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Jazz Latino: Multi-dimensional artistic expression in the Americas

Photo journalist Carlos Espada

Compiled by the El Reportero’s staff

The Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, the Museum of the African Diaspora (MOAD), and SFJAZZ presents a six-week lecture series by John Santos. Machito and the Afro Cubans (c.1946)  L-R: Graciela (claves), Carlos Vidal (conga), René Hernandez (piano), Jose Mangual (bongos in front), Ubaldo Nieto (timbales), Bobby Rodriguez (bass), Machito (maracas).
Wednesday evenings 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Aug. 5 through Sept. 9, 2015, at MOAD 685 Mission St. San Francisco. (415) 358-7200. (Aug 19 only) at the California Historical Society, 678 Mission St. San Francisco. (415) 357-1848.
YBGF/MOAD/SFJAZZ Members: $15/class or $75/full series. Public: $20/class or $100/full series. One Free class when you purchase the series!

It’s the Psychotronix Film Festival!
Weird, Wild & Wacky Short Subjects: Monster Movie Trailers, Drive-in Snack Bar Ads, Old School Films, Retro TV Commercials, Forgotten Cartoons, Scopitone Music Films and Much More! All on 16mm film, the Vinyl of Visuals.
Friday, Aug. 7, 2015 at Art House Gallery & Cultural Center, 2905 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, (510) 472-3170. Doors: 7 p.m. Show: 8 p.m. Donation: $5 – $10. All Ages & Wheelchair Accessible.

Summer Nights Outdoor Concert Series
At the Osher Marin JCC Kanbar Center, ‘Plena Libre Celebrate Puerto Rico,’ on Saturday Aug. 8, 6:15 p.m. doors open, 6:40 dance lesson, 7 p.m. show.
Tickets and more info at: http://www.marinjcc.org/events/2015/08/08/performing-arts/plena-libre-summer-nights-outdoor-concert/55886/
$20 members / $23 public / $28 Day of (members & public), ages 17 and under FREE!

SFJAZZ presents a tribute honoring Puerto Rican icon and photojournalist Frank Espada
An unforgettable concert experience commemorating the life work of activist and master photographer Frank Espada (1930-2014).
Featuring The John Santos Sextet, with extra special guests, wordsmith Rico Pabon, guitarists/vocalists Jose Roberto Hernandez & Manuel Constancio, Afro-Puerto Rican dance master Shefali Shah, vocalist/poet Sandra Garcia Rivera corista Sarita Shah.
Images of Frank Espada’s profound work will be shown throughout this concert.
This will be the largest public showing of his iconic photography to date!
(Some seats have obstructed views of the large screen above the stage – inquire with SFJAZZ)
Sunday, Aug. 9, 2015, 2 p.m. at the gorgeous new SFJAZZ Center, 201 Franklin at Fell St., San Francisco. http://www.sfjazz.org, (866)920-5299.

Unveiling of mural and performance of spoken word piece
67 Sueños, Oakland chapter, will unveil a mural in East Oakland to celebrate and honor past victories of migrant communities. The mural aims to shed light on the struggles, risk, but also the hope that many undocumented communities, and their allies, endured while fighting against draconian anti-immigrant bills and advocating for bills such as AB- 241, the California Bill of Rights. The mural is inspired by interviews conducted by 67 Sueños youth with parents and community activist who migrated to the U.S. with aspirations to improve their conditions. Youth, children of immigrants, painted the mural.
At 23 percent, undocumented immigrants constitute a large majority of the California population, yet their stories are often overlooked. Making up roughly 5.1 percent of the labor force in the nation, undocumented immigrants are vital to the U.S. economy. Despite this, executive actions to provide protection from deportation such as DAPA have come to halt; little aid is reaching to the broader 11.1 M undocumented immigrants in this country. On Sunday, Aug. 9, at 1390 66th Ave, Oakland.

Mexican giant sculptures will decorate London’s streets

by the El Reportero’s news services

Mexican sculptures Yvonne Domenge, José Rivelino, Paloma Torres and Jorge Yazpik will bring their art to London’s streets through the exhibition of giant sculptures, exhibition organizers reported today.
The pieces are already in the UK and will be exhibited from September to December this year along the avenue leading to the Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square.
The sculptures, made of bronze, stone and resin, will form part of the first large format collective exhibition of Mexican sculpture in London.
The exhibition will also be part of the New Yearâ’s celebrations in the United Kingdom and represents the work of four generations of worldwide known sculptures.

