Claire Keane
No title available
Today's Document
Game of Thrones Daily
2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year
gracie abrams
Keni
blake kathryn
taylor price
let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
★
@theartofmadeline
ellievsbear
No title available
Kiana Khansmith
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
Cosimo Galluzzi
No title available
Fai_Ryy
YOU ARE THE REASON
seen from Germany
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Italy
seen from Mexico
seen from United States
seen from Ireland
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from Singapore
seen from United States
seen from Vietnam
seen from United States
seen from Italy
seen from Netherlands
seen from Italy
seen from United States
@ricaninla
Please support #TainoSpiritPromise, our campaign to assist disruptors on the ground in #PuertoRico rebuilding the island sustainably after #HurricaneMaria. This campaign is a joint effort of actress #MichelleRodriguez, #SeaShepherdConservationSociety, and #TainoWarriorAngels.
Check out the video below and visit www.my.seashepherd.org/OperationTSP to donate.
Join us this Sunday, Oct 15th - 5:00 pm at Conga Room in LALive. Let’s pack the house with love!
All proceeds to benefit community organizations providing relief in Puerto Rico.
Last night was the 2013 MLB All-Star game. Ah, America’s pastime! Who doesn’t love a good baseball game? And what better way to open up America’s game then with a heartfelt rendition of ‘God Bless America’?
And…wait, a minute. Who is this guy coming out to sing God Bless AMERICA?
The dangerous un-Christian rhetoric of Wanda Rolón
(Photo; Ángel Valentín/NotiCel)
“We can’t allow the intimacy of others to enter our conscience and allow them to take away our right to free association, to take away our freedom of conscience.”
With this bizarre spin, rabid anti-equality advocate Wanda Rolón, a self-proclaimed fundamentalist Apostle, invited her audience in Puerto Rico to take one last stand against the impending approval in the House of Representatives of PS238, a bill that outlawed discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. Initially I thought her new spin was laughable; typical delusive Wanda I thought. But just a few days before the FBI had arrested a man for using his Twitter account to threaten an LGBT activist and suggest a terrorist attack similar to Boston’s at a local rally supporting the bill. Those events took place as Wanda and other religious extremists were publicly lobbying against PS238 by calling it a bill of privileges and accusing the LGBT community of having a hidden agenda. Even though Wanda or her church have no connection with the man accused of these cyber crimes, there’s still part of me that wonders if spinning alarming lies and condemnations doesn’t have an effect on these wackoes.
As a public figure, a fact about herself she continually points out in interviews, Wanda knows her words could incite bigots, homophobes, and crazed fanatics to act in despicable ways; she knows the level of hostility against LGBT people in Puerto Rico today, yet she goes on TV and delivers a desperate plea full of lies and absurd allegations. It was a classic manipulation of the truth in anticipation to her defeat. It positioned her and her church as victims and promoted the ridiculous notion that LGBT people are here to destroy society.
PS238 doesn’t take away anyone’s right to associate freely; it doesn’t threaten anyone’s freedom of conscience, especially her followers’ since they already follow her strict dogma. It actually protects heterosexual people by explicitly banning discrimination against any sexual orientation. But spinning the notion that this bill will allow LGBT sexuality to somehow magically enter into other people’s conscience (as if people are not already aware that we exist) is ridiculous hocus-pocus, carefully crafted to cast LGBT people as evil and threatening. It’s psychological terrorism, not Christianity.
Inferring that Puerto Rico has an authoritarian government that attacks religion is ludicrous, but calling on the collective conscience to deny the existence of a group of people is quite scary. It’s reminiscent of the fascist Christian posturings in Europe during WWII. Haven’t we learned anything from history?
This woman and her movement wouldn’t represent such a threat if the separation of Church and State wasn’t as blurred as it is in Puerto Rico's case. Judging by the amendments forced on the bill to appease the fundamentalists, it's clear that the government of Puerto Rico has allowed them to influence legislation. The approved version of the bill allows the church to discriminate in accordance with their religious views. In essence, the government of Puerto Rico is telling the LGBT community that it is OK to discriminate against them in ‘certain’ cases.
As she continues to manipulate the media now in the role of “victim” her words become more dangerous in a country that has seen 40 LGBT people murdered in the last 10 years. For that reason I urge Ms Rolón to stick to the truth and tame her alarmist tone when speaking publicly. The signing of this bill into law by governor Alejandro García Padilla tomorrow could result in repercussions to LGBT people and the leaders of the pro-equality movement in Puerto Rico. If that is the case, I make Wanda Rolón and her religious allies responsible for any acts of violence.
When you earn six figures working for a top government official, it’s wise to keep your Twitter tongue in check. Heidi Anne Wys didn’t, so now people are demanding that the adviser to Puerto Rican House President Jennifer Gonzalez be fired.
Responding to a birthday picture that President...
