Saturday, September 7, 2024
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Hillary’s new book: “It’s never my fault”

by Jon Rappoport

This is an antidote to Hillary’s new book, titled, “What Happened,” which I would sub-title, Why Was I So Clueless? The book purports to explain her loss in the 2016 election.

What would Hillary think if she could think?

First of all, she would think about the team trying to get her elected and the problems they faced: they had a candidate who basically had no platform, no cogent ideas, only a slim file of vapid generalities. She couldn’t deliver a coherent speech.

The team had to devise a way to keep her out of the spotlight on the campaign trail. This, the last time I looked, is not a winning strategy.
“How can we minimize her appearances?”

Hillary would think about that.

She would think about why sexism (her favorite), Putin, Comey, WikiLeaks, and “fake news” don’t explain her loss. How they didn’t add up to an Electoral College defeat.

She would think about her supporters whining, “But she won the popular vote.” That complaint only highlights the failure of her team to realize the Electoral College system (which any fifth-grader can understand) was the umbrella under which the election was actually conducted.

She would think about why serving as a senator and secretary of state doesn’t automatically entitle her to the job of president.

She would think about her past crimes—there is not enough time or room to detail them here.

She would think about why Americans who have lost their jobs didn’t trust her to bring those jobs back.

She would think about Trump and his resonating messages—regardless of whether Trump intends to deliver on those messages.

She would think about the Left’s political correctness, and all the people who hate it.

She would think about college students who defected from her camp to support an old radical socialist (who owns three homes and has pocketed close to a million dollars from his latest book about income inequality).

She would think about the distance between her vague promises and the interests of non-white voters.

She would think about the numbers of Americans who don’t embrace the growing Welfare State and don’t want to pay taxes to support it.

She would think about what many Americans really think about open borders and unchecked immigration.

She would think about the emotional impact of promoting Globalism and an “interdependent world” (it takes a village) vs. promoting Nationalism.
She would think about the dead rotting core of the Democratic Party.

She would think about effect of the previous president, Barack Obama, harping on racism whenever he could.

She would think about her history of support for a federally dictated national health insurance plan.

She would think about her duplicitous husband, with whom she is forever linked.

She would think about her husband’s faded ability to mobilize Americans on any political issue whatsoever.

She would think about (cough, cough, stumble, stumble) her health issues.

She would think about her failure to project an aura of strength.

She would think about the wisdom of trying to assume the mantle of president before the election had taken place.

She would think about her decades-long transparent pursuit of power for its own sake.

She would think about her own team lying to her about her “positive impact” on the public during the campaign. She would think about why they had to lie, given her ironclad delusions about her own “deserved status.”

She would think about the rebound effect of Hollywood sycophants piling on in her favor.

She would think about these things if she could.

She can’t, because then she would understand.

She would understand why she lost, and why she would most definitely lose a race for dogcatcher.

She would understand her long history of pretending to accrue prestige, based on nothing.

She would understand that her own Party has been humoring her for decades and faking loyalty where none existed.

She would understand that, during the campaign, the news networks, eternally in need of ratings, would cover Donald Trump every day, because she, Hillary, was a ratings washout, and he was a rating magnet.

This last factor is the bitterest pill of all.

(Jon Rappoport is the author of three explosive collections, The Matrix Revealed, Exit From The Matrix, and Power Outside The Matrix).

Nikki Haley, the US ambassador at the UN is not correct about Venezuela

Let me tell you something:

UN Ambassador Nikki Haley said on Sunday July 30 – after the election to elect the Venezuelan Constituent Assembly, that “Maduro’s false election is another step towards dictatorship. We will not accept an illegitimate government. The Venezuelan people and democracy will prevail. “ President Trump then imposed economic sanctions against Maduro and his administration.
With a new constituent assembly, the government will have the power to rewrite the Venezuelan constitution, and that is what concerns the opposition allied to Washington.

One does not have to be a socialist to express an opinion on a system that calls itself socialist. I am not a socialist, I do not sympathize with socialism, because I know that it is a system of control over the people and the economy by a materialistic state corporation that suppresses civil liberties.

However, the case of Venezuela, and after sharing so many postings on Facebook in favor of the Venezuelan opposition, I find that there is another reality that perhaps many ignore: what is really at stake in this Bolivarian homeland is its sovereignty of oil, and not the beautiful faces of its Miss Universes.

What can it matter to Washington if democracy is not perfect or if there is no democracy in Venezuela or in another country?