Mayor announces Claudia Castro Luna as Seattle’s First Civic Poet
Mayor Ed Murray announced Aug. 3 Seattle’s first Civic Poet, Claudia Castro Luna.
The new Civic Poet post serves as an ambassador for Seattle’s rich literary landscape and represents the city’s diverse cultural community.
“Claudia brings a fresh perspective and a deep commitment to engaging the community through her poetry,” said Mayor Murray. “We are a literary city and we’re excited to have an accomplished poet that will celebrate and inspire us through her creativity.”
Castro Luna will perform at the 2015 and 2016 Mayor’s Art Awards, in addition to five community performances and workshops throughout the city. She will serve a two-year term from August 2015 to August 2017, receiving a $10,000 stipend. The Civic Poet program is administered by the city’s Office of Arts & Culture.
Castro Luna was born in El Salvador and came to the U.S. as a young teenager fleeing civil war. Since then she has completed a Master of Arts in Urban Planning, a teaching degree, and a Master of Fine Arts in poetry.
Castro Luna is a K-12 certified teacher with a passion for arts education and teaching immigrants. Her poems have appeared in Milvia Street, The Womanist, Riverbabble, and forthcoming in the Taos Journal of Poetry and Art. She writes and teaches in Seattle, where she gardens and raises chickens with her husband and their three children

Bard music festival to pay tribute to work by Mexican Carlos Chávez
The organizers of the Bard Music Festival announced today that the prestigious event this year will give tribute to the work of Carlos Chávez, a prominent Mexican composer.
During the weekend from Aug. 7 to 9 and 14 to Aug. 16, the festival will tour the repertoire of the outstanding musician from his relationship with the modernism.
Titled “Carlos Chávez and His World Prestige” the event will also present musical works by Argentine Alberto Ginesterra and Brazilian Heitor Villa-Lobos.
The event, organized by the Bard College in New York, it includes concerts of the American Symphony Orchestra, performances of chamber and choral music, as well as debates and conferences.
Parallel to the event which this year celebrates its 26th edition, Princeton University published a volume of essays related to Chavez and his work.
The Bard Music Festival is one of the most acclaimed quotes classic sound in America.

Companies begin planting microships under employees’s skin

by Daniel Barker

The technology has been around for some years now, but the use of RFID (radio-frequency identification) chips and other beneath-the-skin implants has only recently become more widespread.
A high-tech office complex in Sweden is now offering tenants’ staff the option of having a small RFID chip implanted in one’s wrist that allows certain functions in the building to be performed with a wave of the hand, such as opening doors and operating photocopiers.
Epicenter office block developers are in support of the implanting program, which is being made available through a Swedish bio-hacking group. The group promotes the use of bio-enhancement technology and predicts a future in which sophisticated implant systems will closely monitor a range of inputs from body sensors while interacting with the “internet of things.”
In other words, we will soon have the option of being physically connected to the Internet as well as to an increasingly widespread network of smart devices.
For many, the idea of having an implant containing personal information inserted under the skin is not a welcome option. Not only is there maybe something creepy about the whole idea to begin with, but the fact is that a lot of us feel our privacy and autonomy has been compromised enough already, without voluntarily becoming walking transmitters of our personal data.
Some predict that one day it won’t be a matter of choice, or that the use of implants and other types of bio-enhancement and connectivity will become so commonplace as to be expected, if not required. The fear is that we will lose our freedom and privacy in the process.
Others welcome the prospect of becoming physically connected to the internet of things, such as the bio-hacking group responsible for the office block’s RFID program.
A BBC News feature profiled Hannes Sjoblad, a bio-hacker who organizes “implant parties” where volunteers are implanted:
He is starting small, aiming to get 100 volunteers signed up in the coming few months, with 50 people already implanted. But his vision is much bigger.
Then will be a 1,000, then 10,000. I am convinced that this technology is here to stay and we will think it nothing strange to have an implant in their hand.
Although the RFID chips being used now are capable of little more than opening doors and operating copiers, the potential is far greater. RFID chips will likely evolve into ever-more sophisticated devices, capable of a wide range of interactions.
Already companies are developing technologies that will go a step beyond the already-familiar “wearable” gadgets — examples include a digital tattoo that can be stamped onto skin and can monitor body functions.
It’s certainly easy to imagine that within a few years there will be dramatic advances regarding what this type of technology can do. And since various types of bodily enhancement — bionic limbs, pacemakers and cosmetic surgery — are already commonplace, it stands to reason that many people will have few if any qualms about implants and other bio-hacking tech.
On the other hand, the idea of a central authority having the advantage of direct connections and access to an individual’s physical body with the potential of monitoring GPS position, heart rate, perhaps even brain waves, is frightening to contemplate.
Most of us have embraced the revolutionary technological advances of the past few decades. We’re more connected than ever before, and even if we don’t all agree that this is necessarily a good thing, very few of us would willingly give up our smartphones at this point.
But perhaps we should be extremely careful about making the leap to cyborg status. Is this truly an inevitable and potentially useful tech advancement or is it a step too far?
The time for debate is now, because the technology is already entering the mainstream. And as with most technological revolutions, once it has happened there is little hope of turning back. Natural News.

