the myth is over: no breakfast is not bad

I do not eat breakfast. Not that I dislike the menu, but if you give me a choice between breakfast and lunch, almost always choose eggs or waffles. Just when I go to work at 7:30 a. m. I'm not hungry.

In fact, I have rarely hungry before lunchtime, so apart from a cup of coffee in the morning, not like almost nothing before noon. This habit has forced me to listen to more sermons about the harm I do to myself, my diet, my job and my health than many others. Only a fool the most important meal of the day jump, right?

As in the case of many nutritional advice, our belief in the power of breakfast is based on a misinterpretation of research and tendentious studies.

It does not take much effort to find research showing an association between skipping breakfast and poor health. A 2013 study published in the scientific weekly Circulation found that men who skip breakfast have a significantly increased risk of coronary heart disease than those who eat breakfast. However, as in the case of most studies on breakfast, it is an association, not a cause.

The breakfast item is the subject of most publications biased than any other subject. In an article published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2013, researchers reviewed the literature on the effect of breakfast on obesity, to consider this issue specifically. The first thing he noticed was that nutrition researchers love to publish results that show a correlation between skipping breakfast and obesity. But although like repeated again and again, we have reached the point where there is no reason to continue to publish more on this subject.

However, they also found significant errors in the findings. constantly they influenced people to interpret their results in favor of a relationship between skipping breakfast and obesity. They used incorrectly to describe their findings causal language. They cited deceptively what they found other researchers and causal language used to cite the results of others. People think and wants you to believe that breakfast is not bad.

But a thorough review of all observational research indicates methodological errors in this field, as well as the problems that arise in an analysis combining the results of studies influenced by trends in publishing. Partnerships should be viewed with skepticism and confirmed in prospective trials.

There are few randomized controlled trials, which there are, although they are methodologically poor, as most studies on nutrition, do not support the need for breakfast.

A study of 2014 is even more confusing, with more financial conflicts of interest than I thought possible-as it found that there is no difference regarding weight loss if someone leaving fast to do and someone who eats breakfast and does not. But a test of 1992 in which the same study found that both groups had lost weight. It accepts a balanced perspective that we have no idea what happens.

Many of the studies are funded by the food industry, which is a clear trend. Kellogg's funded a frequently cited article which concluded that eating cereal at breakfast is associated with being thinner. The Quaker Oats Center of Excellence, part of Pepsi Co, funded a test that showed that eating oatmeal or corn flakes frosty low weight and reduces cholesterol (if eaten in a highly controlled environment every day for four weeks).

Many studies focus on children and argue that those who eat breakfast are also thinner, but this research suffers from the same errors that studies with adults.

And what about the argument that children behave and perform better in school if they eat breakfast? While systematic reviews found that often this is the case, we should consider that much of the research are based on the observation of the impact of school breakfast programs.

One of the reasons why breakfast appears to enhance learning and child development is, unfortunately, too many children do not eat enough. Hunger affects nearly one in seven US households, or about 15 million children. Many more children receive breakfast lunches at school.

It is not hard to imagine that hungry children will perform better if they feed. However, that is not the same as investigating whether to force breakfast to children who are well nourished.

It has been found that children who skip breakfast are more likely to be overweight than those who eat two breakfasts. But apparently that's because children because they want more of a breakfast hungry at home. This is different from saying that breakfast helps you lose weight.

The conclusion is that the importance of eating breakfast is far from clear. If you're hungry, eat breakfast, but do not feel bad if you prefer not to do it and do not listen to more sermons about it. Breakfast does not have mystical powers.

A green frog juice ...?

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If we look at Google the words "green smoothie" find a lot of recipes for a perfect and healthy green juice. We may have to do a more thorough search if we find a popular elixir in Peru and Bolivia that does not use green leafy vegetables, but aquatic frog endangered Titicaca.

While in the United States it is said that the green juice is the "fastest to consume vegetables" form, its Andean counterpart is famous for curing a variety of conditions, such as anemia, fever, tuberculosis, typhoid and even female infertility .

Today, Peruvians and Bolivians of all ages often go to the fair, a market weekend, to drink this liquid, which is prepared in a jiffy. According to Arturo Muñoz, project coordinator Bolivia Amphibian Initiative, we can also find this drink in shops in Lima and Arequipa, the largest cities of Peru, almost every day of the week.

If you prefer to prepare this drink at home, this is the recipe:

1. Go to Lake Titicaca and catch a frog.

2. Cut off the head, remove the skin and take the body of the frog in the blender (the less daring can boil it first).

3. Add brown sugar, honey and carrots to taste.

4. If you want to hide the main ingredient a bit more, try some quinoa, which will make the mix color change from clear to green coffee.

5. And if you need an aphrodisiac adds maca root.

Peru and Bolivia passed laws prohibiting this process, because the frog is a seriously endangered species. Defenders of animal rights have also questioned whether the frog liquefied cure aches and above conditions (there seems no evidence of this).

However, Ben Orlove, an anthropologist at Columbia University who has spent much of his career studying the lake Titicaca, says "there are many cases where local wisdom eventually work." He adds: "The development projects misinformed upstream" are a far greater threat to frogs liquefied fashion.

Munoz, who monitors the population of frogs, said that, in fact, when explored an area of ​​258 square kilometers of the lake in January, did not find a single frog.

The most ruthless ex boyfriend Bolivia

If the current political scandal Bolivia was a soap opera, it might be called "The ruthless ex-boyfriend." The protagonists: a Machiavellian head of state and a young ex-lover that threatens his political ambitions. The plot: she says she will unmask as a monster, but he is determined to cling to power, even if it means jail, defame and silence her and his other critics.

For several months, Bolivians are attached to this real-life drama starring President Evo Morales and his ex-girlfriend, Gabriela Zapata. In late February Morales lost a referendum that would have allowed him to run for a fourth term, partly because of the dismay that generated the news about his ex. As reported, Zapata would have been enriched by representing a Chinese company that received state contracts for hundreds of millions of dollars.

The first episode occurred a few days after the vote. Although initially the Morales rejected any suggestion of influence peddling, authorities arrested and accused Zapata precisely that. Zapata, meanwhile, decided that he would not fall alone.

In a series of interviews he gave from prison, Zapata denounced that had become the scapegoat for a government that has a lot to hide. To begin, he denied the version of Morales on the alleged death of the son they had together. The child, according to Zapata, still alive. "Now I will not keep quiet," he told the newspaper El Deber in March. At this point the truth about the child remains a mystery.

He also promised to reveal details about the evolution of Morales, the first indigenous leader of Bolivia, who went from being a benevolent a man calculating and dangerous man. "Evo Morales was not the monster it is today," Zapata said. The woman and her lawyer also said they have incriminating information on the Minister of the Presidency, Juan Ramon Quintana, the right hand of the president.


Gabriela Zapata in La Paz in February after a judge decided he should remain in prison. Credit Juan Karita / Associated Press
But there are still doubts about whether this information will come to light and if Zapata will have the opportunity to defend and denounce others by name. Last week authorities arrested his lawyer, Eduardo Leon, and his aunt, Pilar Guzman, who had confirmed that the son and Morales Zapata was alive. Leon, a prominent lawyer, recently appeared at a court with a sign saying "political prisoner".

Meanwhile, Morales allies in Congress have been pushing bills that seek to limit freedom of the press and control the use of social networks. Apparently they do not understand that the defeat of Morales in February was the result of embarrassments not of critical coverage. Clearly, they are afraid of the version that Zapata could tell if you have the opportunity to defend himself during a trial.

On Tuesday, Morales announced he will call a new referendum, because, according to him, lost the first on behalf of the "lies" about the case of Zapata. "In the second half we will see who is who," he said.

Spend millions of dollars on a new referendum would represent an abuse of power and an insult to the Bolivians who have already decided that the country needs new leaders. Another campaign will not stop neither the news nor the baffling revelations, which continue discrediting a man who has been in power more than any other president in the hemisphere.

Although it is unclear what the final chapter of this drama, this is no doubt: the cover-up by Morales and his ilk is worse than the crime.

In Mexico, the disproportionate fatality of its armed forces raises concerns

MEXICO CITY - In the history of modern warfare is much more likely to strike an enemy combatant, instead of killing him.

But in Mexico it is the reverse.

According to government figures, the Mexican armed forces kill with overwhelming efficiency, stacked bodies at high speed.

Mexican authorities say their troops are better trained members of the posters they face. But experts who study the subject say the death toll of the Mexican military is unmatched and reveals something much darker.

Paul Chevigny, a retired professor at New York University and a pioneer of the study of lethality in different armed forces, said "there are summary executions".

