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Puerto Rico's Second Cut to Junk Debt
New York Times It was Puerto Rico's second downgrade to junk this week after Standard & Poor's took the same step on Tuesday. Though not unexpected, the new downgrade was expected to further narrow the island's room for tight financial maneuvering and has reportedly ... Not So Golden Years: Amid Economic Woes, Puerto Rican Seniors Head Back ...Fox News Latino Puerto Rico Faces $940 Million Bill as Debt Is Cut to JunkBloomberg Puerto Rico's Retirees StruggleHuffington Post all 169 news articles » |
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Análisis sobre la segunda degradación
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Reaparecen menores desaparecidos
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La agencia federal ICE se unieron a la investigación de abuso sexual en iglesias de Arecibo.02/07/14 | 02:10
Pablo Casellas se declara inocente
El convicto por asesinato compadeció al tribunal federal para una vista en su contra. 02/07/14 | 03:58
¡Ay Kim!,¿no tienes para un broche!?
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Puerto Rico's Second Cut to Junk Debt
By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH
The new downgrade was expected to further narrow the island’s room for tight financial maneuvering and has reportedly given rise to discussions with lenders about short-term relief on certain payments.
February 07, 2014, Friday
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| Time: 08:59 | More in News & Politics |
Russia's controversial "gay propaganda" laws continue to dominate international headlines ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, with news that authorities have detained four rights advocates in St. Petersburg.
As The Washington Blade is reporting, activists Anastasia Smirnova, Aleksandra Semenova and a pregnant woman are among the four taken into custody Feb. 7 after allegedly trying to take photographs of themselves holding a banner which read, "Discrimination is incompatible with the Olympic movement. Principle 6. Olympic charter."
The publication cited the Russian LGBT Network's Facebook page as the sources of the information, although further details on the arrests were scarce. A police spokesperson confirmed the arrests to Gay Star News, saying the group would "be held until further notice,: but answered no additional questions.
An anonymous activist who claimed to have witnessed the arrests told Buzzfeed's J. Lester Feder, "Either the phones are being listened to or maybe there are cameras all over the city; only a few people knew about this action."
News of the arrests comes just ahead of the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
The controversial Russia legislation, which bans "pro-gay propaganda" that could be accessible to minors, has been condemned by international celebrities, athletes and politicians alike.
Last month, newspaper editor Alexander Suturin was fined for publishing an interview with a gay school teacher who defended homosexuality as normal, according to the Associated Press.
As The Washington Blade is reporting, activists Anastasia Smirnova, Aleksandra Semenova and a pregnant woman are among the four taken into custody Feb. 7 after allegedly trying to take photographs of themselves holding a banner which read, "Discrimination is incompatible with the Olympic movement. Principle 6. Olympic charter."
The publication cited the Russian LGBT Network's Facebook page as the sources of the information, although further details on the arrests were scarce. A police spokesperson confirmed the arrests to Gay Star News, saying the group would "be held until further notice,: but answered no additional questions.
An anonymous activist who claimed to have witnessed the arrests told Buzzfeed's J. Lester Feder, "Either the phones are being listened to or maybe there are cameras all over the city; only a few people knew about this action."
News of the arrests comes just ahead of the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
The controversial Russia legislation, which bans "pro-gay propaganda" that could be accessible to minors, has been condemned by international celebrities, athletes and politicians alike.
Last month, newspaper editor Alexander Suturin was fined for publishing an interview with a gay school teacher who defended homosexuality as normal, according to the Associated Press.
Read the whole story
· ·
Matthew McConaughey has drawn rave reviews and substantial Oscar buzz for his riveting turn in "Dallas Buyers Club" as Ron Woodroof, a tough-talking straight cowboy diagnosed with HIV. The film depicts Woodroof's efforts to make treatments more easily available despite his distaste for the gay community, which viewers are reminded of again and again. But a close friend of the real-life Woodroof says he doesn't recognize the man he saw on-screen.
William Waybourn, the former president of the Dallas Gay Alliance, knew Woodroof well from volunteering together and running in the same circles in Dallas. He told HuffPost Live's Ricky Camillerithat the movie's depiction of Woodroof as a heterosexual who struggled to be around gay men is at odds with everything Waybourn knew about Woodroof.
"I never saw the straight side of Ron. That's what was the most surprising part of this whole movie," he said. "He worked in a gay center, he was surrounded by gay men, and as far as I know, had relationships with gay men. I can't tell you exactly what his sexual orientation was -- or anyone's -- but he certainly had no problems being around us."
Woodroof's sexuality and the way it's represented in "Dallas Buyers Club" has been questioned before.
