Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

Archives for November 2012

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Argentina: Now on general strike

So much for having a tango Thanksgiving weekend in Buenos Aires,

Argentina strikes paralyze capital, other cities

Strikes called by two Argentine unions pressing for reduced taxes and better social benefits paralyzed Buenos Aires and much of the country, the latest signs of an upswell in opposition to President Cristina Fernandez and her policies.

Truck drivers, garbage collectors, train conductors and airport employees observed the strike called by the General Workers Confederation and Argentinian Workers Central — unions that combined have about 500,000 members.

An estimated 2,000 trucks blocked bridges and arterial roads in Buenos Aires as well as those leading to provincial capitals, bringing commerce to a halt. Hugo Moyano, head of the Truckers Union, was a strong supporter of Fernandez in her reelection campaign last year but has since turned into one of her fiercest critics.

Buenos Aires’ main commuter airport was shut down by the work stoppage, stranding many provincial tourists and business travelers in the capital. All but one of the capital’s rail lines were closed, and many commuters simply stayed home from work.

The protesters want more government-provided money and benefits; the thing is, Cristina’s ran out of other people’s money. Still, she plans to run for a third term.

I predict she’ll win.

UPDATE,
Linked by MOTUS. Thank you!

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Next on the Alinsky list: Marco Rubio

From this,

Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to answer that. It’s one of the great mysteries.

to this,

Marco Rubio may be the future of the Republican Party, but his views on science appear to be stuck somewhere in the seventeenth century.

The “crazy-ing” of Marco Rubio begins; indeed, Liberals Begin Their War on Marco Rubio.

Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.

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Mexico: No Iran or Hezbollah here

Last week the US House of Representatives Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Management issued a report updating its 2006 A Line in the Sand findings.

The new report (pdf file), A LINE IN THE SAND: COUNTERING CRIME,
VIOLENCE AND TERROR AT THE SOUTHWEST BORDER found (emphasis added):

 Although the United States tightened security at airports and land ports of entry in thewake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the U.S.-Mexico border remains an obvious weak link in the chain.

 Despite the near doubling of Border Patrol personnel, the Government Accountability Office found that only 44 percent of the Southwest border was under operational control.

 In 2012, National Guard presence on the Southwest border was reduced to 300 soldiers.

 Since October 2008, 138 Customs and Border Protection officers or agents have been arrested or indicted on corruption related charges.

 The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) reports that there have been 58 incidents of shots fired at Texas lawmen by Mexican cartel operatives since 2009.

 Experts believe the Southwest border has become the great threat of terrorist infiltration into the United States.

 Iran and Hezbollah have a growing presence in Latin America.

 Hezbollah has a significant presence in the United States that could be utilized in terror attacks intended to deter U.S. efforts to curtail Iran’s nuclear program.

 Latin America has become a money laundering and major fundraising center for Hezbollah.

Hezbollah’s relationship with Mexican drug cartels, which control secured smuggling routes into the United States, is documented as early as 2005.

If Iran’s assassination plot against the Saudi Arabian ambassador in Washington, D.C. had been successful, Iran’s Qods Force intended to use the Los Zetas drug cartel for other attacks in the future.

Long-term readers of my blog are certainly not surprised by this information, as I have been blogging on the subject for years. Neither would the readers of Jon Perdue’s excellent book, The War of All the People: The Nexus of Latin American Radicalism and Middle Eastern Terrorism.

The Mexican government, however, strongly denies the report’s findings: Mexico disputes House GOP report alleging Iran, Hezbollah are using Mexican drug cartels

A spokesman for Mexico’s ambassador to the United States, Arturo Sarukhán, told The Daily Caller his country’s government disputes a recent House GOP report alleging that Iranian and Hezbollah terror operatives are using Mexican drug cartels as a conduit to infiltrate the United States.

As Matthew Boyle points out, on October 11 last year, two men were arrested in New York and charged with taking part in an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the US. You can read the full details of the plot in the Department of Justice’s report.

While its government denies these findings, Mexico is the deadliest country on earth for journalists.

Also last week, the head of Mexico’s organized crime unit stepped down on Thursday, just weeks after announcing that members of his team had been charged with having links to the Sinaloa drug cartel.

Cross-posted at Liberty Unyielding.


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The Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

LatinAmerARGENTINA
Argentina Runs Out of Other People’s Money
The demonstration in Buenos Aires this month was the largest since Argentines restored democracy in 1983.

In the second quarter, the economy contracted by 1.4%. The Buenos Aires-based think tank Foundation for Latin American Economic Research (known by its Spanish initials FIEL) is forecasting 2012 GDP growth of only 1.5%. Inflation is estimated by independent economists at almost 25% annually. As salaries are adjusted upward to compensate for the loss of purchasing power, workers are being pushed into higher tax brackets. Argentines traveling abroad now have to explain their plans to government bureaucrats if they want to buy hard currency.