A study on wars since the late seventies of the International Committee of the Red Cross found that in most scenarios combat between armed groups for each dead person there is an average of four wounded. Sometimes even more.

In Mexico the account is reversed: the Mexican army kills eight enemy for every one that hurts.

For elite force, the navy, the discrepancy is even more pronounced: according to its own data, killing 30 fighters for every one that hurts.

The figures emerge from the document "lethality index 2008-2014: Decrease the fighting, deadliness increases opacity" published in June 2015 by the Institute for Legal Research at the Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). The work is based on a series of official statistics obtained through requests for access to public information.

The statistics, which the government stopped publishing in 2014, offer a unique image on paper that have assumed the Mexican armed forces in the war against organized crime. Over the past decade, as marine and Mexican soldiers have been sent to the front line, the human rights violations have soared.

Still, the armed forces remain untouchable, protected by a reluctance to impose itself on the only institution that can send to battle government. Very few have taken steps to investigate the thousands of allegations of torture, forced disappearances and extrajudicial executions that have occurred since the then President Felipe Calderon declared war on drugs a decade ago.

Of the 4000 complaints of torture reviewed by the Attorney General's Office (PGR) since 2006, only 15 have ended with a conviction.

Juan E. Mendez, Special Rapporteur on torture of the UN, said that "torture is not only widespread, but is surrounded by impunity. If the government knows that it is common and no charges or those that go to trial are not going anywhere, blame the state "they are presented.

The Mexican military did not respond to interview requests. General Salvador Cienfuegos, secretary of defense, has exonerated the institution saying it is the only facing organized crime and also is winning the battle.



Tlatlaya a winery in the outskirts of Mexico City, where the army killed 22 people during a confrontation in June 2014. The Human Rights Commission of Mexico found that at least 15 of them had been executed and that soldiers they had altered the scene to give the impression that there was a confrontation. Credit Rebecca Blackwell / Associated Press
"We are on the streets because society asks us," Cienfuegos told the newspaper Milenio this month.

The army has killed around 3,000 people between 2007 and 2012. During that period, 158 soldiers have died. Some believe that the death toll is pure pragmatism. In Mexico, where less than two percent of homicides end in conviction, the armed forces kill their enemies because you can not trust the judicial system.

The government has received waves of pressure on this issue. In March, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) condemned the behavior of Mexico on human rights, including extrajudicial executions; the Commission thus added to the previous UN report saying that torture is practiced widely.

Several weeks ago, it was a recording which turned VIRAL in which a soldier hits a woman while police agent puts a bag over his head to suffocate public. There was a request for a public apology by the armed forces, something never seen before.

Even in the case of the 43 missing students, the role of the Army and the protection that has been the subject of controversy and polarization. According to the report of the commission of foreign experts who investigated the case, the night of the disappearance were soldiers present. However, the Army did not agree to meet with the experts and the government is not demanded it.

The government says it is serious about human rights and approves laws to counter abuses, protect victims and allow the soldiers be tried in civilian courts. She claims a new human rights policy in the Army and notes that during the administration of the current president, complaints against the Army have decreased significantly.

"Every report on violations of human rights is disturbing," said the government. "But these isolated cases do not reflect the general state of human rights in the country".

Although allegations of torture against the armed forces have fallen since 2011 -date in which significantly reduced the deployment of troops in the country, the lethality of the meetings has not diminished according to data released in early 2014.

The unique relationship between the army and the government back more than 70 years, when the country emerged from a civil war. To maintain stability, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) has reached an agreement with the armed forces: in exchange for an almost total autonomy, the army would not intervene in politics.

Unlike most Latin American countries, Mexico has never been a coup. And although the government often has not been generous with the budget devoted to defense he has always protected the army from outside scrutiny.

And that protection has proved vital since 2006, when the army took to the streets to fight the cartels and as a result increased violence. As reports reached record highs, the government chose to do nothing to limit the Army in its jurisdiction.

And for two years, the military stopped publishing figures dead. Without such data, according to experts, it is very difficult to know the actual level of violence that has reached the war against organized crime.



Navy personnel in a house on the outskirts of Acapulco, where four men were shot in May. The Mexican navy kills about 30 suspects for every one that hurts. Credit Enric Marti / Associated Press
Some episodes come to court, as a confrontation in Tlatlaya, near Mexico City, where the army killed 22 people in June 2014. The Army boasted that during combat only wounded a soldier.

The case became a scandal immediately. The National Commission on Human Rights found that at least 15 of the victims were executed and that the soldiers had altered the scene to make it appear that there was a fight.

Even so, the three soldiers who were accused for his responsibility in the events were acquitted by justice last week. The only soldier convicted for disobedience, and served his sentence.

Impunity exists despite increased ties with the US Army through exercises, training and sales material aimed at increasing professionalism and by extension, respect for the Mexican military to human rights.

Two years ago, the United States agreed to sell black hawk helicopters to Mexico in a deal that could be valued at more than billion over 25 years, which also brings the Mexican Army to US standards.

"Not only sold them helicopters," said Todd M. Rosenblum, who was a senior official in Mexico policies for the Pentagon. "We sold 15 years of close collaboration that we could not have otherwise."

The proximity has done little to soften the criticism in the US Congress.

"Not all the training world work if there are no people in charge who believe in the importance of transparency and accountability," said Vermont Democratic Senator Patrick J. Leahy.

For further concern of the government of Mexico, some cases of abuse have managed to reach international institutions.

On December 29, 2009, three people disappeared in the state of Chihuahua and never heard from them. After seeking legal recourse to state, federal and military level, the family took the case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 2011.

Five years later, the commission submitted its confidential report, according to two people familiar with the case. If the commission finds the Army responsible for disappearances, as expected, the resolution would be binding.

There is another case before the International Criminal Court: A nonprofit group in Baja California collected more than 90 examples of what it considers torture by the Mexican Army from 2006 to 2013. The court has not yet responded to the request.

The record includes the case of Ramiro Lopez, who was arrested with three other people and tortured by the army in June 2009. The men were almost asphyxiated with plastic bags and given electric shocks on the genitals before being presented as kidnappers and they were sentenced for it.

But in 2015, after a rare UN investigation, it was decided that the men were not guilty. The government absolved but did not seek those responsible for this forced confession.

"They should not try to justify their work with confessions extracted under torture," Mayra, sister of Ramiro Lopez said. "But it does not seem that this will change soon."

Atletico and Real Madrid face one on one in the Champions League

MADRID - Two years ago, Atletico Madrid was the surprise of the European football season.

Without a global star like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, he beats Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​the two most popular clubs in Spanish football by winning the league. Atletico was also about to beat Real Madrid in his first final of the Champions League since 1974. Finished wilting in overtime (Real Madrid won 4-1 and won their tenth European title that day).

Saturday, Atletico will face Real Madrid in the final of the Champions League, but this time not as a guest will surprise and unexpected, although its rival neighbor-and have much more money and prestige.

Paolo Futre, who was captain of Atletico, said: "I think it was a surprise to see how Atletico reached the final two years ago, but do not think anyone who has followed the team since then can doubt that Atletico has a place among the best teams in Europe. " He added: "There are no words to describe what has been done to transform Simeone Atletico" on the team coach, Argentine Diego Simeone.

Since he became coach five years ago, Simeone has rebuilt the team within the limits of a budget that falls short when compared with those of Real Madrid or other European clubs; a budget that forced Atletico to sell their best players at the end of each season.



Fabio Coentrao Real Madrid surrounded by Tiago and Juanfran from Atletico Madrid in the final of the Champions League played in Lisbon in 2014. Credit Laurence Griffiths / Getty Images
In 2014, shortly after losing the final of the Champions League, three of the pillars of -the team goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, defender Filipe Luis and striker Diego Costa, they left the team and went to Chelsea. (Courtois was a temporary loan from Atletico blues, Luis returned to Madrid after a season in London). Another pillar of the team, Arda Turan, was sold for Barcelona last summer, or at least were their rights.

Their replacements have adapted easily to the team and Simeone counterattacking style. During the period of this coach, the Atletico defense has become a castle: This league has received only 18 goals in 38 matches and has won half the games without rivals have managed to throw them a goal. Simeone has also been able to rely on a tandem Antoine Griezmann front formed by -a French striker who arrived from the Royal Society- and Fernando Torres, who returned last Atletico, the team of his childhood year after a long journey England and Italy.

Both are expected to lead Atletico in full power during the final of the Champions League in Milan, unlike happened in Lisbon two years ago, when Simeone bet, with little success, for Costa injured. He had torn a tendon in the last league game against Barcelona.