Steven Pounders, Woodroof's primary doctor during his fight with HIV, has said that he never saw the homophobia in Woodroof that is present in the film. “[The screenwriters] were really concerned how the community would react if they portrayed him as a straight guy,” Pounders told Dallas Voice. “He seemed to me very comfortable in the gay environment, like any other gay man.”
(In the film, the doctor is swapped to female and played by Jennifer Garner, with whom Woodroof's character has a decidedly flirtatious relationship.)
A piece from Slate on Woodroof's sexuality points out that the film's co-writer Craig Borten has long defended his belief that Woodroof was "as racist and homophobic as they come." The piece also quotes another medical professional who treated Woodroof, nurse Penny Krispin, as telling The Sunday Times that "Ron was one of my gay patients. I never knew anyone who thought Ron was straight."
David France, the director and producer of the critically-acclaimed AIDS documentary "How To Survive A Plague," also joined HuffPost Live for the discussion and argued that "Dallas Buyers Club" made Woodroof heterosexual to stop the movie from being perceived as a gay film.
"It turns on some of those old tropes that you really need to see the transition of a straight man's journey in order to be able to understand gay people," France said. "We don't need that anymore. We don't need to ride the coattails of bigotry to get into mass culture."
Find out more about what's real and what isn't in "Dallas Buyers Club" in the clip below, and see the full HuffPost Live conversation HERE.
William Waybourn, the former president of the Dallas Gay Alliance, knew Woodroof well from volunteering together and running in the same circles in Dallas. He told HuffPost Live's Ricky Camillerithat the movie's depiction of Woodroof as a heterosexual who struggled to be around gay men is at odds with everything Waybourn knew about Woodroof.
"I never saw the straight side of Ron. That's what was the most surprising part of this whole movie," he said. "He worked in a gay center, he was surrounded by gay men, and as far as I know, had relationships with gay men. I can't tell you exactly what his sexual orientation was -- or anyone's -- but he certainly had no problems being around us."
Woodroof's sexuality and the way it's represented in "Dallas Buyers Club" has been questioned before.
Steven Pounders, Woodroof's primary doctor during his fight with HIV, has said that he never saw the homophobia in Woodroof that is present in the film. “[The screenwriters] were really concerned how the community would react if they portrayed him as a straight guy,” Pounders told Dallas Voice. “He seemed to me very comfortable in the gay environment, like any other gay man.”
(In the film, the doctor is swapped to female and played by Jennifer Garner, with whom Woodroof's character has a decidedly flirtatious relationship.)
A piece from Slate on Woodroof's sexuality points out that the film's co-writer Craig Borten has long defended his belief that Woodroof was "as racist and homophobic as they come." The piece also quotes another medical professional who treated Woodroof, nurse Penny Krispin, as telling The Sunday Times that "Ron was one of my gay patients. I never knew anyone who thought Ron was straight."
David France, the director and producer of the critically-acclaimed AIDS documentary "How To Survive A Plague," also joined HuffPost Live for the discussion and argued that "Dallas Buyers Club" made Woodroof heterosexual to stop the movie from being perceived as a gay film.
"It turns on some of those old tropes that you really need to see the transition of a straight man's journey in order to be able to understand gay people," France said. "We don't need that anymore. We don't need to ride the coattails of bigotry to get into mass culture."
Find out more about what's real and what isn't in "Dallas Buyers Club" in the clip below, and see the full HuffPost Live conversation HERE.
Read the whole story
· · ·
Russian Profiles in Courage by Minky Worden
We are at the starting line for theSochi Winter Olympics. While athletes from around the world prepare to compete for gold medals, activists are already racing to preserve basic rights and freedoms for Russia's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.
You know the athletes who will soon compete in Sochi--now meet some of Russia's activists who are fighting for human dignity in a country where a campaign is under way to demonize the LGBT community.
To be an Olympic host, a government must commit to the principle that "any form of discrimination ...is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement." As guardian of the Olympic flame, the International Olympic Committee, which oversees the games, is bound by its own charter to uphold these "Fundamental Principles of Olympism" and to "act against any form of discrimination affecting the Olympic Movement."
Over the past two years, Russia has rolled out repressive laws imposing new restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly, and aiming to taint some non-profit organizations as "foreign agents." It has carried out "inspection" raids on independent groups and locked up high-profile activists. This crackdown has been completely at odds with the Olympic ideal of "promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity."
In 2013, the crackdown expanded to include a new anti-gay law banning "propaganda" among minors that would assert equality between "nontraditional" (read: LGBT) and "traditional" sexual relationships. The law applies to all types of media, blatantly violates Russia's obligations to guarantee non-discrimination and respect for freedom of expression, and contradicts the Olympic charter's principle of nondiscrimination. The IOC and many national Olympic committees have taken the unprecedented step of warning their athletes not to speak out in favor of gay rights or in any way to signal concern about discrimination and other rights abuses in Russia.
