What happened to post-racial America?

Whatever happened to that “post-racial” America we were supposed to be living in?
Whatever happened to those warm and fuzzy feelings we got when we elected America’s first black president?
Whatever happened to being so proud of ourselves for having bridged the racial divide?
Didn’t last very long.
via What happened to post-racial America? – Roger Simon – POLITICO.com.

Biden Forgets He is a Democrat

Just weeks after a summit meeting intended to show a thawing in relations between the United States and Russia, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. made blistering references to Russia’s failing economy, loss of face and a leadership that is “clinging to something in the past” in an interview published on Saturday.

U.S. lawmaker sees Cuba embargo gone by late 2010

The U.S. Congress will most likely lift a five-decades-old embargo on Cuba before the end of 2010, a senior Democratic lawmaker said Tuesday.
House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel told reporters he believed the current Congress, which goes through next year, would lift the trade ban.
via U.S. lawmaker sees Cuba embargo gone [...]

US and Cuban diplomats to hold another meeting

A senior U.S. diplomat was expected to meet Monday with Cuba’s top Washington representative, but a State Department spokesman cautioned that the session did not signal a renewed U.S. push to improve relations.
Spokesman Robert A. Wood said Thomas A. Shannon Jr., the assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, was meeting in an undisclosed [...]

Travel advisory warns of severe respiratory illness in Mexico

A severe respiratory illness appears to have infected 137 people in south and central areas of Mexico, with cases concentrated in Mexico City and three other areas, including 20 deaths, the Public Health Agency of Canada said.
In the United States, health officials in Texas and California were scrambling this week to deal with a new [...]

Art exhibition fuels US-Cuba thaw

Hundreds of Cubans packed into Havana’s Museo De Bellas Artes for the launch of the first major US contemporary art exhibition to be shown here for almost a quarter of a century.
via BBC NEWS | Americas | Art exhibition fuels US-Cuba thaw.

Central America to US: Slow deportations

Central American leaders will push the U.S. to slow a flood of deportations when Vice President Joe Biden meets with them Monday, promising a “new day for relations” with a region that has felt ignored.

Chavez says US, Brazil free to discuss Venezuela

Chavez said Washington will have to show more respect if relations are to improve. “We aren’t asking for anything. We just demand respect,” he said.
via Chavez says US, Brazil free to discuss Venezuela – Americas AP – MiamiHerald.com.

Mexican journalist asks for asylum in U.S.

As Mexico’s drug war grinds on, many Mexicans, including journalists, are fleeing to the United States in ever greater numbers. The number of Mexicans requesting asylum more than doubled from fiscal year 2007 to 2008.
via Mexican journalist asks for asylum in U.S. – Americas AP – MiamiHerald.com.

CHAVEZ CALLS ON OBAMA TO FOLLOW PATH OF SOCIALISM

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday called upon US President Barack Obama to follow the path to socialism, which he termed as the “only” way out of the global recession. “Come with us, align yourself, come with us on the road to socialism. This is the only path. Imagine a socialist revolution in the United [...]