Politics of transgenic seeds, Sale of LPs and CDs, Issues with high-sulfur diesel, Mexico needs $2 billion for quake repair, Run, walk, cycle event

Jueves, 28/9/2017

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Today’s agenda events –

OSC – The String Group No. 2 of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Cuenca (OSC – this is an abbreviation you need to remember) played Friday in the teatro “Jaime Roldós Aguilera” in Cañar.

Upcoming and ongoing agenda events –

Garaje de discos – There will be a “Garaje de discos: Música es cultura” (Discotheque: Music is culture) el sábado desde las 10:00 hasta las 20:00 in the “Rizoma Plataforma Disidente” (Luis Cordero y Pres. Córdova). It will be a record/ tapes/ CD sale of all kinds of music. The “Leteléfonono” band will also play.

Feria del libro – There will be a book fair in Macas on 31/9 and 1/10 from 10-20:00 in the Plaza Randimpa (center of Macas).

Articles about –

“Mujeres Contra el Femicidio” (Women Against Feminicide) – This event brings artists together with performance arts and an art exhibit and sale. It was Thursday in el Teatro Sucre. Ticket and art sales will benefit groups such as Hollaback Cuenca, The María Amor Shelter, and Professional Front which helps the families of victims. They are working to fight feminicides. Contributing artists include Katia Cazar, Lorena Serrano, Gabriela Vázquez, María José Machado, Raúl Balarezo, Fausto Bravo, Miguel Illescas, Felip Cardoso, Gerardo Machado, Jaime Lara, Fernanda García, Eduardo Segovia, José Cardoso, and Sally Marr y Peter Dudar who were instrumental in getting other artists to donate work for the sale.

International Congress – The Journalism and Film Departments of the U. of Cuenca are organizing the “II Congreso Internacional de Comunicación: Interculturalidad, Relaciones Públicas y Realización audiovisual.” from the 4-6/10. Get more info. or register at congresocomunicacionuc2017@gmail.com.

Escenarios del Mundo – “A la deriva” (Adrift) will be performed hoy a las 20:00 in the teatro Pumapungo. The playwrights and actors are from Nicaragua and El Salvador and the play is about migration.

“Espíritu de un pueblo” – The dance troupe “Shugllaktapak Shungu” (Spirit of a people) <There you have it – in English, Spanish, and Quechua>. I’ll leave it to you to sort out which is which.> will be performing in the Tercer Festival Internacional de Danzas Folclóricas in Pilar, Paraguay from 4-10/10. The group will be performing Ecuadorian dances.

Otras cosas –

Titular – El delator compromete más a Glas (The informer further compromises Glas) – See today’s CHL article for more info.

EURO 5 buses – The Transport Chamber suggested making changes to the resolution the Council made to raise fairs from 25 to 31¢. The Chamber wants to renew its fleet of 450 buses with less polluting EURO 5 buses. The problem is that those buses don’t do well with the high sulfur content in the local diesel. It damages and reduces the life of the engines so the costs of bus maintenance and repairs is higher. An automotive engineering professor at UDA said there should be a 6 month study of the buses in the field. <Damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Try and reduce pollution and wind up beating up your buses from the inside out. Although most people find out what a vehicle runs on before they buy it.>

Transgénicos – Professors at three universities presented a complaint of unconstitutionality against the Ley de Semillas (Law of Seeds) which allows bringing transgenics into Ecuador. The law was approved this past 1/6 <and here is where it gets confusing>, due to a request by then pres. Correa made five days before he left power, through a veto, which permitted the entrance of transgenics for research purposes.

The 2009 constitution says Ecuador is a country free of cultivation of transgenic seeds with one exception. There has to be a duly substantiated national interest, requested by the president and approved by the Assembly in two votes. The basis for the complaint is that Pres. Correa’s veto (not signing the law?) did not fulfill the criteria of national interest. It also violated the principle of legislative democracy since it completely changed the consensus reached reached in the pre-legislative process. This is the 5th complaint against the Law of Seeds, the others coming from social organizations, campesinos, indigenous and ecologists. The Court has not ruled at this time.

Critics of the law say this is one way corporations such as Monsanto and Syngenta get the production and commercialization of transgenics legalized. It’s impossible to research transgenics in Ecuador since there are no labs technically qualified to do it, but research is a foot in the door for full production. In South America, Brazil and Argentina are already the 2nd and 4th biggest producers of genetically modified organisms in the world.

Internacional –

México – Estimates for reconstruction after the 3 earthquakes that hit Mexico on the 7,19 & 23/9 are over $2 billion. 12,931 schools were damaged along with more than 1,500 historic buildings.

US – Latinos who live in the US are the most concerned about climate change. A national survey from Yale University showed 78% of Latinos were worried about global warming compared with 56% of the rest of the population. 35% of Latinos were very worried and 43% moderately worried compared to 16% and 40% of the non-Latino population. <Is it because Latinos pay attention to science or because they pay attention to the Pope?>

Deportes –

Ciclo Carrera 6K – The Benemérito Cuerpo de Bomberos Voluntarios de Cuenca (The Meritorious Volunteer Fire Brigade of Cuenca) will have its fourth 6k cycle, walk, run. You can register from Friday to el 13/10 at their administrative offices on av. De las Américas y Miguel Heredia from 8-16:30. The run always includes a continent of firefighters clumping along in full gear. <They’re not fast – generally in the back, but I’d put money on them in any endurance event.> The run will leave from Station 3 on 27 de Febrero y Roberto Crespo. <I can’t find any day or time for it – you’ll have to ask when you register.> Free.

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne