Insulted Puerto Ricans Slam CNN, Republican Candidates – Fox News Latino

Puerto Ricans, the second largest voter group among Hispanics in the US, are “outraged” and “insulted” at CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and the Republican candidates for their “disrespectful” handling of a question centered around the longstanding issue of Puerto Rico’s statehood and independence.

During the live broadcast of the Jacksonville debate, audience members attending the Hispanic Leadership Network Conference, a center right advocacy organization in Miami, were given a chance to ask questions to the candidates. That’s when Elizabeth Cuevas-Neunder, the Republican president and CEO of the Puerto Rican Chamber of [Commerce] of Florida, asked the GOP candidates where they stood on the issue of the island’s statehood.

The answer, or lack thereof, she received on national television sent her and a group of about five Puerto Ricans packing early as they stormed out of the CNN sponsored Watch Party mid-debate.

Twitpic via RT @jaxdotcom CNN is at UNF; no Wolf Blitzer yet though

The next day (Jan. 27th), GOP candidates former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former Mass. Governor Mitt Romney addressed the conference. Gingrich noted the question of Puerto Rico’s statehood was “one that unfortunately was not covered very well last night and I regret that Wolf Blitzer did not turn and ask the rest of us.”

Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich Pressed on Puerto Rico Statehood in South Florida — ABC News

“I have had a firm position on the right of the Puerto Rican people to have a referendum,” Gingrich said to applause. “I am not dictating the outcome of the referendum because there are several options and the Puerto Rican people have to make that decision.”

Romney, speaking an hour later, backed the idea of statehood:

“I think it’s in November you’re having a referendum and I expect the people of Puerto Rico will decide that they want to become a state and I can tell you that I will work with [Puerto Rico Gov. Luis] Fortuno to make sure that if that vote comes out in favor of statehood, that we will go through the process in Washington to provide statehood to Puerto Rico.”

It should be noted that Romney’s remarks went beyond what he said to Univision’s Jorge Ramos on Wednesday, “my choice is to let them make their choice.”

Fortuno endorsed Romney in Cape Canaveral on Friday evening.

Lesson learned

Cuevas-Neunder made a good point on Thursday when she said the candidates knew more about going to the moon then they did about Puerto Rican statehood.  And personally, I think Wolf Blizter should have better prepared for questions from the Hispanic Leadership Network. Surely he knew there would be no questions about the moon from Miami.

Blitzer, however, earned cheers and social media shout-outs when he described UNF as “beautiful” and “fabulous” just before the candidates faced off. CNN anchor Erin Burnett also praised the “beautiful campus” and UNF’s growing global logistics training program. She said Jacksonville International Airport “is what I think might be America’s best airport.”

CNN anchor raves about JIA, UNF and city after debate  – Florida Times-Union

Watch this clip from Erin Burnett’s OutFront on Friday night. She segues from her love of the airport to 44,000 – the number of Northeast Floridians employed in the distribution industry.

THE NUMBER: OutFront in Jacksonville

“Did you know 90 percent of Coach Handbags are shipped through Jacksonville?”

No, Erin. But thanks for telling me. 

During his eight-year tenure as mayor (2003 – 2011), Peyton was strong on economic development - 81 companies  relocated to Jacksonville or expanded their operations creating more than 25,000 jobs,  due in large part to his efforts.

Herb Peyton has built a strong company through great instinct, courage and determination. Now with extraordinary people and great assets, I look forward to building upon the success from the first 50 years. – John Peyton, Jacksonville Business Journal Jan 2nd

I also look forward to seeing where Peyton takes the company, particularly the Gate Construction Materials Group. Improving transportation infrastructure in the regional area is a constant theme here.  Companies that manufacture the components to build bridges and roads are important, especially when based in Jacksonville.

Gate Concrete Products: Dames Point Bridge spans St. Johns River northeast of downtown Jacksonville. (2 miles long - 175" above St Johns main channel )

Gate Petroleum Corp. overview

Gate Petroleum Corp. is the 11th largest private corporation in Florida as of 2010. Gate sells one million gallons of petroleum product per day. The petroleum marketing division is its core business with three operating units; retail comprises 225 gas and convenience stores in five Southeast states. Gate Fuel Service is a petroleum and ethanol distributor with sales of over 100 million gallons annually to commercial, retail, wholesale, marine and industrial customers throughout the Southeast.  Gate Fleet Services is a Voyager Fleet Network  partner – a specialized fleet management solutions company.

Beyond that are three Gate non-petroleum business divisions:  resorts and real estate (a possible post for another day). Gate Construction Materials Group consists of two companies and operates throughout the eastern, southeastern, and midwestern United States.

1. Gate Precast: One of the nation’s largest producers of architectural precast concrete; pre-stressed hollow core slabs; transportation, infrastructure and marine components from eight manufacturing plants. Product is designed, manufactured, delivered and installed to customers in over two-thirds of the country.

