Utah Congressman Wants to Stop Government Funding for Parks Across the Country

Posted: October 28, 2015

Remember Obama’s early days, when efforts to reform health care were met with demands that the U.S. government keep its dirty mitts off Medicare? Taking that same cross-eyed look at public institutions, a Utah congressman is determined to shut down a 50-year-old bipartisan stewardship program for forests and parks across the country because he says it’s an improper use of public funds.

“There's no way in hell I am going to allow you...to expand the footprint of the federal government,” Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, said of the program.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) was created by Congress in 1964 in response to requests President Kennedy’s call for , “a land acquisition program to preserve both prime federal and state areas for outdoor recreation purposes.” A 221% increase in the use of park and forest lands since 1946 drove Kennedy’s sense that something had to be done, “before the land becomes unavailable either because of skyrocketing prices or because it has been preempted for other purposes.”

The LWCF is funded with money made from economic activity on public lands, mostly royalties from oil and gas drilling leases. It’s a fitting arrangement, and one that has resulted in 5 million acres of protected public space. Since 1978, according to High Country News, the fund has been authorized to receive up to $900 million annually, though in recent years Congress has appropriated less than a third of that. Even so, its work has helped generate hundreds of millions of dollars in outdoor recreation and working lands.

More:
http://progressive.org/news/2015/10/188379/utah-congressman-wants-stop-government-funding-parks-across-country#sthash.mXj6Uy5t.dpuf

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Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah





Derp! [/center]

Source: Common Dreams

'Yes, I Lied': Vindicating Villagers, Star Chevron Witness Busted for Perjury

Published on Tuesday, October 27, 2015
byCommon Dreams

'Chevron has taken the people of Ecuador and the U.S. court system on a ride, full of lies, deliberate delay, and obstruction of justice,' says Amazon Watch

by Deirdre Fulton, staff writer


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"This is vindication for the Ecuadorians...and we now hope Chevron will finally do the right thing and clean up their toxic mess." (Photo: Amazon Watch/Facebook)
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In what is being called "a dramatic turn" in a protracted legal battle, documents publicized Monday reveal that the star witness in a case pitting rainforest villagers against a multinational oil giant has admitted to lying under oath in an effort to help Chevron avoid paying a $9.5 billion judgment for deliberate pollution of the Ecuadorian Amazon.

"Yes sir, I lied there...I wasn't being truthful," ex-judge Alberto Guerra reportedly told an international arbitration tribunal earlier this year when asked about his claim that the plaintiffs' legal team offered him a $300,000 bribe to ghostwrite the ruling in their favor.

Guerra's claim, VICE News explains, provided the underpinnings for New York federal judge Lewis Kaplan's 2014 ruling that the $9.5 billion verdict was obtained by way of fraud and coercion—a victory for Chevron, which had refused to abide by the judgement.

In fact, transcripts (pdf) of the 2014 tribunal proceedings made public on Monday—obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by Courthouse News with support from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press—shine new light on the extent of Chevron's payments to Guerra for his false testimony, some $12,000 per month plus other perks which included a car, healthcare, and relocating him and his family to the United States.

Read more: http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/10/27/yes-i-lied-vindicating-villagers-star-chevron-witness-busted-perjury.

Botero’s famous obese figures travel the world
Posted by Claire Dennis on Oct 27, 2015

The sculptures of nationally and internationally famous Colombian artist Fernando Botero recently embarked on a world-wide tour to support Latin American art.

Miami marks the primary destination of Botero’s unique works. 15 of his sculptures were recently put on display in Bayfront Park of Miami, Florida for the Latin-influenced population to view.

Chosen by the Nader Latin American Art Museum as their first exposition to promote Latin American artists, Botero’s distinguished obese women dressed in bronze will remain in Miami until January 2016 and participate in the world-renowned art festival, Art Basel.

These bronze women, which together conform Botero’s exposition known as Monumental Sculptures, were also lucky enough to fly to Paris, Venice, New York, Tokyo and Athens, among other global culture centers, before arriving in Miami.

More:
http://colombiareports.com/boteros-famous-obese-women-travel-the-world/

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Fernando Botero.





Death of Pablo Escobar



Abu Ghraib









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More paintings:
https://www.google.com/search?biw=908&bih=396&tbm=isch&q=fernando+botero+paintings+guantanamo&spell=1&sa=X&ved=0CBkQvwUoAGoVChMIupKqnMvjyAIVBVkmCh20kwGU&dpr=0.2#imgrc=_

Files Incriminating CIA Stolen From Center For Human Rights Office, Break-In Happened During CIA Head’s Visit

Theft of files alleging CIA cover-up of civilian killings in El Salvador had 'suspicious' elements.

By Nadia Prupis for Common Dreams @nadiaprupis | October 23, 2015


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Unknown numbers of civilians, including children, were killed by the U.S.-backed El Salvadoran military in the civil war. (Photo: Reuters)
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University of Washington police are investigating a break-in at the school’s Center for Human Rights (UWCHR) after files from a lawsuit against the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) were stolen from the center’s offices.

