Wednesday, April 29, 2009

USA intends to pull Russia’s leg to have as many nukes as it wants to

Russia and the United States will begin their talks about the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) on April 24. Russia has many questions to ask the United States about the execution of the previous treaty, which expires on December 5, 2009. The USA’s violations touched upon the missiles used by submarines, warplanes and ground-based missiles. America can use weak points of the treaty to double the power of its nuclear arms.




The US-Russian talks about the new treaty are to begin in Rome on April 24. The talks will follow the adequate agreement achieved by US and Russian presidents at their recent meeting in London.

START-1 was signed in Moscow on July 31, 1991 and came into force on December 5, 1994 after the break-up of the USSR. In accordance with the document, the Soviet Union (Russia since 1992) and the United States were supposed to cut their nuclear arsenals to 6,000 nukes within seven years. The USSR was allowed to have 6,500 nukes, whereas the USA could enjoy having 8,500.

The document banned the production, testing and the deployment of air-launched ballistic missiles, underwater launch systems for ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as orbital missiles. Russia and the USA said on December 6, 2001 that they had executed their obligations of the START-1 Treaty. However, experts said that Russia had 1,136 carriers and 5,518 nukes, whereas the United States had 1,237 and 5,948 respectively.

The Russian administration – the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Defense Ministry – made a number of complaints about the US-led execution of the document.

Article 3 of the Treaty regulates the following: the number of nuclear warheads on every intercontinental ballistic missile or submarine-based ballistic missile must not be larger than eight. When the USA tested their Trident-1 and Trident-2 subs after the treaty had come into force, they used a larger quantity of missiles. Ten warheads give the United States an opportunity to mount the additional 288 nukes on 144 missiles.

Russian specialists were not allowed to conduct long-term inspections of US submarines over ‘technical difficulties.’ The Russians can not find out the number of nukes deployed on Trident-2 subs.

America also has a right to continue its cooperation with Britain as far as submarines are concerned. The USA can sell Trident-2 defense systems to Britain, although it is not known which country conducts the subsequent tests of the missiles – either the USA or Great Britain.

As a result, many British submarines are equipped with missiles, the ownership of which remains unclear. Nevertheless, British submarines do not come to US ports: Russian experts do not know how and where the missiles are moved from US to British subs.

The submarines, which the United States tests of its range grounds, supposedly belong to Britain. The US administration does not consider it necessary to report anything about those tests.

When the START-1 Treaty was being prepared, US officials said they were not going to redesign their B-1 bombers to long-range air-based nuclear cruise missiles. As a matter of fact, they simply kept an opportunity to mount near a thousand warheads on the bombers easily.

It goes without saying that the new treaty to regulate the offensive arms is a matter of global importance. However, Russia should be extremely careful with everything that the USA will have to offer at this point.

Vladimir Anokhin

Obamas made $2.7M in 2008, paid $855K federal tax

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama’s long tenure on the best-seller list is paying off: He and his wife, Michelle, made $2.7 million last year, nearly all of it from his books.

While the income was far more than the U.S. median household income of about $50,000, it was far less than the $4.2 million the Obamas made in 2007.
In both years, nearly all of the income came from Obama’s best-selling books. “Dreams from My Father” and “The Audacity of Hope” brought in about $2.5 million in royalties last year, according to copies of the returns released by the White House on Wednesday, the federal income tax filing deadline.
Obama earned $139,204 as a Democratic senator from Illinois last year before leaving his seat following the November election. Michelle Obama received a salary of $62,709 from the University of Chicago Hospitals, where she was an executive.
The couple’s total federal tax came to $855,323. That was 32 percent of their adjusted gross income of $2,656,902.
The Obamas overpaid by $26,014 and elected to apply that amount to their 2009 taxes.
The couple’s federal tax deductions included about $50,000 in home mortgage interest. Their expenses also included $47,488 to send their two daughters to the University of Chicago’s elementary school.

They reported contributing $172,050 to charity last year, including $25,000 each to the CARE international relief agency and the United Negro College Fund. The $172,050 represented about 6.5 percent of the family’s adjusted gross income. That percentage is roughly two to three times the national average for household donations to charity, according to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.
The Obamas gave a total of $1,400 to five churches. In contrast to 2007, they gave nothing to the Trinity United Church of Christ. Barack Obama was a longtime member of the church, and gave it $26,270 in 2007, but resigned from it and cut ties with its pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, after Wright made incendiary comments that became a campaign issue.

The Obamas’ total Illinois income tax was $78,765, their state return showed.
The White House also released Vice President Joe Biden’s tax returns. Biden and his wife, Jill, earned $269,256 last year.
The Bidens’ main sources of income were salaries from the Senate, Widener University and Delaware Technical & Community College and royalties from the audio rights to the vice president’s memoir, “Promises to Keep.”

The Bidens paid $46,952 in federal income taxes and $11,164 in Delaware state income taxes. They donated $1,885 to charity.
“The charitable donations claimed by the Bidens on their tax returns are not the sum of their annual contributions to charity,” a White House statement said. “They donate to their church, and they contribute to their favorite causes with their time, as well as their checkbooks.”
Biden served in the Senate from 1973 until Jan. 15 of this year.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

List of Puerto Rican boxing world champions

In Puerto Rico, boxing is considered a major sport, having produced more amateur and professional world champions than any other sport in its history.Puerto Rico ranks third worldwide between countries with most boxing world champions and is the only place to have champions accredited in all of the current boxing divisions.This number also places the archipelago in the global lead in terms of champions per capita.February 9, 2008 was the first time that boxers from Puerto Rico had held three of the four major welterweights titles (World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organization) when Carlos Quintana defeated Paul Williams to join Miguel Cotto and Kermit Cintron as champions in the division.Individually, Puerto Rican world champions have earned numerous achievements. These include, Wilfredo Gómez's record for most defenses in the super bantamweight division and for most successive knockouts by a titleholder. On September 3, 1994, Daniel Jiménez established a world record for the quickest knockout in a championship fight, defeating Harald Geier in 17 seconds.Juan Manuel López is fifth in this category, having defeated César Figueroa in 47 seconds during his first defense.Ossie Ocasio was the first World Boxing Association (WBA) cruiserweight champion, winning it on February 13, 1982. This accomplishment was mimicked in other organizations: Jose De Jesús, José Ruiz Matos, John John Molina and Héctor Camacho did it in their respective divisions in the World Boxing Organization (WBO), while Ángel Almena was the first pugilist to win the International Boxing Organization's super flyweight title.

Boxing in Puerto Rico

Boxing was introduced and practiced in a clandestine manner in Puerto Rico while the archipelago was still a Spanish colony.[6] Fights were organized in haciendas among the workers of the sugar and coffee plantations, and the objective was to determine the best fighter among the employees. Following the culmination of the Puerto Rican Campaign and Spanish–American War, American soldiers who were stationed in the main island practiced the sport. During World War I, a championship known as Campeonato Las Casas was held as training for military personnel.Nero Chen, the first Puerto Rican boxer to gain recognition, began his career in these tournaments. The Combat Maneuver Training Center followed this example and organized boxing activities, which they named Los Campeones del Campamento. These were received with enthusiasm by the young recruits. Most of these events were celebrated without restriction due to military jurisdictional limits, although prohibitions were put in place for the civilian population.Illegal matches were organized on the rooftops of residences in Old San Juan, empty terrain's in El Condado and in hippodromes.


