Visa

In a new ad for Visa, Ravens tough guy Ray Lewis becomes putty in the hand of a little girl in pig-tails. The 33-second spot is called "Ray Lewis's toughest interview yet. " It features Lewis at a press conference. He's is seated at the podium, a scrum of tough-looking media before him asking him uncomfortable questions. Suddenly, a hand shoots up and little girl voice shouts out, "Mr. Lewis!" "What's your favorite color?" she demands. "Purple," Lewis answers, a charmed look on his face.

In their commentary, Zainab Choudry and Saqib Ali ("Don't let Israel discriminate," April 30) objected to Senate Bill 462 (the U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2013) introduced recently in the U.S. Senate that advocates Israel's right to deny entry into its country of certain people. Therefore, according to them, this bill would allow Israel to "discriminate against select groups of Americans, including Americans who expressed criticism of its policies. " Ms. Choudry and Mr. Ali also misguidedly disapproved of U.S. Sen. Benjamin Cardin for supporting the bill.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Orioles are confident that their five-month wait for Cuban defector Henry Urrutia, stuck in Haiti unable to play because of visa issues, will end within the next two weeks. Urrutia, a 25-year-old corner outfielder, has established residency in Haiti and has been awaiting a visa there for since the Orioles signed him to a minor league contract in July. The club paid Urrutia a $778,500 signing bonus. Fred Ferreira, the Orioles executive director for international recruiting, said that Urrutia recently made huge strides toward obtaining a visa with the help of the United States ambassador to Haiti.

Commentators Zainab Choudry and Saqib Ali complain that Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin co-sponsored legislation to extend a visa waiver program to Israel ("Don't let Israel discriminate," April 30). The waiver program currently allows citizens of 37 European and other countries - including Japan, Australia and South Korea - to travel in the United States for up to 90 days without a visa. The writers claim the legislation would let Israel dispense with a "reciprocity" provision so it could "discriminate against Americans based on their ethnicity or religion" - particularly against Arab Americans and Muslim Americans.

Nearly four months after signing Cuban defector Henry Urrutia, the Orioles are still waiting for the 25-year-old outfielder to officially join the organization, according to an industry source. Urrutia, who has set up residency in the Dominican Republic, continues to have difficulty obtaining a visa, an obstacle that has existed since the Orioles signed him in July. The Orioles had hoped Urrutia would arrive in time to get some minor league at bats at the Double-A level. Even after the season ended, the hope was to get Urrutia into to the team's spring training complex in Sarasota, Fla., to begin workouts.

Will we need visas for a two-day trip to Reykjavik, Iceland? Also, can you suggest package tours and local sights? No visa is required; you can visit Iceland for up to 90 days without one. Reykjavik has plenty to see if you explore on your own: parks, museums, shopping, dining -- and its compact size makes it easy to navigate on foot. Don't miss a chance to visit a thermal pool or the Blue Lagoon, a mineral-rich hot water lagoon and spa not far from the airport. Or to dine at the Pearl (Perlan)

MOSCOW -- "Come quickly to New York. Our mother is on the verge of dying," read the fax to 59-year-old Professor Georgy Grigorenko. "A brain hemorrhage has left her in a coma, and the doctors say she has only a few days left."Fax in hand, Mr. Grigorenko, whose late father was one of the most heroic of Soviet dissidents, rushed recently to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow for a visa.There, as he recalls, a consular official behind a glass window asked him his profession, how much he earned (about $40 a month)

NEW YORK -- China's most-wanted man, dissident Zheng Yi, arrived here yesterday after being smuggled out of the country by an underground railroad of anti-government sympathizers and spending five months waiting for a visa to enter the United States.The 45-year-old novelist was accompanied by his wife, Bei Ming, who told reporters of their 3 1/2 -year odyssey: "In the past, under the totalitarian system, it would have been impossible for a wanted person to hide for three years. But the party has lost the heart of the people."

Visa U.S.A. Inc. wants you to come downtown to dine, to shop, to play -- and, preferably, pay with plastic, not cash.The credit card giant has teamed with the Downtown Partnership to promote Baltimore, as a key sponsor in the new ads in the "See Ya 'Round Downtown" campaign.As a sponsor -- contributing more than $100,000 -- Visa's logo will appear in TV and print ads for about a year, and about 175 participating businesses will offer discounts to those using Visa cards.Visa, which recently began similar marketing efforts in a handful of other American cities, becomes the biggest single sponsor of the partnership, a nonprofit group devoted to promoting downtown and fighting crime and grime.

A 49-year-old British citizen who federal officials said promoted all-night rave parties is to be deported before the end of the week after U.S. Immigration and Naturalization agents arrested him for violating a visa program, officials said.Raymond Paul Francis, who lived in the first block of Winehurst Road in Catonsville, was arrested Friday by INS agents after an investigation sparked by tips from county police officers in the metropolitan area.Officials say he violated the Visa Waiver Pilot Program, a federal program that allows foreign nationals to remain in the United States for 90 days without a formal visa.