LAS JAQUETONAS JAQUEADAS
Puerto Rican Doobie- Doobie (at Libros AC Librería, Barra & Bistro)
Even though I’ve lived most of my life in the U.S. and I’ve had limited access to Puerto Rican media since I moved here in the late 80’s, I’ve always held Puerto Rican television in high regard. My aunt Martha Hagman was a popular TV personality in the 70’s and 80’s and I have fond memories of...
Cambia el canal! No veas a SuperXclusivo. ¡NO MÁS ODIO! #BoycottLaComay
Puerto Rico needs to wake the fuck up!
I didn't know José Enrique Gómez personally, but news about his kidnapping spread quickly through social media, and I couldn't help to pay attention. José Enrique is the latest victim of crime in Puerto Rico. He was intercepted, forced to withdraw money from his bank account and later killed. I'm a grown ass man, but I couldn't control my tears, and I wept as I read the news on my screen. My tears were not only for José Enrique's family, but for my 13 nephews and nieces, my siblings, my parents, my family and my friends still living in Puerto Rico.
Recently I met a Puerto Rican dancer in LA who suggested that I was making Puerto Rico sound like a third world country. Normally, I would have sat down and explained to this individual how PR has some of the highest murder and violent crime rates in the world today and no comprehensive plan to tackle crime, but I realized that I would be wasting my time talking to someone who lives in denial. He's just like the father of one of the suspects of the crime, a pastor of an evangelical church who swears by Christ that his daughter had no involvement in the actual murder. He admits that she confessed being in the car with José Enrique, that she accompanied the other three suspects to the area where they killed him, but that she waited at a local business because she didn't agree with what they were going to do. He believes his daughter is innocent and he reminds the press that he's telling the truth under God.
While the majority of people in my family still live in Puerto Rico, I chose to migrate in the 80's because I didn't feel safe there. I only returned at the end of 2001, getting away from New York, where I didn't feel safe right after 9/11. I spent three years back in my country, where I immediately felt insecure. Within my first three months in Puerto Rico there were several carjackings and armed robberies in my neighborhood, someone tried to break into my house and someone broke into my neighbor's house. My neighbors would lock themselves up as soon as the sun went down. Everyone in my neighborhood lived in fear. So as soon as I had the opportunity, I packed my bags and returned to the United States.
During a quick trip a couple of years ago, my friend Pedro and I spent one afternoon on the beach with our friend Charlie, literally down the street from his place in a ritzy sector of San Juan. It was the perfect sunset and there were still many people on the beach when Charlie suddenly got up and announced "we need to go now!" Pedro and I followed him asking why the rush and he kept repeating, "the guy saw me, he's here, he saw me." Pedro and I were trying to catch up with Charlie looking at each other in disbelief not sure what to make of the situation, but then we noticed someone walking towards us. We picked up the pace, stepped into the street and quickly turned around. We could still see the guy starring at us from not too far away on the sand. I will never forget his face or his cold stare. We ran back to Charlie's apartment and once there he explained that there had been a couple of home invasions in his neighborhood and that the neighbors already knew who the guy was because he was a regular at the beach, but the cops had not caught him yet. He called the cops trembling but the guy was gone by the time they got there.
I find it quite interesting how some boricuas who are well aware of the uncontrolled criminality in the island speak as if it's business as usual for Puerto Rico. I, for one won't accept what's going on or live in denial either. I've lived in New York and Los Angeles and I know the dangers of crime, but I don't live in fear like most of the people I know in Puerto Rico. The problem is serious. It must be denounced out loud. My country needs to wake the fuck up and take action.
Recently, I was browsing through my Facebook page when an ad caught my attention. It was for a Puerto Rico Prepaid VISA card. While I am Puerto Rican, born and raised in the island, demographically and financially I’m not the target for this type of product. I was disappointed at Facebook for their lack of sophistication in targeting and multicultural marketing. I can only assume this VISA card ad is reaching all Puerto Ricans active on the social media network. Big mistake. Facebook fails to realize that not all Puerto Ricans have the need or desire for this type of financial product. Specially because some of us might also deem such product offensive and in bad taste. Yes, not all Puerto Ricans are the same, just like not all African American, Asian Americans, White and Native Americans are the same. It’s ridiculous that I’m pointing this out in this time and age in a media where behavioral data makes it easy to be laser focused in your placement.
But it gets better. As a marketer, I was curious about the creative so I clicked on the ad and was redirected to the enrollment page on the CARDS.com web site. In the copy CARDS.com explains that the card shows “the flag derived from the design by Mariana Bracetti during the Puerto Rican independence from Spain.” Nothing farther from the truth. Marianna “Brazos de Oro” Bracetti didn’t design, but embroidered the flag used during the “Grito de Lares” in 1868, which is a different flag known as “la bandera de Lares”. While there has never been absolute clarity about who designed the current flag - some point to Lola Rodríguez de Tió, others to Francisco Gonzalo Marín or Antonio Vélez Alvarado - it is undeniable that it was an adaptation of the Cuban flag with the colors inverted.