DARK SCIENCE: Abortion organ harvesting rooted in the philosophy of scientific materialism

FROM THE EDITOR:

Dear readers,
This article deals with one of the most controversial subjects in modern society: abortion as profit-making, and the human value of the baby still in the mother’s womb.  I believe that this article brings an interesting perspective to the issue that is being ignored by the mainstream media, and that people in our communities should read. Due to its length, it will be published in two parts.  — Marvin Ramirez.

by Mike Adams

Over the last few weeks, the United States has experienced shock at the revelation that human babies are being harvested for their organs during live abortion procedures. This is all being carried out by Planned Parenthood in the name of “science.”
But what kind of science underlies such seemingly evil activities? What sort of philosophy must be infecting the minds of individuals who can look at a human baby and see it only as a collection of biological parts to be harvested and sold for profit?
The answer is found in scientific materialism.
The false paradigm of materialism
Scientific materialism is the default philosophy underpinning virtually all-modern science: medical science, agricultural science, technology, economics and more. It is based on the false assumption that everything in our universe is made of material stuff. This belief excludes any idea of consciousness, free will, the non-physical mind and the value of any conscious being which possesses such qualities.
Scientific materialism is essentially a philosophy of death… A philosophy that places no value in life whatsoever, believing that life itself is nothing more than a purposeless accident that just happened to take place on our planet, without any meaning, design, or end goal.
Virtually all scientists in the Western world today operate from a cult-like belief in scientific materialism. By definition, then, they do not believe in the existence of consciousness, free will, or the mind. Thus, when they see an infant that is alive and being delivered from the womb of a mother, they do not see a conscious being that can experience pain, retain memories, or one day make decisions of its own. All they see is a collection of tissue: heart, liver, genitals, a brain, legs and arms and so on.
The value of a conscious being is far more than the sum of its biological parts
The philosophical delusions of scientific materialism literally block the mind of a scientist from being able to recognize that this human being is worth more than the collection of its parts. And what is this new-born human being really worth? According 0to Planned Parenthood it’s worth about $100 per organ. But you and I know that the value of a human being cannot be expressed as a financial figure.

The value of a conscious being goes far beyond the realm of scientific materialism or economic materialism. That value can only be understood in the context of embracing the value of creativity, free choice, divine inspiration, and innovation stemming from free will.
To look at a human being and see it only as being worth the collection of its parts is much like looking at a grand piano and seeing its value is nothing more than firewood rather than an instrument through which great composers can express some of the most sacred emotions in the human experience. Sit someone like Mozart in front of a piano and you’ll discover that the instrument (and the man) is worth far more than the collection of its parts. Similarly, if you nurture a human child and give it inspiration and the freedom to express ideas and creativity, then you will give rise to a conscious being of unlimited value which may make unfathomable contributions to the future of human civilization.
But because modern science does not believe in the nonmaterial realm of existence, it cannot grasp the very concept of any being having a value beyond its parts. Planned Parenthood refers to a human baby as merely “tissue” to be “harvested” for science.
As a result of this twisted mythology that infects the belief systems of nearly all modern scientists, the dangers of scientific totalitarianism in our modern society are very real. Because there is no separation of science and state in our modern society, scientists have become the new high priests, dictating all matters of importance to the government, covering medicine, agriculture, technology and even parenting.
For example the recently passed mandatory vaccination law in California known as SB 277 establishes the precedent that scientific totalitarianism should override parental rights. This law rejects the idea that individuals in society should be allowed to make choices regarding the health of their own children. It even denies the right to a public education to all children who have not been injected with whatever deadly chemicals the pharmaceutical industry is pushing this year, confirming yet again that science believes children have no value to society whatsoever unless they are wholly obedient to the agenda of the high priests of scientific totalitarianism.
Science believes bodies only exist to generate profits, not to serve as vessels for consciousness
Is this same philosophy of scientific materialism that believes, for example, that cancer patients only exist to enrich the financial profits of oncology centers and pharmaceutical companies. The actual quality of life for a cancer patient is of no concern whatsoever to those who operate in the cancer industry. That’s why their treatments — such as chemotherapy — are literally derived from chemical weapons that were originally developed for warfare. These chemical weapons, when dripped into the veins of cancer patients, cause tremendous suffering and permanent organ damage, destroying the quality of life of the cancer patient and more often than not literally killing the patient before the cancer kills them.
Yet this is known as “science.” It is a science that recognizes no value in the human experience of the patient being treated. There is no consideration whatsoever for the suffering, the pain, the fear and the consciousness of the patient. Instead, patients are seen as biological tools to be exploited for profit, in exactly the same way that Planned Parenthood sees unborn human infants as biological specimens to be chopped up and sold for profit. IT WILL CONTINUE NEXT WEEK.

