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NPR’s Rachel Martin speaks with Felix Sanchez, chairman and co-founder of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, about Republican presidential candidate Trump’s remarks on Mexican immigrants.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Donald Trump is doubling down on his negative comments about Mexicans and illegal immigration. To recap, here’s what he said last month when he announced his presidential run.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DONALD TRUMP: When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime, their rapists. And some, I assume, are good people. But I speak to border guards, and they tell us what we’re getting.
MARTIN: Univision severed all ties with Trump, and NBC did the same. Macy’s department store, which had carried a Donald Trump men’s line, also dropped him. Trump filed suit against the TV networks in response, and he continues to defend his remarks. Meanwhile, Hispanic groups are pressuring other organizations and businesses to distance themselves from the GOP presidential candidate.
Felix Sanchez is the chairman and co-founder of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts. He says the controversy has made it clear, for the first time, that Hispanic consumers have a new level of influence in this country. Felix Sanchez joins me now in our studios in Washington.
Thanks for being with us.
FELIX SANCHEZ: Thank you.
MARTIN: You say the response to Trump’s remarks has been unprecedented. How so?
SANCHEZ: Yes, it’s galvanized Latinos across the Americas into what I have termed the Latino spring. It really is an awakening, and a unification, and an acknowledgment and sign of power that is not just within the borders of our country, but outside of our borders, because we’re a much more connected world through social media. And social media was the impetus for all of this outrage.
MARTIN: Univision, NBC, Macy’s – these huge American companies severed ties with Trump because there was outcry from these particular consumers. How – what form did that come in? Were there petitions, phone calls? How did it happen?
SANCHEZ: The Latin spring, as I called it, brought out everyone’s efforts where there were petitions. It was a virtual march on the Internet, and it was over the sense of dignity, over the sense of being disrespected. And talent, you know, came out. J Balvin was probably one the first ones to bring this forward, then Juanes, Shakira, Manar (ph), Roselyn Sanchez, Christian de la Fuente, Ricky Martin. So many others at the outset really said enough, (speaking Spanish). And that was the impetus here, and that’s what makes this so significant. It’s really an awakening and a change and a utilization of our power as a group. You know, we are $1.5 trillion in buying power. If you are going to run for the presidency of the United States and you make these kinds of statements, we are going to revolt over those comments. And while there’s been a response – Jeb Bush, Governor Pataki, Lindsey Graham, Governor Susanna Valdez – against this, it’s been passive. Secretary Clinton did acknowledge these remarks, but didn’t refer to him by name. That is not the kind of response that Latinos are looking for.
MARTIN: Well, let me ask you about that because is there an argument that, as you say, there were other GOP presidential candidates and Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side who did weigh-in, to a degree, and didn’t agree with what Trump said by any stretch of the imagination – is there an argument that coming out strong, giving him a lot of attention, that that somehow elevates his comments and perhaps they didn’t want to do that?
SANCHEZ: No, we are now at a place where zero tolerance for Latino bashing. So if you’re a Latino and you’re insulted, you want to see the passion in someone’s expression defending you. You don’t want to see a passive statement. And Latinos are now not going to settle for political parties and corporations who just want to use them for power and profit.
MARTIN: What does this portend? Is this a one-off, or what does this mean going forward in this election and in future political moments?
SANCHEZ: I think it’s broken the mold. I think it’s created an understanding that, when we’re united, we can do so many things together. And I think that this is a beginning of a big change, not only in the United States, but I would say on a world front.
MARTIN: Felix Sanchez is the chairman and co-founder of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts. Thanks so much for talking with us.
SANCHEZ: My pleasure.
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It’s the U.S. and Japan in Sunday’s Women’s World Cup final in Vancouver, Canada — a rematch of the 2011 championship. Soccer-crazed fans in Portland, Ore., who watched Japan’s fortuitous win over England this week, provide plenty of insight about what it will take for the U.S. team to avenge it’s loss four years ago.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Sunday in Vancouver it’s a first-ever Women’s World Cup finals rematch as the U.S. plays Japan. Japan beat the U.S. for the soccer championship in 2011. This time around, the Americans are brimming with confidence after defeating No. 1 ranked Germany in the semifinals. Japan needed some luck to get to the title game. NPR’s Tom Goldman spoke to fans in soccer-crazy Portland, Ore. about this weekend’s big matchup.
TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: Somewhere between the shrieks of joy in Japan and cries of anguish in the U.K., there was this in Portland on Wednesday.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Oh, no.