A computer and hard drive containing information from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed on October 2 were stolen from the offices of Dr. Angelina Godoy sometime between Thursday and Sunday, according to police. The UWCHR is investigating whether the CIA illegally withheld information about human rights violations carried out by U.S.-backed El Salvador army officers during the country’s civil war against leftist rebels in the 1980s.

Godoy said “about 90 percent of the information” was taken in the break-in. The UWCHR has backups of the stolen files, but Godoy said the concern now is how the data might be used against rights workers in El Salvador who are involved in the lawsuit. “What worries us most is not what we have lost but what someone else may have gained,” she said in a statement. “The files include sensitive details of personal testimonies and pending investigations.”

The break-in had “suspicious and disturbing” elements, the Seattle Times reported—including that it coincided with a campus visit by CIA director John Brennan, who gave a speech at the university’s law school Friday.

More:
http://www.mintpressnews.com/files-incriminating-cia-stolen-from-center-for-human-rights-office-break-in-happened-during-cia-heads-visit/210615/

Guatemala election puts Latin America's affinity for racist caricatures in spotlight

Political rise of former blackface comedian Jimmy Morales has again prompted concern about prevalence of offensive characters in Brazil, Mexico and elsewhere

Nina Lakhani
Wednesday 21 October 2015 09.43 EDT

Latin America’s enduring fondness for grotesque racist caricatures has returned to the spotlight with the political rise of Guatemalan performer Jimmy Morales.

Morales, currently the frontrunner in the country’s presidential election, was until recently best known as a comedian who performed in blackface portraying a hapless character called “Black Pitaya”, or Black Dragonfruit. Morales no longer plays the character, which he has defended as a harmless joke enjoyed by Guatemalans of all ethnicities. But his image is still used in the country to sell hair products and soap.

Racial caricatures have been used as brands across the region. In Colombia, Mimo’s ice cream flavours were depicted by race: a black man for chocolate, a white girl for vanilla.

Peru perhaps has some of the continent’s most racist characters. Negro Mama is a popular blackface television personality who wears a prosthetic nose, lips and black hairy gloves on his hands. His motto is: “I might be a blacky, but I have my little brain” (Podré ser negrito, pero tengo mi cerebrito).

. . .

Omar Ali, associate professor of Comparative African Diaspora History at the University of North Carolina, said: “In some ways Latin America is 25 or 30 years behind the US and England in terms of awareness of racism and the Africa diaspora. There hasn’t been a Black cultural revolution.”

More:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/21/guatemala-election-latin-america-racist-caricatures

We ALL know this racism isn't coming from the indigenous Latin Americans. What a filthy shame.

Mexico: Spike in torture reports reveals deepening human rights crisis

23 October 2015, 05:01 UTC


Mexico’s torture epidemic has reached new catastrophic levels with reports of asphyxiation, rape and other sexual abuse, electric shocks and beatings at the federal level more than doubling in the last year, said Amnesty International in a new report today as President Peña Nieto prepares to present a new Torture Bill to Congress.

“A year ago, it would have been hard to imagine how Mexico’s torture crisis could have gotten any worse and then it just did while the government continues to turn a blind eye to a crisis of their own creation,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International.

The number of torture complaints filed at the federal level more than doubled between 2013 and 2014 – from 1,165 to 2,403, according to data from Mexico’s Federal Attorney General´s Office.

The Federal Attorney General´s Office told Amnesty International that they have “no hard data” on any charges issued in 2014 against those responsible.

More:
https://www.amnesty.org/en/press-releases/2015/10/mexico-spike-in-torture-reports-reveals-deepening-human-rights-crisis/

Break-in reported at UW center fighting CIA on El Salvador

Police investigating after professor’s computer goes missing

BY LEVI PULKKINEN, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF
Updated 2:03 pm, Wednesday, October 21, 2015

University of Washington police are investigating after an apparent break-in at the office of a professor who recently sued the CIA.

Angelina Godoy, director of the university’s Center for Human Rights, reported early this week that her desktop computer and a hard drive had been taken from her on-campus office. The burglary came shortly after Godoy and her center sued the CIA for records related to human rights violations in El Salvador.

“While we have backups of this information, what worries us most is not what we have lost but what someone else may have gained,” a spokesperson for the center said Wednesday in a statement. “The files include sensitive details of personal testimonies and pending investigations.”

Godoy contacted UW police on Monday after discovering her computer was missing from her Smith Hall office. UW Police Department Maj. Steve Rittereiser said the burglary is believed to have occurred sometime between Oct. 14 and Oct. 18.

Rittereiser said investigators found no evidence of forced entry. Godoy’s office appeared to have been the only office burgled around the same time.

