Playing Schubert Piano Quintet D667, “The Trout,” when we all were very young,
I hesitated because of the poor sound quality on YouTube. It’s available on DVD, but I have not had the chance to try it out. Here’s the link,
American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture
By Fausta
By Fausta
Being a graduate student ain’t what it used to be.
Read my post, “Free tuition, free health care, and a $30,000 stipend.”
By Fausta
Four newspapers and three TV stations were fined US$3,750 each for not carrying a story on presidential candidate Guillermo Lasso.
Ecuador fines media for not publishing a story
Ecuador has fined seven media companies for not publishing a story that it deemed of public interest.
The state’s media watchdog said the press had a duty to cover a story about the supposed offshore dealings of opposition politician and recent presidential candidate Guillermo Lasso.
The investigation was published in an Argentine newspaper in March.
The watchdog and the media companies have accused each other of censorship. Appeals are under way.
The ruling was made against newspapers El Comercio, La Hora, Expreso and El Universo, and television channels Televicentro, Teleamazonas and Ecuavisa.
. . .The report, “Lasso: the offshore tycoon”, was first published by Argentina’s left-wing Pagina 12 newspaper, and was picked up by various other Ecuadorean news outlets ahead of the country’s election on 2 April.
The Committee to Protect Journalists asserts that “No government anywhere, including in Ecuador, has any business telling the news media what to cover,” and reports,
In defending its actions before Supercom, lawyers for El Comercio argued that the original Página/12 story was poorly reported, failed to include a response from Lasso, and that publishing the unverified allegations would have violated an Ecuadoran law barring media from promoting or denigrating candidates immediately before elections.
Freedom House has rated Ecuador’s press status as “not free.”
By Fausta
The hapless Marie Antionette supposedly said, “Let them eat cake!”
Maduro is saying “Peace will prevail.”
“Peace will prevail,” the former bus driver says in one video as he drives other ruling-party officials through a middle-class neighborhood in his car. The footage inadvertently shows them cruising past graffiti that calls the president a “murderer of students,” an apparent reference to some of the people killed in numerous clashes between demonstrators and security forces.
“With Montalbán neighbors, sharing ideas and betting with the middle class for peace and coexistence.”
Junto a vecinos de Montalban, compartiendo ideas y apostando con la clase media por la paz y la convivencia. pic.twitter.com/gPhzXfFGYY
— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) April 22, 2017
The article doesn’t mention that Maduro’s show must be carried by all licensed radio and TV stations under penalty of law.
I wasn’t sure whether to call Maduro “Caracas Chuck,” a la Baghdad Bob, or Madurantoinette. I went with the latter since we don’t know who’ll be in charge after he’s done.
By Fausta
Good
The Democrats want to shut government if we don't bail out Puerto Rico and give billions to their insurance companies for OCare failure. NO!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 27, 2017
Democrats have been pushing to help Puerto Rico cover a Medicaid shortfall. The U.S. territory is currently facing a multi-billion dollar debt crisis.
Prior posts on Puerto Rico here.
By Fausta
The government made the announcement after the OAS voted to hold a meeting of foreign ministers to discuss the spiralling crisis in Venezuela.
Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez
said Wednesday that Mr. Maduro ordered the withdrawal from the Organization of American States after 19 of the group’s 34 members agreed on a resolution to discuss Venezuela’s precarious situation.
The demonstrations continue.
“Security forces repress demonstrators on the Francisco Fajardo highway and Las Mercedes in Caracas”
#26Abr Cuerpos de seguridad reprimen a manifestantes que en la autopista Francisco Fajardo y Las Mercedes en Caracas pic.twitter.com/tAZDWSX9rd
— Reporte Ya (@ReporteYa) April 27, 2017
By Fausta
Millions of Crabs Are Invading Cuba’s Streets
Why did the crab cross the road? To get to the Bay of Pigs, apparently. Cuba’s roads are currently “carpeted” with red, black, and yellow land crabs on their annual migration to spawn by the sea, according to Reuters.
Each year, shortly after the island’s first spring rainfall, crabs scuttle by the millions from the forest to the southern coast to lay eggs. They come out daily at dusk and dawn, and cover the roads surrounding the bay. Unfortunately, their numbers are so great that many are inevitably run over. Their shells are sharp enough to puncture motorists’ tires though, which is bad news for visitors but good news for local businesses: Tourists are willing to pay $10 to repair their crab-popped tires, which is nearly half of the state’s average $25 monthly salary, says Reuters.
How bad is it?
This bad:
By Fausta
Because nothing leads to “honest, inclusive conversations” that reduce suspicion which bring about “authentic healing” like denying men of any race their unalienable rights to vote, to own property, to legal representation and to anything that Marxists don’t agree with.
Read my post, HuffPo editor resigns, keeps digging.