Sonia Sotomayor heeded White House advice to paint her fingernails a neutral shade during her Supreme Court confirmation process — up to a point.

At a White House reception after her confirmation, Sotomayor showed her freshly painted red nails to President Barack Obama, along with her red-and-black semi-hoop earrings, according to an article in the new issue of Latina magazine to be released Nov. 17. Obama joked that Sotomayor had been briefed on proper nail color and earring size.

“Mr. President, you have no idea what you've unleashed,” Sotomayor replied, according to the article by her close friend Sandra Guzman, who was at the event.

While Obama was still deciding whom to nominate, Sotomayor wondered if the job was right for her. Just three weeks before the president announced his choice, Sotomayor confided to a friend that she was leery of losing privacy and time with her mother and wanted to withdraw her name from consideration.

“This is not about you,” attorney Lee Llambelis said he told Sotomayor. “It's about the little girls and boys, brown and black, who live in the projects and poor communities around our nation, who can dream bigger if you are in the Supreme Court.”

Sotomayor has granted few, if any, sit-down interviews since becoming the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court. She did not give a formal interview to Guzman, the former editor-in-chief of Latina, but agreed to be photographed inside the Supreme Court building.

The article details Sotomayor's personal life, including a 1983 divorce from her high school sweetheart, Kevin Noonan; a broken engagement to a Bronx contractor, Peter White, in 2000; and her most recent relationship, “a friend with no strings attached.”

Guzman said she once sought advice on her own marital problems from Sotomayor, who told her, “To find happiness in love … we have to make up our own rules.”

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On the Net:
Latina magazine: http://www.latina.com -- undated photo released by Latina magazine shows Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on the cover of the December-January double issue of Latina. (AP Photo/Platon)

The event at the Asociación Borinqueña de Florida Central, as that community group is known, will feature speakers, a poetry reading and musical performances in honor of veterans. Veterans Day is observed on November 11 throughout the nation, but the association's gathering will take place on Thursday, November 12, starting at 6 p.m. at the association's clubhouse of 1865 N. Econlockhatchee Trail in east Orange county.

Zoraida Ríos-Andino, a member of the Borinqueña association, said that the contributions of Puerto Ricans and other Hispanics to the U.S. military are oftentimes ignored and the tribute is a way to include them in all the celebrations.

"We want people to know the history and contributions of Hispanic soldiers in the U.S. military, because unfortunately this is not taught in the schools and people need to know we have been involved in fighting for this country," Ríos-Andino said. "We go far back with our contributions."

Related content:

• Study: "Military Enlistment of Hispanic Youth. Obstacles and Opportunities," Rand Corporation.
• Fact Sheet: "Hispanics in the Military," Pew Hispanic Center.
• Link: "Latinos claim larger share of U.S. military personnel," Population Reference Bureau. 
• Link: "Military struggles to recruit Hispanics," Army Times.

You might not recognize the man in the picture to the right at first glance, but look closely and you'll see that is baseball star Sammy Sosa.

Since the picture emerged last week  there's been much speculation about Sosa going, well, Jackson.

The Chicago Tribune reported that Sosa denies bleaching his skin. A friend of the Dominican slugger told the newspaper that Sosa had gone through a process "to rejuvenate" his skin but attributed the seemingly lighter skin to the lighting of the picture. Hmmm...

Bleach or no bleach, this certainly looks like a different Sammy and not necessarily an improved one.

What do you think?

There are few things all Puerto Ricans cheer for together. Sports are one of those things.

Everyone roots for a national team or a Puerto Rican athlete no matter their political or religious views. It is one of those rare moments when independentistas, populares and penepés unite.

Saturday, the island will be watching the Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao fight which starts at 9 p.m. ET. It is a highly anticipated event newspapers in Puerto Rico have been covering for the past month.

I personally received at least a dozen calls after visiting Cotto’s training camp in Tampa for a story that ran in El Sentinel. Callers asked me “how is he looking?” Well, to me, “he looks like a boxing champ.”

Of course I am no expert. But Cotto is actually a welterweight champ and will be defending his title against Pacquiao who is looking to set a world record by becoming a seven time world champion in seven weight classes.

“These are two of the most passionate boxers of our times,” said Bob Arum, who is the promoter of both Cotto and Pacquiao.

Arum said New York Yankees players Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and CC Sabathia will attend the fight that will take place in Las Vegas' MGM Grand. “You know it’s a great fight when others athletes want to see it,” he said.

According to Ticketmaster.com the event is sold out. For those of us who didn’t have the opportunity to buy the $1,000-plus ticket the options to watch the match are limited to: ordering it on HBO Pay-Per-View ($54.95) or seeing it at a local venue.

So, where are you going to watch the Cotto fight?

Also, if you know of a venue that usually broadcasts boxing matches here in Central Florida please leave a comment or e-mail me the information at aacevedo@orlandosentinel.com. I am compiling a list that will be published Saturday.

Celebrate! There are different Puerto Rican parades in Central Florida. The picture above was taken during the Downtown Orlando parade that took place last April. Photo by Jacob Langston of the Orlando Sentinel.

With music, floats and Puerto Rican flags thousands will celebrate the 13th edition of the Annual Puerto Rican Day Parade in Brevard County.

“The parade has grown tremendously,” said Samuel López, chairman of the Florida Puerto Rican / Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “We started with 300 people and now we gather thousands.”

The parade is the culmination of a three-day celebration that starts today with a Banquet Gala and Award Ceremony, followed by a tour of the Kennedy Space Center and the Juan Ponce de Leon Landing discovery site, Saturday.

This year’s parade will honor successful Puerto Ricans living in the United States. “It is dedicated to the Puerto Ricans of today, who made this year a memorable one,” López said.

