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Editorials, People and things get old; and The Venes and us

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A video by a Republican who has long seen through Donald Trump.

NOT OK

President Biden has his stuttering, which has become worse in his old age. He has his senior moment memory lapses. Ordinarily he has his aides, teleprompters, computers and notes to lean on. The man is of sound mind even if he’s kind of frail. His judgment is still healthy and barring a sudden change in his physical condition should get him and his administration through the remaining few months of his term.

Donald Trump spent years taunting Biden about his frailty. That’s Trump’s overgrown school bully nature. He also taunts people with cerebral palsy.

The US ´presidency, however, is not like being the quarterback of an American football team. It’s an administrative job. At that, both in his selection and his management of people, Biden has done well. Compare it to the Trump administration and it’s akin to day and night. The chaotic turnover of the Trump years, and all the former members his team who despise him and in this campaign season are telling the press and public why, are unmatched by the Biden administration.

So many of the Democrats who urged Biden to go were panicky, unkind and overly concerned with their own positions, but there was a problem and in his sound judgment the president chose an apt moment to step aside, to pass the torch of party and likely national leadership to a new generation.

If the GOP nominee can’t go on, he has chosen a guy who changed his name twice, an advocate of ugly inequalities in society, a man who makes a big show of his gun, someone who rose to fame by writing a book in which he slut-shamed his mother.

Meanwhile Kamala Harris has stepped to the fore, asserted some policy differences that will serve to unite her party, is in the process of choosing her own new team, and all the while remains loyal to the country and to her superior in the administrative chain of command, the president. In more ways than one, the former prosecutor is moving to keep the peace. The Republicans are responding with ugly and defamatory remarks about her race and gender.

The USA and the Democratic Party have moved on, and the 78-year-old crank, with his party, is moving in the opposite direction. Americans, including US citizens living in Panama, have some stark choices to make.

 

1st venes
Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores in 2013. People and things can get old in 11 years. Photo by Joka Madruga.

Venes

Hard-pressed Venezuela votes on Sunday. Two-term incumbent Nicolás Maduro is running for a third term. He may have thought that he put it all in the bag about a year ago when his goons ruled opposition leader María Corina Machado off of the ballot, as she was crushing him in the polls at that time. Machado’s stand-in, however, Edmundo González Urrutia, was ahead in some fairly credible polls in the run-up to this vote.

Maduro, Hugo Chávez’s last and worst mistake, has been a horrible president. Would the United States and its allies have allowed him to be anything else? Panama jumped on that bandwagon when it didn’t have to, and for that foreign policy success we have been flooded with Venezuelans mostly fleeing from their country’s trashed economy but sometimes also running away from overt political persecution.

The oligarchs whom the Bolivarian Revolution ran out of power? So many of them have settled into comfortable lives in places like Miami, Bucaramanga and Costa del Este. Edmundo González isn’t one of those. A schoolteacher’s kid, he served both the Bolivarian governments and their predecessors as a diplomat.

There will be election observers, perhaps some of them neutral. Part of the old playbook is that, whatever happens, old enemies will declare any victory by the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) to be fraudulent. Former Panamanian president Mireya Moscoso would be on one such set of “observers” but it appears that the government there isn’t prepared to let her in.

Moscoso does not speak for Panama and should not be allowed to present herself as doing so. The Mulino administration should speak cautiously, independently, wisely and above all truthfully about what transpires.

If Maduro loses and accepts that fate, it would go a long way toward solving Panama’s migration problem. For our part, we should recognize that it isn’t always a problem. There are migrants who are illegally here whom we ought to welcome to stay. Venezuela is a sister Latin American republic that has gone through nightmare times and some who have been pushed out have much to offer Panama. Many are professionals whom Panama could fit into national development policies for their benefit and this country’s. Mulino has stated his policies, but let’s be calmly deliberate about carrying them out. Let’s be so rational and courteous about it so that among those who go back, we will find a lot of knowing friends in Venezuela.

Regardless of how it turns out, let’s also learn out lessons. Panama is a sovereign independent republic that should not be manipulated into attacking our neighbors, especially when that runs counter to our real long-term interests. If we rightly look askance at some of the stuff that Maduro has pulled to stay in power, that doesn’t mean that the Venezuelans should be Panama’s enemies.

 

nora

 

Nora Ephron, by Prachatai.

Insane people are always sure that they are fine. It is only the sane people who are willing to admit that they are crazy.

Nora Ephron

Bear in mind…

I do not have a psychiatrist and I do not want one, for the simple reason that if he listened to me long enough, he might become disturbed.

James Thurber

A woman is like a tea bag – you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water.

Eleanor Roosevelt

A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

 

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Ben-Meir, True decadence

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how he's seen abroad
Photo by Transparency International Netherlands.

Trump is a symptom of our epistemic and moral decay

by Sam Ben-Meir

One could easily rehearse Trump’s litany of disgraceful and illegal actions – actions which jeopardized the fundamental bedrock of this nation as a democratic republic and forever stained the office of the presidency. Yet, regardless of the folly of political violence, the attempt on Trump’s life was futile inasmuch as ridding America, and the world, of Trump, would by no means rid us of Trumpism, which was and remains a symptom, and not the root cause, of this country’s moral and epistemic decline. How else could so many millions of Americans support this man? No one can claim that they do not know what he stands for (insofar as he stands for anything other than himself) or what his intentions are: he has made it very clear that his second administration will be not only authoritarian, but fascist in rhetoric and deed.

