hedge fund
noun
plural noun: hedge funds
a limited partnership of investors that uses high risk methods, such as investing with borrowed money, in hopes of realizing large capital gains.
This is a huge crisis in Puerto Rico now.
The Island is financially broke.
The help it’s receiving from the “master” isn’t really helping.
It’s just setting the stage for continued pillage.
This may sound good but it really isn’t.
~House approves Puerto Rico debt-relief legislation~
The House on Thursday passed a bill that would create a financial control board to help Puerto Rico handle its finances, and let the island restructure some of its $70 billion in debt. The bipartisan 297-127 vote marked a victory for House Speaker Paul Ryan, who had urged conservative fellow Republicans to help pass the bill to keep the crisis from deepening.
Puerto Rico is due to make a $2 billion debt payment in three weeks.
“The Puerto Rican people are our fellow Americans,” Ryan said. “They pay our taxes, they fight in our wars. We cannot allow this to happen.”
This “JUNTA’S” real purpose is to make sure that the debtors are paid.
No real interest in the benefits of progress of Puerto Rico and it’s people.
How Hedge Funds Deepen Puerto Rico’s Debt Crisis
Vulture investors have descended on the commonwealth, taking advantage of a debt crisis that has impoverished citizens and created massive unemployment.
By: David Dayen
In many ways, the Puerto Rico situation is sui generis, resulting from a patchwork of laws and obligations on an entity that is not really a country and not really a U.S. state. But looked at another way, Puerto Rico is just the latest battlefield for a phalanx of hedge funds called “vultures,” which pick at the withered sinews of troubled governments.
In Greece, Argentina, Detroit, and now Puerto Rico, vultures have bought distressed debt on the cheap, and then used coercion, threats, and legal action to secure a massive windfall, compounding the effects on millions of citizens.
The legal wrangling masks an irony: As creditors demand that Puerto Rico pay back everything it owes, hedge fund managers have used the island as a tax haven to avoid their own responsibilities. Wealthy investors don’t just want to make money in Puerto Rico; they want to use their leverage to effectively buy an island playground.
~Hedge Funds Bringing Poverty And Suffering To Places Like Puerto Rico~
Greed 101
~Published on Jun 10, 2016~
They’re called “vulture funds” and they make a killing off of places like Puerto Rico — sometimes literally.
ABOUT BRAVE NEW FILMS
Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films are at the forefront of the fight to create a just America. Using new media and internet video campaigns, Brave New Films has created a quick-strike capability that informs the public, challenges corporate media with the truth, and motivates people to take action on social issues nationwide. Brave New Films’ investigative films have scrutinized the impact of U.S. drone strikes; the prosecution if whistleblowers; and Wal Mart’s corporate practices.
David Bisbal Ferré (born in Almería, Spain on June 5, 1979) is a Latin Grammy-winning Spanish pop singer, songwriter, actor. He gained his initial fame as a runner up on the interactive reality television show Operación Triunfo.
He has since released five studio albums, all of which topped the Spanish Albums Chart, in addition to recording a number of live albums.
He has toured throughout Europe and Latin America and is now considered to be a crossover international artist.
As of 2012, David Bisbal has sold more than 5 million records in Spain and America, getting 42 Platinum albums, 17 gold and 2 diamond.
‘Corazón Latino‘ and ‘Bulería‘ treasure each one IFPI Platinum Award, official certification for selling over 1 million copies across Europe.
David Bisbal was born on June 5, 1979 in Almería (Spain), son of José Bisbal, a professional boxer and part of a trio of flamenco music, and Maria Ferré. He is the youngest of three siblings, a brother named José María and a sister named María del Mar. He loved to perform in public. As a child, Bisbal showed a talent for performing, but was always very shy about doing so.
María Laura Corradini Falomir, popularly known as Chenoa (born June 25, 1975 in Mar del Plata, Argentina, but raised in Majorca, Spain) is an Argentine-Spanish female music artist who became successful after appearing on the TV contest Operación Triunfo. Her music style could be described as pop. Most of her music is in Spanish, although a few tracks on some albums were recorded in English.