He mentioned Joseph Acaba, the first astronaut of Puerto Rican descend to fly into space, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and actress Chita Rivera.

The parade will start at the Eldreon Blvd. and Malabar Road intersection at 2 p.m. It will head east on Malabar Road and end at the Palm Bay City Hall.

Guest Writer: Pedro R. Pierluisi

Puerto Rico is home to nearly 4 million American citizens. Although the island has been a U.S. territory for 111 years, its people have never expressed their view in a vote sponsored by Congress about whether the island should remain a territory or have a different political status.

As Puerto Rico's sole elected representative in Washington, I have introduced legislation to finally give Puerto Ricans this opportunity. The Puerto Rico Democracy Act, which enjoys extraordinary bipartisan support, was approved in committee and now awaits consideration by the full House.

Although bound by federal laws, Puerto Ricans do not have real voting representation in the federal government. They have fought for democracy around the world — the island sends a greater percentage of its population to the U.S. military than most states — but they cannot vote for their commander in chief. They are not represented in the Senate, and my voting rights in the House are limited.

Many federal laws treat residents of Puerto Rico worse than residents of the states. The courts uphold these laws if there is a rational basis for the disparity, which the government can furnish by arguing that equal treatment would be costly or that Puerto Ricans do not pay federal taxes on local income. The tax argument overlooks that more than 40 percent of households in the states do not pay federal income taxes but still receive equal treatment. Neither does it take into account that island residents pay federal taxes on income earned outside Puerto Rico, and payroll taxes.

Given the deficiencies of territory status, as well as America's longstanding commitment to democratic self-government, Congress should seek to learn whether Puerto Ricans are satisfied with the present arrangement. The bill would authorize a plebiscite on that question. If a majority favors the current status, voters could be asked this question every eight years. This will ensure Puerto Rico's continued consent to an arrangement that denies it self-government at the national level, a fundamental right in a democracy.

If a majority desires a new status, the bill calls for a second plebiscite among the viable alternatives: independence, national sovereignty in association with the U.S., and statehood.

The reason that Congress needs to identify the alternatives to the current status is because there is confusion in Puerto Rico on this score. Some island politicians continue to promote a pie-in-the-sky proposal under which Puerto Rico would receive more federal benefits than it does now, while also having the power to decide which federal laws apply to the island. As a recent congressional report noted, this scheme has been "consistently opposed by federal authorities ... on both constitutional and policy grounds." The pending bill shows respect for the people of Puerto Rico by leveling with them about their real choices.

The bill does not require any federal action if a majority expresses a preference for a different status in the first vote and for a particular nonterritory option in the second vote. Congress and the president should decide what steps to take — if any — after seeing the results. The bill's premise is that self-determination is a moral imperative, but the process should be thoughtful and deliberate.

Like any bill of consequence, this one has opponents. They include politicians who support either the status quo or the pie-in-the-sky proposal unacceptable to federal authorities, and fear a vote could lead to a status they oppose. Careful not to appear anti-democratic, they falsely claim the bill favors statehood. They say that pro-statehood and pro-independence voters will seek a different status in the first vote, creating an "artificial majority" against the current status and paving the way for statehood's victory in the second vote.

The official House report on the bill rejected this argument, calling it "speculative" and concluding it was "logical and sensible" to conduct the status choice process in stages. These critics have forfeited all credibility. In 2007, they opposed legislation sponsored by then- Sen. Ken Salazar, providing for a single plebiscite among the current status and the alternatives. They proclaim their support for self-determination but resist every bill to enable it.

After more than a century of inaction, Congress should finally give a voice to 4 million disenfranchised American citizens.

The Miami resident, who is of Cuban heritage, vows to bring more attention to the legal rights of Hispanics in the U.S. and said that he wants to encourage more Latinos to pursue the legal profession. He is also concerned about the high cost of college for those pursuing the legal profession and the need for more attorneys that would represent the poor in the court system.

Stephen N. Zack, a partner in the national law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner, was elected president without opposition for the one-year term that starts in August 2010, when the organization will have its annual convention in San Francisco. Zack was born in the U.S. to a Cuban mother and American father. He lived in Cuba until he was 13 years old, when his family fled to the U.S. following the Cuban Revolution.

"It was time for a Hispanic to lead the organization, just like it was time for a Hispanic Justice on the Supreme Court," Zack, who is 61 years old, told the Sentinel's Hispanosphere.

One of his first orders of business, Zack said, will be to establish the ABA's first commission to look into the legal rights of Hispanics and the challenges that Latinos may face in the court system. The number of Latino attorneys, he said, hovers around 6 percent while the Hispanic population is about 15 percent of the U.S. population, adding to the disparities in the legal system.

"It's amazing that with Hispanics being the majority-minority population in this country, that from our observations there's never been such a commission," Zack said. "It will be looking at a number of things from how the court system treats Hispanics to the language issues and voting rights."

The group, Zack said, will produce a report that could lead to policy changes in his organization, concerning the matters it advocates and lobbies for in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere.

Zack also wants to use the strong arm of the ABA as the largest volunteer organization in the country to establish a similar commission on civics that would look into how to best educate high school students on history and government. He said many don't know basic matters such as how bills become laws or what is the structure of U.S. government. Ignorance, he said, could breed a loss of important democratic values.

"There is a disastrous state of civics in our country," Zack said. "For me, in my life, the loss of liberty is not a theoretical exercise. It happened to me and it happened to my family in Cuba."
 

About 60 immigrants got together Monday night in Apopka to celebrate the Day of the Dead. They made offerings of food and prayer to their relatives and friends who have passed away and then sat down to share food and stories that their deceased relatives would have enjoyed.

Photo of candlelight vigil courtesy of Elias 'Rico' Piccard.