Donald Trump and his allies have made no secret of their intentions to centralize ever more power in the executive office if he is re-elected in 2025; and to oversee “a sweeping expansion of presidential power over the machinery of government… reshaping the structure of the executive branch to concentrate far greater authority directly in his hands.” The New York Times report quotes Russell T. Vought, who ran the Office of Management and Budget in the Trump White House and now runs the Center for Renewing America, as saying: “What we’re trying to do is identify the pockets of independence and seize them.”

The legal theory behind this centralization of power in the Oval Office is essentially “a maximalist version of the so-called unitary executive theory,” which is in turn based on a certain interpretation of Article 2 of the Constitution. Trump publicly declared: “I have an Article 2 where I have the right to do whatever I want as president.” One can only conclude that a great many of Americans have lost faith in the idea of America and want to see our current form of government ultimately dismantled and replaced by a quasi-fascist dictatorship. That is the real tragedy: that we’ve embraced the symbol of our disease as if it were the cure.

What I intend to do in the following will strike some as an odd form of analysis. It will seem unfamiliar because my approach will be philosophical in nature. The empirical case against Trump could not be more apparent. The philosophical one is not as easily accessed, but once it is grasped it becomes incontrovertible and no less devastating than reeling off his offenses, which are many. Trump is demonstrative proof that America is facing head on its moral and epistemic downfall. To fully appreciate this however requires a bit of explanation because I am using these terms in a very precise sense. By epistemic decay I mean that we have forgotten, or willfully discarded the nature of truth: truth is no longer a concept to be taken seriously; there are only various perspectives each determined by particular interests, but there is no such thing as a truth in the sense of a universal production which is indifferent to differences of interest, perspective, identity, and so on.

It is no coincidence that we see the good and the true both struggling to remain relevant, to remain a part of our social and political discourse. Where one is in jeopardy the other is sure to be endangered as well. And this is because they share something in common which is absolutely fundamental. Namely the nature of universality – or to put it somewhat differently, the genetic fallacy applies equally to both. What do I mean by the genetic fallacy? The origin (genesis) of a proposition tells us nothing about its truth value. That is, when it comes to truth the genetic fallacy simply reminds us that one cannot determine the truth of a statement, proposition or claim by determining its origin, regardless of whether that origin is internal or external. The truth of an enunciation is independent of the enunciator.

As the philosopher Alain Badiou observes, “A statement is true not because it has been pronounced by a priest, a king, a prophet, or a god. It is true because there is proof of its truth… The subject of the enunciation ought not be a guarantor of the truth of a statement.” Truth does not care if you are rich or poor, native or immigrant, king or slave: we all stand equal before the truth and as human beings we are all equally capable of participating in its universality. This is the first principle that Trump would have us trash. Trump would have us believe that whatever he says should be accepted simply because it came from his mouth – hence, he can shamelessly utter thousands of lies, spew any number of falsehoods and tirelessly unload his idiotic rubbish. It makes no difference because it came from the president. And so, he must also deny his rival’s legitimacy or by extension the same consideration would apply. It is not an accident that Trump’s following has a cultish mentality: there is a slavish devotion to whatever he says no matter how absurd or dehumanizing. The question of proof is irrelevant: if he said it then that is proof enough.

There you have the genetic fallacy in its epistemic form. What is notable is that the genetic fallacy also applies to the morality of an action. That is, you cannot say whether an action is right or wrong, morally permissible or impermissible, simply by knowing who the actor was. This is less often recognized but upon a little reflection it becomes equally obvious. Even an awful person is capable of a good deed, and even the best among us can fall. (This is, I take it, one of the fundamental teachings of Christ – when he says, for example, that he came for transgressors: “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”) Indeed, it is often the most virtuous who fall the hardest (as Shakespeare knew all too well). It is our virtues more often than our vices that lead us astray, for the simple reason that they create hubris. But notice, Trump is no less guilty of the genetic fallacy as it pertains to morality as well; inasmuch as he claims that his actions are above the law. Or as Nixon put it: “When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.” As The Atlantic recently stated, the Supreme Court has now “codified Nixon’s infamous statement.”

Trump’s case for immunity ultimately presupposes the fallacious and extremely dangerous idea that the validity of an action can be determined by who performed it. And he applies this negatively to entire groups of people as well: illegal immigrants are thieves and rapists, etc. Their actions must be reprehensible because of who they are. But that is simply wrong, and we know it. The genetic fallacy applies to the Good as well. Trump’s actions, both as president and as a private citizen, have been morally reprehensible, and to grant him immunity because of the office he formally held sets a terrible precedent as numerous legal scholars and jurists have observed.

What we are seeing is a nation in decline having openly embraced a dangerous moral and epistemic relativism, which is philosophically unsustainable, and logically unsound. It is also bringing this country to the brink of collapse as a nation committed, at least in principle, to equality before the law, the inherent worth of every human being as such (for no human being is or can be excluded a priori from the universality of the true and the good). Trump’s fascist, authoritarian rhetoric is not merely for popular consumption – it is not him catering to his extreme base, but a horrifying reflection of ourselves, of what we are becoming: that is, a country which will write off certain people as “vermin” not because of what they’ve done but simply because of where they come from or who they are. A country which will embrace the words of a quasi-despot as truth even when they fly in the face of what is before our very eyes. There is no lie which is beneath Trump, no statement however ridiculous which could make him blush for shame.