Is it not from the White House that orders are given to bomb sovereign nations and assassinate their leaders when they do not obey Pentagon orders – on behalf of the oil cartels?
Just look at some Arab countries that the US. supports, where state crimes leave much to say. Where the rights of women or the beheadings of their critics matter don’t matter.

However, the US, instead of seeking a change of government in those countries, it give them more weapons, because US companies control the market of their oil.

There are rumors that the heat is intensifying towards an intervention and that a coup d’stat could be ahead in that Caribbean nation.

And it is not that Maduro is a saint, but I am coming to the conclusion that if he releases the reins of power, Venezuela will suffer like Mexico, where oil is no longer Mexican and now they have to buy gas from the US. I think that should not happen to Venezuela.

The best thing would be for both sides to sit down to negotiate – without foreign intervention – and to begin with Maduro’s government freeing the dollar market for the economy to return to its previous course. But they also must endorse a constitutional agreement that Venezuela’s oil will NEVER STOP BEING VENEZUELAN PATRIMONY – no matter what happens, whoever governs, and that no constitution be able to accept in its paper something that allows the oil to be controlled by foreign interests , including Wall Street, of course.

But I am sure that US oil interests do not want negotiation, but a civil war to breaks out and the economy to collapse so to make the country ungovernable – and then call the Marines to “protect American interests.” However, the latter is less likely, as the Venezuelan armed forces have not abandoned Maduro, yet.

The large Venezuelan oil fields are now the target of Washington, as in February 2003 PDVSA (Petróleos de Venezuela, SA) was was turned into a state-owned company. And it pains them that Venezuelan oil has gone out of their hands and that Venezuela (not long ago) has paid its debt. Or is it not true?

According to some calculations, Venezuelan reserves should last between 100 and 150 years under conditions of intense exploitation.

It is said that the payment of the debt of $ 2.5 billion and the oil downturn have been the cause of scarcity, as the government has been forced to maintain a cut in imports of basic goods despite the country’s sharp three years recession.

And I do not doubt that the violence and its cause have been mostly ingenious. And if you doubt it, do some investigative work on the internet about how and what governments the CIA has overthrown worldwide. I have done it, and that is why I have no doubt that this is what is happening in Venezuela.

There has been repression, but what government does not use force when the protests reach such a point of wanting to collapse the government? Is not there in the US, or in Nicaragua or in Mexico while the traditional press is silent?

There have also been many errors and outrages on the part of the government, especially in the lack of mercantile freedom that has triggered inflation and scarcity, but behind it, I do not doubt that it is the petro-bankers who want chaos.

It does not make these special interests happy that an ‘underdeveloped’ country have so much economic power and that it cannot be controlled – by them.

Therefore, don’t go to fast into believing the traditional media, because they are following a script so that there is a war.

Do you remember William Randolph Hearst’s cryptic phrase?

Among Hearst’s employees was the famous illustrator Frederic Remington.

In 1897, Remington was very bored by the lack of something newsworthy in Cuba and telegraphed to Hearst, “Everything is quiet, there are no problems here, there will be no war, I want to return.”

In response to Remington’s message, Hearst replied, “Please stay. Provide the photos and I will provide the war.“

Less than three weeks later, the American ship USS Maine exploded in the port of Havana. The cause of the explosion that claimed 274 lives remains a mystery.

Whatever its real cause, Hearst determined that the sinking of Maine was the result of Spanish betrayal and his newspaper vigorously published stories that helped create and nurture American anti-Spanish sentiment.

Within three months, the United States was at war with Spain in what became known as the US-Spanish war.

Never before has the media been shown to have such immediate and far-reaching effects.

I leave this link with an article (in English) well analyzed about the Venezuelan controversy.

Venezuela: Reactionary Coup in the Making, Media Disinformation, The Attitude of the Left

– Vale, Marvin Ramírez

Can’t sleep? 5 simple ways to help you beat insomia

by Dr. Serge Gregoire

Are you like thousands of people who can’t sleep? Or do you seem to have trouble get a full night of restful sleep and you keep waking up in the middle of the night? Here are some simple tips and tricks to help you beat insomnia and get the sleep you have been missing (1, 2, 3).

Insomnia buster # 1: creating the right atmosphere

Being comfortable and free of distractions is one of the first steps in securing a good night’s sleep. Keeping your sleeping area cool, dark, and as free from noise as possible will create an environment conducive to sleep. Do not fall asleep with the television or radio on either as it will only distract you and will likely wake you during the night.

