It's a crucial statistic, and it animates the ferocious debate about immigration now consuming Congress: Of the 12 million Hispanic Americans who voted in 2012, only some 4 million voted for the Republican presidential candidate, Ol' Whatshisname. Without a much better showing in future elections, the GOP has little hope of avoiding what Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) calls a long-term demographic "death spiral." Which is why it isn't surprising that the preliminary skirmishes of the GOP's 2016 campaign are over immigration reform: how to secure U.S. borders while offering citizenship to 11 million undocumented immigrants, some 8 million of whom came from Mexico and other Latin American countries. Paradoxically -- but perhaps hopefully for the GOP -- a surprisingly large number of its key 2016 players are Latinos. Their prominence is fortunate for the party. Their chances of rising to the top could well be boosted by their own life histories.
It's as if they didn't learn a thing from 2012. Republicans are on the same suicide mission as before -- trying to block immigration reform, roll back the clock on abortion rights, and stop gay marriage wherever possible.
People say they'd like to influence or actively participate in their local government. In fact, according to a Civic Plus Digital Citizen Engagement survey, nearly half of those polled want to provide input in their municipal government. But turning this interest into action is one of the biggest roadblocks to implementing local community ideas. How can local municipalities tap into the increasing power of social and mobile technologies to create a community of active influencers?
In both Turkey and Brazil, it has been the reckless brutality of the security forces -- captured on smartphones and broadcast to a whole world that's watching -- that has caused the protests to grow. Will the United States go down the same road?
Just like famous folks have to put up with their share of difficulties (Gwyneth Paltrow told USA Today the Met Ball was soooo hot and crowded this year), pregnant women have to put up with some common annoyances too. Ours come in the form of people.
A fanatical fundamentalist minority is a dangerous thing in any culture, and even the strongest democracy can become vulnerable when buffeted by economic distress and external shocks, such as major terrorist attacks.
I feel for Miss Utah. I can't imagine what it's like to have millions of people on the Internet discussing what an idiot you are and saying it's a good thing you're pretty since your brains won't get you far. Here are four reasons we should just leave her alone.
House Speaker John Boehner told reporters the GOP's abortion ban that passed the House 228-196 on Tuesday won't change the party's relationship with women. He's half right. It won't change the party's relationship with women, because women already hate the GOP.
Gone are the days of dirtying piles of cups, crying over spilled milk, and failed attempts to fit your cookie into an uncooperative glass.
Who you should be following on Instagram for breathtaking pictures from the slopes to the surf.
Opponents who wanted to make the case that comprehensive reform of our current "system" would be a net cost just got some pretty bad news.
I'm proud to represent an area of Long Island that has been the location for many famous movies and TV shows. Shamefully, it's also now the location for a show whose characters are disgraceful, misleading, and fuel anti-Semitic stereotypes: Princesses: Long Island.
What's the very first thing you do when you wake up? If your answer is "check my email," "curse my alarm clock," or "start making a to-do list," you are missing the chance to begin your day with the sense of peace and purpose that will give you focus.
As her father, you have the power to make certain she knows your love is steadfast, and that she won't have to choose between your love and her maturation.
The astounding number of disconnected youth also creates long-term risks for our country. To address the significant challenges posed by youth disconnection, we must develop and implement effective solutions targeting specific needs of specific populations.
Don Draper doesn't kill people. He doesn't cook or deal drugs. He doesn't oversee an organized-crime syndicate. Hell, he doesn't even use the F-word. But there's no question he's a bastard. He lies. He cheats. He undermines his colleagues in ways both overt and underhanded. And yet, in spite of it all, there has always been something about Don that makes us love him anyway. We know what a scoundrel he is, but we just can't quit him.
I'm sure I'd still be searching for fulfillment if I didn't receive a wake-up call on September 30, 2004. I was 26 when I was wheeled into the ER and a nurse asked if I knew what was happening. "I think I had a stroke," I muttered. "Ma'am, you are HAVING a stroke."
While you're saving yourself for your crush, he's out there living his life -- and you're wasting your time.
How about some truly fresh thinking on national security? Here are five ideas that are more visionary than anything our sclerotic and self-absorbed bureaucracy will ever produce.
Miley Cyrus, you may take heat for your adventurous new video that boldly celebrates the joys of being young, female and sexy. But ignore the dissers -- "We Can't Stop" is an anthem you deserve to be proud of!
This Freedom Day reminds us that only by confronting what is wrong can we make things right. To see ourselves as part of the struggle is to empower ourselves as part of the solution.
My goal was to bring to life the majestic beauty of the Himalayas and draw attention away from the negativity that has surrounded Everest in the past years. I wanted to remind people of the infinite possibility that the tallest mountain on Earth symbolizes in each of us.
It was California Proposition 8 that pushed us to make -- perhaps angered us to make -- The Out List in the first place. It airs on HBO, June 27th, the 44th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.
Asking if men -- for whom societal structures have been working pretty favorably forever -- can "have it all" strikes a nerve with some women. Rightfully so. Perhaps it is because women are what's missing from this budding Daddy Wars conversation.
I've survived 30 months of deployment, jumping out of airplanes, field time in Germany in the winter. Anxiety is something that happens to other people, to weaker people, not me.
Heading into Game 7, we are faced with a litany of questions -- namely, why Popovich subbed out Duncan and Parker late in Game 6; how in the world the league's most consistent team and well-run organization choked away a surefire win; and whether either one of these teams has anything left in the tank. Maybe, though, the question we should be asking is what will Dwyane Wade provide for the Heat, because lightning won't strike the same place twice.
Like the majority of our generation, knowing that we feed into our own misery by engaging in the grown-up high school cafeteria known as Twitter and emptying our increasingly scant bank-accounts on a smorgasbord of Apple products, this man has an uncanny comfort with being a complete and total hypocrite, a quality that my mom, admirably if aberrantly, does not possess. So yes, Kanye West is perhaps morally reprehensible. But he is also the most perfectly polished mirror we have.
I've lost 50 pounds in the past year, and it's just plain hard. I'm not on any special diet, I don't have a personal trainer, and I'm terrified every minute that I'll backslide like I have in the past.
Last week the governments of Rio and SĆ£o Paulo, Brazil's two biggest cities raised the cost of the bus fare by R$0.20 (Ā£0.06). It might sound like a negligible amount of money, but it was enough to trigger the biggest public uprisings the country has seen in over two decades.
Ten years after Washington began pouring taxpayer dollars into counterterrorism and stability efforts across Africa, the continent has experienced profound changes, just not those the U.S. sought.
They're too entrenched, they can't see beyond their own current youthfulness, their scope doesn't go far enough to view the future and see themselves in it. They'll get pushed over the cliff when their time comes and not even realize their own hand on their back. But for some, there's hope.
In addition to his timeless observations on love and death and empire and pretty much every other aspect of the human experience, Shakespeare devoted quite a bit of ink to money and how it affects us.