Click here for the whole story.Milestone parties shrink to survive for teensMIAMI — For a generation of girls, coming of age during the recession calls for a celebration that can be as much DIY as it is mini-wedding.
Planning a quinceanera? Think about choreographing your own dance routine. Feeding a Sweet 16? Hope you know how to bake. Bat mitzvah on the way? You might want to share your party with a neighbor.
"You don't know if you're going to lose your job. You don't know what's going to happen. You don't want to go overboard," said Yanicet Ganuzas. For her daughter Yanelis's quinceanera, the lavish party many Latino families throw when their daughters turn 15, she spent $14,000 — a little more than half of what she spent two years ago on another daughter.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Quiceañera cutbacks
From the Associated Press:
Newsweek edtorial: What's the hold up?
From Newsweek:
Key excerpt:
The New Oxford American Dictionaty defines sniping as "Making a sly or petty verbal attack."
Why is it that, when it comes to how we communicate on Cuba, quoting Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King is considered "sniping"?
Click here for the whole article.What Happened to That New Cuba Policy?
Published Aug 1, 2009It's been about four months since President Obama announced looser restrictions on travel and sending money to Cuba. But they haven't gone into effect yet, the Treasury Department confirms to NEWSWEEK. So what's the holdup?
Key excerpt:
In late July, in yet another sign that the Obama administration wants to make nice, the State Department shut down an electronic billboard that the Bush administration had erected across the front of the building that houses the U.S. interests section in Havana. The billboard, which is said to have irked Fidel Castro, continually flashed quotes about freedom from American icons like Lincoln and King. But with Castro's brother, Raúl, in charge, Team Obama believes that it can make more progress talking than sniping.Question from the blogger:
The New Oxford American Dictionaty defines sniping as "Making a sly or petty verbal attack."
Why is it that, when it comes to how we communicate on Cuba, quoting Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King is considered "sniping"?
Raul: "They didn't elect me to hand over the Revolution"
From Reuters:
Click here for the whole story.Castro to U.S.: communist Cuba will not change
HAVANA (Reuters) - President Raul Castro said on Saturday he would not change Cuba's communist system to make peace with the United States, but repeated his willingness to discuss all issues with the island's longtime enemy.
Some diverse reflections on leaving Cuba
From the BBC:
Cuban revolution: Exiles' stories
The Cuban revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power in 1959 provoked a large exodus of people, most of whom headed for the US. And in the following 50 years, there have been waves of Cubans seeking exile abroad.
Five Cubans based in Miami spoke to the BBC's Emilio San Pedro about their lives.
Click here for the package.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Raíces is bringing back its signature Summer Blast event — with a few twists.
On Saturday, July 25, Raíces de Esperanza will be hosting a domino tournament and party at The Glass Studio (7520 NE 4 Ct. — In the Mimo Historic District). Aside from dominoes, great music, food, and drinks, we'll be able to enjoy the work of renowned artist and friend Kiki Valdés.
The event will also be a collection point for our Cells For Cuba Initiative. Make sure to bring your and your friends' old, used, or even broken cell phones. We'll be able to use any cell phones you bring to help connect our Cuban counterparts to one another.
Click here to register for the event.
Make sure to invite your friends to this event and have them register at the link above!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Dr. Darsi Ferrer arrested in Havana
From The Miami Herald & CubaNet:
Click here for the story.
Independent medical doctor
arrestedCUBANET
HAVANA, Cuba, July 13 (Roberto de Jesús Guerra /
www.cubanet.org) - Police arrested prominent dissident Dr. Darsi Ferrer and his wife, Yusnaymi Jorge, last week, according to Ferrer’s sister-in-law.
“A man dressed in green and accompanied by two police officers came to the couple’s house in a patrol car and one of them told Darsi they were there to check the house, which he opposed,” she said in a telephone call. “Minutes later they left with him and my sister.”
Ferrer is president of the Independent Health Center and the Juan Bruno Zayas Human Rights organization.
The reason for the arrest, which occurred last Thursday, was unknown, but Ferrer planned a walk at the Hotel Nacional which dissidents have called Dream Walk.
Click here for the story.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Hershey facilitates trips to Cuba under humanitarian license
From PennLive.com
Note from the blogger:
If you click the link above to read the whole story, you'll find a summary of the trip's agenda/itinerary.
Does it seem to you that this is an appropriate trip agenda given travelers will be on a humanitarian license? Is medical aid the best use of such a license? Should more time be spent on this sort of activity to justify the issuing of a license? Is it appropriate for travelers on a humanitarian license from the U.S. government to participate in a policy seminar in Cuba as part of their trip's planned agenda?
Also, if you've been to (or even lived in) Hershey, Cuba, we'd love to read about your experience and what the chocolate connection the U.S. means to you (if anything). Tell us about it in the comments section of this post.
Hershey Foundation offers connection with Cuba
ANNETTE REIFF
Sunday, July 12, 2009Cuba is a mysterious destination. It's so close, yet it's diffi cult to reach given the federal restrictions on travel there. But, one way to see the island is by visiting under a special license issued by the U.S. Treasury Department. One such license allows travel for humanitarian projects. And that's how the M.S. Hershey Foundation is able to offer trips to Cuba.
The foundation partners with the Bringing Hope Foundation, which is licensed to travel to Cuba "to deliver humanitarian supplies to an independent charity to benefit the Cuban people."
But why does the M.S. Hershey Foundation have an interest in Cuba? In the early 1900s, Milton S. Hershey built a sugar refinery and a town in Cuba he named Central Hershey to provide his chocolate factory with sugar, which was in limited supply due to World War I. That connection is what has motivated the foundation's 10 trips to Cuba in as many years.
Click here for the rest of the story.
Note from the blogger:
If you click the link above to read the whole story, you'll find a summary of the trip's agenda/itinerary.
Does it seem to you that this is an appropriate trip agenda given travelers will be on a humanitarian license? Is medical aid the best use of such a license? Should more time be spent on this sort of activity to justify the issuing of a license? Is it appropriate for travelers on a humanitarian license from the U.S. government to participate in a policy seminar in Cuba as part of their trip's planned agenda?
Also, if you've been to (or even lived in) Hershey, Cuba, we'd love to read about your experience and what the chocolate connection the U.S. means to you (if anything). Tell us about it in the comments section of this post.
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