Friday, December 28, 2007

El Dólar Paralelo

Esta noticia no es trivial señores regios. El control de cambio en Venezuela no puede más que terminar desastrosamente, tarde que temprano. Los petrodólares son casi lo único que ha mantenido al régimen de Chávez y su bobolución bolivariana.

Pero los indicios están ahí, la bolsa de Caracas se desplomó este año y el dólar paralelo ha llegado al triple del tipo de cambio "oficial". En México no conocemos el dólar paralelo. Verán, como te limitan la cantidad de dólares que puedes comprar, hay un mercado negro, y el gobierno prohibe que esa tasa se publique en los medios nacionales.

Aparte el mercado negro de la gasolina, de los bienes de contrabando, etc etc etc. Desde el 2005, el tipo de cambio ha sido de 2 mil 150 bolívares por un dólar. En enero del 2008 al bolívar se le suprimirán tres ceros y se le denominará "bolívar fuerte". (¿Se acuerdan de eso, nuevos pesos?) El tipo de cambio será de 2.15 bolívares por un dólar. Qué bonito, casi paridad con el dólar.....

Además, esto coarta las libertades de los venezolanos. (Sí, Armando, no te creo que este control de cambio ayude al país, pura mierda. Soy condenadamente capitalista y no creo que ponerle cuernos al Tío Sam y sacarle la lengua ayude en nada).

Chavez se echa flores con el rescate de los rehenes de la FARC, con las orquestas juveniles (él no tiene nada que ver con ello, es un programa sorprendente que lleva 20 años), con las operaciones a los pobres, pero el tipo es un dictador.

Pareciera que a nadie le tengo que decir esto, pero acabo de conversar con alguien que me cantó las maravillas que ha hecho Chávez, sugiriendo que es mejor aguantar sus desvaríos de relección porque es para el bien de la gente.




Perdón, yo conozco a una mujer venezolana que estaba trabajando en Monterrey, enviada por su empresa, cuando empezó todo el desmadre. Su compañía cerró operaciones aquí, pero ella prefirió quedarse, trabajando en Merkafon antes que regresarse. Aparte da clases de inglés.
He hablado con venezolanos clientes de American, gente preparada y amable, que te dicen cosas como "ya gasté todos los dólares que podía usar en el año" como si fuera lo más natural del mundo. Pero ellos saben que no, que esto es un absurdo y también nos dicen que ojalá a los mexicanos no nos pase esto nunca.
Hubo disturbios en la Universidad Central de Caracas en noviembre por el referendum de reelección. Le dispararon al menos a dos personas. El wey no ganó, dijo que iba a respetar la decisión, y en menos de una semana les dijo que su victoria era de mierda.





La gente que sale de las escuelas "revolucionarias" de Chavez (que son una mierda) tiene dizque empleo asegurado, y los de las universidades privadas los discriminan por burgueses, y por miedo a represalias del Gobierno.
Nada más chequen cuantos ingenieros petroleros emigraron a Canadá. Preparadisimos, porque los venezolanos se pintan solos para la exploración en el Orinoco, Pemex es realmente una mierda frente a ellos. Y se han tenido que ir porque Chávez ha metido a sus compadres.
Pero no hay pobreza, no, no, no, y Chávez es el único que se atreve con Washington, y los mexicanos deben ir a operarse allá, claro.
Los derechos no son dea gratis, hay que luchar por ellos. Si no los ejerces, te los quitan. Miren a Estados Unidos y George W. Bush, (y Homeland Security, la guerra en Iraq, el Patriot Act, las farmacéuticas, los subsidios al maíz, etc etc etc).
Al quejarnos de papá gobierno, ¿no se nos ocurre que tenemos el gobierno que nos merecemos? ¿Por huevones, por falta de patriotismo, de unidad con todos los mexicanos, por apáticos?

