Saturday, June 04, 2022

Ozark - A tense and entertaining thriller

Blog Rating: 9.15 out of 10




The Byrdes and their teenage children, Charlotte and Jonah, are for all intents and purposes an ordinary family with ordinary lives. Except for the job of Marty, a Chicago financial advisor who also serves as the top money launderer for the second largest drug cartel in Mexico.


When things go wrong, Marty must uproot his family from the skyscrapers of Chicago and relocate to the serene Lake of the Ozarks region of Missouri.


To stay alive, he promised his boss that he could hide several million dollars from the drug business.



However, when they arrive in Ozark, things are not so simple and they agree to take over a strip club to launder the money.


To make matters worse, he gets into trouble with the criminal gang, the Langmores, who want him dead.


Ozark is a rather tense narrative story but very entertaining and easy to follow. Jason Bateman plays a character very similar to the anti-hero of Breaking Bad. Highly recommended.



















Saturday, May 14, 2022

The Time in Between - El Tiempo entre Costuras

Blog Rating: 8.75 out of 10



The story is set in 1936. Sira Quiroga, 20 years old, the daughter of a seamstress, leaves Madrid to follow the man she loves in Tangier. Abandoned and quickly stripped of the jewelry her father had given her, she must use her seamstress skills to survive.

She opens a fashion house in Tetouan, the capital of the Spanish protectorate of Morocco. Thanks to her clientele, composed mainly of wives of high German officials, Sira has access to very useful information for the British.




"The time in between" is a mixture, half romance and half thriller, that evokes the most outstanding aspects of a problematic period, the one of the civil war, that concluded with the victory of the nationalists on the republicans and the access to the power of general Franco. Then, the Germans tried to take Spain to join them in World War II.




The series only paints a very impressionistic picture of history, but highlights disagreements within the government, shared between support for the Third Reich and cooperation with the United Kingdom.

You can appreciate the care given in the reconstitution of the 30's and 40's, thanks to the correct choice of shooting locations, from Madrid to Tetouan, through Tangier and Lisbon, but also thanks to costumes, accessories, especially cars and the selection of musical illustrations from that era.




The miniseries, which adapts the homonymous novel by María Dueñas, is highlighted by a brilliant photography, a neat artistic direction and an omnipresent music constantly underlining the image.

It is a series well set in the time and with a wonderful music created by Cesar Benito (Spanish composer and director), a work to enjoy.




El Tiempo entre Costuras (Original Soundtrack) in Spotify



Friday, May 06, 2022

Strike of truckers continues in Bio Bio region (South of Chile)

 

The demonstrations of the truckers continue, mainly on routes 5 South (which includes the Santiago-Concepcion section) and 160. It should be noted that yesterday afternoon the representatives of the truckers met with government delegates in search of reaching an agreement and be able to finish strike. However, during the night the truckers reported that they would not end the strike until the armed forces guard the highway.

In relation to the same topic, please note news from a local newspaper:

Despite the fact that five groups of truckers accepted an agreement with the government, to put an end to the mobilizations that the unions maintained due to the latest attacks that cargo drivers have suffered in the South Macrozone; this Friday some truckers continue on strike.

The presidential delegate of Biobío, Daniela Dresdner, had indicated on Thursday afternoon that “we have reached an agreement with the different organizations with which we began to talk since Sunday. Today we are reaching this agreement that will allow us to advance in the solutions to the underlying problems, which are the security problems, but also to ensure some conditions for the families and for all the people who are and have been in danger”.

However, a group of transporters maintain the mobilizations and as a result Route 5 (main Chilean highway) is cut off at Duqueco (Los Angeles, Bío Bío Region) with a path enabled in each direction of Route 5 for the transit of minor vehicles, small trucks, buses and transportation of essential goods in general.



Specifically, the transporters indicated that they have a condition to stop the mobilizations on the routes: while the constitutional reform that would allow an intermediate state is worked on and enacted, they request that the State of Constitutional Exception be resumed in the area to allow the presence of the Armed Forces as a result of the acts of violence.

