wait, you mean it's not all about economic growth and trickle down? wait, you mean wealth distribution programs + high public investment in health and education = social wellbeing? wow, western world, quite the anomoly. very surprised reuters would publish this, and even more surprised that i'm pasting an article by frank jack daniel here. freaky friday?
INTERVIEW-Shared wealth behind Venezuela 'wellbeing' rating
28 Apr 2011. Reuters
By Frank Jack Daniel
Despite mediocre economic data, Venezuelans feel they are thriving because President Hugo Chavez's government has focused on narrowing a wealth gap and increasing social spending, the country's statistics chief said on Thursday.
Earlier this month, a Gallup poll placed Venezuela fifth in a ranking of countries by the "wellbeing" their citizens felt. (See the full poll listings for all countries: http://link.reuters.com/xaq29r)
The poll came as a surprise to many because of lackluster economic results in the OPEC nation. Inflation was 27 percent last year and the economy contracted by 1.4 percent.
"Economic growth is very important, however, if government policies are not aimed at redistributing wealth, obviously this does not translate into improved living conditions for the population," said Elias Eljuri, head of the National Statistics Institute.
Eljuri, who has been active in left-wing political movements for decades, said the socialist government had spent $330 billion on health, education and social services since Chavez took office in 1999.
"The Chavez government has put the human being first," British-trained Eljuri said in an office suite adorned with exhortations from revolutionary Che Guevara to fight bureaucracy.
"We have invested in health and education and today we have the second best rate of higher education in Latin America."
University attendance has more than doubled to 2.3 million students during the Chavez government, Eljuri said.
He said inequality of wealth in Venezuela was now the lowest in Latin America and overall poverty had reduced to 26 percent from 70 percent in 2006.
"There has been redistribution but it is still not enough. We have not reached total equality here, far from it," he said.
Critics of the Chavez government say the fall in poverty is in response to a massive surge in government income due to booming oil prices in recent years, rather than sustainable wealth creation policies. (Editing by Daniel Wallis and Cynthia Osterman)
Friday, April 29
Thursday, April 28
Friday, April 15
Tuesday, April 12
barcelona consensus
"in summary, the participants are presenting proposals to decide how to adequately approach five fundamental questions: commencing with the world we all desire (value system), in the finite world in which we live (ecological system), we must determine how we want to organize ourselves (political system), how we want to administer ourselves (economic system) and how we want to communicate (communications system)."
http://consensus.nova.cat/news/new-consensus-habitable-world-all
goodbye washington, hello barcelona.
Sunday, April 3
hermosa magic
today in hermosa was one of those days you aren’t expecting. it’s midday, incoming high tide; your eyes are squinting in the too-bright glare of the sun’s bounce between the sheer film of clouds and the grey-blue sea. you sunscreen up before checking the surf because you know you'll paddle out regardless; not expecting much from a typically windy early afternoon session in hermosa, especially when magic seaweed only gave it a half a star. between the magic of the tides, the miraculous lack of wind, and miles of sparsely crowded glass up and down the beach, it seems this ho-hum day just got a whole lot better.
pretty sure we paddled out without getting our hair wet, and it was definitely overhead, with some big sets out the back to remind us that yes, we were still surfing heavy hermosa, miracle conditions or no. the first few waves were nothing to write home about, getting relatively worked on the inside and still feeling rusty from a week of sedentary life in the office, a 2.5 hour bus-ride inland from the coast. breathing and doing my little surf rituals to try to calm my heart, which i could see beating between triangle strips of bikini at my breastbone, i finally paddled into some beautiful lefts, hitting some backside turns to spray out a bit of work-week steam. i was quite disasterous on the rights for some reason, but after a two-and-a-half hour session, lefts all day still had me stoked – and exhausted. pretty sure the wave I caught in was double overhead o hasta mas, and way too big for comfort, getting all laird hamilton up in here (keep in mind, at 5’2” pretty much everything is double overhead).
un casado con pescado later, we hoped for the same luck in round two sunset sesh. much to my dismay, it took us 20 minutes to paddle out – hair quite wet this time – and after missing a fast left and slapping myself in the ear with my board in the process (first time for everything?), i was ready to call it a day. the saving grace was one good left corner with a very necessary rail grab on the takeoff and a few hurry-up-and-turns before getting caught inside forever and a day.
impromptu girl talk at the bungalows over malbec, cured meats and goat cheese rounded out a delicious day. feeling grateful for this sense of community; strong women whose life experiences continue to teach and inspire me. and remind me that the best pleasures in life are usually the ones you least expect.
other lessons for the day: magic seaweed sucks. i need to move back to the beach. hermosa is one of this world’s most magical, gloriously unpredictable slices of surf paradise.
april fools' on me
my mom’s April Fools’ joke on me:
mom: “So did you hear the surf’s gonna be flat for a week?”
me: “WHAT? Who did you hear that from? Was he gringo or tico? Does he even live at the beach? Whatever, I’m still going. There will be something, there’s always something in Hermosa, that guy doesn’t know...”
