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Health Tue, December 02, 2008 05:11 PM Washington, DC (CapitalWirePR) December 2, 2008 –On World AIDS Day December 1, 2008 the Latino Commission on AIDS released “Shaping the New Response: HIV/AIDS and Latinos in the Deep South” Report, documenting the extraordinarily high rates of HIV and AIDS diagnoses among Latinos, the apparent contributing factors to this health crisis and recommendations for future action in the Deep South (Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina)*. Shaping the New Response reached its conclusions after two years of research including more than 300 interviews, 8 roundtables covering all 7 states,...

President-elect Barack Obama continued rounding out his White House staff today, naming Jonathan Favreau director of speechwriting and Cecilia Munoz director of intergovernmental affairs. -snip_ Munoz, meanwhile, will oversee the White House office responsible for relations between the administration and state and local governments. The 2000 MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" winner is a senior vice president at the National Council of La Raza, a leading Hispanic civil rights group. There, she has spearheaded many of the organization's immigration initiatives. Currently, she is in charge of the group's entire advocacy and legislative agenda. "We're continuing to build a White House team...

If there is one message President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team has broadcast about Cabinet picks, it is that ethnicity and gender will not be the first considerations when filling the slots. Credentials over tokenism, after all, was a fundamental principle of Obama’s presidential campaign that highlighted his ideas and community values over his African-American background. Still, if all goes as planned, Cabinet members with hefty résumés will present a picture of diversity. Hispanic political leaders agree. Their expectations for seats at the president’s top policy table are not about meeting quotas but about advancing the reality that within this fastest-growing...

Soon after cutting billions of dollars out of programs that have helped working Latino families make ends meet, Republicans are putting that money towards tax cuts for capital gains and dividends that overwhelmingly ignore the needs of the Latino community. While one percent of Americans would enjoy over half of these tax cuts, more than 80 percent of Latinos would receive nothing. Working Latino families will find it harder to feed their families and heat their homes while money previously used to help cash strapped families will instead be redirected to wealthy investors. Democrats do not believe in balancing the...

On his first full day as President, Barack Obama will be greeted by salutes, good wishes - and throngs of protesters on the National Mall demanding immigration reform.   It will be a thunderous welcome, delivered mostly by Hispanic voters who - having provided a critical edge to Obama on Election Day in several key states - are looking for payback. "We voted in the millions, and now we're going to demand progress in the millions," said Angelica Salas, an organizer of the Jan. 21 protest and director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. RELATED: LATINO...

Latinos for Reform (LFR) called on Senator Barack Obama to come clean with the American people, and particularly with the Latino community regarding the issue of his aunt, who has been in the U.S. illegally for four years now. "We have no doubts that Senator Obama is once again hiding the truth from the American people when it comes to the story of his aunt," said LFR Chairman Robert Deposada. "For crying out loud, everyone would agree that when people in other countries have relatives in government, it is a common practice to contact them for assistance when they have...

In a historic change with political and cultural implications for the nation's largest minority group, a baby boom has helped Hispanics account for just over half of the overall population growth in the United States since 2000, according to a report released Thursday. Different from the past, the nation's Latino population growth in this decade has been more a product of birthrate than immigration, according to the report from the Pew Hispanic Center. Since 2000, the nation's Latino population has increased by 10.2 million - 6 million from births in the United States and 4.2 million from immigration. "What we...

I was bursting with pride when I read this account of Colombian-born Tito Munoz giving the liberal media a piece of his mind at a McCain rally in Virginia. Anyone who loves America can relate to Tito, but his story particularly resonates with me.

Before November 4th, every Latino needs to see this YouTube video of what Chicago Latinos think of Barack Obama. youtube.com/watch?v=rdWjjvpH1Qw

I found this video over at Uppity Woman's site. It is an eye opening, person on the street view of Obama's accomplishments in the Chicago Latino community. In short, there are none. What is truly heartening are the number of former Latino Hillary supporters that are now backing McCain. Enjoy! And please pass along. Latinos SPLATinosNObama! NO DEAL! Si Sarah y John!

A word of advice: if a Luchador asks you to register to vote, register to vote. Experts predict a 23 percent surge in Latino voters this Presidential election compared to 2004. And that surge is attributed to grassroots groups who are pounding the pavement and the Internet. A San Jose grassroots advocacy group called Somo Mayfair is using the Luchador, an icon of Latino culture, in YouTube clips to get people out to vote. "We wanna keep on pushing forward the power of the Latino vote," said Jaime Alvarado, of Somo Mayfair. "So the number of people who register turn...