Here’s what happens in the 60 minutes after you drink a can of Coca-Cola

by L.J. Devon

Cleaning a toilet is cheap and easy with a can of Coca-Cola. After the Coke sits in the toilet for an hour, the carbonic and phosphoric acid gets the job done, leaving behind a scum-free toilet bowl!
When that same can of Coke is poured into the mouth and down the esophagus of a human being, a much more complex chain of events occurs. After burning its way down the throat and leaving behind a film of caramel coloring on the teeth, the Coca-Cola begins its nutritional destruction on the inside of the body.
In 60 minutes, a can of Coke takes the body on a roller coaster ride, taxing the liver, spiking the blood sugar, accelerating the production of bad fat and robbing the body of beneficial nutrients.
With 1.6 billion servings of Coke sold worldwide every day, it’s no wonder why heart disease, malnutrition, dehydration, diabetes and obesity are slowly killing people.
Doctors often advise obese patients to stop eating fats, but many fats are good for the heart and the brain, like Omega-3 fatty acids. To top it off, simply avoiding fats disregards one of the most silent perpetrators of weight gain and disease – high fructose corn syrup.
Instead of drinking poisonous soda, drink a hydrating glass of WATER.
Soda robs the body of nutrients and burdens the liver
High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is found in all sorts of processed foods, condiments and sweet drinks. It’s even in the “low fat” alternative foods that people are conned into buying for losing weight.
The thing is this: HFCS is NOT like glucose. Glucose is recognized by the body, metabolized by the cells, and more readily used for energy, whereas HFCS breaks down into glucose and fructose, making it harder for the body to use.
The fructose that is broken down is nothing like the fructose in fruits, either. Fruits naturally have fiber to prevent the body from absorbing too much of the fructose. HFCS does not contain fiber. It floods the body with no accountability or balance, taxing the liver. HFCS is often consumed with other artificial sweetening agents that are only there to enhance a product’s flavor. This flood of toxins is hard on the blood, skin and detoxifying organs.
HFCS is ultimately metabolized by the liver in similar fashion to ethanol found in an alcoholic drink. As fructose floods the liver, the liver becomes confused and ends up producing a bunch of bad fats. As the body is “intoxicated” by HFCS, the brain never receives the signal that it is full either. This may lead to a person to eating and drinking more, adding to weight gain woes.
Read other interesting articles on both toxic sweeteners like aspartame and natural sweeteners like coconut sugar at sweeteners.news
60 minutes of abuse
In the first 10 minutes of drinking a Coke, 10 teaspoons of sugar enter the body
That’s 100 percent of a person’s recommended daily intake. A person can only tolerate the extreme sweetness because the teeth-rotting phosphoric acid offsets the sweetness.
After 20 minutes has gone by, the blood sugar spikes, causing a burst of insulin. As the fructose runs rampant and goes unabsorbed, the liver goes into overtime, drawing in the sugar molecules and turning them into bad fats.
By the time 40 minutes hits, caffeine absorption maxes out. A person’s blood pressure spikes and their pupils dilate. This spurs the liver to dump more sugar into the bloodstream. Consequentially, the brain’s adenosine receptors are blocked, making the person feel awake.
Five minutes later, dopamine production goes up in the brain, giving the person feelings of pleasure that addict them into wanting more.
After an hour, the phosphoric acid that has made its way through the system has pulled out vital nutrients from the body. Calcium, magnesium and zinc bind with phosphoric acid in the lower intestine.
Calcium, magnesium, zinc, electrolytes and water are then urinated out the body and wasted. The Coke has not only addicted the brain to its curse but it has also caused the formation of bad fats, blood sugar spikes, blood pressure changes, dehydration and the loss of bone building nutrients!
As the hour climaxes, a person begins to have a sugar crash. Irritability and fatigue sets in. The bones are robbed of vital nutrients and the system is left dehydrated.
It’s 60 minutes of abuse and it happens with every can of soda. (Natural News).