Meanwhile, homophobic rhetoric--including by Russian government officials and celebrities and on state television--accompanied debate about the law. In this poisonous atmosphere, violence and harassment of LGBT people and activists have escalated. Organized nationalist groups have entrapped and attacked gay men across Russia, and even filmed and publicized these attacks, with no fear of being brought to justice.
The Sochi Games will be the most expensive Olympics ever, but will they also be the Olympics that come at the greatest cost to human dignity and equality? Or will the world stand up against hatred and discrimination?
Meet some of the courageous Russians who are leading the fight against the anti-gay law and policies--despite constant threats against them.
Konstantin Yablotskiy
Konstantin Yablotskiy is a competitive figure skater who won a gold medal at the Cologne Gay Games in 2010. He is co-president of the Russian LGBT Sports Federation, the only organization dedicated to supporting gay athletes in Russia. The Federation will stage its first "Russian Open Games" to celebrate LGBT athletes from February 26 to March 2 in Moscow. Yablotskiy has a PhD in analytical chemistry and teaches science to children with disabilities. Speaking about the Sochi Winter Olympics, he said: "Probably it's our last chance to try to change this situation, to change attitudes of Russian society, to show people that we are not marginal sodomites. We are normal people who have their normal lives, who can do sports and win medals."
Maria Kozlovskaya
Maria Kozlovskaya is a St. Petersburg-based lawyer who has put her life on the line to help defend LGBT victims of hate crimes. She works for the Russian LGBT Network, an umbrella group of nearly five dozen regional organizations that document abuses against LGBT people in Russia, including homophobic murders and other violent crimes, and employment and healthcare discrimination. She describes the anti-gay "propaganda" law as a "green light for nationalistic groups to make violence against LGBT people."
Elvina Yuvakaeva
Elvina Yuvakaeva loves to snowboard at Sochi ski resorts and took up badminton because she wanted to compete in the Gay Games, which are typically held in summer months. She is co-president of the Russian LGBT Sports Federation, which includes Olympians and Paralympians among its more than 800 members. Following a meeting with IOC President Thomas Bach in November 2013, she said, "We fear that after the Olympics and Paralympics, when the attention of the world decreases, homophobic repression will become even worse, with, for example, the reintroduction of the bill to remove children from gay parents."
Anastasia Smirnova
Anastasia Smirnova is the spokesperson for a coalition of Russian LGBT rights groups. She and activists saw the need and opportunity to stand up publicly for equality at a time when Russia's homophobic laws sharply contrasted with its role of Olympic host, and duty to openly welcome all the world's communities. Fluent in English, Smirnova is a brave face of a movement under grave attack. "Ours is a campaign for equality," she says. "It is a campaign that promotes the idea of human dignity for LGBT people in Russia--but it is not a campaign against the country."
Masha Gessen
Masha Gessen is a leading writer on Russia and long-time gay rights activist in the country. The Wall Street Journal praised her 2012 biography of President Vladimir Putin, "The Man Without a Face," as an "unflinching indictment of the most powerful man in Russia." She recently moved her family, including three children, out of Russia, after the authorities threatened to pass a law removing children from families with gay parents. She has denounced Russia's anti-gay propaganda law as "part and parcel of a greater crackdown on civil society, which includes the laws on foreign agents, laws expanding the definition of espionage and high treason, and laws paralyzing the work of NGOs."
--
Minky Worden is director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch.
You know the athletes who will soon compete in Sochi--now meet some of Russia's activists who are fighting for human dignity in a country where a campaign is under way to demonize the LGBT community.
To be an Olympic host, a government must commit to the principle that "any form of discrimination ...is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement." As guardian of the Olympic flame, the International Olympic Committee, which oversees the games, is bound by its own charter to uphold these "Fundamental Principles of Olympism" and to "act against any form of discrimination affecting the Olympic Movement."
Over the past two years, Russia has rolled out repressive laws imposing new restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly, and aiming to taint some non-profit organizations as "foreign agents." It has carried out "inspection" raids on independent groups and locked up high-profile activists. This crackdown has been completely at odds with the Olympic ideal of "promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity."
In 2013, the crackdown expanded to include a new anti-gay law banning "propaganda" among minors that would assert equality between "nontraditional" (read: LGBT) and "traditional" sexual relationships. The law applies to all types of media, blatantly violates Russia's obligations to guarantee non-discrimination and respect for freedom of expression, and contradicts the Olympic charter's principle of nondiscrimination. The IOC and many national Olympic committees have taken the unprecedented step of warning their athletes not to speak out in favor of gay rights or in any way to signal concern about discrimination and other rights abuses in Russia.