Venezuela reduce cupo de dólares para compras por internet



CARACAS, dic 28 (Reuters) - Venezuela redujo drásticamente el cupo de divisas para compras por internet permitido a las personas naturales en medio de un control de cambio vigente en el país desde el 2003, informó el viernes la estatal Comisión de Administración de Divisas (Cadivi).

El ministro de Finanzas, Rodrigo Cabezas, en recientes declaraciones había señalado que el Gobierno tomaría medidas para salvaguardar el sistema cambiario, sin ofrecer más detalles.

"El monto máximo para compras electrónicas para efectuarse a proveedores en el exterior desde la República Bolivariana de Venezuela quedó establecido en 400 dólares", dijo Cadivi en un comunicado, especificando que entraba inmediatamente en vigencia.

Anteriormente, los venezolanos contaban con un cupo de 3 mil dólares para este tipo de operaciones.

El organismo agregó que se mantiene el monto de 5 mil dólares anuales para el consumo con tarjetas de crédito de bienes y servicios en viajes al exterior, así como 500 dólares mensuales por adelanto en efectivo en los cajeros automáticos.

Además agregó que se mantuvo la entrega en efectivo de 600 dólares o 500 euros para viajeros en la zona euro.

El presidente de Cadivi, Manuel Barroso, dijo en el comunicado que se continuará con la verificación del correcto uso de las divisas autorizadas.

La Asamblea Nacional aprobó recientemente una reforma de la Ley contra Ilícitos Cambiarios del 2005, que prohíbe que se divulge la tasa del "dólar paralelo" o la del "dólar permuta", que este año llegó a más del triple en comparación con la oficial de 2.150 bolívares por dólar.

Monday, December 10, 2007

A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicyle - Irina Dunn, 1970



senza te, il vino non e’ buono

Without you, wine has no taste.

I miss you!

Christmas Cake

equals



I recently learned the phrase "Christmas cake" -- have you heard of it? Apparently, that's what unmarried women over the age of 25 are called in Japan. Because no one wants you after the 25th. (Tadum-TCH!)

Thursday, December 06, 2007

I blame Peter Jackson...


This goes out to all those D&D fanboys out there....heh

Used to be, when they announced a film version of some book, you already knew the book was going to be better than the movie. It was a given, that words and your imagination couldn't be surpassed by mere special effects, that your favorite bits would end up on the cutting room floor. Some people got all indignant about it, others were more practical and just ignored it.

Then came Peter Jackson and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Now, there were some crucial factors in the LOTR movies. For starters, it's a trilogy, The Hobbit notwithstanding. Trilogies are assumed to be better than sequels, no? See The Godfather, Alien, Indiana Jones, the original Star Wars, Krzysztof Kieslowski's Trois couleurs....versus Superman IV (see? they should have stuck with three), Jaws II, Rocky IV- to infinitum, Legally Blonde 2, Bad Boys II, Grease II, Speed 2, Blair Witch II, you get the point.

I think Jackson changed the way trilogies are made, and he set a new standard for them, as well as for the fantasy genre. The first installment was late 2001. Same time next year, there we are, waiting expectantly for our Christmas present from Father Peter, hoping against hope that it'll be just as good as the first one. Please don't let it suck. Please do not go the way of the Matrix trilogy.


And lo and behold, the Two Towers! Even diehard Rings fans liked it. The second Harry Potter was released around the same time that year, major suck, practically a primer on how not to adapt to film. We were ecstatic, now daring to believe, placing our faith in Jackson that he would deliver the goods in the final part of the trilogy.

And then The Return of the King in 2003! Who cares if it seems to have like five endings, it kicked serious ass. I know I sound like a male adolescent comic book collector, but I can't help it. I loved it, I was sad and didn't want it to end. Just thinking that there wouldn't be a new movie for December 2004 was disheartening.