Although her albums are not readily available in the U.S. record shelves as they are in Spain and Latin America, they can be found on the Internet. She has sold more than 1,000,000 records since 2002.
Chenoa was born in Mar del Plata, Argentina on June 25, 1975, although her family moved to Majorca, Spain, when she was eight. She grew up in a musical family; both parents were musicians who used to sing in hotels at live music shows. At the age of 16, Chenoa began to sing professionally, taking part in her parents’ show. When her mother fell ill, Chenoa had to stand in for her. Her fathers family is of Italian descent and her maternal grandmother is Lebanese.
Freedom to Marry’s Roadmap to Victory is the three track strategy to end marriage discrimination in the United States. Since 2004 a growing number of states and the District of Columbia have ended same sex couple exclusion from marriage. By winning more states, we’ll prove that families are helped and no one is harmed. Marriage matters to gay families and together we’ll transform momentum by asking our friends and family to stand for the Freedom to Marry.
Slovenia became the first Central European country to pass marriage equality
On March 3, HRC commended the government of Slovenia for passing legislation that will make it the 21st nation to grant full marriage rights to all of its citizens.
“We commend the elected representatives of Slovenia for passing such historic legislation ensuring the nation’s LGBT citizens receive the rights they deserve, and we congratulate the LGBT activists and advocates who helped make this momentous day possible,”
said Ty Cobb, Director of HRC Global.
Slovenia’s national parliament approved the bill by a vote of 51 to 28. The bill will be sent to President Borut Pahor to sign into law.
Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark,France, Iceland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Uruguay, as well as England and Wales in the United Kingdom, have marriage equality laws that have gone into effect. In addition, Finland is set to extend full marriage rights to their LGBT citizens in the coming year.
The situation for LGBT people around the world varies widely, as some countries embrace equality, while in others, LGBT people continue to suffer from discrimination, persecution and violence.
Same-sex conduct is criminalized in 76 countries
In 10 countries same-sex conduct is punishable by death
So-called anti-LGBT “propaganda” laws inhibit LGBT advocacy in three countries
Same-sex marriage licenses are issued nationwide in 21 countries
In 2014 there were over 200 documented reports of transgender people murdered in 28 countries.
There continue to be countless undocumented cases of violence against transgender people throughout the world.
GOOGLE has marked Lunar New Year with a Doodle on its homepage.
The animation shows a ram head-butting a tree until a bee flies out – causing firecrackers to go off and a series of fireworks to spell out “Google“.
This refers to the Chinese celebration of Lunar New Year, which marks today as the beginning of the Year of the Ram.
Chinese New Year is not only celebrated in China.
It is also observed in countries with significant Chinese populations, such as Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines.
~~GALLERY~~
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There is some confusion over whether 2015 is in fact the Year of the Ram, or whether it is actually dedicated to the sheep or the goat.
This is because in Mandaring ‘yang’, meaning ‘horned animal’, covers all three – so nobody is sure which one it really is.
In Chinese culture the color red is considered lucky.
So the Lunar New Year is celebrated by decorating windows and doors with red colored Chinese paper cuttings, as well as couplets with themes of ‘good fortune’, ‘happiness’, ‘wealth’ or ‘longevity’.
~~Lunar New Year – Google Doodle 2015~~
~~Published on Feb 18, 2015~~
Lunar New Year – Google Doodle – Thursday, February 19 – Lunar New Year 2015 Google Doodle!
Google celebrates Lunar New Year 2015 with an animated Google Doodle in the following countries:
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong, Kenya, Laos, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom and United States.
The 2014 FIFA World Cup is the 20th FIFA World Cup, a tournament for the men’s football world championship, that is currently taking place in Brazil.
