Eideard

President Fernandez’ supporters reacting to the good news
Daylife/Reuters Pictures used by permission

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez never had cancer despite being diagnosed with the disease last month and having her thyroid gland removed on January 4…

The government announced just after Christmas that the recently re-elected leader had thyroid cancer. The operation to remove the gland went well, but when it was later analyzed it turned out to have never contained cancerous cells, said spokesman Alfredo Scoccimaro…

Fernandez was originally diagnosed with papillary carcinoma.

Buenos Aires-based thyroid cancer expert Eduardo Faure, who is not on the president’s medical team, said a small number of such cases turn out to be “false positives,” meaning that no cancer is present. “The cells may originally appear to be cancer but in 2 percent of cases, after the operation, when a more thorough examination can be performed, it turns out they are not,” the doctor said in an interview.

“This result was always within the realm of possibility. It does not mean that the original diagnosis was mistaken.”

Several hundred Fernandez supporters had camped out near the hospital where she was treated, carrying banners that said “Strength Cristina.” A cheer went up from the crowd when Scoccimaro made the announcement…

Vice President Amado Boudou, the former economy minister and a loyal Fernandez ally, assumed the presidency this week during Fernandez’s scheduled 20-day leave of absence.

OK – I was ready to bust some chops in the medical profession over this one. The fact is – this result is always within the realm of possibility.

One of those checkups led me to a bit of skin surgery for something that looked more advanced than pre-cancerous – and the drill was to remove it altogether – and check it afterwards more thoroughly. It came out non-cancerous and I was happy. Happy also to have had the walk-in surgery.

Dakar 2012 has a new twist for the competitors in all four classes: Bike, Car, Quad and Truck. Instead of the past routes taking them through Argentina to Chile and back, Peru has been added to make the event a coast-to-coast adventure in South America. In addition to the new route, one of the top teams in recent years has withdrawn. It is not surprising that changes occur to what is one of the most demanding endurance events: The Dakar!

The first Dakar was the brainstorm of Thierry Sabine who discovered that the changing landscape in Africa offered a unique challenge. He was lost during a rally event in Africa and upon his return to France, Sabine proceeded to design a rally raid that would start in Europe on a route to Algiers before crossing the Agadez and would take the challengers to Dakar.

Sabine commented on his idea that it would be “a challenge for those who go. A dream for those who stay behind.” Since the first event in 1978, the Paris to Dakar rally has seen changes and the start moved over the years. No matter its start, the ending was at Dakar until the organizers deemed it unsafe due to terrorists’ attacks in the African Continent and they cancelled the Dakar in 2008…

In 2009, the new route in South America became the “Dakar”. Argentina and Chile were the host countries but for the 2012 edition, Peru has been added to the 2012 route that over a 30 year span has seen 27 countries become a host nation for the legendary rally raid event. The historic event this New Year will cover territory in three countries with roads from soft sand to rocky trails. The route will take the competitors across the Andes mountains, the deserts, the rivers and, of course, a variety of sand dunes…

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James Peck with President Kirchner after receiving Argentine ID

Amid renewed tensions over the sovereignty of the islands, the Prime Minister told the House of Commons on Wednesday that they should remain British for as long as the inhabitants want to “full stop, end of story.”

His comments provoked a strong backlash in Argentina, where Mrs Kirchner has until the end of next week to confirm that she will run for a second term when the presidential election takes place in October this year.

Despite her refusal to announce her candidacy so far, it is almost universally assumed that she will run with her populist policies on issues such as the Falklands seen as key to maintaining her high approval ratings.

“In the 21st century, [Britain] continues to be a crude colonial power in decline, because colonialism is out-of-date as well as unjust,” she said.

Mrs Kirchner added that Mr Cameron’s comments, in response to a question from Andrew Rosindell, the Tory MP, showed “mediocrity bordering on stupidity…”

Mrs Kirchner met Ban Ki-Moon, the UN Secretary-General, in Buenos Aires at the start of the week and urged him to press Britain to agree to negotiate on the Falklands.

The following day James Peck, the son of a former Falklands chief of police who was awarded an MBE for fighting with British forces who forced the Argentines to surrender, became the first person born on the Islands to renounce his British passport for an Argentine ID card.

David Cameron says much that is properly characterized as “mediocrity bordering on stupidity”. This is just the latest. There may as well be a weekly column in each British newspaper dedicated to the week’s apologies from the government for his insensitivity, incompetence and foolishness.

He’s rapidly becoming the Brits equivalent to George W. Bush.

Global differences between evaporation and precipitation

Salt is essential to human life. Most people don’t know, however, that salt — in a form nearly the same as the simple table variety — is just as essential to Earth’s ocean, serving as a critical driver of key ocean processes. While ancient Greek soothsayers believed they could foretell the future by reading the patterns in sprinkled salt, today’s scientists have learned that they can indeed harness this invaluable mineral to foresee the future — of Earth’s climate.