...kinda like telling a junkie we’re all outta drugs.
Wednesday, March 30
the wide world of surf blogs
stumbled upon this in my new-found life of blogging about surf. turns out there are other people who think it's a cool idea, too. go fig.
http://www.blogs.com/topten/10-surf-blogs-with-a-different-perspective/
http://www.blogs.com/topten/10-surf-blogs-with-a-different-perspective/
Tuesday, March 29
surfer philanthropists across the globe
how can we make a positive impact on the coastal communities and environments we encounter at our everyday homebreaks and around the world on our wave-chasing wanderings? these groups are leading the pack for sustainable global surf endeavors. serious accolades to all for inspiring others to care.
Waves for Development - http://www.wavesfordevelopment.org/
WAVES for Development believes that surf travel should benefit the people and the communities where it happens. WAVES creates life-enriching experiences in coastal communities through Education programs that develop youth into healthy & empowered adults and Surf Voluntourism programs that engage travelers & transform their views of the world and themselves. Main project in Lobitos, Peru. I had a chance to go see these guys in Lobitos in February 2010, hope to stay connected and partner in the future.
Surf For Life - http://surfforlife.org/
Soul Surfers Foundation - http://www.soulsurfers.org/
Surf For Life is a non-profit organization designed to connect travelers with community service activities benefitting coastal communities around the world. Their mission is to assemble teams of 'voluntourists' to travel to various project sites where they serve as hands-on workers and goodwill advocates. Upcoming projects: building a highschool in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica and others in El Cuco, El Salvador.
Jaimal Yogis' blog - http://www.jaimalyogis.com/?page_id=48
Author of Saltwater Buddha and surf philanthropist details his adventures and how to get involved making a difference in the lives of emerging surf communities worldwide.
Soul Surfers Foundation - http://www.soulsurfers.org/
Soul Surfers Foundation is a registered not-for-profit organisation, which supports development projects which use water sports as a motivation for underprivileged children to follow education, develop business skills and/or to overcome trauma. Soul Surfers Foundation brings together local initiatives from around the world, which share common visions and goals.
Waves for Water – http://www.waversforwater.org/
Waves for Water is a non-profit organization founded by Jon Rose and supported by Hurley International. Waves for Water works on the front-line to provide clean water to communities in need around the world. We work with world leaders and strategic partners who take a no-nonsense attitude toward making global change. These guys give surf travelers water filters to take with you on your world wanderings and give to locals who might not have access to clean drinking water - what a simple, yet innovative solution to one of the world's most serious survival challenges.
Save the Waves Coalition -http://www.savethewaves.org/
Save The Waves Coalition is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting and preserving the coastal environment, with an emphasis on the surf zone, and educating the public about its value.
Our vision is to create a world where the coastal environment in general and surfing coastline in particular is treated as a precious natural resource, and protected accordingly for the benefit of the greater community.
Surfing4Peace - http://www.surfing4peace.org/s4pindex/Welcome.html
Surfing 4 Peace is a person 2 person and cross-border cooperation initiative that aims to bridge cultural and political barriers between surfers in the Middle East.
S4P initiates and implements unique cooperative projects, events, and campaigns based around surfing and beach culture with an emphasis on coexistence, cross-cultural dialogue, and the shared surfing experience. These guys put out God Went Surfing With the Devil, a cool film that was showcased at the New York Film Festival last year, I went and checked it out with a friend who surfs in NY who I met in Huanchaco, Peru.
Surfers Against Sewage http://www.sas.org.uk/
Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) is a not-for profit environmental pressure group focused on the protection of the UK’s oceans, waves and beaches for all to access, use and enjoy safely and sustainably, via campaigning, volunteering, conservation, education and scientific research.
Surfers for Cetaceans - http://www.s4cglobal.org/
Surfers for Cetaceans is committed to activating ocean-minded people
everywhere to support the conservation and protection of whales, dolphins and marine life. It's through compassion, awareness, education, media and dedicated interventions that we will accomplish this goal. We seek to be a human voice for and defender of cetaceans worldwide.
This list is by no means exhaustive - more to come for sure.