In this regard, the president of the Federation of Freight Transport Workers, Eriberto López, mentioned that "in the document -in its first paragraph- it never speaks of an agreement, it speaks of proposals, but here today to get out of this, while the enactment of the law, we came out with a State of Constitutional Exception and it will depend on their speed so that this State of Constitutional Exception lasts as little as possible”.

"The State of Constitutional Exception is the necessary guarantee that would be needed to finish the strike," López said.

In addition, the leader added that "this is still an intermediate state because according to our vision and according to the vision that the country has, a State of Siege should be decreed in the area of ​​the forest macrozone."

In a public statement, the Federation of Transport and Forest Unions (Fetracarfor) expressed “absolute distrust of the political class in this country. Permanently, all sectors have shown their indolence and little will to solve the problem of violence that affects the workers and families of the southern macro zone”.

In the letter, the carriers added that they feel "helpless and completely abandoned by the authorities."


Terrorist attack in the South Macrozone

In the statement, the union warns that, if "the State of Exception is not implemented immediately in the southern macrozone and the Province of Arauco", they will remain mobilized on the routes.

The National Confederation of Truck Owners of Chile (CNDC), reported that this day they will hold a "Regional Meeting of Truckers" in the city of Concepción, where they will discuss the agreement reached with the government.

Through a statement, published this morning on its twitter account, the union announced that the agreement seems to them an "advance" but they assure that "there is a lack of law that protects highways and works."

Regarding the creation of the intermediate states, the Minister of the Interior, Izkia Siches, assured this morning that "we have been analysing different measures to be able to advance in the protection of the roads, as well as the support of our Armed Forces."

And in that sense, she affirmed that a project is being prepared to replace the one that is already in a mixed commission, with different characteristics from the critical infrastructure project presented during the previous administration.

On this, from the Fetracarfor union, they described as "insufficient the constitutional proposal of an intermediate state, since we will not know how long this will be processed in Congress and if in the future it will prevent us from freely demonstrating on the highways of the south", they wrote in a statement.

Source: La Tercera


Sunday, May 01, 2022

The issues that distance Chileans from the Constitutional Convention




Surveys in recent weeks have shown that the majority of Chileans are against many of the positions that the Constitutional Convention has taken and approved, which is currently drafting a text that will be voted on in a plebiscite set for next Sep.4th 2022.

This is how 5 of the best-known companies in the statistical field (CADEM, Feedback, Pulso Ciudadano, Criteria and Tu influyes), have registered a slight or great support for the option to reject the draft constitutional text that is being drafted.


Legal Pluralism

72% were against that persons from indigenous peoples being tried by courts other than the Chilean ones, and on the contrary, 81% supported that everyone respond to the law under the same conditions.



Property


Other issues consulted are related to the concept of ownership, for example, what should happen in the event of an expropriation by the State of a person or company, where 75% support the idea that the affected party be compensated with the market value. The issue has not yet been defined in the Convention, but so far it has been agreed to pay "a fair price", a rather ambiguous expression when we think of what the State must pay for an expropriated asset.





Pensions

In relation to pensions, the Convention has already approved the creation of a Social Security System, but leaves the definition of what the model will be to the State. What is already known is that the current government is in favor of a pay-as-you-go system and against the current individual capitalization system that now exists in Chile.

The non-expropriation of the funds was one of the issues raised and widely voted on in citizen participation consultations, however this was rejected by the Convention.

Additionally, the citizenry has an almost unanimous position, where 94% agree that the ownership of current and future pension funds be guaranteed and that they also remain inheritable to the beneficiaries of the pensioner.

Regarding who manages the savings, the result is also clear, 91% want to have the option of choosing who manages their funds, a public or private entity.





Exit Plebiscite Perspective

When asked: Would you vote to approve or reject the Constitution proposed by the Constitutional Convention in the exit plebiscite in September of this year?

The option Rejection of the new Constitution (46%) remains for the fifth consecutive week over Approval (36%).

18% do not know or do not respond. In relation to the main options, 10 points is a statistically significant difference.



* Source: Pulso Ciudadano Survey - UDD, CADEM survey & El Mercurio




Sunday, April 17, 2022

Shanghai lockdown threatens to halt China's car production



Chinese automakers have warned that they will have to stop production if the COVID-19 epidemic continues in Shanghai.

