Tuesday, March 5, 2013

3.5.13 - News Review: SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The Drug Enforcement Administration has issued 83 arrest warrants in Puerto Rico for suspected drug dealers operating in public housing complexes | SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A second person has died after a deadly weekend shooting at a popular chain restaurant in a tourist hotspot in Puerto Rico | Deficit of meritocracy in the Caribbean - Jamaica Observer | Chavez hit by new, severe infection | ANOTHER PUERTO RICAN BOXER SHOT DEAD | Yoani Sanchez: What It Feels Like to Breathe Free Air

via Videos matching: puerto rico news today by SINAincorg on 2/27/13
 
 
On September 23, 2009 members of Hartford's Puerto Rican Community dedicated "El Monumento a la Familia Puertorriqueña", (Monument to the Puerto Rican Family).
 
 

Federal agents target 83 suspected drug dealers operating in Puerto Rico housing complexes


SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The Drug Enforcement Administration has issued 83 arrest warrants in Puerto Rico for suspected drug dealers operating in public housing complexes.
The acting special agent in charge of the DEA's Caribbean division said more than 40 of the people named in those warrants were arrested early Tuesday. Pedro Janer said the suspects belong to two gangs accused of trafficking mostly heroin and crack cocaine, along with prescription drugs. He said some suspects also are linked to various killings.
Janer said the suspects operated out of two public housing projects in the Rio Piedras suburb of the capital of San Juan.

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2nd person dies following shooting after argument in popular Puerto Rico ... - Calgary Herald - Tuesday, March 05, 2013

2nd person dies following shooting after argument in popular Puerto Rico restaurant


SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A second person has died after a deadly weekend shooting at a popular chain restaurant in a tourist hotspot in Puerto Rico.
Police said Tuesday that Jose Ramos Carrasquillo was one of two men hospitalized after being shot. The men had been eating with another friend at the restaurant Saturday when they got into an argument with a group of people, one of whom began shooting at them.
Twenty-year-old Manuel Otero Lopez died at the scene. Police said that one of his friends, 22-year-old Hector Pagan, is still hospitalized with bullet injuries.
No one has been arrested in the killing, which occurred in the upscale Isla Verde neighbourhood in the capital of San Juan.


Deficit of meritocracy in the Caribbean - Jamaica Observer - Tuesday, March 05, 2013

 


Deficit of meritocracy in the Caribbean

Tuesday, March 05, 2013

A meritocracy exists where selection and promotion of people is based on merit, more specifically, their qualifications and performance. Regrettably, there's a deficit of meritocracy in the Caribbean.
In the national political arena, selection is based on political party affiliation, amount of money donated, race, class and gender. Civil servants are mostly promoted by seniority. Longevity and patience are more important than competence and performance.

At the regional level, one outstanding factor is nationalism. Another is that selection is often based on whether your nationality is underrepresented or has never held the post. At least, gender discrimination has been ended in this arena as much by regulation as by sheer weight of numbers.
To accommodate the lack of merit, there is institutionalisation of rotation in representing the region but alas! merit does not count as long as it is your countries turn. If there is no formally agreed rotation then the rule has to be proved by ensuring that every country gets the post at least once. We recall the debate over whether or not the appointment of Mr Darren Sammy to captain the West Indies was done on merit .
In the private sector, there is by and large a meritocracy of sorts but it is often diverted by class, race, colour, the school ties and family connections.
We have seen in our region a pandemic nationalism which, in its most perverse form, is spawned by xenophobia and an isolationist mentality which becomes more virulent the smaller the country. Again, that throws out merit in the selection and promotion process.
Last Friday, at least 100 workers employed by the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) stayed away from their jobs, protesting against the decision of the company to hire a Trinidadian as a manager. The Antigua and Barbuda Workers Union (ABWU) said that the company had replaced an Antiguan with the un-named Trinidadian who, at 65 years old, was past retirement. Add a new element: age discrimination and not competence.
In this atmosphere there is no chance that there will be free movement of people within the Caribbean Community (Caricom) any time in the foreseeable future. Indeed, the irony is that in the colonial days, West Indians were free to move around the region to live and work.
To its credit and benefit, Jamaica was the most liberal in this respect as befits a country made up of people from other countries. However, since all the countries have gained political independence and declared their solemn commitment to free movement of persons all governments have introduced work permits. The result is that merit does not enter into the selection and promotion process.
Because of the isolationism and xenophobia one has to question whether there is any genuine Caribbean or West Indian community. In fact there is open hostility among the different nationalities, most effectively demonstrated by the immigration officers of the region. Jamaicans and Haitians are treated with aggression everywhere, particularly in The Bahamas; Guyanese meet hostility in Barbados and Grenadians are disparaged in Trinidad. Nevis (5,000) wants to secede from St Kitts (40,000).


Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/pfversion/Deficit-of-meritocracy-in-the-Caribbean_13776219#ixzz2MgxG4rPA

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Chavez hit by new, severe infection - Tuesday, March 05, 2013


ANOTHER PUERTO RICAN BOXER SHOT DEAD - Monday, March 04, 2013


Yoani Sanchez: What It Feels Like to Breathe Free Air - Tuesday, March 05, 2013 - Yoani Sanchez







Ex-cop in Puerto Rico police pleads guilty in child porn case
Police News
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A former police commissioner for Puerto Rico's capital has pleaded guilty to one count of child pornography in a plea agreement with U.S. authorities. Hilton Cordero Rosario is expected to serve 10 years in prison as a result ...

and more »






Puerto Rico Pension Fix Allays Insolvency Concern: Muni Credit
Businessweek
Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla, 41, a Democrat who took office Jan. 2, wants to boost the 6.8 percent funding level of Puerto Rico's largest pension system and keep the island's general obligations from being cut to junk. Officials last week ...








Puerto Rico: thousands protest airport privatization
World War 4 Report
Agents of the US Homeland Security Department arrested one protester, Víctor Domínguez, a member of the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico (PNPR), when he attempted to go past barricades that police agents had set up 50 meters from the airport entrance.

and more »

 
 

See more of Mike Nova's starred items ...

 
 





The privatization of Puerto Rico's Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport is ...
Lexology (registration)
In a deal arranged, negotiated and executed by the previous administration of Governor Luis Fortuno, of Puerto Rico, the Island's largest international airport reached the last hurdle towards privatization this week when the Federal Aviation ...
Puerto Rico: thousands protest airport privatizationWorld War 4 Report

all 3 news articles »





Desarticulan organizaciones criminales de Río Piedras
El Nuevo Dia.com
En el estadio, Janer recibió al gobernador Alejandro García Padilla y el superintendente de la Policía, Héctor Pesquera. "Este operativo se da con la colaboración entre ambas jurisdicciones", comentó García Padilla. "Cientos de oficiales de la Policía ...
Operativo federal contra narcos en dos residencialesNoticias247.pr

all 3 news articles »





Venezuela on edge as Chavez health slides
The Australian
Carlos Dzik, an oncologist at the Syrian Lebanese Hospital in Sao Paulo who is not involved in Chavez's treatment, told AFP that chemotherapy affects the immune system, causing infections "whose location is often not found in these cases." The sombre ...







2nd person dies following shooting after argument in popular Puerto Rico ...
Montreal Gazette
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A second person has died after a deadly weekend shooting at a popular chain restaurant in a tourist hotspot in Puerto Rico. Police said Tuesday that Jose Ramos Carrasquillo was one of two men hospitalized after being shot.

and more »





García Padilla insta a legisladores a publicar sus finanzas
El Nuevo Dia.com
El gobernador Alejandro García Padilla reclamó a los legisladores a que hagan públicas sus finanzas para despejar cualquier duda sobre la legalidad o conflictos de interés sobre sus ingresos. Una investigación de El Nuevo Día reveló hoy múltiples casos ...







Venezuela on tenterhooks as Chavez health worsens
GlobalPost
Carlos Dzik, an oncologist at the Syrian Lebanese Hospital in Sao Paulo who is not involved in Chavez's treatment, told AFP that chemotherapy affects the immune system, causing infections "whose location is often not found in these cases." The somber ...

and more »


ABC News



Argentine rights trial spotlights military abuses
GlobalPost
Security forces used Plan Condor to pursue political opponents into neighboring countries and secretly seize them with local support, according to lawyers from rights groups that have pursued those cases in the courts for 14 years. ... Among the most ...
'Operation Condor' trial begins in Buenos AiresElkhart Truth
Condor Plan on Trial: Wings for JusticePrensa Latina

all 8 news articles »

El Flaco Sánchez, a quien en el vecindario apodaban Coco, fue desconectado al mediodía del respirador artificial y se hacían los arreglos para donar sus órganos.

