by Rick Marshall – MTV News

“Sherlock Holmes” producer Joel Silver has his hands full with films based on literary heroes these days, and as many comic book fans are aware, quite a few of those projects hail from the DC Comics universe.

Since his name is attached to many of the projects we’re most excited about these days, Silver offered MTV News a quick update on some of those projects during the “Sherlock Holmes” red carpet event last week. We pressed the comics-friendly producer for his thoughts on everything from “Swamp Thing” to “Lobo” and many of the other films drawing on DC’s massive stable of characters.

When asked about his previous comments regarding a 3-D “Swamp Thing” movie, Silver reiterated his belief that 3-D was the intended format for a film about DC’s famous swamp creature. Of course, given the character’s history as the subject of multiple live-action movies, a live-action television series and an animated series, a move to 3-D is pretty much the only format in which we haven’t seen man-turned-monster Alec Holland.

“Yeah, if we pull it together and if the script works, that’s our intention,” said Silver of going the 3-D route.

The producer also indicated that Guy Ritchie’s departure from the “Sgt. Rock” movie hasn’t impeded plans to bring DC’s war hero to theaters. While he wouldn’t comment on rumors that the “Sgt. Rock” movie would be set in the future rather than its World War II roots, he did sound positive about progress on the film thus far.

“We’re working on ['Sgt. Rock'] now,” he said. “There’s a real possibility on that. There’s a good shot on that one.”

Conversely, Silver didn’t seem to be holding his breath for a “Wonder Woman” movie to go into production any time soon, despite Warner Brothers’ reorganization and renewed focus on DC characters under the DC Entertainment banner.

“I’m not really doing anything with ['Wonder Woman'] at the moment,” he said. “Once the studio knows what they want to do, and makes a decision, they’ll probably let us know.”

However, with “The Losers” on its way to theaters in April 2010, Silver said he expects “Lobo” to the next comic book movie he concentrates on. The film, which follows DC’s ultraviolent cosmic bounty hunter, was originally rumored to have “Sherlock Holmes” director Guy Ritchie behind the camera, but Ritchie cast some doubts on his involvement during a recent MTV News interview.

“I want to try and make ‘Lobo’ very soon,” Silver responded when asked which comic book project was next on his plate after “The Losers.”

Great words here from Mr. Foreman of Albuquerque, N.M. (an former hometown of mine). Turn up speakers on.

After just seeing a tweet on the topic, I decided to issue a random public service announcement:

Think, think, THINK before purchasing a dog – or any other pet – this holiday season.

I know we’ve all seen the ridiculous jewelry commercials where the puppy with the red bow around its neck has an engagement ring secured to its collar and trots into the bedroom where its new owner waits unknowingly that her whole life is about to be fucked because she’s going to say yes to some doucheballoon who is really sleeping with her best friends but is creative enough to slam diamonds and fur together for Christmas. FUCK. Anyhow, that commercial is super cute and makes everyone want to go out and purchase a furry bundle of love, but for the love of titties people, THINK FIRST.

If you and/or your significant other/spouse/married lover have never had to take care of another living being before, are you sure you will be able to swing it now? Honestly, if you work 80 hour weeks and your home smells of dried out plants and the stench of rotten milk from 5 weeks ago, pet ownership….not for you.

I speak from experience. I bought my precious little Lobotronics on somewhat of a whim. Granted, I stalked him for 8 days straight at the pet shop before I bought him, but I was in no way prepared for what I was getting into. Having a dog is like having a child. A child that never, ever, EVER becomes potty-trained. Not even when it’s 80 degrees below zero outside and sleeting jizz from the heavens. Also, dogs are attention whores. This part is actually kind of fun, because attention whore translates into snugglebunny on aforementioned nights filled with jizz lightning. But it can be a problem when it comes to having company over.

Take, for example, my ex-boyfriend. I believe he had insecurities rooted in his belief that Lobo was somehow getting more attention than him, and he refused to come over to my place. EVER. Dude literally once ended an argument via email to me with “Lets be real, you don’t want this to really work out because you no my feelings about your dog.” In the end (aside from the lying, insecurities and stubbornness), it came down to either him or the dog. So I did what any rational person would do and chose the smarter, kinder, more loyal return on my investment.

Long story short, not everyone can handle all that pressure and drama and before you know it, Fido ends up sold on craigslist to some redneck looking to try out a new recipe.

So don’t be a douchejingle this holiday season and overcommit yourself. And if you are the doucheballoon with the engagement ring, skip the dog and up the carats. Same result. She’s still gonna hate you in the end.

The golpistas are saying that they have not received a petition from the Zelaya camp requesting safe passage to the DR. 

As for President Fernandez’ invitation to Zelaya and Lobo, the US must be driving this.  After the godawful fraud of an election, the US needs to cool things down in Honduras.  Part of the cool down involves getting Zelaya  the hell OUT of the Brazilian embassy and  onto one of the many fine beaches in the DR.  Let’s see what happens with the safe passage issue.

