World News

This just in from the "Change the World" dept.

Occupy Wall Street is gaining traction. Detractors and deniers are finding it harder and harder to ignore. Here
Michael Moore does a good job of explaining "Occupy Wall Street" to BBC's Jeremy Paxman of 'News Night '.

What's your take on this?

Local News

 

Here's another glimpse of Uruguay from a local news item. Reprinted (without permission) from Montevideo Portal. I wasn't able to link directly to this article, only the site, so here it is.
 
19.08.2011 14:40 /

Give him the lie

(I am not sure if the translation is correct for this title.)

The former Secretary of Interior, José Diaz, assured that Pedro Bordaberry’s initiative to lower the age of criminal responsibility is “fake and full of lies.”

 “Fear is reactionaries’ resource”, said José Díaz, former Secretary of the Interior, to La República newspaper. 

Regarding Pedro Bordaberry’s claims, which accused Tabaré Vásquez of promoting crime, Diaz said that “Bordaberry’s initiative is fake and full of lies and therefore uses fake arguments.” 

“Bordaberry said that by means of the Humanization Law, I released 1,200 dangerous criminals, and that this is why national crime and delinquency rates increased. But this is not true, neither in quantity nor quality. In fact, only 800 people were freed” he stated.

About the political leader’s campaign to lower the age of criminal responsibility, Diaz stated: “Let’s not frighten people. Fear is the resource of reactionaries and conservatives, and leads to restoring authoritarian structures. It’s not by chance that a dictator’s son is behind this.”

 This guy Bordaberry is the right wing party candidate and  the son of a former president. Not exactly a dictator, but the president who aided the military take over of the government. It's fools like that who 'legitimized' the power grab by militants, which of course led to a disaterous 8 year  dictatorship.

Good going Dorkaberry!  As everywhere in the world, these dolts appeal to the wealthy and aspiring, promising to keep the status quoe. Then they work up the rank and file with fear tactics. Hold steady Uruguay: the world's last sane place.

There is a Light

The issue of repealing the amnesty law created just after the military dictatorship still looms here in Uruguay. President Jose Mujica continues to prefer leaving things as they are, only investigating disappearances and certain specific crimes, not all the abuses or illegality of those regimes. Uruguayans have twice voted not to repeal the amnesty and key figures in this administration and the Frente Amplio are also unwilling to press on with any attempts at repeal. Follow this compelling and complicated issue about democracy, fairness and the current state of affairs in Uruguay here in this June 4 article from Montivdeo Portal (Titled: Interview with Huidobro) or in this thread of dialogue from a blog geared toward expats.


Disgusted with politics as usual? Discouraged about the future? Fed up with bleak, cynical forcasts (like this blog)?


Here's a great article with loads of links to strong, creative, even inspiring approaches to fixing what ailes us all.


I say capitalism is a plague upon society, but that does nothing with the exception of irritating people. I have no alternative in mind, I only know this is not working for MOST people.


For those who dare to imagine that; A) change is needed and B) change is possible! READ THIS ARTICLE and as many of the supporting articles as possible.


Reimagining Capitalism: Bold Ideas for a New Economy | The Nation
We now return to my regularly scheduled chronic dissatisfaction with endlessly proliferating apathy.


You're Welcome

Osama still 'dead', as far as we know

Hello everybody.

Please click the links for source confirmation and collaborating viewpoints as reported in the media from around the globe. 

With many unanswered questions and a checkered history that include tales now known to be lies (watch this short video), the US government appears to be getting away with what I believe is another hoax designed to distract people from seeking the truth. 


As regurgitated here in Daily Uruguay, celebrating did occur all over the US following the news of OBL's death. That is how many people reacted. An impromptu gathering occurred at Ground Zero, even though there is absolutely no evidence linking this guy to that tragedy. The president himself used the site to make a memorial speech on the subject.

All I'm saying is on reviewing what we've been told so far, there is still much to question about this and there is very little questioning going on.

• The details of this raid seem off to me; the DNA evidence, NO body (hastily buried at sea?), No photographic evidence even for journalists, etc.
• It could be construed as a way to sway public opinion and deflect attention from other serious issues.
•  If you want to believe in the current president, especially in comparison to the last, it becomes much easier to accept without scrutiny.
• There are credible reports of OBL's death prior to this last one.

Criticism of the USA will kept on a low boil, picking on any country too much undermines the seriousness of the message here; We should all be skeptical of 'official' government information (propaganda) and work to keep journalism and entertainment separate.


It seems this blog will to continue to explore differences in opinion on world issues like political corruption or pollution.  It's quite frustrating to imagine yourself as part of a corrupted system, however circulating dissenting opinions and 'fringe' reporting can help reduce the strain by turning the taboo into a topic.


Thanks to those still following;


Sticking to your principals can prove to be highly unpopular.

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