Although Costa managed to leave lineup, nine minutes was limping. Simeone had no choice but to make one of your changes to replace the price of sacrificing one of the three pairs of fresh legs he had for that match that Real Madrid won the three goals he scored in the second half of extra time .

"Atletico reached that final in Lisbon with an exhausted and with some low of importance, after a huge battle for the league team," said Adelard Rodriguez Sanchez, who played 511 games in 17 seasons with Atletico before retiring, all a record. "This season has been very hard again, but the team has reached the final in good shape."


On the way to Milan, Atletico eliminated two recent winners of the Champions League, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. And after losing the final of the Champions League two years ago, Atletico has taken the lead to Real Madrid by winning five games and drawing four of their last ten games. The only defeat in the Madrid derby was last year, and again in the Champions League, when Real Madrid managed to eliminate Simeone team in the quarterfinals.

Under the leadership of new coach Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid reached the final after a surprising but late threat to the supremacy of Barcelona in the final of the league. They lost the title by a single point in the final game. The attacking trio of Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Gale, is one of the most complex challenges that has faced the defense mounted by Simeone. The three have scored 98 goals.

Futre Saturday's game qualifies as "an encounter with the same chance of victory for two teams that are well known but could not play very differently than they do." Zidane has agreed with that view. During a press conference on Tuesday he smiled when he left the issue of pressure that is used before big games.

Simeone, in the center, trained with players from Atletico Madrid last week. Credit Juan Carlos Hidalgo / European Pressphoto Agency
"I've been a player and I've felt that pressure, I feel perhaps more intensely as a coach, but I like it, even if it means suffering until the end," he said.

The end of Milan has been presented as the opportunity for Atletico to avenge their defeat in Lisbon in which the Real Madrid defender, Sergio Ramos, forced stoppage time with a header in the last minute. Atletico players have already solved.

Saul Ñíguez midfielder, 21, said told Radio Marca last week that "the end is not a revenge for what happened in Lisbon, but an opportunity to make history." It is one of the players revelation this season at Atletico, especially after his goal against Bayern in the semifinals contribute to seal the team's place in the final against Real Madrid.

No matter what the outcome, the meeting between the two Madrid teams highlights the supremacy of the Spanish teams in the European game in recent years. Last Wednesday, the Sevilla won 3-1 at Liverpool and won for the third consecutive year, the European League.

For the game this Saturday, Real Madrid has a slight edge in betting, perhaps thanks to its unparalleled record of victories in this tournament, but Adelardo not discouraged.

"It would not be normal for Atletico was the favorite for the match," he said. "When I played, the only times I really hurt was when we started to Real as the victims."

If you canceled your wedding, we offer some tips to take the consequences

You may cancel a wedding is the only rite of more stressful than planning it initiation.

When a couple decides to end after sending invitations, away place for banquet and make reservations for the honeymoon, he faces two tasks perhaps as horrifying as the fact terminate the relationship itself: I explain to the guests and try to recover their money.

Stacey Becker, a New York lawyer for 39 years, had a courtship of two years and had lived with her boyfriend for three months when he proposed marriage. Several months before the wedding date, which would be in August 2007, discussed about their travel plans for Thanksgiving.

He wanted her to accompany him to California to visit her parents, but she had surgery and could not travel.

Although his parents had already planned to travel to New York to see them, he said he missed California. Then, she says, her boyfriend said, "Well, maybe I'm not ready to get married."

"The adrenaline ran through my body," says Becker, who wrote a book titled Knot the One: Why Getting Dumped Before My Wedding Was the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me. (Why an abandonment before the wedding was the best thing that ever happened to me).

"Up until then had not shown that interested him not to marry," she says. He mentions that he immediately recanted and was justified by saying he was having a bad day.

However, the following month he went to a business trip and when he returned said he still felt confused. Friends and family advised him it break the relationship, but the couple decided to continue and only postpone the wedding.

For some time these unexpected changes to the bells that announce a wedding have been material for Hollywood movies: the bride who escapes in "The Graduate" (The Graduate) or groom who repents right at the moment in "The Heartbreak Kid" (The heartbreaker). Who canceled in the past had doubts about their partners, but the millennials today focus on the symbolism of marriage.

"Many of my patients begin to address the transition to adulthood when they commit," says Christina Curtis, a New York psychotherapist; one of the people who founded this year an office called Brooklyn Premarital premarital counseling.

"A marriage in sight causes problems with my personal identity, that dreams that you had to re-examine itself and ideas about the kind of person you are," says Curtis. "Distill your life. And as the millennials feel that marriage is an option, they are actually questioning whether it is the right choice ".

A study in 2013 by The Wedding Report found that 13 percent of the commitments (approximately 25,000) do not end in marriage. Still, although many people know someone who has ended the relationship before the wedding, they do not believe that can happen to them. When it happens, it is often too late to recover the money.

When Becker canceled, his parents called most guests. "I told my closest friends and they spread the word."

His father recovered deposit Hilton Westchester in Rye Brook, New York. People who would record the video and would take pictures also returned the deposit. The exprometido Becker recovered as the honeymoon trip to Hawaii (less a charge for the cancellation) because I had booked with frequent flyer kilometers.


They canceled their tables gifts at Crate & Barrel and Macy's, and returned the gifts received. She sent checks to those who had given money on your engagement party (although no one claimed).

Not all providers cooperated: his mother failed to get him to return the deposit in Kleinfeld Bridal dress. Months later, when the dress arrived and the store called to schedule a test, Becker again had to explain that there was going to marry. When the store where you bought the bridesmaids dresses also refused to give the deposit, Becker was the one who gave them the refund.

Although contracts had studied in law school, Becker had signed a very bad with the musicians. It included a clause of early maturity, which meant that it should be settled when the contract is broken. She begged the director of the group. "He said, 'I hope this never happens to my daughter,' and then said he would make an exception." Only lost the deposit.

The mark of 90 days is a key moment: when many places for receptions and wedding planners ask 50 percent of your payment. One organizer of San Diego, Courtney Tibbets, a couple had canceled 91 days before the wedding. "Clearly had consulted his contract and calculated that they could not wait any longer," he said.

Eve Sturges, 36, therapist and writer in Los Angeles, canceled her wedding eight weeks before the date. She and her fiance were to be married in the first birthday of his daughter in Petaluma, California, before 150 guests. However, they began to discuss whether they would have more children: yes she wanted but he did not. When he suggested postponing the wedding, she was relieved.

He gave his parents a list of all suppliers and guests. "You need family or social support when you're dealing with such strong emotions," he said. Photographer and florist allowed to move their deposits for points. "We sent flowers to the people for a year with our non-refundable deposit of $ 500 on flowers," he said. They used the points photographer in family photos.

To warn the guests, his mother handwritten cards that read "Wedding Eve and Jim postponed indefinitely. Thank you for your love and support. " A Sturges liked writing. "A known also canceled their wedding, and sent cards saying: The Wedding 'will not take place'. That seemed very strong. "

They finally decided to finish. Sturges gave her dress. He used the veil and the remaining ribbon at birthday party invitations. His parents kept the family wine and finished it over several years.

Although cancel a wedding has always been socially embarrassing, often present weddings are a public issue in the extreme, from the engagement to the honeymoon. Couples announce their engagement on social networks and chronicle book the place for the party, the contract with the musical group and the hotel they chose on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat and its own website wedding. Voyeurism makes guests feel entitled to know the story behind the cancellation.

Tina Weber, 28, a video producer and resident of Union City, New Jersey, announced their engagement in 2009 in Facebook, soon after this network offered the option to record important events. After decided to cancel, his mother sent cards to the guests, but Weber did not have many answers until the day he changed his relationship status on Facebook to "engaged" to "single". "Then I got many likes, comments and messages. Some guests he wanted to know why, "he said.

But an explosive ad can also lead to interesting conversations. The head of Sturges then told him that many years before her marriage she had canceled two days after the wedding. Weber received an email from a friend from high school who had heard of the broken engagement on Facebook: "He told me he was going through the same situation and sought support and advice," Weber said.

"I wanted to know how I had done it," he added.

While family and friends can receive the news with surprise, wedding planners usually take cancellations calmly. Tibbets, the wedding planner, said: "When we are alone, girlfriends tell me, 'I'm freaking much. Will only wedding jitters? '. Or they get to mourn. "

A Tibbets you have canceled nine weddings in eight years. Couples rarely share the reason, although two girlfriends talked about infidelity. The only time Tibbets has made an exception to its policy of refund (she requests a non-refundable deposit of between 500 and 3000 dollars to set aside a date) it was when they called up to military boyfriend.

