traditional Puerto Rican music on Puerto Rico’s national instrument, the cuatro. Tickets are available.
For more information, visit the site.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The Island's second oldest lighthouse "El Faro"
Today's featured shot from the Puerto Rico Sun photo group is by Mr. Frankie.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Film
Organizer says the Filiberto Ojeda Rios Film Festival 2008 is an initiative of the ProLibertad Freedom Campaign to showcase films that speak to our experience as a colonized people fighting for independence and self-determination.
The film festival is named after assassinated Machetero leader Filiberto Ojeda Rios.
Here's the lineup:
7 p.m., Friday November 7 @ Hunter College, Thomas Hunter Hall, first floor, Room 105, Manhattan
¡Palante Siempre Palante!
From Chicago streets to the barrios of New York City and other urban centers, the Young Lords emerged to demand decent living conditions and raised a militant voice for the empowerment of Puerto Ricans and other Latino/as in the United States and for the independence of Puerto Rico. Through on-camera interviews with former members, archival footage, photographs and music, the documentary surveys Puerto Rican history, the Young Lords' political vision and actions, and the organization's legacy.
7 p.m., Friday November 14 @ John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 889 10th Ave. Room 3305N, Manhattan
The Double Life of Ernesto Gomez Gomez
What happens to the parents, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters of those willing to sacrifice everything for their beliefs? This film uniquely blends forms to tell the singular story of a son of Puerto Rican revolutionaries — his mother in prison, his father in exile — sent as a baby to Mexico to be raised in safety and anonymity. As a teenager Ernesto/Guillermo learns of his past and collaborates with filmmakers Catherine Ryan and Gary Weimberg to magically chronicle his turbulent journey of self-discovery, offering a striking account of the costs of fiercely held convictions and the binding force of a son's love.
7:30 p.m., Friday November 21 @ The Brecht Forum, 451 West Street, Manhattan
La Operacion/The Operation
This documentary brings to the foreground the problem of widespread sterilization among Puerto Rican women through the use of personal testimony, newsreels, and government propaganda excerpts. The procedure is so common that more than one-third of all Puerto Rican women of childbearing age have been sterilized. Begun in the 1930's as a means of curbing the surplus population, it continues to be reinforced politically and socially in the Puerto Rican communities.
Suggested donation for each showing is $5.
For more information, visit http://www.prolibertadweb.com/id5.html.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Paradise Rio Piedras
Today's featured shot from the Puerto Rico Sun photo group is by Petite Photography.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Obama on Puerto Rico
Obama Commits to Puerto Rican Voters: Growth of Stateside Puerto Ricans Determining Factor in Presidential Race?
Miami, FL -- In letters to Senators Barack Obama and John McCain, as leading presidential candidates, the nonpartisan National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights (NCPRR), has requested a dialogue on issues for stateside Puerto Ricans and those on the island-nation.
Obama’s recent response was welcomed by the NCPRR, while McCain’s reply is still pending. The answer from Obama to the NCPRR’s letter denotes the importance of the Puerto Rican vote in the upcoming presidential elections.
According to the latest US Census figures, the stateside Puerto Rican population has achieved unprecedented growth. For the first time in history, stateside Puerto Ricans outnumber those in Puerto Rico, by roughly 4.2 million over the 3.7 million population on the island. The unprecedented growth of the Puerto Rican population, especially in the battleground state of Florida, presents unique voter challenges to the presidential candidates, in view of traditional Democratic Party loyalties among Puerto Ricans.
Obama’s letter expresses an “understand(ing) firsthand” of the issues in Puerto Rico from being raised in Hawaii, and praise for the contributions Puerto Ricans have made to the United States. On improving economic opportunities for all Puerto Ricans, the letter identified Obama’s economic stimulus plans and tax initiatives, along with his commitment to “work with Puerto Rico to help the island regain its economic footing…” partly via a joint U.S.-Puerto Rico economic task force focused on job creation. The response recommends immediate steps for Puerto Rico, including phasing out the cap on Medicaid funding, phasing in participation in other federal health care assistance programs and providing refundable tax credits to working families.
