Sometimes life is like the floor of Jackson Pollock’s studio. Seemingly chaotic, but possessing a logic that somehow coheres. Spiraling colors dripped down from above, settling on a canvas of earth. I felt drawn to the swirl, and leaving the creaking wood of the barn that housed it, it was time to listen to the […]
Read moreRepublican Attacks on Welfare Policies Wrong
Published Today on McClathchy.com The Republican Party should be ashamed of spreading disinformation about President Obama’s welfare policies. It is trying to use using divisiveness and fear to gain at the ballot box. Playing the race card and reviving old and inaccurate welfare stereotypes is just plain wrong. The Romney campaign is running an ad […]
Read moreRepublican Mob Shouts Down Puerto Rican Republican
UPDATE: El Nuevo Día has published a story that says that the outburst chronicled below was the tail end of a demonstration led by Ron Paul supporters over allowing the Maine delegation to sit. And if that’s the case, then the behavior I describe below may not be as boorish as I first suspected. But […]
Read moreNo Means No: A People’s Victory in Puerto Rico
All month long the people of Puerto Rico have been assaulted by a barrage of advertising on television, radio, and billboards urging them to vote for two constitutional amendments that would eliminate the absolute right to bail for the accused and decrease the size of the legislature by 30 per cent. They were told these […]
Read moreEddie Palmieri and the Future of Salsa
When you think of 75-year-old Eddie Palmieri, legendary Nuyorican pianist, you think about his classic salsa hits like “Azúcar,” “Justicia,” or “La Malanga.” Or maybe you remember his extensive series of Latin jazz recordings post-1980. But the enigmatic truth about Palmieri is that while he will deny being a salsero or a jazz musician, he is […]
Read moreChaos in the Colony pt 6
As huracán season approaches, the political and social climate in Puerto Rico continue to deteriorate, making it increasingly urgent that the current regime of the misnamed New Progressive Party (PNP) be dismantled in the fall elections. Consider this tweet, featured in the current edition of Noticel. In mangled English, sent out by Heidi Anne Wys, […]
Read moreRodriguez Schools Me in the Cold Facts
Meeting Rodriguez, dressed head to toe in black and wearing sunglasses seemingly designed to protect him from the glare of a Western sunset, is like meeting a super-hip uncle you never knew you had. He presents the crinkled hand that looks like it has lifted a thousand cinder blocks and strummed endless gentle guitar chords, and […]
Read morePhoto ID Laws the Real Reason for Invalidating PR Birth Certificates?
Perhaps you remember the mini-controversy engendered by the ridiculously unnecessary law enacted by Puerto Rico’s PNP government in 2010 that invalidated all Puerto Rican birth certificates and gave anyone born in Puerto Rico the burden of getting a new one at the cost of $5 a pop (excluding those on government assistance and senior citizens)? […]
Read moreTito Kayak’s Repeating Islands
The last couple of weeks, legendary Puerto Rican activist Tito Kayak has been re-creating the centuries-old migratory voyage made by indigenous people from Venezuela to the Greater Antilles to draw attention to the imprisonment of Puerto Rican Independence activist Oscar López Rivera. Imprisoned for “seditious conspiracy” López Rivera has been behind bars for over 30 […]
Read moreI Am Quoted Suggesting Band Names for Nuria Net
This is a very big story because representing with my fellow colleagues in the industry (most notably the fabulous nuria) is slammin. I think I could come up with some more bands I wish were here, but let me get back to you. And I forgot to include the word “tropical” in my style description, […]
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ED MORALES 