Meanwhile, homophobic rhetoric--including by Russian government officials and celebrities and on state television--accompanied debate about the law. In this poisonous atmosphere, violence and harassment of LGBT people and activists have escalated. Organized nationalist groups have entrapped and attacked gay men across Russia, and even filmed and publicized these attacks, with no fear of being brought to justice.
The Sochi Games will be the most expensive Olympics ever, but will they also be the Olympics that come at the greatest cost to human dignity and equality? Or will the world stand up against hatred and discrimination?
Meet some of the courageous Russians who are leading the fight against the anti-gay law and policies--despite constant threats against them.
Konstantin Yablotskiy
Konstantin Yablotskiy is a competitive figure skater who won a gold medal at the Cologne Gay Games in 2010. He is co-president of the Russian LGBT Sports Federation, the only organization dedicated to supporting gay athletes in Russia. The Federation will stage its first "Russian Open Games" to celebrate LGBT athletes from February 26 to March 2 in Moscow. Yablotskiy has a PhD in analytical chemistry and teaches science to children with disabilities. Speaking about the Sochi Winter Olympics, he said: "Probably it's our last chance to try to change this situation, to change attitudes of Russian society, to show people that we are not marginal sodomites. We are normal people who have their normal lives, who can do sports and win medals."
Maria Kozlovskaya
Maria Kozlovskaya is a St. Petersburg-based lawyer who has put her life on the line to help defend LGBT victims of hate crimes. She works for the Russian LGBT Network, an umbrella group of nearly five dozen regional organizations that document abuses against LGBT people in Russia, including homophobic murders and other violent crimes, and employment and healthcare discrimination. She describes the anti-gay "propaganda" law as a "green light for nationalistic groups to make violence against LGBT people."
Elvina Yuvakaeva
Elvina Yuvakaeva loves to snowboard at Sochi ski resorts and took up badminton because she wanted to compete in the Gay Games, which are typically held in summer months. She is co-president of the Russian LGBT Sports Federation, which includes Olympians and Paralympians among its more than 800 members. Following a meeting with IOC President Thomas Bach in November 2013, she said, "We fear that after the Olympics and Paralympics, when the attention of the world decreases, homophobic repression will become even worse, with, for example, the reintroduction of the bill to remove children from gay parents."
Anastasia Smirnova
Anastasia Smirnova is the spokesperson for a coalition of Russian LGBT rights groups. She and activists saw the need and opportunity to stand up publicly for equality at a time when Russia's homophobic laws sharply contrasted with its role of Olympic host, and duty to openly welcome all the world's communities. Fluent in English, Smirnova is a brave face of a movement under grave attack. "Ours is a campaign for equality," she says. "It is a campaign that promotes the idea of human dignity for LGBT people in Russia--but it is not a campaign against the country."
Masha Gessen
Masha Gessen is a leading writer on Russia and long-time gay rights activist in the country. The Wall Street Journal praised her 2012 biography of President Vladimir Putin, "The Man Without a Face," as an "unflinching indictment of the most powerful man in Russia." She recently moved her family, including three children, out of Russia, after the authorities threatened to pass a law removing children from families with gay parents. She has denounced Russia's anti-gay propaganda law as "part and parcel of a greater crackdown on civil society, which includes the laws on foreign agents, laws expanding the definition of espionage and high treason, and laws paralyzing the work of NGOs."
--
Minky Worden is director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch.
Read the whole story
· · · ·
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It appears Google is not a fan of Russia's anti-gay law.
The Google homepage featured a Doodle on Thursday of 6 athletes across a rainbow banner, with the following quote from the Olympic Charter: "The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play."
The Doodle was visible across international sites, including Russia's, as the Olympic games began in Sochi.
Russia's ban on gay "propaganda" to minors has sparked international outrage as gay activists have been fined across the country since the law's implementation last year, according to the Associated Press.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's suggestion that gays were welcome in Sochi if they "leave the kids alone," offered little reassurance.
Recent protests around the worldtargeted Olympic sponsors, and AT&T was the first sponsor of the U.S. Olympic Committee to speak out, stating, "Russia's law is harmful to LGBT individuals and families, and it's harmful to a diverse society."
The Human Rights Campaign offered their support for Google's logo, with organization president Chad Griffin declaring in a press statement, "Alongside Olympic sponsors like AT&T, Google has made a clear and unequivocal statement that Russia’s anti-LGBT discrimination is indefensible. Now it’s time for each and every remaining Olympic sponsor to follow their lead. The clock is ticking, and the world is watching."