Miami remonta ante los Knicks para decimocuarto triunfo consecutivo

La cinta de acción en 3D de Warner Bros., basada en el cuento “Jack and the Beanstalk” (Las habichuelas mágicas), se estrenó en primer lugar en ingresos con 28 millones de dólares.

La primera reunión previa al cónclave está prevista para mañana

“La concertación social es un proceso de negociación formal entre el gobierno y representantes de varios grupos sociales, usualmente uniones laborales y organizaciones empresariales.”

A estudiar la reforma legislativa

4.03.2013 - 4:04 am
La Comisión Especial del Senado iniciará vistas públicas la próxima semana
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Viva controversia por tragamonedas

4.03.2013 - 4:04 am
Presentarían medida para legalizar máquinas de juegos de azar
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Sin cabeza una recua de agencias

4.03.2013 - 4:04 am

La Oficina de Evaluaciones Técnicas del Senado emitió la semana pasada los informes de al menos una decena de los nominados
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Cámara velará porque AEE cumpla con diversificación de fuentes de energÃ...
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La Comisión Especial del Senado iniciará vistas públicas la próxima sem...
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Peritos regresan para buscar evidencia que solidifique casos contra imputad...
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Dominicana y Venezuela traen potentes trabucos y salen como favoritos
0
Sergio Blass regresa a la música con su banda Atomikus
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via Puerto Rico Report by hadeninteractive on 2/25/13
In his recent State of the Union address, President Obama called for an increase in the minimum wage. If the minimum wage is brought to $9.00, as proposed, how will Puerto Rico be affected?
Although most federal laws apply to Puerto Rico, Congress has discretion to treat the islands, as a territory, differently than the States, the District of Columbia, and other territories. This is latitude that the U.S. government does not have with respect to individual States but has sometimes exercised in the case of Puerto Rico – often to the detriment of most Puerto Ricans.
The minimum wage is one of the many laws that have been extended to the territory after consideration of its circumstances, increasing the earnings of many Puerto Ricans.
Other Federal laws aimed at ‘making work pay’ for low-income workers, enabling them to climb out of poverty, have not been extended to Puerto Rico or have only been extended partially. In particular, these are the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC). These tax credits are refundable, meaning that workers can receive full payments even if the amount they are owed exceeds their Federal tax liability.
The EITC and CTC are partially based on Social Security taxes, which Puerto Ricans pay. The EITC has not been extended to Puerto Rico and the CTC has only been extended in the case of workers with three or more children (whereas workers with any number of children qualify in the States and the District of Columbia).
Robert Greenstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities compares the minimum wage with the EITC, noting that many commentators have presented the issue as a decision between these two options. In fact, he says, “both a more adequate minimum wage and strong refundable tax credits are necessary to ‘make work pay.’”
The Puerto Rican political party that wants a new “Commonwealth” political status opposed the extension of the minimum wage to Puerto Rico and has proposed that the islands be granted the authority to nullify Federal application of Federal laws, sometimes citing Federal labor laws as an area for nullification. But party leaders have accepted President Obama’s minimum wage increase proposal.
Puerto Rico’s status as a territory has created a situation in which employers must adhere to the federal minimum wage but workers do not receive the positive effects of the EITC and, in many cases, the CTC. For many of our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico, the amount of the minimum wage may be less important than enabling low-skilled workers in Puerto Rico to have the same opportunities to rise out of poverty and to live as decently as their fellow citizens living in the States.
As a candidate, the President pledged to work for the equal treatment of low-income Puerto Ricans in the EITC and the CTC. The President’s Task Force on Puerto Rico’s Status pledged in 2011 to act to extend CTC benefits to low-income Puerto Ricans with one child or two. But no proposals have yet been made to Congress by the Obama Administration.