Finally, we should point out that the genetic fallacy has one more area of application: namely, beauty. We cannot judge whether a work of art, for example, is beautiful simply by knowing who produced it. The aesthetic merit of a work of art is not nor can it be decided by simply knowing who the artist was. And in principle, a great of work of art can come from anybody. It’s worth noting that Trump also represents the loss of our sense of beauty. Obviously neither he nor any of his followers have any notion of the beauty of truth (since they disown the very concept of truth itself); or moral beauty – say, the beauty of giving shelter to the homeless, or refuge to the stateless. But even when it comes to sheer physical or sensuous beauty Trump has proven himself time and again to be as crude as they come. Hence, his predilection for beauty contests and porn stars. He is the very epitome of philistinism. And he is serving to transform this country precisely into a country of philistines, with no appreciation of the eternal philosophical trinity: the True, the Beautiful and the Good – those three aspects of universality which more than serve as symbols of one another but are indeed three facets of the philosopher’s stone, as it were.

In his decision not to lead the Democratic Party and seek a second term in office, President Biden did what is precisely unthinkable coming from Trump – that is, he put the good of the people before his own interests. Trump could not even adhere to the peaceful transfer of power when he had lost the election: that is, he preferred to burn down our democracy rather that forsake his private interests. Biden’s decision not to run – and so renounce power for the good of all – has universal merit and (regardless of the outcome of the election) it will always have value as an example of what true statesmanship looks like, what it means to act from the standpoint of universality. And, for that very reason, it is not without a certain beauty of its own.

If this country disowns truth, goodness and beauty by reinstalling Trump into the executive office, it will have disowned the very things that give life its universal meaning and significance. We will have fallen into a pit of lies, full of ugliness and evil. To conclude then, there is a realm of universality in which we can all participate as rational, embodied beings. It is this universality that gives meaning to an otherwise insignificant mammalian species hurtling through space on a speck of dust in an inconceivably vast and indifferent cosmos. Trump is a symptom that we are losing touch with those very things which make human life genuinely significant and valuable, those things which are of timeless and universal value – to wit, the True, the Beautiful and the Good.

Sam Ben-Meir is an assistant adjunct professor of philosophy at City University of New York, College of Technology.

 

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War over drugs — against birds?

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0riole
Baltimore oriole. Anamalia photo.

Counter-drug strategies in Central America are worsening deforestation, threatening many species of birds

by Amanda D. Rodewald, Cornell University

Activities associated with cocaine trafficking threaten two-thirds of the most important landscapes in Central America for 196 forest bird species, including 67 migratory species. This is the key takeaway from a study that colleagues and I published in June 2024 in the journal Nature Sustainability.

Our findings suggest that there is real potential for drug-related deforestation to negatively affect populations of migratory birds. Many of these species are unusually concentrated in winter in Central America, which has a comparatively smaller area than their summer breeding regions in North America.

For 1 in 5 migratory species that travel to Central American forests annually, including familiar birds like the Baltimore oriole, more than 50% of their global population winters in areas that are becoming more attractive to traffickers. For half of migratory species, at least 25% of their populations winter in these areas.

Baltimore oriole range map during breeding, non-breeding and migratory seasons.Baltimore orioles are widely dispersed across the U.S. and Canada during breeding season, but are much more concentrated in Central America and northern South America in winter.
eBird, CC BY-ND

As examples, an estimated 90% of the endangered golden-cheeked warbler population spends winters in these vulnerable landscapes, along with 70% of Philadelphia vireos and 70% of golden-winged warblers.

Why it matters

Nearly half of Earth’s migratory bird species are declining, and 1 in 5 species are at risk of extinction. Since 1970, North America alone has lost 3 billion breeding birds – more than 25% of its total population. Birds perform many important ecological roles, including eating insects, pollinating plants and dispersing seeds, and their presence often is a reliable measure of the overall health of an ecosystem.

The illicit drug trade is a major driver of forest loss in Central America. Drug traffickers cut down tropical forests to create landing strips and roads, and to establish farms and ranches. They use these businesses to launder their profits into the legal economy.

These activities, in turn, often lead to further forest loss, development and criminal activities. In some Central American countries, so-called narco-deforestation is estimated to account for nearly one-third of all deforestation.

A growing body of evidence suggests that current drug policies and interdiction strategies, which focus almost exclusively on drug suppliers, are making narco-deforestation worse. Traffickers may respond to interdiction efforts by shifting activities to more remote and intact forested areas – zones that are especially important for wildlife.

Indeed, one recent study showed that U.S.-led interdiction efforts within the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor – a patchwork of protected areas that runs from Mexico to Panama – pushed traffickers into zones with the highest densities of jaguars in Central America.

Black polygons on this map highlight areas in Central America that provide habitat in winter for migratory birds and are becoming more suitable for narco-trafficking. In North America, darker colors indicate regions that support greater numbers of these species during breeding season.
Rodewald et al., 2024, CC BY-ND

How we did our work

More than 1 million birdwatchers have submitted data to eBird, a global participatory science initiative that collects observations to document bird distribution, abundance, habitat use and trends. This information helps scientists understand in detail how numbers of birds in particular locations change through the year, and to diagnose and mitigate key threats to bird populations.

In our study, we combined eBird data on bird abundance and distribution with previously published information on changes in the likelihood that landscapes would experience cocaine trafficking in the future. We summarized these changes as a measure of “suitability” for drug-related activities.

