Tag: Puerto Rico

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News Round-Up: June 9, 2020

Joe Blizzard (via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Woofy Joe Blizzard (above) is back in the gym, offering up selfies. Don’t mind if I do… 🙂 Follow him on Instagram here. • Mr. Man: The world’s leading online library of male nude scenes in film has revealed its ‘Hottest Gay TV Scenes of All Time.’ The diverse list features several men of color like Billy Porter and Omid Abtahi, an actor with cerebral palsy, and some of Hollywood’s top stars who have dared to portray gay sex on the small screen. • Gay Star News: Puerto Rico’s governor has signed a new Civil Code that leaves out LGBT+ protections despite a rise in LGBT+ murders. The new Civil Code makes no mention of protection from hate speech or discrimination in employment, goods and services. Governor Wanda Vázquez has already received backlash for her response to the killing of at least 10 LGBTQ Puerto Ricans in 2019 and 2020. • Poz: During a study researching a vaccine for HIV, scientists found that soon after taking the participants off antiretroviral (ARV) treatment for a period of close monitoring, the virus rapidly rebounded in their semen. The discovery raises concerns that men who participate in such trials while taking a break in their usual HIV meds are at risk of transmitting the virus through sex. • Roll Call: After the recent dust-up between Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Donald Trump over protests in the DC area, House Democrats plan to bring up a vote on statehood for the District. Expect it to pass in the House, but Senate Republicans will never let it happen. DC voters are overwhelmingly Democratic, and statehood would give the Dems two more Senators plus a voting member of the House. • Twitter: Social media star Sarah Cooper’s latest lip-dub of Donald Trump takes on ‘How to lobster.’ If you don’t follow her yet, you really should. Funny, funny stuff.

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Wisconsin: ‘Karen’ Berates Americans For Playing American Music

NowThis News shares this clip of another racist ‘Karen’ berating a Latinx family for playing music while barbecuing in a park. I have to wonder if she would have demanded ‘American music’ if the Puerto Rican family had been playing ABBA? p.s. Puerto Ricans ARE Americans. Puerto Rican music IS American music.

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News Round-Up: May 14, 2020

The cast of Queer Eye heads to Philadelphia this June on Netflix
Some news items you might have missed: • Netflix: Who’s ready for the season of brotherly love? Grab your oars, a life vest, and an extremely absorbent box of tissues because Queer Eye Season 5 (above) is arriving in Philly, June 5th! • NewNowNext: A new queer-centric concert series: Outloud: Raising Voices, a 10-episode benefit show featuring livestreamed performances from LGBTQ and allied artists, will kick off May 26 with performances by Kesha, Betty Who and more. Funds raised during the epic five-week affair will benefit local Pride organizers impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. • OUT: Under the veil of secrecy, legislators have crafted and rushed through a new civil code for the island of Puerto Rico. Having passed both the House of Representatives and the Senate, the legislation is awaiting the signature of Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced. But, advocates warn that amendments to the bill made without public debate and adequate time for analyzing could roll back LGBTQ+ rights. • The Hill: Donald Trump went without a mask during a visit to a Pennsylvania medical equipment distribution center (again) even as other government officials in his party wore face coverings around the facility. • Yahoo News: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is being sued for her revised federal guidelines on how sexual assault allegations should be handled on college and K-12 campuses. Plaintiffs say (and they are right) the changes would “inflict significant harm” on victims and “dramatically undermine” their civil rights. • Fox News: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell admitted he lied when he said the Obama administration did not leave behind any “game plan” for responding to a pandemic.

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Trump Joked About Trading Puerto Rico For Greenland?

From the New York Times:

In the latest only-in-Trumpland episode skating precariously along the line between farce and tragedy, the president of the United States on Wednesday attacked the prime minister of Denmark because she will not sell him Greenland — and found the very notion “absurd.”

But while Mr. Trump has long derided nation-building, his flirtation with nation-buying turned out to be more serious than many originally thought. He has been talking privately about buying Greenland for more than a year and even detailed the National Security Council staff to study the idea.

At one point last year, according to a former official who heard him, he even joked in a meeting about trading Puerto Rico for Greenland — happy to rid himself of an American territory whose leadership he has feuded with repeatedly.

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Puerto Rico Gets 3rd Governor In Less Than A Week

Puerto Rico now has its 3rd governor in less than a week after the island territory’s Supreme Court ruled Pedrio Pierluisi’s swearing in was unconstitutional.