via Puerto Rico Report by KG on 2/25/13
The White House Sunday released reports on the impacts of budget cuts to take effect Friday on each State and on the District of Columbia — but failed to do a report on Puerto Rico. The territory was left out even though Puerto Rico has 1.2% of the national population and would be affected almost exactly like the States and the Nation’s capital.
When the omission was pointed out, aides in President Obama’s office rushed to issue a report on the impacts on Puerto Rico. But the first report issued Monday did not cover most of the reductions in assistance to the islands that were calculated for the States and DC.
Later, a second corrected version was released. It covered most — but not all — of the program cuts identified for the States.
It is not unusual for Puerto Rico to be left out of Federal reports. The reason is its territory status.
In this case, Puerto Rico was initially probably just simply forgotten. A clear purpose of the White House State-by-State impact reports was to put pressure on members of Congress to replace the March 1 spending cuts with a mix of tax increases and program reductions or, at least, delay the March 1 “sequestration” of program funds.
The 3.7 million people in the U.S. territory do not have voting representation in the U.S. House of Representatives — controlled by Republicans who are the main target of Obama’s request to replace or delay the “sequester” — even though individuals born in Puerto Rico are U.S. citizens. Instead of five voting representatives, they have a sole “resident commissioner” who can only vote in the House committees of which he or she is a member. The islands also have no representation in the U.S. Senate, which is comprised of two members from every State, many home to far fewer Americans than Puerto Rico.
Because it is not a State, Puerto Rico is off the ‘radar screen’ of most policy-makers on a day-to-day basis.
Territories can be treated differently than the States in Federal programs. States are treated uniformly, and the District of Columbia is treated as a State in almost all cases. Puerto Rico, however, is treated differently — generally less well — in some major programs.
Because it represents a small portion of national programs as well as can be treated uniquely, if at all, it is left out of national debates over programs. Further, sometimes top Federal officials are unsure of its treatment. The territory is included in the programs covered in the White House sequestration impact reports but the presidential staff working on the State-by-State and DC reports may not have known this and certainly did not ask Federal agencies for the data regarding Puerto Rico.
In many cases, Puerto Rico is left out of Federal studies that cost money. In some instances, such as some reports done by the U.S. Census Bureau, this is because Puerto Rico has been deemed by the U.S. Supreme Court to be an unincorporated territory. It is considered to be a possession rather than a part of the United States. In other studies, agencies simply save study costs by excluding Puerto Rico.
The exclusion of Puerto Rico from Federal studies and reports worsens the economic situation of the territory and its U.S. citizens. It is forgotten in policies and programs designed to address problems — or its situation is not properly considered and the policies or programs are crafted. Sometimes, it is addressed as an afterthought as a policy is made or afterwards, when budgets make it difficult to treat equally. And businesses relying on Federal statistics do not have the same information for Puerto Rico that they have for the rest of the country, hindering investment in the islands.
EMBARGOED FOR FEBRUARY 24, 2013 AT 8:00PM ET
February 24, 2013
EMBARGOED FOR 8:00PM ET: White House Releases New State-by-State Reports on the Impacts of the Sequester
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the White House is releasing new state-by-state reports on the devastating impact the sequester will have on jobs and middle class families across the country if Congressional Republicans fail to compromise to avert the sequester by March 1st.
These reports are EMBARGOED until tonight at 8:00PM ET. The link to each state report can be found below:
1. Alabama
2. Alaska
3. Arizona
4. Arkansas
5. California
6. Colorado
7. Connecticut
8. Delaware
9. District of Columbia
10. Florida
11. Georgia
12. Hawaii
13. Idaho
14. Illinois
15. Indiana
16. Iowa
17. Kansas
18. Kentucky
19. Louisiana
20. Maine
21. Maryland
22. Massachusetts
23. Michigan
24. Minnesota
25. Mississippi
26. Missouri
27. Montana
28. Nebraska
29. Nevada
30. New Hampshire
31. New Jersey
32. New Mexico
33. New York
34. North Carolina
35. North Dakota
36. Ohio
37. Oklahoma
38. Oregon
39. Pennsylvania
40. Rhode Island
41. South Carolina
42. South Dakota
43. Tennessee
44. Texas
45. Utah
46. Vermont
47. Virginia
48. Washington
49. West Virginia
50. Wisconsin
51. Wyoming



