Exploiting their Memory

Drinking Liberally Buenos Aires is celebrating our first birthday this Thursday. Yep, we were founded a year ago on May 1st. (Technically, it won't be May 1st unless we stay up past midnight ...usually that ain't a problem with Drinking Liberally!)

That first night, we had 5 people show up, Fred Badagnani, my wife, Caitlin Kelly, myself, and (hep me!) another fine soul whose name is lost. We grew into a tremendously vibrant group that advanced the cause of liberalism in Buenos Aires through the last dark days of the Bush administration and helped Democrats Abroad Argentina tremendously. People were ready for a local addition to that fine international drinking society Drinking Liberally ...and we were there!

What you might not know is that May 1st was chosen intentionally as an auspicious fecha. The date starts from Chicago, as did I, and left its mark on Buenos Aires and the world long before any of us was born. If you've heard of the 8 hour day (even if it sounds like a distant memory to many of you!), you know about May 1st.

On May 1st, 2008, Drinking Liberally Buenos Aires was formed. On May 1, 1886, the 8 hour day was born; it was a difficult birth.

US labor unions called for a general strike that day in support of "8 hours for work, 8 hours for sleep, and 8 hours for the pursuit of happiness."

On that Saturday, there were 10,000 demonstrators in New York, 11,000 in Detroit, and 10,000 in Milwaukee. The big place that day, however, was Chicago with 40,000 workers on strike to put an end to what amounted to wage slavery.

80,000 people marched down Chicago's Michigan Avenue; in the lumberyards, another 10,000. In the US, there may have been a half a million people on strike that day.

In 1886, there were maybe 56 million people in all of the US. In 2009, there are more than 304 million. Imagine 2,700,000 people on strike in the US today. It isn't hard to do. Try to remember, as well, that labor unions then were even weaker then than today.

Long story short, rallies and demonstrations and strikes were not enough to bring what we now consider "rather" standard into being.

On May 4th, another gathering took place to protest the inevitable repression of the Chicago strikers. Somebody threw a bomb. To this day nobody knows who. The police reacted, shot a lot of their own and people in the crowd. Eight people were arrested.

There was a trial. All 8 were found guilty, 7 sentenced to death. One committed suicide by biting an explosive. Two were later committed to life inprisonment. The other 4 were hanged on my birthday. From wikipedia:

"The trial has been characterized as one of the most serious miscarriages of justice in United States history.^[43] Most working people believed Pinkerton agents had provoked the incident.^[32] On June 26, 1893, Illinois Governor John Peter Altgeld signed pardons for Fielden, Neebe and Schwab after having concluded all eight defendants were innocent. The governor said the real reason for the bombing was the city of Chicago's failure to hold Pinkerton guards responsible for shooting workers.^[44] The pardons ended his political career. The police commander who ordered the dispersal was later convicted of corruption. The bomb thrower was never identified.^[45]"

The event radicalized individuals around the world for many years, most notably my hero Emma Goldman ...and later, myself. If you happen to hear of a local soccer team, Nuevo Chicago, here in Buenos Aires ...their name comes from the stockyards barrio that was informally named after "los mártires de Chicago."

The Soviet Union tried to co-opt "May Day" as pertaining to their ugly Stalinist effort. The United States tried to co-opt the date as "Loyalty Day" in an effort to counter that. The "Labor Day" that we yanquis celebrate in September was enacted by the US Congress 2 months after the Chicago riots.

As part of an international drinking society, Drinking Liberally and Drinking Liberally Buenos Aires are sometimes not immediately taken seriously. I'd like to tell you, however, that for all the frothy fun that can be found EVERY Thursday ...there is something much deeper that can be found in all of our liberalism.

From Waldheim Cemetary in Chicago:

If you show up on Thursday... you're prolly gonna find a bunch of people that just love to drink beer and love to talk to people that love to hear what they can't hear on the radio, TV, or newspapers! Great folks... believe me, we're not terribly serious types! But lemme tell ya, being liberal is serious business! (Unlike some people, if you wanna corner one of us... and talk some serious politics... you won't be disappointed.)