GOLDMAN: Oh, no, indeed, as the scoreboard confirmed. England defender Laura Bassett’s own goal gave Japan a 2-1 semifinal win and sent the Japanese to a second straight World Cup final. At Portland’s Bazi Bierbrasserie, Bassett’s gaffe seen ’round the world wasn’t ridiculed. The Bazi crowd knows soccer, and Matt Hasti, wearing a soccer scarf even in 90-degree heat, said Bassett had to try to break-up the pass, a move that sent the ball into England’s goal.
MATT HASTI: But if that defender doesn’t touch that ball, the Japanese player’s got it and she’s got a damn nice shot on gold. So the defender’s got to do something.
GOLDMAN: So England was gone. And moments after the U.S.-Japan final was set, Hasti and friend, Justin Brown, already were talking strategy.
JUSTIN BROWN: Every team that I’ve seen try to play long ball against Japan has not worked, even with the height advantage.
HASTI: Yeah.
GOLDMAN: Hastie agreed, despite its players average height of 5-foot-3, Japan’s speed and positioning on defense has effectively countered the tactic of bombing-in long passes to tall forwards, a preferred tactic by the U.S., often to superstar Abby Wambach.
HASTI: I mean, she’s a great player. All the props to her, you know, best scorer – men or women – in the world, in this kind of stage. But when you long-ball it to her, she’s old. She can’t catch that ball anymore – what you were saying.
GOLDMAN: What Brown said was the U.S. played the long-ball strategy the first few games of the tournament and was ineffective on offense.
BROWN: Whereas the last game against Germany, there was a lot more passing and possession, and it was a much more enjoyable game to watch.
GOLDMAN: As the U.S. has changed strategies, Wambach has started games on the bench, where she’s been an enthusiastic cheerleader. It even prompted a tweet and, of course, Twitter controversy, when former men’s star Landon Donovan said, quote, “love the enthusiasm and veteran presence of Abby Wambach, despite not playing much. That kind of leadership is priceless during a World Cup.” It was seen as a slap at men’s coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who left Donovan off the team that played in last year’s World Cup in Brazil. Donovan denied ulterior motives.
But, you know what? That’s the men’s soap opera. The U.S. women are united, playing their best soccer, and Portlander Angie Renee Wright can’t wait to see them Sunday in person, after her fourth seven-hour drive from Portland to Vancouver during this World Cup.
ANGIE RENEE WRIGHT: We drive through the night because he doesn’t like the car seat.
GOLDMAN: He is 11-week-old Azul, who’ll be decked-out Sunday in a onesie decorated with a soccer ball. Azul slept through the Japan-England game. His mom watched carefully, and knows Japan is a lot more dangerous than it showed in the semis.
WRIGHT: We saw the Japanese versus Netherlands. They played an excellent game. They’re going to recalibrate and hone in on some of the things that they weren’t so tight on this game.
GOLDMAN: The juicy storyline of U.S. versus England is gone, no fight for American independence two on Fourth of July weekend. But the rematch should keep fans everywhere riveted to a first-of-its-kind World Cup finale. Tom Goldman, NPR News, Portland.
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The Prudential Center has bolstered its entertainment programming division with the addition of a pair of executives, it said Monday. Sean Saadeh, who joined the entertainment and sports venue as executive vice president, entertainment programming,…
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The popular Reddit question-and-answer section /r/IAmA, along with hundreds of others, have shut down in an apparent protest over the dismissal of a key figure at the social sharing site. Screengrab from Reddit.com hide caption
itoggle caption Screengrab from Reddit.com
An Internet insurrection is taking place on Reddit, where moderators have shut down many of the social sharing site’s most popular sections in an apparent protest over the dismissal of Victoria Taylor.
Taylor was a key figure in Reddit’s extremely popular r/IAmA (Ask Me Anything) section, which brought in celebrities of all stripes — from actors to musicians and even President Obama — to answer questions submitted from the vast community. Taylor’s role was often organizer, mediator and even transcriber for many of the AMAs.
As The Verge reports:
“Taylor, who joined the company in 2013 as its director of communications, was point-of-contact for many of the site’s celebrity AMA sessions, relaying questions over the phone to high-profile figures and transcribing their responses. Her sudden departure, moderators say, leaves them unable to effectively set up and run AMA sessions. ‘I am the mod in /r/science that organizes all of the science AMAs,’ user ‘nallen’ writes, ‘and I am going to have meaningful problems in the /r/Science AMAs; Victoria was the only line of communication with the admins.’ “
As a result, the moderators of r/IAmA set the section to “private,” effectively closing it to anyone but the moderators. Once word of Taylor’s firing began to spread, moderators of other popular sections that cover movies, science, gaming and a host of others, also went private, making much of Reddit essentially useless to regular site visitors.
