Bonni Suval is a musician from the New York band Fear of Dolls who got run over by an (allegedly) drunk driver on Feb 9 in a hit-and-run while crossing Pike St after finishing a show at Neumo's earlier in the evening. The link is for a benefit show being held at Neumo's, one of a series being held to raise money to help cover her medical expenses.
Some people have medical insurance. Musicians, for the most part, have benefit concerts. Concerts generally don't provide nearly as much coverage as most health plans, but then again most plans don't allow for beer drinking and dancing. So I guess there's advantages to both approaches.
There's also a Paypal link on the page if you aren't the concert-going type. The full story from the P.I. is here, and includes the number of the Washington Mutual account set up to receive donations. Thanks to Josh for the heads-up.
Approaching from the bend in the road where 10th Ave turns into Broadway, at first I thought I was seeing some surreal hybrid Easter animal, part chicken, part rabbit. The yellow and orange rain-slickened body of the chick in front obscured all but the pink, floppy ears of the rabbit, with these protruding above the red comb on top of the chick's head like a defiant middle finger pointed skyward, brazenly mocking the Natural Order of Things. As we pull around to the front, I realize that the hideous genetic experiment rendered in jumbo inflatable form that I had first perceived is actually a matching set of giant Easter mascots seated side-by-side, secured to the roof of the gay bar by cable and rocking back and forth in the strong wind.
From the window of the bus I take in the sight of this modest, slightly dingy establishment: A middle-aged daddy hangout festooned with Easter finery, the windows decorated with ribbons and "Happy Easter" banners in bright pink, robin's-egg blue, pastel yellows and vibrant purples. Nothing here would look out of place on Gay Pride Weekend -- change the wording on the banners and leave the colors as they are and I wouldn't even notice. It suddenly strikes me that Easter is pretty gay, as holidays go. This had never occurred to me before.
I mean, not the Jesus part especially: That's really neither here nor there. But all the bunnies and colored eggs and pastels and Easter bonnets? Totally Gay.
I still have a vivid memory of the last time I made a "vrooming" jet-or-spaceship sound as I was running. It was in fourth grade. We were out in the field during recess, and my friend Derek noticed me doing it and asked me why I made that sound when I ran. I stopped, suddenly self-conscious, and confessed that I didn't really know. Then he told me it made me look stupid. So I never did it again. It's too bad, because it really did help to enhance the sensation of travelling at great speeds. Still, if Derek hadn't pointed out that it looked stupid I'd probably still be doing it to this day, so I suppose I owe him a thank you. Thanks, Derek.
It's amazing how long embarassing moments stay in memory. They're like twinkies -- they seem to have an indefinite shelf life. I still remember stupid things I did or said when I was six years old, and still cringe a little at the thought. I don't think I'm alone in this either. Considering how embarassment burns experience into memory indelibly, it's a wonder somebody hasn't fashioned a teaching method around this phenomenon -- right after the vital piece of information has been instilled, a public pantsing or wedgie would solidify the memory forever. Beats the hell out of any of those other highly suspect "perfect memory" methods I've heard about. You go ahead and try to think up apropos, memorable nicknames based on facial features, buddy -- when the bride's cousin introduces herself to me, I'll make sure I don't forget her by immediately falling backwards into the wedding cake. We'll see which of us remembers her in a year's time.
Though I suppose there's a possibility that this method could diminish in effectiveness with repetition.
The thing that reminded me of making jet sounds while running was this story from the BBC, about a new hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered-motorbike. The bike is pretty damn cool -- runs up to 50mph, produces only water vapor as emission (said to be clean enough to be "drinkable"), runs for four continuous hours on a charge, and makes about as much noise as a home computer. This last factor is a potential problem, due to worries that other motorists might fail to notice a motorbike that runs so quietly. So the manufacturer, Intelligent Energy of Great Britain, has proposed putting an artificial "vroom" on the bike to insure that other drivers can hear it coming. Although in lieu of that, I think that making motorbike sounds with one's lips would work just as well if not better.