DomRep: Ousted Honduras leader, successor to meet

(AP) – 14 minutes ago

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — The leader of the Dominican Republic said Friday that ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya will meet with his elected successor next week in this Caribbean nation.

There was no indication, however, that a deal for allowing such a meeting had been reached with the interim government that replaced Zelaya after a coup June 28.

Dominican President Leonel Fernandez told reporters that he expected Zelaya and President-elect Porfirio Lobo to meet Monday in Santo Domingo to talk about ways for resolving the political crisis that has gripped Honduras since Zelaya was deposed.

“As of Sunday and Monday, we will have both figures of the Honduran political world in the Dominican Republic,” Fernandez said, adding that Zelaya would arrive on Sunday and Lobo on Monday morning.

Fernandez told reporters he expected to meet with both men separately and then bring them together for discussions.

In Honduras’ capital, information minister Rene Zepeda said the interim government had not received a petition from Zelaya or from officials in the Dominican Republic asking that Zelaya be granted safe passage to leave the country.

Honduran officials and Zelaya have been at odds this week on terms of a deal that would let him emerge from the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa without fear of arrest on the charges of treason and abuse of power that led to his ouster. He has taken refuge in the embassy since sneaking back into Honduras on Sept. 21.

The government insists he must concede he is no longer president, although his term runs to Jan. 27. Zelaya says he won’t do that.

Zelaya also did not confirm that a meeting is set with Lobo.

He told The Associated Press only that he was grateful to Fernandez for seeking to arrange the meeting.

“We are thankful for President Fernandez’s gesture because it shows his intention to solve the Honduran crisis in an effort to benefit Central America. We are analyzing his proposal and we are in communication with President Fernandez,” Zelaya said.

There was no immediate comment from Lobo, who won the Nov. 29 presidential election that Honduras had scheduled before Zelaya was removed from office and sent out of the country at gunpoint. Lobo has said he supports granting amnesty both to Zelaya and to all of those involved in the coup.

For your reading pleasure and it’s all on Honduras.  First item is Clinton during a press availability this morning with the foreign minister of Ukraine at which she spoke about Honduras.  Soundbites from her remarks follow directly.  The second item is a video of Clinton making the remarks.  The third item is the excerpt on Honduras from today’s daily briefing with Ian Kelly in which one of the reporters asked Kelly to clarify something that Clinton said earlier in the press availability. 

Clinton Press Availability

STORY SUMMARY: Secretary of State Clinton remarks on Honduras made during her press availability with Ukraine Foreign Minister.

DATELINE/CITY: December 9, 2009 – Washington, DC

SOUNDBITES:

Soundbite #1 Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

Summary: Secretary Clinton comments on the U.S. efforts for peace in Honduras since the June 28th coup.

Verbatim: Ever since the June 28th coup, the United States has remained dedicated both to our democratic principles and our determination to help Honduras find a pragmatic path to restore democratic and constitutional order. We condemned President Zelaya’s expulsion from Honduras as inconsistent with democratic principles and the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and we have taken significant steps to signal our determination. At the same time, working with OAS, President Arias and diverse sectors in Honduras, we’ve spared no effort to help Hondurans find a peaceful, negotiated resolution to the crisis, a resolution that restores democratic and constitutional order.

TRT: :46

Soundbite #2 Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

Summary: Secretary Clinton salutes the Honduran people on the election and congratulates President-elect Lobo on his victory.

Verbatim: A year-long electoral process culminated on November 29th when the Honduran people expressed their democratic will peacefully and in large numbers. And we salute the Honduran people for this achievement and we congratulate President-elect Lobo for his victory.

TRT: :17

Soundbite #3 Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

Summary: Secretary Clinton commits continued U.S. support for Honduras, while working with others in the region.

Verbatim: We stand with the Honduran people and we will continue to work closely with others in the region who seek to determine the democratic way forward for Honduras.

VIDEO OF CLINTON REMARKS ON HONDURAS

 EXCERPT FROM STATE DEPARTMENT DAILY BRIEFING

December 9, 2009

Ian Kelly, Spokesperson 

QUESTION: On another subject. I’m wondering – the Secretary just made a statement about Honduras in her press availability –

MR. KELLY: Yeah.

QUESTION: — upstairs. It tracked, in large part, what you said after the election. I’m wondering if you can tell me why she felt she needed to make that statement today, and what is the – does the State Department think things have changed since the – since you made your statement on the election? Have things gotten better? Are things on the track? Are they getting worse? What’s going on?

MR. KELLY: Well, I just think that we believe that important work still needs to be done to promote national reconciliation in Honduras. We had some important elections that we deemed as free and fair. There are still some steps to be done under the Tegucigalpa-San Jose Accord, particularly in this area of national reconciliation. The Secretary made reference to that, the need to name a national unity government.

