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b. Cultural Nationalism: The Silent Discriminatory Motive - Chief U.S. District Judge JOSE FUSTE SYLVIA DIFFENDERFER, et al. plaintiffs v. RAMON E. GOMEZ-COLON, et al., Defendants. -- Excerpt from "Opinion and Order" by Chief U.S. District Judge JOSE ANTONIO FUSTE - S/José Antonio Fusté -- September 2, 2008 b. Cultural Nationalism: The Silent Discriminatory Motive According to our experience as a federal judge, born, raised, and educated in Puerto Rico, we find that the only logical explanation for Defendants’ position against a bilingual ballot is a disguised form of discrimination rooted in cultural nationalism. Since 1898, Puerto Ricans have responded...

Russian, Delta Jets Nearly Collide Over Caribbean WASHINGTON (AP) ― Federal authorities say two airliners were a minute away from colliding when they turned away from each other over the Caribbean this week. The National Transportation Safety Board says the Delta Air Lines flight and a Russian-registered passenger jet were heading toward each other north of Puerto Rico on Thursday when cockpit alarms went off. In a statement Friday, the NTSB says the pilot of the Russian plane -- a Transaero Boeing 737 -- descended 200 to 300 feet to avoid Delta Flight 485. The planes were 33,000 feet over...

(English-language translation) After hearing the pertinent parties out, Federal Judge José Fusté ordered that the ballots for the November 4 general elections [in Puerto Rico] be printed in English and Spanish. Fusté ordered the parties to begin to join efforts "immediately" towards having ready any changes to the ballots by September 5, so that they may be submitted to the Olés of Puerto Rico print shop on September 6. The ballots will begin to be printed on September 10. Olés of Puerto Rico owner Angel Figueroa pointed out during a hearing to show cause that printing the ballots in both...

[Phoenix] - John McCain made it clear who his daddy was Monday morning. Daddy Yankee, the hip-hop star from Puerto Rico, endorsed the Republican candidate Monday morning. Wearing black aviator shades in the library of Central High School here, Daddy Yankee said, “I believe in his ideals and his proposals to lead this nation…He’s been a fighter for the Hispanic community.”

(English-language translation) In addition to allegedly approving legislative bills and cabinet appointments in exchange for money, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are investigating alleged acts of money laundering and bank fraud by New Progressive Party Senator Jorge de Castro Font, sources to EL VOCERO reported. According to the sources, this is why the IRS joined the investigation which began in March. EL VOCERO anticipated on July 8 that federal authorities were investigating the alleged approval of bills in exchange for money coming from "large interests", as well as the confirmation of cabinet members....

(English-language translation) Two [mainland-born] Americans who live in [Puerto Rico] asked Federal Court to order the Commonwealth Elections Commission (CEE) to print in English [in addition to Spanish] the ballots for the November 4 general elections [in the island]. Once the suit was filed, Judge José Fusté, who presides over the case, scheduled a hearing for August 27 in which the defendants, CEE Chairman Ramón Gómez and the election commissioners [representing the island's four registered political parties], must provide the judge reason why he should not meet the plaintiffs' demands. Plaintiffs Sylvia Diffenderfer and Robert McCarroll are requesting that the...

He — Ray Otero, superintendent, ordinary luckless guy — should have the cash, the car, the sexy Swedish girlfriend. The numbers alone demanded it: Last year, he spent $30,000 on the lottery. The winner, Richie Randazzo, spent a measly thirty bucks or so a week. “When I heard he won, I got so mad — I said to myself, ‘I can’t believe it,’ ” Mr. Otero said the other day, recalling how the television crews descended on his friend in a free-for-allish media display. “I spend all that money and the” — unprintable fellow — “wins? It’s wrong. I mean,...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A federal grand jury in San Juan, Puerto Rico, today returned an indictment against Puerto Rico Governor Anibal Acevedo Vila, a senior aide and a former campaign director for wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico Rosa Emilia Rodriguez-Velez announced. Today's indictment follows an earlier indictment, returned on March 24, 2008, which charged these same defendants and others with related crimes. The five-count indictment returned today in U.S. District Court in Puerto Rico, charges Acevedo...

