“I thought presidency would be ‘easier’ than ‘previous life’ … “
Drumpf said Thursday, April 27, he expected the presidency to be “easier” than his “previous life” as a real estate mogul.
“I loved my previous life. I had so many things going,” the president told Reuters in a wide-ranging Oval Office interview.
“This is more work than in my previous life.
I thought it would be easier.”
The ‘so-called president‘ also expressed a willingness to attend next year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, after breaking with decades of precedent in February by publicly rejecting an invitation to attend this year’s gala.
George Michael died of heart failure, according to his longtime manager Michael Lippman.
LONDON, Dec 25 (Reuters)
British singer George Michael, who became one of the pop idols of the 1980’s with Wham! and then forged a career as a successful solo artist with sometimes sexually provocative lyrics, died at his home in England on Sunday.
He was 53.
In the mid-1980’s, Wham! was one of the most successful pop duos ever, ahead even of Simon & Garfunkel, with singles like ”Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”, ”Careless Whisper”, “Last Christmas” and “The Edge of Heaven”.
Bindi is determined to make every Gen Yer cry by commemorating 2006, the year her father Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin died. To mark the solemn moment, she performed a contemporary routine to “Every Breath You Take” by Aaron Krause with Derek incongruously stepping into the role of her dad. She cried in Derek’s arms at the end of the routine while her mother and little brother looked on sadly from the sidelines.
Historic raising of Palestinian flag at United Nations
New York (CNN)
It’s a watershed moment that has won support on many fronts, but drawn condemnation from Israel and the United States.
The Palestinian flag was raised outside the headquarters of the United Nations in New York for the first time Wednesday. Under cloudy skies, the politically sensitive flag raising ceremony took place at 1:16 p.m. at the U.N.’s Rose Garden.
The historic moment came after Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas told the U.N. General Assembly that the Palestinian Authority was no longer bound by the Oslo Peace Accords.
At the ceremony, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the occasion a “day of pride for the Palestinian people around the world” and a “day of hope.”
During his General Assembly speech, however, Abbas accused Israel of not committing to the Oslo Accords and, in response said,
“They leave us no choice but to insist that we will not remain the only ones committed to the implementation of these agreements, while Israel continuously violates them.”
Abbas declared what he called “Palestine” as a “state under occupation.”
“We therefore declare that we cannot continue to be bound by these agreements and that Israel must assume all of its responsibilities as an occupying power, because the status quo cannot continue,” Abbas said.
The Oslo Accords are a series of peace agreements between Israel and the Palestinians signed in the 1990’s.
The consequences of Abbas’ declaration remain unclear, and its practical effects on the relations between Israelis and Palestinians are uncertain, including its effects on security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
The flag-raising ceremony puts the spotlight on the Palestinians and highlights their ongoing efforts to obtain statehood, but it needs to be more than a symbolic act for it to be meaningful, Palestinians say.
SUPREME COURT’s landmark ruling legalizes gay marriage NATIONWIDE
WASHINGTON, June 26, 2015
(Reuters)
The Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the U.S. Constitution provides same-sex couples the right to marry, handing a historic triumph to the American gay rights movement.
The court ruled 5-4 that the Constitution’s guarantees of due process and equal protection under the law mean that states cannot ban same-sex marriages. With the landmark ruling, gay marriage becomes legal in all 50 states.
Immediately after the decision, same-sex couples in many of states where gay marriage had been banned headed to county clerks’ offices for marriage licenses as state officials issued statements saying they would respect the ruling.
~~GALLERY~~
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President Barack Obama, appearing in the White House Rose Garden, hailed the ruling as a milestone in American justice that arrived “like a thunderbolt.”
“This ruling is a victory for America,” said Obama, the first sitting president to support gay marriage. “This decision affirms what millions of Americans already believe in their hearts. When all Americans are treated as equal, we are all more free.”
Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing on behalf of the court, said the hope of gay people intending to marry “is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”
Kennedy, a conservative who often casts the deciding vote in close cases, was joined in the majority by the court’s four liberal justices.
Kennedy, appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan in 1988, has now authored all four of the court’s major gay rights rulings, with the first coming in 1996. As with his 2013 opinion when the court struck down a federal law that denied benefits to same-sex couples, Kennedy stressed the dignity of marriage.
“Without the recognition, stability and predictability marriage offers, their children suffer the stigma of knowing their families are somehow lesser,” Kennedy wrote.
~The President Speaks on the Supreme Court’s Decision on Marriage Equality~
~~Published on Jun 26, 2015~~
President Obama delivers remarks in the Rose Garden heralding the Supreme Court’s ruling that gay and lesbian couples have the right to marry in America.
Inspiring Latinas Who’s Contributions To Their Fields Have Changed The World
International Women’s Day is March 8
It is a day that has been observed since the early 1990’s. At first, it was called International Working Women’s day, and the purpose was and is to raise awareness of the struggles of women worldwide and examine them in a hopeful manner. Also, it’s a day to celebrate women’s economic, political and social achievements. There are many women that, throughout the years have succeeded in their fields, creating major social change one way or another. On this day, we would like to honor the Latinas who represent their culture and heritage by highlighting it in everything they do, and who have achieved major recognition for paving the way to a more equal world.