Suitability, in this case, was estimated from social and environmental features that have been shown to be attractive to narco traffickers. For example, areas that are forested, far from roads and sparsely populated are more likely to conceal activities than heavily used areas near towns.

Map showing where deforestation and important areas used by migratory birds overlapThis map shows important landscapes for 67 migratory forest bird species (purple) in Central America; areas becoming more suitable for narco-trafficking (peach); and zones where these two uses overlap (brown). Rodewald et al., 2024, CC BY-ND

What’s next

Our study adds to existing evidence that drug interdiction efforts may push trafficking activities into increasingly remote and forested areas, many of which provide important habitat for migrating birds. Narco-trafficking is just one reminder that the futures of humans and nature are tightly intertwined.

To avert negative consequences for people and nature, governments could consider expanding or strengthening measures to help local communities monitor and protect their land. Research shows that community control often is an effective way to conserve natural areas, reduce poverty and protect wildlife.

The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.The Conversation

Amanda D. Rodewald, Professor of Natural Resources and the Environment, Cornell University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

 

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Detroit congresswoman stakes out her position on Netanyahu visit

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Rashida
“It is a sad day for our democracy when my colleagues will smile for a photo-op with a man who is actively committing genocide.” Photo of US Representative Rashida Tlaib by Chad Davis, 2021.

Tlaib says Netanyahu ‘should be arrested’ in DC

by Brett Wilkins—Common Dreams

As US lawmakers prepared to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a rare joint address to Congress, Representative Rashida Tlaib contended Monday that the leader of a country on trial for genocide at the World Court should be apprehended and sent to The Hague to face justice.

“Netanyahu is a war criminal committing genocide against the Palestinian people,” Tlaib (D-MI)—the only Palestinian American member of Congress—said in a statement ahead of the Israeli leader’s scheduled speech on Wednesday. “It is utterly disgraceful that leaders from both parties have invited him to address Congress. He should be arrested and sent to the International Criminal Court.”

While the ICC has not authorized Netanyahu’s arrest, its chief prosecutor has applied for warrants to apprehend the far-right prime minister and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged crimes including extermination and forced starvation, as well as three Hamas leaders for war crimes allegedly committed during the October 7 attack on Israel.

Israel is also on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice—also known as the World Court—which ruled last week in a separate case that the 57-year Israeli occupation of Palestine is an illegal form of apartheid that must end “as rapidly as possible.”

Tlaib continued:

Since 1948, the US has provided more than $141 billion in weapons to the Israeli government to fund the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, including $17.9 billion since October. Netanyahu’s apartheid regime has already slaughtered over 39,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including over 15,000 children. Yet my colleagues and the Biden administration continue to approve more funding and send more weapons—even as innocent children like Hind Rajab are targeted with 355 bullets, shot in the head by Israeli snipers, burned to death in their tents with US-made weapons, bombed while playing at school, deliberately starved to death, and Palestinians are bombed in refugee camps and discovered in mass graves, naked and with their hands tied, all livestreamed for the world to see. These are undeniably war crimes under international law.

“Make no mistake: This event is a celebration of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians,” Tlaib asserted. “It is a sad day for our democracy when my colleagues will smile for a photo-op with a man who is actively committing genocide.”

Dozens of Democratic US lawmakers and Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont have said they will skip Netanyahu’s speech. Vice President Kamala Harris—the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee—has declined to preside over the prime minister’s address as Senate president, although she is reportedly planning to meet privately with him on Thursday.

While US President Joe Biden has decried Israel’s “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza and Secretary of State Antony Blinken has lamented that “far too many Palestinians have been killed,” the administration continues to send billions of dollars worth of arms to the key Middle Eastern ally.

Our government must stop supporting and funding this genocide now.

“It is hypocritical to claim to be concerned about the massive death toll of innocent civilians, and then turn around and welcome the person responsible for these war crimes to our Capitol,” Tlaib added. “Their silence is betrayal, and history will remember them accordingly. Our government must stop supporting and funding this genocide now.”

On Tuesday, a coalition of labor unions representing millions of US workers urged the Biden administration to suspend weapons transfers to Israel.

Progressive groups including the Council on American Islamic Relations and CodePink have also called for Netanyahu’s arrest. A coalition of pro-Palestine organizations is planning to surround the Capitol during the prime minister’s speech to demand his arrest.

“War criminal Netanyahu belongs in The Hague, not in DC, and we’re going to make sure the message is heard loud and clear!” Palestinian American attorney and International Solidarity Movement co-founder Huwaida Arraf said Tuesday. “We charge GENOCIDE! And we will not tire and will not rest until justice is done!”

Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now, said Tuesday that “it’s hard to imagine a greater blow to American credibility and standing around the world than for our Congress to host the prime minister of Israel, an indicted and hopefully soon-to-be-arrested war criminal, responsible for the gravest mass atrocities against Palestinians the world has ever seen.”

“It’s a great stain on our nation that our elected leaders have chosen to honor the leader of a country facing prosecution for genocide, apartheid, and illegal occupation,” Whitson added.

 

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¿Wappin? Steadfast / Firme

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Mira
Mira, keeper of the flame. AI-assisted art by Sarchainne.