2. Gate Concrete Products manufactures structural precast and hollow-core concrete fabrication for bridges, parking garages, stadiums and building structures at facilities in Jacksonville and the Houston area. Gate Concrete Jacksonville was acquired in 1980 and is the oldest non-petroleum division. The quality control lab at the site’s 78-acre facility is certified by the Construction Material Engineering Council and the Dept. of Transportation.

Selling the City

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention what I think is one of Peyton’s best business decisions as mayor. He turned management of  city-owned Cecil Commerce Center over to AllianceFlorida.  (Cecil Advances Aug. 17th)

And this is a great Mayor Peyton story. I didn’t realize, or didn’t remember, any of the specifics of how Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations became the anchor tenant at Cecil in 2007.  As we all know, competition between cities is fierce when wooing large corporations to set-up shop.

Peyton and business leaders were looking to Bridgestone as an anchor tenant for Cecil Commerce Center, a move that would bolster Jacksonville’s economic efforts at the former Navy base. Word reached Jacksonville that the tire behemoth was going to build the company’s largest distribution center in Savannah, not Jacksonville.

Days later, Peyton and other top brass hopped on a plane to Tennessee. They showed up unannounced at the corporate headquarters. Peyton made his last pitch, trying to swing the deal back to the River City. It worked. 

Not a chance that deal gets done without that visit,  said Steve Halverson, chief executive officer of Haskell Co. 

Business leaders speak glowingly of Peyton, saying they can’t think of a time when the mayor didn’t jump to help. — Florida Times-Union June 25, 2011

As I said, I look forward to see where Peyton takes Gate Petroleum Corporation.

………………

“Mayor John Peyton Guest Column: Accomplishments Florida Times-Union June 24, 2011

Dames Point Bridge photo courtesy of Mike Strong

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JACKSONVILLE  (UPDATE) – The U.S. Air Force contract to be awarded to Embraer Corp. at the beginning of December for over 20 Super Tucano A-29 for the Afghan Air Force is now facing further delay. Embraer was to build its plane in conjunction with Sierra Nevada Corp. on a Jacksonville Aviation Authority property.  The company was the sole contender for the (potential) $1 billion contract after USAF excluded rival Wichita-based Hawker-Beecher Corp. (HBC) in November for what is called a “pre-award exclusion.”

HBC filed an inquiry with the GAO on Nov. 22nd for a review of the exclusion and a protest. The GAO’s report said USAF dismissed the company’s protest because it had missed a three-day deadline to file a request for debriefing and a 10-day deadline to file a protest, according to the Wichita Eagle. HBC filed suit on Dec. 27th with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims when notified the GAO had dismissed its initial protest.

A Pentagon spokesman told the Eagle, “Hawker Beech has filed a protest with the GAO. Because of this protest, we cannot comment on a matter pending under litigation.”

The Super Cool (IMHO) Embraer Super Tucano A-29

So where this leaves the Embraer contract is unclear. Jet Setting Magazine sums up how the contract effects Jacksonville:

This contract will immediately support the creation of at least 50 new jobs on the final assembly line in Jacksonville, and will help support at least 1,200 more jobs across America. Some 60 U.S. companies will supply components that will go into the Super T or services related to the LAS contract.

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), the contract lead, currently employs more than 2,100 people at 29 locations in 15 states.  Embraer North America has been in the United States for over 30 years, and employs 800 people in Florida; Arizona; Tennessee; Minnesota; and Connecticut.  The company recently opened a new executive jet production facility in Melbourne (Fla.) that is creating 200 new jobs.  The Jacksonville facility will augment this ongoing U.S. production.

Embraer is the world’s third-largest aircraft manufacturer and sources a majority of its component parts – across all business lines – from the United States.  More than 7,000 U.S. jobs are supported as a result of Embraer’s component purchases.

Hawker Beechcraft of course counters with similar job augmentation claims.

No comment.

The Air Force is purchasing A-29 Super Tucano LAS (light air support) planes for the Afghan army. According to Aviation Week, the “LAS contract will supply up to 20 light-attack, advanced-trainer aircraft to the Afghan Air Force for delivery beginning in 2013.”

As it’s now mid-December, I’m postulating the USAF’s delay in announcing the contract to Embraer may be caused by a request pending at the General Accounting Office (GAO). According to industry publication Defense Tech on Nov. 22nd:

 AT-6 Is Out of the Light Air Support Contest, Award Imminent.

Wichita-based Hawker Beecher Corp (HBC) is the manufacturer of AT-6B, which then sent two requests to USAF asking why its A-6B was excluded, which USAF twice denied to answer.

“HBC’s exclusion from competing for this important contract appears at this point to have been made without basis in process or fact. We are very interested in learning more about the decision and look forward to the results of the GAO’s review,” said the company in a statement on Nov. 22nd.