Insomnia buster # 2: avoid stimulates before bed

Many people know that drinking coffee before bed is a big no no; however, they over look the caffeine that can be found in other sources such as soda, some teas, and chocolate. Often these items are not only loaded with caffeine but contain tons of sugar as well. Avoid these items and instead substitute decaffeinated and low sugar alternatives.

Insomnia buster # 3: drink your tea

Some herbal teas, such as chamomile, can be a great addition to your night time routine. Chamomile is a natural way to help settle your nerves and to relax so that you can peacefully drift off to sleep. And if tea is not quite your thing, do not worry; they make great supplements that you can take to get the effects of chamomile for people who can’t sleep but do not like tea.

Insomnia buster # 4: aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is a great, natural way to help you beat those insomnia blues. Aromatherapy utilizes the scents of natural oils to help you achieve the desired effect. In this case, essential oils such as Lavender can help to relax and prepare you for sleep. And there are so many great ways to enjoy aromatherapy from bath oils in a nice soothing bath, or wonderful sleeping mist sprays that you can spray your sheets with before you go to bed that surrounds you with the calming scent to soothe you off to sleep. So if you can’t sleep, try one of these great aromatherapy products.

Insomnia Buster # 5: eat a balanced diet

It might surprise you, but what you eat might be one reason as to why you can’t sleep. A poor diet can lead to heart burn, indigestion, and a ton of other health problems that can be getting a good night’s sleep difficult. Eating a healthy, well-balanced diet will improve your over all health which can help to eliminate some of the pesky problems that keep you awake at night.

There are five very simple tricks that can help you sleep better. However, if you can’t sleep for prolonged periods of time or have other symptoms accompanying your restlessness, be sure to speak with your health care provider as these could be signs of a health problem or serious condition. And if you are on medication or are pregnant, be sure to consult your doctor before trying any herbal remedy as some, such as chamomile, may not be recommended. (Natural News).

Why did 10 immigrants die in this truck in Texas?

Their deaths, after being crammed into an uncooled trailer amid scorching summer heat, expose the callousness of smuggling along the US-Mexico border

by David Agren in Calvillo, Tom Dart in San Antonio and Nina Lakhani

One day earlier this month, Johny Serna was brought by his mother to pray the rosary at a parish shrine to Santo Toribio Romo, the patron saint of migrants, with his uncle and his best friend. They had a long journey ahead.

The next morning, the trio departed for the US-Mexico border, where they crossed the Rio Grande, finally climbing into a crowded 18-wheeler that would take them part of the way to their ultimate destination, Chicago.

The truck turned out to be a death trap.

Serna, 18, survived the scorching heat and asphyxiating conditions – as did his uncle. But 10 others died in a tragedy that exposed the perils of crossing the frontier illegally – and the callous indifference of the criminals who transport migrants.

About 30 more victims were hospitalized in San Antonio, where the truck and its grim cargo were discovered in a Walmart parking lot after a supermarket employee became suspicious and called police when one of the passengers asked him for water. As many as a hundred people from Mexico and Central America had been crammed inside.

At least 11 hailed from the small Mexican state of Aguascalientes, where young men head north to make enough money to better their lot in life back home. It’s a long established rite of passage for successive generations tired of scratching meager livings from this region of dry highlands dotted with corn fields, guava groves and prickly pear cacti.

Unlike the migrants fleeing for their lives from Central America and violent corners of Mexico, those leaving Aguascalientes are drawn by the economic opportunities offered by the US.

Serna hated factory work and instead labored in construction and picked guavas. He had a single goal: buying a house. “He wanted to earn more and live a little better,” said his cousin, Omar Romo Serna, a pudgy 18-year-old with a thin beard.

Aguascalientes, in the geographic heart of Mexico, is considered one of the country’s more prosperous states, but even here the lure of the US is irresistible to many.

Gabriel Hernández, the city manager in Palo Alto – an hour east of Calvillo and home to seven of the trailer victims – cites pay at home as the problem. He says migrants work long and hard hours in the US but don’t feel “exploited” like they do in Mexico, where shifts in factories are long and pay might amount to $85 (£65) a week.

Many migrants simply dream of buying their own homes. Walking the dusty but tidy streets of the town, Hernández –who spent nearly two decades in the US – points out the larger homes with brick facades mean “American money”. Shabby concrete structures with corrugated metal roofs suggest no access to US funds.
Even Donald Trump’s migration crackdown and the rise of anti-migrant attitudes in the US is not enough to dissuade the town’s men from seeking better fortunes north of the border, said Patricia Briones, whose husband, José Rodríguez, perished in the truck. “He didn’t want to go to the United States,” she said. “But the economic situation is so dire here.”