Finally, the letter provides Senator Obama’s sense that the Puerto Rico status question is “a matter of self-determination for the people of Puerto Rico,” and that he will seek to work with all sides of the debate “to resolve the matter for once and for all in a manner that respects the principle of self-determination.”
“It is critical that the needs of stateside Puerto Ricans and the island’s 3.7 million people be addressed by the person who will occupy the White House,” said Victor Vazquez, president of the NCPRR. “Our letters inviting the presidential candidates to dialogue with the Puerto Rican community comes at a time of significant social and economic challenge. Our families are struggling to make ends meet and our youth dragged into a now unpopular war. Puerto Ricans are part of the US fiber, which cannot continue to be ignored, and which our organization intends to reinforce and leverage to build respect and justice for our people.”
The National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights will continue pursing specific answers from the presidential candidates on their plans to tackle challenges for all Puerto Ricans, and hold the next administration accountable for change, including on the promises of environmental clean up and economic development made to the people of Vieques after the withdrawal of the U.S. Navy. The NCPRR is a civil rights group that addresses racial equality, environmental justice and economic parity.
For more information on NCPRR, go to www.ncprr.us.
source: NCPRR press release
Miami, FL -- In letters to Senators Barack Obama and John McCain, as leading presidential candidates, the nonpartisan National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights (NCPRR), has requested a dialogue on issues for stateside Puerto Ricans and those on the island-nation.
Obama’s recent response was welcomed by the NCPRR, while McCain’s reply is still pending. The answer from Obama to the NCPRR’s letter denotes the importance of the Puerto Rican vote in the upcoming presidential elections.
According to the latest US Census figures, the stateside Puerto Rican population has achieved unprecedented growth. For the first time in history, stateside Puerto Ricans outnumber those in Puerto Rico, by roughly 4.2 million over the 3.7 million population on the island. The unprecedented growth of the Puerto Rican population, especially in the battleground state of Florida, presents unique voter challenges to the presidential candidates, in view of traditional Democratic Party loyalties among Puerto Ricans.
Obama’s letter expresses an “understand(ing) firsthand” of the issues in Puerto Rico from being raised in Hawaii, and praise for the contributions Puerto Ricans have made to the United States. On improving economic opportunities for all Puerto Ricans, the letter identified Obama’s economic stimulus plans and tax initiatives, along with his commitment to “work with Puerto Rico to help the island regain its economic footing…” partly via a joint U.S.-Puerto Rico economic task force focused on job creation. The response recommends immediate steps for Puerto Rico, including phasing out the cap on Medicaid funding, phasing in participation in other federal health care assistance programs and providing refundable tax credits to working families.
Finally, the letter provides Senator Obama’s sense that the Puerto Rico status question is “a matter of self-determination for the people of Puerto Rico,” and that he will seek to work with all sides of the debate “to resolve the matter for once and for all in a manner that respects the principle of self-determination.”
“It is critical that the needs of stateside Puerto Ricans and the island’s 3.7 million people be addressed by the person who will occupy the White House,” said Victor Vazquez, president of the NCPRR. “Our letters inviting the presidential candidates to dialogue with the Puerto Rican community comes at a time of significant social and economic challenge. Our families are struggling to make ends meet and our youth dragged into a now unpopular war. Puerto Ricans are part of the US fiber, which cannot continue to be ignored, and which our organization intends to reinforce and leverage to build respect and justice for our people.”
The National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights will continue pursing specific answers from the presidential candidates on their plans to tackle challenges for all Puerto Ricans, and hold the next administration accountable for change, including on the promises of environmental clean up and economic development made to the people of Vieques after the withdrawal of the U.S. Navy. The NCPRR is a civil rights group that addresses racial equality, environmental justice and economic parity.
For more information on NCPRR, go to www.ncprr.us.
source: NCPRR press release
Friday, October 24, 2008
Community calendar
"Brown Hips, Red Lips & Hot Skins," a poetry performance of New Work by Maria Aponte - musical accompaniment by Chacho Ramirez and Dwight Brewster.