Like many workers at the meatpacking plant here, Raul Garcia, a Mexican-American, has watched with some discomfort as hundreds of Somali immigrants have moved to town in the past couple of years, many of them to fill jobs once held by Latino workers taken away in immigration raids. Garcia has been particularly troubled by the Somalis' demand that they be allowed special breaks for prayers that are obligatory for devout Muslims. The breaks, he said, would inconvenience everyone else. "The Latino is very humble," said Garcia, 73, who has worked at the plant, owned by JBS U.S.A. Inc., since 1994....

A new poll by Latino Decisions of 1,600 registered Latino voters in New Mexico, Colorado, Florida and Nevada shows those polled in three of the states overwhelmingly support Barack Obama. Only in Florida do voters say they prefer John McCain; in the other three states, Barack Obama leads by at least forty points. "The Latino vote will be critical in the Southwest and Florida, and results of this poll show very clearly that Latinos may well provide Sen. Barack Obama with the margin of victory," said Matt Barreto in the polling memo. Barreto is a University of Washington professor of...

A provocative new book doesn’t flinch from delivering the bad news. John McCain and Barack Obama have largely avoided discussing immigration during the presidential campaign. But when it comes to the legal side of the issue, they both seem to support the status quo: an official policy centered around low-skilled, predominately Hispanic immigrants. A forthcoming book shows just how misguided that policy is, especially in light of the nation’s current economic woes. The Latino Education Crisis: The Consequences of Failed Social Policies, by Patricia Gandara and Frances Contreras, offers an unflinching portrait of Hispanics’ educational problems and reaches a scary...

Two presidential debates later, and still no comment from John McCain or Barack Obama on the issue of illegal immigration. With anxiety over the economy high, immigration has faded from the national stage and become an inconvenient topic for candidates, said Efrain Escobedo, voter engagement director for the nonpartisan National Association of Latino Elected Officials, or NALEO. Ironically, though, Escobedo said, the election's outcome could hinge on how each candidate frames immigration and how many Latino votes he can win in four swing states: Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado and Florida. Both candidates are trying to connect with Latinos in those...

WASHINGTON — The federal government's top immigration enforcement officer on Wednesday released a report that showed Houston has fallen short in a nationwide crackdown on violent, predominantly Latino street gangs that draw strength from undocumented immigrants. Houston, the nation's fourth-largest city, accounted for just 71 of the 1,759 arrests in the roundup in 53 cities over the past four months, according to the report provided by Julie L. Myers, the assistant secretary of homeland security in charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or ICE.

Chicago Documentary: Where is Obama?

Chicago Latinos ask the question of the day. Where is Obama?

Latino immigrants increasingly pessimistic about life in U.S. By Hernán Rozemberg - Express-News The combination of a lack of jobs due to a worsening economy and an unprecedented series of governmental work raids have got immigrants down in the dumps, according to findings in a new survey. The Pew Hispanic Center, a nonprofit research think tank based in Washington, concluded that Hispanics across the country, and in particular immigrants, are increasingly concerned about staying employed and being deported. According to Pew's annual national survey of Latinos, nearly two-thirds of Latino immigrants said their lives have worsened over the last year...

The combination of a lack of jobs due to a worsening economy and an unprecedented series of governmental work raids have got immigrants down in the dumps, according to findings in a new survey. The Pew Hispanic Center, a nonprofit research think tank based in Washington, concluded that Hispanics across the country, and in particular immigrants, are increasingly concerned about staying employed and being deported. According to Pew's annual national survey of Latinos, nearly two-thirds of Latino immigrants said their lives have worsened over the last year and nearly as many fear that they, their relatives or their friends could...

SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- The new offensive in the presidential election is a Spanish-language air war in which each party is trying to convince Latino voters that the other is no amigo to the nation's largest minority and that it did them wrong during the immigration debacle in Congress. ... Stop the tape! The spots are hard-hitting, but only one hits the target. The McCain-Palin ad is accurate. But the Obama-Biden ad is riddled with problems.

Imagine receiving a call from a mortgage company promising you a lower monthly mortgage payment if you refinance. But you may need to pay a slightly higher amount for a few months prior to the lower rate taking effect. Sounds good, right? That's what millions of Americans thought too--especially Black and Latino homeowners, many of whom were first-time buyers. A report titled "State of the Dream 2008: FORECLOSED" by United for a Fair Economy pinpoints how mortgage companies and banks targeted people from traditionally underrepresented groups with subprime loans. In addition, the report illustrates how severely affected the Black and...