Although there are so many Latinas whose work in changing the world remains anonymous, there are a lot who have been pushed into the spotlight. And of all of those we know, we’re only choosing 15. We are aware that there are thousands of Latinas out there working hard every day so women can enjoy a better environment in politics, the arts, businesses, literature, the fashion world, entertainment, and even in space. And may their example inspire thousands more to educate themselves and grow personally and professionally. Scroll through our gallery to see the 15 Latinas we chose, who are changing the world with their work and commitment.
~15 Inspiring Latinas~
Take a look at some inspiring Latinas who are an example for women thanks to their hard work, dedication and success.
Reuters, Mezcalent, Latin Times
Dolores Huerta
Huerta is a labor leader and civil rights activist who, along with César Chávez, co-founded the National Farmworkers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers (UFW). She has received numerous awards for her community service and advocacy for workers’, immigrants’, and womens’ rights.
(Reuters)
Celia Cruz
One of the most popular salsa artists of the 20th century, she earned twenty-three gold albums and was renowned internationally as the “Queen of Salsa”, “La Guarachera de Cuba”, as well as The Queen of Latin Music. Her career lasted a span of nearly six decades. The late singer was also a strong voice for freedom in Cuba and was strongly against Fidel Castro’s regime.
(Reuters)
Sonia Sotomayor
Sotomayor is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving since August 2009. Sotomayor is the Court’s first Hispanic justice, and its third female justice. She graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1976 and received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1979. She was an advocate for the hiring of Latino faculty at both schools. She played an active role on the boards of directors for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, the State of New York Mortgage Agency, and the New York City Campaign Finance Board.
(Reuters)
Rigoberta Menchú
Menchú has worked her whole life to publicizing the plight of Guatemala’s indigenous peoples and to promoting indigenous rights in the country. She received the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize and Prince of Asturias Award in 1998.
(Reuters)
Carolina Herrera
Carolina is a renown fashion designer. She has made a name for herself by dressing numerous celebrities and First Ladies, from Jacqueline Onassis to Michelle Obama. She was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 2008 and “Womenswear Designer of the Year” in 2004. Herrera is a recipient of The International Center in New York’s Award of Excellence as well as Spain’s Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts, which was presented to her in 2002 by King Don Juan Carlos I. She was awarded the Gold Medal of the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute in 1997, and those are only few of her achievements.
(Reuters)
Alicia Alonso
Alicia is Cuba’s prima ballerina assoluta and choreographer.She runs the Ballet Nacional de Cuba and is most famous for her portrayals of Giselle and the ballet version of Carmen. (Reuters)
Isabel Allende
Allende is a Chilean writer who’s famous for novels such as The House of the Spirits and City of the Beasts. She has been called “the world’s most widely read Spanish-language author.” She was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2004 and in 2010, she received Chile’s National Literature Prize. Her novels are often based upon her personal experience and pay homage to the lives of women.
(Reuters)
Rita Moreno
The only Hispanic and one of the few performers to have won an EGOT: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Awards, and was the second Puerto Rican to win an Academy Award.
(Reuters)
Selena Quintanilla
She was named the “Top Latin artist of the 90’s” and “Best selling Latin artist of the decade” by Billboard for her fourteen top-ten singles in the Top Latin Songs chart, including seven number-one hits. She was called “The Queen of Tejano music” and opened the doors for that music genre. At the peak of her career, Selena visited local schools to talk to students about the importance of education and also donated her time to civic organizations.
(Mezcalent)
Mirabal Sisters
Patria, Minerva and María Teresa Mirabal were three Dominican sisters who fought against the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. They were one of Trujillo’s major concerns and he had them killed in Nov. 25, 1960. Their fight for a democracy earned them recognition from the UN, who, in 1999, designated November 25 as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in their honor.
(Screenshot/ YouTube/ AARP)
Sylvia Rivera
She was an American bisexual transgender activist and trans woman. She is often credited for adding the “T” to LGBTQ. She was a founding member of both the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activists Alliance and helped found Street Transgender Action Revolutionaries (STAR), a group dedicated to helping homeless young street drag queens and trans women.
(Screenshot/ YouTube/ Randolfe Wicker)
Ellen Ochoa
Ochoa is the first Latina astronaut. She is the current Director of the Johnson Space Center. Her technical assignments in the Astronaut Office includes serving as the crew representative for flight software, computer hardware and robotics, Assistant for Space Station to the Chief of the Astronaut Office, lead spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM) in Mission Control, and as acting as Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office. A veteran of four space flights, Ochoa has logged nearly 1,000 hours in space. She was a mission specialist on STS-56 (1993), was payload commander on STS-66, and was mission specialist and flight engineer on STS-96 and STS-110 (2002). All that without mentioning all her breakthrough research in spacecraft technology.
(Reuters)
Frida Kahlo
Her work has been celebrated in Mexico as emblematic of national and indigenous tradition, and by feminists for its uncompromising depiction of the female experience and form.
(Reuters)
Shakira
Besides being a singer-songwriter, dancer, record producer, choreographer and model, we added the Colombian singer to this list mostly because of her work with children through her foundation “Pies Descalzos” and her activism. Her organization builds schools for poor children all around Colombia, but she’s also a UNICEF ambassador, advocating for the well being of children all over the world.
(Reuters)
Cristina Saralegui
Saralegui is one of the most iconic journalists and talk show hosts in Latin America. She began her career with the magazine Vanidades, later taking on the role of editor in the Spanish version of Cosmopolitan, to finally jump to TV with “El Show de Cristina,” which aired for over 20 years.
It Is What It Is 