Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

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The “Silence is health” Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Orwell was off by a decade, as this 1974 sign in Buenos Aires showed.

ARGENTINA
Things that can’t be said

A Weekend Without Soccer: Argentina’s Stadiums Silenced After Player Killed

BOLIVIA
Evo Morales wants his revolution to perpetuate itself “like China’s”: Evo Morales quiere que su revolución se perpetúe “como en China”

“Gobernar para toda la vida, pero sirviendo al pueblo boliviano y no estamos lejos de eso” [“To govern for a lifetime, but serving the Bolivian people, and we’re not far from that”]

BRAZIL
Brazil’s supreme courtCourtly intrigueThe battle between president and Congress moves to the judiciary

Mr Fachin’s travails have little to do with jurisprudence and everything to do with a power struggle between an unruly Congress and an enfeebled president. The two sides have been tussling ever since the start of Ms Rousseff’s second term in January. The new battleground is the supreme court, the final interpreter of the constitution. On May 5th Congress amended the constitution to raise the age at which judges on higher federal courts must retire from 70 to 75. This could deprive Ms Rousseff of five supreme court nominations she had expected to be able to make before her term ends in 2018.

Rio de Janeiro Buses Set Afire in Protest against 2 Deaths in Shantytown

CHILE
Two die during Chile student protest in Valparaiso

Two young men have been shot dead during a student protest in Chile.

The victims were named as Exequiel Borbaran, 18, and Diego Guzman, 24. Both men were killed in the port city of Valparaiso, said Interior Minister Jorge Burgos.

Local media report that they had been spraying graffiti on a wall and were shot by the son of the owner of the property.

A poetic trip to ChileUnder Neruda’s influence

COLOMBIA
Colombia Defense Minister Says Cocaine Production Increasing

CUBA
Cuba’s Twisted Definition Of Terrorism

Cuba’s 12 Most Absurd Prohibitions That Tourists May Never NoticeIt’s getting easier to go to Cuba, but not necessarily to live there. Sometimes it’s the little things that make you crazy. But, then, there are big things, too.

4-Can’t live in Havana (without a permit).

Raul Castro Is On a Road Alright, To the Netherworld

ECUADOR
Ecuador Responds to Bloomberg Article: Fernando Alvarado Espinel

GUYANA
Opposition’s Electoral Victory in Guyana Was a Long Time Coming

Five points on Guyana’s elections

HAITI
How the Clintons worked Haiti

JAMAICA
Jamaica Tests Drones to Detect Illegal Fishing

LATIN AMERICA
Latin American Allies Resist U.S. Strategy in Drug Fight

MEXICO
Mexican satellite burns up in launchA Russian rocket carrying a Mexican satellite malfunctions and burns up over Siberia soon after launch on Saturday, Russia’s space agency says. $390 million gone, but Mexican Government Says No Economic Losses Caused by Lost Satellite

Mexico travel advisory: Avoid Puerto Vallarta

PANAMA The Panama Canal Gets Grander

PARAGUAY
Paraguay rejects UN criticism over case of 10-year-old pregnant girl

PERU
Hydroelectric Mega-Project Threatens Machu PicchuLocals Cry for Help with River Set to Dry Up in Vilcanota Valley

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico’s Massive Anti-Austerity Protests Ignored By U.S. Mainland Media

URUGUAY
Bring Your Own Salt – BYOS – Assault On Salt: Uruguay Bans Shakers In Restaurants And Schools

VENEZUELA
Chavismo Meets Its Match in MemesHumor the Last Refuge for Defiant Venezuelans

Mass Deportation of Colombians Underway in VenezuelaMaduro Scapegoating Legal Migrants for Food Shortages Whistleblower: Infrastructure Planning Bites the Dust in CaracasPublic Ministry Sources Sound Alarm on Potential Environmental Disaster

Felipe Gonzalez Will Travel to Venezuela Despite Maduro Snub

US Senators meet with wives of Venezuelan dissenters, voice supportSenator Marco Rubio called for tougher implementation of the executive order imposing sanctions on Venezuelan officials

The week’s posts and podcast: 
Argentina: “Silence is health”

So many Evitas, so little time . . .

Argentina: Side-by-side #Nisman

Why the University of Alabama won over the Ivy League

Ecuador: Correa thinks Brad bought the wrong book

Art: Abstract interpretation of a minion sells for $46.5million

Venezuela: The dark side of price controls

Brazil: World Cup stadium now a parking lot

If the Pope were working for the other side, what exactly would he be doing differently?

Hezbollah in Latin America: $100million a year, and more

En español: Unidad de quemados OHL

Honduras: “It’s over for the little guy”

Haiti: Clintons’ scam

Cuba: Fidel’s fantasy islands

Cuba: The annotated Raul-Pope Francis meeting



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Charlie Hebdo’s next: 1,000,000 copies

Charlie Hebdo to Publish One Million Copies of Next Issue
Other Media Companies, Google Fund to Help Cover Cost of Giant Print Run

Charlie Hebdo—known for its satirical critique of all forms of authority, be it religion, government or the military—plans a shorter version of the next issue on Wednesday, with eight pages instead of the usual 16, said the magazine’s lawyer, Richard Malka.

However, he said it would publish one million copies. Charlie Hebdo normally sells about 30,000 copies a week.

Other media companies, including Le Monde and Vivendi SA ’s Canal Plus , among others, have offered to help pay for the giant run, he said. Roughly €250,000 ($300,000) will come from a fund Google Inc. set up two years ago to settle a copyright fight with French newspapers, the fund’s director said.

I applaud this decision.

Let’s make sure they get bulletproof glass and the staff and their bodyguards are trained and issued with firearms.