via Puerto Rico Report by KG on 2/26/13
The 2012 congressional candidate of Puerto Rico’s ‘commonwealth’ party said February 22nd that the current governing “system of the island has collapsed” and that it needs a complete “reinvention,” according to El Nuevo Dia.
“Our model simply failed,” said Rafael Cox Alomar, who was Governor Garcia Padilla’s unsuccessful running mate for Puerto Rico’s lone seat in Congress with a vote only in committees of the U.S. House.
Puerto Rico’s governing arrangement is known as ‘commonwealth’ after a word in the official name of the territorial government, but Puerto Rico is fully subject to the U.S. Constitution’s Territory Clause and the Federal government’s related broad authority to govern territories in national and local matters. In 1952, Congress chose to grant Puerto Rico authority to organize its own local government, which States already have the power to do under the Constitution.
Cox’s political party, considered the second largest in the territory to the statehood party, is known as the ‘commonwealth’ party. It has proposed an unprecedented “Commonwealth” political status to replace the current territory status. Under the proposal, the United States would be permanently bound to Puerto Rico and to required to grant all current assistance to individuals in the islands, new assistance to the insular government, free entry of goods shipped from Puerto Rico into the States, and continued U.S. citizenship.
Puerto Rico would also be empowered to nullify the application of Federal laws and Federal court jurisdiction and to enter into international trade, tax, and other agreements and organizations requiring national sovereignty.
Federal officials under Democrats and Republican presidents, including President Obama, and congressional committees under Republicans and Democrats have rejected the proposal as impossible for constitutional and basic policy and workability reasons. The ‘commonwealth’ party officially supports the current governing arrangement until the U.S. Government can be persuaded to change its position – although there is nothing to suggest it may do so.
Cox made the statements during a speech commemorating the birth of the founder of the ‘commonwealth’ party, who engineered the Federal and insular actions for the current Federal-territorial governing arrangement, and who initially proposed some of the autonomy now advocated by the ‘commonwealth’ party. In his address, Cox took aim at the governing arrangement crafted by his party’s founder more than 60 years ago as well as at the authority for many laws enacted by Congress.
Cox called for repeal of the Puerto Rican Federal Relations Act, the basic law outlining Federal-territorial relations. He also advocated Puerto Rico’s exemption from congressional authority under the Commerce Clause.
The Commerce Clause gives Congress broad power to regulate matters affecting commerce between the States and between the U.S. and foreign nations.
Other than the fundamental rights of individuals, provisions of the U.S. Constitution apply to Puerto Rico as determined by Congress or the courts.
In 1964, a Puerto Rico Supreme Court comprised of ‘commonwealthers’ judged that the Commerce Clause did not apply in cases involving Puerto Rico, but, in 1992, the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Commerce Clause does apply. Last year the Puerto Rico Supreme Court changed its position, agreeing with the Federal court.
Cox Alomar also reiterated a major theme of his unsuccessful congressional campaign: that ocean shipping between the States and Puerto Rico and between Puerto Rican ports be exempted from the Federal government’s ocean cabotage laws. The laws require that the shipping be on American built, owned, flagged, and crewed vessels. The U.S. Transportation and Defense Departments, congressional leaders, and U.S. ship builders and workers have opposed exemption of Puerto Rico from the laws.
Pedro Pierluisi, who defeated Cox in 2012, has asked the U.S. Government Accountability Office, a non-partisan arm of Congress to assess the impacts on Puerto Rico and the Nation of an exemption for Puerto Rican shipping. The study is expected to be completed in the coming months.


via Puerto Rico Report by KG on 2/28/13
A White House rally is being planned for this Saturday, March 2nd to celebrate the 96th anniversary of the granting of U.S. citizenship to Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican Resident Commissioner and New Progressive Party President Pedro Pierluisi will be the featured speaker.
As we’ve noted in a previous post, similar demonstrations are planned in San Juan and elsewhere in Puerto Rico.
One invitation landing in email in-boxes explains:
On March 2, 1917 President Woodrow Wilson signed the Jones-Shafroth Act which granted U.S. citizenship to the people of Puerto Rico. Much has changed in the past 96 years, but what has not changed is that to this day Puerto Rico still remains a territory of the U.S. and the American citizens that reside in PR still lack proportional representation in Congress and the right to vote for our President. As a nation that prides itself on being a beacon of democracy in the world, it’s clear that the political status of Puerto Rico and the rights of the American citizens residing there remains part of the unfinished business of American democracy.
Last November the people of Puerto Rico voted to end the current territory status and selected statehood as their preferred alternative. Now Congress and the President must take action. This Saturday we have an opportunity to unite our voices in a rally to celebrate the anniversary of U.S. citizenship to the people of PR, and to demand the equal rights and responsibilities that we voted for and that we deserve as U.S. citizens from Puerto Rico. By participating in this rally we amplify the voice and vote of our fellow citizens and remind our President and members of Congress that they have the responsibility to honor the will of the people that they govern including those in Puerto Rico.
Therefore, I extend this invitation to you, your family, your friends and other allies to join us….
When: Saturday, March 2, 2013 at 10:00am
Where: Lafayette Square, Washington, DC (In front of the White House)
Click here to see a copy of the announcement.
(See our previous story about coverage of this event by the Associated Press by clicking here.)