Reddit users have been keeping track of what sections are closing on a live thread on the site.
It is still unclear why Taylor was let go and the company has not yet made an official statement on the matter. But in a post on the site, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, who goes by the username /u/kn0thing, apologized for “how we handled communicating change to the AMA team this morning.” In response to the blackout, Ohanian wrote that the message was “received loud and clear,” and urged moderators to bring the shut down sections back online.
As TechCrunch reports, one moderator wrote in an open letter that this latest move was “merely the straw that broke the camel’s back,” and that unrest and a call for changes have been brewing for some time. TechCrunch adds:
“Last month, the site upset many of its most ardent users when it closed down five subreddits on account of ‘harassing’ content contained within them. Those subreddits did violate Reddit’s community policy, but the selective enforcement of the site’s guidelines confused and angered many, since other subreddits — some of which contained arguably worse content — were left untouched while these five were closed.”
Those closings followed changes to the site’s harassment policy, changes that put Reddit’s interim CEO, Ellen Pao, under fire from many users, with some even petitioning to have her step down from the company.
Regarding Taylor’s firing, Pao responded on her personal Reddit account that she “can’t comment on an individual employee’s situation.” In a since deleted comment, Pao also addressed some changes to the way Reddit moderators operate:
“The bigger problem is that we haven’t helped our moderators with better support after many years of promising to do so. We do value moderators; they allow reddit to function and they allow each subreddit to be unique and to appeal to different communities.
…
“We are also making changes to reddit.com, adding new features like better search and building mobile web, but our testing plan needs improvement. As a result, we are breaking some of the ways moderators moderate. We are going to figure this out and fix it.”
The 10-year-old site, one of the busiest and commonly known as “the front page of the Internet,” has more than 160 million monthly visitors.
Update at 1:44 p.m. ET:
Some blacked out subreddits, including r/IAmA, are beginning to come back online. The moderators of r/IAmA also responded in a post:
“We have taken the day to try to understand how Reddit will seek to replace Victoria, and have unfortunately come to the conclusion that they do not have a plan that we can put our trust in. The admins have refused to provide essential information about arranging and scheduling AMAs with their new ‘team.’ This does not bode well for future communication between us, and we cannot be sure that everything is being arranged honestly and in accordance with our rules. The information we have requested is essential to ensure that money is not changing hands at any point in the procedure which is necessary for /r/IAmA to remain equal and egalitarian. As a result, we will no longer be working with the admins to put together AMAs.”
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Health insurance giant Aetna has announced a $37 billion plan to acquire rival Humana. Jessica Hill/AP hide caption
itoggle caption Jessica Hill/AP
In what could prove the largest-ever merger in the insurance industry, Aetna has announced a $37 billion deal to acquire rival Humana.
The agreement, announced by the Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna, “would bolster Aetna’s presence in the state- and federally funded Medicaid program and Tricare coverage for military personnel and their families,” according to The Associated Press.
Word of the cash and stock agreement comes a day after Centene said it would pay $6.3 billion to buy Health Net. According to the AP, the Centene-Health Net merger “would help Centene expand in the nation’s biggest Medicaid market, California, and give it a Medicare presence in several Western states.”
Reuters notes that the deal between Aetna and Humana “will push Aetna close to Anthem Inc.’s No. 2 insurer spot by membership and would nearly triple Aetna’s Medicare Advantage business,” but adds that the agreement still faces antitrust scrutiny.
In theory, a consolidation of the insurance industry in the wake of Obamacare is supposed to lower costs for consumers. But Forbes quotes Martin Gaynor, a Carnegie Mellon economist and former Federal Trade Commission official, as saying: “It’s not clear to me, do they get any more scale economies from getting bigger?”
Forbes also quotes Robert Town, a health care professor at the Wharton School, as saying consolidation among giant insurers reminds him “of the airline sector, and I don’t think there have been efficiencies gained there.”
“The economies of scale in insurance are relatively modest,” Town said.
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Darren RossExecutive Vice President, SolutionsFluent Group College students today do not view online and offline as separate channelsto them, its all the same. Darren Ross, executive vice president of solutions at Fluent Group, a marketing…
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