selected clips
Natalia Muñoz is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists
Survivor' plays games
in war-ravaged nation
A new "Survivor" season will begin soon, this time in Guatemala, a country still recovering from the ravages of a decades-long civil war.
The game is a stain on its genre, reality TV.
It's an adult version of musical chairs with the savagery of "Lord of the Flies" thrown in. Today's television set is Rome's Coliseum, blinking and blasting grotesque images to entertain distracted Romans. Read on
in war-ravaged nation
A new "Survivor" season will begin soon, this time in Guatemala, a country still recovering from the ravages of a decades-long civil war.
The game is a stain on its genre, reality TV.
It's an adult version of musical chairs with the savagery of "Lord of the Flies" thrown in. Today's television set is Rome's Coliseum, blinking and blasting grotesque images to entertain distracted Romans. Read on
Minority' label is damaging
Minority is a damaging word in certain circumstances. It's OK to use in reference to the "minority leader" in the House of Representatives. It's fine for describing the dissenting view from high court justices.
But I don't like it to be used in reference to me because I'm Puerto Rican, nor in regards to the other 40 million Latinos here. That's just too many people to call a minority.
It's like a school body being described as minority because 98 percent of the students are Mexican. Que? Read on
Minority is a damaging word in certain circumstances. It's OK to use in reference to the "minority leader" in the House of Representatives. It's fine for describing the dissenting view from high court justices.
But I don't like it to be used in reference to me because I'm Puerto Rican, nor in regards to the other 40 million Latinos here. That's just too many people to call a minority.
It's like a school body being described as minority because 98 percent of the students are Mexican. Que? Read on
Humor out of rage: Five U.S. painters expose their wounds
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) _ Ida Applebroog casts a long sad gaze at old age and paints a faceless wheelchair-bound man in diapers. Below him, in their own small panels, are images of a younger man peeing joyfully from unzipped pants, his arms at his side, one leg kicked back as if he were in mid-skip; above, children shovel dirt on him; and to the side, a great big frame of indifferent nurses standbehind a rose trellis. She titled it, “Ooze/Whose.”
Applebroog’s yanks irony out of tragedy, sardonic cartoons out of canvasses. Humor out of rage. And for that, she is the standout painter in the exhibit, “Humor and Rage: Five Contemporary Painters from the United States,” on view through April in La Pedrera in Barcelona. Read on
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) _ Ida Applebroog casts a long sad gaze at old age and paints a faceless wheelchair-bound man in diapers. Below him, in their own small panels, are images of a younger man peeing joyfully from unzipped pants, his arms at his side, one leg kicked back as if he were in mid-skip; above, children shovel dirt on him; and to the side, a great big frame of indifferent nurses standbehind a rose trellis. She titled it, “Ooze/Whose.”
Applebroog’s yanks irony out of tragedy, sardonic cartoons out of canvasses. Humor out of rage. And for that, she is the standout painter in the exhibit, “Humor and Rage: Five Contemporary Painters from the United States,” on view through April in La Pedrera in Barcelona. Read on
EB White in this century
I have returned to E.B. White many times over the years, especially whenever the world - or my world in journalism - reeled in chaos. Now’s a good time again.
His essays interrupt the vertiginous thoughts that trip me, and steady me on the surer ground found in contemplative essays. With every reading of "Bedfellows," on his relationship with his obstinate dog Fred, I am just as delighted as the first time I read the essay more than two decades ago. Read on
I have returned to E.B. White many times over the years, especially whenever the world - or my world in journalism - reeled in chaos. Now’s a good time again.
His essays interrupt the vertiginous thoughts that trip me, and steady me on the surer ground found in contemplative essays. With every reading of "Bedfellows," on his relationship with his obstinate dog Fred, I am just as delighted as the first time I read the essay more than two decades ago. Read on
Marta Casals’s Mission
EL VENDRELL, Spain – In an instant, it is apparent that Marta Casals Istomin, widow of the venerated Catalan cellist Pau Casals, is a determined woman.
You know this because just as quickly she has tactfully postponed an interview with a television crew in Catalan, asked an assistant to look for another in Spanish, swiftly dispatched another assistant in English to get a copy of a museum brochure, boisterously greeted a small group of visitors in French, and walked the length of the immense garden of the Pau Casals Museum to note that all the sculptures flanking it are by Catalans.Read on
EL VENDRELL, Spain – In an instant, it is apparent that Marta Casals Istomin, widow of the venerated Catalan cellist Pau Casals, is a determined woman.
You know this because just as quickly she has tactfully postponed an interview with a television crew in Catalan, asked an assistant to look for another in Spanish, swiftly dispatched another assistant in English to get a copy of a museum brochure, boisterously greeted a small group of visitors in French, and walked the length of the immense garden of the Pau Casals Museum to note that all the sculptures flanking it are by Catalans.Read on
Pols come courting at Latino conference
In the heart of Philadelphia , powerful political leaders brought boxes of chocolate and flowers to court the Latino vote.