A statue of Sixto Escobar, found in the Estadio Sixto Escobar venue
By 1924, several young men were being taught to box by Gregario Rosa, a boxer who had won the featherweight championship of the Atlantic Fleet while serving in the Navy. Rosa established "Jack Dempsey Physical Culture and Boxing Club", a gym where he continued instructing more pugilists; however, the local police department would go in and arrest any boxer that participated in a card (organized boxing match). At times they were surprised to discover that several members of the law enforcement agencies and government were involved. In one case they discovered a group of police officers, including a colonel, two members of the governor's cabinet, numerous legislators and a judge at an event.The charges were archived; the decision was justified with a statement that said: "How will we have a boxing world champion if we don't let the boys learn how to box?"

In 1926, a boxing venue was opened in a military facility known as Cuartel de Ballaja; a fight card was organized weekly. Legislator Lorenzo Coballes Gandía redacted a proposal to legalize boxing, which was signed by governor Horace Mann Towner in May 1927.Consequently, the Primera Comisión Atlética de Boxeo (The First Athletic Boxing Commission) was created; this became the first organization dedicated to sanctioned boxing in Puerto Rico. Estadio Universal (Universal Stadium) became the first venue to organize legal boxing cards. The first event featured a fight between Enrique Chaffardet and Al Clemens as the main event, which was declared a draw by the judges.New stadiums were built in Bayamón, Caguas, Mayagüez, Ponce, Aguadilla and San Juan.The first Puerto Rican to win a world championship was Sixto Escobar, who won it on June 26, 1934. During the 1960s and 1970s, there was an increase in the number of pugilists who achieived this recognition.Including Wilfred Benítez who on March 6, 1976, became the youngest world champion in history at 17 years old. This tendency continued during the following two decades, reaching its peak between the 1980s and 1990s. There was a slight decline in the 1990s. Félix Trinidad was Puerto Rico's most notable champion during this period.The 2000s brought another increase, as over a dozen boxers won world championships.

Héctor García, Dommys Delgado Berty, Francisco Varcárcel and José Peñagaricano have served as presidents of the Puerto Rico Boxing Commission. This organization gained more prominence in 1985 when it received full control as the sanctioning body in any professional fight organized in Puerto Rico.In 2000, the commission's regulation was revised to exclude professional wrestling, which up to that point had been under its scope. This was Peñagaricano's first proposal on taking office, since he considered professional wrestling "a spectacle instead of a sport like boxing".During the following decades, the Puerto Rico Boxing Commission became the first governing body to have a female president when Delgado Berty served from 1986 to 1988. It became the first commission to require pre-fight weigh-ins, a measure that was at first criticized, but was later adopted by other boxing organizations.[12] In 2007, David Bernier, then Secretary of Recreation and Sports, approved a new rule in the boxing organization's regulation that prohibited the signing of any pugilist younger than 18 years old as a professional.

Number Name Date Titles Successful defenses References
1 Sixto Escobar June 6, 1934 Bantamweight 5 [I] [14]
2 Carlos Ortiz June 12, 1959 Light welterweight and lightweight 2 and 9 [II] [15]
3 José Torres March 30, 1965 Light heavyweight 3 [III] [16]
4 Ángel Espada June 28, 1975 Welterweight 1 [IV] [17]
5 Alfredo Escalera July 5, 1975 Super featherweight 10 [V] [18]
6 Samuel Serrano October 16, 1976 Super featherweight 14 [VI] [19]
7 Wilfred Benítez † March 6, 1976 Light welterweight, welterweight and light middleweight 2, 1 and 2 [VII] [20]
8 Esteban De Jesús May 8, 1976 Lightweight 3 [VIII] [21]
9 Wilfredo Gómez May 21, 1977 Super bantamweight, featherweight and super featherweight 17, 0 and 0 [IX] [22]
10 Julian Solís August 29, 1980 Bantamweight 0 [X] [23]
11 Carlos De León November 25, 1980 Cruiserweight 8 [XI] [24]
12 Ossie Ocasio February 13, 1982 Cruiserweight 3 [XII] [25]
13 Juan Laporte September 15, 1982 Featherweight 2 [XIII] [26]
14 Edwin Rosario May 1, 1983 Lightweight and light welterweight 3 and 0 [XIV] [27]
15 Héctor Camacho August 7, 1983 Super featherweight, lightweight, light welterweight, welterweight, middleweight, super middleweight and light middleweight 1, 2, 3, 3, 1, 0 and 0 [XV] [28]
16 Mark Medal † March 11, 1984 Light middleweight 0 [XVI] [29]
17 Harry Arroyo † April 15, 1984 Lightweight 2 [XVII] [30]
18 Victor Callejas May 26, 1984 Super bantamweight 2 [XVIII] [31]
19 Carlos Santos November 2, 1984 Light middleweight 1 [XIX] [32]
20 Antonio Rivera August 30, 1986 Featherweight 0 [XX] [33]
21 Wilfredo Vázquez October 4, 1987 Bantamweight, super bantamweight and featherweight 1, 9 and 4 [XXI] [34]
22 José Ruiz Matos April 29, 1989 Super flyweight 4 [XXII] [35]
23 John John Molina April 29, 1989 Super featherweight 7 [XXIII] [36]
24 José De Jesús May 19, 1989 Light flyweight 3 [XXIV] [37]
25 Juan Nazario April 4, 1990 Lightweight 0 [XXV] [38]
26 Orlando Fernández May 12, 1990 Super bantamweight 1 [XXVI] [38]
27 Santos Cardona April 11, 1991 Welterweight and light middleweight 0 [XXVII] [38]
28 Danny García February 1, 1992 Middleweight 0 [XXVIII] [38]
29 Rafael del Valle May 13, 1992 Bantamweight 2 [XXIX] [38]
30 Felix Camacho May 27, 1992 Super bantamweight 0 [XXX] [38]
31 Josue Camacho July 31, 1992 Light flyweight 1 [XXXI] [38]
32 Daniel Jiménez June 9, 1993 Bantamweight and super bantamweight 4 and 0 [XXXII] [38]
33 Félix Trinidad June 19, 1993 Welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight 17, 2 and 0 [XXXIII] [39]
34 Kevin Kelley † December 4, 1993 Featherweight 7 [XXXIV] [40]
35 Alex Sánchez December 22, 1993 Minimumweight 6 [XXXV] [38]
36 Jake Rodríguez February 13, 1994 Light welterweight 2 [XXXVI] [38]
37 Sammy Fuentes November 7, 1994 Light welterweight 2 [XXXVII] [38]
38 Ángel Almena July 29, 1995 Super flyweight and flyweight 0 and 0 [XXXVIII] [38]
39 Angel Manfredy † November 18, 1995 Super featherweight 6 [XXXIX] [38]
40 Frank Toledo † June 9, 1996 Super bantamweight and featherweight 0 and 0 [XL] [38]
41 David Santos † April 5, 1997 Featherweight 0 [XLI] [40]
42 José Antonio Rivera † April 25, 1997 Welterweight and light middleweight 0 [XLII] [38]
43 Lou Del Valle † September 20, 1997 Light heavyweight 0 [XLIII] [38]
44 Eric Morel October 17, 1998 Super flyweight 7 [XLIV] [38]
45 Daniel Santos May 6, 2000 Welterweight and light middleweight 2 and 4 [XLV] [38]
46 Nelson Dieppa July 22, 2000 Light flyweight 5 [XLVI] [41]
47 John Ruiz † March 3, 2001 Heavyweight 4 [XLVII] [38]
48 Aléx Trujillo May 5, 2001 Light welterweight 0 [XLVIII] [38]
49 Ángel Chacón October 27, 2002 Featherweight 0 [XLVIX] [38]
50 Iván Calderón May 3, 2003 Minimumweight and light flyweight 11 and 3 [L] [42][43]
51 Manny Siaca May 5, 2004 Super middleweight 0 [LI] [44]
52 Miguel Cotto September 11, 2004 Light welterweight and welterweight 5 and 4 [LII] [45][46]
53 Luis Collazo † April 2, 2005 Welterweight 1 [LIII] [47]
54 Kermit Cintron October 28, 2006 Welterweight 2 [LIV] [48]
55 Carlos Quintana February 9, 2008 Welterweight 0 [LV] [49]
56 Orlando Cruz March 22, 2008 Featherweight 0 [LVI] [50]
57 Victor Fonseca March 22, 2008 Bantamweight 1 [LVII] [50]
58 Juan Manuel López June 7, 2008 Super bantamweight 3 [LVIII] [51]
59 Román Martínez March 14, 2009 Super featherweight 0 [LIX] [52]
60 José López March 28, 2009 Super flyweight 0 [LX] [53]