via Puerto Rico Report by KG on 3/4/13
Puerto Rico could lose more in Federal spending over the next nine and a half years than 40 States, the District of Columbia, and the other four territories of the United States under reductions in funding for most Federal programs that took effect March 1st.
The potential loss would be disproportionate in comparison to the U.S. territory’s population: Puerto Rico has more people than all but 21 States.
The cuts are mandated by an August 2011 Federal budget law compromise. But the “sequester” is really taking effect because Congress and the President have not agreed on how to reduce the Federal government’s budget deficit beyond the tax increases adopted this past New Year’s Day, which are expected to generate less revenue than required under the 2011 law.
When the President and Congress could not agree on spending cuts along with the tax increases January 1st, they delayed the 2011 law’s spending reductions until March 1, still hoping for an agreement.
One major reason for their hope was that the 2011 law’s cuts in defense spending are proportionately larger than the reductions for other programs, raising national security concerns.
Another reason for the hope was that program cuts will be one of five different percentages, depending on the type of program and not necessarily based on priority or the ability of programs to withstand cuts.
There are different cut percentages for: defense programs requiring annual funding by Congress; defense programs automatically funded on an annual basis; non-defense programs requiring annual, discretionary appropriations; non-defense programs that receive automatic funding; and Medicare.
The non-defense program reductions are a primary concern for Puerto Rico. These will reduce funding for Federal Fiscal Year 2013, which began October 1st, 2012, by an average between the annually appropriated and automatically funded programs of five percent. Because the reduction will all come out of funding for the last seven months of the fiscal year, the programs can have about nine percent less money for the seven months.
Puerto Rico will also feel the affects of the mandatory 2% accross-the-board cuts to Medicare and, to some extent, defense spending reductions.
The cuts continue through Fiscal Year 2022 — unless another budget agreement is reached.
Programs exempt from the sequester include many programs important to Puerto Rico: the Nutrition Assistance Program for Puerto Rico, a program similar to the Former Food Stamps program; meals in schools; Medicaid; Children’s Health Insurance; Pell Grants for post-secondary education tuition; transfers to the territory of Federal taxes on rum produced in the islands and in foreign countries; Veterans Administration; Temporary Assistance to Needy Families; and some highway and airport construction funding.
Exactly how much Puerto Rico and other jurisdictions will lose is uncertain. While the budget cuts have begun, the Federal Executive branch does not have to fully explain how the cuts in each program are being made until March 30th.
If the cuts are made from grants to State and territorial governments equally, Puerto Rico would lose about $120 million, more than all but 10 States.
The loss would be disproportionate to the territory’s share of the national population because the islands receive relatively large amounts of funding under programs that are being cut due to the relatively low income of its population.
Ironically, Puerto Rico is funded far less than equally in relatively large programs for low-income people that are exempt from the cuts, such as Nutrition Assistance, Medicaid, and Assistance for Needy Families.
Although Federal agencies have to reduce spending in each budget account by the same percentages, they have discretion on how to implement the savings within each account. In most cases at least, they will not take all of the cuts out of the program’s grants to States and territories. Most of the savings will come from reducing Federal costs in the programs. This will, in many cases, reduce services but not be identifiable on a State-by-State (or territory) basis.
A preliminary White House report issued on February 25th listed losses for Puerto Rico as:
* $4.9 million from primary and secondary education grants, ending services to 5,280 students and approximately 15 schools;
* Post-secondary tuition assistance for 342 students;
* 2,313 Work-Study jobs for post-secondary students;
* Services for about 2,400 children in Head Start and Early Head Start programs;
* $312,000 for fish and wildlife protection;
* $567,000 less for locating jobs for the unemployed, affecting 17,700 people;
* Child care for up to 300 children;
* Vaccinations for 1,610 children, costing $114,000;
* $356,000 for handling public health threats such as infectious diseases and natural disasters;
* $1.1 million for substance abuse treatment providing services to 300 people;
* HIV tests for 7,390 people, costing $269,000; and
* $79,000 for domestic violence, denying services to up to 300 victims.
If alternative deficit reduction measures are implemented– as many Republicans and Democrats want - Puerto Rico will have to primarily depend upon the generosity of representatives of the States to be treated fairly. It will not have the five votes in the U.S. House of Representatives and two senators in the decision-making that it would have if it were a State. Unlike the District of Columbia, the territory of 3.67 million people — with all born in the islands being U.S. citizens — did not even have votes in the election of the president.