Although insurance wedding can cover unforeseen events as a call-up, bad weather or closure of the reception venue, only Wedsure, based in Toluca Lake, California, offers a "change of mind" as an additional option their insurance cancellation or postponement. The coverage is very limited: the wedding must be canceled 365 days in advance at least and can only claim a 'financier of the party "as a parent (but not the bride or groom).

Wedsure owner, Rob Nuccio, said the coverage is not comprehensive due to past abuse "or, in other words, fraud."

"When we started this clause in 2007 we were offering up to 120 days before the wedding, and we received complaints from the mother of the bride who had bought insurance because I knew there was a problem."

In the following years, Wedsure increased the minimum to 180, then 270 and finally to 365 days. "A woman canceled because her fiance had an affair with her maid of honor," Nuccio said. "The insurance did not cover that. If the hotel had caught fire, it would have been different. "

When a wedding is canceled close to the date that has been paid in full (for many, the figure is between 20,000 and $ 30,000, or even more), what will be done to families? There is a website, Canceled Weddings.com, which allows registered users to buy or sell with discounts weddings or honeymoons. Others opt for charity. Last year, the parents of a planted Sacramento girlfriend decided to make a free party for street people. The bride did not attend. This month, The New Yorker Yiru Post reported that Sun offered a feast to low-income children in which it was supposed to be her wedding day in a luxurious place for parties in Upper East Side. The wedding was canceled after she had refused to sign a prenup and could not recover the deposit of $ 8000.

Once that has happened, for some there is concern that a canceled wedding is a sign of a phobia to engage in future relationships.

A Becker, who finally broke with her fiance, a friend from summer camp had invited to their wedding on the same date on which it allegedly married. I did not want to go because that day became very sentimental, but a friend who had recently been through a breakup convinced they were together. Now is your husband and the father of her two year old son.

Carmelich met Mike Weber, now her husband, in a party that was a few weeks after their wedding canceled. After going slowly in the relationship, they committed. He entered Macys.com to register your gift table and received the message: "Congratulations, Tina and Johnny!".

He wrote the name Carmelich, changed the date and began to choose new gifts.

At the wedding, which took place in April 2015, she wore the dress had not set and could not return to Kleinfeld. He still looked good. When he asked Carmelich if he cared, he replied: "What does it matter? Not even what you had taken from his box. "

Musicians are losing the battle against piracy because YouTube By JONATHAN TAPLIN May 26, 2016 Back to Article principalComparte this page

LOS ANGELES - On Sunday night, the entire music industry paused during the Billboard Music Awards to commemorate a visionary musician Prince. And although the tribute revolved around his artistic legacy, throughout his career Prince also waged a battle against digital piracy and for the right of artists to have control over their work.

The artists are losing this battle. have passed 17 years since Napster, the file-sharing software online, began to flood free Internet music illegally uploaded to the network. While Napster disappeared long ago, the looting continues, only now those responsible are technology giants like Google and SiriusXM, plus play online services like Pandora.

New services and platforms are great for consumers but lax laws in the United States has allowed divert the profits of the music, which has led to the composers, performers and the whole industry drowns into nothingness.

YouTube, owned by Google, has become the world's leading audio platform to play online, rather than Spotify and other services. However, it pays to artists and record companies less than one dollar per year per user recorded music, thanks to piracy of their website, which continues to increase (instead, Spotify licenses to listen to your music and pays $ 20 per user per year).

The song "Drag Me Down" One Direction appeared on YouTube 2700 times after the service was asked to withdraw unauthorized copies. These 2700 copies pirates boarded the Google page allowed to continue to benefit financially from advertising while the artists got nothing.

The problem has worsened to such an extent that in 2015 sales of vinyl recordings generated more income for music creators that billions of views online on YouTube and its competitors.

Google has also used its dominance among Internet search engines to create the goose gold advertising. A Google does not care if our searches of the film "Mean Streets" and the music of "The Last Waltz" (which in both cases produced) are authorized versions or pirated copies: the company sells ads and charges anyway. However, the creators do not get a penny of the stolen copies, except for the anguish of seeing others take over the value of the work of a lifetime.

Google has basic technology of "fingerprint" that could cancel illegal versions of YouTube and its search results. But instead of protecting the work of artists, Google makes use of this tool as an element of coercion. The creators have two options: either sign a license agreement with YouTube and receive low royalty rates or are at the mercy of pirates. That which seems to protect the holders of copyright is rather a mechanism that benefits Google extortion.

Unfortunately, in the United States they are sadly underrated musicians. The radio, an industry of 17 billion dollars, pay publishing rights (payments to composers) but has never been paid to artists or record companies for their music. In addition, the company SiriusXM satellite radio pays below-market royalties, thanks to a good deal he got in Congress 20 years ago.

Conglomerates as iHeartMedia (formerly known as Clear Channel Communications) and other online services such as Pandora, who are obliged to pay artists for digital reproductions, have abused the laws of copyright for refusing to pay for work recorded before 1972 (it paid to composers, but not the performers). This means that artists like Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, Chuck Berry and John Coltrane never received a penny of stations AM / FM nor many digital services much of his great music.

The last law passed for this sector was the Law on Copyright "Digital Millennium" in 1998, which was based on the idea that the creators should monitor the Internet for illegal copies of their work and "notify" pages for withdraw illegal copies. According to the "safe harbor" of the law, any service or website to make the minimum effort to address these notifications it is immune from accusations of piracy or theft.

Perhaps this system made sense when minutes were needed to download an illegal song. But today no one can effectively control the millions of pirated files that multiply online and instantly reappear after being removed. Google only received about 560 million to remove content notifications in 2015.

There are two concrete steps that Congress can take and that would allow musicians are treated fairly. First, Congress should update the rules of "safe harbor" of the law of copyright to achieve balance was sought: protect creators with effective tools to change not leave the responsibility in the hands of companies Internet.

Second, Congress can address the "original sin" committed the AM and FM stations and plug the loophole that allows radio stations use music without paying the artists. The bill "fair play, fair pay" ensure that all creators receive payment at market value for their work regardless of the technologies or services used for playback. It has the support of hundreds of artists as Rosanne Cash, Abdul "Duke" Fakir of The Four Tops, Elvis Costello, Martha Reeves, Elton John and Common.

In 2015, after years of fighting pirates, Prince said in an interview that the Internet "was the end for those who wanted to pay them." With new laws, it does not have to be.

The fall of a deputy for harassment sends a message to the men of France: conduct yourselves

PARIS - Last week, the male world of the National Assembly of France suffered a heavy jolt. Vice President, Denis Baupin, was forced to resign after publicly accusing some women have harassed several colleagues over the years.

One of them said Baupin held her against the wall, touched her breast and tried to kiss her by force. Others claim that sent them explicit text messages. Another recounted how he had chased around a desk. Another said he had pinched her bottom.

The Paris prosecutor announced an investigation of a criminal offense will open. Baupin, 53 years representative for Paris and great promise of the Green Party, complained of what he called a "trap" and threatened to sue the media who spread the story.

However, charges have motivated you to question whether in fact anything has changed in France since the fall of a former executive of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was a waitress in a New York hotel accused of assault 2011.

Apparently, none of that stopped Baupin. But in the country where even the word for "lewd joke" (gauloiserie) evokes the ancestral homeland, Gaul, there are indications that this time some things might have changed.

Since the allegations were made public, leading members of the Greens have recognized, ashamed, they knew for years how Baupin behaved. Women knew well that should avoid riding in an elevator alone with him or go to your office without a companion. He was nicknamed the Octopus.

However, the attitude of the men seemed rather indifferent. "Ah, so I started again?" Asked a member of lackadaisical Green party when a woman in full commotion told how he had attacked in 2011, according to the news website Mediapart.

At the time of his arrest in New York, Strauss-Kahn, who most considered a serious contender for the presidency of France, he had many supporters. "Do not kill anyone," said Jack Lang, a former culture minister for the Socialist Party.

Strauss-Kahn, known as DSK, presented his own defense before a French court claiming that it was just a little "libertine" and was testing another lifestyle. (Later, he arranged the dispute out of court in exchange for a considerable sum, as rumored).

Although few French politicians who have decided to denounce the conduct of Baupin, the fact is that nobody defends. The leading conservative philosopher Alain Finkielkraut said ruefully radio "France is very fast Americanized" but added that decried the "unseemly actions."



Denis Baupin, former vice president of the French National Assembly by the green party has had to resign over allegations of sexual harassment. Credit Stephane Mahe / Reuters
The affair has embarrassed the political class, which dominates the male gender (75 percent of assembly members are male), and especially the Greens, one of the political parties most supportive feminist causes France.