Google declined to provide a comment on the logo to HuffPost.
This would not be the first time Google has come out in support of gay rights. In 2012, Google launched "Legalize Love," an initiative supporting LGBT rights around the world.
This story has been updated with responses from Google and the Human Rights Campaign.
The Google homepage featured a Doodle on Thursday of 6 athletes across a rainbow banner, with the following quote from the Olympic Charter: "The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play."
The Doodle was visible across international sites, including Russia's, as the Olympic games began in Sochi.
Russia's ban on gay "propaganda" to minors has sparked international outrage as gay activists have been fined across the country since the law's implementation last year, according to the Associated Press.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's suggestion that gays were welcome in Sochi if they "leave the kids alone," offered little reassurance.
Recent protests around the worldtargeted Olympic sponsors, and AT&T was the first sponsor of the U.S. Olympic Committee to speak out, stating, "Russia's law is harmful to LGBT individuals and families, and it's harmful to a diverse society."
The Human Rights Campaign offered their support for Google's logo, with organization president Chad Griffin declaring in a press statement, "Alongside Olympic sponsors like AT&T, Google has made a clear and unequivocal statement that Russia’s anti-LGBT discrimination is indefensible. Now it’s time for each and every remaining Olympic sponsor to follow their lead. The clock is ticking, and the world is watching."
Google declined to provide a comment on the logo to HuffPost.
This would not be the first time Google has come out in support of gay rights. In 2012, Google launched "Legalize Love," an initiative supporting LGBT rights around the world.
This story has been updated with responses from Google and the Human Rights Campaign.
Read the whole story
· · ·
One of six reportedly out lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) competitors at this year's 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics made the first display of LGBT "propaganda" and solidarity with Russian queers yesterday.
Following her attempt to qualify in the slopestyle event at Sochi, Cheryl Maas, from The Netherlands,who is openly married to another woman, raised her glove bearing a rainbow (and a unicorn) to the cameras. The snowboarder has reportedly previously criticized the decision to hold the Games in Sochi, stating, "With the choice of Russia, the IOC is taking a step back in time."
Since Russia passed an anti-gay "propaganda' law last summer, members of the LGBT community have become subject to a pervasive climate of fear and violence. The law itself paved the way for other proposed anti-LGBT laws, such as one that would remove the children of same-sex parents from their homes.
While Putin sought to reassure LGBT athletes and visitors traveling to the 2014 Sochi With Olympic Games that they would be safe, he has warned members of the LGBT community to stay away from Russia's children.
In the first 24 hours of the Games opening, at least four LGBT activists have already been arrested.
(h/t Towleroad)
Following her attempt to qualify in the slopestyle event at Sochi, Cheryl Maas, from The Netherlands,who is openly married to another woman, raised her glove bearing a rainbow (and a unicorn) to the cameras. The snowboarder has reportedly previously criticized the decision to hold the Games in Sochi, stating, "With the choice of Russia, the IOC is taking a step back in time."
Since Russia passed an anti-gay "propaganda' law last summer, members of the LGBT community have become subject to a pervasive climate of fear and violence. The law itself paved the way for other proposed anti-LGBT laws, such as one that would remove the children of same-sex parents from their homes.
While Putin sought to reassure LGBT athletes and visitors traveling to the 2014 Sochi With Olympic Games that they would be safe, he has warned members of the LGBT community to stay away from Russia's children.
In the first 24 hours of the Games opening, at least four LGBT activists have already been arrested.
(h/t Towleroad)
SOCHI, Russia (AP) — A pseudo-lesbian pop duo, a famed opera singer and a romp through Russian history await viewers as the Sochi Winter Olympics launch Friday with an opening ceremony meant to showcase to the world the ultimate achievement of Vladimir Putin's Russia.
In a provocative choice, Russian singers Tatu will perform before the 3,000 athletes march through a stadium on the shores of the Black Sea, one of the many newly built facilities in the most expensive Olympics in history. The women in Tatu put on a lesbian act that is largely seen as an attention-getting gimmick. It contrasts with the very real anger over a Russian law banning gay "propaganda" aimed at minors that is being used to discriminate against gays. Some world leaders and activists have protested the law, and President Barack Obama is skipping the opening ceremony and sending a delegation that includes prominent gay athletes instead.
The opening ceremony is Russia's chance to show itself and its post-Soviet identity to the world. It is likely to lean on Putin's version: a country with a rich and complex history emerging confidently from a rocky two decades and now capable of putting on a major international sports event.
The ceremony will focus on Russia and Olympic ideals of sportsmanship and achievement — not on repression of dissent, fears of terrorism or international political tensions over neighboring Ukraine.