The first story is from this account, which the BBC ran on 24 November, 2004:
Venezuela ignores IMF advice on oil money
The government of Venezuela has instituted a program of social spending that is unprecedented in that country's history, including a literacy program that the government in Caracas says has taught over a million adults to read and write in the last year and may be the largest public literacy program ever undertaken anywhere. It is part of a series of social initiatives that have received a boost in funding in the wake of the $6 Billion windfall that PDVSA (the government-run oil monopoly) has experienced in the last year as a result of the higher-than-expected price Venezuelan oil has brought on the international market. At $33 a barrel, revenues have been 65% higher than was predicted in last year's budgeting.
The added state expenditures are in addition to the $3 Billion in social services that the PDVSA administers as part of its regular budget. Funding is going to education as well as sustainable living projects and increased medical care, particularly in impoverished rural areas. The medical care programs are benefiting from the presence of 13,000 Cuban doctors and dentists. Cuban teaching methods are also being used in many of the new educational programs. The Cuban connection has been of special interest to U.S. critics of the Chavez administration.
Venezuela has been selling oil to Cuba at preferential prices throughout Chavez's term as president, and has drawn fire for working directly against the longstanding U.S. strategy of economic isolation towards Cuba.
The drastic increases in domestic spending run counter to the IMF's (International Monetary Fund's) advice to oil-rich countries that they save the extra income from increased oil revenues in order to stave off future economic uncertainty. However the IMF has been under heavy criticism itself in recent years from South American observers who point to examples such as Argentina, which was engaged in an IMF-sanctioned series of economic reforms just prior to its 2001 financial crisis. Many believe that extreme budgetary restrictions advocated by the IMF left Argentina unable to meet even basic infrastructure-maintenance spending levels, and that privatization of key national resources further exacerbated government shortfalls.
Hugo Moyer, head of PDVSA's Social Programs, defended his country's spending initiatives by saying they should be considered an investment rather than an expenditure:
"This country, like many others in Latin America, has a huge social debt to its population."
Story number 2 comes from this Feb 22nd 2005 BBC story:
US denies plotting to kill Chavez
Speaking this Sunday on his weekly TV broadcast, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez openly alleged that the U.S. was seeking his assassination, saying "If they kill me, the name of the person responsible is [President] George Bush."
He did not offer any evidence to support these claims. He went on to threaten a cutoff of Venezuelan oil exports to the U.S. should such an assassination attempt occur (Venezuela is the second-greatest source of foreign oil in the U.S., trailing only Saudi Arabia.) His accusations come following similar statements made last week in the press by Fidel Castro, saying "If Chavez is assassinated, the blame will fall on Bush."
The Chavez administration has for some time contended that the 2002 coup was covertly encouraged and even given material support by U.S. interests in the region, including the CIA and State Department, said to be operating through various front organizations.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher called Chavez's statements "ridiculous and untrue." He did say, however, that the U.S. had "various policy issues" with the Venezuelan government, and expressed "concern" that recent actions taken by the Chavez administration were "disruptive to the region."
These statements echo other recent State Department and CIA statements. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has called Chavez a "negative force" in Latin America. CIA chief Porter Goss has indicated that Venezuela is seen as a possible source of regional instability. Major criticisms leveled against Chavez include his use of military units to suppress opposition strikes, restrictions on the press, large weapons purchases from Brazil and Russia, and ongoing concerns that FARC revolutionaries in neighboring Colombia may be staging cross-border raids from bases within Venezuela.
Speaking during hearings before her confirmation as Secretary of State, Rice singled out the "unhelpful and unconstructive trends going on in Venezuelan policies" as a particular cause for concern, saying "we are very concerned about a democratically elected leader who governs in an illiberal way."
Comments:
Holy cow! It looks like Venezuela's government is in the hands of a full-on conspiracy theorist! How did this guy get to be so paranoid? President Chavez would do well to remember the motto of Complete Coincidence Theatre:
Nothing is connected to anything!
Sleep well, my friends.
Episode 1: Venezuela.
Prologue:
Did you know there’s a South America? I know, I didn’t believe it either, but I looked it up. They have their own countries and languages and everything. Who knew? Among the many adorable countries with strange, exotic names located there is a little place that the natives call Venezuela. It is here that our first two completely unrelated stories take place.
First, a little background: Venezuela’s president is named Hugo Chavez. He came to power in 1998 after running on a left-leaning platform of social reform, and once in office he immediately began running afoul of the U.S., primarily over the heavy hand he took with the state-run oil monopoly, PDVSA. Declaring that the profits from oil (Venezuela’s main export) would be used to serve his populist revolution, he promptly began firing top officials within the organization, as well as instituting reforms that included doubling the royalty rate paid by foreign oil companies for Venezuelan oil and decreasing overall production in order to drive up the price on the international market. This, coupled with the rising cost of oil from the Middle East, helped to push the price U.S. consumers paid for their oil to record highs.
