Faustam fortuna adiuvat
American and Latin American news, politics, history and culture.
The WaPo has a rather long article about granite countertops,
Granite: Why every homeowner wants a piece of the rock
I could have saved them the verbiage. There are 4 reasons why:
In other words, granite is rock-solid.
Blogging on serious matters shall resume shortly.
In the New York Times, that arm of the vast right-wing conspiracy,
Obama to Return Major Donations Tied to Fugitive
Two American brothers of a Mexican casino magnate who fled drug and fraud charges in the United States and has been seeking a pardon enabling him to return have emerged as major fund-raisers and donors for President Obama’s re-election campaign.
The casino owner, Juan Jose Rojas Cardona, known as Pepe, jumped bail in Iowa in 1994 and disappeared, and has since been linked to violence and corruption in Mexico. A State Department cable in 2009 said he was suspected of orchestrating the assassination of a business rival and making illegal campaign donations to Mexican officials.
First, the Obama campaign denied knowing about Pepe,
When The New York Times asked the Obama campaign early Monday about the Cardonas, officials said they were unaware of the brother in Mexico.
Later, they came to their senses, sort of,
Later in the day, the campaign said it was refunding the money raised by the family, which totaled more than $200,000.
Because,
Pepe Cardona is one of the largest players in Mexico’s violent and tumultuous casino trade. In 2007, he survived an assassination attempt that was attributed to members of organized crime. The State Department cable, which was part of the cache made public by WikiLeaks, said he was suspected of illegally funneling $5 million into Mexican political campaigns in 2006.
As Jazz Shaw puts it,
Cardona appears to be tied up not only in drug smuggling allegations, but bribing public officials in Mexico and the untimely inhuming of one of his “colleagues” in the trade.
Jazz continues,
Jim Geraghty connects the dots and ties Cardona to the drug cartels in Mexico and all of the violence associated with them, bringing us full circle back to Fast and Furious.At least these guys are courteous enough to tip the administration that supplies their friends with guns so well…
Too bad the Cardonas didn’t belong to the FALN.
UPDATE,
WyBlog calls Pepe “the new Marc Rich“.
UPDATE 2,
via Thomas, Fugitive Obama Fundraiser Linked to Fast and Furious and the Beltran Leyva cartel.
NJEA (the teacher’s union) Executive Director Vincent Giordano, who makes $550,000 a year, when asked about s
NJEA Executive Director to Poor Families: “Life’s Not Always Fair”
When questioned about the fairness of New Jersey’s low income families being financially unable to afford the option of moving their children to better performing schools, Mr. Giordano was cold, dismissive, and completely unsympathetic to their plight.The exact quote?
“Well, you know, uh, life’s not always fair and I’m sorry about that…” (click here and listen to the clip)
Ah, that 1%…
… predicted ahead of time that the Giants would win.
@recipesforlife Giants, by 4 points
— Fausta (@Fausta) February 5, 2012
Too bad I didn’t place any bets!
ARGENTINA
The War for Oil… And Squid?, via Instapundit
BRAZIL
Brazil’s President Flexes Clout in Cuba Trip
Standoff between striking police, soldiers
CHILE
Competition in Chile
The shine comes off
CUBA
Since Fidel is such an exemplary figure of virtue, Pope Benedict XVI to receive Fidel Castro back into the Catholic Church?
Political Repression in Cuba: Rundown for the week of January 30th, 2012
WashPost Coos ‘So Nice to Meet You, Havana’ (But Bring Your Own Charmin)
HAITI
Haiti’s judiciary
Just what the Doc ordered
HONDURAS
What’s the Honduran government’s cut of your travel costs?
Mexico conservatives back woman presidential candidate
PUERTO RICO
17 Dominican migrants die trying to get to Puerto Rico
Venezuela everyday more like Cuba, will smell like it soon
February 4th. 1992: A Day Of Shame For Venezuelans
The week’s posts:
Holder insults Puerto Rican Congressman
Weirdest theft of the year: Chilean ice
Venezuela: Who armed the kids?
Law-abiding Mexicans arm themselves
Fast & Furious: No one’s responsible
Venezuela: Jews fleeing persecution
In today’s spam basket,
George Dennison Prentice: “What some call health, if purchased by perpetual anxiety about diet, isn’t much better than tedious disease.”
If only Nanny Bloomberg would read that. He’s against trans fats, salt, liquor, and even sat on the couch to speak against guns,
since, of course, criminals, by definition, will abide with gun laws, or something.
Now I can’t wait for Nanny Bloomberg to ban perfume:
Wearing Scented Products Like Perfume or Cologne in Public Could Become Regulated
The fragrance issue could put businesses on the hook for legal liability. The head of the human resources department here at FOX Chicago said all employers need take it seriously.
What’s next? Will government send someone to make sure you shower and use antiperspirant daily?
Holder to Puerto Rican Rep: ‘Wherever you’re from’
If you need confirmation that Republicans on the House Oversight committee got under Attorney General Eric Holder’s skin today at the hearing on Fast and Furious, just look at this response he gave to Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, who grilled Holder about his own previous statements.Specifically, note Holder’s comment that “maybe this is the way you do things in Idaho, or wherever you’re from.”
Because Rep. Labrador doesn’t feed from the Dem plantation.
Next thing you know, Holder will be telling Labrador he “doesn’t even look Puerto Rican.”
This is the largest absolute jump in ‘Persons Not In Labor Force’ on record…and biggest percentage jump in 30 years.
This means that the 243,000 jobs created last month were only 957,000 short of providing jobs to those people who are no longer counted as part of the labor force.
And last year’s,
