Newley Purnell

I’ve been remiss in mentioning the fine friends of mine I’ve seen since I’ve been back in the USSA. It’s been about three weeks since I returned from Taiwan, and I’ve had the pleasure of catching up with (in relatively chronological order, excluding family members):

In Augusta, GA: Jordan M. and her betrothed, Charles M.; Karl W.;

In Beaufort, SC: Bill F.; Tim, Lea and Tanner M.;

In DC**: Jack W.*, Chad C.*, Wendy H.*, Jen (surname unknown)*, David S., Chris D.*, Sheila B.*, Jen D., Chris H., Bethanne F., Brendon S., Chuck A., Carol S., Andy B., David L., Joanna (surname unknown)***

(*many thanks to these individuals for letting me sleep on their couches/spare beds while I’m homeless and looking for apartments.)

(**I know I’m forgetting some people. I just know it.)

(***Are you a friend of mine I’ve talked to on the phone but haven’t actually seen? Mad about it? Save your hate mail: I’ll see you soon and you can buy me a drink to atone for your unfounded anger.)

The chaos continues in Ecuador.

Washington Post: “Radio Is Blamed For Unrest In Ecuador: Small FM Station Is Fomenting Protests, Officials Contend.”

AP: “Ecuador’s Embattled President Says He Won’t Quit Despite Growing Demonstrations.”

And the Miami Herald has a nice profile of Ecuador’s ex-president Abdala Bucaram:

“It’s easy to see what makes people uncomfortable about Abdalá Bucaram, the former president at the heart of a political firestorm that has sparked street protests against current President Lucio Gutiérrez.

The man who has long referred to himself as ”El Loco” is frank and often crude. He eats his food with a spoon and says he admires lesbians because they love the most beautiful creatures on Earth: women. He compares himself to boxer Mike Tyson and boasts that he can knock down political challengers with his tongue alone.”

(Emphasis mine. Although, what the hell–what’s wrong with eating with a spoon? It’s not like people use chopsticks in Ecuador.)

Here’s the latest on the situation in Ecuador:

Miami Herald: “After a long and confusing special session, Ecuador’s Congress has hashed out new legislation with one clear impact: The country is without a Supreme Court, and may remain so for days or even weeks to come.”

AFP: “In an interview with foreign journalists earlier on Sunday, Gutierrez insisted he had no plans to step down, saying only 1 percent of Quito residents would favor such an outcome.

But Gutierrez hinted that a lost battle of the judiciary could pave the way for his departure.

‘Only if my efforts to depoliticize the courts fail will it be possible for me to consider what you are asking me about,’ he said.”

AP: QUITO, Ecuador Apr 18, 2005 — Chanting “Lucio, get out,” a river of demonstrators poured into the streets of Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city, Monday night to demand that President Lucio Gutierrez step down, as anti-government protests spread from Quito, the capital.”

Also includes this nice nugget summarizing the problems:

“The court crisis was set in motion in November when the former justices sided with opposition politicians in a failed effort to impeach Gutierrez on corruption charges. Gutierrez then assembled a bloc of 52 lawmakers in the 100-seat unicameral Congress, which voted in December to remove the judges.

Political tensions reached a boiling point after the return earlier this month of former President Abdala Bucaram to Ecuador following a Supreme Court ruling that cleared him of corruption charges. Gutierrez’s opponents charge he cut a deal with Bucaram to stack the Supreme Court in his favor as payback for key votes Bucaram’s political party provided blocking the impeachment drive in Congress.”

Reuters: “Ecuador’s opposition parties in Congress will try to oust President Lucio Gutierrez formeddling in the country’s courts, congressional leaders said onMonday as thousands protested against the government.”

New York Times: “The Ecuadorean Congress, trying to neutralize the political tumult threatening President Lucio Gutiérrez’s rule, dismissed the interim Supreme Court’s 31 judges in a raucous special session late Sunday night.
…
‘This does not resolve the crisis,’ said Fernando Bustamante, a political science professor at San Francisco University in Quito. ‘It lowers the tensions, but it shows there’s a vacuum for the rule of law.'”

It’s funny. I’ve prematurely announced Ecuadorian President Lucio Gutierrez’s imminent demise many times before. And despite his most recent troubles–which are enumerated in this impressive Weblog post, as well as in this NY Times piece–I just don’t feel it in my bones this time. But I could be wrong. Just ask Jordan L. about pissing in the winds of Ecuadorian politics.

Somehow I fear this hat will not be a commercial success.

RideAccidents.com “is the world’s single most comprehensive, detailed, updated, accurate, and complete source of amusement ride accident reports and related news.”

No word as to whether or not the site’s done by the fine folks at Bus Plunge.

Investor’s Business Daily: “…Now blogs are moving beyond personal musings and taking on a new role: corporate communications. A growing number of businesses are using the blog format to promote products, interact with customers and shareholders, conduct market research and distribute company announcements.”

This is exciting stuff; I’m really interested to see if organizations can use Weblogs to disseminate information and control their messages. Particularly nonprofits, since the Web is the perfect medium for cheap, grassroots-level communication. Corporations are starting to catch on; after all, Micro$oft has their own blog-enabled intellectual dancing monkey–er, “technical evangelist”–on their payroll.

Communicating via cell phone-to-cell phone text messages is huge in Taiwan, and I miss “texting” here. Will the practice, which is hugely popular in Europe and Asia, ever catch on in the US? Here’s a 2003 Economist article that addresses the question.