Haven't reached the end yet, but such a shame that Bolívar was much better suited a warrior than as an administrator. He's kinda the originator of caudillismo, but I still like him though, no wonder all the sister Latin republics claim his legacy centuries later.
Reading Bolivar: Liberator of America (in Spanish, duh, I gotta have some pride) by Marie Arana, a shame I did not find a Latin American biography but despite its heavy pro-Bolivar slant (understandable) it is so readable, haven't had this much fun reading in a while.
Welp, the country got fucked and continuity got a plurality of the vote. Four more years of bullshit and stagnation in the best case. Oh well, hope springs eternal.
The current president is a populist charlatan, who intends to come back in 4 years and for his hoped successor's trifecta to allow consecutive reelection. Honestly no issue with that in and of itself, but mf is close to Bukele and seems to want to follow the same path, and we are not El Salvador.
There are elections today in Costa Rica. I fulfilled my duty and voted, did so for Broad Front (left party) for president and Assembly (unicameral legislative body). They're probably not getting elected. I'm pessimistic that the current administration's politics will be continued, but we'll see.
Gender studies really is the quintessential "useless" major that correctly explains basically everything that's going on in the world right now
Gender studies wins again, honestly. Understanding rape as both a political act and a goal of policy helps break out of the strictly economic understanding of politics that has failed to predict or effectively describe Trumpism
Gyökeres had a great game today, 1 G 1 A, reports of his washed status are greatly exaggerated
Unfortunately America in general earns the hatred it gets around the world. Threatening Greenland, jfc, until a Second Reconstruction is achieved it is fundamentally an untrustworthy rogue state, pisses me off that Costa Rica sucks off the States so so much.
What a fantastic movie It's A Wonderful Life is. A product of its time, sure, but still timeless in its own way. Bawled my eyes out at the end. Merry Christmas Eve, people.
Our political class very much knows where its bread is buttered (if the Left ever wins, ever, it's gonna get screwed by a divided Legislature), and we have fuck all for exploitable resources. It's a country very much safeguarded by its relative irrelevance.
As a Costa Rican poster, I've concluded you're unfortunately right, we're a bit of a historical accident so to say and unfortunately our tranquility and peace is supported by sucking up to the States (which I'm not fond about rn but alas). Panama is similar.
Le tengo tanto hype a Mamdani, que florezca una ciudad ejemplar para Estados Unidos y el mundo.
La conchesumare que orgullo el ser latino, grande 31 Minutos, los huevos de ir a NPR a tirarle a la migra gringa con clase y diversión, joyita, viva Chile weón, que belleza el hablar y comprender el español. Me dio una nostalgia que no anticipaba al final, me sacó las lágrimas. Gracias totales.
Man, Kamala really should have ran for CA Gov., could have really done some good and cleared the field, alas. It'd probably be better it if there was no 2028 run for President, though.
Funny family anecdote: my grandmother (whom I do not like due to reasons) iirc voted for the milquetoast center-left LGBT marriage accepting candidate in 2018's runoff because the other candidate was Protestant and this woman is Catholic through and through. Honestly so based (for once).
Anyways, we'll see, perhaps this is just jumping the gun (which I hope so). Marco Rubio como el gusano que es is surely frothing at the mouth and chomping at the bit, the fucking bastard.
Or the Americans win quickly (at least initially, not counting an insurgency) and these fascist assholes get a rare foreign policy 'win' to trot out and distract from their fuckups at a time when the knife needs to be driven deep into their ambitions to kill American democracy completely.
Mine own country one of the biggest culprits of sucking up to the Americans to my deep shame. Point is: either America gets in a protracted war that kills civilians by galore, further destroys what remains of the shambles of Venezuela, and sends the region into a tailspin with a new migrant crisis.
Brazil and Mexico and etc. may protest (rightly) but the Venezuelan government has few real friends and many countries in the region eager to send their migrants back to Venezuela in case the regime gets overthrown, so a good chunk will just turn a blind eye. A lot are just America's lap dogs too.
If a U.S.-Venezuela conflict does rev up, and the Americans do not fuck this up more than they always do (which considering the bastards in charge is a less likely outcome), this is possibly the only conflict that has even a slight chance of not kneecapping them. There are no good outcomes really.
I wonder from a sort of detachment (to maintain sanity) who is more incompetent: the Venezuelan or the American government. On one hand we have the most kleptocratic corrupt tinpot dictatorship on the continent; on the other hand, it is still possible they give the Americans a black eye.
Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku is just so good man, feel myself grinning madly now that I'm rereading the manga from the point the anime left off of. GOATed, viva el romance!
Dandadan is just so fucking HYPEEEEEE! That ending scene lmao, anime-onlies will go nuts... Anyways, Science SARU you magnificent bastards, GOATs.
Even so, it feels a bit disheartening to not have a desk of my own so as not to study in my bed, to have to nag my father in order for him to pay his alimony (while he travels around the world), to know that things are kinda fucked back home, to eat rice by itself various times due to being broke.
It's a conundrum to be a downwardly mobile middle class person in this moment; in part it is my own pride to not accept my circumstances perhaps (like going to Subway a bit more often than needed, not helping that it is across the street). I recognize I'm still incredibly privileged, of course.
Dandadan is just so fucking good man, I felt so much cringe from Kinta but fucking hell this series never lets up, Science SARU knock it out of the park always, GOATed.
I will say, that even though I failed a Philosophy and History Seminary course in uni aborto 2 years ago, now that I'm retaking it I'm enjoying it again, led me down a rabbit hole into anarchist thought (interesting though in practice I still sustain the State), good to be an engineer w/ conscience
I instinctively understand English (tbf I was taught it from around 7 years old on); any other language I've tried to learn (unsuccessfully) is translated into Spanish (curiously I can more or less understand written Italian by its similarity to Spanish but it's also translated in my head).
What a fantastic show, they knocked it tf out