Current titleholders

Name Organization Division Date won
Daniel Santos World Boxing Association Light middleweight July 11, 2008
Héctor Camacho World Boxing Empire and World Boxing Foundation Light middleweight July 18, 2008
Iván Calderón World Boxing Organization and The Ring Light flyweight August 25, 2007
José López World Boxing Organization Super flyweight March 28, 2009
Juan Manuel López World Boxing Organization Super bantamweight June 7, 2008
Miguel Cotto World Boxing Organization Welterweight February 21, 2009
Orlando Cruz International Boxing Association Featherweight March 22, 2008
Román Martínez World Boxing Organization Super featherweight March 14, 2009
Victor Fonseca International Boxing Association Bantamweight March 22, 2008

Saturday, April 18, 2009

“Poco útil” embargo hacia Cuba: Calderón

Ciudad de México.- El presidente de México, Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, aplaudió el cambio en la política de Estados Unidos hacia Cuba y subrayó que el embargo comercial ha sido una estrategia "poco útil" para que las cosas cambien en la isla.

En Los Pinos, en rueda de prensa conjunta con el mandatario de Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, Calderón Hinojosa indicó que "de hecho nosotros no pensamos que el embargo y el aislamiento sea una medida buena para que las cosas cambien en Cuba".

Recordó que el embargo de Estados Unidos a la isla "está ahí antes de que el presidente Obama y yo naciéramos y sin embargo no han cambiado las cosas en Cuba".




"Habría que preguntarse si este no es tiempo suficiente para considerar que ha sido una estrategia poco útil para que las cosas en Cuba cambien, y yo pienso que sí", ratificó.

Al contrario, señaló, la realidad que observamos es que las cosas no han cambiado, mientras que la población de Cuba se ha empobrecido debido a factores fundamentalmente internos, pero también a cuestiones externas como el embargo.

En el salón Adolfo López Mateos de la residencia oficial de Los Pinos, el Ejecutivo federal dio la bienvenida a la decisión del gobierno de Barack Obama de eliminar las restricciones a los estadunidenses para viajar y enviar remesas a la nación caribeña.

"Aplaudo las medidas que el presidente Obama ha tomado para cambiar la actitud y para intentar cambiar la política hacia Cuba poco a poco", indicó Felipe Calderón al tiempo que señaló que México y Estados Unidos comparten el mismo ideal de igualdad y de respeto a los derechos humanos.

Subrayó que las medidas anunciadas hace unos días por Obama "van en el sentido correcto" y expuso que México es buen amigo de Cuba y Estados Unidos.

"Sabemos que un día, el día en que prevalezcan los principios en los que creemos, ese día podremos ser mejores vecinos y amigos los tres", aseveró.

El jefe de Estado mexicano deseó "muy buena suerte" y "éxito" a su similar de la Unión Americana en este intento diametralmente distinto de lo que hasta ahora ha sido la política estadunidense hacia Cuba.

"Deseo que tenga éxito, que puedan tomarse pasos más rápidos y más hacia delante y que este gesto pueda ser entendido en la dirección correcta", insistió.

El presidente de la República mexicana expresó su voluntad por colaborar en ese camino, aunque "si la mejor contribución es mantenernos respetuosos de ambos, lo vamos a hacer".

Chávez sucumbe ante el encanto de Obama en la cumbre de Trinidad

PUERTO ESPAÑA (AFP) — Regalos, apretones de mano, sonrisas y promesas de diálogo: el cordial encuentro entre el presidente venezolano Hugo Chávez y su par estadounidense Barack Obama en Trinidad sorprendió a quienes apostaban por un enfrentamiento directo entre ambos en esta cumbre continental.
Chávez, que criticó duramente a Obama y le llamó "pobre ignorante" recientemente, no ocultó el agrado que le producía conocer personalmente al presidente estadounidense. El tiempo dirá si se trata de una estrategia ante las cámaras o de una verdadera voluntad política.
"Me ha dado mucho gusto saludar al presidente de Estados Unidos: 'I want to be your friend'. Venezuela quiere ser amigo de Estados Unidos", reiteró este sábado Chávez a Obama en la primera plenaria de la cumbre.
La víspera, los mandatarios se dieron un apretón de manos que duró sólo algunos segundos pero ha ilustrado la portada de numerosos diarios. "¿Cómo está?", le respondió Obama.
Horas después, Chávez regalaba a su homólogo el célebre libro "Las venas abiertas de América Latina", de Eduardo Galeano, dedicado personalmente: "Para Obama, con afecto".
Según el presidente venezolano, este ensayo de referencia sobre el saqueo de los recursos naturales en los últimos cinco siglos en América Latina es un regalo "para aprender de la historia" que hay que reconstruir entre el norte y el sur de América.
"Tengo mucho que aprender", admitió Obama este sábado tras reunirse con sus homólogos de la Unión de Naciones Sudamericanas (Unasur), Chávez entre ellos.
"Se cayeron bien, definitivamente. Esto puede ser el inicio de algo diferente. El presidente Chávez es consciente del impacto que han tenido sus fotos con Obama y le parece muy bien", declararon a la AFP fuentes de la presidencia venezolana.
La "Obamamanía", que llegó a Trinidad con toda su fuerza desde hace días, también acabó arrastrando a Chávez, al menos mientras dure esta cumbre.
El sábado, en la primera fotografía oficial de los 34 jefes de Estado y de gobierno presentes en esta Quinta Cumbre de las Américas, se pudo ver a Chávez de nuevo conversando animadamente con Obama y volviendo a estrecharle la mano.
"Norteamérica se está sudamericanizando en sus cambios. Un negro presidente de Estados Unidos. Tiene que agradecérselo a Evo Morales, un indio presidente, a (Luiz Inacio) Lula (da Silva), obrero presidente", bromeó Chávez.
En su intervención en la plenaria, el presidente insistió en que Venezuela está esperanzada ante un Estados Unidos "hermano", pero volviendo a su tono habitual subrayó sus exigencias a Obama.
"Es bueno que Estados Unidos aprenda a oír. El espíritu de esta cumbre es que nadie venga a imponer nada a nadie. Que nadie pretenda que seamos patio trasero ni colonia de nadie", advirtió.
Según los responsables estadounidenses que acompañan a Obama, el mandatario desconfía de estos gestos súbitos de atención de parte del que ha sido su más crítico detractor en América Latina y se vio sorprendido ante el regalo de Chávez.
"Es un medio de provocar las cuestiones de la prensa y de aparecer en la foto", declaró un responsable estadounidense que acompaña al mandatario.
Según fuentes presidenciales venezolanas, Chávez no sólo conversó con Obama sino que mantuvo un breve encuentro con su secretaria de Estado, Hillary Clinton, a la que recordó la buena relación que tuvo con su esposo, el ex presidente Bill Clinton.
Además, mencionaron la posibilidad de nombrar a mediano plazo embajadores en Caracas y Washington. Venezuela expulsó al diplomático estadounidense en septiembre y Estados Unidos hizo lo propio con el máximo representante venezolano días después.
"Es posible que empecemos a evaluar la designación de nuestro embajador en Estados Unidos. Queremos caminar en esa dirección", admitió Chávez.