Add these pocketbook issues to the rising rate of violent crime, recurring corruption scandals, increasing antidemocratic efforts to silence independent media outlets and pronouncements from Mrs. Kirchner’s inner circle that it wants to amend the constitution to allow her to run for a third term. The Kirchner government has also angered labor leaders by letting it be known that it plans to shift union control of hundreds of millions of dollars in health-care premiums to the government.

Turkey in November in Argentina

BELIZE
Software founder McAfee denies killing neighbor

BOLIVIA & CHILE
Trickle-down diplomacy
Evo Morales tries to swap a stream for a piece of Chilean seafront

BRAZIL
In sign of growing clout, Brazil’s corn helps hold up U.S. market

As the result of a 2009 WTO ruling, Brazil now receives about $17 million in monthly payments from U.S. taxpayers — money being used to advance the Brazilian cotton industry with research on best practices, pest management and other issues. The Obama administration agreed to the payments as an alternative to either curbing government support for U.S. cotton growers or having Brazil slap import taxes on American goods to compensate for the loss to its farmers.

Oil in Brazil
The perils of Petrobras
How Graça Foster plans to get Brazil’s oil giant back on track

COLOMBIA
Colombia Peace Talk Negotiators Meet Again

COSTA RICA
Students protest Costa Rica’s information crimes law

CUBA
IKEA: No deep business contacts with Cuban suppliers
Test sofa sets were of such poor quality that no orders were placed, IKEA says.

Cuban health care
Nip and tuck in
Medicine is big business in Cuba

Can I Wake Up?

Reporters Without Borders condemns Castro regime’s increasing harassment of Cuban independent journalists

ECUADOR
Los fabricantes de burbujas

EL SALVADOR
Holding Salvadoran War Criminals Accountable: The Massacre at University of Central America, San Salvador, 1989

MEXICO
Mexico ex-mayor killed after surviving two attacks
The former mayor of a town in western Mexico, who had survived two earlier assassination attempts, has been beaten to death

Mexican Economy Slows on Weak Exports

PANAMA
Panama Canal’s $5 billion makeover could be boon for South Florida
The $5.25 billion makeover of this century-old engineering marvel could be a boon for South Florida.

Make this a Koki Day!

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico Statehood: Luis Fortuño Pushes Bid To Become 51st State After Status Vote

VENEZUELA
The GREAT devaluation robbery coming to Venezuela

Of Virtual Ice Cream Plants And Ministers In The Chávez Revolution

Fake Venezuelan Olympians held
Ten Venezuelans who falsely claimed to be Olympic weightlifters are arrested in Buenos Aires after scans show drug capsules in their stomachs.

The week’s posts:
More #post-election info: 28% Latino poverty rate

Argentina: Broadcast licenses, cable TV and fiber-optic Internet networks to be auctioned off

China & Brazil: Striking out while the iron’s hot

Belize: McAfee goes bonkers, UPDATED

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#Benghazi: The White House says they didn’t hit “delete”

White House denies terror delete

The White House yesterday denied it edited talking points about the terrorist attack that killed the American ambassador to Libya — contradicting remarks made a day earlier by disgraced ex-CIA chief David Petraeus.

“The only edit that was made by the White House and also by the State Department was to change the word ‘consulate’ to the word ‘diplomatic facility,’ since the facility in Benghazi was not formally a consulate,” Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters aboard Air Force One.

“Other than that, we were guided by the points that were provided by the intelligence community. So I can’t speak to any other edits that may have been made.”

So, who took the CIA talking points Petraeus testified about and edited out al-Qaeda references for the version Susan Rice offered on the Sunday shows four days after the attack?

Possibilities include: 1) The White House is lying; 2: Petraeus is lying; 3) The CIA gave the talking points to an intermediary who made the edits before giving them to the White House; 4) The White House simply came up with their own talking points; or 5) a “combo platter” mix n’ match of any of the above.

Obama 3 Days Ago: And If You Have A Problem With That, You Can Have A Discussion With Me
Obama Today: And If You Have A Problem With That, You Can Have A Discussion With the State or Defense Departments

Are we pretending these people are entirely isolated from each other with a virtual fire-wall between them?

Meanwhile, the WaPo continues to work the gossip angle, pointing out that the Petraeus scandal puts four-star general lifestyle under scrutiny

The commanders who lead the nation’s military services and those who oversee troops around the world enjoy an array of perquisites befitting a billionaire, including executive jets, palatial homes, drivers, security guards and aides to carry their bags, press their uniforms and track their schedules in 10-minute increments. Their food is prepared by gourmet chefs. If they want music with their dinner parties, their staff can summon a string quartet or a choir.

Maybe they think they’re Senators.