Shanghai's health restrictions against the spread of the disease have forced the city's 25 million residents to stay home for weeks, forcing manufacturers to close operations and making China's goal of GDP growth of 5.5% seems unattainable.

Carriers have also warned that the Shanghai closure will cause congestion at the world's busiest container port.

The spread of COVID-19 across the country, and the related slowdown in economic activity, have hit the auto industry hard, with car sales falling 10.5 percent in March.

“If supply chain companies in and around Shanghai couldn't find a way to get to work and start production faster, all OEMs would have to stop production in the month of May,” wrote Shipping Purchasing Manager.

Containers have been piling up at Shanghai's port as the city faces limited shipping capacity.

Maersk issued a notice this week saying "several vessels will bypass Shanghai" due to a shortage of available container space at the port, particularly for specialized and reefer cargoes.

Figures from Bloomberg suggest that as many as 500 ships are currently anchored off the Chinese coast.

Source: Global Trade Review & Tech Xplore



Saturday, April 16, 2022

Line of Duty - Anti Corruption in the British Police

Blog Rating: 9.25 out of 10




Superintendent Hastings (Adrian Dunbar), head of the anti-corruption unit AC-12, is so impressed with the behavior of Steve Arnott (Martin Compston) that he recruits him for his team. Along with the ambitious Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure), they will investigate the police officers who have violated their own rules.

In 2012, this police series written by Jed Mercurio made his debut on British television (BBC Two). Since then, the series became a regular guest at BAFTA awards ceremonies among others.

A special praise deserves here the quality of the dialogues, through which even about 20 minutes of interrogation sequences remain absolutely exciting.




In the course of the series, a simple low profile policeman Steve Arnott develops, sometimes somewhat arrogant and stubborn, to become a fascinating character. For her part, Vicky McClure, whose Kate as an undercover agent often has to use her own acting, she is also a strong character with a rough personality. 

Adrian Dunbar, the boss Ted Hastings sometimes transcends the boundaries of the correct superior, and gives his character the charisma and humanity to turn him into a true protagonist.

The British crime television series are generally characterized by a high level and this is not the exception. This is one of the best police series of the BBC.







Sunday, April 03, 2022

Doctor Who - The Adventures of the Lord of Time

Blog Rating: 8.80 out of 10




"I am the doctor!", "Doctor who?", that's how "the Doctor" shows up anywhere.

The Doctor is an eccentric extraterrestrial scientist from the planet Gallifrey, the planet of the Lords of Time, a race of supreme beings who have discovered the secrets of time travel and never interfere with the affairs of other planets, he only observes and collects knowledge.


Gallifrey planet


The doctor leaves his planet and decides to go exploring the universe aboard a space / time machine known as the "TARDIS" (Time and relative dimension in space) that has the shape of a police cabin of the sixties (larger inside than outside).


TARDIS


Like all the lords of time, the doctor can "regenerate" (change his appearance and personality when his body is worn out and he is mortally wounded). The doctor regenerates in a new way, with the same memories, knowledge and mission, but with a different appearance (and of course, other actors). Every few years, the doctor gets a new face and a new companion, which gives producers the opportunity to adjust the series and keep it fresh, without having to throw too much family information overboard. Each reincarnation of the doctor continues to experience adventures in the future and in the past, with some different eccentricities according to each actor.


Doctor Who Dubstep - Soundcloud


During the many years of the Doctor's travels through time and space, several companions join him in his adventures on other planets and other galaxies.


The Doctor fights against the most evil beings in the galaxy: the Daleks, mutants in robotic bodies bent on exterminating all life in the galaxy (led by Davros), the Cybermen, robotic humanoids of the condemned planet Mondas and many other evil beings.


Daleks


The British series produced by the BBC, was broadcast for the first time on November 23rd, 1963, thus celebrating more than 50 years of transmission.

Over the years, "Doctor Who" has evolved from a children's program to a family program, with many followers, better known as the "Whovians".