For people who don't know much about Russia, the ceremony's director, Konstantin Ernst, promised "relatively simple metaphors" — and no obscure references, like the nurses in the London Games' opening ceremony representing the National Health Service, which he called one of the most "incomprehensible" moments in Olympic history.
Ernst said Tatu's "Not Gonna Get Us" was chosen because it's one of the only Russian pop songs that international viewers might recognize.
Most of Friday's performance will instead lean on Russia's rich classical music traditions, with piano virtuoso Denis Matsuev performing and opera soprano Anna Netrebko singing the Olympic anthem.
Ernst also argued that the choice of Tatu's song was about motivating athletes with an upbeat dance song that challenges competitors by saying, "You're not going to get us."
Putin referred to none of that when speaking to IOC members and nearly 20 world leaders at a dinner late Thursday, instead stressing the importance of "mutual understanding, justice, pacifism."
"I'm feeling especially positive energy," he said. Despite hang-ups with some hotel rooms and last-minute construction problems, he said he hopes these games "allow people to appreciate our organizational capabilities and our traditional Russian hospitality."
Ernst said the opening and closing ceremonies will make reference to the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics, which some view as the first time the opening ceremony became such a big deal.
The show will be focused on TV audiences, with projections onto the stadium floor, so fans in the stands won't enjoy the full effect.
Asked whether Putin might arrive at the ceremony from the air, like stunt actors playing James Bond and Queen Elizabeth II did at in London, Ernst said, "it's hardly worth hoping for that."
The Winter Games ceremony is generally a more low-key event than the summer opener. Ernst said organizers tried to keep it from dragging out too long, since most viewers only care to watch their own team and its key rivals.
But who will carry the Olympic torch to light the cauldron for the games, after the flame's unprecedented journey to the North Pole, the cosmos, Europe's highest mountain peak and beyond?
"It's the biggest secret ever," Ernst said, with a smile.
In a provocative choice, Russian singers Tatu will perform before the 3,000 athletes march through a stadium on the shores of the Black Sea, one of the many newly built facilities in the most expensive Olympics in history. The women in Tatu put on a lesbian act that is largely seen as an attention-getting gimmick. It contrasts with the very real anger over a Russian law banning gay "propaganda" aimed at minors that is being used to discriminate against gays. Some world leaders and activists have protested the law, and President Barack Obama is skipping the opening ceremony and sending a delegation that includes prominent gay athletes instead.
The opening ceremony is Russia's chance to show itself and its post-Soviet identity to the world. It is likely to lean on Putin's version: a country with a rich and complex history emerging confidently from a rocky two decades and now capable of putting on a major international sports event.
The ceremony will focus on Russia and Olympic ideals of sportsmanship and achievement — not on repression of dissent, fears of terrorism or international political tensions over neighboring Ukraine.
For people who don't know much about Russia, the ceremony's director, Konstantin Ernst, promised "relatively simple metaphors" — and no obscure references, like the nurses in the London Games' opening ceremony representing the National Health Service, which he called one of the most "incomprehensible" moments in Olympic history.
Ernst said Tatu's "Not Gonna Get Us" was chosen because it's one of the only Russian pop songs that international viewers might recognize.
Most of Friday's performance will instead lean on Russia's rich classical music traditions, with piano virtuoso Denis Matsuev performing and opera soprano Anna Netrebko singing the Olympic anthem.
Ernst also argued that the choice of Tatu's song was about motivating athletes with an upbeat dance song that challenges competitors by saying, "You're not going to get us."
Putin referred to none of that when speaking to IOC members and nearly 20 world leaders at a dinner late Thursday, instead stressing the importance of "mutual understanding, justice, pacifism."
"I'm feeling especially positive energy," he said. Despite hang-ups with some hotel rooms and last-minute construction problems, he said he hopes these games "allow people to appreciate our organizational capabilities and our traditional Russian hospitality."
Ernst said the opening and closing ceremonies will make reference to the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics, which some view as the first time the opening ceremony became such a big deal.
The show will be focused on TV audiences, with projections onto the stadium floor, so fans in the stands won't enjoy the full effect.
Asked whether Putin might arrive at the ceremony from the air, like stunt actors playing James Bond and Queen Elizabeth II did at in London, Ernst said, "it's hardly worth hoping for that."
The Winter Games ceremony is generally a more low-key event than the summer opener. Ernst said organizers tried to keep it from dragging out too long, since most viewers only care to watch their own team and its key rivals.
But who will carry the Olympic torch to light the cauldron for the games, after the flame's unprecedented journey to the North Pole, the cosmos, Europe's highest mountain peak and beyond?
"It's the biggest secret ever," Ernst said, with a smile.
