Archive for May 28th, 2009
Vargas Llosa Detained in Venezuela
4:19 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Bolivia|Controversia|Latin America|literature|Peru|Politics|society|Venezuela · Comments Off
28 May 2009Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa didn’t have such a good time today at Caracas International Airport, Maiquetia, upon arriving to Venezuela from Colombia. Accompanied by his wife for a conference, Vargas Llosa says he was detained for an hour and a half by police who allegedly held him because a “as a foreigner he didn’t have the right to make political statements” in Venezuela. Spain’s Estrella Digital reports:
“They said that very politely and I responded that being in the land of (…) they shouldn’t try to hinder free thinking,” said Vargas Llosa, in the middle of a press mob that surrounded him upon leaving the airport. Álvaro Vargas Llosa, son of the writer, was also arrested for several hour by airport authorities on Monday, when he arrived in Venezuela to participate in the same conference, along with intellectuals from various countries.
Vargas Llosa’s statements to press can be seen in the video above (in Spanish). Estrella Digital also reports that conference organizers said that police would accompany he and his wife to their hotel “so he wouldn’t make statements to press” and that he had already been warned about making political statements.
What’s unclear to me is what political statement he could have made getting off of a plane? It seems like if you were going to do something messed up like detain someone for speaking their mind, you’d do it after they had already done so, not before. Apparently Bolivian ex-president Jorge Quiroga also got the same warning, but wasn’t detained. But actually is already making statements, particularly saying that Evo Morales is merely a pawn of Hugo Chavez.
Via / Estrella Digital
Abu Ghraib Photos Revisited
28 May 2009British papers are all talking about the Abu Ghraib photos that Obama recently made the decision not to release to the public. **trigger warning on info that follows** Read more…
Alberto Cutie retires from Catholic Church, joins Episcopalian
3:18 pm By la Macha · Controversia|Miami|social networking · 1 Comment
28 May 2009
If there is a way to fuck things up, the Catholic Church will find it.
I’m not sure why the Catholic Church seems to think that their priests engaging in sexual intercourse is so horrible a thought it needs to be banned. The Church is getting desperate for new young folks to fill the ranks of the old men who made the mess the Church is in today, even as it steadily dismisses those new young folks in favor of upholding antiquated laws that really hold no meaning at all. From CNN:
Cutie (pronounced koo-tee-AY) will pursue the priesthood in the Episcopal Church, the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida said in a written statement.
It was not immediately clear how long the process would take.
Cutie is sometimes called “Father Oprah” because of the advice he’s given in Spanish-language media.
He shocked the Catholic community when photographs of him embracing a bathing-suit-clad woman emerged this month.
Cutie admitted having a two-year relationship with the woman.
advertisementShe has not been publicly identified.
I’m no big fan of priests or of the Catholic Church, but this guy seems to be genuine and real. He seems to be in a committed relationship with one woman who is fully grown and fully consenting. An oddity for far to many priests in the Catholic Church.
Tell me again why *he* is leaving the church and not the pedophile that’s been moved from church to church for 40 years?
Justice is About How Laws Impact Our Daily Lives
12:10 pm By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Justice|Politics|Women · 4 Comments
28 May 2009Check out this ad spot from ConstitutionalValues.Org promoting Sotomayor as the U.S.’s next Supreme Court Justice.
“In selecting Judge Sotomayor, the president has nominated a candidate of sterling credentials who will uphold the Constitution and the law. We commend President Obama for choosing a brilliant and fair-minded jurist to serve on our nation’s highest court. Judge Sotomayor is precisely the kind of nominee we need – one who, as President Obama described, ‘has the intellectual firepower but also a little bit of a common touch and has a practical sense of how the world works.’” – Nan Aron, co-chair of the Coalition for Constitutional Values and president of Alliance for Justice.
Via / Culture Kitchen
The Rise of the New Generation of Latinos
10:10 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · children|Immigration · 1 Comment
28 May 2009
The Latino population is growing, and we can look to nuestros niños as the force behind those numbers.
The Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center, today released a report that finds that Hispanics now make up more than one-in-five of all children in the United States – up from 9% in 1980 — and as their numbers have grown, their demographic profile has changed.
More than half of the nation’s 16 million Hispanic children are now “second generation,” meaning they are the U.S.-born sons or daughters of at least one foreign-born parent, typically someone who came to this country in the immigration wave from Mexico, Central America and South America that began around 1980. In 1980, a majority of Latino children were “third or higher generation” — the U.S.-born sons or daughters of U.S.-born parents.
Different generations of Latino children experience life in the U.S. in different ways.
Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Carlos Alberto Torres MIGHT BE HOME SOON!
8:13 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Justice|Puerto Rico · Comments Off
28 May 2009
I’m ok with people insulting my intelligence and discounting my voice because I stand firmly by the fact that Puerto Rico is a nation. One of the reasons I say that is because of people like Carlos Alberto Torres, who has spent 29 years of his life in prison for the “non-nation” of Puerto Rico and it looks like Carlos may be with his familia soon with our help.
Puerto Rican political prisoner Carlos Alberto Torres appeared on May 26th with his attorney Jan Susler at FCI Pekin, Illinois at a videoconference hearing with U.S. Parole Commission hearing examiner Larry Glenn.
The hearing took place after Carlos Alberto had served over 29 years in prison, and 15 years after his initial parole hearing in 1994, when the Parole Commission told him to come back after serving another 15 years.
The hearing examiner opened by saying he would make one of three possible recommendations at the conclusion of the hearing: 1) set a presumptive parole date; 2) tell Carlos Alberto once again to come back after serving another 15 years, at which time he would be considered for possible release on parole; or 3) deny parole entirely.
For some 45 minutes, the examiner posed questions, including some very pointed political questions about Carlos Alberto’s views on the relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico, and whether his thoughts on this issue have changed throughout his years in custody. He reviewed his accomplishments in prison and asked about his plans if he were to be released: to open a pottery studio in Puerto Rico.
Significantly, Glenn noted “the large number of documents showing community support sent to the parole commission.” He was referring to the thousands of letters and resolutions from all of Puerto Rico’s civil society, as well as from supporters throughout the U.S. and Mexico.
After a brief break, Glenn announced his recommendation: a presumptive parole date of April 3, 2010…. which would mark the 30th anniversary of Carlos Alberto’s imprisonment.
The parole commission has 21 days to issue a decision, of by June 16. Should the commission adopt the examiner’s recommendation, Carlos Alberto would be eligible for transfer to a halfway house 180 days before April 3, or on October 3, 2009.
Letters urging the commission to adopt the hearing examiner’s recommendation should arrive no later than June 17 at the office of Jan Susler, Attorney, People’s Law Office, 1180 N. Milwaukee, Chicago, IL 60622, jsusler@aol. com.
Hola!
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