The Zetas are responsible for some of Mexico’s most notorious migrant atrocities, including two massacres in 2010 and 2011 in which at least 265 migrants were kidnapped from buses, killed and buried in mass graves in the northern state of Tamaulipas.

However, the Zetas have never been directly involved in people smuggling, according to professor Rodolfo Casillas, an expert in migrant routes and criminal networks at the Latin American Social Science Institute (Flacso).

“Smuggling migrants is a specialist service, the Zetas don’t have the knowledge, experience or prestige in this business. That doesn’t mean the migrants didn’t have to pay them for security at some point,” he said.

“Criminal gangs don’t start and stop at borders – they operate through networks of accomplices which include transport companies and drivers,” said Erubiel Tirado, a security analyst. But he also said that it is not uncommon for other criminal groups to use the Zetas’ name to generate terror or to detract attention from themselves and confuse the authorities.

Once in Texas, the migrants walked for hours and were picked up the next morning and taken to the trailer, where they assembled with others, all waiting to depart in the evening.

At about 9 p.m., a man appeared and handed pieces of colored tape to the groups to distinguish them for the smugglers who would be collecting them later. Don’t worry, the man said: the truck has refrigeration, the trip will be fine.

But the cooling system was broken, and the container became an oven in the summer heat. The outdoor temperature reached a high of 38C (100F) and a low of 24C (75F) in San Antonio on 22 July, and the city is a two-and-a-half hour drive from Laredo.

Panic set in quickly, said Jonathan Ryan, executive director of Raíces, a San Antonio-based immigrant legal aid organization that is helping represent some of the survivors. Some cried, screamed and hammered on the walls. Others lost consciousness and hallucinated when they came round, believing they were dead.

It is one of the deadliest migrant-smuggling incidents in the US since May 2003, when 19 bodies were found in a milk truck abandoned at a truck stop in the Texas city of Victoria, 120 miles south-east of San Antonio. The first to die was a five-year-old boy who died in his father’s arms. The refrigeration system had been turned off.

Yet the dangers are not enough to end the flow of migrants, who continue to put their money and their lives in the hands of smuggling networks engaged in a form of hide-and-seek with federal officers along an increasingly militarized border.

(This article has been cut to fit space).

US university campus to open in Querétaro, Mexico

Arkansas State University offers eight degree programs in Querétaro

Compiled by Mexico News Daily

Mexican university students will soon have the opportunity to study at a United States public university without crossing the border.
Arkansas State University (ASU) will open a campus on September 4 in the municipality of Colón, Querétaro, about 60 kilometers northeast of the state capital, Santiago de Querétaro.

Apart from education, administrative and sporting facilities, the 37-hectare campus also has student residences where all students will be required to live during their first year of study.

About US$75 million has been invested in the first phase of the new school but future expansion is planned as the university has a total of 150 hectares at the site.

The campus — described as the first U.S.-style campus in Mexico — will follow a U.S. education model with all classes given in English. The initial goal is to enroll between 300 and 500 students for the first academic year, an objective not far from being reached with 250 already enrolled.

Seventeen professors will teach during the first year, including 10 from the U.S. and four from Mexico. The other three are from Nicaragua and Iran.

“All of them are experts in their teaching area,” remarked rector Brad L. Rawlings.

Querétaro was chosen because of its climate, safety, economy and proximity to industries, such as automotive. The university plans to develop close links with industry and research institutions that are already established in the region.

Investors in the campus wanted to bring a U.S. standard of education to local students and found a suitable partner with the same goals in ASU, Rawlings stated.

Both Mexico’s Education Secretariat (SEP) and the Higher Learning Commission —an organization that accredits tertiary education institutes in the U.S. — will oversee the degrees offered at the campus and students will graduate with a qualification recognized by both countries.

Eight degree programs will initially be on offer: electrical engineering, biological sciences, business administration, mechanical engineering, biotechnology, international business, chemistry and strategic communication.

A post-graduate engineering administration degree and an MBA are expected to begin in 2018.

New degrees will likely focus on science and technology although there will be flexibility to respond to student demand and meet the needs of both Querétaro and Mexico, the rector said.

Students will also have the opportunity to complete an exchange at the university’s main campus in Jonesboro, Arkansas, although Rawlings stressed that all efforts are being made to replicate the U.S. college experience in Mexico.

