Cristina Fernández's health: A political headache

NEWS from Argentina can resemble a David Lynch film: the more you learn, the less you understand. In the past year alone the government signed a pact with Iran to investigate a bombing in 1994 of a Jewish centre which the Iranians were suspected of executing, invited tax evaders to buy financial instruments with preferential rates of return, and puffed up growth rates so much it may have to shell out billions of dollars in GDP-linked securities.

Last weekend’s goings-on are no less bizarre. On October 5th the president, Cristina Fernández was rushed to hospital on account of an irregular heartbeat. On arrival the 60-year-old complained of a severe headache. Neurological tests revealed that Ms Fernández was suffering from a subdural hematoma, an accumulation of blood between the tissues surrounding the brain.

Such internal bleeding can be caused by trauma. Following her diagnosis, the president’s press secretary casually explained that on August 12th, the day after Ms Fernández's Front for Victory (FPV) party was drubbed in nationwide legislative primaries, she fell and hit her head. The president was briefly hospitalised but tests concluded that she was fine. The public was never informed.

That head bump is now blamed for triggering the hematoma. The vice-president, Amado Boudou, immediately called back from an official visit to Brasil.

Convalescence may put Ms Fernández out of action until after the midterm elections on October 27th. It is far from assured that Ms Fernández's health shock will win her any sympathy votes.

After the sudden death of her husband and predecessor, Nestor Kirchner, in October 2010 her popularity shot up from 36% to 55% in a month, according to Poliarquia, a pollster. The widow, dressed in black ever since, rode the sympathy wave to win re-election with an unprecedented 54% of the vote a year later.

This time may be different, however. For a start, Mr Boudou is not the ideal standard-bearer. Last year he faced allegations of illegal enrichment and influence-peddling. Prosecutors ultimately failed to provide convincing evidence of wrongdoing, but Argentines may be reminded of the imbroglio now that Mr Boudou will once again come into the spotlight.

More important, perhaps, the hematoma is Ms Fernández’s second big health scare in less than a year. Last December she underwent surgery to remove a suspected tumour. This ultimately proved to be healthy tissue but the president was still unable to work for 20 days. All this risks making her appear fragile—and lead Argentines to ask searching questions about her physical ability to govern, just as they have been about her political capacity to do so.


adapted from The Economist

JPMorgan Chase Ex Trader's extradition

US federal authorities expect that one of the former JPMorgan Chase employees facing criminal charges in connection with the bank’s multibillion-dollar trading loss in London will eventually be extradited to the United States.

The former trader, Javier Martin-Artajo, is living in Spain and fighting extradition after surrendering to police in Spain in August.

“We have a good extradition agreement with Spain,” Lorin L. Reisner, the chief of the criminal division at the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan, said on Tuesday. “I expect that Mr. Martin-Artajo will return to the U.S. via the extradition process.”

Another former trader charged in the case, Julien Grout, will probably prove more elusive, Mr. Reisner said. After leaving JPMorgan’s London offices, Mr. Grout returned to his native France, which typically does not extradite its citizens. “It’s more complicated,” Mr. Reisner said .

Mr. Reisner made his remarks at a conference on white-collar crime. The conference featured panels with leading government officials and criminal defense lawyers, as well as senior lawyers from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The white-collar crime conference coincided with the first day of the government shutdown. Mr. Reisner, the federal prosecutor, described the shutdown as a “complete mess” for his already resource-constrained office. With 10 criminal trials under way in Federal District Court in Manhattan, he is spending much of his time seeking to prevent the government paralegals from being furloughed.

The Justice Department is in settlement talks with JPMorgan and is seeking more than $11 billion from the bank over its sale of questionable mortgage securities.

The investigation into JPMorgan’s trading loss in London reached a peak in August when the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan, along with the F.B.I., announced charges against the two.

Both Mr. Martino-Artajo and Mr. Grout deny wrongdoing. Bruno Iksil, a third former trader, known as the “London Whale”, reached a nonprosecution deal with the government in exchange for testifying against his former colleagues.

 Adapted from

"I quit" (video)

Marina Shifrin, a 25-year-old University of Missouri-Columbia journalism graduate, quit her job at Next Media Animation, the Taiwanese animator that makes crazy, funny and often disturbing videos.

Her "I quit" video has gone viral and received more than 14.5m hits on YouTube so far.

Marina Shifrin explains in a blog post titled "Journalism is dead (to me)" that she's tired of how journalism has become about clicks over quality.

"I am not saying that all journalism is bad. I am saying that most popular 'journalism' is bad. You can't blame the writers, though, we're scared into it. We're the ones writing the stories about the poor job market. That's why when we find a job that remotely carries just the slightest essence of journalism we gently bend at the waist, place our elbows upon our desk and let the Clicks have their way."

And so, she writes, she's making way for other journalists, ones willing to give up their relationships and social lives for a job.

"I work for an awesome company that makes news videos. I have put my life into this job, but my boss says quantity, speed and views are what is most important.

I believe it's more important to focus on the quality of the content. Here is a little video I made explaining my feelings"







But Next Media  Animation wasn't willing to let Shifrin have the last laugh. So some days later, the company posted its own video response, mimicking the format Shifrin used in her own video and using the exact same Kanye song.


 



Here is Kanye West's "Gone"


Wished I had told
Ooh was (the) only one
But it's too late, it's too late
He's gone

You sweat her, and I ain't talkin 'bout a Coogi
You a big L, and I ain't talkin 'bout Cool J
See me at the airport, at least 20 Louis
Treat me like the Prince and this my sweet brother Numpsay
BROTHER NUMPSAY! Groupies sound too choosy
Take 'em to the show and talk all through the movies
Says she want diamonds, I took her to Ruby Tuesdays
If we up in Friday's, I still have it my way

Too late, we, gone - we strivin home
Gone - we ride on chrome
It's too late

Y'all don't want no prob from me
What you rappers could get is a job from me
Maybe you could be my intern, and in turn
I'll show you how I cook up summer, in the winter
Aaron love the raw dog, when will he learn
Caught somethin on the Usher tour he had to "Let it Burn"
Plus he already got three chil'run
Arguin over babysitters like, "Bitch - it's yo' turn!"
Damn 'Ye, it'd be stupid to ditch you
Even your superficial raps is super official
R-R-R-Roc Pastelle with Gucci on
With TV's in the ride, throw a movie on
Said he couldn't rap now he at the top with doobie long
Cause the dookie's on any song that they threw me on, gone

We strivin home, gone
I ride on chrome...
We strivin home, gone
Killa, I ride on chrome

Knock knock, who's there? Killa Cam, Killa who?
Killa Cam, hustler, grinder, gorilla true
Oh my chinchilla blue, blue you ever dealt with a dealer
Well here's the deal ma we goin to the dealer booth
No concealin, no ceiling I don't need a roof

Hernán and Himalaya - a viral video

How about filling in the blanks with the following verbs and then watching the video below? It has already received almost 11 million views!

 

•     causes
•     doesn't want
•     ends up
•     has
•     is
•     is
•     is refusing
•     looks
•     posted

Gentle Dog Befriends Little Boy With Down Syndrome

This …………………………. a dog called Himalaya. She …………………………. to give up on a toddler who ………………………….  to play.

Little Hernán, from Buenos Aires, …………………………. Down Syndrome, which, according to comments …………………………. by his mom Ana, …………………………. him to shy away from physical contact.

But Himalaya …………………………. persistent and gentle, and Hernán…………………………. giving her what………………………….  like a hug around the 3:12 mark.

 

adapted from The Huffington Post