The Secretary spoke yesterday with Costa Rican President Arias, who was in Tegucigalpa, met with President-elect Lobo and several former candidates. He was there with Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli. He told the Secretary that it was a very useful meeting. He noted to the Secretary that President-elect Lobo made clear that the establishment of a national unity government, the establishment of a truth commission, and political amnesty, as he put it, were actions that needed to be completed before his inauguration on January 27 to facilitate national recognition – national reconciliation, and also to facilitate broad international recognition of his government.

So we welcome this meeting by Costa Rican President Arias, who’s played such a significant and helpful role. And we hope it’s – it leads to, as I said before, further steps in implementing the Tegucigalpa-San Jose Accord.

QUESTION: Is – does – if Lobo – if they’re able to achieve – get these steps taken, will it be the State Department’s position that the Honduran crisis is effectively over? Are those the three things that need to be done in order for this to be put behind them?

MR. KELLY: Well, I think what we’re concerned about is that the Honduran people have a way out of this crisis. And the – as we see it, the best way out of this crisis is a step-by-step fulfillment of the Tegucigalpa-San Jose Accord. And we’ve been very active in encouraging the sides to take these concrete steps. We support other international efforts such as the efforts of the Costa Rican and Panamanian presidents. And this is really – it’s in the interest of the Honduran people that they have a way to a more normal future. And the elections were one step, the vote in congress was another, but we have a few more important steps that have to be taken. And the Honduran people have signaled their strong desire to move beyond this by their participation in the elections.

QUESTION: Maybe – could you answer his question with a yes or a no?

MR. KELLY: Which question? Sorry.

QUESTION: Yeah. I think you went on so long, you probably forgot what the question was. Was it – if they do these things, does that mean – in the U.S. – in the eyes of the U.S., that the crisis is over?

MR. KELLY: Well, I normally don’t answer questions that begin with “if.” But I think in this case, I think the answer is yes.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR. KELLY: I think it will all depend on the Hondurans, of course, if –

QUESTION: Right.

MR. KELLY: The key here is moving beyond – moving beyond the coup and getting to a point where we have reconciliation.

QUESTION: Ian?

MR. KELLY: Yeah.

QUESTION: Talking about the – there are some versions that say that the Secretary – Assistant Secretary Valenzuela will go to South America next week. Do you have any confirmation about that?

MR. KELLY: I don’t. I wouldn’t be surprised. I know that he is trying to make these kinds of trips in the Western Hemisphere. If he does have these plans, I’m sure we’ll be able to share the details with you.

QUESTION: Because yesterday – we know that yesterday there was a meeting in Montevideo with the countries of the Mercosur plus Venezuela, that’s not a full member, and there, these countries proclaimed that they are not going to accept the elections. And do you think that Hillary Clinton today message was like her response to this, to the Mercosur?

MR. KELLY: I would discourage you from seeing it as a direct response to any one event. I think it’s just restating our commitment to helping the people of Honduras to move beyond this and helping the various political actors in Tegucigalpa implement the accord. It was just a way for us to reiterate our support for the efforts of President Arias and President Martinelli, and I think also reinforcing what President-elect Lobo said in his press conference yesterday. I think it’s more a response to that than anything else.

The Real News Network — “Exclusive:  Honduran Elections Exposed”

Honduras’ Zelaya to stay in Brazil embassy
Sun Dec 6, 2009 10:52pm EST

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) – Honduras’ deposed President Manuel Zelaya said on Sunday that he would stay in the Brazilian embassy in the Honduran capital for as long as Brasilia allowed him to and that he would be willing to talk to the new president-elect.

Leftist Zelaya, who was ousted by the army in a coup on June 28, slipped back into Honduras in September and took refuge in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, from where he has been demanding his reinstatement.

The United States and Brazil have been pushing for Zelaya’s return to power but his fate remains uncertain after the Honduran Congress voted on Wednesday not to allow him to finish his term that ends in January.

“As long as I have Brazil’s support, I will be here,” Zelaya told Reuters by telephone from the embassy, which is ringed by Honduran soldiers around the clock.

Opposition candidate Porfirio Lobo won a presidential vote last weekend and could allow Honduras, which is suffering from an aid freeze following the coup, to overcome the five-month crisis.

Regional power Brazil has said it does not recognize the election because it was organized by the de-facto government. But it signaled late on Friday it may consider Lobo’s victory as separate from the coup and potentially legitimate.

Zelaya has also rejected the elections as a sham, but told Reuters he did not rule out talking to Lobo, a sign that he too may be willing to compromise.

“I am a democrat … I always talk,” he said when asked about holding talks with Lobo.