But all the accouterments many just point to a beta male in alpha clothing:

The hard bright line separating ALPHA from BETA is how a man deals with female aggression.

Nowhere is that made more clear than on the tango floor, but I digress.

Related:
Should the Secretary of State be a dupe?

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What to put in the kitchen that ate the house

Trendy day at F’sB:

First trend:
The Kitchen That Ate the House
The high-end home’s newest great room features plush furniture, fireplaces, multiple flat screens—and a few carefully hidden appliances. Just look for the cook’s dirty secret in the next room. Like, a kitchen off the kitchen?

Long the de facto central gathering space of the home, the kitchen has ballooned in size in recent years to become the new great room. At the highest end, some are over 3,000 square feet, outfitted with walk-in refrigeration rooms, multiple seating areas, wet bars and fireplaces, with fixtures and décor intentionally designed to look like hip living rooms. In some cases, much of the actual cooking is being relegated to a second, smaller kitchen space, so that the main kitchen can be used for entertaining—minus the unsavory dirty dishes or cooking smells.

Me, I like it when the house smells of bacon.

Second trend:
Reclaimed rustic chicken coop, found at The Hater’s Guide To The Williams-Sonoma Catalog, via Ace,

Williams-Sonoma says: “Built exclusively for us in their urban garden workshop, Laughing Chickens Coops have a classic, old-world design, constructed from the highest quality reclaimed redwood. $65 delivery.”
Price: $759.95 (with painted chicken), $599.95 (plain)

Notes from Drew: This is a real item in the catalog. And honestly, if you’re buying a goddamn chicken coop from a catalog, why NOT spring for the painted chicken? It was hand painted in an urban garden workshop, people. You CANNOT say you are a true farm-to-table household unless you have a coop to call your own. Muffy Wilshire and her fam bought a coop last year and now they can’t live without it. Could you imagine having a frittata made from STORE-BOUGHT eggs now? I shudder at the thought. You can also get a beehive box for $500 if you’re a fucking crazy person. Seriously, a chicken coop. People with money are so good at throwing it away.

Just keep in mind, folks, that nothing says THIRD WORLD MENTALITY like a flock of chickens scratching and pecking on your driveway.

Even if you are watching them from your second, smaller kitchen space.

OTOH, you can spend $950 on a pair of shoes that make you look like you’ve got club feet,

Third: the anti-trend trend,
The Trendiest Guy in New York City (h/t Instapundit). After reading that article, my only advice to any woman who goes on a blind date and finds out that the guy wears a manbun, drinks cocktails during his workout and gets a bikini wax is: Run! Run, and never look back.

Blogging on serious matters shall resume shortly.

UPDATE,
Linked by Dustbury. Thank you!


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Petraeus testifies; focus on #Benghazi

Intel officials unable to say who changed CIA talking points on Libya, lawmaker says

Former CIA Director David Petraeus stoked the controversy over the Obama administration’s handling of the Libya terror attack, testifying Friday that references to “Al Qaeda involvement” were stripped from his agency’s original talking points — while other intelligence officials were unable to say who changed the memo, according to a top lawmaker who was briefed.
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., told Fox News that intelligence officials who testified in a closed-door hearing a day earlier, including Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and Acting CIA Director Mike Morell, said they did not know who changed the talking points. He said they went out to multiple departments, including the State Department, National Security Council, Justice Department and White House.

CIA Benghazi Talking Points Were Changed, Older Version Mentioned Al-Qaeda

Looks like the key question now is who changed the original talking points to the version Rice was given.

Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King,

At Drudge,


SOCIALITE WHO BROUGHT DOWN PETRAEUS DINED AT WHITE HOUSE THREE TIMES THIS YEAR...

Air Force Base Scrub List of 'Friends'...


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More #post-election info: 28% Latino poverty rate

Latino Poverty Rate Climbs to 28%

The numbers released Wednesday

a week after the election

by the Census Bureau are part of a newly developed supplemental poverty measure. Devised a year ago, this measure provides a fuller picture of poverty that the government believes can be used to assess safety-net programs by factoring in living expenses and taxpayer-provided benefits that the official formula leaves out.

Based on the revised formula, the number of poor people exceeded the 49 million, or 16 percent of the population, who were living below the poverty line in 2010. That came as more people in the slowly improving economy picked up low-wage jobs last year but still struggled to pay living expenses. The revised poverty rate of 16.1 percent also is higher than the record 46.2 million, or 15 percent, that the government’s official estimate reported in September.

Again, after the election, we’re told that

Hispanics and Asians also saw much higher rates of poverty, 28 percent and 16.9 percent, respectively, compared with rates of 25.4 percent and 12.3 percent under the official formula.

Oh, We Forgot to Tell You …

Related,
Hispanic Straw Men

Cross-posted at Liberty Unyielding.

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