“It’s like being at a university in the United States, but here in Mexico, with the same experience,” he said.

Tuition and fees for full-time enrollment for all degrees is 99,450 pesos (US $5,600) per semester while a room and meals cost an additional 10,990 pesos per month.

Source: Forbes México (sp)

Also about education in México:

Engineering student prolific inventor at 18

He has 171 inventions to his name, including an artificial intelligence device

Mexico has its very own budding Thomas Edison or Nikola Tesla in its midst.

Despite being just 18 years old, an engineering student at the Autonomous University of Nuevo León (UANL) already has 171 inventions to his name, including drones, pistons, combustion, electric and hybrid engines and even an artificial intelligence device.

José Armando López Martínez, currently in his fourth semester of a mechanical and electrical engineering degree at a Monterrey campus of the university, first started developing his own inventions while still a high school student.

Twenty-three of them have already made it to the latter stages of the patent application process of the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI), meaning that they are likely to be officially registered soon.

One of his first inventions in his formative years while growing up in the Monterrey municipality of Guadalupe was a limited-slip differential that helped to cut down energy consumption.

Another was a temperature-controlled piston device that improves fuel efficiency in cars.

“Since I can remember I’ve always been very curious about electronic things and motors,” the young inventor remarked, adding, “I remember starting by taking a Nintendo 64 controller apart, changing the buttons around and putting it back to together.”

Pepe — as his friends call him — has also installed solar cells on a drone that allows it to stay airborne longer than any drones currently on the market.
However, the invention that perhaps stands out the most is an artificial intelligence device he created that goes by the name of Jarvis.

Pepe programmed the robot using the popular Python programming language, and it has the ability to respond to instructions in five different languages.
He talks to “her” frequently and goes as far as considering her a friend.

“I can strike up a conversation with her as though she were any other person. From any IP or LAN point she can be connected to the internet without needing a password. There is no need to decrypt anything,” José declared.

He is now planning to build a full body robot, putting his other inventions to one side for the time being so that he can focus on improving his abilities in programming and artificial intelligence.

Eventually, José’s dream is to work for Tesla, Inc., the innovative global company that is at the forefront of technological advances and manufactures electric cars in Silicon Valley.

That dream came one step closer to reality when representatives of the company visited Monterrey recently, heard about the prolific inventor and consequently granted him an interview.

“I’m in the selection phase with Tesla. They were looking for mechanical, manufacturing and automation engineers. They were surprised when I told them I had 171 patent applications,” José recalled.

The future looks bright for the young innovator and opportunities beyond Mexico’s borders are likely to beckon, although Guadalajara has also been developing as a technology hub over the past two decades.

Moisés Hinojosa, the former innovation head of the mechanical and electrical engineering faculty at UANL commented that José Armando’s abilities “leave all of us behind” and is certain that he will have success in his future endeavors.

“If he was in Silicon Valley or Boston companies and investors would [already] be chasing after him.”

Source: Milenio (sp)

Have Mexico and the CIA united against Venezuela; has Mexico thrown aside its historical doctrine Estrada?

by The El Reportero’s wire services and Marvin Ramírez

The government of the president Enrique Peña Nieto starkly abandoned its traditional foreign policy doctrine Estrada after announcing its collaboration with the US government in its announced sanctions against Venezuela.

Estrada doctrine

The Estrada Doctrine is the name of Mexico’s core foreign policy ideal from 1930 to the early 2000s. Its name derives from Genaro Estrada, Secretary of Foreign Affairs during the presidency of Pascual Ortiz Rubio (1930–1932).

The doctrine was the most influential and representative instrument in the country’s foreign policy for 70 years, it claims that foreign governments should not judge, positively or negatively, the governments or changes in government of other states, in that such action would imply a breach of state sovereignty. This policy was said to be based on the principles of non-intervention, peaceful resolution of disputes and self-determination of all nations
But with this action, Mexico is aligning – with the CIA’s goal to unseat the Venezuelan government.

Mexican Undersecretary of Finance, Vanessa Rubio, said the administration of Peña Nieto will provide financial and tax information about current and former Venezuelan officials against whom Washington has issued sanctions.

Such punishments include the revocation of visas and the freezing of funds and assets, a policy with which the Mexican government is committed in spite of the diplomacy of respect for the sovereignty of third countries that for decades has earned it international recognition.

Earlier, a joint communiqué was issued by the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Finance indicating that the Peña Nieto administration will proceed ‘in consequence’ of the sanctions announced by the United States against Venezuela. The text of two paragraphs, and local media described as confusing, used the same language of the White House to justify punishments against senior Venezuelan government officials.