Five years after arriving in Central Florida, El Nuevo Día Orlando, the region's only daily Spanish-language newspaper, is closing. The paper, which has a total of 50 employees, will cease operations Aug. 29., said José F. Serra, spokesperson for the Ferré-Rangel family. They own two newspapers in Puerto Rico -- El Nuevo Día and Primera Hora -- and started the Orlando operations in Sept. 2003. "Unfortunately, the losses have been consistent throughout the five years, and we came to the conclusion that we couldn't continue producing the paper," Serra said.

(English-language translation) Regional Director of the Office of Improvements to Public Schools and Popular Democratic Party candidate for House of Representatives District 20 Elvin Camacho Vélez was indicted on charges of theft to federal programs and extortion after allegedly soliciting and accepting $12,000 to cover expenses for his political campaign during transactions that were recorded. "Basically, we caught him red-handed....the evidence is solid," said Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Luis Fraticelli during a press conference along with U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez and other officials from that agency. Rodríguez indicated that, between June 18 and 30 of this year,...

(English-language translation) As it turns 70 years old, the [pro-Commonwealth] Popular Democratic Party (PPD) faces its worst crisis brought on not only by the federal [corruption] charges against its principal leader, [Governor] Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, but also by the complicated economic situation the island has experienced under his administration. Three prominent PPD members interviewed by this daily could not agree on whether Acevedo will win [re-election in] the November elections. They did agree the PPD is at a crossroads, that the federal indictments are a dark page in the party’s history, and that the cost-of-living increases the island has been...

(English-language translation) Police in Glendale County, Arizona confirmed yesterday that 44-year-old Glendaly Vigoreaux Echevarría, daughter of the late [Puerto Rican] TV producer Luis Vigoreaux and actress Lydia Echevarría, was found dead by her husband Paul Hacker in their home on Frier Drive in Glendale, Arizona. According to Glendale Police report PD 08-77459 signed by Sergeant Jim Toomey, agency detectives are investigating Glendaly Vigoreaux's death as a suicide, as confirmed by the autopsy performed by the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office. The report indicated that officers responded to a call on Tuesday, July 15 at 9:58 AM from the residence of...

(English-language translation) The negotiations between Puerto Rico and Venezuela for the purchase of more economical oil remain a mystery. The respective secretaries of the Department of State and the Department of Consumer Affairs (DACO), Fernando Bonilla and Jorge Suárez, have not made public the outcome of that country's visit this past weekend. "I believe they're being very cautious about not turning this into a fiasco and, therefore, they don't want to reveal the negotiation in case this cannot be accomplished and thus avoid a possible negative damage to the effort[.] That is why there is silence," was the opinion of...

Al-Qaeda Draws New Recruits Via Internet Al-Qaeda is using the Internet to recruit vulnerable young people to its terrorist network, according to a programme aired on Saudi Arabian TV late on Tuesday. Umm Osama, the founder of al-Qaeda's first women-only website, al-Khansa, joined several others on the programme to discuss how they renounced jihadist ideology. Among those who sought a response to this question was an imam from the Medina mosque, Saleh Ibn Awad al-Mudamsi, and the father of a young al-Qaeda suspect held in an Iraqi prison. Read More Qaeda Targets U.S. Oil Interests in North Africa U.S....

Puerto Rico archeological find mired in politics Posted on Tue, Jul. 01 By FRANCES ROBLES U.S. archaeologist Nathan Mountjoy sits next to stones etched with ancient petroglyphs and graves that reveal unusual burial methods in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The archaeological find, one of the best-preserved pre-Columbian sites found in the Caribbean, form a large plaza measuring some 130 feet by 160 feet that could have been used for ball games or ceremonial rites, officials said. SAN JUAN -- The lady carved on the ancient rock is squatting, with frog-like legs sticking out to each side. Her decapitated head is dangling...

