Rafael Yglesias' "A Happy Marriage"

"'He had ordered her in,' the novel's opening sentence provokes, like 'take-out Chinese.' A mutual friend has driven Enrique crazy by talking endlessly about this 'extraordinary' woman but failing to define what makes her so special," writes Malena Watrous in The New York Times Book Review... read more

Mexican Diplomat Blasts Botánicas

Mariano Lemus Gas, the consul for Mexico in Las Vegas, characterized owners of these traditional medicinal stores as "charlatans who are committing fraud," and urged members of the local Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to tell the community to avoid going to them for health care consultations read more

New Jersey Democrat Becomes La Voz del Senado

As the only Spanish-language Democrat in the Senate, Bob Menéndez was the mandatory choice for national Hispanic media avid for top-brass commentary on the Sotomayor Hearings...read more

After Four Days of Gruelling Questioning by GOP Senators, Sotomayor Heads For Easy Confirmation Vote

During more than fifteen hours of questions from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sonia Sotomayor revealed little about the type of justice she would be and deflected critics' allegations that her public speeches showed a bias based on her sex and ethnicity...read more

More on this issue:

First GOP Senator Voices Support For Sotomayor (The Wall Street Journal Blogs)

Sotomayor Vote Could Hit Senate Floor By Late July (Dow Jones Newswires)

Minority Leader To Vote Against Sotomayor Confirmation (The New York Times)

Senate Lone Hispanic Republican Backs Sotomayor (AP)

Court Tapes Show Blunt Sotomayor (Politico)

As City Hall Slush-Fund Scandal Deepens, Politicos and Non-Profits' Links Come Under Scrutiny

How many fraudulent non-profits can be spun on the point of a needle? The answer this day in New York City is, as many as you want, says Huffington Press' Glyn Vincent read more

More on this issue:
Councilwoman Arroyo on Radar on Slush Probe (Daily News)
Slow-Moving Scandal Speeds Up for Council (New York Times)
Two Accused of Embezzling $200,000 From South Bronx Nonprofit Group They Headed (NYTimes)
Political Clan Under Funding Microscope (Daily News)
Council Probe Goes On (Metro International)
Ex edil de Washington Heights culpable de fraude (El Diario La Prensa)

Former Councilman Pleads Guilty in Corruption Case

Miguel Martinez admitted today to skimming about $100,000 in public money from non-profit organizations and low-income housing; he faces more than five and one-half years in prison when he is sentenced in October read more

Brazilian Film Festival Starts Today at MoMA

Premiere Brazil! 2009, the annual exhibition of contemporary Brazilian cinema organized by The Museum of Modern Art, the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival and the Consulate General of Brazil in New York, opens tonight at MoMA with the screeing of Bruno Barreto's Last Stop 174, a drama based on a real-life bus hijacking occurred in Rio in 2000.

Curated by Jytte Jensen and Ilda Santiago, the current edition of this exciting summer film series (the seventh in a row) will also include recent productions by up-and-coming Brazilian directors and a retrospective of Eduardo Coutinho, one of Brazil's major documentary filmmakers.

The exhibition will run until August 3 and will be complemented by Live Brazilian Music Performances at MoMA's Sculpture Garden. All films are in Portuguese with English subtitles; most first screenings will be introduced by the directors. To see the complete programming, click here. At MoMa, 11 West 53 Street New York, NY 10019, (212) 708-9400.

Also, next July 20 at 6:30 pm, filmmakers Coutinho and Barreto will participate in TropiChat, a series of public conversations co-organized by Cinema Tropical and Americas Society, 680 Park Avenue. This event is free but requires reservation.

El Barrio Roots For Sotomayor

Last Monday, dozens gathered at a well-known East Harlem venue to watch how one of their own faced the music in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee more here, here, here, here and here.

The Sotomayor Hearings: Ricky Ricardo Goes To Washington

"You'll have lots of splainin to do." It was an obvious reference to the broken-English phrase made famous decades ago by Desi Arnaz, the Cuban co-star of I Love Lucy. Given that Sotomayor is about to become the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice, Senator Tom Coburn's choice of words fell flat, says Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez... read more

Espaillat Endorses Ydanis Rodriguez in Washington Heights-Inwood Race

Assemblyman Adrian Espaillat is endorsing Ydanis Rodriguez for the Council seat vacated by Miguel Martinez, but insists this is not a move against his longtime political rival, Guillermo Linares...read more here and here.

Slush Fund Case Complicates Linares Candidacy to City Hall

Guillermo Linares, who resigned Tuesday night as city's Commissioner of Immingrant Affairs to run for the City Council seat left vacant by the disgraced Miguel Martinez, has his own scandal to worry about, says the Daily News...read more.

Also on this issue:
Commissioner Resigns to Seek his Old Council Seat (The New York Times)
Bloomberg Likely to Support Linares (again) (Daily News)
DR-Born, New York Commissioner Calls It Quits (Caribworldnews)
Last-Minute Candidate (Gotham Gazette)

Junot Diaz Talks About Immigration, Identity, and the Origins of a Novel’s Title Character

The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao isn’t merely a continuation of the immigrant family saga, says Adriana V. Lopez; it’s a reworking of it in the language of a diaspora community still coming into its own...read more

Univision Buys New York Times Classical Music Radio Station in $45 Million

Aimed at enhancing its service to the growing New York Hispanic demographic, the Spanish-language media conglomerate will transition its current WCAA 105.9 FM frequency to 96.3 FM...read more

More on this issue here, here, here, here and here.

Sotomayor Puts "Temperament Problem" To Rest

Judge Sotomayor arrived at Tuesday’s proceedings with a reputation for too much feeling; her task was to demonstrate restraint. She did...read more

Under Cloud of Accusations, Martínez Resigns to City Council

City Councilman Miguel Martinez submitted his letter of resignation today as federal prosecutors are preparing to file charges against him stemming from an investigation into a nonprofit group he funded in northern Manhattan... read more