(Reporting by Gustavo Palencia, Editing by Sandra Maler)

PSLweb (Party for Socialism and Liberation): Honduran election seeks to legitimize right-wing coup 

Honduran election seeks to legitimize right-wing coup
Sunday, December 6, 2009
By: Jacqueline Villagómez

Governments in Latin America and beyond reject results

On Nov. 29, the right-wing coup leaders in Honduras staged presidential election intended to legitimize the coup regime and stem a growing popular movement against it.

Latin American countries have largely rejected the Honduran elections carried out under the watch of the coup regime that overthrew Manuel Zelaya, the democratically elected president. elected

Manuel Zelaya, the democratically elected president of Honduras, was ousted in a coup on June 28. The United States had declared it would recognize the Honduran election regardless of whether or not Zelaya was allowed to finish his term.

Countries throughout Latin America and elsewhere, however, are denouncing the election as a sham. On Dec. 1, during a meeting of Ibero-American countries, Spain, Portugal and Latin American countries issued a call for the reinstatement of Zelaya. The majority of nations in the world have not recognized the election.

The illegitimate election named Porfirio Lobo as president-elect of Honduras. The U.S. media and the coup leaders have taken great pains to show that Lobo took no position on the coup during a vote in Congress. Lobo, a wealthy cattle and grain farmer, lost the 2005 election to Zelaya. Whether or not Lobo voted for supporting the coup means nothing; he comes from the same sector of the ruling class that felt threatened by Zelaya’s presidency and is lending legitimacy to the coup by his participation in the elections.

The election took place amidst a climate of repression created by the coup leaders. Martial law has been in force for months. The Committee for Disappeared Persons in Honduras has confirmed thousands of illegal beatings and detentions in the five months since the coup. The possibility of a free and fair election was totally negated by the coup.

The 20th-century history of Latin America and the Caribbean is riddled with coup d’états and dictatorships. When class struggle becomes highly polarized and bourgeois democracy cannot suppress the discontent of the masses, the ruling class resorts to military force. Washington was instrumental in the success of the 1973 coup against the socialist government of Salvador Allende in Chile.

Following the 1959 triumph of the Cuban Revolution, a string of military coups swept Latin America with Washington’s support, unleashing severe political repression. Cuba had set out to build a society free of exploitation, oppression and foreign intervention. The appeal of the Cuban Revolution and the existence of a socialist state in Latin America threatened the U.S. imperialists and the ruling classes of Latin America.

A struggle for self-determination

U.S. imperialist foreign policy has historically sought to preserve and expand U.S. control over the abundant natural, strategic and human resources of Latin America. To that end, successive U.S. administrations, both Democrat and Republican, have employed mass propaganda, economic sabotage, electoral fraud, coups, direct and proxy wars, and U.S. military deployments.

An anti-imperialist and revolutionary current has been developing in Latin America under the leadership of Venezuela and Cuba. Mobilizations of the masses in opposition to the neoliberal policies imposed by U.S. imperialism have been central to this process.

Zelaya’s government aligned itself with the revolutionary governments of Venezuela and Cuba. Under his government, Honduras joined the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA), a treaty launched by Cuba and Venezuela offering an alternative to the economic plunder of neoliberal free trade, focusing instead on trade based on cooperation with social benefits for the masses.

Zelaya also raised the minimum wage, introduced social service programs and tried to increase mass participation in government. His administration attempted to convert the U.S. military base Soto Cano into a commercial airport.

The coup overthrowing Zelaya’s administration was not merely an attack on the Honduran people’s struggle, but an attempt to stem the progressive tide in Latin America. The Honduran right-wing and their U.S. backers could not allow another country to join the revolutionary process. The imperialist forces have tacitly backed the coup at every stage, and now recognize the results of the illegitimate Nov. 29 elections.

The maneuvers of the empire and the Honduran right wing are isolating Honduras from its neighbors. The history of coups and dictatorships is an integral part of the consciousness of the people in Latin America. The Honduran masses are waging a struggle for self-determination, and they are not fighting alone.

Hands off Latin America!

This week I wrote a piece on Honduras’ presidential election and produced ones on GM’s CEO resigning, the world’s reaction to Obama’s Afghanistan announcement, and the Swiss referendum to ban minarets.

The capstone project is set to run next week. We’re conducting a focus group today and getting ready to put together our final presentation.

Coming soon: an online portfolio. I’ve had a domain name and hosting service since October, but am just now making time to fight with Dreamweaver so I can complete the site itself. Should be up within the next week.

Lobo: Highway to Hell #2 (of 2) came out this week. #1 was… okay. I really wish DC would get Sam Kieth away from Lobo and convince Keith Giffen or Alan Grant to come back.  He just doesn’t get Lobo at all.

You can catch this meeting live tomorrow at 3 PM (EST).  Go to the URL below and choose your  language. 