From the Washington Post:

The ruling cleared the way for Justice Secretary Wanda Vázquez Garced to become governor. Vázquez Garced, who faces widespread mistrust from Puerto Ricans and previously said she did not want the job, was sworn in at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

“Puerto Rico needs certainty and stability,” Vázquez Garced said in a statement. “Our actions will be directed to that end and will always be first.”

Before he resigned on Friday in response to massive protests, embattled former governor Ricardo Rosselló appointed Pierluisi as secretary of state, the next in line for the governor’s seat. But only Puerto Rico’s House approved Pierluisi’s nomination before he was sworn in as governor on Friday.

Rosselló and Pierluisi pointed to a portion of a law of succession, amended in 2005, that permits a secretary of state to become governor without confirmation from both the House and the Senate.

On Sunday, Puerto Rico’s Senate filed a lawsuit challenging Pierluisi’s swearing in. The Supreme Court unanimously sided with the Senate, ruling that the 2005 amendment was unconstitutional. The order will take effect at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

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Governor Of Puerto Rico Resigns (Finally)

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló is expected to resign Wednesday after more than a week of protests that rocked the island's capital city, a source familiar with the situation told CNN.
Gov. Ricardo Rosselló

UPDATE 2: After delaying for hours (days really) and facing impeachment proceedings, Gov. Rosselló resigned late Wednesday night. He will officially leave office August 2.

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UPDATE 1: According to CBS News reporter David Begnaud, Gov. Rosselló had privately agreed to resign his office but reneged. So, now Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives plans to begin impeachment proceedings.

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CNN reports:

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló is expected to resign Wednesday after more than a week of protests that rocked the island’s capital city, a source familiar with the situation told CNN.

Thousands have jammed the streets of San Juan calling for the governor’s resignation after Puerto Rico’s Center for Investigative Journalism published a series of group messages between the governor and his inner circle that included homophobic and misogynistic language and jokes about Hurricane Maria victims.

The person expected to take Rosselló’s place is Puerto Rico Secretary of Justice Wanda Vazquez.

The news comes a day after Rosselló’s chief of staff submitted his resignation, effective July 31.

Just days ago, Rosselló announced he would remain in office, but would not seek reelection in 2020. He also agreed to resign from his position as president of the new Progressive Party.

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Podcast: Ricky Martin, Pete Buttigieg, Best Films Of 2010s, Lil Nas X

In this week’s podcast:

• Mayor Pete Buttigieg did an interview with a country music radio show, but the radio network refused to air the interview. Link to Blair Garner’s interview here.

• Pop star Ricky Martin has joined hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans in protests calling for the resignation of the island territory’s governor

• Organizers of the upcoming Straight Pride Parade got more cease and desist letters after illegally insinuating major corporations were sponsors

• Oscar-winning queer-themed film, Moonlight, was named the best film of the 2010 decade by Indiewire.

All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report.

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Hundreds Of Thousands Of Puerto Ricans Continue Protests Against Gov. Rosselló

The protests against Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo A. Rosselló have now last more than a week with an estimated 500,000 residents of the U.S. territory coming together to demand Rosselló's resignation.
Fox News anchor Shepard Smith interviews Gov. Ricardo Rosselló

The protests against Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo A. Rosselló have now lasted for more than a week with an estimated 500,000 residents of the U.S. territory coming together to demand Rosselló’s resignation.

From the New York Times:

Hundreds of thousands of people swept through the capital of Puerto Rico on Monday, shutting down a major highway and paralyzing much of the city in the latest in a series of furious protests over the island’s embattled governor, Ricardo A. Rosselló.

The protest was one of the largest ever seen on the island, as Puerto Ricans streamed into the capital on buses — and some on planes from the mainland — in a spontaneous eruption of fury over the years of recession, mismanagement, natural disaster and corruption that have fueled a recent exodus.

Ignoring sporadic deluges, demonstrators launched impromptu line dances, paraded on horseback, banged pots and carried banners along several miles of highway, many shouting: “Ricky, renuncia, el pueblo te repudia!” — Ricky, resign, the people reject you.

Mr. Rosselló said on Sunday that he would step down from the leadership of his party and pledged not to run for re-election in 2020. But the governor, a 40-year-old former biomedical scientist and businessman, is growing increasingly isolated as a series of influential political leaders, some from his own party, have called on him to accede to public demands for an immediate resignation.

After years of mounting frustrations due to austerity measures and a slow moving recovery after Hurricane Maria, news of hundreds of mocking homophobic/sexist text messages between Rosselló and his advisors, appearing as a kind of ‘bro’ culture, appears to have been the tipping point.