Mexico City murder deepens threatened journalist’s fears

by Yemeli Orteg

Reported AFP – Mexico City was once seen as an island of refuge in one of the world’s most dangerous countries for reporters, but the brutal killing of a prominent photojournalist has shattered that image. The death of news photographer Rubén Espinosa in a gory five-victim homicide has unleashed new fears for other journalists who, like him, have fled to the capital after receiving threats in their hometowns.
There are currently at least a dozen journalists from around the country sheltering in Mexico City because they fear for their safety in a nation where, according to Reporters Without Borders, at least 88 of their colleagues have been murdered in the last 15 years.
Once seen as a sort of ceasefire zone — or at least a place to hide out anonymously amid nine million people — Mexico City suddenly seems a lot less safe since Espinosa was found Friday with a bullet through his head, his hands bound and his body showing signs of torture.
Four women killed alongside Espinosa were found in similar condition. They included human rights activist Nadia Vera.
Judicial authorities released surveillance footage of the alleged killers Tuesday night.
“This was the armored city, and now it’s broken,” said a colleague at Espinosa’s funeral Monday who, like the slain photojournalist, hails from Veracruz.
The eastern state has been described as the deadliest in Mexico for journalists by rights group Article 19, which says 17 journalists have been killed there in the last 15 years — 13 of them since current Governor Javier Duarte came to power in 2010.
– ‘No kind of life’ –
Espinosa, a photographer for the prestigious investigative magazine Proceso, had moved to Mexico City two months ago after receiving threats in Veracruz.
He had also been beaten by state police in 2013.
Another Veracruz colleague sheltering in the capital said Espinosa’s killing had brought his old hometown fears back to his doorstep.
“After what happened to Ruben, your fear returns. We exiles don’t feel so safe among the multitude anymore,” said the political cartoonist, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The cartoonist fled the state in 2012 after finding a threatening note in his car. “Calladito,” it said — “Quiet.”
That one word chilled his blood and convinced him to flee the country, he said. But he later returned to Mexico, counting on the sheer size of the sprawling capital to keep him safe.
Living in self-exile is “no kind of life,” he told AFP.
“It’s a life of constant anguish, nightmares, crying. It’s a life of not telling people where you are, not arriving where you say you will, changing your phone number, mistrusting everyone, even your friends,” he said.
Currently around 15 Mexican journalists are reported to be living in self-exile abroad.
The number of colleagues seeking to join them has increased substantially in recent years, said Philippe Olle-Laprune, the head of the Citlaltepetl House of Refuge in Mexico City, which shelters persecuted journalists and artists from around the world.
He called Espinosa’s killing “a horrible wake-up call,” adding that “the violence hits closer to
– ‘Flimsy’ protection –
The Committee to Protect Journalists ranks Mexico the eighth deadliest country in the world for reporters.
Seeking to combat the violence, the government has launched a protection program for threatened journalists and rights activists, plus a special prosecutors’ office for crimes against free speech.
But one former journalist enrolled in the so-called “protective mechanism,” Balbina Flores, said the program “has a lot of problems,” particularly its slow registration procedures.
The Inter American Press Association agreed, criticizing the program’s “flimsy, inefficient performance.”
Espinosa had opted not to register with the program, saying he did not trust the authorities.
His death has left journalists in the capital living in a climate of “fear, uncertainty and defenselessness,” said Flores, who now heads the free speech program at the city’s human rights commission.