More:
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/crime/article/Break-in-reported-at-UW-center-fighting-CIA-on-El-6582473.php

Good reads:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016135050

A Pop-Up Art Community In The Amazon Highlights Peru’s Environmental Devastation
by Laura Feinstein
October 19, 2015



Pop-up installations have become de riguer for the art world in recent years, setting an almost impossibly high bar for innovation. One creator, however, is challenging audiences to think bigger in terms of the medium—and much more rural. Each year Maxim Holland, an artist, curator and the originator of Tambo Films—Peru’s leading production service company, which frequently works on regional fixing for Discovery, National Geographic, and the BBC—chooses a new destination for his mysterious HAWAPI events. These independent happenings take artists and other cultural players deep into remote Peru to create site-specific projects in “challenging locations” that have been adversely effected by social, political, or environmental issues, and to create new and vibrant works. According to Holland: “Unlike Colombia or Argentina, in Peru the only city with any art scene is Lima.” This frustration caused him to look outside the capital for new ways to produce work, spurring the annual HAWAPI 10-day residency. In the past, artists have created public murals, performances, and installations in collaboration with the local community, later creating an exhibition to showcase these works. The projects, most importantly, give viewers a rare glimpse into Peruvian societies for the most part largely off-the-grid.



HAWAPI was founded in 2012 by Holland as a response to his disillusionment with the formal gallery and street art worlds. “For years I was interested in art, often guerrilla or street, outside of Lima,” he says. “By 2012 (street art) had started to become this sort of fan-boy culture, where artists just traveled from cool city to cool city, painting murals in the gentrified neighborhoods. The original idea was to shake that up.” Word started to get out regarding Holland’s plans, and more artists signed on. Since 2012, HAWAPI residencies have been held in three locations: Cerro de Pasco, a heavily scarred, polluted and remote mining city in the Peruvian Andes; Pisco, a coastal city still struggling to recover from Peru’s largest earthquake in 2005; and Pariacaca, a rapidly dissipating glacier that brought global attention to the effects of climate change on South America.



“Cerro de Pasco was unlike any other city I've ever been to,” says Holland of his inaugural destination. “It had a very long mining history, since pre-Colombian times. But in the 1970’s American companies began open-pit mining. Now the city has grown into an open-air mineral-mine, with a pit right in the middle of town,” he continues. “Slowly the community is being pushed out into the hills to make room for the expanding mine.” As a result of this socially irresponsible mining there are “huge piles of mine waste literally sitting in people's back yards,” and numerous serious societal and environmental hazards have been wreaked on the area. HAWAPI, with its immersive projects and documentation, hopes to shine a light on the hope and potential behind these jarring topographies.



More:
http://magazine.good.is/articles/pop-up-art-community-in-the-amazon-highlights-perus-devastation

Terrace Farming – an Ancient Indigenous Model for Food Security
By Marianela Jarroud


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Terraces built by Atacameño Indians in the village of Caspana in Alto Loa, in the northern Chilean region of Antofagasta.
This ageold farming technique represents an adaptation to the climate, and ensures the right to food of these Andes
highlands people. Credit: Marianela Jarroud/IPSTerraces built by Atacameño Indians in the village of Caspana in Alto Loa,
in the northern Chilean region of Antofagasta. This ageold farming technique represents an adaptation to the climate, and
ensures the right to food of these Andes highlands people. Credit: Marianela Jarroud/IPS
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CASPANA, Chile, Oct 21 2015 (IPS) - Terrace farming as practiced from time immemorial by native peoples in the Andes mountains contributes to food security as a strategy of adaptation in an environment where the geography and other conditions make the production of nutritional foods a complex undertaking.

This ancient prehispanic technique, still practiced in vast areas of the Andes highlands, including Chile, “is very important from the point of view of adaptation to the climate and the ecosystem,” said Fabiola Aránguiz.

“By using terraces, water, which is increasingly scarce in the northern part of the country, is utilised in a more efficient manner,” Aránguiz, a junior professional officer on family farming with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), told IPS from the agency’s regional headquarters in Santiago, some 1,400 km south of the town of Caspana in Chile’s Atacama desert.

In this country’s Andes highands, terrace farming has mainly been practiced by the Atacameño and Quechua indigenous peoples, who have inhabited the Atacama desert in the north for around 9,000 years. Principally living in oases, gorges and valleys of Alto Loa, in the region of Antofagasta, these peoples learned about terrace farming from the Inca, who taught them how to make the best use of scant water resources to grow food on the limited fertile land at such high altitudes.

More:
http://www.ipsnews.net/2015/10/terrace-farming-an-ancient-indigenous-model-for-food-security/

Venezuela: Programme sees 100,000 houses built in 10 months

Oct Thursday 22nd 2015
posted by Morning Star in World
by Our Foreign Desk

VENEZUELA’S housing programme has built 100,000 homes in the last 10 months, according to figures released on Tuesday.

The Mision Vivienda (Housing Mission) initiative begun under late president Hugo Chavez is now putting up low-cost housing at a staggering rate of 200 new homes a day.

Housing Minister Manuel Quevedo said the scheme had constructed a total 752,585 housing units nationwide since 2010, up from 676,000 in January. “At this rate, one million people will be provided with homes by the end of 2015,” Mr Quevedo said.

One of many such “missions” or social programmes in fields such as health and education, Mision Vivienda was launched to provide shelter for people made homeless by the devastating floods that inundated the country in 2010.

More:
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-d4fb-Venezuela-Programme-sees-100,000-houses-built-in-10-months#.VihmyOSFPDc