Inmigraciónes Not So Lax Anymore

Dave McComb has a really informative piece today in Discover Buenos Aires regarding a couple of quiet changes in Argentine immigration policy:

"Without much fanfare, it appears that the Argentine government has increased the fee for overstaying your tourist visa from $50 pesos to $300 pesos for non-Mercosur residents..."

Even more serious is this anecdote from one of Dave's sources:

"One recent departee was warned that if he overstayed his visa three times, he would not be allowed back into the country."

Cheers to Dave and Discover Buenos Aires. I think he's point man on this issue ...at least until someone comes up with more.

Mo' nedas!

...or, in this case, mo' betta nedas!

According to the Wall Street Journal, supermercados chinos in Buenos Aires are about to start printing their own monedas.

This weirdly echos another WSJ story by Geo. Selgin and my response here back in January. The best thing about Selgin's article was a description of an even more serious shortage 200 years ago in Great Britain. Back then merchants started to mint there own coins and it looks like it worked out just fine... until the government called it illegal.

I responded that I didn't think that Argentina would give a damn about ...my example ...supermercados printing off coupon-like chits good for your dime or quarter if they were short of coins. My doubt however, was that people would accept them. After all, the only place in town guaranteed to give a stranger coins back from his purchase is: a big chain supermarket.

Lo and behold, Yanqui Mike's Chinese readership here in Capital has decided to give my idea a try!

"The Argentine Chinese-Owned Supermarket Chamber, or Casrech, which groups together more than 5,700 markets across the country, plans to issue tickets when their tills are short of the coins needed to provide change."

I'm still a bit leery as to how yer average Juan Perez will respond. I also don't know if it will be voluntary ...I mean, are they just going tell you "screw you, there's no coins; take a coupon!"? Or will they offer a "ticket" to anybody that prefers a coupon to coins? I don't know how they're going to manage that but I'm interested to see what they come up with.

To sweeten the pot, their tickets will be worth 110% of the coins they don't give you.

Now if only the collectivos would accept them...

Yanqui Mike Alert: there's been some interest in starting a regular poker game here in town. I've been thinking that a good Texas Hold 'em session could be made even more interesting ...if it were played ONLY for monedas! No paper money, no chips, no IOUs! Any interest? Lemme know. Hmm... I guess we could include Supermercado Chino tickets too!

Sammy's in Palermo!

I just got back from Drinking Liberally's new home: Sammy's, the newest "closed door", a puertas cerradas, bar/restaurant in Buenos Aires.

Lemme tell ya, it was a hit. What a great layout, what a great host for our second year as the Buenos Aires post of that famous international drinking society!

...and I know where you live. Sammy's location is so much closer to most of the expats in Buenos Aires than our former home in microcentro.

Sammy's rooftop is better than almost any rooftop I've ever been to. The crowd tonight agreed that it is splendid. We got a little blast of surprisingly chilly air that caught us without our sweaters ...but that won't be such a surprise next week.

As always, there were old Buenos Aires hands and new arrivals. If you've never dropped in on Drinking Liberally before ...your excuse is no longer as good! Drinking Liberally is in Palermo now!

Although the rooftop will, no doubt, be popular all through Fall and Winter, Sammy's indoor digs are just as inviting. Great drinks and great food. What more could you ask for.

He's got a great webpage describing his new efforts, too.

Drinking Liberally is now closer to you than ever before ...and the prices are lower than ever ...and the venue is the best in town.

See you next Thursday ...every Thursday ...always at 7:00pm ...always at Sammy's!

Drinking Liberally Moves to Palermo

That's right! Drinking Liberally has moved!

This Thursday at 7:00pm ...new digs!

Drinking Liberally Buenos Aires has been at home in Microcentro for a year now. For our second year we'll be celebrating our NEW location in the heart of expat country at:

Godoy Cruz 1308 at Sammy's, the newest Bar/Restaurant a puertas cerradas in town!