We hold out – God help them
Resistimos – Dios les ayude

Joshue Ashby & C3 Proejct – Trama 2018
https://youtu.be/wdxYjFgomoc?si=pJ_wjJKokan2HtOk

Rosalía – Washington DC 2020
https://youtu.be/LLtgbrU1jV8?si=JHAhGsQ0cRIZSb5F

Todd Rundgren – Tin Foil Hat
https://youtu.be/los9WulxBjM?si=W738qpYXQHnUJObB

Mon Laferte – Tenochtitlán
https://youtu.be/63E7zYr6MFU?si=SMW-B05acVKKP_7m

Quicksilver Messenger Service – Pride of Man
https://youtu.be/fG6A6G9uzsQ?si=VRU9sDobGvLDBJt5

Eric Burdon and the Animals – Sky Pilot
https://youtu.be/1jpgyo4mb1s?si=NUamhR9UaEK1G33y

Karol G – Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido
https://youtu.be/QCZZwZQ4qNs?si=Gg6OzzQ9K4_9Abdc

Jahziel Arrocha – Softly
https://youtu.be/TNLCTjaInbM?si=4LGwFTmFsdLuRASO

Alanis Morissette – Uninvited
https://youtu.be/LIv-0sz9fSQ?si=2vxrP8wzKC_-iAZ3

Yusuf Islam – Longer Boats
https://youtu.be/qRC8lqtBXCA?si=pHiUd16gohYfB4bG

Sha Na Na – Teen Angel
https://youtu.be/15Rr3UQiOAk?si=ADbGVqWV8j_D7nE0

Lauryn Hill – Rotterdam 2023
https://youtu.be/PhP-x6kUICY?si=nCyMCp4mAk01gJZV

Chrissie Hynde – I’ll Stand By You
https://youtu.be/CUko33b-H8Y?si=BbTUeOkiQQ0rltDE

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Siete organizaciones y grupos religiosos, Desmantela la mina y la policía minera

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Gavilán Bouzas, ¡Que ganga!

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fraud alert
Foto por la Guardia Civil de España.

El marketing oscuro de los estafadores en el internet

por Diana Gavilán Bouzas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Fueron técnicas de marketing, pero marketing oscuro, las que ayudaron a Joseph Goebbels a difundir su ideología y consolidar el poder del nazismo; también fue marketing oscuro lo que usó el Ku Klux Klan para reclutar a sus miembros y promover su agenda de odio racial.

Además de matemáticas, Bernie Madoff utilizó estrategias de marketing –oscuro– para promocionar los altos rendimientos de sus productos financieros estimulando así la ambición de sus potenciales inversores. Madoff perpetró el mayor esquema Ponzi (variante de la estafa piramidal) en la historia de Estados Unidos, utilizando una metodología de fraude que se remonta a mediados del siglo XIX. Robó aproximadamente 65 000 millones de dólares.

El marketing funciona y pudo ayudar a que un país que tuvo el récord en enfermedades cardiacas se convirtiera en uno de los más sanos de la Tierra. Pero si cae en ciertas manos puede volverse oscuro y convertirse en un arma para manipular, engañar y causar daños a gran escala.

Los 5 350 millones de usuarios de internet a nivel mundial somos las potenciales presas. Y estafar con estas armas es barato, rápido y sencillo.

Claves del marketing que usan los estafadores

El perfil del estafador online es el de un sujeto que sabe algo de informática, pero no es un experto ingeniero de software. Sabe algo de psicología y, sobre todo, usa las claves del marketing digital.

Tienen claras cuatro cosas. La primera, que navegar es una tarea que realizamos de forma automatizada e impulsiva
sin detenernos a reflexionar acerca de dónde hacemos clic –o el tiempo que le dedicamos–, sobre todo si navegamos desde el móvil.

La segunda, que ciertos contenidos nos desatan. Si usted ha hecho alguna búsqueda y de pronto le salta un anuncio con una oferta a mitad de precio (¡oportunidad!). Entonces es probable que usted lo quiera y… ¡lo quiera ya! Bajo la influencia de estos deseos viscerales no pensamos en las consecuencias de nuestras decisiones, entre las que por supuesto está que seamos estafados.

Que no se enfríe el mochuelo

Bruce Easley, exestafador reconvertido en autor de libros de gestión de negocio, reconoce ese breve estado de descontrol y la oportunidad que brinda al estafador:

Es imperativo que trabajes lo más rápido posible. Nunca hay que dar tiempo a que se enfríe un mochuelo caliente. Es necesario cerrarlo mientras aún está babeando.

La tercera cosa que tienen clara los estafadores es que hemos sido educados en el respeto y la confianza. Cuando un banco, una institución oficial como la Agencia Tributaria, Correos o una empresa como Netflix nos formula una solicitud aparentemente legítima, nuestra respuesta natural es obedecer.
Si además sentimos que el incumplimiento de la solicitud tiene consecuencias negativas, es más probable que nos precipitemos.

Ejemplo de estafa bancaria con amenaza.

Del mismo modo, si es nuestra hija quien nos pide dinero a través de un SMS desde un móvil desconocido, porque se ha quedado sin batería, nuestra respuesta natural e inmediata es socorrerla y enviárselo. Los estafadores lo saben.

La cuarta “verdad universal” que manejan los estafadores online es que si hay poco, se desea más. La escasez es una poderosa herramienta persuasiva de la que se abusa constantemente en las páginas de e-commerce y que no ignora un estafador. Si hay poco, usted va a tardar menos en decidirse. Piense en lo que siente al reservar un vuelo, cuando aparece el mensaje “quedan tres asientos a este precio”. Una calculada dosis de escasez bien gestionada convirtió en un rotundo éxito los lanzamientos de Apple.