Now, even the wife of Baupin, Emmanuelle Cosse, who is also a member of the party and holds the position of Minister of Housing in the current socialist government, has been the subject of accusations, at least one member from another party, to cover the actions of her husband. She has denied such accusations.

Sandrine Rousseau, party spokesman announced through the radio station France Inter and the site Mediapart their experience with Baupin during a party meeting in 2011.

"I took a break," he said. "I was in the corridor next to the room when I saw coming Denis Baupin. He held me against the wall and touched my breasts. He tried to kiss me. I pushed him hard. Such was my shock at that time I said nothing. "

Convictions have been severe. Distinguished French policies, including 16 former ministers are counted, have publicly committed to "never stay silent" according to the Journal du Dimanche published Sunday. This time "was too" they wrote women. "You can not respect the code of omerta and the law of silence".

"It is essential to change the behavior of some men," he stressed.

Some of the victims of Baupin and begin to notice some changes. "Yes, it is different," said Annie Lahmer, councilor in Paris, who Baupin chased around a desk in the late nineties.

"Bartolone asked to resign immediately, but had just happened," he added Lahmer, with respect to the President of the National Assembly, Claude Bartolone.

In addition, "people will talk more freely now" after the scandal of DSK, he said. "In the case of Baupin, nobody says that it is only a libertine. Nobody defends. We are in another era. "

The number of smokers in the United States has declined, according to new report

Cigarette smoking is declining among US adults according to an investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C by its acronym in English).

The report, released this week, which uses data from the National Health Survey 2015, says the percentage of over 18 who smokes is 15.1 percent below the 16.8 percent who It made in 2014.

The figure reflects a downward trend in the number of smokers in that age range and also confirms that the decline is continued since 1997, when a quarter of adults smoked. The study does not analyze whether the change may be due to the transition from conventional to electronic cigarettes.

It also says that the number of smokers is higher among men (16.7 percent) than women (13.6 percent).

America is not, compared to other countries of the continent, a country of smokers.

According to figures from the World Health Organization, following a study that does not include all countries in the world, there are places with a higher proportion of smokers. In Greece, for example, 42 percent of adults smoke. In Chile, 38 percent, 35 ciennto Cuba and Argentina 24 percent.

Kenneth E. Warner, professor of public health at the University of Michigan believes that "the trend of the last two years is significant, we have not seen anything like this in a long time".

Warner is not sure of the reason for the drop but could be a consequence of the US government campaigns against smoking in recent years. He added, "it is possible that a significant number of smokers are quitting smoking thanks to alternative sources of nicotine electronic cigarette".

The decline in cigarette consumption parallels the increased use of electronic cigarettes, designed to deliver nicotine without the tar of conventional cigarettes. That increase is mostly among teenagers.

However, it has also raised the question of security of electronic devices.

After years of debate about the risks of such cigarettes, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA for its acronym in English) issued this week a ban on sale of such devices under 18 and demanded that the under 26 must present a photo iD when buying them.

Smoking is the most common cause of preventable death in the United States and kills about 480,000 people a year.

The research uses data from interviews on issues affecting the health of Americans, including alcohol, health insurance and obesity. Defines a person as an adult smoker if this has smoked more than 100 cigarettes in their lifetime and smoked at the time of the study, every day or some days.

Warner said other studies show a higher prevalence of smoking among adults and that depends on how you define who is considered a smoker. But the trend, in any case, shows the decline.

"The summary of what the numbers say is that the trend is good."

Orejona history, the real protagonist of the final of the Champions League

Paderno Dugnano, Italy - Even from a distance, is unmistakable: its brightness, its conical shape which opens bulb and handles, these handles, so unique that could not belong to any other trophy.

This is the Orejona.

And although this Saturday the final of the Champions League between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid at the San Siro in Milan, including stars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, the figure most experience in the field could be metal and origin, an industrial warehouse on the outskirts of the city.

Disproportionate size and with handles that look like something out of the cup breakfast of some monster, the Coupe des Clubs Champions Européens (its official name) has an almost fantastic name and a much larger circumference than most players waiting lift someday.

Last week, Valentina Losa, executive director of GDE Bertoni, the company that manufactures the trophy was meeting with a group of visitors in the meeting room of your factory. Suddenly, a vendor who came to deliver an order stuck his head out to say goodbye. When he saw the hundreds of trophies lining the walls, all the work of Bertoni, could not resist. He went to take a look.

But they were not interested in tennis trophies nor even the replica trophy of the World Cup, with its twisted ball identifiable everywhere Olympic medals. What he asked was, "Can I?" And moved toward the trophy, silver, Champions League. Losa smiled and lifted with effort supplier reacting to its brightness with a grimace.


Inside the factory GDE. Bertoni, in Paderno Dugnano, the place where many of the trophies of the most important sporting events in the world Credit Calogero Russo made for The New York Times
"It's something that happens often," Losa said when the man went after asking you take out several photos with the phone.

The trophy measures 73.5 centimeters and weighs 7.5 kilos. It is one of the heaviest in the world-the sport of soccer league in the United States, the Lombardi, weighs less than half, and as the tournament has a long history.

The trophy is the work of a Swiss designer and in 1967 replaced a smaller version that was used from the beginning of the tournament. The following year the UEFA, the governing body of European football, decided that any club that won five times or three consecutive years could keep the trophy. Since then they have it, in its original version, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Ajax, B.C. Milan and Barcelona.

According Losa, GDE Bertoni began manufacturing the trophy more than four decades ago. At that time, his father and grandfather had business. At first they had a very diversified production and manufactured from artistic medals to sculptures, but the factory began to make a name in the sports world in the 60s, when he won the contract to produce the medals for the Olympic Games in Rome.

Ten years later, when Brazil won the world championship for the third time and claimed possession of the trophy, FIFA had to design a new one. Bertoni beat 50 other companies and built a model that was delivered in Germany in 1974 for the first time.

"Since then, football became a fundamental part of our business," said Losa.

This is evident during a visit to the factory. There were medals and trophies between buckets of chemicals and welding machinery. The Confederations Cup trophy 2017 rested on a corner shelf ( "we have to send it to FIFA next week," said Losa) while some employees ended several medals for youth world cup. On a table, someone checked several emails from FIFA which posed a different design for a medal.

GDE Bertoni factory is also responsible for the production of medals. Credit Calogero Russo for The New York Times
In this factory produced many other things. Among the prizes that are on the shelves is the trophy Youth Volleyball Championship Asia 1994, which was played in Manila and won China, brass buttons for jackets of the Italian Golf Federation and veneers uniforms Italian prison guards.

Some countries in the Middle East are also regulars. Several Bertoni employees were putting the finishing touches to a series of commemorative plaques commissioned by the government of Oman to highlight its attractions. Bertoni also has a contract with Bahrain to manufacture its military medals and the company receives a steady stream of orders from Gulf countries. One of the strangest commissions Losa arrived recalls embassy of Qatar, who wanted a new trophy for the Gulf Cup of Nations and wanted resembling that of the World Cup but heavier and white gold.

"The Qatari Olympic Committee commissioned it," said Losa, pointing a trophy that was essentially a large metal bird.

UEFA orders are fixed. Bertoni makes trophies and medals for various youth and women's tournaments, but its flagship project begins each fall, when they start working on the trophy next Champions League. The original version of the design, in silver, UEFA custody, but Bertoni produces a replica brass each year to the winning team.

There are two curious details, and very wasteful, the trophy manufacturing process. The Bertoni production manager, Luigi Scacchi, said putting the letters on the trophy so they are perfectly aligned is difficult because of the curve forming the metal. And Guerrino Giorgi, a craftsman who usually monitor manufacturing, said it could take more than two weeks to make the handles. "It's the hardest part."

But there is no doubt that these giant handles, which are not necessarily the most attractive element is what distinguishes the trophy everyone else.

Superhero franchise stagnate (almost all) the movie stars

If a fan craves fast finish reading his comics, probably for two reasons: the immediate publication of the next edition and the great films about their favorite superheroes played by actors of flesh and bone.

The first is impossible. The second was not until I premiered "X-Men" in 2000, when he was an adult. Halle Berry Storm played a character born in Africa and whose mutant powers controlled the weather. That should have pleased but I worried.

What has to do with Halle Berry Storm? What I saw was more like the actress had just emulated the burning sensuality of Storm. I know, I know: it's a performance. But after 16 years, and at least four dozen films, I start thinking that it is something else. This conflict has deepened with a personal crisis: my love for comic books hit my need movie stars.