Read the whole story
· · ·
PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain (Reuters) - Spain's Princess Cristina was questioned by a judge on Saturday in a corruption case that has deepened public anger over graft among the ruling class and discontent with the royal family.
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Friday four people had been held following another rowdy anti-government protest, the latest in a spate of sporadic street demonstrations being fanned by hardline opposition parties.
PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain (Reuters) - Spain's Princess Cristina gave testimony before a judge on Saturday in a corruption case that has deepened public anger over graft among the ruling class and discontent with the royal family.
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CARACAS (Reuters) - A gunman shot dead an elderly German tourist on Venezuela's Margarita island on Friday, authorities said, in the latest incident illustrating the country's rampant crime.
PANAMA CITY/MADRID (Reuters) - The companies working to widen the Panama Canal and the waterway's administrator on Friday each made new proposals aimed at reviving the multibillion dollar project, after talks broke down this week amid a cost spat and work ground to a halt.
MOSCU — Un activista ruso defensor de los derechos de los animales fue detenido el sábado en Moscú...
WASHINGTON (AP) — For a president looking for a legacy piece of legislation, the current state of the immigration debate represents a high-wire act.
President Barack Obama could act alone to slow deportations, and probably doom any chance of a permanent and comprehensive overhaul. Yet if he shows too much patience, the opportunity to fix immigration laws as he wants could well slip away. As Republican leaders dampen expectations for overhauling immigration laws this year, the White House is hoping that the GOP resistance is temporary and tactical, and Obama is resisting pressure from some political allies to take matters into his own hands and ease his administration's deportation record.
House Speaker John Boehner this week all but ruled out passage of immigration legislation before the fall midterm elections, saying Republicans had trouble trusting that Obama would implement all aspects of an immigration law.
White House officials say they believe Boehner ultimately wants to get it done. But they acknowledge that Boehner faces stiff resistance from conservatives who oppose any form of legalization for immigrants who have crossed into the United States illegally or overstayed their visas. As well, Republicans are eager to keep this election year's focus on Obama's health care law.
Obama is willing to give Boehner space to operate and to tamp down the conservative outcry that greeted a set of immigration overhaul principles the speaker brought forward last week. For now, the White House is simply standing behind a comprehensive bill that passed in the Senate last year, but is not trying to press Boehner on how to proceed in the Republican-controlled House.
Vice President Joe Biden told CNN that Obama is waiting to see what the House passes before responding.
The White House view could be overly optimistic, playing down the strength of the opposition to acting this year.
For Republicans the immigration issue poses two political challenges. In the short term, it displays intraparty divisions when they want to use their unified opposition to the health care law as a key issue in the 2014 elections. Immigration distracts from that strategy. But failure to pass an immigration overhaul would be a significant drag on the chances of a Republican winning the 2016 presidential election if angry Latino voters are mobilized to vote for the Democratic nominee.
Making the case for a delay, Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, said there's "overwhelming support for doing nothing this year." Labrador, who worked with a small group of Republicans and Democrats on comprehensive legislation last year then abandoned the negotiations, said it would be a mistake to have an internal battle in the GOP. He argued for waiting until next year when the Republicans might have control of the Senate.
Some Republican supporters of a new immigration law are pushing back.
"I'm trying to convince my colleagues that regardless of primaries, regardless of elections this November, that we have an obligation and a duty to solve this crisis once and for all," Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif., told the Spanish-language television network Telemundo in an interview scheduled to air Sunday.
White House spokesman Jay Carney did not criticize Boehner's talk of a delay, though he called the speaker's claims that Obama is the problem "an odd bit of diversion." House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, however, did not hold back, signaling that Democrats are prepared to lay the blame on Boehner and his party if legislation does not materialize.
"Republicans should be candid about putting extremism ahead of the good of the country," she said.
Democratic officials familiar with the White House thinking say there is also a possibility that the House could act in November or December, during a lame-duck session of Congress after the elections. That would require swift work in a short time. What's more, if Republicans win control of the Senate, there would be pressure to leave the issue to the new Senate.
The longer the immigration issue remains unresolved, the more pressure will fall on Obama from immigrant advocates to act alone and ease the deportations that have been undertaken by his administration. Since Obama took office in January 2009, more than 1.9 million immigrants have been deported.
___
Follow Jim Kuhnhenn on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jkuhnhenn
President Barack Obama could act alone to slow deportations, and probably doom any chance of a permanent and comprehensive overhaul. Yet if he shows too much patience, the opportunity to fix immigration laws as he wants could well slip away. As Republican leaders dampen expectations for overhauling immigration laws this year, the White House is hoping that the GOP resistance is temporary and tactical, and Obama is resisting pressure from some political allies to take matters into his own hands and ease his administration's deportation record.