In Greece, reliance on public funds is the problem

Someone has to pay for all the “free” stuff

by Justin Murray
mises.org
Analysis

Greece is a hot topic at the moment, mostly with the continued negotiations over bailouts from the European Union and, through institutions like the IMF, the world at large.
Much of the discussion paints the image that Greece is only a debt-restructuring away from a stable economic situation. However, without understanding how Greece got into this problem in the first place and identifying the root cause of an over-indebted society, any plan or solution has a high probability of failure. To crack into this root cause, I had to develop an entirely new metric called “implied public reliance.”
Employment data doesn’t tell the whole story
The main puzzle behind Greece is simple from a praxeological standpoint — you get more of what you subsidize and less of what you tax. Greece, being a nation with a high tax rate on production and a high subsidy rate on public assistance, will generate a population that finds greater preference toward public assistance and away from productive labor.
The problem with this is that the data doesn’t, on the surface, support the statement. Calculating the average annual hours worked, Greece actually ranks far ahead of nations with lower public sector subsidies and lower taxes:
If it were true that higher taxes dissuaded labor, then Greece shouldn’t report higher worker hours than much lower tax burden nations like the United States and Canada. This indicator would also identify Germany as the European Union’s economic basket case, not its economic powerhouse. Even nations like Spain and Portugal, which have a negative stereotype for sloth, both come ahead of Germany, but are suffering economically.
The problem is these numbers only applied to those who were actively employed and did not provide us a picture of the overall employment situation. Even other indicators, like workforce participation rates, don’t fully paint the picture. What is needed is a new metric that effectively identifies the core of a nation’s potential growth and prosperity.
Someone has to pay for all the “free” stuff
This is where a look at “implied public reliance” comes in. Ultimately, in a modern nation, all citizenry is provided with the necessities of life in some form or another. Mass starvation, homelessness and sickness is not generally present in modern nations, so virtually every citizen receives food, medicine, and housing from somewhere.
So, we must look to find the source of those resources, and it is, by and large, the active employees of any given nation that are tapped to provide the resources for all other individuals not engaged in overt economically productive activities. In every modern country, these resources are primarily delivered through the public bureaucracy and funded with taxation on existing workers.
How to find who’s paying
First, we must identify a nation’s currently employed population. Next, all public sector employees are removed to obtain an adjusted productive workforce. It may be objectionable that certain professions, like teaching, nurses in single payer systems and fire fighters, are classified as an unproductive workforce, but as our system is currently designed, the salaries of these individuals are not covered by the immediate beneficiaries like any other business but are paid through dispersed taxation methods.
Finally, this productive population is divided into the nation’s total population to identify the total number of individuals a worker is expected to support in his country. To remove bias toward non-working spouses and children, the average household size is subtracted from this result to get the final number of individuals that an individual must support that are not part of their own voluntary household.

In other words, how many total strangers is this individual providing for?
The Implied Public Reliance metric does a far better job of predicting economic performance:
Greece, the nation with the debt problem, is currently expecting each employed person to support 6.1 other people above and beyond their own families. This explains much of the pressure to work long hours and also explains the unstable debt loads. Since a single Greek worker can’t possibly hope to support what amounts to a complete baseball team on a single salary, the difference is covered by Greek public debt, debt that the underlying social system cannot hope to repay as the incentives are to maintain the current system of subsidies.

To demonstrate how difficult it is to change these systems within a democratic society, we just have to look at the percentage of the population that is reliant on public subsidy.
The numbers imply that 67 percent of the population of Greece is wholly reliant on the Greek government to provide their incomes. With such a commanding supermajority, changing this system with the democratic process is impossible as the 67 percent have strong incentives to continue to vote for the other 33 percent — and also foreign entities — to cover their living expenses.
How does this equate to GDP growth? While GDP is not a perfect metric, it is still the best available to identify economic health. Each nation that has breached the 50 percent barrier in public reliance is also showing poor growth with numerous nations coming dangerously close to the majority in some form of reliance on redistribution for earnings.
What does this tell us? A nation that allows its citizenry to remain idle and expect the support of a productive worker will eventually undermine its ability to maintain the economy that those recipients of public funds rely on. Nations that do not have a structure to dissuade usage of public assistance or hire too many public sector workers will find their economic growth impeded and, if it becomes too large, recessive.
However, public institutions are not capable of creating these safeguards to ensure as few people as possible engage in safety net programs. Government institutions are, in fact, designed to grow public sector employment rolls. So as long as this social structure is in place, the odds that a Greek default and restructuring will lead to a sustained Greek recovery are very low.