The truth about Halle Berry in "X-Men" -and also applies to James Marsden, Famke Janssen and Anna Paquin became the truth of many actors involved in these productions: too many people in these characters and edges so that any actor (other than Hugh Jackman) to embody in a completely satisfactory manner.

We live in an age where the stars hit each other as happens in the silly "Captain America: Civil War": a film that comes to see Robert Downey Jr. against Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson or against Paul Rudd versus Jeremy Renner and against Don Cheadle. That also happens in the films "Avengers" in a lot of films about X-Men (including the recent "Revelation") and "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice".

And I can not say that these players are happy. Part of the conflict of "Civil War" is that infighting absorb it all. Their faces stoic long suggest that they have a miserable job and there are many stars as well. This is the case of Ben Affleck, Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence who play the superhero comics with the same enthusiasm that showed Bruce Willis in "The Sixth Sense". It seems that comics film franchises are where the big stars of the star system die.

And comic book movies have made it rain money to the studios, especially Disney, Warner Bros and Fox and despite how much I had fun with some of them, gender has perverted what it means to see certain actors in movies. When the character is more famous than the actor who plays him, how trademarks develop? often the prerogatives of comics do not fit the characteristics of movie stardom. It feels like they are in permanent conflict.

Chris Evans, for example, owes its fame to the work he has done with superheroes. Two lousy films "Fantastic Four" (2005 to 2007) he played Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, as if it were a quarterback who just won the Heisman Trophy. He may have studied the character, beyond the material that originated it, and give it a personality. If they saw in movies like "Cellular" 2004 is easy to see that accomplished something different in those papers.

But he was awarded Captain America, a man whose moral rectitude makes him a boring character. The main weapon of Evans used to be displayed arrogant and surprised, I could not believe he was a superhero. But every time there is less room for that kind of levity in the Avengers galaxy.

As is darker film of comics almost always destined to recreate the apocalypse least needs the magic of a star. Evans can not put anything more. He has to stay neutral because the brand is first. Marvel is the star.

The early approach of superhero movies that made Evans created an enabling environment for fun Robert Downey Jr. shattered in 2008, while playing to be Tony Stark in the three films "Iron Man". This actor Tony became a leader ironic for a band that did not yet exist. Of course, I was making films Robert Downey Jr.

However, a consequence of its exuberant interpretation is that he was no longer himself. In addition to plenty of appearances of Tony Stark and his two terms as Sherlock Holmes, he has hardly been able to do otherwise. However, when he made "Due Date" and "The Judge", he gelled acid sarcasm very well.

Almost 20 years ago, George Clooney had to fight the stench of being Batman. The same was torture for Michael Keaton who exorcised when he played a tormented actor for his role as a superhero in "Birdman". Now Batman is a good character. A Batman does not care who plays him. Is this the Christian Bale? ¿Ben Affleck? No matter who it is. Paraphrasing the recent Keaton's character: he remains Batman

Others, or his agents also want to get into that game. This fall, Benedict Cumberbatch stars in "Doctor Strange" with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Tilda Swinton. In August, Will Smith joins "Suicide Squad" with Jared Leto and Viola Davis, among others. "Batman v Superman" was a good start for Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg and Laurence Fishburne. We are no longer watching a film. Now we see a pack of 24 bottles of water purchased at Costco.

The success of the genre has changed the entire American film industry. Even the films derived from the classic tales of the Brothers Grimm feel like comic book movies. ?, A twisted sequel of 2012 had little support and brought back to Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth, with poor Jessica Chastain and Emily: If not, why "Winter's War The Huntsman" was recorded Blunt. The cast interacts joyless and Theron raises the pace when it appears, the trouble is that is lost for more than half of the film.

Instead of developing new stories for cannibalizing over the next 30 years, studies gambled on existing intellectual property as "Star Wars" and "Jurassic Park". Some sections of these franchises have liked very much and can not wait to see the next.

But I do not need a new "Ghostbusters". This version feels like Halloween. We now live in a perpetual state of antioriginalidad in which taste is dictated by a totalitarian recommendation algorithm. If you liked "Star Wars" well. Now you will be able to see it ... forever.

This is different from the old days of Jerry Bruckheimer when a group of guys got together to rob banks, fly planes or escape from prison, as happens in "Con Air" and "The Rock". The fun was guaranteed by the bizarre cast full of famous men. The cast was also the trick of "Ocean" saga of Steven Soderbergh, who joined George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon with absolute fame Julia Roberts to convert your tapes in a hilarious heist.

The "Fast and Furious" series has an influence notably Bruckheimer and movies, "Ocean". The plot revolves around the beach charm of Paul Walker, the strongman Vin Diesel charisma and appeal of any other State invited to play in the club actor. If it appears in these films, it is a star.

The infinite expansion of these prefabricated universes has its attributes. For example, in a scene from "Civil War" three black appear -Don Cheadle, Anthony Mackie and Chadwick Boseman- talking among themselves and there is no white. Boseman even have his own movie like Black Panther. After "Empire", what else is making Hollywood with black actors?

But is it enough? Superhero movies are deadlocked. Every good young actor who is absorbed by a superhero franchise or a saga of movies superexitosas loses its personality.

The world has discovered that Alden Ehrenreich will become the young Han Solo. His performance was the best of "Hail Caesar!" The Coen brothers, and managed to keep up with Cate Blanchett in "Blue Jasmine". It represents what critics describe as a "promising" actor.

And now, the promises end when you are locked into the franchise business comic. This does not mean that Ehrenreich not be able to do other roles. Jennifer Lawrence managed to balance his four films as Katniss Everdeen and her appearances in "X-Men" with his work with David O. Russell. But she is an exception. Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk, is another. And Hemsworth, too. But although film car racing, sailing boats stories with Ron Howard or Michael Mann hacker to hurt me say that I always see it as Thor.

George Clooney and Julia Roberts in 'Money Monster' Credit TriStar

Now, if we talk about a film like "Money Monster", there is nothing to do. In this project George Clooney and Julia Roberts are in their comfort zone. He plays the honeyed driver an investment program and it is his production. When an irate spectator takes the study hostage and things get tense, I loved hearing the sound of the voice of Roberts Clooney's ear.

She has done this since the late eighties: appears smiling, witty and never wrong when portrays women who tend to engage in money problems. It is an automatic version of itself and, unlike Downey, rarely bores us.

"Money Monster", directed by Jodie Foster, quickly becomes picturesque. It is not supposed that this film should be painful. However, even accidentally, it feels like a postcard from the decline of what was once the movie stardom. "Money Monster", recognizes that culture is moving away from movies like that. The characters played by Clooney and Roberts are not doing a romantic comedy. They are doing cable TV.

Military spending Nicolas Maduro, an expensive smoke screen

Venezuela's army is ready for the impending invasion by the United States.

That was the message that President Nicolas Maduro would broadcast the last weekend, while presiding over a military exercise that put in front his troops and weapons amid the political crisis in the country.

Must "prepare for an invasion, I think we're as prepared as we ever were and avoid" Maduro said during a speech before a military vehicle.

That show of force was not intended to intimidate the Pentagon. It is obvious that the Obama administration has absolutely no interest in waging war against Venezuela. Rather, it is a diversionary tactic in order to deflate the effort to bring Maduro from office through a referendum.

The army could play a key role if the confrontation between Maduro and opposition intensifies. Opposition leaders do not support a coup, arguing that the removal of the president should happen through legal means, so they have asked the armed forces to abide by the constitution and ignore the dictatorial edicts Maduro. Recently, the president imposed a state of emergency to quell public demonstrations.

Maduro's government exaggerated the threat of a US invasion for several weeks. In April, propaganda media controlled by the state discussed a document of the US military, supposedly filtering, in which the detailed plan of invasion.

The document, entitled "Freedom-2 Operation Venezuela" is false, according to Lisa Garcia, spokesman for the United States Southern Command. (Venezuelans could have invented a catchy and credible name for this false campaign, right?).

Beyond the veracity of external threats, something that is not in question it is that Venezuela has spent more money than any other country in Latin America in arms in recent years, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), an organization which records arms sales worldwide.

Between 2011 and 2015, Venezuela was ranked number 18 among large buyers of military equipment in the world. The government has supplied warplanes, helicopter gunships, tanks, artillery and missiles. Most of the material was imported from Russia under contracts negotiated by President Vladimir Putin and President Hugo Chavez, Maduro's predecessor who died in 2013.

