Archive for January 6th, 2009
Hugo Chavez Tells Venezuelan Jews to Denounce Gaza Attacks
2:20 pm By Maegan La Mala · Gaza|Religion|Venezuela · 1 Comment
6 Jan 2009
More verbal than Barack Obama and forever willing to comment on anything that’s going on in the world, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has put a call out to Jews in his country: denounce the Israeli military actions in Gaza. Rather surprisingly, he did so with good taste and decorum
“A Palestinian community lives here with us which we adore and love and there are also Jews that live here who we love as well, but I wish the Jewish community would declare themselves against this barbarism. Do it. Don’t you strongly denounce any act of persecution and the Holocaust? What do you think we are looking at [in Gaza]? Put your hand on your heart and be fair.”
Of course, he had other things to say, which fit well into his typical spiel, like how Fidel is called a tyrant but he has never invaded a country like Israel is doing now. And how Irani president Ahmadineyad is equally vilified, yet he has never taken action against any country.
What do you think? Are the comparisons fair?
Via / El Universal (Venezuela)
Reuters is reporting on the deadly consequences of landslides in Guatemala occurring off season. Landslides in Guatemala are common, but they usually occur between June and November.
The victims were laborers returning home from coffee farms in a nearby department. They had apparently ignored warnings not to use the road, which was closed in December after a smaller rockfall killed two people.
“I was watching when it started. I thought it was an earthquake but the rocks just fell and fell and fell,” said laborer Leandro Salam, 26, who was working in a nearby cornfield at the time and ran over to help dig out bodies.
The mayor of San Cristobal Verapaz, Leopoldo Ical, told Reuters around 80 farmworkers had been traveling in two trucks when they reached the closed road near the hamlet of Los Chorros and continued on foot.
“The trucks stopped and the workers got out and continued on foot. They are the dead and disappeared,” Ical said.
I live in a region where tornadoes are common, but usually in early spring. There was a horrible wind storm the other night that woke the whole family up and left me terrified that we were in the middle of a tornado. I think we need to ask ourselves why all these normal weather events keep happening off season. Is there really nothing called Global Warming?
May the workers rest in peace.
Today Show Nixes Coulter Last Minute
12:48 pm By Maegan La Mala · Controversia|Media|Politics|TV · Comments Off
6 Jan 2009
Ann Coulter, after Condaleezza Rice and Michelle Malkin, comes in third place on my list of ladies I don’t love (I’m, of course, being classy in my classification). And according to Ann, someone at NBC’s Today Show feels the same way, as the Republican polemicist was bumped from today’s broadcast at the last minute. As would be expected, Coulter cried foul and blamed it all on — who else — the liberal media agenda:
I guess this ends the ‘they just want to get ratings’ argument about liberal media bias,” Coulter grouses on her website.Coulter was due to appear on the first and fourth hours of Today to promote her new book, Guilty: Liberal ‘Victims’ and Their Assault on America, and while the Drudge Report yesterday upped the conspiracy ante, breathlessly reporting that Coulter has been permanently banned from the show, NBC News says hooey.
NBC says that increased coverage of the situation in Gaza led to Coulter’s bump, to which Anita, in classic style, replied:
“I know the whole thing was a setup to block me from other TV shows,” she said. “I think if my book does well I can buy NBC.”
What a payasa!
Via / Yahoo! News
Why Obama Remains Silent
6 Jan 2009
Following up on Mala’s post about the relative silence from Obama about Gaza comes this article by the BBC News which explains possible reasons why Obama may be staying silent on this issue–at least for now:
Gaza is a political minefield for Mr Obama.
If he makes a statement that suggests he would pursue a different Middle East policy from that of the Bush team, it would pull the rug from under the current administration’s diplomatic efforts in the region.
It would also cost him Republican goodwill at home if he were to undermine President Bush in that way.
If he issues a statement which puts him in lock step with the Bush team’s approach, then he loses flexibility when the issue arrives in his in-tray in two weeks time.
Whatever he says now will be regarded as policy, but the political landscape in the Middle East could be quite different when he is sworn in.
I think the essay offers some really great reasoning–but I also think that it’s vitally important to question why so many people seem to think that there are no connections to be made between Gaza and Puerto Rico. Does taking different paths on the road of resistance make situation of colonialism less present? Does a colonial country “giving” your country to another country really make colonialism “ok”? In a more abstract sense–does Puerto Rico (or Mexico or any other (former) colonial outpost) really not suffer from the effects of colonialism today as we speak? Is there a reason why so many former colonial outposts in Latin America are so unconscionably poor, politically unstable, and chronically dealing with guerrilla warfare? Is it really because Latin@s (along with Gazans/Arabs apparently) are inherently violent and unable to civilized? Or are the effects of colonialism perhaps more devastating than we are willing to admit?
Israel’s Assault on the People of Gaza: Cluster Bombs, White Phosphorous, and Depleted Uranium
11:00 am By Maegan La Mala · Gaza|israel|Palestine · Comments Off
6 Jan 2009
Israel, with United States sponsorship is now using chemical weapons against the people of Gaza, including white phosphorous.
From Kabobfest:
What did Saddam Hussein use in his Halabja poison gas attack, along with other chemical weapons?White phosphorous.
The US used this very same chemical weapon in the attack on Falluja in 2004.
The Geneva Conventions make the use of white phosphorous as a chemical weapon illegal and when you read the effects of it, it’s easy to see why.
It ignites on contact with oxygen. Particles on a person can be temporarily extinguished with water, but as soon as they are dry they will recombust. Longer-term exposure causes poisoning, which leads to wounds of the mouth and eventual destruction of the whole jawbone.
Exposure to white phosphorus smoke in the air can also cause liver, kidney, heart, lung or bone damage and even death.
Israel insists that it is using white phosphorous as a smoke screen.
Navidad Isn’t Over : Hoy es Dia de Reyes
7:20 am By Maegan La Mala · Culture|New York City · Comments Off
6 Jan 2009
Despite growing up in the U.S., I was gifted with childhood Navidad seasons in the patria of Puerto Rico and that meant not just Santa Clos pero also the three kings! The tradition based on the Epiphany, when three kings following a star gave gifts to the baby Jesus. Claro que when children put grass and water out for the camels of the kings, they don’t want gold, frankincense, or Myrrh (or socks and panties as my abuela Lila always used to give us, although I will accept cute socks and panties now, go figure).
So Feliz de de Reyes. If you’re in NYC you should head up to el barrio to catch the Three Kings Parade sponsored by el Museo del barrio, featuring community members, artists and activists. Deatils for the parade can be found after the jump.
Hola!
VivirLatino is a daily publication published by Mamita Mala Media, dedicated to featuring all the latest politics, culture, entertainment of interest to the diverse Latin@ diaspora.
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