Bonus:
These Are The Charlie Hebdo Cartoons That Terrorists Thought Were Worth Killing Over



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And now a break for Spiral/Engrenages


A friend recently recommended the French police thriller Spiral, and it’s addictive.

The literal meaning of the French title, Engrenages, is closer to gears (as in the grinding of the judicial system) than to spiral, but Spiral is very apt.

Taking place in Paris, this is not, repeat, not a travelogue (in four seasons, there’s only one shot of the Champs Élysées); it is the Paris of ugly rough neighborhoods, banlieus, and squats. The “French judicial system” means the cops can rough you up, strip-search you, and leave you in the clink for 3 days, and Miranda is the name of some girl, not of a SCOTUS decision regarding your rights.

A combination of Good Wife-type soap opera, CSI, and Law & Order, the characters are perfectly cast and the stories follow an arc through a season. Mostly Film has spoilers, but lists the main characters with great élan,

There’s also all the usual mixed-bag of recurring characters that a show like this gathers over time, including one man who looks so very French it hurts…

My favorite so far is Judge Roban, with his perfect hair,

Mr. Selfridge fans will be happy to hear Grégory Fitoussi plays one of the lawyers.

Warning: Violence, sex, gore, and really foul language.
In colloquial gutter French with English subtitles that sometimes aren’t great, but the show is worth the effort.

The Guardian blogs it.

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Because nothing sells cell phones like Che

Richard Branson is flogging Virgin cellphones on the streets of Paris wearing a Che outfit,

It’s not clear if Branson went for 100% authenticity and didn’t shower or bathe for a few weeks prior to the stint, but Marc Masferrer is not amused.

Rather than disguise himself as a mass-murdering sociopath communist, next time Richard ought to try something more fitting to his personality,

Certainly le tout Paris will be impressed by his fashion sense.

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TIME’s Paris bureau chief: Charlie Hebdo asked for it

Yesterday in Paris, Charlie Hebdo got firebombed out of existence for daring to publish a special Charia Hebdo issue.

TIME Mag took the side of the terrorists:
The tab title is “Offices of Satirical French Newspaper Charlie Hebdo Get Firebombed.” Innocuous enough. If you look at the official article title, Firebombed French Paper Is No Free Speech Martyr; it goes on to state,

So, yeah, the violence inflicted upon Charlie Hebdo was outrageous, unacceptable, condemnable, and illegal. But apart from the “illegal” bit, Charlie Hebdo’s current edition is all of the above, too.

However the article’s original title, i.e., how the author posted it initially, is “Firebombed French paper a victim of islamists, or of its own obnoxious Islamophobia?”

You can see it on the URL:

http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2011/11/02/firebombed-french-paper-a-victim-of-islamistsor-its-own-obnoxious-islamophobia/#ixzz1ceST2k4g

Had TIME kept that title it would have saved having to read the rest.

Now, you’ll say, “another op-ed by a freelancer or a guest.”

Not so.

Bruce Cromley, the author of the piece, is described by TIME as,

Bruce Crumley, Paris bureau chief for TIME, helps shape TIME’s coverage of France and Europe in areas including business, politics, religion, terrorism and sports.

And,

He has been particularly active in TIME’s coverage of al Qaeda-sponsored terrorism since September 11, 2001-an area he has followed closely since 1994, when France became the favored European target of Islamist extremists.

Helping “shape TIME’s coverage” with full sympathy for the arsonists.

This is what Charlie Hebdo’s offices look like now,

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France: Charlie Hebdo firebombed

Charlie Hebdo, the Paris satirical paper that in 2006 was the only in the country to publish the Mohammed cartoons, was firebombed last night, since they wouldn’t submit:
Satirical Magazine Is Firebombed in Paris

The office of a French satirical magazine here was badly damaged by a firebomb early on Wednesday, the publisher said, after it published a spoof issue “guest edited” by the Prophet Muhammad to salute the victory of an Islamist party in Tunisian elections. The publication also said hackers had disrupted its Web site.

The magazine, Charlie Hebdo, had announced a special issue for publication Wednesday, renamed “Charia Hebdo,” a play on the word in French for Shariah law.

Here you see it,

Gateway Pundit reports,

Meanwhile, a play that [has] Jesus covered in crap is also playing in Paris.
No firebombs were reported.

¡No Pasarán! has more.

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Paris, tea parties, and tires: Friends’ posts roundup

I have frequently referred to “friends I haven’t met yet” but after blogging for a few years you get to meet face-to-face a lot of bloggers.

Here’s a roundup of friends’ posts,
Jim has A Tale of Five Tires

James posts about blue jeans. In the course of the post I found out he owns a tux. Very impressive.
I’m of two minds about blue jeans. I only wear blue jeans if I know I’m not going out. I believe the only time recently that I wore blue jeans to go out was to tango lesson a couple of weeks ago, and I’d rather tango wearing skirts anyway.

Jane makes a point about parenting. Leave the kids at home when shopping, please.

Scott parodies life itself: Obama Requires Tea Parties to Use Govt.-Funded Leaf

Speaking of Tea Parties, Pamela was there.

Rick has the FAQ on the tea parties.

Val’s posting about Obama, Cuba and the OAS

Cindy has Another “I Told You So” Moment

Moe posts on Spainmas Interruptus, i.e.,

Spanish prosecutors will recommend against opening an investigation into whether six Bush administration officials sanctioned torture against terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay.

Moe talked about that on Tuesday’s podcast.

TigerHawk’s in Paris.

UPDATE
Two more,
Neo-neocon looks at signs of the times.

Mary has a great suggestion from a merchant marine captain.

More
Obi’s sister took photos in Atlanta.

Dan plans ahead.

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