(English-language translation) With six weeks to go before the United States Congress adjourns, [pro-statehood] New Progressive Party (PNP) candidate for Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi considers "uphill" the effort to address the political-status bill PNP Chairman [and incumbent Resident Commissioner] Luis Fortuño is promoting. During a visit to Washington, D.C., Pierluisi met yesterday with Senator Ken Salazar, who is promoting in that chamber the status bill Fortuño drafted in the House of Representatives and who warned him that he foresees difficulties in its being considered before the current session ends. Although Salazar reiterated his commitment to the status issue, "he was...

(English-language translation) Understanding that Spain has "a moral debt" to Puerto Rico after ceding the island [to the United States] following the Spanish-American War, Popular Democratic Party (PPD) Senator Eudaldo Báez Galib asked the government of Spain to intervene to help solve the problem of the [island's political] status. Báez sent a letter to Spain's Consul-General in Puerto Rico Carlos Vinuesa Salto asking him to go before the International Court of Justice to present Puerto Rico's case. "The historical moment has come for Spain to tend to its affairs with Puerto Rico. Among these, the mere fact that Puerto Rico...

(Abridged English-language translation) Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá said yesterday that he will sign the bills approved by the Legislature freezing salary increases for representatives and senators. Although he indicated that the initiative is insufficient, the acknowledged that, at least, it involves freezing increases. "If I receive the bill, I will logically sign it, but the legislative reform the island expects and which all the candidates of the Popular Democratic Party are committed to is much more profound," the Governor clarified. The approved measures suspend automatic salary and per diem increases for legislators for four years, but they do not address...

(English-language translation) (AP) - The leaders of the three party delegations in the [Puerto Rico] House of Representatives released yesterday the report that rejects Resolution 99, thus eliminating all possibilities of its being approved by that chamber. "Ninety-nine has died. May it rest in peace," said Puerto Rican Independence Party Representative Víctor García San Inocencio once the report that rejects the measure proposing a referendum on giving constitutional sanction to marriage strictly between one man and one woman was released. However, García explained that some legislator might present a similar bill, but it would need the whole House's consensus. The...

(English-language translation) “Stowaway rats” that enter the Port of Old San Juan through cruise ships and other vessels will not have to fear the old city’s cats if Commonwealth Veterinarian Carlos Carazo accomplishes his plan to eliminate the sterilized-cat colonies the “Save A Gato [Cat]” group is trapping and sterilizing to control the population. However, the National Park Service (NPS), the federal agency having custody over [Fort] El Morro, has determined that “it is necessary to keep a cat colony in order to prevent diseases caused by rats.” According to a letter Carazo sent NPS last week, “the Department of...

Here are the CNN exit poll results... here’s the most interesting stat - only five percent of Clinton voters wouldn’t be satisfied with a Clinton nomination. That’s a much lower number than has occurred in other states that voted once Rush Limbaugh began his “Operation Chaos” urging Republican-supporting voters to prank the Democratic primaries by voting for Clinton. Spanish-speaking Puerto Rico, obviously, is a place where Limbaugh has no significant listenership, and this provides us a yardstick with which to measure Limbaugh’s actual impact on English-speaking state primaries. In Kentucky for example, on May 20, a full 19 percent of...

(English-language translation) Thousands of independence supporters and different anti-colonialist organizations marched yesterday towards the Governor's Mansion to repudiate the Democratic primary that was held at the same time throughout the island. Colón Square in Old San Juan was the meeting spot for the multitudinous demonstration in which the leadership of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) and the National Hostosiano Independence Movement participated. Likewise, there was noticeable representation from the island's entertainers and organizations such as Mothers Against War, the Socialist Front, the Electrical Industry Workers Union, and the Puerto Rico Teachers Federation, among others. "We do not get involved...

Ken Vogel reports that the Clinton campaign is using the results to openly argue that Barack Obama has a problem with Hispanic voters — an idea Clinton backers have previously mentioned only behind the scenes. “It was a 100 percent Hispanic primary and it shows that he has a problem with the Latino community,” Terry McAuliffe, campaign chairman for Hillary Clinton, told a handful of reporters after polls closed Sunday. “He cannot close in this key core constituency,” McAuliffe added. Voters in Puerto Rico are in some ways different from Hispanics living stateside, both because there’s a long tradition of...

