The metro of Dominican Culture.

The metro is still not running.

The Bautista sounds like the same kind of idiot like Segura at the CDE.

what a quote ....he must know something josean does not ....josean will have to go into exile soon

Those present were treated to dance, music, lights and fireworks.

oooo

Not just those present, why is it that those type of events always end up being broadcast "ad nauseam" all over the public TV channels?

This renovation of the Trujillo era iconic construction again emphasizes show over more urgent priorities.
Although the renovation was needed and the work well performed and impressive and there is no question that it will contribute to the fostering of the arts and culture. BUT and this is a big BUT, with so many urgent priorities in the DR
relating to housing, health and education, I question the relevance and importance of investing so much money in "culture" when many Dominicans can't feed themselves, have proper health and education available to them.
What good is the renovated and spanking palace of fine arts if youngsters go to bed with an empty stomach and they are illiterate and don't complete their schooling because there is poor investment in education and public programs to
raise literacy rates?
I also note that there were some high level Cuban officials at the ceremony, what does that hint?

GENEROSO,

"with so many urgent priorities in the DR
relating to housing, health and education, I question the relevance and importance of investing so much money in "culture" when many Dominicans can't feed themselves, have proper health and education available to them."

NOW THATS THE TICKET!

YOUR BEGINING TO SOUND SENSIBLE!

I AM ALWAYS SENSIBLE, I JUST DON'T BELIEVE IN AUTHORITARIAN STATES.
The investment with Bellas Artes It's like to guy who gets a low paying job as a janitor or security guard and buys a used Cadillac to show off, same thing.
I am not blinded by political discourse and realize that every government has had their "metro",
for example Balaguer had his "Faro A Colón" a waste of huge proportions that lies wasting, Hipoloco
had his "Pan American Games" a party for rich countries that made a lot of people involved very wealthy with huge corruption schemes, a total waste that was one of the reasons for he financial disasters that followed and Leonel had his "metro". BTW I noticed that the metro had automatic stairs in the stations. Do you know how much maintenance those things need? They will work for a few months only if so and wait for the next hurricane, the metro better work under water!

generoso,


Statements like this will get you into my WILL!

"BTW I noticed that the metro had automatic stairs in the stations. Do you know how much maintenance those things need? They will work for a few months only if so and wait for the next hurricane, the metro better work under water!"

josean ran to the restroom with the hand puppet generoso when you mentioned the metro

Just because I share a few coincidences in opinion with others does not mean that I share their bias comments and below the belt critical darts against any and all things that the US does.
I believe the USA is a force for good overall. We are the most compassionate country on earth in helping other nations. And although sometimes religious fundamentalism and intolerance against
countries with limited freedom of speech cloud our better judgement, we are still today the only country in the world were other nations look up to us and want to be like us.
If you ask any Cuban, Venezuelan, North Korean, Iranian if they will like to go live in the USA,
their countries will become empty and only the fanatics will stay that are sucking in the tits of the state doing what good bureaucrats do... NOTHING and living off the public theorizing, shuffling papers, or being a "community organizer" like Barack Hussein Obama did.

generoso,

"community organizer" like Barack Hussein Obama did."

Wow and I had hopes for you!

However there are still some honorable people in the world:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10....r&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

generoso, i think you are a little reckless in your assessment of the USA as the only country in the world that everybody "looks up to, and wants to be like us". people do not go to live in the USA because they "look up to Americans". they go there to earn a living. there are folks from all over the world heading to the tar sands area of Canada, because a good living can be earned there, not because they "look up to Canada". and the hundreds of thousands of people making good money in Dubai and Saudi Arabia hate living there, but they are doing well financially. people who live in desperate circumstances, not knowing where the next meal is coming from, do not leave their countries to look for "freedom of expression, and democracy". they look for a paycheck, and they do not care where it comes from. why do you think there no lines at the american consulate in Copenhagen, seeking green cards?