Special Meeting of the Permanent Council on the situation in Honduras
Friday December 4, 2009

Original (65 kbps)
English (65 kbps)
Español (65 kbps)

Português (56 kbps)
Français (56 kbps) 
Audio Only (22 kbps)

Time: 03:00 PM (Eastern Time)
Place: Simón Bolívar Room, OAS Main Building – Washington, DC
http://www.oas.org/en/media_center/webcast_schedule.asp

A truly excellent report from the folks at The Real News Network.

Honduras:  An Election Validated by Blood and Repression

There was a post I did awhile back after being confronted by a mutant spider in my old apartment in Lisle. It went something along the lines of “Lisle spiders were bred to suck your soul and then crawl around in your skull whereas city spiders are elegant and sophisticated and blah blah blah.” Regardless of the crack I was smoking when I wrote that post, I am here to recant. City spiders are FUCKED.

Now granted, the run-in I had with this city spider was a make-believe one as it turned out to be a dream (unless I come home today to Lobo, skinned and decapitated with tarantula babies scurrying around his canine skull). But the panic induced by this hallucinogenic arachnid seriously almost caused me to delve into cardiac arrest. I swear to you that I lept….LEPT like a goddamn jaguar onto my countertop until I had the nerve to grab a broom (obviously the sanctioned instrument for slaying tarantulas). After 15 minutes spent moving around furniture with various lengthy instruments and Lobo telling me I’d “better put the goddamned broom down and stop acting like a crazy whore” before he called DCFS and the loony bin, I retired back to bed.

But NOT before texting two people and alerting them to the fact that a 7-foot TARANTULA was supposedly loose in my home. One of these people knows I have a little cray-cray in my blood. The other? Well, I could do without this person knowing I have night terrors and/or a severe psychological disorder. Also, if that person is reading this post, I would like you to know that I am completely normal. I’m actually one of the few women in the city who has nothing wrong with them. xoxo

U.S. backs Honduras’ sham election

December 2, 2009

Yesterday, Valenzuela gave a press briefing on the Honduras elections.  He stepped in it a couple of times.  First, he called the Honduran coup a  “military coup” TWICE!  And, then he raised the 1991 coup in Haiti saying that President Aristide was taken out of the country at gunpoint and that nothing like that has happened until the Honduran coup.  Au contraire. If I was Arturo, I would not raise the issue of Haiti unless someone had a gun to my head.  President Aristide was kidnapped from Haiti in 2004 by the former US Deputy Ambassador, Luis Moreno, and about 40 US Special Forces personnel as part of a US, French, Canadian orchestrated coup. 

Here is a link to the transcript of the briefing and also a video.

Stay tuned.

These comments are by the author of the article that follows - Emile Schepers.

COMMENTS: 

There have been developments since I wrote the following article. One
is that President Zelaya did a quick calculation and figured out that
if the coup electoral authorities are telling the truth, i.e. that
1.7 million votes had been counted and this corresponded to 61.3
percent of the total voters, then a 100% turnout would have
corresponded to 2.8 million voters, 600,000 more than were
registered.

The vote totals are all up in the air because as they were being
“verified” the computerized system “crashed” or some such thing. Some
of us remember the famous Mexican elections of 1988 where something
suspiciously similar happened, stealing a certain victory from
left-center candidate Cuauhtemoc Cardenas and giving the presidency
to the PRI’s Carlos Salinas de Gortari.

I lived in Chicago for 35 years and participated in one way or
another in almost every election in that period, often as a poll
watcher, and I have seen some funky elections over that time, but
crashing computer systems followed by announcements of huge jumps in
turnout, would not pass muster even in the city of the big shoulders
and hog butcher to the world.

It is all noxious nonsense but tonight I watched the Spanish-language
news on cable TV in the Washington DC area and they are praising this
farrago as a triumph of democracy.

It is extremely important that we get out the word that the election
was NOT clean, that the results announced by the Honduran coup
election authorities are not only NOT reliable but are HIGHLY
SUSPECT, and that one can NOT solve a political problem by means of
FRAUDULENT elections followed by a political and media snow job. I
urge readers to confront and challenge your local press and media
when they make such claims, and get the other side into the public
record.

Emile Schepers

=============================

Honduras election raises questions on turnout, international recognition
by: Emile Schepers
November 30 2009

Regarding the controversial elections in Honduras on Sunday, November
29, all are agreed on one thing: National Party presidential
candidate Pepe Lobo got the most votes, probably around 56 percent.

However, hopes that the Honduras crisis,which began when the elected
president, Manuel Zelaya, was overthrown by a right-wing coup on June
28, would be “solved” by the election seem premature.

That Lobo got the most votes, far more than the Liberal Party
candidate, is probably due to the fact that the Liberal Party to
which both Zelaya and coup leader Roberto Micheletti belong, went
into the election deeply divided and discredited in the eyes of the
voters because of the instability and economic damage caused by the
coup.