New McCain ad blames Obama and Democrats for death of immigration overhaul effort.(CNN) – John McCain’s campaign is running a Spanish language ad in battleground states that blames Barack Obama and Senate Democrats for the failure of attempts to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws — even though the Republican nominee and his Democratic counterpart cast identical votes in the key Senate showdowns on that issue last year “Obama and his congressional allies say they are on the side of immigrants. But are they?” asks the announcer in the 30-second spot, “Which Side Are They On?” “The press reports that their...

ScienceDaily (Aug. 15, 2008) — A study of 439 U.S. and Mexican-born Latinas seeking pregnancy and postpartum services at public health clinics in San Antonio uncovered elevated levels of depression among the more "Americanized" women, report researchers from The University of Texas School of Public Health and The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. "Americanization" or acculturation is the process by which immigrants adopt the lifestyle and customs of their host nation, and key indicators include preferred language and place of birth, lead author Marivel Davila said. Davila is a graduate student at the UT School of...

U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez joined local and state Republican political leaders in Ontario on Friday as part of an effort to build support among Latinos for Sen. John McCain's presidential bid. In his speech to about 100 people at Ontario's Doubletree Hotel, Gutierrez focused on broad economic issues and McCain's experiences as a prisoner of war and in Congress to make the case for why McCain is a better choice for president than Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. Gutierrez did not stick to Latino-specific themes but talked instead about McCain's proposals on taxes, trade and energy. He said McCain, R-Ariz.,...

Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, who funds Iran-aligned terrorist group Hezbollah, has given $1.5 million to a Washington, D.C.-area charity that advocates for illegal aliens, the Washington Post reports. (See my previous Boston Herald op-ed about Chavez and terrorism here.) As part of Venezuela's "public diplomacy" (i.e. propaganda and subversion) program in the United States, the Silver Spring, Maryland-based Casa de Maryland will receive the grant from CITGO, Venezuela's government-owned oil company that is controlled by Chavez. Of course the Washington Post buried the story, placing it on page D8, as Ken Shepherd of NewsBusters noted. The Post reported that The...

<p>SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Immigrant-advocacy group Casa de Maryland on Monday received a $1.5 million donation from Citgo Petroleum Corp., a subsidiary of Venezuela's national oil company that is controlled by President Hugo Chavez.</p> <p>The funds will be used to strengthen Casa's $4.4 million social-service, small-business and vocational-training programs... Kim Propeack, advocacy director for the Montgomery County-based organization, said it's the largest corporate gift Casa has received. "Like many nonprofits, Casa has been trying to grow its corporate investment," she said. "Citgo is very committed to ensuring that the profits they earn through their business are shared by low-income people...." A Monday news conference to announce the donation was postponed because of a personal emergency of Citgo President Alejandro Granado, who was to attend with the Venezuelan ambassador. Ms. Propeack said the contribution would still be finalized Monday.</p>

Here is a new McCain web ad entitled, "The World According to Obama." I'm not the brightest bulb in the house, and my Spanish is not good, but it would seem The Messiah forgot to mention any Latin American, South American, or Spanish-speaking countries in his masterpiece Berlin speech. Apparently, in Obama's world, Latinos aren't too uppermost in his thoughts. . . (see video)

By Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer July 25, 2008 Hate crimes in Los Angeles County rose to their highest level in five years last year, led by attacks between Latinos and blacks, officials said Thursday. The annual report by the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission showed hate crimes rose by 28%, to 763, with vandalism and assault leading the way. Robin S. Toma, executive director of the... Boy, 6, critically hurt as gunfire...The Homicide Report Bratton walks a fine line on race Video: Surveillance tape: anti-Semitic graffiti on synagogue In what commission Executive Director Robin Toma called...

John McCain is winning a paltry 23 percent of the Hispanic vote compared with 66 percent for Barack Obama, according to a large poll released Thursday by the Pew Hispanic Center. While Obama’s lead among Hispanics is not drastically ahead of where Democratic nominee John Kerry stood in the summer of 2004, McCain trails President Bush’s standing at this point four years ago. At that time, Pew found that Hispanics broke 62 percent for Kerry and 32 percent for Bush. Exit polls later found that Bush earned the support of about four in 10 Latino voters. That difference — from...