Other noteworthy policy initiatives undertaken by the Chavez regime included governmental drafts affirming health care and education to be universal human rights, levying taxes on the five major television stations for the first time, and land reform. On the international front, he drew criticism from the U.S. by refusing to let U.S. warplanes fly over Venezuelan airspace as part of their ongoing Colombian anti-drug campaign.
Chavez’s reform agenda ruffled quite a few feathers in the oil industry as well as in the Venezuelan military. This resulted in Chavez’s opposition, led by disgruntled oil executives and military leaders, organizing a nationwide strike in December 2001, issuing demands that Chavez step down. Chavez did not step down and in fact employed military and police forces to break the strike, which was causing severe food shortages throughout the country. Military leaders who called for his removal were removed from their posts and in some cases became the subjects of criminal investigation for insubordination.
In April 2002 events came to a head, resulting in a coup that momentarily removed Chavez from power. The details of the coup (including whether or not it should be called a “coup”) differ depending on who’s telling the story. According to Chavez and his supporters, the coup was initiated by a group of military leaders, oil executives and white collar workers acting together with members of the Confederation of Venezuelan Workers (CTV -- the oil workers' union) marching under orders of their pro-corporate leadership, with broadcasts on the privately owned (and newly taxed) TV stations delivering instructions on the air as to where and when the spontaneous protests should take place.
According to the opposition, it was a popular uprising comprised of ordinary Venezuelans who were fed up with Chavez’s dictatorial ways.
What is known for sure is that on April 11, as a group of protesters estimated to be 50,000 strong marched on the presidential palace, violence broke out in the streets when pro-Chavez and anti-Chavez supporters clashed. An estimated 16 people were shot in the day’s confrontations, although who was shot and who did the shooting is still the subject of feverish debate. At the end of the day the coup was successful and Chavez was removed from power (reports at the time called this a “resignation”, but it is worth noting that it was apparently a resignation made at gunpoint.) National Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman Pedro Carmona, a respected business leader with ties to the oil industry, was instated as the new president. His first acts were to suspend the constitution, disband congress and the supreme court, reinstate the oil executives who had been removed from power while simultaneously removing Chavez appointees, change the name of the country from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to simply the Republic of Venezuela, and begin arresting Chavez loyalists in house-to-house searches.
The leadership of the U.S. surprised the rest of the Western Hemisphere (and by surprised I mean “seriously pissed off”) by appearing to endorse the overthrow of a democratically elected leader by a military junta. By way of explaining why the administration was adopting a position contrary to its own stated policy of supporting democracy abroad, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer announced that Chavez was a dictator who had ordered his soldiers to fire on defenseless protesters. The coup was characterized as a people’s revolution against a tyrant and was praised as a victory for the oppressed common folk of Venezuela. Fleischer’s statement at the time predicted that “the situation will be one of tranquility and democracy” as the new government took over.
This would prove to be embarrassing when, two days later, a much larger uprising of peasants and military rank-and-file would flood out from the slums of Caracas and the neighboring villages and completely shut down the city. Carmona’s troops began firing on the crowds of people, which did not stop the uprising but did apparently lead many soldiers and police officers to switch sides. The counter-revolution was ultimately successful, and Chavez was restored to office a mere three days after his “resignation.” This overturning of a military coup was unprecedented in South American history.
This led to some back-pedaling on the part of the Bush administration, who again declared victory for the common folk of Venezuela. The American press, including the infamously liberal New York Times, was also forced to revise its earlier statements of support for the Carmona government as reports of strong-arm tactics began to circulate. The prevailing description of Chavez as a despot ruling with an iron fist over a fearful populace would be further discredited when he was re-elected with a record-breaking margin of the popular vote in elections overseen and certified by international observers. This in spite of ongoing strikes and opposition calls for his removal which continue to greatly destabilize Venezuela.
Wow, that was a long prologue! Like Lord-of-the-Rings long! So, are you ready for the stories, pulled from last week's news? Tune in tomorrow for the exciting conclusion of Complete Coincidence Theater!