House Speaker John Boehner this week all but ruled out passage of immigration legislation before the fall midterm elections, saying Republicans had trouble trusting that Obama would implement all aspects of an immigration law.
White House officials say they believe Boehner ultimately wants to get it done. But they acknowledge that Boehner faces stiff resistance from conservatives who oppose any form of legalization for immigrants who have crossed into the United States illegally or overstayed their visas. As well, Republicans are eager to keep this election year's focus on Obama's health care law.
Obama is willing to give Boehner space to operate and to tamp down the conservative outcry that greeted a set of immigration overhaul principles the speaker brought forward last week. For now, the White House is simply standing behind a comprehensive bill that passed in the Senate last year, but is not trying to press Boehner on how to proceed in the Republican-controlled House.
Vice President Joe Biden told CNN that Obama is waiting to see what the House passes before responding.
The White House view could be overly optimistic, playing down the strength of the opposition to acting this year.
For Republicans the immigration issue poses two political challenges. In the short term, it displays intraparty divisions when they want to use their unified opposition to the health care law as a key issue in the 2014 elections. Immigration distracts from that strategy. But failure to pass an immigration overhaul would be a significant drag on the chances of a Republican winning the 2016 presidential election if angry Latino voters are mobilized to vote for the Democratic nominee.
Making the case for a delay, Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, said there's "overwhelming support for doing nothing this year." Labrador, who worked with a small group of Republicans and Democrats on comprehensive legislation last year then abandoned the negotiations, said it would be a mistake to have an internal battle in the GOP. He argued for waiting until next year when the Republicans might have control of the Senate.
Some Republican supporters of a new immigration law are pushing back.
"I'm trying to convince my colleagues that regardless of primaries, regardless of elections this November, that we have an obligation and a duty to solve this crisis once and for all," Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif., told the Spanish-language television network Telemundo in an interview scheduled to air Sunday.
White House spokesman Jay Carney did not criticize Boehner's talk of a delay, though he called the speaker's claims that Obama is the problem "an odd bit of diversion." House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, however, did not hold back, signaling that Democrats are prepared to lay the blame on Boehner and his party if legislation does not materialize.
"Republicans should be candid about putting extremism ahead of the good of the country," she said.
Democratic officials familiar with the White House thinking say there is also a possibility that the House could act in November or December, during a lame-duck session of Congress after the elections. That would require swift work in a short time. What's more, if Republicans win control of the Senate, there would be pressure to leave the issue to the new Senate.
The longer the immigration issue remains unresolved, the more pressure will fall on Obama from immigrant advocates to act alone and ease the deportations that have been undertaken by his administration. Since Obama took office in January 2009, more than 1.9 million immigrants have been deported.
___
Follow Jim Kuhnhenn on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jkuhnhenn
Read the whole story
· · · ·
MOSCÚ (AP) — Un activista ruso defensor de los derechos de los animales fue detenido el sábado en...
The report underlines the fact that Puerto Rico's political status continues to be of great importance to its people. Its economy – like many others – has also faced significant challenges in recent years, driving the need for a ...
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CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Friday four people had been held following another rowdy anti-government protest, the latest in a spate of sporadic street demonstrations being fanned by hardline opposition parties.
PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain (Reuters) - Spain's Princess Cristina was questioned by a judge on Saturday in a corruption case that has deepened public anger over graft among the ruling class and discontent with the royal family.
MIAMI (AP) — Cuando se inauguró el nuevo museo de arte de Miami en diciembre, Jorge Pérez habló...
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian police detained on Saturday dozens of umbrella-wielding demonstrators protesting after three television providers dropped a station that made its name covering massive street demonstrations against President Vladimir Putin
Economy and Crime Spur New Puerto Rican Exodus
By LIZETTE ALVAREZ
Puerto Rico’s extended woes, including high unemployment and pervasive crime, are causing a worrisome exodus of professionals and middle-class residents to places like Florida and Texas.
February 9, 2014, Sunday
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El secretario de Justicia estadounidense Eric Holder anunciará que el gobierno federal reconocerá...
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Economy and Crime Spur New Puerto Rican Exodusby By LIZETTE ALVAREZ
Puerto Rico’s extended woes, including high unemployment and pervasive crime, are causing a worrisome exodus of professionals and middle-class residents to places like Florida and Texas.Virus Advances Through East Caribbeanby By FRANCES ROBLES
The spread of Chikungunya fever, a painful mosquito-borne virus, is a once-distant illness that public health experts fear will become entrenched throughout the region.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she backs a free-trade pact between U.S. and the European Union, and called for them to join forces on the Ukraine crisis.