7-9 p.m. TONIGHT
Admission $7
Cemi Underground Book Store, 1799 Lexington Avenue (near 112th Street), NYC's El Barrio
For more information, www.cemiunderground.com.
"Brown Hips, Red Lips & Hot Skins," a poetry performance of New Work by Maria Aponte - musical accompaniment by Chacho Ramirez and Dwight Brewster.
7-9 p.m. TONIGHT
Admission $7
Cemi Underground Book Store, 1799 Lexington Avenue (near 112th Street), NYC's El Barrio
For more information, www.cemiunderground.com.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Our Economy
Puerto Rico bank to cut US branches, jobs
Popular Inc, the parent of Banco Popular, said on Wednesday it plans to eliminate more than one-fourth of its 139 US branches and cut its US workforce by 600 to cope with the nation's economic downturn.
Puerto Rico's largest bank also posted a third-quarter loss of $668.5 million, or $2.42 per share.
For the complete Reuters report, go to
http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/news-11647--21-21--.html
Puerto Rico bank to cut US branches, jobs
Popular Inc, the parent of Banco Popular, said on Wednesday it plans to eliminate more than one-fourth of its 139 US branches and cut its US workforce by 600 to cope with the nation's economic downturn.
Puerto Rico's largest bank also posted a third-quarter loss of $668.5 million, or $2.42 per share.
For the complete Reuters report, go to
http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/news-11647--21-21--.html
'Latino Settlement in the New Century'
Hispanics Account for Half of U.S. Population Growth Since 2000, New Report Finds
WASHINGTON - Hispanics accounted for just over half of the overall population growth in the United States since 2000 - a significant new demographic milestone for the nation's largest minority group, a new Pew Hispanic Center report released today finds.
The report, "Latino Settlement in the New Century," includes a series of web-based interactive maps that illustrate the size and spread of Hispanic population growth since 1980, including easy access to detailed state and county-level data. It also presents a list of the counties with the largest Hispanic populations, as well as a list of those counties with the fastest-growing Hispanic populations.
In the 1990s the Hispanic population also expanded rapidly, but its growth accounted for less than 40% of the nation's total population increase in that decade. From 2000 to 2007, Latinos accounted for 50.5% of the total U.S. population growth, even though, as of mid-2007, they made up just 15.1% of the total population.
In another change from the 1990s, Latino population growth in this new century has been more a product of the natural increase (births minus deaths) of the existing population than it has been of new international migration, according to Pew Hispanic Center analysis.
The report identifies 676 fast-growing Hispanic counties among the nation's total of 3,141 counties. These counties all share two characteristics: a 2007 Latino population of at least 1,000; and an above-average Hispanic growth of at least 41% from 2000 to 2007. The list includes 148 counties that did not experience rapid growth in the 1990s.
There are both continuities and differences in the Hispanic settlement patterns of this decade, compared with the patterns of the 1990s. The dispersion of Latinos in the current decade has tilted more to counties in the West and the Northeast than it had in the 1990s. Despite the new tilt, however, the South still accounted for a greater share of overall Latino population growth than any other region did from 2000 to 2007.
Much of the Latino population growth in this decade has taken place in small and mid-sized cities and in suburbs - many of which had relatively few Latino residents until the past decade or two. A handful of big cities have also played a sizable role in Latino population growth in this decade. For example, the Latino population grew by more than 400,000 from 2000 to 2007 in just three counties: Los Angeles, Maricopa (Phoenix) and Harris (Houston). But because these counties already had a large base of Hispanic residents at the start of the decade, the growth of their Latino population since then has been less dramatic in percentage terms.
Percentage growth in the Hispanic population from 2000 to 2007 exceeded 300% in three counties - Frederick and Culpeper counties in Virginia and Paulding County in Georgia. These two states are home to eight of the 10 counties with the greatest percentage growth in the Hispanic population since 2000. The other two counties are Kendall County in Illinois and Luzerne County in Pennsylvania.