But the question of turnout is vitally important, because supporters
of President Zelaya and most of the resistance to the coup had called
for an election boycott if Zelaya and constitutional normality were
not restored in time for the election. One left-wing presidential
candidate, Carlos Reyes, withdrew his candidacy, as did the
left-leaning Liberal Party candidate for vice president, the
incumbent mayor of San Pedro Sula, and several dozen candidates for
Congress and local offices, after the collapse of an October 30
agreement that it had been hoped would solve the crisis.

However another left-wing presidential candidate, Cesar Ham of the
Democratic Unification Party, decided to stay in the race, giving the
reason that his party’s surveys indicated that it would pick up
congressional seats. (We have not yet seen results for Mr. Ham, nor
figures on the number of blank ballots cast as a protest).

The Micheletti coup regime threatened to prosecute anyone who
advocated an electoral boycott, and there were reports of military
and police raiding homes of people who were suspected of being
pro-boycott. On Election Day, police and military suppressed a rally
in Honduras’ second largest city, San Pedro Sula, with reports of one
death plus injuries and arrests. There were also reports that
employees of government agencies and private businesses were being
told that they would be fired if they did not vote.

The government election agency quickly announced a very high turnout
of 61.3%.

But President Zelaya, in refuge in the Brazilian embassy in the
Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa, announced a turnout of as low as 21%.
Zelaya based his projection on reports from members of the anti-coup
resistance who were monitoring the vote. To add to the confusion, the
coup government’s electoral agency gave the 61.3 percent figure “only
tentatively”, due to a “breakdown” in the computer system that did
not allow the data to be “verified”. But another agency contracted by
the government to do exit polls showed the turnout to be 47.6
percent. Various reports indicate that the turnout was much lower in
poor urban neighborhoods where Zelaya and the left have most of their
support.

Turnout in Honduras is usually low, about 50%.

The election campaign began, by law, on September 1. For all three
months of the campaign, the Micheletti regime installed by the coup
was in power, repressing pro-Zelaya mobilizations and periodically
shutting down the opposition press and media. The usual groups that
send observers to controversial elections (The Organization of
American States, the European Union, the United Nations and the
non-profit Carter Center) all refused, saying that the basic
conditions for a fair election were not present.

However, the International Republican Institute (an agency of the
G.O.P., which has been enthusiastically backing the coup), plus a
contingent of “monitors” organized by ultra-right Cuban exile U.S.
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, joined observers from the National
Democratic Institute in going down to do “election monitoring”. Their
reports are not in yet, but it is to be doubted that they will
contain surprises.

The Colombian government quickly recognized the results of the
election as clean and fair, and it is likely that other right-wing
governments in the area, such as those of Peru, Panama and Costa
Rica, will do so also. The Obama administration has not given a
definitive statement but seems to be trending that way. On the other
hand, the governments of Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and other
left-wing governments in the area have made it clear that they do not
recognize the results, and are angry with the Obama administration
for waffling on its original support for Zelaya’s restoration.

President Zelaya’s term ends on January 27 and it is improbable that
he will be restored to power as a lame duck. But he is still besieged
in the Brazilian embassy, and there may now be increased danger of a
violent move to get at him.

Yes, Hondurans went to the polls on Sunday and elected a new President – Porfirio Lobo of the conservative National Party. However, considerable doubt remains over whether the election should be recognized by the country’s hemispheric neighbors in light of the controversy under which it was carried out.

It is clear that of the votes tallied, Lobo won by a significant margin over the second-place Liberal Party candidate, Elvin Santos. The lingering question is whether a significant number of Zelaya supporters (mostly Liberal Party memebers) chose to boycott the vote in protest of the deposed President’s ouster. If so, Lobo may be considered an illegitimate leader who did not actually capture a majority of the vote.

Unfortunately, data on voter turnout is not yet clear. The Americas Quarterly blog writes that conflicting reports continue to shed doubt on the situation:

This debate remained unsettled on Sunday night, when the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) announced a preliminary voter turnout rate of 61.3 percent, while the nongovernmental observer group, Hagamos Democracia, announced an estimated turnout from its quick count at 47.6 percent.

Looking at voter turnout, if one accepts the TSE figure for 2009, then this election has turned the tide of declining voter participation in Honduras.  Proponents of this argument have already argued that such turnout—in the face of protests and boycott threats—reflects the legitimacy of the elections and the fact that the vast majority of Hondurans want to move on from the Zelaya-Micheletti debacle.  Hondurans spinning the election from this side see this result as a clear proxy vote against Manuel Zelaya.

Meanwhile, the Hagamos Democracia figure suggests that many eligible Hondurans stayed away from the polls.  Zelaya’s supporters will use this figure to suggest that most Hondurans heeded Zelaya’s call for a boycott and were too scared of military and police repression to vote.  From this perspective, the elections do not reflect the will of the people.  Instead, the coup led to an increase in abstentionism, which would be consistent with a rise in the apathy or disgust of Honduran voters with the political establishment.