Cuando el marketing se convierte en una trampa

Un anuncio fraudulento que imita la página oficial del producto.

Una estafa exitosa se parece a una oferta legítima, a veces es indistinguible a primera vista. Si se trata de toda una web, como por ejemplo las páginas fraudulentas lefties-online.com o parfoisonline.shop, el cliente se encuentra con los mismos productos, a precios muy rebajados, con una promesa de envío inmediata y una pasarela de pago idéntica. Tras la compra salta la alarma cuando el cargo en la tarjeta no lo firma Lefties o Parfois sino Phoeebeo o Joyyceno o cualquier otro nombre dejando claro que el producto nunca llegará.

Otras veces el reclamo es un anuncio que aparece, como tantos otros, después de haber hecho búsquedas de un producto, porque los estafadores también programan sus reclamos. Estos anuncios presentan un producto interesante, por ejemplo un móvil, a un precio muy atractivo, un descuento del 70 %, con una distribución muy rápida, y un mensaje eficaz que captura su atención:

¡Enhorabuena! Ha ganado una tarjeta de Amazon por valor de 1 000€. Solo tiene que hacer clic en el botón de continuar. ¡Tiene 4 minutos para reclamar este premio!

Push o pull

Para atraer a sus víctimas, el estafador diseña una estrategia de push o pull como en cualquier acción de marketing.

Hacer push es acercarse a las potenciales víctimas a través de correos electrónicos, mensajes de WhatsApp o SMS, un método masivo, barato y rápido, o de forma más minuciosa a través de perfiles falsos en redes sociales como el wokefishing. Pero otras veces el estafador opta por hace pull y simplemente deja un señuelo en la red, esperando a que sea el usuario el que se autoseleccione como víctima, haciendo clic en un anuncio falso, o entrando en una web clonada donde aparecen ofertas aterradoramente atractivas.

Los datos sí mienten

Las estadísticas sobre estafas online son imprecisas y no reflejan la realidad porque muchas víctimas, ante la vergüenza o la culpa, no denuncian.

Los estafadores usan listas de “pringados”, es decir, personas que ya han sido estafadas y que tal vez lo han sido por su especial vulnerabilidad.

Es un error pensar que si eres una persona cualificada no te la cuelan. No hay datos que demuestren que esto sea cierto. No es cuestión de cualificación sino de atención y reflexión antes de hacer clic.

Internet está plagada de estafas, y hay una estafa pensada para cada uno de nosotros. Que la suya no le encuentre, pero si le encuentra… ¡no haga clic!.The Conversation

Diana Gavilán Bouzas, Profosora de Marketing, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Este artículo fue publicado originalmente en The Conversation. Lea el original.

 

Contact us by email at / Contáctanos por correo electrónico a thepanamanews@gmail.com

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A trip to El Valle, the longer but quicker way

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a start
I had an errand to run in El Valle, with no great constraint as to time. But doing my wee hours blogging I looked to my laptop’s weather projection for Anton and it said “partly sunny.” So maybe also an opportunity to look around and take pictures along the way? This is how it looked from my house as the sun was coming up and I was about to be on my way.

A morning’s photo excursion

photos and notes by Eric Jackson

Generally I take my camera everywhere I go. There are certain anchors to work that I resist, but this isn’t one of them. Plus, without voice recording or writing notes, I try to remember what’s along the way, with this news sense that generally speaking, the unfolding state of Panama’ economy is the most important story here.

I have a late morning until the early evening road trip later in the week, and the dogs and cats have limited tolerance for my absence at their usual feeding times. That went into my calculations as well. The weather projection for this rainy season day clinched it. This would be a time to go over the ancient volcano rim and into El Valle.

Dogs’ and cats’ water bowls filled, it was out the door and on a trek to the bus stop first thing. 

By direct lines, or following the roads on a map, the shortest way would have been to catch a bus going north, to Altos de la Estancia, then another down into El Valle. However, buses are less frequent going that way, both from my barrio, then downhill into the crater. Easy decision to make — but six full buses passed me by before I could board a San Juan de Dios to Penonome bus. That got me to the Pan-American Highway, where that I got off and crossed the road as the first bus headed west. Almost immediately I got an eastbound Penonome to Anton bus, pulling into Anton before 7 a.m. Scratch the option of getting a newspaper at that point — too early.

Quickly an Anton to Panama bus pulled into the caseta, and it was mostly empty so the pavo said there would be no problem taking me to the “other” entranice to El Valle, across the provincial line in Las Uvas de San Carlos. Before grabbing the next bus onward, I trudged up and across and down the pedestrian bridge, then across to the Zaz and the bakery. A can of Monster energy drink and a couple of hojaldres, and a glance at such tabloids as they had — just gangster carnage and US news that I had been following all night — so I passed.

Back at the bus stop on the corner, I did have a chance to talk to a nice lady and pick up some reading material. The Jehovah’s Witnesses — the Testigos — were there with their literature stand. I could argue politics and/or religion with them, but to this old hippie the Witnesses are honorable brothers and sisters in the antiwar resistance.

Las Uvas
A barbershop in the right-of-way under the pedestrian overpass at Las Uvas. There was a double interest for me, cultural and economic. With the changes in government, which businesses get expelled from alongside the highway and which stay? And of you may remember or appreciate Panama’s bus art, which took a big hit with the diablos rojos were replaced by the Metro buses in Panama City and San Miguelito but lives on in other venues like Colon and La Chorrera. A lot of these same artists, and distinctive stylistic traditions, found work decorating businesses, especially barbershops. 