Sam Perlo-Freeman, a researcher with the SIPRI, said in an email that such purchases are not entirely rational. "If I really fear a US invasion, a dozen fighter jets would be totally useless because it probably would be destroyed on the ground during the first 15 minutes of an attack," he said.

Offered a theory that makes more sense: "There unleashed corruption in Venezuela and that can greatly influence both the level and type of purchased equipment, as large negotiations weapons can be lucrative sources of bribes," Perlo-Freeman wrote .

Since oil prices plummeted in recent years and thus triggered a recession, Venezuela has significantly reduced military spending. In fact, he made no new orders in 2015, according Perlo-Freeman.

The protests that have shaken France and rigidity in the labor market

PARIS - A man I know recently came to work and found that the company had hired a new employee; Not only that, they had also given his position. Shortly thereafter, he says, bosses cut the budget of his department and stopped answering their emails.

They relegated to suspect that infamous place in French companies known as her closet, or cabinet. Many workers have permanent contracts that hinder their dismissals. Therefore, some companies resort to an illegal strategy: try to make the employee work life is so miserable that end up quitting. "What follows is that I will lose my team and my staff and therefore no longer have anything to do," predicted man. "You still have to go every day to work, but without knowing why."

Here, labor laws are the main topic of conversation. The government has come into conflict with unions because of a bill that would facilitate, among other things, lay off employees when a company loses money. This week, a lack of votes, the proposal by decree forced through the National Assembly. If approved goes to the Senate, camera second reading.

It is obvious that the current system does not work. Proponents of the project argue that employers are reluctant to hire employees because time is very complicated and expensive to fire them when things go wrong. And in France, things are going very badly: unemployment reached 10 percent, almost double that in Germany and the UK. For young people reaching almost 24 percent. President Francois Hollande has said that only seek re-election next year if possible to reduce the unemployment rate year.

While other European countries have changed their labor law, France has changed very little in that regard. The legislation proposed by the government -modified after long negotiations-not alter that system in which workers can get a permanent contract, contrat à durée called indéterminée, known as CDI, or a temporary contract that can be renewed only once or twice . Almost all new jobs are governed by the latter.

However, unions not only oppose the initiative. Also disapproves 60 percent of the population, which fears that the proposal leave workers unprotected and at the same time, does not solve the problem of unemployment. There have been numerous protests and marches in defense of CDI. Most of the participants, young.

Why the French cling to a failed system?

To begin, in France a job is a basic right -Guaranteed in the preamble to its Constitution and think it easier to fire workers is an affront to the right. Without a CDI, it is considered that you are helpless against the indifferent forces of capitalism.

In a demonstration in Paris, some young men raised a banner with the warning that they were the "precarious generation". They are demonstrating in defense of the right to grow economically. As Jean Benoît Nadeau and Julie Barlow said in his new book "The Bonjour Effect", obtain a permanent labor contract is a rite of passage to adulthood. Without one, it is difficult to get a mortgage, a loan for a car or renting an apartment.

Conventional economic arguments do not work in this case. "They dismiss completely the basic facts of economic science," said Etienne Wasmer, a specialist in labor economics at Sciences Po. "People do not see that when you allow employers to take risks, hire more". Many French consider the workplace as a zero-sum battle between workers and bosses.

Economic debates are also formulated as political clashes. It is difficult to separate the opposition to the proposal of the opposition to President Hollande, whose popularity has plummeted to 14 percent. Not much help Hollande has been elected on a platform raised by "attacking the wealthy people" (remember the 75% tax on income?). In supporting the proposal, now it seems to be taking the side of employers.

The Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron, which has increasingly more popular and is also a reformist-but at least provides a coherent view of the world, said France needs young people who want to become billionaires.

Like my friend the cabinet, even those lucky enough to have CDI may have problems at work. According to one study, workers with CDI mentioned feeling more stress than those with temporary contracts, partly because they feel trapped in their jobs. After all, where else they would get another permanent contract?

Survey on Working Conditions in Europe next published, 12 percent of French respondents said they had been harassed or assaulted at work the previous month to respond to the survey, many more than in any other European country. IDUs not cause harassment for themselves, but make it more difficult to avoid. At least the problem is becoming apparent. Vice President of the French National Assembly resigned this week after being accused of sexually harassed women since 1998, a situation that denies. In response, hundreds of politicians and activists published a letter denouncing a culture of omerta, which is to shut up and go.

Independent of government actions, the workplace is becoming increasingly insecure. If competition with Uber unworthy the French taxi drivers, what will they do when they arrive autonomous vehicles? "The situation will not improve," said Jean Tirole, a Frenchman who in 2014 won the Nobel Prize in Economics. "The digital society increases the uncertainty surrounding the nature of work, so in the future companies will be even more reluctant to provide permanent jobs".

I do not want to confront capitalism while I'm helpless. But there must be a balance between being unemployed and being in the closet.

Obama sees opportunity for negotiation in Afghanistan after the death of Taliban leader

HANOI, Vietnam - The attack by a US drone in a rebel area of ​​Pakistan killed Akhtar Mohamed Mansur, leader of the Afghan Taliban, confirmed Monday the White House.

The operation was a "major milestone", said President Obama in a statement released as he met with Vietnamese authorities. He said the United States "has removed the leader of an organization that has continued plotting and launching attacks against US forces and the coalition".

"Mansur did not accept the initiatives of the Afghan government to engage in peace talks and end the violence that has claimed the lives of countless innocent Afghan men, women and children," Obama said in his statement.
"The Taliban should take this opportunity to follow the path that allows them to end this conflict, join the Afghan government in a process of reconciliation leading to a stable and lasting peace."

In a press conference with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang, Obama said Mansur attack posed no change in strategy for the US mission in Afghanistan.

"We are not returning to the daily struggle, currently developing Afghan forces," he said.

But Mansur was a danger to US forces.

"This is an individual who, at the head of the Taliban, was in the crosshairs of US troops and troops within the country, they fulfill the mission I have entrusted them to maintain an anti-terrorist platform and provide assistance" said the president.

He added that kill Mansur sent the message that goes "to protect our people."

The attack was the first with a drone in Baluchistan province, southeastern Pakistan, which serves as de facto headquarters for the Afghan Taliban. Almost all other drone attacks have occurred in other areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Mansur's death, he consolidated his authority over a group of Taliban increasingly divided as they move on the battlefield, the insurgency launches its second leadership crisis in a year. It is still unclear whether it will be a boost for the Afghan government led by Ashraf Gani, trying to lay the rebels to the negotiating table.

Even without a clear successor to Mansur, the issue of peace talks does not have much prestige among the Taliban leaders.

The film 'Neruda' shows a facet nonconformist, and unromantic, the Chilean poet

CANNES, France - Chilean director Pablo Larrain calls "Neruda", his latest film, "the antibiografía". The film that goes back and forth between reality and fantasy a glorious began in 1948, shortly after the poet Pablo Neruda (played superbly by Luis Gnecco) is forced to hide. After condemning violent (and very public) way Chilean President Gabriel Gonzalez Videla, Neruda, communist senator, becomes an enemy of the state. Chased in the Senate and at home, Neruda flees with his artist wife, Delia (Mercedes Morán), and the two scurry into hiding while pursuing a boastful police (played by Gael Garcia Bernal, star of "No") .

In "Neruda" Larrain keeps away from clichés and manages to create an exciting movie that puts the Chilean artist at a specific moment in world history and displays it as the poet of the people, of servile intellectuals, workers on strike and fervent prostitutes. The film was presented at the Quinzane des Realisateurs (the Fortnight), a prestigious section parallel to the Cannes Film Festival, where Larrain, 39, participated in 2012 with "No", the last part of his trilogy about the dictatorship of Pinochet.

I recently spoke with Larraín on the autobiography, film and why "Neruda" (much better than many of the films in the official competition at Cannes) was not part of the main selection. Here are some excerpts of our conversation.

You did not want to do a biography literally, why?

I think the biopics are very dangerous and have enjoyed very few. Believe me, I read four biographies; I read his autobiography, a beautiful book. I talked to people who knew him, I read hundreds of essays of his life and made a movie called "Neruda".

I can tell you at this very moment I have no idea who he was because Neruda is elusive; it is impossible to pigeonhole. You can make 100 movies and you could never achieve. And when one understands that earns enormous freedom. So we say that this is a "Neruda" movie because for us, in my country and in my language, Neruda was a man who created a microcosm of an extreme and profound complexity.

Neruda was an extraordinary chef and wine expert was expert literature, expert detective novel. It was a great collector. He had three houses, all turned into museums, and are among the most beautiful in the world.