Like them, we’ll be keeping out eyes out for the National Democracy Institute (NDI) report due to come out this week. Hopefully their data will shed light on whether the National Party truly deserved a win on Sunday, or if enough Hondurans contested the elections for their legitimacy to be questioned.

By Mary Tharin

Era un mago y un asombroso colegio de magia y hechicería para continuar con un hermoso vampiro acompañado de lobos y la heroína en peligro. De Harry Potter a Crepúsculo, cada vez son más los libros que llegan a la pantalla grande para convertirse en fenómenos, con récords de asistencia y grandes recaudaciones en taquilla. Películas que marcan un hecho en la historia y que son vistas por chicos y grandes. Personajes que enamoran a cualquiera y que se convierten en el príncipe azul que todas las adolescentes sueñan con tener.

Luna Nueva no fue la excepción, la secuela de la tan cotizada y conocida película Crepúsculo, llegó a la pantalla grande el 20 de noviembre del 2009. Producida por Summit Entertainment, la saga completa se ha convertido en su más grande tesoro. Luna Nueva llegó hasta un lugar donde jamás se imaginaron que llegaría. Se tenía grandes esperanzas y las expectativas eran altas, pero lo que realmente fue no lo imaginó ni el director de la misma Chris Weitz, ni la mente detrás de la historia la autora Stephenie Meyer. Rompiendo record de taquilla en su noche de estreno con 70 millones de dólares, algo que ninguna película había logrado en una sola noche. Para después superar los pronósticos de 125 millones de dólares que se veían para el fin de semana con 142, 839, 137 millones, los cuáles la posicionaron en el número 3 en la lista de películas más taquilleras de la historia en su fin de semana de estreno, detrás de Batman el caballero de noche con 158 millones y Spiderman 3 con 151 millones, de las casas Warner Brothers y Sony respectivamente.

Luna Nueva continua con la historia de amor entre Edward y Bella, donde un pequeño accidente pone en duda el amor, dejando a Bella sola y deprimida. Para ser rescatada de la oscuridad por su mejor amigo Jacob el cual se convierte en lobo, en defensa del pueblo. Una película que se desarrolla en el estado de Washington donde te presentan los escenarios tan vivos que lo representan. Paisajes muy verdes que te hacen sentirte rodeado de naturaleza. Para después llevarte hasta Italia, donde formas parte de una celebración religiosa típica de la ciudad y en la cual tienes el corazón en la boca sufriendo junto con la protagonista mientras trata de salvar a su gran amor. Una película que respeta mucho la base del libro, que se mantiene dentro de los parámetros y que quiere que se perciba la misma esencia que tiene la lectura. Que se transmitan los sentimientos tan vivos que hacen que las páginas se llenen de lágrimas y que al salir de la sala sientas que te mueres de amor.

Una película que vale la pena ver, ya sea con tus amigas, novio o familia no puedes dejarla pasar. Una película que está en boca de todos, y que nadie deja de comentar. Puede no ser la mejor película en la historia o aquellas profundas que te pongan a pensar. Pero es una película que tiene que ser vista para poder opinar, tener un punto de vista y no ser dejado fuera al ser el único que no la vio. El simple hecho de que haya marcado historia, hace necesario que sea vista. Así que un domingo en la tarde puedes irte al cine y pasar una tarde agradable acompañada de aquellos que quieres y una deliciosas palomitas y contar que te pareció. Y si ya la viste, ¿Qué piensas al respecto?

I’m back! Yup, it’s me – the negligent blog-writer who abandons her readers for weeks at a time. So before you all burn me at the stake, I want to let you know that there is a good reason – and even greater story – behind my absence. Now if only I could get cooperation from SOME PEOPLE, I could share this wondrous adventure with you. It is a story of wonderment and joy…and joyness.

But since that story is on hold, I’m going to toss some completely unrelated photos your way. These photos depict fur and love and SHEDDING. And Lobo’s overwhelming ability to Jedi mind-trick me into anything by simply being cute (and whispering into my soul that if I do not comply, he is going to release 100,000 years of darkness on mankind). But he is just so goddamn adorable.

iz in ur bedz...nappin on sum pill ohz

oh hai! i ken haz klows up plz?

I'm pretty much f*cking adorable and your human reason and demands are powerless against my delectably sweet face. Win.

1. Voy a dar mi medio reconocimiento a Norman por poner sus feos basureros azules en el boulevard constitución. Lo que sigo sin entender es ¿por qué los ponen en las jardineras? (ahí está la mayoría) ¿se supone que la gente va a cruzar la calle para depositar la basura en su lugar?