Psychologists Helped Guide Interrogations

Extent of Health Professionals' Role at CIA Prisons Draws Fresh Outrage From Ethicists

By Joby Warrick and Peter Finn
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, April 18, 2009

When the CIA began what it called an "increased pressure phase" with captured terrorism suspect Abu Zubaida in the summer of 2002, its first step was to limit the detainee's human contact to just two people. One was the CIA interrogator, the other a psychologist.

During the extraordinary weeks that followed, it was the psychologist who apparently played the more critical role. According to newly released Justice Department documents, the psychologist provided ideas, practical advice and even legal justification for interrogation methods that would break Abu Zubaida, physically and mentally. Extreme sleep deprivation, waterboarding, the use of insects to provoke fear -- all were deemed acceptable, in part because the psychologist said so.

"No severe mental pain or suffering would have been inflicted," a Justice Department lawyer said in a 2002 memo explaining why waterboarding, or simulated drowning, should not be considered torture.

The role of health professionals as described in the documents has prompted a renewed outcry from ethicists who say the conduct of psychologists and supervising physicians violated basic standards of their professions.

Their names are among the few details censored in the long-concealed Bush administration memos released Thursday, but the documents show a steady stream of psychologists, physicians and other health officials who both kept detainees alive and actively participated in designing the interrogation program and monitoring its implementation. Their presence also enabled the government to argue that the interrogations did not include torture.

Most of the psychologists were contract employees of the CIA, according to intelligence officials familiar with the program.

"The health professionals involved in the CIA program broke the law and shame the bedrock ethical traditions of medicine and psychology," said Frank Donaghue, chief executive of Physicians for Human Rights, an international advocacy group made up of physicians opposed to torture. "All psychologists and physicians found to be involved in the torture of detainees must lose their license and never be allowed to practice again."

The CIA declined to comment yesterday on the role played by health professionals in the agency's self-described "enhanced interrogation program," which operated from 2002 to 2006 in various secret prisons overseas.

"The fact remains that CIA's detention and interrogation effort was authorized and approved by our government," CIA Director Leon Panetta said Thursday in a statement to employees. The Obama administration and its top intelligence leaders have banned harsh interrogations while also strongly opposing investigations or penalties for employees who were following their government's orders.

The CIA dispatched personnel from its office of medical services to each secret prison and evaluated medical professionals involved in interrogations "to make sure they could stand up, psychologically handle it," according to a former CIA official.

The alleged actions of medical professionals in the secret prisons are viewed as particularly troubling by an array of groups, including the American Medical Association and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

AMA policies state that physicians "must not be present when torture is used or threatened." The guidelines allow doctors to treat detainees only "if doing so is in their [detainees'] best interest" and not merely to monitor their health "so that torture can begin or continue."

The American Psychological Association has condemned any participation by its members in interrogations involving torture, but critics of the organization faulted it for failing to censure members involved in harsh interrogations.

The ICRC, which conducted the first independent interviews of CIA detainees in 2006, said the prisoners were told they would not be killed during interrogations, though one was warned that he would be brought to "the verge of death and back again," according to a confidential ICRC report leaked to the New York Review of Books last month.

"The interrogation process is contrary to international law and the participation of health personnel in such a process is contrary to international standards of medical ethics," the ICRC report concluded.

The newly released Justice Department memos place medical officials at the scene of the earliest CIA interrogations. At least one psychologist was present -- and others were frequently consulted -- during the interrogation of Abu Zubaida, the nom de guerre of Zayn al-Abidin Muhammed Hussein, a Palestinian who was captured by CIA and Pakistani intelligence officers in March 2002, the Justice documents state.

An Aug. 1, 2002, memo said the CIA relied on its "on-site psychologists" for help in designing an interrogation program for Abu Zubaida and ultimately came up with a list of 10 methods drawn from a U.S. military training program known as Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape, or SERE. That program, used to help prepare pilots to endure torture in the event they are captured, is loosely based on techniques that were used by the Communist Chinese to torture American prisoners of war.



The role played by psychologists in adapting SERE methods for interrogation has been described in books and news articles, including some in The Washington Post. Author Jane Mayer and journalist Katherine Eban separately identified as key figures James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, two psychologists in Washington state who worked as CIA contractors after 2001 and had extensive experience in SERE training. Mitchell, reached by telephone, declined to comment, and Jessen could not be reached yesterday.

The CIA psychologists had personal experience with SERE and helped convince CIA officials that harsh tactics would coerce confessions from Abu Zubaida without inflicting permanent harm. Waterboarding was touted as particularly useful because it was "reported to be almost 100 percent effective in producing cooperation," the memo said.

The agency then used a psychological assessment of Abu Zubaida to find his vulnerable points. One of them, it turns out, was a severe aversion to bugs.

"He appears to have a fear of insects," states the memo, which describes a plan to place a caterpillar or similar creature inside a tiny wooden crate in which Abu Zubaida was confined. CIA officials say the plan was never carried out.

Former intelligence officials contend that Abu Zubaida was found to have played a less important role in al-Qaeda than initially believed and that under harsh interrogation he provided little useful information about the organization's plans.

The memos acknowledge that the presence of medical professionals posed an ethical dilemma. But they contend that the CIA's use of doctors in interrogations was morally distinct from the practices of other countries that the United States has accused of committing torture. One memo notes that doctors who observed interrogations were empowered to stop them "if in their professional judgment the detainee may suffer severe physical or mental pain or suffering." In one instance, the CIA chose not to subject a detainee to waterboarding due to a "medical contraindication," according to a May 10, 2005, memo.

Yet some doctors and ethicists insist that any participation by physicians was tantamount to complicity in torture.

The Torture Never Stops

The New York Times leads with word that senior CIA officials ordered the use of water-boarding and other rough treatment against an al-Qaida detainee, despite interrogators' conviction that the prisoner had already revealed everything he knew. In a similar off-lead story, the Washington Post investigates the role of psychologists and other health officials in condoning and facilitating the abuse of detainees; medical ethicists say the supervising psychologists and physicians violated their profession's basic standards by participating in the interrogations.