Cybermen


These are the actors who have interpreted the different doctors from the beginning:

Actor 
Playing
Period
1963–66
1966–69
1970–74
1974–81
1982–84
1984–86
1987–89
1996
2005
2005–10
2010–13
2014–17
2018–present

Doctor Who in Pinterest


Sunday, March 27, 2022

The Crown - The hard task of ruling (2016-)

Blog Rating: 8.80 out of 10



The Netflix series (released in November 2016) centers on 25-year-old Queen Elizabeth II, who is faced with the daunting task of leading the world's most famous monarchy while building her relationship with the legendary Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill. The British Empire is in decline, the political world is in disarray, and an inexperienced young woman must ascend the throne at the dawn of a new age.


Claire Foy


Without wanting to be ultra-political, she relies very lucidly on the intrigues of the halls of Buckingham Palace and takes us to discover the intimacy of the longest-lived monarch in England. The production got it right with the choice of Claire Foy who lights up the screen every second, slipping into the skin of Elizabeth of Windsor with disconcerting ease. She portrays a fragile, determined, loving woman at times, vulnerable and tenacious.


Matt Smith


Next to her, Prince Philip (Matt Smith) is struggling to play his role as Prince consort, her sister Margaret (Vanessa Kirby) is constantly struggling to live the life she wants and the life that her birthplace imposes on her. Her father George VI (Jared Harris) and Winston Churchill (John Lithgow) are trying to rebuild the country at the end of World War II. In short, Elizabeth will have to face many challenges, despite her twenty-five years and her lack of experience.


John Lithgow

The British royal family is very well known and it was necessary to erase everything that is known about them through the media to show the most unknown side of its members, starting with King Philip, who we will learn to know better.


Vanessa Kirby


The Crown shows the British style: its nobility, its comfort, its style and a classy image without being too saturated; it is easy to enter this world and be able to imagine the atmosphere of the 40s.


Victoria Hamilton


From a purely technical standpoint, The Crown is flawless. The visuals are sumptuous, Michele Clapton's costumes are sublime, and Rupert Gregson-Williams' music is perfect. Highly recommended.



Saturday, March 19, 2022

Call the Midwife - A beautiful story of joy and kindness (2012-)

Blog Rating: 9.15 out of 10



A beautiful story based on the memoir of 22-year-old Jennifer Worth, who in 1957 leaves her comfortable home to become a midwife in London's East End.

This is how she comes to live in a convent (Nonnatus House), where she will work alongside other very experienced nurses and nuns.

In the England of the mid-twentieth century, the harsh living conditions of the slums are shown, but also the warmth of its people and the courage of their mothers. 

   


Even after Jenny leaves Nonnatus, she continues to recount the lives of the midwives who have become her family.

The first season of Call The Midwife, which debuted in 2012 when Jenny Lee came to Poplar to start work on her, became the BBC's highest-rated drama in a decade.


In its third series, the drama continued to attract more than 10 million viewers every Sunday night.




The characters are very nice and the acting, even by the guest actors, is brilliant. However, the main reason I recommend Call the Midwife is that it is so well written, not avoiding the harsh realities of life, but full of hope and incredible human connection.

Sunday, February 27, 2022

Constitutional Convention and Yellows for Chile



Many things have happened in recent months in the Constitutional Convention that began its work on July 4th, 2021.


It took three months to draft the General Regulations of the Convention and in the same month of October 2021 the constitutional debates began in the commissions created to deal with different issues.


In February, the Constitutional Convention approved an article of the new Constitution that declares Chile as a "regional, plurinational and intercultural State" during the vote they take to determine the norms that the Magna Carta will include.


"Chile is a regional, plurinational and intercultural State made up of autonomous territorial entities, within a framework of equity and solidarity among all of them, preserving the unity and integrity of the State," indicated the article approved by 112 votes in favor, 34 against and 2 abstentions.


The new article changes the definition of "unitary State" that is indicated in the current Chilean Constitution that was implemented in 1980, during the government of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).


The proposal exceeded 2/3 of the vote, the minimum required to be included in the draft of the new Constitution that must be voted on in a mandatory plebiscite in which the population of Chile will decide whether to approve or reject it. If rejected, the current Magna Carta approved in 1980 will remain.


The Convention also approved other paragraphs in which it defines the territorial organization of the State "in autonomous regions, indigenous territorial autonomies and special territories." It also promotes the "cooperation, integration and development" of the regions, and defines criteria for the creation of regional entities that will rule in those areas.