If you’re going to pander to a particular nationality using their most respected patriotic symbol the least you could do is get the story right. Right? But CARDS.com couldn’t even spellcheck their copy. Trying too hard to be hip, they used the word “boricua” (what Puerto Ricans prefer to call ourselves) in the headline but failed to spell it correctly.
Marketers still need to learn so much about multicultural consumers, specially about the complexities of the Hispanic market. To develop the right content/creative marketers need to understand that multicultural consumers are as complex as general market consumers. Facebook, VISA and CARDS.com should call me for a consultation.
LATINOAMÉRICA = LATINOS ARE AMERICAN
Yup, this song sums it all up pretty good. We are ALL americanos because we are born in the Américas, no matter which country. América is a continent, and Puerto Rico is in América. Don't get it twisted! The process to resolve the political status of Puerto Rico is not about Puerto Ricans becoming Americans; it's about putting an end to the colonial practices that have denied our nation it's right to freedom for over 100 years. Like René Pérez well says, "soy la pesadilla del sueño americano," "I'm a nightmare for the American Dream. "
Don't believe the hype: The political status of Puerto Rico is still controlled by Congress.
(Photo; Brennan Linsley/AP)
Recently, my friend Noel Bajandas sent me a link to an article about the outcome of Puerto Rico's latest referendum on its political status, which was voted upon on November 6th. He suggested I'd write something about it on my blog because it's the first time in history that a majority of Puerto Rican voters has chosen statehood. I thanked him and thought to myself, "no thanks."
What Noel didn't know is that I grew up in a politically polarized family, that my grandmother and great uncle were at one point members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, that I have always been pro independence, and that I believe these referendums are the biggest smokescreen in the history of U.S. colonialism. As I pondered on why should I avoid the subject, I realized that I was not only depriving my friend Noel from my point of view but also taking a silent position on something that I have always felt so passionate about. Like me, Noel represents the millions of Puerto Ricans who live in the U.S. and who might never have a say on the future of Puerto Rico by virtue of where we reside. Different from Noel, I grew up in Puerto Rico and migrated to the U.S. in great part because of the repressive politics of the island.
Like in 1967, 1993 and 1998, this latest referendum will not change the status of our country because it would actually take an act of Congress to do so. Per United States v. Sanchez, 992 F.2d 1143, 1152–53 (11th Cir. 1993), "Congress continues to be the ultimate source of power [over Puerto Rico] pursuant to the Territory Clause of the Constitution." That means that no matter how many times Puerto Ricans themselves vote to decide their political future, Congress has absolute control over that decision. Historically, the U.S. Congress has never acted on any status referendum conducted in Puerto Rico, and even though the Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2009 (H.R.2499) was passed in Congress, it aims to provide for "a federally sanctioned self-determination process for the people of Puerto Rico." This vague language only promises that Congress will now consider sanctioning the process.
I appreciate President Obama's efforts to address the issue through the White House Task Force on Puerto Rico, but I'm still hesitant to call it real and meaningful progress. The complexity of the process, which I must say has been unravelling for the last 45 years, might be too big of a task for the White House while there are so many other pressing issues for the Obama administration. I'm not confident about this "new process" because it is just that, a new way of doing the same thing Congress has been doing all along.
The outcome of the latest referendum doesn't surprise me at all. Statehood seems like a life preserver in very rocky seas. The reality of the economic situation of Puerto Rico today paired with the economic uncertainty we are experiencing on a global scale is enough to scare even the most staunch proponents of independence or a free association. What annoys me about this process is that the U.S. government is still at the stage of "wanting" to make sure they agree with the options presented to Puerto Ricans; this more than 100 years after making us a colony or "territory" as they prefer to call it.
The reality is that becoming a state will have repercussions for other states in the union. If Puerto Rico were to become a state it will obtain two seats in the Senate and about five seats in the House. The chances of increasing the current number of seats in the House are very slim, so most likely this means that other states will have to lose some seats to accommodate the new members. Is the U.S. Congress ready to alter its structure to welcome representation for Spanish speaking Americans who perhaps consider themselves Puerto Rican first and American second?
Not only are Puerto Rican voters still divided on this issue (regardless of how the results have been spun in American media, there's still a deep philosophical divide in the island), but there's also great resistance from PACs and other extreme political organizations in the U.S. that don't want the financial burden of another state or an increase in the pro-Democrat Latino vote pool of this country. There's still another referendum to be held before the issue moves to Congress and I suspect the road will be long and difficult.
Once this happens, the ball will be again on the Congress side of the court, but I can't be optimistic about a final resolution. We have gone through this charade before.
Get out & VOTE! (at Gardner Elementary)