The oracles of modern climate science are the computer models used to forecast climate change. These models, which rely on a myriad of data from many sources, are effective in predicting many climate variables, such as global temperatures. Yet data for some pieces of the climate puzzle have been scarce, including the concentration of dissolved sea salt at the surface of the world’s ocean, commonly called ocean surface salinity, subjecting the models to varying margins of error. This salinity is a key indicator of how Earth’s freshwater moves between the ocean, land and atmosphere.

Enter Aquarius, a new NASA salinity-measurement instrument slated for launch in June 2011 aboard the SAC-D spacecraft built by Argentina’s CONAE. Aquarius’ high-tech, salt-seeking sensors will make comprehensive measurements of ocean surface salinity with the precision needed to help researchers better determine how Earth’s ocean interacts with the atmosphere to influence climate. It’s a mission that promises to be, to quote the old saying, “worth its salt…”

Density-driven ocean circulation, according to Gary Lagerloef, is controlled as much by salinity as by ocean temperature. Sea salt makes up only 3.5 percent of the world’s ocean, but its relatively small presence reaps huge consequences.

Salinity influences the very motion of the ocean and the temperature of seawater, because the concentration of sea salt in the ocean’s surface mixed layer — the portion of the ocean that is actively exchanging water and heat with Earth’s atmosphere — is a critical driver of these ocean processes. It’s the missing variable in understanding the link between the water cycle and ocean circulation. Specifically, it’s an essential metric to modeling precipitation and evaporation…

Until now, researchers had taken ocean salinity measurements from aboard ships, buoys and aircraft – but they’d done so using a wide range of methods across assorted sampling areas and over inconsistent times from one season to another. Because of the sparse and intermittent nature of these salinity observations, researchers have not been able to fine-tune models to obtain a true global picture of how ocean surface salinity is influencing the ocean. Aquarius promises to resolve these deficiencies, seeing changes in ocean surface salinity consistently across space and time and mapping the entire ice-free ocean every seven days for at least three years.

RTFA. The advance work has been accomplished, sensors and data collection have been tuned. Now the task of collecting data will begin with the launch of Aquarius, this month.

Cristina and Monica

An immigration judge has agreed to delay the deportation of a Queens woman until the legal status of the Defense of Marriage Act becomes clearer.

Monica Alcota faced return to Argentina even though she’s married to an American citizen, Cristina Ojeda – because the feds don’t give immigration benefits to gay couples.

President Obama announced last month that the White House won’t defend the 1996 law that bars recognition of same-sex marriages. That gave Ojeda and Alcota new hope that Alcota, who overstayed a tourist visa, might be approved to stay in the U.S.

Judge Terry Bain put a hold on her deportation order while the couple waits to see if the Defense of Marriage Act is overturned and their green card application goes through.

“She could have said no,” Ojeda said. “But instead she gave us time…”

“I was very pleased that both the judge and the government attorney treated the issue with seriousness and respect,” said their lawyer, Lavi Soloway. “I think it was a demonstration of respect for Monica and Cristina and their marriage. They were kind and generous about it.”

Phew. Most sensible folks await the end of DOMA and other crap laws designed to prevent civil rights.

Meanwhile, our best wishes to Monica and Cristina.

Nasser Al-Attiyah (R), co-driver Timo Gottschalk (L) and VW team manager Chris Niessen
Daylife/Getty Images used by permission

Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah described winning his first Dakar Rally title as “the biggest moment in my career” following Saturday’s final stage of the testing endurance race.

Carlos Sainz won the 13th leg into Buenos Aires from Cordoba to extend his career record of stage wins to 24, but the defending car champion finished third overall behind South African Giniel De Villiers as their Volkswagen team filled the podium.

The 40-year-old Al-Attiyah was delighted following his second-place finish last year, and a disqualification in 2009.
“It means a lot to win a Dakar, for me, for my people, for my country and for my team,” he told the race’s official website after finishing second in the final stage to head off De Villiers by almost 50 minutes.

“It is a great victory. It’s hard to explain everything that goes through your head. But it is a very nice feeling. We demonstrated that we have the strongest team in the world. It is the third time the team has won a Dakar.

I’m the primo maniac in a family of Dakar nuts. It’s the singular form of motorsports that brings together the greatest portion of our extended family.

I’ve been a Carlos Sainze fan for many years; but, I’ve followed Al-Attiyah’s progression through the ranks – mostly driving as a BMW privateer. It’s truly satisfying to watch and witness his first win in the Dakar.

Carlos Sainz and co-driver Lucas Cruz [L] wave from their Touareg diesel Volkswagen
Daylife/AP Photo used by permission

Thousands of spectators turned out to cheer on competitors in the 2011 Dakar Rally as the historic race got underway in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Saturday.