The constituents approved 10 articles dealing with justice issues; among them, changing the name of the Judiciary to Justice Systems, and another article that guarantees that all bodies and persons involved in judicial processes must ensure equality, parity, and a gender perspective. The latter has caused a lot of concern since it would be annulling the principle of equality before the law.


The Constitutional Convention began its task on July 4th, 2021 and has a maximum term of nine months, extendable for three more, to conclude its task of giving Chile a new Constitution.





Yellows for Chile

Since the voting began in the plenary session of the Constitutional Convention in Chile, a group of academics and former ministers, mainly from the Center Left, have reacted to some ideas that are quite far from what the majority of Chileans expected from this new project.


This group of personalities who has achieved growing support has even announced a movement, which they have baptized "Amarillos por Chile", managing to gather signatures and support, all from various positions in politics, education, culture and governments of different democratic tendencies. "The spirit that must prevail in the Convention must be that of dialogue, conversation, truly listening to those who think differently," they say in their letter, led by Cristián Warnken, the columnist and former television presenter.

Over time, it has been confirmed that some constituents support very radical ideas such as dissolving the three powers of the State (Executive, Legislative and Judicial) to create a Plurinational Assembly.

Said initiative contemplated excluding the following groups from the right to vote in the base assemblies: owners of large companies, bankers and speculators, the high hierarchy of the church, the officers of the Armed Forces and the management of large companies.


Fortunately, sanity prevailed and this idea was rejected by a large majority. However, there are many other initiatives that put our current republic at risk.

You might also be interested in: The Socialist Experience in Chile 


Yellows for Chile: a new movement is born made up of more than 70 personalities, including national prize-winners, academics, economists and former ministers of the Concertación (centre-left political group) organized in response to the danger of the "refounding" of Chile " right from the start".
"The great tragedies in our continent and in the entire world have occurred when we yellows have been silenced or have not raised our voice with sufficient conviction," says the founding document of this new citizen movement in one of its paragraphs.


The group's manifesto argues that there are refoundational spirits expressed especially in the Constitutional Convention. Faced with this, the subscribers suggest, it is necessary to raise "the voice" in favor of "dialogue and conversation."


"Many of the proposals that have emanated from the commissions and some of those that are already reaching 2/3 in plenary are turning on the alert signal among those of us who do not want the deconstruction of Chile, nor its dismemberment, nor its refoundation from scratch. ", they pose. "The spirit that must prevail in the Convention must be that of dialogue, conversation, truly listening to those who think differently."


They add that the yellows are "a silent majority in the country," who want "reforms, not revolution, not an inharmonious or biased Constitution, but a new balanced Constitution." That constitutional proposal, they argue, should move away from the "failed experiments of other Latin American countries." Instead, it should reconcile "order with freedom, change with stability, as one of our intellectual fathers of the country, Andrés Bello, dreamed and thought."



Support the initiative

There are also a number of economic figures who were authorities during the Concertación governments, such as former Finance Ministers Alejandro Foxley and Andrés Velasco; the former president of the Central Bank and former Minister of Economy José De Gregorio; and other former ministers such as Alejandro Ferreiro, Vivianne Blanlot, Ignacio Walker, Jorge Burgos, René Cortázar, Mariana Aylwin, Jaime Campos, Isidro Solís, Pedro García, José Joaquín Brunner and Enrique Krauss.


The list also includes representatives of Congress. Among them are the outgoing DC senator Carolina Goic, the incoming ex-DC deputy Andrés Jouannet, and former senators such as Soledad Alvear, Eugenio Tuma, Hernán Vodanovic and Fulvio Rossi.


The professor and poet Cristián Warnken Lihn comments that the group is made up mostly of people from the center and center-left, who do not want the country to be thrown overboard, but rather to make changes: but well done. This is not a political party, it is an open, citizen movement of very diverse people with no hidden agenda."


