Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

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Puerto Rico: They call the wind Maria

Maria blows the stars around
Sets the clouds a-flyin’
Maria makes
The mountains sound like folks was out there dyin’
Maria (Maria)
Maria (Maria)
They call
The wind
Maria

The scenes from Puerto Rico are horrific: Ruin, destruction, flooding, and no electricity, cell signals or clean water for three and a half millionAmericans.

Read my post, Puerto Rico: They call the wind Maria

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Argentina: Experts’ report confirms Nisman was murdered

Via Mary O’Grady,

The official report from a team of forensic experts states that prosecutor Alberto Nisman was murdered. He was first beaten by two people and drugged with ketamine, which had not been previously detected.

Among the injuries from the beating, Nisman’s nose was broken.

According to the report, Nisman died at 2AM on Sunday, January 18, 2015 in the bathroom of his apartment.

Times of Israel:

Twenty-eight experts in different areas, from ballistics to psychology, determined that Nisman was murdered by a shot to the head, and that the murderer (or murderers) then attempted to cover their tracks at the scene of the crime, according to a report in the Argentine news site Infobae.

[link to Infobae article in Spanish]

The Tower:

The report also highlighted that only two footprints belonging to Nisman were found in his Puerto Madero apartment. This finding is inconsistent with Nisman’s activities on previous days, suggesting that the suspect or suspects carefully cleaned Nisman’s apartment before they left to cover any tracks.

Lastly, experts explained that the position and angle of the gunshot are not compatible with that of a self-inflicted wound, making it physically impossible for Nisman to have committed suicide that way.

The report was submitted to prosecutor Eduardo Taiano, now in charge of the case.

However,
Nisman: the Gendarmeria Boffins Report (emphasis added)

Taiano has requested that Ercolini order a reconstruction of the murder in Nisman’s actual flat. The flat has long since been rented out to someone else. The someone else in question doesn’t have any choice about cooperating with a federal judge but the paperwork might take time. What will happen then is that the gendarmes will act out their hypothesis with Ercolini and his staff present. It’ll be filmed as well. So when that’s done and not before Ercolini will decide whether he accepts the report of the gendarmeria experts.

Read the rest.

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A new view on the United Nations

I have a post coming up at noon on Pres. Trump’s UN speech, but wanted to point out separately a very important point: The purpose of the UN, as delineated in the speech.

Elliot Abrams (h/t Just One Minute) explains it (emphasis added),

He reminded the delegates that the United Nations was never meant to be a gigantic bureaucracy that would steadily become a world government. Rather, he said, it is an association of sovereign states whose strength depends “on the independent strength of its members.” Its success, he argued, depends on their success at governing well as “strong, sovereign, and independent nations.”

Trump cleverly turned patriotism — love of one’s own country, and what he called the necessary basis for sacrifice and “all that is best in the human spirit” — into the basis for international cooperation to solve problems that nations must face together

Latin Americans view the UN and other international, non-elected, supra-national organizations (such as the International Court of Justice) as saviors of sorts – regardless of corruption and other scandals. They would do well to live by this instead (and I repeat): The UN’s success depends on their [countries’] success at governing well as “strong, sovereign, and independent nations.”

But then, that would be truly revolutionary, wouldn’t it?

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Venezuela: Topic of discussion at the Palace

Pres. Trump talked about Venezuela during a dinner he hosted last night at the Palace Hotel,
Trump calls for democracy to be restored in Venezuela ‘very, very soon’ but avoids talk of a ‘military option’

– President Donald Trump met with a group of Latin American leaders Monday
– He said the Venezuelan government was ‘collapsing’ and the people were ‘starving’
– He said the U.S. was prepared to take ‘further action’ if the Maduro administration persisted in imposing ‘authoritarian rule’
– He called the situation ‘completely unacceptable’
– Trump said in August there was a ‘possible military option’ for Venezuela

Brazil’s President Michel Temer was among the guests, along with the presidents of Colombia (Juan Manuel Santos), Panama (Juan Carlos Varela) and Peru (Pedro Kuczynski), and Argentina’s vice president Michetti.

In case you wonder, the Palace Hotel is owned by the Sultan of Brunei.

Cross-posted at WoW! Magazine.

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WoW! Forum: Is Pro Football Committing Slow Suicide?

Every week on Monday, the WoW! community and our invited guests weigh in at the Watcher’s Forum, short takes on a major issue of the day, the culture, or daily living. This week’s Question: Is Pro Football Committing Slow Suicide?

Don Surber:Pro football is the most popular television entertainment in America. Its annual Super Bowl conclusion draws “Beatles on Ed Sullivan” level ratings.

But as is happening throughout the TV business, the Internet threatens this cash cow.

Also, the self-indulgent sit-downs by players corrodes the civic bond between the core fan base and the team. Browns fans stay with a lousy team because its first name is Cleveland. But watching a team with no prayer to win is depressing. Sitting down gave fans a plausible and justifiable excuse to watch something else. Loyalty is a two-way street.

So yes, the sitdowns and the politicization of the game harm the NFL.
[Read more…]

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