Regarding sanctions: ‘The Mexican government, through the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, reports that it will proceed accordingly, in accordance with the laws and conventions applicable in the matter,’ the text adds.

This is another escalation in the Mexican position against the Bolivarian government, now showing itself openly in its complicity with Washington. Mexico throws aside its historical doctrine Estrada, by which its foreign policy reaped sympathy and international recognition for the respect to the sovereignty and self-determination of third countries.

Now the Mexican authorities assume as their own the disqualifications of the administration of Donald Trump against the legitimate Venezuelan government that has denounced being attacked by foreign interests in collusion with the right-wing and economic power groups of the South American nation.

To better illustrate it: the Mexican Ministry of Finance investigates the minister of Culture of Venezuela, Elías Jaua, one of the 13 sanctioned by Washington, by orders of the United States. Jaua was Vice President, Foreign Minister and Speaker of Venezuela’s Parliament, with which Mexico maintains diplomatic relations that must be governed by principles today violated as commanded by White House.In this scenario, the chapter of the Network of Intellectuals, Artists and Social Movements in Defense of Humanity considered the interference of the government of President Enrique Peña Nieto in Venezuelan internal affairs as an unacceptable submission. A document signed by intellectuals and scholars network members opined that the actions of the administration of Peña Nieto against Venezuela does not represent the sentiment of the Mexican people.

The call rejects the decision announced by the Mexican Foreign Ministry and of Treasury to join the sanctions of the government of Donald Trump against officials of the Venezuelan government. It emphasizes that the submission levels has exceeded the limits of rationality, degrading the dignity that any country must raise and violating the Mexican tradition with respect to the sovereignty of other nations.

The Network called on the Mexican government to publicly retract and recover the principles of a foreign policy that respects the right of self-determination of peoples and nations.

Boxing – The Gentlemen’s Sport

JULY 29, 2017
Barclays, Brooklyn, NY, USA (Showtime)
Mikey Garcia vs. Adrien Broner
Jarrett Hurd vs. Austin Trout
AUGUST 4, 2017
Chukchansi Park, Fresno, CA, USA (UniMas)
Jose Carlos Ramirez vs. TBA
TBA (ESPN2 / ESPN Deportes)
“Golden Boy Boxing”
AUGUST 11, 2017
Argentina (TyC / VTV)
Caril Herrera vs. Julio Escudero
Sebastian Papeschi vs. Francisco Torres
AUGUST 15, 2017
Shimazu, Kyoto, Japan (beIN)
Shinsuke Yamanaka vs. Luis Nery
AUGUST 18, 2017
TBA (ESPN Deportes)
“Golden Boy Boxing”
AUGUST 26, 2017
StubHub Center, Carson, CA, USA (HBO / BoxNation)
Miguel Cotto vs. Yoshihiro Kamegai
SEPTEMBER 9, 2017
California, USA (HBO)
Wisaksil Wangek vs. Roman Gonzalez
Ekaterinburg, Russia
Shane Mosley vs. Magomed Kurbanov

The Erik Jekabson Quartet with special guest John Santos

Compiled by the El Reportero’s staff

Erik Jekabson is a remarkable trumpet player, composer, arranger and educator who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has six CDs out under his own name: his most recent album is “Erik Jekabson Quintet” (2017) on the Wide Hive Record Label.

Friday, July 28, 2017 at 8 p.m., the at Piedmont Piano Company, 1728 San Pablo Ave. (at 18th), Oakland. Cover charge $20 – To reserve tickets with your credit card, please call (510) 547-8188.

And here’s Johnny, again:

The Alameda Rhythmix Cultural presents The John Santos Sextet

Seven-time GRAMMY-nominated percussionist John Santos and his namesake sextet return to Rhythmix Cultural Works in Alameda for an enchanting summer evening of Afro-Latin-inspired music, song and culture.

Saturday, July 29th, 2017, 8 p.m., at the Rhythmic Cultural Works, 2513 Blanding Ave., Alameda. For more info call (510) 865-5060.

A special Latin dance night

“Edgardo & Candela” is a Salsa Band based in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 30 years, making them one of the most established Salsa Orchestras in California.

Better known as simply “Candela,” their trade mark is their high energy level performance, featuring great vocals, a tight rhythm section and the powerful sound of the horns.

The band features the crop of professional musicians in the Bay Area, which makes for an incredible musical experience every time they play!