Hispanics in U.S. Face Unique Obstacles to Diagnosis, Treatment SAN YSIDRO, Calif. -- AIDS rates in the nation's Latino community are increasing and, with little notice, have reached what experts are calling a simmering public health crisis. Though Hispanics make up about 14 percent of the U.S. population, they represented 22 percent of new HIV and AIDS diagnoses tallied by federal officials in 2006. According to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, Hispanics in the District have the highest rate of new AIDS cases in the country. So far, the toll of AIDS in the nation's largest and fastest-growing...

As Oppenheimer writes in this piece, "There is a fierce behind-the-scenes battle for influence over presumptive Democratic candidate Barack Obama's Hispanic and Latin American agenda, and some Democratic strategists say that its outcome could determine the result of the November elections." "Some Obama backers in South Florida, in particular, are especially miffed at what they see as excessive power by labor-union-tied, left-leaning Mexican-American leaders at Obama's Chicago headquarters over the campaign's nationwide Hispanic and Latin American policy strategies."

The Third Annual Latino Congresso started today at the Bonaventure Hotel.. John McCain and Barak Obama was originally listed as speaker, then "invited" and in the end their names were not on the final program at all. Spanish Media was there, as was KTLA and the Associated Press. The event opened with the leaders of the various groups outlining their agendas. The two main issues were Latino Voter Registration and Immigration. The have committed Five Million Dollars to getting Latinos registered to vote for the presidential election. The speakers seldom used the term "Latino" constantly referring to "our community, our...

The eight students walked into a room at Lincoln High School prepared to discuss an issue many people, including some of their teachers, considered taboo. They were blunt. Carlos Garcia, 17, an A student with a knack for math, said, "My friends, most of them say, 'You're more Asian than Hispanic.' " "I think Carlos is Asian at heart," said Julie Loc, 17, causing Carlos to laugh good-naturedly. Asian students who get middling grades often get another response, she said. "They say, 'Are you really Asian?' " Julie said. "It's sad but true," said Eliseo Garcia, a 17-year-old with long...

San Diego For many Latinos on hand for Barack Obama on Sunday, attraction to the Democratic presidential candidate went beyond policy issues to the matter of identity. "He's closer to our community," said immigrant Pietro Ferrari after hearing Obama address the National Council of La Raza at its conference in San Diego. "He gives me the sense of somebody who has emerged without privilege," said Ferrari. "He understands immigration first hand. And he understands the promise of being American." Obama was the first in the candidate line-up at the conference for La Raza – the country's largest advocacy group for...

Speaking at the National Council of La Raza conference today, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) engaged in a lively give-and-take with several Latino activists who questioned his stance on illegal immigration. In one heated exchange with an audience member, a questioner asked McCain whether he, like presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama (Ill.), would make immigration reform a top priority as president and provide a pathway to citizenship for 12 million undocumented workers living illegally in the U.S. as part of a single immigration bill. McCain responded by defending his record on immigration against Obama's, saying the Democrat took his lead from...

Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama will be using the National Council of La Raza convention, which begins tomorrow in San Diego, as a platform for courting the increasingly significant Latino vote. Convention organizers hope to press the senators for answers on some of the thorniest issues affecting Latinos, among them immigration policies and solutions to the nation's health insurance and mortgage crises. This week, as they prepared to participate in the four-day event at the San Diego Convention Center, some local groups said they were optimistic about what they would hear from the candidates and in convention sessions,...

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was interrupted repeatedly by hecklers as he and his likely Democratic presidential opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., separately addressed the National Association of Latino Elected Officials Saturday, at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C. McCain was interrupted four times by protestors, three of whom were identifiable as CodePink members. Four separate interruptions (as opposed to the number of people protesting, which can vary) may tie a record for recent McCain events. In Denver in late May, McCain was interrupted four times during a foreign policy speech. One of the protestors spoke in Spanish, then translated...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- McCain appealed to Hispanic voters Saturday with a message against raising taxes and highlighting his patriotism alongside Latinos during the Vietnam War. McCain told the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials it is a “terrible mistake to raise taxes during an economic downturn” and said increasing business and individual tax rates could hurt Latino businesses.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee for president, is looking to shore up support -- especially from Latinos. During the primaries on Super Tuesday, he received only 35 percent of Latinos' vote, while former rival Sen. Hilary Clinton's received 63 percent. "There really wasn't an opportunity for Barack Obama to introduce himself to Latino voters. "He needs to get out there and do that and he needs to listen to Latino voters and understand what they care about," said Arturo Vargas, of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. Obama has supported President...