Monday, March 28
la tarantula
starting this blog was a new year's resolution for 2011. 2 months and 28 days later, aqui lo tenemos. inspired by 5 years costa rica and counting, surrounded by passionate friends medium-old and new, wanting to feel close to my otha brothas and mostly sistas despite space and time, this blog is born from a feeling that i might have a thing or two to say that maybe a person or two might find interesting, or at least entertaining. the perspective i'm offering is one of adventurous surfer girl with a head on her shoulders, stuck between dreams of saving the world and equally unrealistic dreams of giving it all up for a simple life on a sick right point somewhere relatively undiscovered. seeking a balance between fantasy un-realities whose combined realization i think i'll exhaust all possibilities to experience, if even for some fleeting instant in time.
albeit with the goals of connection, contribution, transformation and evolution, motivated by love, life, surf, peace and passion, i'm still not sure what form this forum may take. maybe this will be my only post; maybe i'll find a fountain of things to say and the energy of the cosmos will conspire for this to be a vehicle of divine inspiration. or maybe it'll find some balance between the extremes i seem to always be chasing and escaping at once. vamos a ver que pasa...
tonight i'll start easy, from a contented place of peaceful solitude. energy saver bulbs softened by pequeno mundo candles and silence save the clicks of the keyboard on my giant beat-up toshiba, which i'm generally embarrassed to own in certain company. for some reason i usually can't explain, and as many of you are well aware, i'm fighting a few tears as i embark upon this opportunity to escape a caracolita privacy i most typically enjoy to maybe share publicly things that i'm not even great at acknowledging sometimes, let alone expressing. i'll try to spare you inane details that make you wish you had those 10 minutes of your life back post-post. and i promise to most def keep it real.
last surf: hermosa, la almendra, mid-incoming tide afternoon session yesterday, to be remembered by 2 over the falls beatings, 2 cute florida boys, 1 okayish right, dropping in on someone else's left that i shouldn't have, followed by the defeat of a few heavy sets coupled with late-onset goma, resulting in the boogie board paddle in of disgrace. not the weekend-ending story i usually like to swallow before driving back to the new digs en chepe, pero asi es la vida. it can't always be epic matapalo or la carola by your onesies. the rest of the weekend was lovely, my first go at escondida - small and crowded bumping rails with VIP guilas and well-to-do chepenos, i ended up getting worked on the inside and picturing my head smashing on a rock blue crush-style, more than dropping in on anything to email my michis about. hermosa saturday and sunday mornings saved the weekend, though, with super-clean head-high glass around high-tide both days. good vibes, great weather, and i even connected a few backside turns that had been slacking as of late.
some rad pros were in town partying and art-ing after planting tons of trees and hanging out with indigenous tribes on an etnies save-the-world trip. although i'm not what you'd call your typical pro-ho, i will say it was refreshing to see these guys stoked on non-surf life as much as they rip all over the world and get paid for it. shout-outs to grizzly freudian beards, hippy parents and good convo despite the questionable and blaring bar tunes at tsunami. he even complimented my good luck bikini ;)
pura vida tuanis,
tarantulita
albeit with the goals of connection, contribution, transformation and evolution, motivated by love, life, surf, peace and passion, i'm still not sure what form this forum may take. maybe this will be my only post; maybe i'll find a fountain of things to say and the energy of the cosmos will conspire for this to be a vehicle of divine inspiration. or maybe it'll find some balance between the extremes i seem to always be chasing and escaping at once. vamos a ver que pasa...
tonight i'll start easy, from a contented place of peaceful solitude. energy saver bulbs softened by pequeno mundo candles and silence save the clicks of the keyboard on my giant beat-up toshiba, which i'm generally embarrassed to own in certain company. for some reason i usually can't explain, and as many of you are well aware, i'm fighting a few tears as i embark upon this opportunity to escape a caracolita privacy i most typically enjoy to maybe share publicly things that i'm not even great at acknowledging sometimes, let alone expressing. i'll try to spare you inane details that make you wish you had those 10 minutes of your life back post-post. and i promise to most def keep it real.
last surf: hermosa, la almendra, mid-incoming tide afternoon session yesterday, to be remembered by 2 over the falls beatings, 2 cute florida boys, 1 okayish right, dropping in on someone else's left that i shouldn't have, followed by the defeat of a few heavy sets coupled with late-onset goma, resulting in the boogie board paddle in of disgrace. not the weekend-ending story i usually like to swallow before driving back to the new digs en chepe, pero asi es la vida. it can't always be epic matapalo or la carola by your onesies. the rest of the weekend was lovely, my first go at escondida - small and crowded bumping rails with VIP guilas and well-to-do chepenos, i ended up getting worked on the inside and picturing my head smashing on a rock blue crush-style, more than dropping in on anything to email my michis about. hermosa saturday and sunday mornings saved the weekend, though, with super-clean head-high glass around high-tide both days. good vibes, great weather, and i even connected a few backside turns that had been slacking as of late.
some rad pros were in town partying and art-ing after planting tons of trees and hanging out with indigenous tribes on an etnies save-the-world trip. although i'm not what you'd call your typical pro-ho, i will say it was refreshing to see these guys stoked on non-surf life as much as they rip all over the world and get paid for it. shout-outs to grizzly freudian beards, hippy parents and good convo despite the questionable and blaring bar tunes at tsunami. he even complimented my good luck bikini ;)
pura vida tuanis,
tarantulita
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)