Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Daily Headlines: May 23, 2007

* The U.S. Senate voted against an amendment to remove the guest worker program from the bipartisan immigration compromise created last week.

* Researchers in Argentina found that Viagra may help lessen the effects of jet lag in men. (No laughing from the peanut gallery, please!)

* The U.N. Security Council became the latest setting for the debate over alleged bomber Luis Posada Carriles.

* Brazilian energy minister Silas Rondeau resigned due to accusations of corruption over a public works project.

* "Stop illegal logging in Honduras" is the message being conveyed via this El Diario/La Prensa editorial.

* “The discrepancy between what is reported internationally and what is happening on the ground (in Venezuela) raises concern that even respected groups like Human Rights Watch, the BBC World News, and CNN are out of touch.” Oh really?


Sources- Yahoo! News, The Latin Americanist, ABC News, Reuters, BBC News, El Diario/La Prensa, Upside Down World

Image- NPR (According to the caption “U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), left, shakes hands with Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) as Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff looks on during a news conference to announce a compromise on immigration legislation between the White House and the Senate”)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh Really? I forgot that Human Rights Watch was part of the bush neo-conservative regime. Well good thing that RCTV got a fair trial from the Venezuelan Supreme Court who is obviously completely independent of the government. And good thing that the board monitoring the new program will be completely independent except for the government appointee on the board, and that they will only broadcast "reality"...as long as it doesn't contradict Chavez Reality. I'm supprised and dissapointed that the Latin Americanist would give such a unfactual, poorly written, and biased article such credence. Differing opinions are important, but I'm not sure that picking this pipsqueak James Sugget as a voice of the venezuelan government.

Erwin C. said...

Anon - The reason the article (and for that matter, any other) was included is for informative purposes. The article was mentioned aside from my own personal doubts over its allegations.

However, you hit the nail right on the head: "differing opinions are important." You obviously disagree with the article and you have solid reasons for it. Yet that does not mean that others who may agree/disagree with Sugget's perspective shouldn't read it. Let the readers decide if the article deserves "credence". You interpreted it in your own manner and that's fine.

Anonymous said...

What I was getting at is that if he is going to accuse international media -especially respected and more objective sources e.g. BBC and Human Rights watch - of misinterpreting or exaggerating the RCTV scandal then he needs to provide some facts to back his assertion up. If it attempted the voice of merely an op/ed piece then I would have no problem with it. Yet if it is supposed to be the counter argument, indeed a well needed call to arms, then it fails miserably and is counter productive. You can't cool hot air with hot air. If he was backing up the govts decision based on the accusations of it supporting the coup (well within reason) then I expect something more substantial then it airing "black and white fuzziness" that was "widely confirmed by Venezuelans".

Anyhow, I apologize for going after your throats for not finding a better suited article for that position. On one hand its nice that all these voices can be heard now, yet I hope that the scarcity of Latin News doesn't force the few sources (yours being one of the most respected) to let in the junk in order to fill space.

Erwin C. said...

No prob, anon.

Again, you make some very solid points. That are well worth considering.

Please feel free to check out our
latest post on the RCTV debate.