Other major findings include:
Hispanic population growth since 2000 has been widespread. The Hispanic population has grown in almost 3,000 of the nation's 3,141 counties.
At the same time, Hispanic population growth in the new century has been fairly concentrated. Hispanic population growth in just 178 counties accounts for 79% of the nation's entire 10.2 million Hispanic population increase.
In spite of dispersal to new settlements, the Hispanic population continues to be geographically concentrated. In 2007, the 100 largest Hispanic counties were home to 73% of the Latino population.
By this measure, Hispanics are more geographically concentrated than the nation's black population. Nearly six-in-ten (59%) of the non-Hispanic black population live in the nation's 100 largest non-Hispanic black counties.
The report "Latino Settlement in the New Century," is available on the center's website, www.pewhispanic.org.
source: Pew Hispanic Center press release
WASHINGTON - Hispanics accounted for just over half of the overall population growth in the United States since 2000 - a significant new demographic milestone for the nation's largest minority group, a new Pew Hispanic Center report released today finds.
The report, "Latino Settlement in the New Century," includes a series of web-based interactive maps that illustrate the size and spread of Hispanic population growth since 1980, including easy access to detailed state and county-level data. It also presents a list of the counties with the largest Hispanic populations, as well as a list of those counties with the fastest-growing Hispanic populations.
In the 1990s the Hispanic population also expanded rapidly, but its growth accounted for less than 40% of the nation's total population increase in that decade. From 2000 to 2007, Latinos accounted for 50.5% of the total U.S. population growth, even though, as of mid-2007, they made up just 15.1% of the total population.
In another change from the 1990s, Latino population growth in this new century has been more a product of the natural increase (births minus deaths) of the existing population than it has been of new international migration, according to Pew Hispanic Center analysis.
The report identifies 676 fast-growing Hispanic counties among the nation's total of 3,141 counties. These counties all share two characteristics: a 2007 Latino population of at least 1,000; and an above-average Hispanic growth of at least 41% from 2000 to 2007. The list includes 148 counties that did not experience rapid growth in the 1990s.
There are both continuities and differences in the Hispanic settlement patterns of this decade, compared with the patterns of the 1990s. The dispersion of Latinos in the current decade has tilted more to counties in the West and the Northeast than it had in the 1990s. Despite the new tilt, however, the South still accounted for a greater share of overall Latino population growth than any other region did from 2000 to 2007.
Much of the Latino population growth in this decade has taken place in small and mid-sized cities and in suburbs - many of which had relatively few Latino residents until the past decade or two. A handful of big cities have also played a sizable role in Latino population growth in this decade. For example, the Latino population grew by more than 400,000 from 2000 to 2007 in just three counties: Los Angeles, Maricopa (Phoenix) and Harris (Houston). But because these counties already had a large base of Hispanic residents at the start of the decade, the growth of their Latino population since then has been less dramatic in percentage terms.
Percentage growth in the Hispanic population from 2000 to 2007 exceeded 300% in three counties - Frederick and Culpeper counties in Virginia and Paulding County in Georgia. These two states are home to eight of the 10 counties with the greatest percentage growth in the Hispanic population since 2000. The other two counties are Kendall County in Illinois and Luzerne County in Pennsylvania.
Other major findings include:
Hispanic population growth since 2000 has been widespread. The Hispanic population has grown in almost 3,000 of the nation's 3,141 counties.
At the same time, Hispanic population growth in the new century has been fairly concentrated. Hispanic population growth in just 178 counties accounts for 79% of the nation's entire 10.2 million Hispanic population increase.
In spite of dispersal to new settlements, the Hispanic population continues to be geographically concentrated. In 2007, the 100 largest Hispanic counties were home to 73% of the Latino population.
By this measure, Hispanics are more geographically concentrated than the nation's black population. Nearly six-in-ten (59%) of the non-Hispanic black population live in the nation's 100 largest non-Hispanic black counties.
The report "Latino Settlement in the New Century," is available on the center's website, www.pewhispanic.org.
source: Pew Hispanic Center press release
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