via Puerto Rico Report by hadeninteractive on 3/1/13
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sam Ponder asked a jury in 2011, speaking of defendant Bongani Charles Calhoun, who said he didn’t realize the men he was with were planning a drug deal,
You’ve got African Americans, you’ve got Hispanics, you’ve got a bag full of money. Does that tell you — a light bulb doesn’t go off in your head and say, “This is a drug deal?”
A bag full of money may be an unusual accessory for a road trip, but the ethnicity of the people carrying it shouldn’t affect anyone’s interpretation of it. After all, one of the groups in which “you’ve got African Americans, you’ve got Hispanics” is the Supreme Court.
So when Ponder’s remark about African Americans and Hispanics was brought in front of the Supreme Court, Justice Sotomayor responded with indignation. Sotomayor, who is herself of Puerto Rican heritage, wrote,
I write to dispel any doubt whether the court’s denial of certioari should be understood to signal our tolerance of a federal prosecutor’s racially charged remark…
By suggesting that race should play a role in establishing a defendant’s guilt, the prosecutor here tapped a deep and sorry vein of racial prejudice that has run through the history of criminal justice in our nation…
It is deeply disappointing to see a representative of theUnited States resort to this base tactic more than a decade into the 21st century. Such conduct diminishes the dignity of our criminal justice system and undermines respect for the rule of law. We expect the Government to seek justice, not to fan the flames of fear and prejudice…
I hope never to see a case like this again.
Justice Stephen Breyer, who is nether African-American nor Hispanic, joined Sotomayor in the statement.
Ponder eventually agreed that his question was “impolitic,” but did not admit that Sotomayor was correct when she described it as “pernicious.” In fact, he claimed that the comment was “taken out of context” and that he did not agree with an internal Justice Department brief describing his behavior as “improper.”
The context was a Texas court trial in which Calhoun, who had been present during the sale of cocaine in a hotel room, was convicted. He had claimed that he was along on a road trip with friends but wasn’t aware that a drug deal was planned. The prosecutor suggested that Calhoun should have realized a drug deal was going on, based at least in part on the presence of African-American and Hispanic people in the hotel room.
Calhoun’s lawyer didn’t object at the time and the issue didn’t come up in his appeal, factors which led to the decision of the Supreme Court to dismiss the case. Sotomayor agreed with that decision, but couldn’t allow the possibility that this decision might be understood to condone the racial slur. Her public reprimand of the prosecutor avoids the possibility.
Read Sotomayor’s complete statement.

via Latest News by AP on 3/5/13
CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela's vice president, Nicolas Maduro, says the government of President Hugo Chavez plans to expel a U.S. Embassy official for meeting with military officers and planning to destabilize the country.
Maduro identified the American as the Air Force attache and said he had been spying on the military.
He said the official has 24 hours to leave the country.
Embassy spokesman Greg Adams identified the attache as David Delmonaco.
Adams had no immediate comment.
"I'm sure we will be formulating some sort of response from Washington," he said.
He said he did not immediately know Delmonaco's rank.
Maduro spoke hours after the government said Chavez was in "very delicate" health after undergoing cancer surgery in December.

via murder puerto rico - Google Blog Search by unknown on 3/4/13
Hector Sanchez. Another Puerto Rican boxer Hector "El Flaco" Sanchez who had a record of 19-3 with 9 knockouts was shot several times and killed on Sunday in San Juan in an incident in which three other men also died.