Ny Safidinao

They’re seen as the sleeping giant of Florida voters. The challenge, though, is getting that giant to awaken, get out the door and to the voting booth, experts say. Puerto Ricans are the fastest growing part of Florida’s Latino voters, and they boast their largest concentration in the state in a critical swing-vote region – the I-4 corridor in Central Florida. But the fervor for voting that envelopes Puerto Ricans who are living on the island, which claims a roughly 80 percent turnout, seems to nearly evaporate once they settle on the mainland, say Puerto Rican leaders and political experts. “It’s a phenomenon we’re seeing with Puerto Ricans,” said Alfonso Aguilar, a former official with the George W. Bush administration and the executive director of the American Principles Project’s Latino Partnership.  “In Puerto Rico, politics is a sport. People get excited. They have issues like Puerto Rico’s political status – whether it should get statehood or be independent. When Puerto ...

When you consider how often we see Microsoft Surfaces on our televisions versus how many are actually sold, you really have to question whether Microsoft’s big spending on such product placement is worthwhile.  This is especially true when such product placement backfires in hilarious ways, such as when NFL announcers refer to the Surface tablets coaches are using on the sidelines as “ iPads .” However, it turns out it can get even worse than that because GeekWire has spotted a new Surface product placement failure that might be Microsoft’s most embarrassing one yet. During the coverage of last night’s midterm elections, CNN pundits all had Surface tablets lined up on the table that were supposedly being used to keep track of all the important races. However, GeekWire  noticed that many of these pundits were secretly swiping away at iPads even as the shiny Surface tablets were right in front of them to use, attachable keyboards and all. This shows the danger with pr...

Enrique Vasquez has lost count of how many politicians have visited his restaurant, La Lechonera del Barrio. Even President Barack Obama dropped in to eat pork and beans at this small place in a scruffy Orlando neighbourhood, some distance away from the theme parks that gave the Florida resort city its worldwide fame. Mr Vasquez is Dominican, but he reckons that 95% of the clientele in the restaurant he manages are Puerto Rican. Many are recent arrivals who fled spiralling crime and economic crisis in the US island territory. Nearly 300,000 Puerto Ricans now live around the Orlando metropolitan area, where they represent close to 12% of the population. As Florida prepares to vote next week in the mid-term elections, state candidates who a few years ago would campaign for Cuban votes in Miami's Little Havana now line up for photo-opportunities with Orlando's Puerto Ricans. These voters might help decide the outcome in this year's tight race for governor...

In less than two weeks, Americans nation-wide will go to the polls to elect a new Congress, as well as the governors of several key states. For the first time in our lifetime, the American citizens of the United States Territory of Puerto Rico will have the opportunity to directly influence the results of this important election. Unfortunately, that power rests with the Puerto Ricans that live in the States, not on our Island. More on this latter In the always important state of Florida, the growing number of Puerto Ricans living there could decide the winner between current governor Rick Scott (R) and one time Republican, Charlie Crist (D). Polls shows the race too close to call, and this is where the Puerto Rican community could make its voice hear. The famous I-4 corridor, as it's called, which runs through a swing-vote region, is undergoing significant demographic change. Since early 2013 Puerto Ricans have been migrating by the thousands to the area, a forced migration due...

Marcus Santos/New York Daily News Rob Astorino Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino says Gov. Cuomo's potential trip this week to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republican is nothing more than pandering to a Hispanic community he has ignored for four years. "We heard that Mr. Cuomo was going to schedule a panic-and-pander tour to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, and we just shook our heads," said Astorino. "This governor is completely out of touch with what New York Hispanic communities are saying about him: 'Cuomo nos ha ignorado.' Andrew Cuomo might be better off visiting the Hispanic communities in New York he has ignored for the past four years." Astorino, who speaks fluent Spanish, noted that Cuomo recently ignored debate offers made by Univision and New York 1 Noticias. "If Mr. Cuomo really wants to engage in issues important to New York's Hispanic communities rather than just pander at election time, he sho...

President Obama will deliver the first State of the Union address of his second term on February 12, having received a formal invitation from House Speaker John A. Boehner on Friday to address a joint session of Congress on that date. State of the Union speeches typically take place in late January, except for years in which presidents are sworn in and deliver an inaugural address. President Obama delivered his first such address to a joint session of Congress in late February 2009, and President George W. Bush delivered both of his post-inaugural State of the Union speeches in February. In his letter, Mr. Boehner said, “Our country continues to face immense challenges, and the American people expect us to work together in the new year to find meaningful solutions. This will require a willingness to seek common ground as well as presidential leadership.” By MARK LANDLER State of the Union Date Is Set

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington National Cathedral, where the nation gathers to mourn tragedies and celebrate new presidents, will soon begin performing same-sex marriages . Cathedral officials tell The Associated Press the church will be among the first Episcopal congregations to implement a new rite of marriage for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender members. The church will announce its new policy Wednesday.        As the nation's most prominent church, the decision carries huge symbolism. The 106-year-old cathedral has long been a spiritual center for the nation, hosting presidential inaugural services and funerals for Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford. It draws hundreds of thousands of visitors.        In light of the legality of same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia and now Maryland, the Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, decided in December to allow an expansion of the Chris...