2. Se me pasó y no pude ver la entrevista de ocho en punto donde iban a discutir los resultados de la salida del ejército salvadoreño a las calles. No he encontrado algo sobre ello mientras googleaba, pero encontré esto:

Hoy como en los años de la guerra, pero por un motivo diferente, en algunas carreteras de El Salvador se pueden observar los retenes de los hombres de uniforme verde olivo camuflado, aunque el asedio de la delincuencia hace que la ciudadanía abrigue la esperanza de que la situación de inseguridad en el país pueda cambiar. (¿Ha pasado tanto tiempo? Yo era un niño en esa época, pero imaginar que soldados me paren en medio de la carretera no deja de sonarme como algo realmente de miedo)

Y la opinión de Rafael Pleitez (que es de FUSADES, no de ANEP): “Valoramos los esfuerzos de las autoridades, pero lo que deseamos son resultados, que bajen los homicidios, que bajen las extorsiones, que bajen la renta. Para lograr esto, este plan de las fuerzas armadas debe ser parte de un plan más amplio, de un plan integral de seguridad ciudadana, y lo que debemos preguntarnos es por qué tenemos esta medida extraordinaria este día. El Salvador lleva años con una epidemia de violencia. En el 2008 tuvimos una taza de homicidios de 52 por cada 100 mil habitantes.”

¿Y ahora?

Claro. Hay que hablar de las elecciones en Honduras:

El domingo mismo:

Angela Ramos, una vendedora de pupusas -plato tradicional de Honduras- dijo en un mercado agrícola de la capital que no irá a votar “con el presidente ahí encerrado”.

La mujer, madre de cuatro hijos, dijo temer hechos de violencia el domingo. “Ojalá no pase nada, pero creo que hay mucha gente dolida” con lo que le pasó a Zelaya.

Los organismos que tradicionalmente observan las elecciones en la región, como la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA) y el estadounidense Centro Carter, no enviaron delegaciones a los comicios hondureños.

El golpe de Estado fue condenado globalmente y Honduras quedó aislada del mundo mientras Latinoamérica y Estados Unidos, entre otros, exigían la restitución de Zelaya.

Pero Estados Unidos, así como Panamá, Perú y Costa Rica, han suavizado desde entonces su posición y dijeron que reconocerían las elecciones, bajo algunas condiciones.

(para leerlo todo -y los comentarios- hacer clic AQUI)

Ahora sobre los resultados:

Porfirio Lobo se ha proclamado vencedor en las elecciones presidenciales celebradas en Honduras (obteniendo el 55.90% de los votos con el 61,89% de las mesas escrutadas) y que no han estado exentas de polémica.

Para empezar la abstención ha sido muy elevada, como hemos podido comprobar recorriendo numerosos colegios electorales, aunque se están dando cifras de participación que parecen claramente manipuladas.

Los magistrados del TSE han explicado que el anuncio de los primeros resultados oficiales se ha retrasado tres horas porque hubo un “problema técnico” en un segundo mecanismo de verificación, que ha atrasado todo el escrutinio hasta este lunes, cuando se de la siguiente actualización de información del organismo.

El Partido Innovación y Unidad-Socialdemócrata ha sumado 33.383 votos, que representan el 2,24%, mientras que la Democracia Cristiana lleva 29.222 (1,96 por ciento) y el Unificación Democrática 27.016 (1,81).

Los votos en blanco suman 40,054, en tanto que los nulos 61.208, añade el informe del TSE.

Las autoridades del TSE han dicho que de los 4,6 millones de hondureños censados, más de un millón viven en el exterior y habitualmente no votan, por lo que reducen esa cantidad para cifrar el llamado “censo activo”.

Los comicios se han desarrollado en un clima de tensión, con decenas de detenciones e irregularidades y con los lugares de votación controlados por el Ejercito.

Zelaya ha afirmado que es “amigo personal” del virtual vencedor de las elecciones, pero ha dicho que le separan “diferencias políticas muy grandes” de él y ha evitado pronunciarse sobre su triunfo hasta tener los “datos correctos”.

y…

El presidente de Ecuador, Rafael Correa ha pedido a la Unión Europea que no reconozca el resultado de las elecciones del domingo en Honduras. Correa ha solicitado a la Unión que adopte la misma posición de Unasur, la Unión de Naciones Sudamericanas.

EE.UU. ha anunciado que reconocería al triunfador de los comicios. Brasil reaccionó señalando que con esta actitud, Washington corría el peligro de dañar su relación con América Latina.

El depuesto presidente hondureño, Manuel Zelaya no se presenta como candidato. Los países sudamericanos consideran que antes de las elecciones Zelaya debía haber sido repuesto en su cargo. Seguidores del derrocado mandatario han llamado a los electores hondureños a boicotear las elecciones. Amnistía Internacional teme que el gobierno de facto reprima con violencia eventuales manifestaciones de la oposición.