Sunday: Hillary Clinton waves to a supporter at the Kasalta Bakery in San Juan, as she campaigns on primary day in Puerto Rico. (AP Photo) SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Hillary Clinton won the Democratic presidential primary in Puerto Rico on Sunday, and is expected to return to the mainland with a purseful of delegates. But lower-than-expected turnout could hamper her camp’s efforts to argue she can attract enthusiastic general election voters and is the better candidate than Barack Obama in the fall race against presumptive Republican nominee John McCain. Puerto Rico’s role was enhanced in the Democratic primary election...

This is just on from CNN. CNN is projecting Hillary will win Puerto Rico by a wide margin of 40%. Geez, I guess Michelle will soon add those brown people and yellow people to her 'whitey' tape. More popcorn.

Today is Sunday, June 1st and the Puerto Rico primary voting takes place from 8:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. ET. Welcome to the only forum on the web in the mainland United States (that I know of!) monitoring LIVE all the details, voting, exit polling and results for today’s Puerto Rico Democratic primary! Many thanks to Jim Robinson and all of you at FreeRepublic.com for your support! Will Hillary’s popular vote tally move up substantially after today’s primary? After all, there are over 2 million Puerto Ricans eligible to vote, and there’s usually an 80-85% percent voting turnout on the...

Translated by me: - Anchorwoman says that Hillary is heavily favored by the Puerto Rico prison population, which voted in the span of the past 2 days (Thurs. & Fri.) - Prisoners voting are dressed in grey and blue prison garb in the video. - Prisoner #1: "Hillary gives us hope; we're going through a really bad economic crisis". -Prisoner #2: "We need a change in life. All changes are necessary in life". -Prisoner #3: "We're a U.S. territory and the relationship we have with the U.S. could benefit us from getting out of this economic rut". -Prisoner #4: "We're...

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO - While catholic schools commonly serve as electoral colleges for local voters, the Catholic Church will not cede these facilities for the island's Democratic primary on Sunday, claiming the electoral process is not one in which all voters will participate. The move affects about 20,000 registered voters, who usually cast their ballots at 24 Catholic schools in San Juan, Guaynabo, Carolina and Trujillo Alto [Capital City greater metropolitan area], State Elections Commission planning chief José Valentín said Tuesday. "Normally, these schools serve as voting precincts, but some are not included because a Mass or something else...

El Vocero and Univisión Poll ahead of the June 1st primary. 55 delegates at stake. Possibly 2 million voters for the national popular vote head count. Highlights: Clinton: 51% Obama: 38% Neither: 8% Don't know: 3% 50% of the electorate says it will not participate in the primary. 34% of the electorate dislikes Clinton, 44% dislike Obama.

Hillary knows she will lose in S. Dakota and Montana. So she is throwing her focus into Puerto Rico, where she hopes to exploit the Latino/Obama 'discomfort'. Obvious enough. But -- Puerto Rico doesn't get to vote in the November elections. US Territories aren't represented in the Electoral College. So - Hillary is, at best, trying to make an ugly 'proxy' argument, and trying to say to the Dem Party, "See -- the Puerto Ricans don't like him, either". And this is a play to the Puerto Rican population in, e.g., New York or New Jersey, and a play to...

Puerto Rico won't be a swing state in November. It's not even a state, and its 4 million residents aren't allowed to vote in the general election. Its partisan politics have little in common with the mainland's; the main competitors are not Democrats and Republicans, but "commonwealthers" and "statehooders," and while they are divided into reds and blues, the reds of the commonwealth party are more likely to favor Democrats, while the blues of the statehood party skew more Republican. Puerto Rico residents do serve in the U.S. military, but they do not pay U.S. income taxes, and many of...