The following are excerpts from the "Amarillos por Chile" manifesto. The complete version can be reviewed at the end of this article, with the list of the 75 subscribers and their call for adhesions:

The denomination "yellow" emerged a long time ago in our country as an insult to those who were in favor of change, but in a gradual and responsible manner, and preferred the path of reforms to that of revolution, that of dialogue with those who think differently than the idea of ​​turning the political adversary into an enemy to be destroyed. In the midst of the refoundational euphoria that wants to start from scratch, it is usual for the voice of the yellows to try to be silenced, and radicalism and maximalism seem much more attractive than prudence and realism. But in the desire for social transformations, there is not only the impulse towards the impossible (typical of utopias), we yellows feel the passion for what is possible, which consists in doing things well done, achieving the necessary changes without destroying what is good, betting for a better future without thinking that you are starting from scratch.


The great tragedies in our continent and in the entire world have occurred when we yellows have been silenced or have not raised our voices with sufficient conviction (as in the face of the legitimization of political violence, for example), making us feel self-conscious before those who shout more and build a version of reality as a Manichaean story, dividing the world into good guys and bad guys and offering simplistic solutions to complex problems.


Many of the proposals that have emanated from the commissions and some of those that are already reaching 2/3 in plenary are turning on the alert signal among those of us who do not want the deconstruction of Chile, nor its dismemberment, nor its refoundation from scratch, but a new beginning that collects the best that we have all built together in these decades and improves in an efficient and intelligent way what needs to be improved.


For this, the spirit that must prevail in the Convention must be that of dialogue, conversation, truly listening to those who think differently.


In this sense, the attempt by some radicalized factions of the Convention to ignore, and even erase, a significant political sector of the country (the center-right), as the maximalists of that time tried to do in the 1980 Constitution, is a huge political mistake. We must not forget that this sector obtained a very important vote in the last legislative election and 44% in the presidential election. Can a viable Constitution be made without including or listening to that sector, as if it did not exist? Proposing an exclusive constitutional text that was not born from genuine dialogue and listening also to the minority would be a pyrrhic victory that would not ensure a long life for said Constitution and would only help to polarize the country even more.


The "yellows" have always existed. We are -so we believe- a silent majority of the country. We demonstrated in the recent presidential election and with our vote we forced the extremes to moderate. This country is -deep down- more yellow than it seems. He wants reforms, not revolution, not an inharmonious or biased Constitution, but a new balanced Constitution, that gathers the best of our own institutional tradition (and not the copy of failed experiments in other Latin American countries), that manages to reconcile order with freedom , change with stability, as one of our intellectual fathers of the country, Andrés Bello, dreamed and thought.


We yellows have decided to raise our voice to contribute to this fundamental crossroads of our political and institutional history. We are here to support any initiative that goes in the direction of balance, moderation, common sense, unrestricted respect for Democracy (without surnames), the Rule of Law, freedom and also the promotion of social rights, reforming and improving both the market and the state. And we will loudly raise our voice against any attempt to lead us down the wrong path to repeat failed refoundational experiments in all parts of the world. Against any type of enlightenment, we reaffirm our trust in the light of dialogue and reason, which made it possible for this country to exist as a country and for democracy to re-emerge after the long night of intolerance and dictatorship.


This is our first statement, but it won't be the last. We want many Chileans who today feel politically orphaned to know that we Yellows are here and now, at this decisive moment in our history. We invite all free and democratic spirits to join this initiative without complexes, fear or mistrust. This is the time for courage, not cowardice or resignation.

Manifesto "Yellows for Chile"


Mario Waissbluth

For his part, academic Mario Waissbluth (professor at the University of Chile) mentions that the convention has exceeded the issue of indigenous rights, since this group is a minimal percentage of the population of Chile and it seems that the Constitution is designed only for them, where they are assigned excessive participation and rights.
This is exacerbated by the excessive representation of parties of the most radical left.
Along these lines, Waissbluth maintained that the "plan is to start making specific observations on specific articles of the Constitution and not only to criticize, but also to counter-propose."
"What we have agreed upon is that we are going to have a communications group, and a technical group that from now on will begin to analyze article by article, give an opinion and make a counterproposal and spread it through all the channels that we can".

At the time of publication of this article, the group has already achieved more than 22,000 adherents.



Source: Pauta, Amarillos por Chile and author's notes