During the evening, Edgardo will personally assure that everyone is entertained while he mixes singing tunes by Oscar De León, Marc Anthony, Eddie Palmieri, Rubén Blades, Tito Puente, Guaco, Pete “Conde” Rodríguez, Celia Cruz and Ray Barretto among others, but the real treat here is Edgardo’s original music, presenting him as a mature composer and poetic lyricist.

At Le Colonial, 721 Sutter St. San Francisco, on Saturday, July 29. Also with the presence of DJ EldelaClaveSF.

Silicon Valley’s Premier Annual Music San Jose Jazz Summer Fest 2017

San Jose Jazz Summer Fest returns for its 28th festival season from Friday, August 11 – Sunday, August 13 in and around Plaza de César Chavez Park in downtown San Jose, Calif.

A showcase for jazz and related genres, SJZ Summer Fest is also nationally recognized as one of the biggest Latin festivals in the country. A standout summer destination for music lovers, concert-goers and families alike, the three-day event features 120+ performances on 10 stages, attracting tens of thousands of visitors to downtown throughout the weekend.

The 28th Annual San Jose Jazz Summer Fest 2017 features an acclaimed roster of artists from around the world as well as homegrown Bay Area talent.

San Jose Jazz announces today its second round of confirmed artists: Óscar Hernández and Alma Libre; California and Montreal Guitar Trios; Peter Cincotti; Dayme Arocena; Orgone; Anton Schwartz Sextet; Eddie Henderson Quartet; Kalil Wilson With Love; Naughty Professor; Allan Harris Quartet; Hip Bone Big Band with Michael Davis; Zydeco Flames; Claudia Villela Quintet; Jackie Gage; The Sons Of The Soul Revivers; JC Smith Band; Aaron Lington Sextet; Conjunto Karabali; Juan Pollo Raffo; A.C. Myles; Big Sandy and His Fly Rite Boys; CABANIJAZZ Project; Carlitos Medrano; The Bay Area Salsa All-Stars featuring Jimmy Bosch; Lily Hernández Orchestra featuring Calixto Oviedo; and additional artists to be announced!

The Mixtec Skylark: opera in 5 languages?

Oaxaca-born soprano sings opera in five indigenous tongues

by the El Reportero’s news services

A list of Mexican opera singers would not be a long one, but a list of those who can sing opera in five indigenous languages would probably bear a single name.

Soprano Edith Ortiz is known as the Mixtec Skylark and has earned a name for herself as a successful opera singer and a promoter of the preservation of indigenous languages.

Ortiz started singing at an early age, both at school and accompanied by her father’s string ensemble in the village where was born, Villa Guadalupe, in the Oaxaca municipality of San Miguel el Grande.

Later she traveled to the state capital where she formalized her music studies at the Miguel Cabrera Artistic Education Center before traveling to Mexico City and enrolling at the National Music School of the National Autonomous university (UNAM).

“Music has always been part of my family, a tradition. My grandfather played the violin, as did my father. This tradition has been encouraged in my family and I am fortunate enough to carry it on,” Ortiz told the news agency Notimex in a recent interview.

She is also grateful to her parents for teaching her both Spanish and Mixtec.

Ortiz finds inspiration in the music of her native Mixtec culture, which she sings not just in Mixtec but in four other indigenous languages as well: Maya, Nahuatl, Zapotec and Mazatec.

Ortiz has performed at Mexico City’s Auditorio Nacional and the Palacio de Bellas Artes, at other venues throughout the country and abroad, introducing Mexico’s cultural diversity to audiences in the United States, New Zealand and Spain.

Ortiz says an important lesson she has learned over the years is that indigenous peoples should not be ashamed to speak their own language.

“It is very important to continue promoting our mother tongue . . . she said, adding that love for her people is love for her language and gratitude to her elders, “who have passed on this tradition.”

Ortiz believes Mexico is very fortunate to have a vast cultural diversity which should be “valued and encouraged among youths and children.

Promoting native languages motivates her to travel throughout Mexico, where she has visited indigenous communities in her native Oaxaca and in the states of México and Baja California, where she teaches the importance of local languages through song.

The singer has recorded six albums and is currently working on her seventh.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame Inducts and honors Carlos Vives with 2017 La Musa Awards

The Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame announced July 5 that international music figure Carlos Vives will be inducted into this year’s Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame at the 5th annual La Musa Awards. In addition LSHOF will honor the singer/songwriter with the organization’s Icon Award.

A singer, composer, actor and entrepreneur, Carlos Vives is one of Colombia’s most iconic artists and one of the most important figures in Latin music.

