Stay Tuned

 

 America not celebrating?

The media is awash in stories and speculation about the killing of Osama Bin-Laden. Seriously, almost every writer on the sites I follow has been fixated on this news. I can only imagine what American television coverage must be like. I'd like to watch 15 minutes of Fox News right now. Here's a pretty good article from The Atlantic about the ever evolving official statement about the raid - 'The Slippery Story of the bin Laden Kill'.
An interesting 'fact' to emerge is that DNA testing has been done. Wow, that was fast! How exactly did they have his DNA to match it with? And again, that seems kind of quick, no?
The photographic evidence has already been discredited. Here's your trusted CNN on the fake photo.
And here's the photo, yuk.

Not much reporting of dissenting views other than ridicule for Cindy Sheehan on being the first "Osama denier". A 'deather' they are calling her. Read her post on the 'Lamestream' media's response to her opinion about the Osama stories. It may open your eyes a bit.
The way people who attempt to speak truth to power or deconstruct the fables we live by are maligned is incredible. Far more outrageous that anything written here. 'Conspiracy theorists' is another way of saying those people are not to be taken seriously.

Responses in Daily Uruguay on this have been mixed. Believers in the American Myth are incensed, the rest of the world; non-nonplussed. What's fascinating to me is not that some people believe it and some don't, it's the deja vu of the White House parading a 'victory' that is largely unexamined and dutifully regurgitated by the media. ' panem et circenses' anyone?
Whatever percentage of skeptics there are now will likely diminish with time and soon it will become a 'fact' that opinions and attitudes are based on.
How many people still connect Iraq with 9/11? Did you know that Osama bin-Laden never claimed responsibility for that attack? I propose that the 'war on terror', terrorism, attacks against the US and it's embassies, the war against Iraq, the war in Afghanistan are all mixed up in people's minds. Maybe more than they realize.

This sentiment of good guys killing the bad guys is often used and widely believed. Christopher Hayes writes in The Nation about this aspect of American culture.
I hear it's more complicated than that. The way I've portrayed the US does not include all the thoughtful, intelligent citizens who care deeply about what's happening.
Let's start by recognizing the connection between the culture, the media and the government, instead of  patriotic posturing?

Obama Kills Osama

Are you kidding? 

Further evidence that there is absolutely no hope for the US and it's populace emerges with wild celebration over the 'death' of Public Enemy Number 1, Osama Bin-Laden. I've heard reports of pandemonium in the streets of New York City. People are jubilant, euphoric, very, very happy. 
Indeed.

It's absolutely mind boggling how some people can be so easily mislead. Lied to, really.


In Uruguay and I'm guessing most of the rest of the world, this news is greeted with skepticism (at a minimum). The people I've spoken with simply do not believe this story. There is much to doubt; why no body as evidence, for one?
This does appear to come out of nowhere and coincidentally could distract attention from what has become another undeclared and illegal war in Libya. Hmm.

Lots of people doubt all the facts surrounding OBL; did he have anything to do with 9/11 or has the 'search' for this guy been real at all?


There are very few choices for people who conclude they're stuck in a kind of national mess. Very limited are even the opportunities to discuss it. Patriotism is still commonly viewed as a favorable trait,  political differences routinely become polemic and don't forget the plain old comfort of denial. 


Sadly, those are mute points if you believe the good guys have just killed a bad guy.

Wikileaks; The world's Nanny-Cam

Even the 'good guys', so to speak, get caught saying what doesn't look so good in public.

I'm pretty sure Tabare did call those power hungry Kirschner's facists. I think that's how most people here view them. However, in keeping a good relationship between neighbors, it's something you want kept private.

Well, Wikileaks spills it all without regard to who's good and who's not.

It's just like your grandmother said: "Don't say anything you wouldn't want repeated".

Merco Press

More Good News about Uruguay

Everything is relative. This says it all and nothing at the same time.


It's quite hard to appreciate what you've got until you loose it, to really know your excesses until you are force to do with less.


Some of the world's biggest economies are struggling and something deep inside us knows it's not just the crash of 2008.


Is there any hope that Goliaths of the globe can learn something from the Davids?


Here's another story remarking on Uruguay's success, beauty and safety. It's a tiny place where the pace and practices usually make the average 'Norteamericano' cringe, but it's not what you have, it's how well you live.


By the way, what's in your wallet? Read this American Quarterly article if you have some time.


Cheers

Americas Quarterly

Lula da Silva says Latin America’s left is a model for developed countries — MercoPress

Uruguay's Frente Amplio and other 'Left' governments of South America are a model for the big guys. 

What do you know?

Of course there is little to no hope of dislodging the growing popularity of conservative (read; hateful) political ideologies as they are the product of a completely broken system. A system that not only promotes and rewards selfishness, but makes learning another way treasonous.


Enjoy the article.


Lula da Silva says Latin America’s left is a model for developed countries — MercoPress

No Gas

For nearly two weeks a city that lives by bottled gas has had to do without. 

Here they're called 'garrafas'.

Like most people our stove is connected to a small tank that sits nearby. For us it's under our kitchen counter, behind some doors. For some it's just outside, maybe a patio area and the connection passes through a hole in the wall. Very low-tech and it works quite well. 


There is currently a strike underway by the workers who handle these tanks. As I hear it, they are asking for a shorter day due to the inherent hazards. Of course it comes down to man vs. business (read: humanity vs. profit), as the gas companies have replied that there are other ways to reduce risks, but those would involve.............drum roll please, a increase in price. 

Who saw that coming?


We had a little luck with this. After our kitchen tank ran out, we discovered the tank from the upstairs heater was nearly full. As far as me picking it up can gauge. We have two space heaters on wheels. The tank sits inside these little 'carts' and they work quite well. 
Winter for us has no snow, but it can be plenty cold. I wouldn't mind having yet another of those things, I prefer it to the 'split' in our bedroom. That's the A/C-Heat unit, wall mounted with the compressor part on the outside.


The last news is that all sides are nearing a solution. There's been talk of the pols getting involved. Somebody has mentioned including gas handlers into the realm of essential services, like cops that can not strike. I know it takes power from the union, which is bad, but everything and I mean everything needs checks and balances. 


I suppose if it went on for a very long time we will cook some on the parilla, order out (although it will soon affect most restaurants), eat salads and sandwiches. There will probably be a rush to buy all the  electric appliances out there. You know what worries me the most? No morning coffee!

Chevron Runs from Judgment in Ecuador

Do you ever think about what our oil dependency costs us? Most would agree that the world is being polluted, but do you realize that many global companies operate outside of reason, morality and law. Read this article if you have some time.




Chevron Runs from Judgment in Ecuador