It was not long before I got onto a crowded little San Carlos – El Valle bus. There were not many picture-taking opportunities during the ride, but there were observations and things about which to wonder.

Gone was the place with the faux medieval castle walls. The monastery is still for sale. The road’s in reasonable state of repair — not perfect, but in sharp contrast to the road the other way. There were a number of beautiful new or about to be finished houses along the way. There were more offerings of lodging than I had seen before. There was a guy busily cleaning the mirador.

Get into town, and El Valle has seen some economic devastation over the past few years, but not like many other places in Panama. Gone in the Peruvian restaurant — or did they just move? — but for the first time I noticed a Colombian eatery on the main drag.

It was a Monday morning, not at all prime time to look at El Valle business activity. All these coffee places and nobody there. The weekend is generally when this corregimiento is hopping. Did not see the person whom I had hoped to find but did drop off what I had brought from her. And I stopped to appreciate and photograph some of the flowers and scenery.

flower 1
Wow man! Like, Flower Power! Below, a security wall that would deter most would-be intruders, but a much more tasteful addition to the El Valle scene than would be razor wire. When you have this rich volcanic soil, you have much less of an excuse to neglect your gardening.

 

I almost always go to the public market when I go to El Valle — to shop, to see if there’s anyone I know, to take pictures of what’s for sale. But this was a Monday and this was not particularly a shopping or socializing excursion.

The people watching, though? Always. Folks tooling around in an incredibly expensive, by my standards, new BMW SUV. Little groups of backpackers whom I took to be German, as so much of Europe is on paid vacation at the moment. The Chinese retail store clerk putting her hand over the candy jar into which a little boy was trying to reach. (And by the way, although there is no easy way to know the cause, I noticed more little mini-supers in El Valle this time than I had before. Is it progress or retrenching?)

Nature watching on just about any morning in El Valle? There is the ever-present mist in the hills, the bajareque, that drives Panamanian highland ecologies in general. El Valle is a special bowl-shaped case, as it’s a long-dormant volcano crater.

That was brief. Time to head back, lest the dogs decide to show how much they miss me by trashing the place. But first, a stop to grab something to eat at Sofia Z — a baked fish filet, a couple of carimañolas, some salad, something unsugared to drink — and THEN the morning’s shopping, some bread, rice and dog and cat food. And, belatedly, one of the daily newspapers that looked like it had some interesting political news.

rain
It’s a bit after 11 a.m. and as I approach the bus back to the barrio from Anton, the rain starts. They DID say “partly” sunny.
 

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Beluche, La Revolución Francesa y la independencia de América

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crossing he Andes
El Gran Libertador había sido influenciado por Francia, pero también conocía la tragedia que la Revolución Francesa trajo a Haití. Simón Bolívar cruza los Andes para liberar a la Nueva Granada del dominio del Imperio Español. Pintura de Francisco Antonio Cano.

La Revolución Francesa y los mitos de la independencia hispanoamericana

por Olmedo Beluche

La conmemoración de la Toma de la Bastilla, uno de los acontecimientos que conformaron lo que se conoce como Revolución Francesa, debe servirnos para reflexionar sobre su influencia en lo que posteriormente sería la revolución hispanoamericana, llamada Independencia. Sí, la independencia hispanoamericana fue una revolución política, es decir, consistió en la transformación revolucionaria del gobierno y del estado, pero no por voluntad, sino a pesar del querer de algunos de sus actores sociales. El proceso revolucionario de la independencia ha sido encubierto por una serie de mitos.