His poetry is very diverse. He wrote on many subjects in different ways, so it is extremely complex. That's why we opted to focus on the poems full of rage and fury, mix politics and ideology with poetry, not those that have been translated and are known throughout the world, his love poems. We wanted to recreate an absurdity, a place to escape to reality.

Could you tell us a little about your main actor, Luis Gnecco? The resemblance is striking. Did you use dentures?

Only a wig; he is bald. It's funny because I worked with him many times; also it appears in "No". Gnecco is a man who has struggled with weight all my life. Finally he manages to be thin and I look and I say, "Do you want to make this movie," he says, "Sure, brother." But I say, "You have to climb 25 kilos", which is a lot. He looked at me and said, "Paul, I just do this, I took me a year." To which I replied, "I'm sorry, man, but Neruda was a guy who enjoyed life, you have to." And he did it and back down (in weight), which is fantastic. It was important. There can not be a disservice Neruda.

The film seemed somewhat purplish, as when old movies have a pink tint. Was that your intention?

A bit. We prefer to say "purple" instead of purple. red and blue jacks and you filter. And then in color correction we turn it into a verb: "I liléalo". "Le lilac missing". "Ah, regrésate!". We did not want to go too, so we look for the right balance to reach these colors.

Do you think you ever do a movie about Salvador Allende?

For now I do not think. I thought of making a film about Pinochet, but do not think ever. The problem is that if you make a film about a character like that, you have to generate a certain empathy, compassion, respect, and I could never do such a thing. I can not. I feel much anger and hatred.

In 2012 you mentioned that they had received some criticism because your parents are right and your father is a senator. Your father is still senator?

Yes. What happens when you make films like "No", for example, is that people expect a movie that reaches an international audience (and tells the story for those who do not know) should reflect the perception that they have. And sometimes the film does not do as they wished and that bothers them. I remember there was someone who said it was ideological rubbish. I felt great. The film is not here to do that. I'm not here to tell people what to think. I do not want to change anything. I do not even want to take responsibility. I do not believe in responsibility. I believe in respect, that is not the same.

And then why your movie was not in the official competition in Cannes?

(Larrain looks at me and smiles without dissimulation). Sure ... what happens in private should be kept private. What is very annoying, but not in competition, is to answer this question in 15 interviews. We make movies, not selected. We spoke to the enforcement team in Cannes and do not reach an agreement. And Edouard Waintrop, La Fortnight, loved the movie. I've been there three times and it's like everything in life, you go where you feel loved and protected.

Mexican officials are taking steps to counter the 'emergency Trump'

Vicente Fox, Mexico's president, he was stuck in traffic of Mexico City a few days ago and could not overcome the frustration, not gridlock, it was something that tormented him even more: Donald Trump. Then he took his phone and recorded a video.

"Ja, Donald," Fox said in English as he held his phone, perhaps too close to your face. "Where are your apologies to Mexico for Mexicans in the United States and Mexicans in Mexico?".

Within minutes, the clip of 15 seconds was already posted on the Twitter account of Fox and became an episode of Mexican exmandatario personal campaign against US presidential candidate. Fox has criticized on television, radio interviews and a series of tweets.

Fox's voice joins the growing chorus of influential Mexicans who are worried about a possible victory of Trump and what this could mean for the relationship between the United States and Mexico.

Among those who have spoken out against virulent speech Trump are two former of Mexico, senior government officials, policy analysts, academics, writers and personalities from the world of culture.

President Enrique Peña Nieto compared the language of the candidate of Hitler and Mussolini in an interview with the newspaper Excelsior. Recently, also he restructured the diplomatic corps in the United States of Mexico, because Mexico replaced the ambassador in Washington, Miguel Basanez Ebergenyi, who had been in office less than a year, Carlos Sada Solano, a veteran diplomat. Officials also changed in 26 consulates, partly in response to the popularity of Trump and this reflects on American attitudes toward Mexico.

A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the appointment of Sada and stressed his experience in "protecting the rights of Mexicans in North America as well as the defense of the interests of Mexico abroad."

While many world leaders are concerned about the way the campaign Trump, so win or lose, could alter the foreign policy of the United States, these concerns particularly affect Mexico and all its diaspora as there are close geographic, economic, demographic and cultural ties between the two countries.

Both nations are enjoying one of the most harmonious periods in its turbulent history. But in Mexico many fear that the friendship will break if Trump wins the election and becomes real threats to undo the Free Trade Agreement, forcing aa Mexico to pay for the construction of a wall between the two countries through the disruption of remittances and deport 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, and about half are Mexican.

"I think the threat is catastrophic for Mexico," said Enrique Krauze, a historian and editor of the literary magazine Letras Libres. "Which would mean for bilateral trade, in social terms, in the breakup of families, trauma, collective panic and opening old wounds."

He added: "I could use one of the favorite words of Trump. Yes, this is 'huge' (huge). It is a great danger. "

Trump Mexican critics say has already damaged the country's image and the Mexican people with their adherence to views that many consider xenophobes. In an event held when he began his campaign last June, the Republican candidate suggested that many Mexican immigrants were drug dealers and rapists.

Some Mexican officials, concerned about the negative impressions of Mexico in the United States, have developed a strategy to improve the image of your country and show how the relationship between the two nations has been of "mutual benefit," said Paulo Carreno, the newly appointed undersecretary for North America at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico.

The strategy includes the "cultural diplomacy", grassroots activism and the deployment of some community leaders and business Mexicans living in the United States, he said.

Some government senior officials have publicly reacted against Trump as Humberto Roque Villanueva, Undersecretary of Population, Migration and Religious Affairs, who told the newspaper El Universal that the Mexican government is studying "how to deal with what we call the 'emergency Trump.'"

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Vicente Fox, president of Mexico, is part of a group of influential Mexicans who see the growing popularity of Donald Trump with great concern. Credit Elaine Thompson / Associated Press
"I think Mr. Trump speaks of memory, has no clear or fiscal or international agreements issues," he added. "We live in a globalized world, the United States would have to go back to a kind of Middle Ages to prohibit remittances or collect taxes that are not charged in other parts of the world."

But in general, the government has refrained from commenting on most US presidential candidates. That has frustrated many Mexicans, who have asked the government to come out in defense of Mexico and Trump put in place.

"They can resort to traditional Mexican nonsense and say, 'We do not interfere in elections,'" said Jorge Castaneda, former foreign minister of Mexico. "The real reason is that they have no idea what to do, so the default option is to do nothing".

Instead, most of the Mexican nervousness against Trump comes from the public. At the beginning of his campaign, Trump was seen by many Mexicans with a mixture of alarm and fun. But now the fun is over.

"Why should we care?" Krauze asked rhetorically. "I could not think of a single reason not to worry, right?".

Last fall, Krauze and Carmelo Mesa-Lago, Professor Emeritus of Economics and Latin American Studies at the University of Pittsburgh, wrote a letter denouncing the campaign Trump prominent Hispanics and 67 academicians, scientists, writers and film directors United States, Spain and Latin America signed it.

"Their hate speech appeals to the baser passions, such as xenophobia, sexism, political intolerance and religious dogmatism," says the letter.

In recent months, Castañeda has launched a social media campaign for Mexico with the hashtag #ImProudToBeMexican (#MeSientoOrgullosoDeSerMexicano). Aimed at an American audience who speaks English, this initiative has uploaded videos to Facebook and has a website to highlight the diversity of the Mexican diaspora and their contribution to America.

In explaining the US approach of this proposal, he said: "I want to convince Mexicans how unpleasant it is Trump because everyone knows that. That's a fact. "

Increased Fox harangues against Trump began in February with a television interview in which he said that Mexicans would not build the candidate proposed by the wall. Then everything intensified and described the candidate as a "false prophet", "dictator" and "loser".

one selfi was taken on a beach and wrote on his Twitter account: "Trump, this beautiful Cancun. NO're welcome here. " He also published photos of the birthday party of his wife and taunting Trump tweeted: "What do you know about love? Or just you know hate. How sad!".

This month, Fox granted an interview to Breitbart News in which he was sorry for some of his comments and apologized to Trump. But this caused a stir among Mexicans and people everywhere who used social media to accuse him of weakness, so he resumed his belligerence by publishing photos of a tie Trump made in China and Trump coat made in Mexico: garments test, according to Fox, the candidate hypocrisy.

Fox, in a telephone interview from his home in the state of Guanajuato, said he was motivated to attack Trump for what he called his "pure love for this great nation, the United States."

"I do not understand why the American public is supporting this," he continued, showing dismay. "We are partners, we are neighbors and we should be friends. It is not only dividing American society, it is dividing two nations. Why mess with Mexico? ".