The Post and the Wall Street Journal lead on news of a major shift in U.S. environmental policy: The Environmental Protection Agency yesterday declared greenhouse gases to be pollutants, clearing the way for their regulation. Meanwhile, President Obama arrived in Trinidad yesterday for a gathering of Western Hemisphere leaders; the Los Angeles Times leads on his efforts to broker warmer relations between Washington and Havana. "The United States seeks a new beginning with Cuba," Obama declared, before heading off for a chummy photo opportunity with Hugo Chávez.
An already-cooperative al-Qaida prisoner, initially believed to be a senior leader but later determined to be merely a personnel clerk, was water-boarded, slammed against walls, confined in boxes, and deprived of food, despite his captors' belief that he knew nothing of further value, reports the NYT. An official involved in the interrogation said the treatment, carried out on direct orders from CIA headquarters, plunged the prisoner into the "depths of human misery and degradation" but produced no new breakthroughs. "He pleaded for his life," the official said. "But he gave up no new information. He had no more information to give."

Inside, the NYT reports that further revelations are likely, with members of Congress and human rights lawyers pushing for more details about CIA interrogations in the light of the torture memos released this week. "These are the first dominoes," said one ACLU lawyer. "It will be difficult for the new administration to now argue that other documents can be lawfully withheld." On the other hand, the LAT reports that the White House and the Senate intelligence committee are in the early stages of conducting studies to determine whether water-boarding produced useful evidence—a process that "may determine whether the methods banned by President Obama will ever be used again by the U.S." (Looks like Slate's Dahlia Lithwick may have been onto something.)
The Obama administration took the first step yesterday toward directly regulating greenhouse emissions, declaring carbon dioxide and five other warming gases to be pollutants. As the LAT notes, that's a sharp break with the Bush-era policy of simply ignoring climate change, and opens the door for the EPA to regulate the gases directly. That could affect broad swathes of the U.S. economy; still, agency officials said there would be a lengthy review process, and the WSJ reports that new regulations could be years away. The Post notes that the move puts added pressure on Congress to move to limit greenhouse gases through new legislation, as the President would prefer. "Whether Congress can rise to the challenge this year is an open question," sighs the NYT.

As an undemocratic nation, Cuba is barred from attending the Summit of the Americas; still, arriving in Port of Spain, Obama had warm words for Raúl Castro, prompting speculation that a historic thaw in Cuban-American relations is in the offing. "I know there is a longer journey that must be traveled in overcoming decades of mistrust, but there are critical steps we can take toward a new day," the President said, adding that he was prepared to engage directly with Cuba on a wide range of issues. The carefully stage-managed move went down a storm at the summit, earning Obama plaudits from regional leaders and a hearty handshake from Hugo Chávez; from Havana, Raúl Castro welcomed the comments and said he was ready to discuss "everything, everything, everything" with the Obama administration.
While Obama's gesture—and Hillary Clinton's admission that America's past regional policies had failed—went down well, it's unclear exactly what happens next. The NYT calls for Obama to go all-in and lift the economic embargo of Cuba and to demand that in exchange Havana releases political prisoners and respects human rights. The Post is more restrained, noting that some observers question Castro's willingness to change his policies as well as merely his rhetoric. "This was nothing new," said Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue. "This wasn't an overture at all."
Back home, Citigroup raised eyebrows by clawing its way back into the black yesterday, posting a strong first-quarter profit despite the continued deterioration of many of its core businesses. The NYT accuses the banking giant of engaging in legal but "creative" accounting to gloss over its problems, in the hope of attracting private investment and extricating itself from the strings attached to government bailout money. The Post similarly notes that with increasing numbers of consumers defaulting on loans, America's bankers don't have much to smile about. "We don't see the light at the end of the tunnel," admits Citigroup's chief financial officer.
Under new guidelines being circulated by the National Institutes of Health, researchers will soon be able to receive federal funding for stem-cell research using spare fertility-clinic embryos. In an effort to placate anti-abortion campaigners, however, scientists will not be permitted to create new embryos for research purposes. The NYT notes that while the move drew criticism from both sides, researchers generally greeted the new rules as a step in the right direction. The Post calls the move "an intelligent solution" but argues that the White House should have made the decision directly rather than lumbering the NIH's scientific experts with a political hot potato.

The captain of a freighter hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia returned home to Vermont yesterday to be greeted by cheering, pompom-waving crowds. A pirate captured during the Navy SEAL rescue operation will also soon be heading to America: The NYT reports that law-enforcement officials plan to try the pirate in a Manhattan courtroom. "Just what New York needs—another show trial," grumbles one defense attorney.

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Thursday, April 9, 2009

El Papa Habla Sobre Más Temas Que Desconoce Totalmente

El Vaticano, La Santa Sede - No contento con haber despotricado contra el uso de los preservativos como método de prevención del Síndrome de Inmunodeficiencia Adquirida (SIDA) en los países africanos, el Papa Benedicto XVI se ha dedicado a escribir un libro titulado "El Papa Opina Sobre Todo" donde exhibe su peculiar capacidad de hacer declaraciones terminantes sobre temas de los que no conoce nada.

En su visita a los países africanos de Angola y Camerún el pasado 17 de marzo, el Papa John Ratzinger declaró ante preguntas sobre la posición de la Iglesia Católica sobre el uso de condones que éstos no sólo no pueden resolver el problema de la epidemia del SIDA, sino que lo agravan. Dichas declaraciones causaron una ola de furor en varios países del mundo, quienes criticaron que siendo alrededor de 68% el porcentaje de pacientes de SIDA en el África subsahariano, les parece inaudito e irresponsable que se le dé más incentivo a esa población para que no se proteja con preservativos, sobre todo cuando grupos científicos independientes afirman que los condones son eficaces en impedir la transmisión del VIH. "Me reafirmo en que la solución final para los africanos y la epidemia del SIDA es que dejen de usar preservativos", aseveró Herr Papa. "Total, no entiendo por qué tanto salpafuera con mis comentarios, dado que todos sabemos los africanitos ni hablan cristiano: ¡de seguro casi niguno de ellos entendió una palabra de lo que dije!". Contrario a su suposición, los africanos sí entendieron las aseveraciones del Papa, aunque muchos aseguraron que las ignorarán dado que "esos condones multicoloridos con sabor a esquimalitos son a veces nuestra única comida del día".


El Papa tomó la reacción mundial a sus expresiones con una dosis masiva de Amiplín 500 y, envalentonado por sus doctas pronunciaciones en los campos de la medicina y la sexualidad humana, decidió que ya era hora de publicar un libro que llevaba escribiendo en secreto desde hace años, titulado: "El Papa Opina Sobre Todo", en el cual pretende ofrecer su punto de vista sobre temas variados del mundo actual, sin importar su nivel de conocimiento sobre éstos. "Lo mejor de todo", confesó pícaramente Benedicto XVI, "es que no tuve que hacer ni una pizca de investigación para el libro, al igual que hablé del efecto nocivo de los preservativos a pesar de no haber leído estudio alguno al respecto. ¡Ésa es la ventaja de ser infalible!". A pesar de que el dogma de la Infalibilidad Pontificia en realidad sólo dicta que el Papa no puede equivocarse en materias de la guía doctrinal de la Iglesia, Ratzinger dijo: "Declaro que la guía doctrinal de la Iglesia es que yo soy infalible en todas las materias. ¡Ya, todo listo!".




El Sumo Pontífice leyó algunos pasajes claves de su obra maestra, entre los cuales figuraban muy útiles consejos sobre la Electromecánica, como el siguiente: "Si los espares están haciendo que te falle el alternador, o la polea del abanico está causando que el carburador te jalonee, lo que tienes que hacer chequiarle la caj'e bolas al mofle". Raúl González, un mecánico experto y católico devoto, opinó que "yo nunca había oído esa recomendación, pero si el Santo Padre lo dice, no me quedará más remedio que seguir su divino consejo", y luego se puso a buscar dónde era que estaba la caj'e bolas del mofle. El Papa también proclamó sobre el tema de la Informática que "para lograr que una base de datos logre un tiempo de acceso lineal, bastará con recompilar los binarios con banderas de inclusión paralela, y recodificarlo todo en Perl", para el horror de todos los programadores de computadoras católicos, quienes hubieran preferido "reprogramarlo todo en BASIC o en Assembly que en foquin Perl".