Here is another example of how well Lie-onel and the PLD are giving priority to the real needs of Dominican society:

Source DR1

Students lag in problem-solving

Results of a nationwide evaluation shows the need for major changes in how Dominicans are taught. Forty-thousand first-year students at 16 universities were evaluated for the POMA/Ministry of Higher Learning (SEESCYT) study. The students showed below average problem-solving skills, but acceptable scores in language and reasoning skills. Students at the Technological Institute of Santo Domingo (INTEC), Iberoamerican University and Loyola Polytechnical Institute, UNAPEC and Instituto de Ciencias Exacts (INCE) students scored in the top five spots.
The Technological University of the South (Utesur), the Technological Institute of Eastern Cibao (ITEC) and state university (UASD) campuses outside of Santo Domingo ranked the lowest.

Continued:

The same study confirmed high school graduates are entering the university unprepared, and have not been taught to reason or solve problems in school.
Spanish educational consultant Jose Diaz Esteve, who was in charge of the study, says: "Be it a developed country or a developing country, the main objective of education needs to be to develop intellect and capacity to solve problems." He insisted there need to be major changes in how Dominicans are taught and methods developed so students can have the skills to solve personal, family and social problems.
Dominicans were most lacking in mathematics, not so in language skills.

dreadlocks;
there are two types of immigrants, one is the economic one like the ones you mentioned, escaping or looking for new economic opportunities, such as most Dominicans that emigrate to the US wanting to better their economic conditions.
The other are political immigrants escaping from persecution and oppression as well, but since the standard of living in the USA is in the majority of the cases higher than the countries where they are emigrating from it results in a net gain as well financially and a betterment of their economic condition.
But please do not compare the USA to countries like Dubai or Saudi Arabia where human and women's rights do not exist and there is limited freedom of religion and expression.
Being 'reckless" in my assessment is really not the word, realistic is more like it I mean wether you like it or not the USA is the only super power financially and militarily left in the world after the collapse of the USSR to this day. After Nov. 4 who knows?

Josean:
I was surprised after reading out loud an article in a well read morning newspaper on how few people in the DR some with advanced university studies and degrees are "functioning illiterates"
or people that can read but can not reason or present logical arguments of what they are reading.
This is really scary, because think about it, democracy and the right to vote powers are exercised
by persons that are illiterate or functioning illiterates. No wonder the patio politicians here get away with murder in the elections. And the Dominican politicians have the same scruples as drug dealers,
they could care less how many people they harm, lie and cheat because they are only after the quickest return with the least amount of work or investment.
Democracy in it's purest form was designed to be exercised by intelligent, well informed voters.
Here we have the uneducated masses with short memory that give their vote to whomever they think will do something to put more food on the t

simple statement, generoso, and i will stand by it: if by some strange twist of fate they found gold and diamonds in the DR, and everybody was guaranteed a job paying 20 dollars per hour, there would be no Dominicans left in Washington Heights to turn out the lights. so much for "looking up to America". and despite the lack of rights and freedoms, the middle east is crawling with americans, who love money enough to live with the inconveniences of the lack of personal freedom.

generoso,

"Democracy in it's purest form was designed to be exercised by intelligent, well informed voters."


Does this exist in the USA, and if so how did we end up with George W. Bush twice?

generoso, on the subject of democracy being the province of the intelligent: do you really believe that Americans are better equipped for democracy than Dominicans? do you believe that there are, proportionately, more intelligent Americans than Dominicans? i heard a woman say that Sarah Palin is qualified to be President because if you can raise 5 children you can run a country. that was not said by a Dominican, might i remind you. i have news for you: there is a very thin veneer of spectacularly intelligent Americans..then there is the pool of mediocrities. the rest are as dumb as stumps. the same as in the DR.

Republicanito Cubano with links to the CIA found guilty of assualt for trying to defend Georgie Bush's "honor" as if that were possible!

Dig the name Joseph Raymond!