ABC News' Eloise Harper reports: Since the Pennsylvania primary Sen. Hillary Clinton has been calling for a debate with her opponent, Sen. Barack Obama. She continued her plea in Penuelas, Puerto Rico, standing outside a restaurant while less than 100 people gathered on a dirt walkway. Obama has rebuffed these requests and has instead begun campaigning in states that would be important for him in the general election if he becomes the Democratic presidential nominee. "I was informed that Univision will sponsor a debate between Sen. Obama and myself about the issues affecting Puerto Rico," Clinton said. "I accept that...

Video news on last night's WAPA-TV news broadcast.

Saturday, May 24, 2008. Link above to WAPA-TV Noticias, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

This week, after Hillary Clinton’s landslide victory in Kentucky, I wrote that she might become the Al Gore of 2008 — that is, the winner of the popular vote but loser of the election. If you start with the votes Clinton has won in the Democratic race so far, I wrote, and add the ones she won in Florida, but don’t count any from Michigan, where opponent Barack Obama was not on the ballot, then Clinton is within striking distance of Obama going into the final primaries of the race. And if she were to win big in Puerto Rico,...

Thanks so much to Freeper "cll", our source in Puerto Rico, for this information! Show Name: “En Caliente Con La Jovet” with Carmen Jovet. Once you’re in the NotiUno web site, click on “Escuchanos En Vivo”, which means “Listen Live”. That should bring you straight into the streaming live audio feed. Hillary will be a guest on the very popular radio show “En Caliente Con la Jovet”, with radio personality Carmen Jovet. The show runs from 10 a.m. to Noon, but the station is not saying what time the Senator will be on-air. It is assumed that the interview will...

In an exclusive interview with WAPA-TV of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Hillary stated (her words are close captioned in English) that she favors Puerto Ricans voting for the President of the United States in the November general election. Translation: Roughly 2 to 2.5 million votes going to the Democratic presidential nominee, whomever that might be.

Milagros Garcia is an alleged Alien and Human inter-species hybrid. The blood DNA from this Puerto Rican woman has yielded analyses so unusual and interesting that the physician involved is now interested in meeting the subject for further study. The DNA is possible in humans but is very rare. Ms. Garcia claims that she is the offspring of an alien encounter. The Doctor is not interested in the UFO/ alien phenomena he wants answers as to why her DNA has such rare qualities. A Case similar to this is being investigated in New Paris Ohio. A woman there has exceptional...

55 delegates and 8 superdelegates are at stake in Puerto Rico. Basically, the article quotes spokespersons from both campaigns in Puerto Rico saying how the Island might put their candidate over the threshold and how important Puerto Rico is during this Democratic primary process. Obama will be on the Island May 23-25. Hillary will be on the Island from May 24-26.

Breaking News in Puerto Rican Media -- Hillary on the Island for 3 days - from Saturday, May 24th through Monday, May 26th. More details later.

(English-language translation) To Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, Puerto Ricans under the current Commonwealth [status] have to limit themselves to giving the United States "generic consent" over matters that concern the island. To his understanding, a sovereign Commonwealth would turn these instances of consent into specifics and would delimit the relationship between both countries. That is how he explained the proposed "sovereign Commonwealth" his Popular Democratic Party (PPD) now defends more insistently. "With U.S. citizenship as a link, we can clearly determine what is the people's power and not what we have had until now, which is a generic consent," the...

Heard all over the Island are these two jingles. The one linked above is Hillary's (composed and sung by famed salsa singer Willie Colon). Barack Obama's catchy jingle was composed by Miguel Orozco of www.amigosdeobama.com and can be found on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOPuRoAmVNc

(English-language translation) “Even if I am alone, and I am willing to accept that,” former Governor Pedro Rosselló González will stand by his values and beliefs on what the [pro-statehood] New Progressive Party (PNP) should be. As he indicated, the party promotes values and beliefs that are very different from his own. The Senator and former PNP Chairman, who lost the gubernatorial nomination to fellow party member Luis Fortuño in the past primaries, understands two different, “irreconcilable” viewpoints faced each other during the primaries. On his side, there are the theory of people’s empowerment, promoting statehood in every election as...