Leyendo del epílogo del libro, Ratzinger ofreció incluso una sugerencia al gobierno estadounidense para que "lograra salir de la prángana económica (¡si bien no moral!) en la que se encuentra sumido: ¡invéntense su propia secta religiosa! ¡Miren a ver si no le ha venido de perillas a los Cientólogos! Eso de la religiones es bien lucrativo", aseguró el Santo Padre, acariciando su cetro de oro mientras estaba cómodamente sentado en su trono de oro con cojines de oro.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

A Tale of Two Latin American Experiences

Biden and Nixon

By SAUL LANDAU

On March 27, Vice President Joe Biden began a three-day tour to Latin America to attend a high level consultation session for the Summit of the Americas, scheduled for mid-April in Trinidad and Tobago. He met in Chile with President Michelle Bachelet and Presidents from Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay, and the Prime Ministers of Norway and the United Kingdom.

Biden then went to Costa Rica. Hosted by President Oscar Arias, and surrounded by other Central American leaders in San Jose, Biden listened, a trait not usually associated with the verbose former Senator – nor with other US officials – as they enunciated the pressing problems of the region. Then he ignored the words he heard about ending the US blockade of Cuba So much for listening!

Biden returned, however, without getting Nixonized. In May 1958, Vice President Richard M. Nixon and his wife Pat began their eight-nation tour in Lima, Peru. Newsreel film showed Nixon greeting Peruvian crowds who answered with boos and hisses. Young Peruvians shoved the VP and his wife and then spat on him. The New York Times huffily described the hostility as simply “communist inspired.”

A week later, the Nixons landed in Caracas. An official band played the “Star-Spangled Banner” and a 21-gun salute exploded. But the crowd greeted the Nixons with a white sheet: “Get out, Nixon!” The confused VP descended into the crowd, where he got spat on again.
Inside the limo, the Nixons wiped spittle from their faces. Other angry Venezuelans hurled rocks at their chauffeur-driven car. An hour later, the Nixon convoy slowed in the Caracas traffic. Hundreds of demonstrators attacked the VIP caravan ripping up US and Venezuelan flags draped on the limo. Infuriated men pounded the car doors with lead pipes; others threw stones. The safety-plated glass shattered. One shard hit Nixon in the face. It was quickly removed.

The Venezuelan escort police seemed reluctant to confront enraged civilians. They had been victims of vengeful mobs earlier in the year when citizens rioted and overthrew pro-US dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez. Uniformed police dragged away a student lying in front of the car. But they didn’t engage a group trying to overturn Nixon’s auto. The driver sped up and escaped.

Nixon planned to lay a wreath at Simon Bolivar’s tomb. But more protesters awaited him. Time (May 26, 1958) estimated that “3,000 rioters, mostly high school students,” awaited him.

US Embassy officials phoned President Eisenhower to report the incidents. Ike dispatched a military unit to rescue the Nixons. The ruling military junta in Caracas that replaced Pérez Jiménez sent soldiers to protect the American VIPs. The next day, military squads escorted Dick and Pat to the airport in a bulletproof limousine.

Provisional President Rear Admiral Wolfgang Larrazabal described the incidents as “very sad.”

Sad? Currently, most Latin Americans feel relieved. In recent decades, they have gotten the proverbial US monkey off their backs. US officials continue to tell people “down there” how to run their governments and their economies, but they can’t easily bring in troops or CIA destabilizers. Bolivia and Ecuador ousted several US “diplomats” and terminated Washington’s costly and stupid “drug war” as well.

In 1958, however, Ivy Leaguers at State and CIA couldn’t conceive of Latin Americans feeling outrage at imperial US behavior. In Washington, under the tutelage of General Hubris, few considered that installing brutal dictators throughout the lower hemisphere might have negative repercussions, even though clear signals should have prepared the foreign policy nomenklatura. Seven months later, in January 1959, official policy mavens gasped in surprise again when Cubans overthrew another US-backed dictator.

This event occurred while the apocryphal General Hubris had filled his chest, in the lecture words of my late professor, William Appleman Williams, with “visions of omnipotence.” After all, the United States possessed a mammoth economy, super technology and nuclear pre-eminence.

For more than a century, Washington chose to intervene militarily and then behaved as if its aggressive acts showed concern for the welfare of those lesser peoples. In 1980, former Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency under Carter, Paul Warnke, described to me official attitudes after World War II. “Latin Americans should be grateful. We allowed them to have UN seats. The Monroe Doctrine and the Roosevelt Corollary became truisms. Nobody questioned them. It was assumed that we controlled the area forever.”

Latin Americans learned, however, that the Washington policy brain had become frozen. In the name of “containing” Soviet expansion and protecting democracy, the United States backed dictators and their militaries – just as they did before the Cold War.

Kennedy’s bright 1961 Alliance for Progress rhetoric paled before his and his successors’ far larger counterinsurgency budget. Democracy got upstaged by military and the police, while the CIA resumed its destabilization of disobedient governments (Brazil in 1964, Dominican Republic in 1965, Chile from 1970-3) and tried hundreds of times to assassinate Fidel Castro.

In 1991, the Cold War ended. The “evil empire” imploded, showing, like the fabled Emperor, that it had no clothes. Latin Americans logically awaited Washington’s policy changes – in vain. The US aura of supremacy continued to prevail. By 2001, Neocons began to impose with presidential blessing their short sighted vision of long term US interests. The invasion of Iraq, they convinced Bush, would begin the next phase of the American Century. As cruel facts demonstrated after US forces still occupy Afghanistan and Iraq, US policy around the world makes no sense.

Mythical General Hubris, still informally in charge of official thinking, clung to outdated strategies -- like anti-Castroism. The slippery slide of pro-US dictators receded under US-dominated free trade. However, the façade of Latin American democracy – political parties, elections, multiple sources of media – could not mask the depths of poverty and misery throughout the area.

By the late 1990s, voters responded to their conditions. Most of the region’s nations elected governments critical of US policy, ranging from openly pro-Fidel Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and Evo Morales in Bolivia to Presidents who express admiration but don’t take direct advice from Cuba’s former President. (Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Guatemala, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Panama and El Salvador)

Biden reiterated a continuation of “punish Cuba” policy. All Latin Americans sneered. The United States has lost Latin America. In the post World War II era, critics of President Truman charged he had “lost China,” referring to his refusal to intervene military in the civil war won by the Communists in 1949. In fact, the United States never had China to lose. But Washington did dominate Latin America for a century. And it lost control of most of its countries. In the 1960s, Washington pressured Latin American leaders to break with Cuba. In 2009, those links have been reestablished.

The new political generation in the region reasons with President Obama to drop the “destroy Cuba” policies. Instead, Latin American Presidents appeal to Obama for focus on issues that scream for solutions: poverty, crime and drug trafficking and immigration. Cuba did not cause these issues. US policy, however, facilitated a vast corporate rip off of Latin American wealth.

US free trade policy led to an increase in poverty. The drug war fostered more violent crime in several Latin American nations and poisoned good agricultural land under the pretext of ridding it of coca and opium poppies.