Here's a map ...and watch this space for more details today and tomorrow:

Obama Meets Chávez At Summit

President Obama met up with Venezuela's Hugo Chávez at the Summit of the Americas, where Chávez gave Obama a "gift" of a book, The Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent, by Eduardo Galeno. Obama joked to a reporter: "I thought it was one of Chávez' books. I was going to give him one of mine." And Chávez said of Obama: "I think President Obama is an intelligent man, compared to the previous U.S. president."

For me, there are two kinds of people that hold opinions regarding Latin America: those who've read Eduardo Galeano's book "Las Venas Abiertas" ...and those who have not. Already, Galeano's English-language Wiki page has been updated to reflect that he is now most famous for Chávez' gift yesterday.

Oh, well. There's a lot of rediculousness in this world; you just have to make the best of it. Galeano has been a hero of mine ever since my Brother-in-law gifted me with a copy in 2000.

Apparently, President Obama is getting an opportunity to dig into Galeano's 1971 book in which he analyses 500 years of Latin American history. It is part of the canon, I think, of learning anything about the New World.

Others are picking up on Galeano, as well. This from ABC:

Sales Soar of Book Chavez Gave Obama

April 18, 2009 4:49 PM

Just after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez gave President Obama a present this morning of a book that criticizes the role of the United States in Latin America -- "Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent" by Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano -- its Amazon sales rank was No. 54,295.

Just a few minutes ago it was No. 20.

- Jake Tapper and Sunlen Miller

7:00pm Tonight

San Martín 678
Microcentro!

More yanquis for Buenos Aires?

I guess it could be true.

Two more stories came in over the transom today regarding the phenomenon and its accompanying reportage: this one from Reuters ...and this one from Bill Bonner who has developed a lot of expertise regarding Argentina (he owns a ranch in Salta and his son, Will Bonner, is the head blogger what's in charge at Discovering Buenos Aires.)

The graphic to the left links to Taos Turner's examination of the recent Clarín article and video on the same meme. My post about a possible "second wave" of expats to Argentina mentions two international blog posts that seemed to have lit the fuse as to the Argentine media's renewed fascination with the subject. But like Taos wrote, "Every six months or so local newspapers like Clarín and La Nación write stories about foreigners living in Argentina."

The Reuters and the Bill Bonner articles came in about the same time as I was speaking today with Fred of Fourpoint Report. Fred was in a television studio today recording a program with María Laura Santillán of "Argentina Para Armar" on TN.

Fred was part of a panel discussion with an Argentine expert on immigration and four other yanquis (prominently including Martin Frankel of Expat Connection.) I'll let you know about airing times when I find out.

I've been suspicious, however, about this latest trend toward exploring the foreigners (not all yanquis) that are supposedly flocking to Buenos Aires and Argentina in general in order to escape the recent economic crisis.

On March 4, two big blogposts hit the ether: from gawker.com and from blackbookmag.com ...those posts, to my mind, generated the current stir.

The current interest in the press is probably just more of the same-old, same-old ...except this time with even less good reporting and, probably, just a tie-in to the widely reported economic crises in the US (something that impresses the average Argentine as much as yanquis moving to Argentina.)

But I can't seem to shake the notion that this time it's different.

This recent interest shown in the Buenos Aires media strikes me as a sea change in the attitudes of people in Buenos Aires (and, to a slightly lesser degree, Argentines in general) toward the foreigners that almost crowd certain corners of Capital Federal.

First, the fact that the US could be suffering economically surprises the average citizen here. Secondly, the very idea that yanquis might be fleeing the US because of the current straits is almost unimaginable. Third, for US citizens to choose Argentina as an economic refuge just plain boggles the mind of any South American considering that the Colossus of the North has been the ambition of the ambitious for a very long time.

The story of Americans fleeing, if true at all, is not picking up too much traction beyond the usual story of foriegners in Buenos Aires that have become commonplace since the un-pegging of the peso to the dollar in 2001. The potential of it morphing into something new, however, looms on the horizon. A new variant is available to any enterprising journalist seeking both to push circulation and catch the wave: "there are now two kinds of foreigners."

Most Argentines believe that all foreigners here are rich. That may seem ridiculous to the foreigners themselves ...but perfectly in line with the empirical evidence experienced by local residents. People here have met many foreigners and they have all been wealthy enough to warrant that label at least somewhat.