FAO: Poverty indicators persist in México

by the El Reportero’s wire services

The Latin American currencies will face in the future more violatility, specially when the United States changes its monetary policy and increase its interest rates, warned the International Monetary Fund today.
In a press conference about the economic situation in Latin America, Managing Director of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, said that the region will also be affected by a fall in the prices of raw materials and a smaller demand from China.
However, Lagarde ruled out any economic recession in Latin America, and forecasted an increase in its GDP of 0.5 percent, which is reliable for an increase of 1.7 percent next year.
In Latin America, as in other regions, every economy has its own characteristics, she commented, though they are all suppliers of basic goods, raw materials, and clearly they have failed to have the benefits of a decade of high prices that boosted growth, she said.
Lagarde said most Latin American currencies have registered a considerable depreciation against the dollar, in view of the anticipated increase of interests in the United States.
She highlighted, however, the measures implemented by the governments of Brazil, Colombia and Peru to restore confidence and reinforce fiscal positions that are on the right course now.
Honduras- over 10,000 children living in the streets  

 
Over 10,000 children are living on the streets of the main cities of Honduras, a local newspaper reported today.
According to estimates by La Prensa, only in the capital and San Pedro Sula in the number of children living on the street, while 94 percent of them consume some kind of drug.
Statistics from Casa Alianza revealed that most are also victims of sexual abuse.
Churches and non-governmental organizations serve a number of children in distress or social risk, but not enough, said the director of Casa Alianza, José Guadalupe Ruelas.
In his opinion, the Directorate for Children, Youth and Family does a good job, because it rescues and takes the children to institutions where they are taken care, but capacity is overwhelmed.
Since the beginning of the year about nine thousand children without accompanying adults they migrated recently reported the United Nations Fund for Children.
Poverty and violence were incentives for 2013 and 2014 more than 15 thousand minors traveling to the US border, a situation that was seen as a humanitarian crisis in this nation.

Mexico: No sentences after ten months of Iguala crime
Ten months after the crime of Iguala in Guerrero, Mexico, authorities have charged 110 people with being involved in the disappearance of 43 students from a teacher training college, but so far none have been sentenced.
Two of the main perpetrators of the crime, occurred on September 26 and 27, 2014, have not been arrested yet.
From that date on, more than 25 mass graves have been found in the state of Guerrero and more than 1,428 killings reported, as well as 113 kidnappings and more than 30 missing people.
Governmental statistics indicate that the crime rates have not decreased in that state and, quite the contrary, the number of homicides and discovery of corpses in mass graves have increased, mainly in the areas of Acapulco and La Montaña, said the newspaper La Jornada.

Jazz Latino: Multi-dimensional artistic expression in the Americas

Compiled by the El Reportero’s staff

The Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, the Museum of the African Diaspora (MOAD), and SFJAZZ presents a six-week lecture series by John Santos. Machito and the Afro Cubans (c.1946)  L-R: Graciela (claves), Carlos Vidal (conga), René Hernandez (piano), Jose Mangual (bongos in front), Ubaldo Nieto (timbales), Bobby Rodriguez (bass), Machito (maracas).
Wednesday evenings 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Aug. 5 through Sept. 9, 2015, at MOAD 685 Mission St. San Francisco. (415) 358-7200. (Aug 19 only) at the California Historical Society, 678 Mission St. San Francisco. (415) 357-1848.
YBGF/MOAD/SFJAZZ Members: $15/class or $75/full series. Public: $20/class or $100/full series. One Free class when you purchase the series!

It’s the Psychotronix Film Festival!
Weird, Wild & Wacky Short Subjects: Monster Movie Trailers, Drive-in Snack Bar Ads, Old School Films, Retro TV Commercials, Forgotten Cartoons, Scopitone Music Films and Much More! All on 16mm film, the Vinyl of Visuals.
Friday, Aug. 7, 2015 at Art House Gallery & Cultural Center, 2905 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA (510) 472-3170. Doors: 7 p.m. Show: 8 p.m. Donation: $5 – $10. All Ages & Wheelchair Accessible.

Summer Nights Outdoor Concert Series
At the Osher Marin JCC Kanbar Center, ‘Plena Libre Celebrate Puerto Rico,’ on Saturday Aug. 8, 6:15 p.m. doors open, 6:40 dance lesson, 7 p.m. show.
Tickets and more info at: http://www.marinjcc.org/events/2015/08/08/performing-arts/plena-libre-summer-nights-outdoor-concert/55886/
$20 members / $23 public / $28 Day of (members & public), ages 17 and under FREE!
SFJAZZ presents a tribute honoring Puerto Rican icon and photojournalist Frank Espada
An unforgettable concert experience commemorating the life work of activist and master photographer Frank Espada (1930-2014).
Featuring The John Santos Sextet, with extra special guests, wordsmith Rico Pabon, guitarists/vocalists Jose Roberto Hernandez & Manuel Constancio, Afro-Puerto Rican dance master Shefali Shah, vocalist/poet Sandra Garcia Rivera corista Sarita Shah.
Images of Frank Espada’s profound work will be shown throughout this concert.
This will be the largest public showing of his iconic photography to date!
(Some seats have obstructed views of the large screen above the stage – inquire with SFJAZZ)
Sunday, Aug. 9, 2015, 2 p.m. at the gorgeous new SFJAZZ Center, 201 Franklin at Fell St., San Francisco. http://www.sfjazz.org, (866)920-5299.