With more than 20 million albums sold worldwide, he is considered a pioneer of the new Colombian and Latin American sound, who continues to sell out in many of the most important venues in the world. He has transcended more than two decades, has won 2 Grammys and 11 Latin Grammy Awards, has had 23 Grammy nominations (American and Latin), and has won multiple gold and platinum albums. He became the first Colombian artist to bring home a gramophone from the Recording Academy.

For more than 20 years, Carlos Vives’ creative impulse as a visionary of music has produced a significant footprint in how we’ve been accustomed to listen and dance to the different rhythms of the Caribbean coast of Colombia.

Growing old on the streets is not easy says AMAC

There is a pressing need for solutions to homelessness among the elderly

 
WASHINGTON, DC, July 14 – According to a U.S. government study 1.5 million Americans are considered to be homeless. And, while efforts are underway, and in some cases making progress toward reducing the ravages of homelessness, more needs to be done, according to Dan Weber, president of the Association of Mature American Citizens. 

 And, he says, there needs to be a special focus on the population of elderly men and women with no permanent access to shelter. It’s hard enough growing old in the comfort of your own home, but imagine how much more difficult and dangerous it is to age on the streets.

“Bear in mind that the homeless are included in the 10,000 Americans who turn 65 years of age each day. So, there is a pressing need for specific solutions to homelessness among the elderly and the need grows more dire with each and every passing day. The issue is particularly poignant for AMAC since reportedly more than 50% of those living on the streets are elderly. The burden of living hand-to-mouth on the streets is particularly difficult for them since they are more susceptible to injuries and illnesses as they age. Efforts to deal with the problem are valiant but thus far have not been able to cope as is evidenced by the growing waiting lists at shelters,” says Weber.

Sara Bloomberg, a freelance journalist in San Francisco, recently reported that in 2014 wait times for access to temporary shelter for the homeless in that city averaged 26 days and that currently the wait time has more than doubled. Bloomberg noted that among those recently seeking shelter was a 97-year-old individual and three who are in their 80s.

Sam Dodge, deputy director of the San Francisco Department of Homelessness, told her in an interview that “we do have some carve-outs within our shelter system for elderly and veterans.” 

But, says Weber, a study conducted by the University of California found that in 27 years ago only 11 percent of the homeless population were older Americans, but that now more than half are age 50 or older so carve-outs are not the answer.

He praised the efforts of officials in municipalities across the country to deal with the needs of those who have no choice but to live on the streets. 

“But, as any of us with aging parents or grandparents know, the older you are, the more help you need.  One study of homeless individuals whose average age was 58 showed they have more trouble with such simple tasks as getting dressed, keeping themselves clean and eating properly than 80 year olds living in a proper home environment. Bear in mind that as we age we can become more forgetful. We don’t see as well as we used to. We can become depressed more easily and we can forget to take medications.  And, we become more susceptible to physical injuries,” Weber points out.

While temporary shelters fill an important immediate need, there is widespread agreement that we need to design solutions that provide for permanent solutions for those who otherwise have no choice but to live on the streets. 

Says Weber, “we need facilities that offer not only a roof over their heads but supportive services, as well. Shelters are a partial solution at best. They provide bunk beds and shared toilet facilities. That’s good as far as it goes, but there is overwhelming evidence that such environments can actually increase the risk of injury and ill-health.  Furthermore, many shelters require that residents must vacate those shelters during the day.  And, that can lead to further dangers as they have no choice but to wander alone on the streets.”

Weber cites the work of the Hearth program in Boston. Hearth was established to find ways of preventing and ending elder homelessness. Its focus is on identifying older individuals who are currently homeless or are at serious risk of becoming homeless.  It seeks to provide “permanent and affordable supportive” housing.

The AMAC chief called on city officials across the country to seek solutions that offer security, permanence and hope for seniors who can’t fend for themselves. “Hearth and programs like it should be the models for municipalities – particularly bigger cities where aging homeless populations are growing at too rapid a pace.  What use is it to provide so-called temporary, not so safe havens that exacerbate the distress, depression and physical harm suffered by elderly American men and women, many of whom served valiantly in the armed services?”

(The Association of Mature American Citizens [http://www.amac.us] is a vibrant, vital senior advocacy organization that takes its marching orders from its members. We act and speak on their behalf, protecting their interests and offering a practical insight on how to best solve the problems they face today. 

Live long and make a difference by joining us today at http://amac.us/join-amac).

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