Since the devaluation of the Argentine Peso, however, many foreigners of lesser means have taken up residence here. Those new arrivals were bundled into the prevailing attitude regarding the economic status regarding foreigners in general. Their assumed high economic status was never in question.

The idea now that not all foreigners here are rich ...is taking some time to sink in. I think that it will, however.

The traditional attitude in this most cosmopolitan of South American cities is based on good, overwhelming, personal observation of facts collected during the 100 years or so in which tourism to Argentina never existed ...not based on something uninformed nor ignorant.

When the idea finally does sink in, however, a certain immunity enjoyed by rich foreigners and poor ones alike will disappear ...and it will be felt by both groups. We should all expect to have to describe ourselves, on occasion, as to which category we personally belong: the "usual" rich...

...or the refugees from the kind of crisis with which Argentina is well acquainted ...but something virtually unknown to ourselves.

Happy Birthday to me...

...3 years of Yanqui Mike.

Thanks to everyone from the bottom of my heart,
Mike

Frugal and Buenos Aires

Of course, the fact that Buenos Aires became affordable in 2001 ...for the first time in a century ...was a big part of anyone's decision to expatriate here. However, "frugality" is suddenly back on the marquee in a big way all over the world.

Buenos Aires is no longer an exception. Budget Buenos Aires is reflecting a trend toward living within one's means that you can find in any publication from anywhere in the world right now.

The author, American Expat, is a relatively recent arrival and she is billed out and bound to roll on taking up the post of your source for saving some scratch in this time of rising prices ...and falling remittances from back home. If you visit, leave her a comment and encourage her efforts in what feels like a neglected field for those of us who plan to stay.

Public Transportation

Although there are certainly large outcrops of us expats all across Buenos Aires, it's been my experience that most of us live in Palermo. I don't but most of my friends do.

My barrio is truly one of the biggest transportation hubs in South America; I can walk to a stop nearby and literally get to almost anywhere in the world... except to most places in Palermo.

Most of my friends live in what I like to refer to as "Palermo Dead-Zone" (not to be confused with "Palermo Dead" which is a realtor joke for places in Chacarita that are too far to be officially Palermo.)

It's not really a dead zone for public transportation but all of the subte, train and colectivos out of Retiro seem to always leave me 10 blocks from where I wanna go.

Today I discovered the 34. It's a cross-town bus that goes back and forth from Liniers to the Hipódromo on Avenida Libértador and back and forth all day long, mostly along Juan B. Justo and Godoy Cruz.

The 34 cuts across all the major transport arteries that spread out from the center of the city toward Palermo ...but get a little too spread out once they get there (click the graphic to enlarge.)

It effectively links the Linea B Subte that runs out Corrientes, looks to be about 3 blocks from the Chacarita commuter rail station, stops at Córdoba where outbound buses even have their own lanes, then sails through about 14 blocks of Palermo where brave bondis dare not tread.

After that, it continues past the Palermo Rail Station and Subway Station on Avenida Santa Fe where countless other bondis head back into the city center.

As if that weren't enough, it even swings down to tag Avenida Libértador and head right back up again on a combination of Calle Oro and Uriarte streets.

This bus is gonna cut miles of hoofing off my visits to so many friends ...not to mention bars and restaurants that I like but don't get to very often.

Anybody got any experience with this particular bondi? Anybody know of some others that can save some shoe leather in Palermo?

Lemme know. And while you're at it, feel free to share some of your mass transportation habits in Capital with me and everybody else.

Lent

By JAMES CARROLL

Published: April 10, 2009
The New York Times

MOST American Catholics were well acquainted with poverty even before the stock market crash of 1929. My mother quit school after eighth grade to add a wage to the family income. Later, she supported my father as he went to night school. Like millions of Catholics, their faith was a source of meaning and dignity at a time when both were in short supply.