What to say?

Brothers-in-Arms update

Ajmal Omer at Camp LeJeune, N.C.

As long as were on the subject of U.S. Armed Forces presence in Afghanistan, this is an opportune time to revisit Afghani translator, Ajmal Omer. The last time we spoke in March for Enduring Bonds, he was at Camp Lejeune, N.C. teaching basic Pashto and Dari languages, and Afghan culture, to Marines headed to Afghanistan.

Operation Odyssey Dawn had just begun. On Mar. 19th the USS Florida launched Tomahawk cruise missiles at Libyan air defenses to begin implementing a “no-fly zone” over Libya. Three days later, the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), based at Camp Lejeune, conducted a Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel (TRAP) mission to rescue the U.S. Air Force pilot downed somewhere in northeast Libya.

Yesterday, Ajmal said he’s still at Camp Lejeune but now working for L-3 Communications teaching advanced, and basic, Pashto and Dari.  L-3 Communications is a diversified (to put it mildly) military and government contractor. Electronic systems comprises L-3′s broadest and deepest segment of products and services. By combining the capabilities of more than 25 business units, L-3 has also become a fully-integrated platform provider for unmanned aircraft system (UAS) programs. Drones.

I’m not sure if L-3 Communications works with Embraer, but they might as Embraer in September formalized the creation of a new company, Harpia Sistemas SA, to develop UAS systems.

Ajmal said L-3 treats him well and he’s very happy. He’s still in contact with all of his Armed Forces brethren and gives a special shout-out to Arnold Strong. As we’ll recall, he and Jon Singleton were primarily staff officers together on their Afghani tour. At the time (June 2009) of Brothers-in-Arms: Notes from the West Coast, he was in the field in the high deserts of New Mexico, training a National Guard battalion from Connecticut before they deployed to Iraq.

Major Arnold Strong

Ajmal said of Afghan culture, “It’s very important for Marines to win the hearts and minds of Afghans.” And on that note, Ajmal just got engaged to be married to an Afghan woman studying law in Berlin. He’s flying there today and she’ll be moving to the United States within the year.

Congratulations to you both!

♥

Christmas Palace Avenue: The power of music -- HSBC HQ, Rua XV Novembro

Curitiba-based HSBC Bank Brazil established the non-profit unit of Instituto HSBC Solidariedade in 2006 to manage its increased social investments in education, the environment and income generation all over Brazil. HSBC’s Education Program sponsors the choir of 160 children from 11 children’s shelters in Curitiba and nearby regions. The objective of the program is to enable children’s development through the support of counseling, education and health services.

This year hundred of thousands of visitors from across Brazil and around the world will see the choir sing and dance from the windows of Palace Avenue – the HSBC headquarters on Rua XV Novembro – each Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening from Nov. 25th to Dec. 18th.

Mayor Brown (far left), J.R. Rodriggs stroll down Rua XV Novembro in downtown Curitiba

On Nov. 25th in Jacksonville, Gov. Rick Scott told WOKV’s radio audience that the successful October economic development trip to Sao Paulo, Brazil resulted in over $60 million worth of contracts. Enterprise Florida organized the delegation of over 250 Floridians seeking to do business with primarily Brazilian aviation and transportation companies. Mayor Alvin Brown and JAXUSA Partnership Pres. Jerry Mallot were among the delegates representing Northeast Florida.

A day in Curitiba

Brown’s side trip to Curitiba on Oct. 25th strengthened and developed existing ties with one of Jacksonville’s Sister Cities. Brown and Joshua “J.R.” Rodriggs, president of BrazilFlorida Alliance met with Mayor Luciano Ducci, officials at ACP (Associação Comercial do Paraná –  the Commercial Association of the State of Paraná) and toured the city.  In the above photograph, Brown and Rodriggs are near HSBC Palace Avenue on 15 November Street (Rua XV Novembro) which would  transform into a Christmas wonderland within a month.

Gallery of Light -- Located between the streets of Rio Branco and Marechal Floriano Peixoto, in downtown Curitiba

The Christmas show opened on Dec. 1st and runs through Dec. 23rd. A parade of dancers and jugglers from various dance schools perform at the Gallery of Light – the show lasts about 40 minutes. It has been staged every year since 1995 by Italian artist Valerio Festi (Studio Festi) to honor the victims of the earthquake in Kobe, Japan. Other than show times, visitors walk through the Gallery’s succession of arched gates decorated with over 50,000 lights while holiday music plays from a state-of-the-art sound system. The Gallery of Light will be lit until Jan. 6th.

 For complete month-long event schedule see Encantado do Natal’s  Website ~~ 

CURITIBA Capital do Natal 

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BrazilFlorida Alliance  Holiday Networking Event,   Dec. 13th 5:30pm – 7pm at 

Tento Churrascaria, 528 North First St., Jacksonville Beach.   

Registration  

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