So now The Golden Compass is about to be released tomorrow, part of the Phillip Pullman trilogy, His Dark Materials. I loove those books. They're supposed to be YA or children's books, but they go so far beyond that. I cried when I read them. It's a mix of fantasy, sci-fi, suspense and some Paradise Lost thrown in for good measure.

This is were Peter Jackson comes in. I was quite excited when I found out they were making a movie out His Dark Materials. A bit of apprehension butted in but hey, Jackson had proved you could adapt Middle Earth to big budget and succeed, it could happen. And Chris Weitz had done a credible job with About a Boy, same as Jackson with Heavenly Creatures. Granted, I hadn't heard anything about Weitz's connection to the books, like Jackson and Fran Walsh's love of LOTR. But who knew?

So far the reviews aren't kind, but I'm withholding judgment until I see it. The casting seemed to be on the right track, I could perfectly see Nicole Kidman as Marissa Coulter. When I read the book I imagined Lord Asriel to be Peter Gallagher, from American Beauty and the O.C., already adapting it in my head years beforehand. But I think Daniel Craig is an even better choice, being able to pull off British arrogance in ways Gallagher never could, and besides, Gallagher is a tv actor now, heh. Although, LOTR didn't really use brand name actors, aside from Ian McKellen but he is a well regarded character actor, not some eye candy to draw in the female market.

So, will it suck, or not? If we're disappointed, if we got our hopes up, I blame Peter Jackson. Damn you, Jackson, for showing us it can be done, that fantasy is not an embarrassing genre, then cruelly taking your gift away and filming King Kong.

- by my inner freak & geek

About conspiracy theories...

It doesn't require a conscious "conspiracy" of "evil" people for a pathological status quo to be self reinforcing; just the cumulative effect of a perverse confluence of interests and human weakness.

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

No choice


.....y quién pagará su terapia?

Saturday, December 01, 2007

One Less Random Mystery in Life

It is (was) one of life's nagging little mysteries. That obscure, elusive song by a 90's one hit wonder band occassionally heard on late night radio or at Appleebee's and boutique's Muzak. I couldn't quite catch the lyrics because,
a) I'm practically deaf sometimes and,
b) the places where I heard the song weren't conducive to catching lyrics, e.g., some loud, screechy Janice in the dressing room beside mine never shut up, or my neighborhood Italian Coffee Company that's losing customers due to their spectacularly bad acoustics, you get the point.

I tried googling, but the lyrics I did know were too generic (I'm in love). I tried humming the tune to my friends, and even Manolo couldn't figure it out. True, the humming was bad, but he and I are among the 10 people in Monterrey who remember Toad the Wet Sprocket songs.

This song was unknowable. It wasn't even a very good song, but it's elusiveness rendered me a bit, umm, obsessive? Or let's just say one of those weird quirky things that make me unique and adorable....and make people cross the street when they see me.

So. I'm at McDonald's in Time's Square (last trip to NYC for a long time), getting an Egg McMuffin and feeling slightly guilty for buying into this whole food products over food thing, but hey, it's 9am and I'm hungry, and I don't do dairy very well, so cereal's out.

A couple of of cute Brit assholes walk in, if you like the whole Gordon Gecko Greed is Good look, asking the poor underpaid and heavy accented cashier for tea, which of course they don't carry. And then, suddenly, the song.

I want to shout at everybody to shut up so I can hear, I want to call at least three of my friends to prove that the damn thing exists, I want to record it on my cell. But of course I can't throw a tantrum without getting thrown out, my international roaming and roaming long distance charges are obscene and ridiculous, and my cell has crappy recording quality.

So, I do with the possibilities at hand, and manage to write down a couple of lyrics that weren't as hopelessly generic as the ones I already knew....And if I die before I blah blah blah.

Back home, my trusty Google didn't fail this time, with the proper humble offering. And the winner is.... Primitive Radio Gods, Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in my Hand. Song is downloaded, mission accomplished, filed alongside with Deep Blue Something and The Proclaimers in Random 90's. One less mystery in this life. Heh