In reality, the chocolate was their sweet talk and the flowers their accomplishments.
To the 2,500 attendees at the annual National Council of La Raza conference, it was a date with destiny. Read on
In the heart of Philadelphia , powerful political leaders brought boxes of chocolate and flowers to court the Latino vote.
In reality, the chocolate was their sweet talk and the flowers their accomplishments.
To the 2,500 attendees at the annual National Council of La Raza conference, it was a date with destiny. Read on
Voting rights issues probed
SPRINGFIELD - Springfield is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice for possible violations of the Voting Rights Act, the department has confirmed.
Springfield follows in the footsteps of Boston, Lawrence and Lowell, which have seen justice department involvement in voting rights issues. All four have large Latino populations, and Lowell also has a large Asian population. Read on
SPRINGFIELD - Springfield is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice for possible violations of the Voting Rights Act, the department has confirmed.
Springfield follows in the footsteps of Boston, Lawrence and Lowell, which have seen justice department involvement in voting rights issues. All four have large Latino populations, and Lowell also has a large Asian population. Read on
A wall goes up in Springfield
The undocumented immigrant population in Springfield must be completely under the radar for educators, law enforcement, and city and federal officials who actually come into contact with them regularly.
Because when they celebrated the move of the Springfield School Department into a shiny renovated federal building in June with the obligatory ribbon-cutting, they also cut out the parents of school children who are here illegally. Read on
The undocumented immigrant population in Springfield must be completely under the radar for educators, law enforcement, and city and federal officials who actually come into contact with them regularly.
Because when they celebrated the move of the Springfield School Department into a shiny renovated federal building in June with the obligatory ribbon-cutting, they also cut out the parents of school children who are here illegally. Read on
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La parada que termnina en nada
La parada puertorriqueña que se celebró en Holyoke, Massachusetts, en julio sirvió más como ejemplo de lo que no somos de lo que somos.
Sí, somos boricuas, y con orgullo. Pero no somos un poder político, y por eso nuestra cultura se va desvaneciendo entre banderines y empanadillas. Más
La parada puertorriqueña que se celebró en Holyoke, Massachusetts, en julio sirvió más como ejemplo de lo que no somos de lo que somos.
Sí, somos boricuas, y con orgullo. Pero no somos un poder político, y por eso nuestra cultura se va desvaneciendo entre banderines y empanadillas. Más
Los mismos argumentos de siempre
Aún estamos tan lejos de que se pueda hablar sobre Puerto Rico sin que se dividan las personas en los mismos segmentos de siempre: aquellos que creen en la república (mártires y héroes); aquellos que creen en la estadidad (cobardes) y aquellos que creen en el ELA (sufren de una mentalidad colonizada). Seguimos hundidos por nuestra propia falta de aceptar que todo esto es mucho más complicado. Más
Aún estamos tan lejos de que se pueda hablar sobre Puerto Rico sin que se dividan las personas en los mismos segmentos de siempre: aquellos que creen en la república (mártires y héroes); aquellos que creen en la estadidad (cobardes) y aquellos que creen en el ELA (sufren de una mentalidad colonizada). Seguimos hundidos por nuestra propia falta de aceptar que todo esto es mucho más complicado. Más
en español
Visit my blogs La Prensa (English) and Política Panorámica (español)
culture
Obama's Love Letter
Where other stateside politicians, including Massachusetts Congressman John Olver, seem tone deaf toward Puerto Rico, Barack Obama appears to be pitch-perfect.
Read more
Where other stateside politicians, including Massachusetts Congressman John Olver, seem tone deaf toward Puerto Rico, Barack Obama appears to be pitch-perfect.
Read more
Border agents patrol I-91 in Vermont
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt. - There's no toll booth on the picturesque stretch of Interstate 91 separating Vermont from Canada, but there's a price to pay for immigrants here illegally.
In the Northeast, about 90 miles south of the Canadian border, midway into Vermont, all traffic is halted at a Border Patrol checkpoint at the White River Junction rest stop on I-91 South.
There, officers peer into each vehicle and politely ask, "U.S. citizen?"
For law violators, the interstate becomes a one-way trip out of the country. Read on
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt. - There's no toll booth on the picturesque stretch of Interstate 91 separating Vermont from Canada, but there's a price to pay for immigrants here illegally.
In the Northeast, about 90 miles south of the Canadian border, midway into Vermont, all traffic is halted at a Border Patrol checkpoint at the White River Junction rest stop on I-91 South.
There, officers peer into each vehicle and politely ask, "U.S. citizen?"
For law violators, the interstate becomes a one-way trip out of the country. Read on