International pop star Ricky Martin, who was a target of homophobic and sexist comments in the leaked text messages, has been helping to lead the protests for days now.

Fox News anchor Shepard Smith spoke with the governor today and asked him who in Puerto Rico still supports him. The governor was pretty much at a loss to come up with a name.

This is brutal.

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Governor Of Puerto Rico Under Fire For Homophobic/Sexist Slurs

Governor Ricardo Rosselló (image via Twitter)

Governor Ricardo Rosselló of Puerto Rico is currently embroiled in an ugly political scandal as hundreds of pages of a private group chat between the governor and 11 other officials were anonymously released last week.

Now dubbed #RickyLeaks, the private text messages (889 pages) included profane homophobic and sexist comments from the governor and others regarding politicians, officials and journalists.

El Nuevo Dia reports that on December 24, 2018, Rosselló posted a video featuring PDP senator Eduardo Bhatia which elicited jokes from two other participants about Bhatia’s sexuality. At one point in the exchange, Rosselló added, “Historic c*cksucker levels.”

Rosselló clearly likes that label as just a few days later, on December 31, the governor called journalist Torres Gotay an “unprecedented c*cksucker” in response to a report Gotay had written about ferry service issues.

International pop star Ricky Martin was the target of one exchange when former Chief Financial Officer Christian Sobrino wrote, “Nothing says patriarchal oppression like Ricky Martin.”, He later added, “Ricky Martin is such a male chauvinist that he f**ks men because women don’t measure up. Pure patriarchy.”

Martin responded via social media tweeting, in part, “We cannot allow our Puerto Rico to be in the hands of such ‘leaders.’”

Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz of San Juan has filed a police report in response to an exchange in the leaked messages that included what appeared to be a death threat.

The previously mentioned Sobrino wrote in a message that he was, “Salivating to shoot her.”

Rosselló responded saying, “You do me a favor.”

The 40-year-old governor also referred to former speaker of the New York City Council, Puerto Rico-born Melissa Mark-Viverito, as a “whore.”

When news of the leaked text messages broke, Rosselló returned home from a family vacation in Europe and issued an apology.

“I’m the governor of Puerto Rico, but I’m a human being who has his faults,” Rosselló said in a press conference late Thursday. “I ask for forgiveness.”

Saying that his comments were the result of working long 18-hour days, he added, “None of this justifies the words I’ve written. My apologies to all the people I have offended… This was a private chat.”

He has refused calls to step down.

Rosselló has had a rough time since taking office. Puerto Rico was already in a years-long recession at the time, and a federal oversight board has controlled the island’s finances since 2016, when Rosselló became governor.

And, of course, the slow response to the devastating damage inflicted by Hurricane Maria in 2017 increased criticism of the governor.

Last week, two high level members of his administration were arrested by the FBI, further eroding any support he may have had.

According to the New York Times, many political insiders and pundits believe the governor’s days in office are numbered. But CBS reporter David Begnaud reports that members of Rosselló’s party have decided to give him “time for reflection” and are not planning to ask him to resign “at this moment.”

Protesters gathered outside La Fortaleza governor’s residence on Sunday, demanding Rosselló resign chanting, “Ricky resign – the people don’t want you!”

At a church in San Juan, the governortold reportershe is looking to God to guide him through “figurative or real” hurricanes, and that he is committed to learning from “what was done.”

(source: NY Times,El Nuevo Dia)

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Trump Continues To Lie About Aid To Puerto Rico

Donald Trump

Donald Trump simply can’t stop trolling Puerto Rico on social media.

The Trumpster went on a long Twitter rant about the U.S. territory calling the local leaders there “incompetent” or “corrupt.”

The $91 billion figure Trump quotes is an estimate of the DAMAGES to the island.

So far, according to the Washington Post, Puerto Rico has only received about a quarter of the total amount of money allocated to the island — $11.2 billion.

Officials told The Fact Checker that the president was referring to an internal Office of Management and Budget estimate of the potential liabilities over the life of the disaster that would need to be committed under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act of 1988. The estimate was described as a high-end estimate subject to change year by year.

Currently, the estimated Stafford liabilities amount to $50 billion. Adding the $41 billion in announced funding to the $50 billion in Stafford liabilities gets you to $91 billion.

But none of that matters to Trump. He continues to rant and groan using incorrect numbers and #fakefacts.

Note that last line of the last tweet about “so little appreciation.” #smh