I appreciated reading the commentary, "Don't let Israel discriminate," (April 30) This is a concern that has been long documented by the State Department and a new bill in Congress has been written to provide a "look the other way" response to these racial policies and afford Israel visa waiver status. Rather than supporting this legislation, U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin should be promoting the interests and needs of Maryland residents first. If there are citizens of Maryland who are discriminated against and refused entry into Israel (or any other country for that matter)

A bill has been introduced in the U.S. Senate that would allow a foreign country, Israel, to discriminate against select groups of American citizens - including Americans who have expressed criticism of its policies. Disappointingly, the bill, S.B. 462 (also known as the U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2013), is co-sponsored by Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin. Those who stand to be most affected by this piece of legislation are Arab Americans and Muslim Americans. However, it may also apply to individuals who wish to visit or work in Israel and/or the Palestinian territories that Israel has occupied since 1967.

Orioles right-hander Chris Tillman went five innings and allowed one unearned run in his final spring start Friday, a 6-1 exhibition win over the State College of Florida. Tillman, who was placed on the disabled list with abdominal soreness, said he supported the Orioles decision to place him there to start the season. “It is what it is," Tillman. "I was hurt. I did miss an amount of time enough time to not get ready for one of the early games. I don't disagree with it. " Tillman, who threw 81 pitches against SCF on Friday, allowed one unearned run on two hits with six strikeouts and two walks.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Orioles are confident that their five-month wait for Cuban defector Henry Urrutia, stuck in Haiti unable to play because of visa issues, will end within the next two weeks. Urrutia, a 25-year-old corner outfielder, has established residency in Haiti and has been awaiting a visa there for since the Orioles signed him to a minor league contract in July. The club paid Urrutia a $778,500 signing bonus. Fred Ferreira, the Orioles executive director for international recruiting, said that Urrutia recently made huge strides toward obtaining a visa with the help of the United States ambassador to Haiti.

Nearly four months after signing Cuban defector Henry Urrutia, the Orioles are still waiting for the 25-year-old outfielder to officially join the organization, according to an industry source. Urrutia, who has set up residency in the Dominican Republic, continues to have difficulty obtaining a visa, an obstacle that has existed since the Orioles signed him in July. The Orioles had hoped Urrutia would arrive in time to get some minor league at bats at the Double-A level. Even after the season ended, the hope was to get Urrutia into to the team's spring training complex in Sarasota, Fla., to begin workouts.

In a new ad for Visa, Ravens tough guy Ray Lewis becomes putty in the hand of a little girl in pig-tails. The 33-second spot is called "Ray Lewis's toughest interview yet. " It features Lewis at a press conference. He's is seated at the podium, a scrum of tough-looking media before him asking him uncomfortable questions. Suddenly, a hand shoots up and little girl voice shouts out, "Mr. Lewis!" "What's your favorite color?" she demands. "Purple," Lewis answers, a charmed look on his face.

WASHINGTON -- The State Department recommended yesterday that a visa be granted to former Iranian President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr despite his links with the taking of U.S. hostages 11 years ago.The decision last night by Deputy Secretary Lawrence S. Eagleburger came hours after Mr. Bani-Sadr's planned tour of the United States to promote a book was suspended indefinitely because the visa did not come through on time.The book alleges secret dealings between Iranian officials and representatives of Ronald Reagan's campaign, including George Bush, before the 1980 presidential election.

MIAMI -- U.S. diplomat Thomas P. Carroll apparently had no clue that he was a target of an investigation when he landed in Miami last month on a flight from the Caribbean nation of Guyana, where he had been posted for two years. When he met that day at Miami International Airport with his successor as chief of the U.S. Embassy's nonimmigrant visa section, it was unlikely that Carroll knew he was being taped. His pitch to his replacement, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, was as simple as it was chilling: "Carroll asked [his colleague]

Visa's new Olympic-themed ad starring Michael Phelps just might give America a case of the shivers. Fair warning. First of all, it's got the voice of Morgan Freeman who can induce goosebumps by reading the telephone book. But the film-work is also quite stunning, illustrating the concept of one hundredth of a second -- the amount of time that allowed Phelps to bring eight medals home from the 2008 Olympics. "One hundredth of a second is faster than the blink of an eye," Freeman says.

Americans are a bit schizophrenic on the matter of immigration this election season. We can't seem to decide whether we want to send them all back where they came from or put the child of immigrants on the Republican ticket for president. (For the record, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio calls his Cuban parents "exiles," not "immigrants," although they left before Fidel Castro took over.) In the midst of this volatile conversation - are we going to build a wall along the Mexican border or simply ask everybody in the American Southwest to carry papers?