The Depression stamped them for life. Born into the aftermath, I was shaped by those years as well. During these past weeks, I’ve worried that we might be facing an unexpected replay of our parents’ and grandparents’ economic distress. But I’ve also been remembering more vividly the Lenten seasons of my midcentury childhood, when I most sharply felt the pull of Catholicism.

By requiring fasting and abstinence, the observance of Lent somehow helped us cope with the multitude of other deprivations we could not choose or escape. My brothers and I gave up candy, but what really impressed us was Mom forgoing Chesterfields and Dad going “on the wagon,” which meant, he laughed, drinking from only the water cart.

From February on, I counted the turning pages of the calendar. The main point was to get through those 40 days. It was the same number of days a famished Jesus spent in the desert and the number of years the Hebrews wandered in the wilderness. “God’s will” was the name we gave to suffering, and God’s grace was the promise that it would end ... eventually.

There was always doom in the air of the penitential season, and Lenten fervor was fueled by dread, as the oft-recited Act of Contrition put it, “of the loss of heaven and the fires of hell.” A damning God demanded penance, sacrifice and constant vigilance. My first wallet, a gift when I received the sacrament of confirmation, came with a card that defined my initiation: “I am a Catholic. In case of an accident, please call a priest.”

The Catholic theology of damnation was mitigated, if not eliminated, by the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. The dread of Hell evaporated as Catholics embraced a far more positive, all-merciful God. Those wallet cards disappeared overnight, and we started eating meat on Fridays. The sadomasochist in the sky, divine zapper, was gone, along with the gatekeeping role of the clergy.

Lent remains an important part of the Catholic calendar, but self-denial now, more suggested than required, aims less at penitence than at compassionate identification with, as Pope Benedict wrote at the beginning of this year’s Lent, the impoverished “situation in which so many of our brothers and sisters live.” Like Lent, today’s economic crisis can help stir that overdue empathy.

Still, as for self-denial, one could be forgiven this year, perhaps, for wanting to give it up. There are plenty of difficulties in everyday life without choosing to increase them. Job loss is hell enough. In affluent America, seemingly out of nowhere, material insecurity has undermined assurance, and familiar structures of order have tumbled with the indexes.

Lent offers one answer to today’s new reality. The season begins with the word “Remember,” uttered as a blot of ashes is smudged on the forehead. Remembering the transience of life — ashes to ashes, dust to dust — remains the essence of the observance. This year, I received my ashes at the Catholic church across the street from Harvard University, where the basilica was surprisingly overflowing with hundreds of undergraduates — a privileged elite attending to what every person has in common, and wants ordinarily to deny.

All things are passing; this is the unsettling fact from which, during normal times, we’ve tried to escape by acquiring money and spending it. A consciousness of our own mortality — made more acute by material worries — reminds us of what matters most in life, including intimations, however they come, of what lies beyond, whatever it is.

Lent concludes today, but this probably isn’t the end of our troubles. There is nothing wrong with job security, and there is nothing right with suffering, but insecurity is normal again. Lent tells us we may as well get used to it — and remember that it always was.

James Carroll, a columnist on leave from the Boston Globe and a scholar in residence at Suffolk University, is the author, most recently, of “Practicing Catholic.”

Yaciretá on Boing Boing

This is a picture of Yaciretá hydroelectric power plant. Yaciretá is a binational power plant which belongs to Paraguay and Argentina. Its 20 generators can deliver up to 3200 MW. It is located on the Paraná river, between Ayolas (Paraguay) and Ituzaingó (Argentina).

I don't know why...

...it took so long to give this to anyone who fell.

Forgive me for being old enough to remember.

"Mother, mother
There's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There's far too many of you dying
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today

Father, father
We don't need to escalate
'Cause war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some understandin' here today

Picket lines and picket signs
Don't come to me with brutality
Just talk to me, so you can see
Oh, what's going on
What's going on
What's going on
What's going on

Father, father
Everybody thinks we're wrong
But who are they to judge us
Simply because our hair is long
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some loving here today

Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
Talk to me
So you can see
What's going on
What's going on
Tell me what's going on"

Our poets told us long ago. Please talk to me, so you can see.