Drug demand comes mostly from the United States, which has done nothing to reduce the number of its addicts. Free trade formulas led Argentina to bankruptcy. Other nations stopped growing traditional crops that fed their people. Costa Rican farmers grow macadamia nuts and flowers, not corn. For five hundred years, Mexico was self sufficient in corn. Now, she imports more US corn than any other nation. Thank you, NAFTA!

Brazil has become a power, one that merits a seat at the world table – especially the areas of financial collapse and global warming. Obama and Biden could announce a new partnership and permanently retire General Hubris.

Obama faces a strange problem. In the midst of financial collapse, will he also concede the loss of US political power? In 1897, Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee celebrated an empire that spanned the world, including highly populated India and China (an informal colony). The grandfather of General Hubris lived in London. God, he believed, had blessed the Brits with a perpetual lease for the universe.

By 1948, that lease had dwindled to a few remaining minor colonies. In 1956, as British warships sailed for the Suez Canal intent on reestablishing their Middle Eastern power, President Eisenhower ordered them to stop. They obeyed. In 2001, Prime Minister Tony Blair’s tried to kiss George W. Bush’s ass, perhaps to reignite some fading visions of past imperial glories.

Hopefully, someone in Washington will scream as Ike did to the British: “Wake Up! It’s over.” The American Century lasted 60 years. Biden could have helped redefine US relations – partnership, not domination -- with Latin America. What a relief that would have been – for almost everyone.

Microsoft Adquiere La Isla Y La Relanza Como "Microsoft® Puerto Rico"

Washington, D.C.- Puerto Rico recibirá una inversión de $635 millones que podrá utilizar para desarrollar la tecnología en la Isla, como parte de una alianza que estableció el Gobierno con la compañía Microsoft en la Capital Federal.

Así lo dio a conocer hoy el gobernador de Puerto Rico, Luis Fortuño, a su salida de una reunión con el presidente de Microsoft, Bill Gates, quien se comprometió con el Primer Ejecutivo en desarrollar tecnología de avanzada y que esté a la par con las corrientes que se desarrollan a nivel mundial, según un comunicado de prensa.

El Gobernador precisó que “Puerto Rico se ha quedado rezagado en términos de los avances tecnológicos que han surgido en el comienzo de este nuevo siglo”, por lo que reiteró que su administración ha establecido como una de sus prioridades convertir a la Isla en un destino atractivo y más competitivo a la hora de hacer negocios.

“Si queremos que nuestros niños estén mejor preparados, si aspiramos a que nuestra fuerza laboral pueda competir con la de otras jurisdicciones, y si es nuestro interés mercadear a Puerto Rico como un destino ideal para nuestros comerciantes locales y atraer empresas del exterior, tenemos que seguir la dirección que han tomado los países más competitivos, mediante una transformación total en nuestros recursos tecnológicos”, apuntó Fortuño.
La reunión entre el Gobernador y Gates se produjo durante el “Foro de Líderes Gubernamentales”, auspiciado por Microsoft en Washington D.C., y en el cual Fortuño participó como orador principal. En su mensaje, el Gobernador les informó a los participantes sobre la situación actual de la Isla, los beneficios de invertir en la tecnología y agradeció el compromiso que por años Microsoft ha demostrado con los puertorriqueños y con lograr que la Isla pueda llegar a unos niveles de avanzada en este renglón.

San Juan, Puerto Rico - Luego de que el gobernador Luis Fortuño anunciara con beneplácito que la compañía informática Microsoft invertirá $635 millones de dólares en Puerto Rico, salió a relucir que dicha inversión significa en realidad que Microsoft es ahora dueña de la Isla del Encanto. Sin perder tiempo luego de la millonaria adquisición, Bill Gates, el Presidente de Microsoft, anunció que pronto relanzarán la Isla como un nuevo producto titulado "Microsoft® Puerto Rico".


El gobernador Fortuño admitió libremente que su administración "la cagó" al permitir que lo que se supone haya sido un acuerdo de ayuda monetaria unidreccional se convirtiera en lo que se conoce en el ámbito legal como "una comida de dulces". "Microsoft se aprovechó de que nuestro erario está más pela'o que un chucho viejo, y cuando uno está en la prángana no le mira mucho el colmillo al caballo. Esto fue simple y sencillamente una treta de Microsoft para aumentar el alcance de su vasto imperio, y yo fui tan naïve que caí en su trampa", se lamentó Fortuño con cara de perro arrepentido (demostrando que ser naïve es una cualidad esencial en todo gobernador). "¡Muérete, Bill Gates, so nerdo de mierda!", imprecó iracundo Fortuño, haciendo eco del sentimiento de miles de usuarios de productos Microsoft.


Fortuño explicó que la razón por la cual el truco de Microsoft no fue hallado a tiempo fue porque el equipo legal del Gobierno apenas entiende inglés (seguramente porque está compuesto en su vasta mayoría por estadistas): es por esto que se le hizo difícil percatarse que el lenguaje legal del acuerdo propuesto por Microsoft decía que la Isla pasaría bajo el dominio completo de la compañía por el costo de $635 millones. "El contrato no sólo estaba escrito en el difícil", se excusó el licenciado Felipe "Pipe" González, el Director del Departamento Legal de Fortaleza, "sino que estaba repleto de términos legales que yo en mi perra vida había escuchado, como por ejemplo: 'w3 pwn3d j00!, 'all your base are belong to us', y tenía incluso una foto de un gatito abogado preguntando 'I CAN HAZ YUR IZLAND?'. ¿Qué carajo iba a saber yo que si me hubiera molestado en conseguirme un diccionario Webster's me hubiera dado cuenta de que todo era un truco? Bah, esto me pasa por coger Leyes en el Instituto de Banca", musitó en voz baja el abogado.


Aparentemente los abogados del Gobierno nunca han visto un Lolcat

Bill Gates, el Presidente de Microsoft y nuevo Gobernador de la Isla, anunció con emoción el lanzamiento del nuevo producto de su compañía, el cual se llamará "Microsoft® Puerto Rico", y será, en palabras de Gates, "una nueva experiencia para el usuario que ira más allá de cualquiera de los productos que hemos sacado al mercado". El nuevo Gobernador continuó diciendo que "Puerto Rico desde hace cientos de años está en versión beta, y ya era hora que alguien sacara al mercado una versión comercial". Como parte de sus planes para mejorar el producto, Gates anunció que le hará "reboot" a los procesos administrativos del Gobierno, y que botará los municipios de Bayamón y Carolina al "recycle bin" (y que "más rápido que ligero haré 'Empty Recycle Bin' para evitar que ningún chistoso venga a darles 'Restore'". También reveló que, siguiendo el patrón de ventas de sus sistemas operativos, "MS Puerto Rico" saldrá en diferentes variedades: "Home Edition", "Tourist Edition", y "Government Official Edition", prometiendo "una perspectiva diferente de la Isla para los usuarios de cada edición".