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) must commit to helping illegal immigrants achieve citizenship or else risk losing the vital Latino vote in the general election, Hispanic Democratic lawmakers are warning. If he does not promise so-called comprehensive immigration reform, the lawmakers say, the only other way to win over Hispanic supporters of his erstwhile rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), may be to pick her as his running mate. Obama’s National Latino Vote Director, Cuauhtemoc “Temo” Figueroa, will have his first meeting in Washington Thursday with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC). They carefully avoided calling explicitly for Clinton’s selection...

McCain to attend; Obama was invited By Hiram Soto UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER June 6, 2008 San Diego will be at the center of the Latino world next month. The National Council of La Raza is set to announce Monday details about its upcoming national convention in San Diego. Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain is expected to appear, and Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, is considering an invitation. NCLR, the largest Latino organization in the nation, will hold its annual conference July 12-15 at the San Diego Convention Center. More than 20,000 people attended last year's convention in...

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who wrapped his party’s presidential nomination just this week, is already besieged by liberal constituencies demanding that he cut military spending to boost social programs. Two influential liberal groups have sent the presumptive Democratic nominee a letter pressing him to support cuts to defense programs to pay for universal preschool, relief for Americans facing foreclosure on their homes and expanded benefits for military veterans. The demands carry weight because the groups, the Black Leadership Forum and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), represent two constituencies that are important to Obama’s political strategy: blacks and...

A day before the Puerto Rican primary election, I talked with several Mexican workers and business professionals during a visit to Mexico City. The subject was American presidential politics and the upcoming election. They had only the haziest notion that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was the frontrunner for the nomination. They knew virtually nothing about his positions on the major issues, especially the hot button issue of immigration reform. They all readily recognized Clinton’s name and thought that if elected she’d do a better job on the immigration question. Their haziness in knowing that Obama was the odds on...

As if Katie Couric didn't already have enough problems. Weighed down by record-low ratings at the anchor desk of "CBS Evening News," and by reports suggesting she will leave that post two years before her multimillion-dollar contract expires, Couric now has civil rights groups — mostly Hispanic — on her back. And for good reason.

A former staffer in a Bronx City Council member's office is under investigation by the Bronx District Attorney for allegedly running a housing scam that bilked more than a dozen constituents out of thousands of dollars, according to sources familiar with the case. The woman reportedly charged up to $2,000 with the promise that she could secure federally subsidized Section 8 housing. Under the federal program, the government covers up to 75% of rent for persons who can prove they qualify for the subsidy. Sources said that Councilwoman Maria Baez hired the staffer about two years ago, shortly after the...

DALTON, Ga. — As a national debate over immigration raged in early 2006, Mexican immigrant America Gruner founded a grassroots organization to engage this city’s Hispanics amid growing anti-immigrant sentiment. “Locally, we didn’t have anybody to speak about (immigration) without attacking anybody,” she said. “People ... felt their voices weren’t being heard.” She started the Coalition of Latino Leaders, or CLILA, to nurture Hispanic leaders. Now, Ms. Gruner is stepping down as CLILA president to work with a national organization in Atlanta. Under her leadership, CLILA has registered voters, organized community forums and English classes and held citizenship drives. Jerry...

Melanie Bowers, 13, and her parents walked into Athens High School Monday afternoon to talk to campus police. They were hoping to get some answers. "It never should have happened in the first place. The whole assignment was a silly assignment and they should have contacted us immediately after it happened," said J.R. Bowers, Melanie's father. It was an assignment for history class--to make a protest sign for or against an issue, and Melanie said she chose illegal immigration. Her sign read, "If you love our nation, stop illegal immigration." Somehow, Melanie said the sign got passed around lunch and...

Obama, who has struggled to overcome Clinton's significant advantage among Latino voters in state after state, sought to one-up his rival for the Democratic presidential nod by joining the call for creating a national holiday to commemorate the father of the United Farm Workers. "That's why I support the call to make Cesar Chavez's birthday a national holiday. It's time to recognize the contributions of this American icon to the ongoing efforts to perfect our union." Eight states commemorate Chavez' birthday in some fashion. In California, all state offices are closed, but local government facilities and public schools are open....

Latinos’ Education Failure is Their Own Fault! Latinos score lower than whites on tests and drop-out of school more often and it is largely their fault!!!! The same goes for Black American youth! Wow!!! That was risky. One can get fired for saying such things. So to cover my buns let me just clarify that nothing in this paragraph had anything to do with race. Culture, not I.Q. or innate ability, explains this discrepancy. And if you really want to minimize the achievement gap between Latinos, Asians, Whites and Blacks, you should read on. Fifth graders in Taipei, Taiwan spend...