Immigrant Mutual Aid Society

From American Expat:
New blogger on deck! Watch yer six! American Expat aims to be of service while she chronicles her experiences.

One of Æ's (may I call you Æ? I've been dying for a chance to use that character.) blogs caught my eye today: Budget Buenos Aires.

My wife is a hopeless Coca Light addict and I've been impressed at how much it's gone up in price the last few years. I've also noticed a recent television commercial that hawks the virtues of the pesadisimo 1.5 returnable coke bottle to the average non-weightlifting house wife (that bottle seems a lot more popular in the campo than in Capital)

Not only does she weigh-in with a post on how much cheaper it is to buy the retornable, she has a whole blog on money saving tips.

The big deal for me, however, was seeing that she has another blog devoted to letting people know the pitfalls of getting your "papers, please." She plans to publish a blow by blow on the process of obtaining a visa, CUIT/CUIL, and/or DNI.

She's new ...so there's not a lot of content as of yet. Drop by and give 'er some love.

Drinking Liberally

Same place, same time, every time!

"Liberalism is trust of the people, tempered by prudence; conservatism, distrust of people, tempered by fear." William E. Gladstone

My kinda town...

Apparently, it's not just in the imagination of we chicagüenos. Chicago has been voted number one by AskMen.com. What more could a man ask for, great food, great-looking women, great cultural activities to which to squire a new date.

In the words of our poet, "It used to be a writer's town, It's always been a fighter's town."

Restaurant Miramar

Just noticing that I'm beginning to pick up a little traction with my recent post on visiting one of the more than 70! traditional bars, cafés, and restaurants reviewed in Gabriela Kogan's guide to Porteño Soul Food.

This one, is from www.locuraviajes.com and I hope to do another and another as soon as possible.

Let me know if you're up for accompanying me to the next one. I'd love to nosh with you some place soulful soon.

p.s. the graphic in the previous post is full of different videos of my visit to the tremendous Miramar. Click all over it for 10 peeks inside one of the los autenticos!

Life in Mendota, California

...where the jobless rate is 41 percent

By Chris Collins | Fresno Bee

MENDOTA, Calif. — The customer seemed interested in a black blouse offered for $1 at the thrift store. But instead of buying it, she set it on the front counter.

Maybe tomorrow, she told the cashier, she would have the money. Or the next day. But not now.

"That is the way people are now," said the cashier, Alicia Reyes, as she watched the middle-aged woman walk out of the store. "They just come in here and look. They just come in here to kill the time. And then they take off."

Welcome to life in Mendota — the unemployment capital of California. With a 41 percent jobless rate, the town's social fabric is tearing at the seams. Alcoholism and crime are on the rise. To save money, some mothers wash and re-use disposable diapers. Unemployed men with nothing to do wander the streets and sit on benches.

The irony is obvious: In a large swath of the nation's most productive farming region, many struggle to fill their own cupboards.

The happiest moments of a man's life

...are still the day he buys a boat ...and the day he sells it.

However, there seems to be something new in between:

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. — Boat owners are abandoning ship.

They often sandpaper over the names and file off the registry numbers, doing their best to render the boats, and themselves, untraceable. Then they casually ditch the vessels in the middle of busy harbors, beach them at low tide on the banks of creeks or occasionally scuttle them outright.

“Our waters have become dumping grounds,” said Maj. Paul R. Ouellette of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “It’s got to the point where something has to be done.”

When Brian A. Lewis of Seattle tried to sell his boat, Jubilee, no one would pay his asking price of $28,500. Mr. Lewis told the police that maintaining the boat caused “extreme anxiety,” which led him to him drill a two-inch hole in Jubilee’s hull last March.

“There are a lot more than we thought there would be,” said Lt. Robert McCullough of the state Department of Natural Resources. “There were a few boats that have always been there, and now all of a sudden they’ve added up and added up.”

“Boats are luxuries,” Mr. Santos said. “This isn’t a good moment for luxuries.”

Mr. Santos, 50, grew up in this well-to-do community on the northern side of Charleston harbor. In his youth, he never saw an abandoned boat. As recently as a decade ago, they were no more than an occasional nuisance.