Read on:

http://www.primerahora.com/notici...._punetazo_a_romero_barcelo/237813

http://www.elnuevodia.com/diario/....toricohoy/noticias/¡culpable!/471517

I never said that the US system is perfect. I meant the concept of democracy from it's Greek roots.
In the USA unlike here the voters are eons better informed when they exercise their vote. And yes there are a lot of morons out there. So what is the solution? Give persons test and licenses to see if there are qualified to vote? Allow only the educated to vote?
I mean Juan Bosch never went to school and he was a brilliant self studied writer and scholar, so he would not be allowed technically to vote.
There is something wrong with our electoral system now that only gives us few choices to exercise our voting rights, and then we get ripped off by unscrupulous politicians. The system is basically flawed. We can not give a blank check for 4 years to morons like Hipoloco that made us laugh for a while and then after a few months they were in office we were counting the days that the nightmare was going to be over. There has to be ACCOUNTABILITY there is none now.

generoso, i agree with you one hundred percent regarding the level of intellect of the electorate. i just happen to hold the belief that Americans are just as dumb as any one else. they did a survey 18 months after Katrina, and found that 12% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 could not find Louisiana on a map of the USA. or, in 2003, 78% of Americans supported the invasion of Iraq, but only 31% of americans knew where it was. thats what i am talking about. we do end up with the likes of Hippo, and Leo, because of the deficiencies in local mentality. at the same time, Americans end up with George Bush, twice!

dreadlock,

William Bennett, the Secretary of Education under Regan, who recently got a "show” on CNN to appease the right wing for their complaints of conservative bias on the network, stated that of all the subjects American Students scored the lowest on was American History!

The irony and hypocrisy is that Regan and the Republicans wanted to eliminate the Department of Education.

Americans are trained but very few are educated!

amen to that, josean. just ask the average American if he can tell you where madagascar is on the map of the world, then tell me the result.

generoso dont be bullied by anti american blowhards like josean and people who could not even get a green card they are lilliputians with complexes

I heard of Madagascar is an island of Mozambique near the African continent. What does that matter about domestic policy?
This is the whole thing wrong about the way americans choose their leaders. We require a background that can be fine picked with a electronic microscope, and then we end up with the likes of george Bush or Jimmy Carter.
Sarah Palin may not be the greatest scholar in American foreign policy and I might feel as comfortable with her running things in DC as with Barack Obama, they both are lightweights and I am sure they will surround themselves with smart scholars in case they get elected.
We can not look for the perfect fit because then neither candidate has all the necessary qualities
that the job requires. I disagree with the Obama doctrine to sit down face to face with our enemies but I also agree that things like the blockade to Cuba is not to our best interest and is about time that it should be revisited.

Chauncey,

Are you ready to apologize to the next POTUS Barack Obama like Senator McCain did today for the vicious Palin, Limbaugh, Insannity, Levin attacks?

Oh, did you hear Governor Palin broke the law in Alaska!

generoso, i have always said that being a leader has to do with disposition, not with actual knoiwledge. presidents surround themselves with competent experts, in the main. they are not expected to be masters of all subjects. but some people are suited to lead certain situations, by sheer abilities and approach. Obama might very well be a lightweight; i have never seen him as more than a great orator and motivational speaker. Sarah Palin is a small town , provincial hick, who does not have knowledge of , nor vision for, a large world. she might be good at running a town of 10,000 people, or a state where there are only two towns larger than 10,000 people. but someone who is 44 years old,and has only had a passport for a year ,is a person who has no interest in the outside world. i might be wrong on this, but i cannot say i would like to be presided over by a person who, in the year 2008, believes that man and dinosaurs roamed the earth together. what next? the earth is flat?

as to the issue of talking to enemies; what is wrong with that? Bush has this misguided idea that by meeting and talking with adversaries, you are rewarding them. but is that not what diplomacy is ? the ability to resolve differences by talking? we do not need diplomacy to deal with friends; it is our foes we need to address. and the whole issue of "preconditions" is a little presumptious. you mean that we will only talk with them if they agree to abide by a set of rules we lay out for them? do they get equal airtime to lay out preconditions for us? if not, why not? you mean that we are so above reproach that we are beyond correction? it is that kind of arrogant behaviour which has made America the world's least favorite country. it wasn't always that way, but sadly it is so today.

well said dread!

why, thank you , Josean.

you see, Josean, i find this whole "precondition" thing to be a little self serving and disingenuous. we will not talk with the cuban regime, without preconditions. we want to tell them how we would like to see them govern their country. sounds a little like bullying, since they do not give China preconditions. Saudi Arabia, and most of the middle east, for that matter, have human rights abuses which are as egregious as Cuba. these are not bastions of democracy. they are absolute monarchies which chop peoples hands off for larceny, and stone women to death for infidelity. women have to dress like bee-keepers, and are not allowed, or were not allowed until recently, to drive cars. yet members of their royal families can walk into the White House as if they own the joint. looks like double standards to me.