1. En América, los verdaderos ilustrados, influidos por las ideas modernizantes de filósofos (como Rousseau) eran una ultra minoría a inicios del siglo XIX. Generalmente provenían de capas medias intelectuales (militares, abogados, médicos). Pero su influencia en la sociedad era marginal. Eran los Francisco de Miranda (que vivió en Europa casi toda su vida), los Mariano Moreno, Antonio Nariño, etc.
2. Los criollos, la clase dominante de los “americanos” o “españoles de América” NO eran “ilustrados”, ni perseguían copiar el modelo político de la Revolución Francesa. Por el contrario, querían evitarla porque habían visto sus consecuencias en la Revolución Haitiana contra la esclavitud y la Independencia Política de Saint Domingue (1804) y no querían que sus propios esclavos imitaran a los de Haití.
3. Había en realidad mucho recelo contra todo lo que viniera de Francia. Algunos sectores añoraban algunos “derechos” que habían perdido con las reformas borbónicas (los Borbones eran una monarquía de origen francés) del siglo XVIII, como: la expulsión de los jesuitas, la expropiación de bienes y cobros de capellanía a la Iglesia católica (1804), aumento de impuestos (Rebelión de Tupac Amaru de 1880 en Perú y de los Comuneros 1881 en Nueva Granada), reforma política de los virreinatos, fin del sistema de galeones y apertura comercial a los ingleses, etc.
4. Cuando en 1808, Napoleón invade España, y tanto Carlos IV como Fernando VII abdican la corona hispana en favor del emperador, que nombró a su hermano José como nuevo rey de los españoles, algunos ven una actitud de entrega a los franceses. Por eso, los criollos, “españoles de América”, apoyan la sublevación en la península Ibérica contra la ocupación francesa. Entre 1808 y 1810, cuando se habla de “Independencia” es respecto de Francia, no respecto de España.
5. El problema se complica a partir de 1810, cuando Napoleón aplasta la resistencia en España y se disuelve la Junta de Sevilla, instalándose en Cádiz una sombra de gobierno español llamado el Consejo de Regencia el cual mostró dos gestos contrapuestos: ordenó la instalación de Juntas Gubernativas con participación de los criollos en las ciudades americanas y pretendió sostenerse como legítima autoridad heredera de la monarquía (ausente).
6. En América, la élite criolla exigió a los virreyes la instalación de las Juntas Gubernativas con su participación y a su vez cuestionó la legitimidad del Consejo de Regencia. Aquí empezó el conflicto que llevaría a las guerras civiles de toda la década de 1810-1821, porque las autoridades y funcionarios monárquicos (Virreyes, alto clero, militares, reales audiencias, etc.) y los comerciantes y propietarios españoles, se negaron a modificar el sistema político reconociendo esos derechos a los criollos.
7. De hecho, las proclamas de 1809 – 1810 no fueron por la independencia, sino exigiendo la instalación de Juntas de Gobierno. Es decir, se exigía autonomía, no independencia. Cuando se apeló a la teoría jurídica para justificar esta autonomía no se hizo citando a los ilustrados europeos del siglo XVIII, sino a las Partidas de Alfonso X, y la llamada “retroversión de la soberanía” ante el vacío de poder. Era la vuelta a la soberanía del pueblo, pero el pueblo representado por los criollos a través del cabildo.
8. El proceso fue más radical en Nueva Granada, donde la guerra civil radicalizó a la sociedad, permitiendo que el ala radical e ilustrada asumiera el poder sacándolo de manos de los criollos conservadores, para enfrentar a los realistas. Así se proclamó la independencia efímera en 1811 en Caracas, Bogotá y Cartagena. Independencias que fueron aplastadas a partir de 1814, luego de la restauración de Fernando VII. En las Provincias Unidas del Río La Plata, la independencia recién se proclamó en 1816 por presión de San Martín. En el resto no llegó hasta 1821. En Nueva España Morelos proclama independencia en 1813, pero con un alcance limitado a zonas marginales de la sierra.
9. Nótese que las actas de independencia son proclamas de los cabildos de ciudades, no de “naciones”, como se ha querido hacer ver. Los estados nacionales hispanoamericanos nacieron luego de la independencia en un proceso que tardó varias décadas. Por ende, la independencia no tuvo que ver con liberación nacional, sino con una revolución política. No podía haber identidades nacionales si no existían estados nacionales.
10. Irónicamente, el proceso de independencia se consolida a partir de 1821, pero en algunos casos, como en Nueva España (México), con la “Conspiración de La Profesa”, el proceso tuvo como motivación inicial oponerse al gobierno liberal del general Riego, que había obligado a Fernando VII a aceptar una monarquía constitucional (Constitución de Cádiz de 1812). Es decir, los gachupines mexicanos intentan una independencia anti ilustrada, antiliberal, promonárquica, pero que luego se les complicó.
11. Evidencia histórica de que las independencias hispanoamericanas no fueron de inspiración francesa o ilustrada es que los estados surgidos de ella sufrieron a lo largo de todo el siglo XIX numerosas guerras civiles, entre conservadores que procuraron mantener el antiguo régimen colonial y sectores liberales modernizantes con objetivos ilustrados. Pero incluso, cuando estos últimos triunfaron quedaron mediatizados sus objetivos.

Para mayor referencia remitimos a nuestro libro “Independencia hispanoamericana y lucha de clases” (https://sociologia-alas.org).

 

Contact us by email at / Contáctanos por correo electrónico a thepanamanews@gmail.com

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¿Wappin? Music for a July day / Música para un día de julio

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home on the farm
Putting up a lime crop / Preservando una cosecha de limones. Foto por Eric Jackson.

Música para un día lluvioso
Rainy day music

Margarita Henríquez – Y Cuando Suba La Marea
https://youtu.be/474TkM78hic?si=oYpee_KUhFtAdYsk

Silvia Pérez Cruz – Tiny Desk Concert (2024)
https://youtu.be/zoAs0-nXPQM?si=7lT37XBhnKCtgMHq

Gladys Knight – The Way We Were
https://youtu.be/xo9txNRlUHo?si=pAg8w8s4kfK0bYi5

Astrud Gilberto – Show Completo (1987)
https://youtu.be/5O6-RjAGvrI?si=BBzfMebVcsLKH1H0

Patti Smith – After The Gold Rush
https://youtu.be/yrhtGXwl4Bo?si=MKLp6cfz1RcOq-Xu

Melissa Aldana – Concert with the Frankfurt Radio Big Band (2021)
https://youtu.be/sOY5yr4k6mM?si=dXtgxN9XPMtBndB_

Celtic Lands, Mairead Nesbitt & Harp Twins – Kid on The Mountain
https://youtu.be/jdtzqYqcaE0?si=ABsAxJrs_ovuqmJD

Haydee Milanés – Concierto Estoy Contigo (2022)
https://youtu.be/_cB0GBCPWP4?si=RV3CdHAFclm_2IAA

Eva Cassidy – People Get Ready
https://youtu.be/bzLd2MDAHK8?si=ZeoOSP-bkbvixRzN

Para defendernos de los piratas informáticos, los trolls organizados y otros actos de vandalismo en línea, la función de comentarios de nuestro sitio web está desactivada. En cambio, ven a nuestra página de Facebook para unirte a la discusión.
 

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