El logo de "Microsoft® Puerto Rico" (con un coquí verde para hacerlo todavía más insultante)

A pesar del ambicioso proyecto de Microsoft, expertos boricuas de la informática no se mostraron particularmente alarmados. Waldemar Toro, Presidente de la Asociación de Informáticos Boricuas (lema: "Geeks Rule!"), reseñó que no le parecía que, relanzada como otro producto más de Microsoft, la Isla sufriría mayores cambios: "Puerto Rico ya corre como el aguerrido sistema operativo Microsoft® Vista: toda la decoración de fondo es muy bonita, pero nada funciona bien y todo corre lentísimo (y el que no me crea, que se chupe el tapón en la Número 2 a las cinco de la tarde y que me diga que no). Además, el que trate de realizar alguna gestión administrativa nunca encuentra exactamente adónde es que tiene que ir, y si ocurre algún problema, nadie sabe cómo ayudarte y lo que hacen es mandarte a buscar ayuda en otro lugar: ¡así es el Control Panel de Vista, no me chaves!". Toro concluyó que: "aunque Puerto Rico de ahora en adelante se crashee cada cinco minutos como todo buen sistema operativo de Microsoft, aun así eso será una mejora: ¡es más, de seguro las oficina de gobierno serán más eficientes con un 'down time' de 60%!".



"¡Mira a ver si puedes encontrar a la Colecturía entre todas esas funciones administrativas en el Control Panel!", señaló Toro a modo de ejemplo

En Africa, el Papa rechazó el uso del preservativo contra el sida


Dijo que la distribución de profilácticos "no resuelve sino que agrava los problemas" y volvió a recomendar la castidad como única medida preventiva. En el Continente Negro mueren todos los días 6.500 personas a causa del VIH.

El Papa inició ayer su primer viaje como pontífice al Africa -era cardenal cuando estuvo en el Congo hace 22 años-, afrontando en un diálogo con la prensa en el avión especial que lo llevaba a Yaundé, la capital de Camerún, la tragedia del sida, que ha contagiado a 27 millones de africanos sobre 33 millones de personas que en el mundo padecen el Síndrome de Inmunodeficiencia Adquirida. Contestando a las críticas que le hacen a la Iglesia, dijo que "la distribución de preservativos no resuelve sino que agrava los problemas" y volvió a recomendar la fidelidad conyugal, la castidad y la abstinencia sexual como remedios preventivos seguros.Unos 6.500 africanos mueren diariamente debido al sida.
Benedicto XVI estará en Camerún hasta el viernes y ese día viajará a Luanda, la capital de Angola. Su regreso a Roma está previsto para el lunes 23.

Numerosos misioneros católicos han reiterado en estos días el desesperado pedido al pontífice para que la Iglesia autorice el mal menor del uso de los condones entre los africanos casados, si uno de los cónyuges es un contagiado de sida.

Han muerto ya más de 17 millones de personas del Africa negra al sur del Sahara desde principios de los años '80, cuando fue descubierta la enfermedad que se trasmite en la región sobre todo por contacto sexual.

Al llegar a Yaundé, el Papa Joseph Ratzinger afirmó que la Iglesia no puede "quedarse en silencio ante el dolor, la violencia, la pobreza o el hambre, la corrupción o el abuso de poder" que abruman al continente africano.

"Aquí en Africa, como en otras partes del mundo, numerosos hombres y mujeres anhelan oír una palabra de esperanza y de consuelo", dijo Benedicto XVI en un discurso de saludo en el aeropuerto al presidente de Camerún, Paul Biya, quien lo recibió.

El pontífice denunció como "una moderna forma de esclavitud" el actual tráfico de seres humanos, "especialmente inermes mujeres y niños", llevados por mar a trabajar como esclavos como ocurrió en el pasado "en un continente donde tantos de sus habitantes fueron secuestrados".

El Papa afirmó que el sufrimiento actual de Africa "es desproporcionado: un número creciente de sus habitantes acaba atrapado en el hambre, la pobreza y las enfermedades". Agregó que "ellos imploran reconciliación, justicia y paz, que es precisamente lo que la Iglesia les ofrece".

Africa es para la Iglesia el nuevo "continente de la esperanza", como era antes América latina porque es la única región del planeta donde aumenta en forma firme y constante el número de católicos. En 1900 los fieles bautizados eran un millón y en la actualidad se calculan entre 150 y 160 millones.

La evangelización católica "es de gran vitalidad y dinamismo", dijo el arzobispo Nikola Eterovic, secretario general del Sínodo Mundial de Obispos. Eterovic aseguró que en noviembre en el Vaticano habrá "un sínodo auténticamente africano que contribuirá a dar un nuevo impulso a la evangelización".

El Papa se reunirá en la capital camerunesa con obispos de 52 países del continente a los que entregará el Instrumento de Trabajo del Sínodo especial que se avecina.

Los católicos en Africa han aumentado un 3,1% y el Vaticano difundió datos impresionantes sobre el futuro. Dentro de 40 años la República Democrática del Congo tendrá casi 90 millones de católicos; Uganda 56 millones y Nigeria 47 millones. Los tres estarán entre los diez mayores países católicos del mundo.

El catolicismo africano en expansión enfrenta el desafío de la creciente presencia del mundo musulmán. Uno de cada tres africanos es de fe islámica. También es muy dinámico el proselitismo de las religiones evangélicas y pentecostales de origen norteamericano.

Yaundé está engalanada con fotos de bienvenida al Papa, banderas de Camerún y del Vaticano. Esta es la tercera visita de un Papa al país africano. Además de reunirse con los obispos, el jueves Benedicto XVI oficiará una misa multitudinaria al aire libre y se reunirá con representantes de la comunidad musulmana y de las organizaciones de voluntarios que ayudan a enfermos y discapacitados.

El Papa dijo que quiere que 2009 sea "el año de Africa". En Luanda, la capital de Angola, que se está recuperando de 27 años de guerra civil, oficiará el domingo una misa para celebrar los 500 años del comienzo de la evangelización católica del país.

Por otro lado los Colombianos responden asi:

Sanidad enviará un millón de preservativos a África para luchar contra el sida

El Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo va a enviar un millón de preservativos a África para contribuir a frenar la expansión del VIH-Sida y fomentar la prevención de esta infección.
Esta medida se enmarca dentro de la política de colaboración internacional del departamento que dirige Bernat Soria, que en los últimos años ha llevado a cabo distintas acciones en este continente de la mano de la ONG Médicos del Mundo.

Para la materialización de esta iniciativa, el Ministerio convocará en las próximas semanas un concurso público para la adquisición de los preservativos.

La medida quiere incidir en la importancia de la prevención mediante el uso de los preservativos, que han demostrado ser un instrumento de "eficacia demostrada" para impedir la propagación de la infección, ha informado Sanidad en una nota de prensa.

Dos terceras partes de las personas infectadas con el virus en el mundo -de un total de 33 millones- se encuentran en África.

La lacra de África subsahariana

Los países del África subsahariana albergan al 67 por ciento de todas las personas que viven con VIH y el 72 por ciento de los fallecimientos por sida.

Sólo en esta parte del mundo viven más de 25 millones de personas con el virus y se estima que más del 90 por ciento de los menores de 15 años que fallecieron por esta patología en el mundo en 2007 -de un total de 270.000- vivía en el África subsahariana.

Por otro lado, y a pesar de los grandes avances dados en el acceso a la terapia antirretroviral en países en vías de desarrollo, sólo se ha alcanzado al 40 por ciento de la población enferma.

A esto hay que sumar que las nuevas infecciones crecen a un ritmo 2,5 veces superior a la provisión de recursos sanitarios, por lo que la prevención es la "gran aliada" para frenar la epidemia.

Una vez resuelto el concurso público para el envío de los condones, su reparto podría canalizarse a través de las ONG que tienen presencia en los países africanos más afectados por el VIH-sida como Senegal, Namibia, Tanzania, Angola, Kenia y Burkina Fasso, entre otros.