Talking to enemies face to face is more complicated than that. In traditional diplomatic rules the
long established diplomatic protocols are followed to the dots and comas. Which in itself is a good thing so it does not offer credibility to parias governments that are not playing by he same procedural diplomatic protocols as we are. I think we should sit face to face with all our enemies except the likes of terrorists that are wanted. Bu look even Kadaffy of Libia came around after much US pressure and Reagan dropping bombs in his backyard. But it is a slow process because naivete can legitimize and validate the propaganda aspirations of those countries for heir own selfish purposes. About Sarah Palin, the woman has guts and we can not be so much the snobbish intellectual elite with a big ego that believes we are smarter than normal, common hard working people. Some of the smartest people I have met are plain uneducated Dominican campesinos with so much practical wisdom and intuition.

The American west was won by these type of mamas that cooked, cleaned tended the farm, took care of the animals, milked the cows and in many cases shot a few indians and bandits in their spare time.
Women in America have been long discriminated and put down. Women contributed to our victory in the second world war even fighting as fighter pilots and assembly workers in war factories.
The fact that Sarah Palin is not sophisticated doesn't make her more of a dummy than Joe Biden is.
Give the women some credit, she might have some beliefs that you do not agree on, but it does not mean that she can't do a better job than Bush-Cheney have done.

generoso,

"uneducated Dominican campesino" That's me!

josean the jibarito.....you got that right

generoso sexism and ageism should be brought to the forefront as we have done with racism over the last 50 years....still to many sexist misogynist piggies out there.....they just dont get it....Sarah Palin is not eastern elitist,listen to them oink and oink

Have I ever denied it Sir Chauncey? I thought you liked the comon folk like Sarah Failin!

hey this is amazing now we have it like brand new!! :D

for the idiots that talk shit about our metro i need to advise the metro will start operating this next mouth!! so STFU!!

Oh my God the septic tank is overflowing again!

generoso, i have no beef with the so called"joe sixpack" i just do not think countries should be ruled by them, because they are folksy, and fun to have a beer with. running countries in these trying times is work for the brightest and the best. seriously, how many world leaders do you believe are out there who think that dinosaurs roamed the earth 6000 years ago? do you want a woman who believes in spells cast by witch doctors to run the USA? actuarial tables give McCain a 30% chance of not finishing out his term of office. you want to see this lady dealing with Putin? as an aside, do you not find it a little hilarious when she makes reference to Bill Ayers, when she is married to a guy who belonged to the American Independence Party, a secessionist outfit formed by gold miner Joe Vogel, who refused to be buried under the American flag? a guy who was sponsored by the Islamic Republic of Iran to speak before the United Nations, pleading Alaskas right to secede?

Written by: dreadlocks,

78% of Americans supported the invasion of Iraq, but only 31% of americans knew where it was. thats what i am talking about. we do end up with the likes of Hippo, and Leo, because of the deficiencies in local mentality. at the same time, Americans end up with George Bush, twice!

Boy did you hit the nail on the head "Dreadlocks"

I won't argue politics but as far as the USA along with other highly developed nations it alomst seems like we are deevolving. It is a lack of dicipline thats starrts at the cradle. I know when I was going to school the teacher would smack us with a ruler and forced us to pay attention and learn..

I always wondered how people from my generation would run the country with so few brain cells left from the 60's and 70's. I guess we are finding out the hard way.
Maybe the meek will inherit the earth.

This isn't my view but parts of it are valid.
http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=74898

Chauncey say it ain't so,

"Sarah took money from the taxpayers of Alaska for going to a "Moose Dropping Festival!"

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/6052272.html

Chauncey,

They GOP is falling apart!

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/n....ccain_obama_personal_attacks.html

josean soon the Metro will be running.....and it will be a success ...and you and the other whining weanies will still be losers....victims again

Chauncey,

Shouldn't you be out getting votes for your NOSE DIVING Republicans rather than making a ridicule of yourself with childish posts?

josean it is being called the Metro of Culture.....how do you like them apples?

Just like Republicans saying the fundamentals of the economy are Sound!