It began on 12 June, with a group stage, and is scheduled to conclude on 13 July with the final. It is the second time that Brazil has hosted the competition, the first being in 1950. Brazil was elected unchallenged as host nation in 2007 after the international football federation, FIFA, decreed that the tournament would be staged in South America for the first time since 1978 in Argentina, and the fifth time overall.
The national teams of 31 countries advanced through qualification competitions that began in June 2011 to participate with the host nation Brazil in the final tournament. A total of 64 matches are being played in 12 cities across Brazil in either new or redeveloped stadiums. For the first time at a World Cup finals, match officials are using goal-line technology, as well as vanishing foam for free kicks.
With the host country, all world champion teams since the first World Cup in 1930 – Argentina, England, France, Germany (who won three times as West Germany), Italy, Spain and Uruguay – have qualified for this competition. Spain were the title holders, having defeated the Netherlands 1–0 in the 2010 final to win their first World Cup but they were eliminated after losses in the first two matches at the group stage against Chile and the Netherlands. All seven previous World Cup tournaments staged in the Americas (four in South America and three in North America) were won by South American teams.
I am not much into sports. I must confess I don’t know anything about this one. It’s all over the TV. You can see excited spectators everywhere: online, on the news, in the blogosphere.
I must say, I do like the music.
Pitbull sings with Brazilian songstress Claudia Leitte and Jennifer Lopez.
I saw a post somewhere talking about one of the songs written for the FIFA World Cup 2014 and someone asked who Pitbull was.
Here they are!
Are you feeling that futbol fever and yearning for some hot Latin fire?
Well, you’re in luck because Jennifer Lopez and Mr. Worldwide Pitbull performed their song “We Are One” at the opening ceremony for the FIFA World Cup 2014 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Marking the official start of the sexy soccer extravaganza, Brazilian songstress Claudia Leitte, who fluffed up the crowd in anticipation for J-Lo and Pit’s arrival, joined the two pop stars.
J-to-the-L-O, donned in a sexy green leotard, and Pitbull, who is wearing pants that some might call a little too fitted, gave a lively and joyous performance to say the least.
It features guest vocals from American entertainer Jennifer Lopez and Brazilian singer Claudia Leitte. The song was written by Pitbull, Thomas Troelsen, Lopez, Leitte, Daniel Murcia, Sia Furler, Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald, Henry “Cirkut” Walter and RedOne, while production was handled by Gottwald, Walter, and Troelsen. Whilst receiving positive reviews from critics, the song has received some negative reactions from Brazilians over its lack of Brazilian feeling. “We Are One” has experienced moderate commercial success, reaching the top-twenty in countries including Italy, Spain, Germany, France and Austria.
Loren Rex Cameron (born 1959) is an Americanphotographer, author and transsexualactivist. His work includes portraiture and self-portraiture which consist of lesbian and transsexual bodies in both clothed and nude form.
Cameron’s photography captures images of the transsexual body that “provide an affirming visual resource for transgendered people and to demystify the transsexual body for the non-transgendered viewer.”
From the age of 16, Cameron was sexually and socially identifying as a lesbian. It was in 1987 that Cameron began his transition from female to male. He began his photography career in 1993 as he documented his process of becoming a man. As Cameron began to take pictures of his own transformation, he began to photograph other transsexuals.
His work includes portraiture and self-portraiture which consist of lesbian and transsexual bodies. Heralded as groundbreaking and stunning, his book Body Alchemy: Transsexual Portraits has been regarded as a seminal contribution. It has been critically acclaimed worldwide and in 1996 received numerous certificates of recognition, including two Lambda Literary awards.
~~Biography~~
Loren Rex Cameron was born in Pasadena, California in 1959. He moved to rural Arkansas in 1969 after his mother’s death, where he lived as a self-described tomboy on his father’s farm. By the age of sixteen, Cameron identified both sexually and socially as a lesbian and encountered homophobic hostility in the small town where he lived. At this time, Cameron quit school and left his home to travel the country seeking work as a construction laborer and other blue collar employment.