Unveiling of mural and performance of spoken word piece
67 Sueños, Oakland chapter, will unveil a mural in East Oakland to celebrate and honor past victories of migrant communities. The mural aims to shed light on the struggles, risk, but also the hope that many undocumented communities, and their allies, endured while fighting against draconian anti-immigrant bills and advocating for bills such as AB- 241, the California Bill of Rights. The mural is inspired by interviews conducted by 67 Sueños youth with parents and community activist who migrated to the U.S. with aspirations to improve their conditions. Youth, children of immigrants, painted the mural.
At 23 percent, undocumented immigrants constitute a large majority of the California population, yet their stories are often overlooked. Making up roughly 5.1 percent of the labor force in the nation, undocumented immigrants are vital to the U.S. economy. Despite this, executive actions to provide protection from deportation such as DAPA have come to halt; little aid is reaching to the broader 11.1 M undocumented immigrants in this country. On Sunday, Aug. 9, at 1390 66th Ave, Oakland.

Óscar Jaenada awarded as Best Actor for his role in Cantinflas

by the El Reportero’s wire services

The Spanish-Argentinian co-production Wild Tales has won a total of eight Premios Platino of Iberoamerican Cinema during the second annual award show recognizing the best work of the film industry in Iberoamerica.
Damian Szifrón’s Wild Tales, which started as the front-runner with 10 nominations, won the awards for Best Iberoamerican Feature Film, Best Director, Best Performance by an Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Sound Direction, Best Editing and Best Art Direction.
In the Best Actor category, the award went to Oscar Jaenada for his work on Cantinflas, while the film of Alberto Rodríguez, La isla mínima (Marshland) won for Best Cinematography. Two Brazilian productions dominated the categories for Best Animated Feature Film and Best Documentary, with O Menino e o mundo (The Boy and the World) and O sal da terra (The Salt of the Earth) respectively. As for the Best Iberoamerican Feature Film Debut, the award went to the Spanish-Venezuelan film La distancia más larga.
Critics and audiences have made Wild Tales the highest grossing film in the history of Argentina. Its director, Damian Szifron, emphasized that “it is the end of a long road” – a road that began at the Cannes Film Festival and has led him to earn almost a hundred awards including an Academy Award Nomination and now eight Premios Platino of Iberoamerican Cinema.
The Spanish actor Oscar Jaenada received from a trio of presenters (Kate del Castillo, Miguel Bose and Dario Grandinetti) the award for Best Performance by an Actor for his role as Mario Moreno in the Mexican film Cantinflas. The award for Best Performance by an Actress, which went to Erica Rivas for her performance in Wild Tales.
Italian square named after novel One Hundred Years of Solitude
Italy today perpetuates the memory of Gabriel García Márquez by naming a square in the village of Perdasdefogu One Hundred Years of Solitude, which is the most famous novel by the Colombian writer.
During the ceremony a plaque will be unveiled with the dates of birth and death of Garcia Marquez and the public will be able to read the first pages of the novel that tells the story of the Buendia family in the imaginary town of Macondo.
The initiative is a tribute to the 1982 Nobel Literature Prize winner, also known as one of the greatest exponents of magic realism, a literary movement founded in the mid-twentieth century.
In his prolific creation, Gabo brought to life unforgettable characters: Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza, protagonists of his famous novel Love in the Time of Cholera.
García Márquez also created unmatched stories that stand out in the world and Latin American literary scene as No One Writes to the Colonel, Chronicle of a Death Foretold and Of Love and Other Demons.

Record number of films in Film Festival Mar del Plata
The 29th edition of the Film Festival Mar del Plata, which will commemorate the 60th anniversary of this event, has registered a record of two 2,112 productions until today, organizers reported.
In total, 318 short and feature films from the USA are registered; 798 from Latin America; 832 from Europe; 126 coming from Asia; 25 from Oceania, and 13 others from Africa. On its website, the organizing committee also states that in the special celebration of this year more than one million 500,000 pesos will be distributed (over $163,000) as prizes.

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