The 15-day race will see 407 vehicles (of 430 original entries) embark on a grueling 13 stages and attempt to cover a distance of 9,500 kilometers before crossing the finish line back in the Argentine capital on January 15.

A total of 140 cars, 170 motorbikes, 67 lorries and 30 quadbikes started stage one of the race from the Buenos Aires’ Avenue of July 9. All competitors are heading northwest to Victoria, in the Argentine province of Entre Rios, 377 kilometer away.

The race will begin in earnest on Sunday with the second stage to Cordoba…

American fans can follow the race via daily reports on the Versus TV channel. It’s carried 2 or 3 times a day. Kickoff is 10PM, Sunday night.

The rally which began in 1978 was traditionally held in Europe and Africa. But after concerns about terrorism forced the cancellation of the 2008, the rally was relocated to Argentina and Chile the following year.

Last year’s winner in the car race, Spain’s Carlos Sainz — driving for Volkswagen Motorsport — is back to defend his title, but he’ll face a stiff challenge from the likes of Nasser al-Attiyah from Qatar and Mark Miller from the United States.

Rock on, Carlos!

Two prisoners have escaped from a prison in Argentina after guards placed a dummy with a football for a head in the watch tower because of a shortage of manpower.

The two men, Walter Pozo and Cesar Andres, leapt over a wire fence before scaling the perimeter wall and making their escape unnoticed by the remaining guards.

Prison workers said that a shortage of staff meant they were only able to man two of the 15 guard towers so they had to resort to using a stand in. A prison source said: “We’ve made a dummy out of a football and a prison officer’s cap, so that the prisoner see its shadow and think they’re being watched.”

“We named him Wilson, like in the film Cast Away, and put him in one of the towers,” the man told the Diario Rio Negro newspaper, referring to the Tom Hanks film in which his character invents a volleyball character for company.

The source said that the video cameras monitoring the perimeter wall had stopped working some months ago. He said that he hoped the incident would alert the authorities to the problems with lack of resources and that politicians would act to improve the conditions.

Both had been serving out sentences for armed robbery at the jail in Argentina’s Neuquén province. The escaped convicts, who were nearing the end of their sentences so were being held in a part of the prison with fewer security measures, have not yet been recaptured.

The casual quality of life in most Latin cultures has long been celebrated. Especially – sometimes – by crooks willing to show a bit more initiative than their guards.

Mexico City’s tourism minister Thursday offered a free honeymoon to the first gay couple to wed in Argentina after that country made Latin American history by legalizing same-sex marriages.

The offer was “in recognition of tolerance, but also to promote gay friendly tourism in Mexico City,” said Alejandro Rojas, according to a statement…

Authorities in the Mexican capital, which legalized gay marriage last year, offered air tickets for the first couple to benefit from the Argentine law, and was seeking sponsorship from hotels and restaurants in Mexico City and the beach resort of Cancun, Rojas said.

Around 15 percent of world tourism — 150 million tourists per year — is gay friendly, while gay tourists are discerning, respectful and spend 47 percent more than heterosexual tourists, Rojas added.

Mexico City approved gay marriage and opened the way for adoptions last December, provoking a wave of uproar from religious groups and conservatives including President Felipe Calderon [and other ignorant homophobes].

Mexico City’s leftist government has pioneered liberal legislation in the past 13 years, including the decriminalization of abortion in 2007.

Our native racists used to attempt their brand of “humor” when the civil rights movement offered anti-discriminatory legislation. Often saying – like today’s Tea Party hypocrites – you can’t legislate us into loving you.

The same applies to ordinary human beings who happen to be homosexual vs. homophobic bigots.

Viva Argentina!
Daylife/AP Photo used by permission

Argentina has become the first Latin American country to let gay couples marry and adopt children, defying Catholic opposition to join the ranks of a few mostly European nations with similar laws.

Argentina’s Senate passed a gay marriage law early on Thursday following more than 14 hours of charged debate, as hundreds of demonstrators rallied outside the Congress in near-freezing temperatures. Senators voted 33-27 for the proposal, with three abstentions.

“We’re now a fairer, more democratic society. This is something we should all celebrate,” Maria Rachid, a leading gay rights activist, said as supporters of the law hugged each other and jumped up and down after the vote.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez supports gay marriage on human rights grounds and is expected to sign the law after her return from a state visit to China. The proposal cleared Argentina’s lower house in May…

A nominally Roman Catholic country, Argentina is now at the vanguard of gay rights in the region…

“Just like with divorce, women’s right to vote and civil marriage, with the passage of time we’ll be able to appreciate the benefits of this law,” Senator Eugenio Artaza told local television.

The nation where I live still bans my gay friends from sharing the simplest of civil rights – marriage. As does the state – New Mexico.

One more instance of religion interfering with government in defiance of our constitution.