The election ushered in a number of big changes in the states, with several for the first time legalizing gay marriage and marijuana , but one of the most dramatic shifts might be a change to the actual number of states. Puerto Ricans voted Tuesday to change their relationship with the United States and become the 51st U.S. state in a non-binding referendum that would require final approval from Congress. The AP wrote : The two-part referendum asked whether the island wanted to change its 114-year relationship with the United States. Nearly 54 percent, or 922,374 people, sought to change it, while 46 percent, or 786,749 people, favored the status quo. Voters then chose among three options for their new status, and statehood won with 61 percent. “Sovereign free association,” which would have allowed for more autonomy, received 33 percent, and independence garnered 5 percent. It’s the fourth time in 45 years that Puerto Rico has voted on changing its national status — it’s current...

Geithner Puts Issue of Debt Limit in Writing At the end of the year, the United States will hit its statutory borrowing limit, starting a countdown clock that would within a matter of weeks lead to it failing to pay all of its obligations, according to a statement from the Treasury Department. On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner wrote a letter to Congress informing it that the United States would hit its $16.4 trillion borrowing limit on Dec. 31. The Treasury will “shortly” begin undertaking “extraordinary measures” to avoid the limit — essentially moving money from pocket to pocket to give the government enough breathing room to pay all of its bills, from soldiers’ salaries to Social Security payments, after that date. But within weeks — sometime in February or March, analysts estimate — its required payments would overwhelm its receipts, leaving an unprecedented cash shortfall. That would most likely send financial markets into a tailspin and lead to another downgr...

A collection of classroom-safe training pistols from a concealed-weapons permit class in Florida. (BRIAN BLANCO/REUTERS) “The facts are every time guns have been allowed, concealed-carry has been allowed, the crime rate has gone down.” --Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.), on “Fox News Sunday,” Dec. 16, 2012 In the wake of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., a number of lawmakers have pushed for new gun-control legislation. But some gun-control foes, such as Rep. Louie Gohmert, have argued that instead more guns, not more controls, are needed. Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Gohmert said of slain principal Dawn Hochsprung: “I wish to God she had had an M-4 [assault rifle] in her office, locked up so when she heard gunfire, she pulls it out and she didn’t have to lunge heroically with nothing in her hands, but she takes him out, takes his head off before he can kill those precious kids.” Laying aside the question of armed teachers in schools, we w...

GREENCASTLE, Pa. — The Green Grove Gardens banquet hall was decked out for Christmas, but the atmosphere at the Franklin County Republicans’ annual Eisenhower dinner here was anything but cheery. As the evening’s speaker, former Pennsylvania senator and 2012 presidential contender Rick Santorum, made a meet-and-greet round of the tables Tuesday, one woman implored him to “get rid of Obamacare.” “We had a chance,” Santorum told her. “It was called the last election.” So much for comfort and joy. Not quite six weeks after Republicans lost a presidential contest that many of them thought was in the bag, the shock has begun to wear off. The recriminations, on the other hand, are likely to go on for quite some time. And the tough work — figuring out what needs fixing — has only just begun. Some Republicans still argue that nothing is fundamentally wrong with the party. Or nothing that a better get-out-the-vote operation, a field of more appealing candidates, and more outreach to...

On the wish lists of Americans: A fully operational Death Star, a nationalized Twinkie industry, and motorcycle-riding "judges" who also act as jury and executioner The White House 's "We the People..." website allows Americans to petition the Obama administration on a variety of issues citizens believe need addressing. Requests range from serious ( petition to have the White House publicly acknowledge the U.S. drone program ) to self-interested ( federally legalize weed now! ) to completely absurd (have Vice-President Joe Biden serve as Guy Fieri's sidekick on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives ). Most are angry with the administration, with roughly 70 percent of current petitions asking that individual states — like Texas — be allowed to peacefully secede. What's more: Anyone can create a petition, with the caveat that each request must garner 25,000 signatures in order to be considered for an official White House response. Presente...

BOSTON (AP) — Mitt Romney 's shadow looms over a Republican Party in disarray.   The face of the GOP for much of the last year, the failed presidential candidate has been a virtual ghost since his defeat Nov. 6. He has quietly weathered the fallout of the campaign from the seclusion of his Southern California home, emerging only momentarily for a private lunch at the White House with President Barack Obama on Thursday. His loss and immediate withdrawal from politics, while welcomed by most, has created a leadership vacuum within his party. It's left the GOP rudderless, lacking an overarching agenda and mired in infighting, with competing visions for the way ahead, during what may be the most important policy debate in a generation. In his final meeting with campaign staffers at his Boston headquarters, Romney promised to remain "a strong voice for the party," according to those in attendance. But so far he has offered little to the Capitol Hill n...