In 1979, he moved to the San Francisco Bay Area where he identified socially with the lesbian community until the age of twenty-six, when he confronted his dissatisfaction with the female body with which he was born.
Cameron’s interest in photography coincided with the beginning of his physical changes as he documented his own physiological transition from female to male at this time. Despite his lack of formal training, beginning in 1993 Cameron studied the rudiments of photography and began to compassionately photograph the transsexual community.
Since 1994, he has given lectures on his work at universities, educational conferences and art institutes.
By 1995, Cameron’s photographs had been shown in solo exhibitions in San Francisco, Minneapolis, a Los Angeles.
~~Works~~
Loren Rex Cameron’s photography and writing was first published by Cleis Press in 1996. Body Alchemy: Transsexual Portraits, documented Cameron’s personal experience of transition from female to male, his life as a man, and the everyday lives of transmen he knew. Body Alchemy was received with much positive acclaim and became a double 1996 Lambda Literary Award winner. It remains his most well-known work to date, though he has since published other photographic works.
His first published works (Body Alchemy and Man Tool: The Nuts and Bolts of Female-to-Male Surgery) consists largely of self-portraits, FTM body modifications, and portraits of other female to male transsexuals. More recently published work is a diverse and unprecedented representation of both female and male transsexuals, portraits and classical nudes (Body Photographs by Loren Cameron Volume 1 and 2, and Cameron Correspondence 1997-2003, Taller Experimental Cuerpos Pintados 2003).
A photographic project focuses on the sexuality of gay FTMs.
Lambda Literary Award Nominee, Best Photography Category, 1997
Inaugural Pride Award FTM Intl., 1997
Lambda Literary Award, 1996
~~Quote~~
“What was initially a crude documentation of my own personal journey quickly evolved into an impassioned mission. Impulsively, I began to photograph other transsexuals that I knew, feeling compelled to make images of their emotional and physical triumphs. I was fueled by my need to be validated and wanted, in turn, to validate them. I wanted the world to see us, I mean, really see us.”
BODY ALCHEMY: TRANSSEXUAL PORTRAITS
Photographs by Loren Cameron
From it’s striking cover, Body Alchemy grabs you and won’t let go until you’ve delved into the mysteries revealed by beautiful photographs and succinct text presented in a tastefully artful setting. This is, quite simply, a gorgeous book, on a subject so unconventional it boggles the mind. Caught within it’s pages, held lovingly and presented honestly, without undue trappings, are the boldest of a new generation of transsexual men. These are people born into “female” bodies, who are living as men at least some of the time, and changing their bodies to suit their desires. Just as bodybuilders sculpt their bodies to fit their personal aesthetic, so too do transsexuals mold their bodies around an ideal, though for these folks the ideal is not about muscle or fitness, but rather gender.Photographer Loren Cameron also serves as a subject for about one third of the book. He is obviously a man who works out, and his body as photographed is about as pleasing as I can imagine, for that of a man. His animal-like tattoos create an effect like that of a caged beast, virile and potent. On the cover, he is posed in what I took at first to be a “muscle man” pose, but which, on closer inspection, turned out to be a shot of him injecting himself with a syringe in the upper buttock. What at first appeared a pose, becomes instead a riveting testimony to both suffering and strength. It also establishes a level of tension that heightens the subject matter.Loren makes a fascinating subject. In some of the shots he seems fierce, projecting determination and anger. He admits to the anger that rises so easily as a result of the testosterone injections, of more frequent fights, of the struggle to contain the beast within. He writes engagingly of his relationships and feelings, and left me wanting more. He avoids self-indulgence, instead showing the many faces of a whole, healthy person.
Full read/Full Credit for this section: http://www.gendertalk.com/articles/oped/bodyalch.shtml
~~Loren Rex Cameron is not the only one~~
This is a reality which occurs more frequently that we think. It may be now that is discussed as openly as you see here.
Still the stigma of this “condition” continues unabated.
Here is a video and list of world famous men who were born female.
~~World Famous Men, who were born as female~~
~~Published on Oct 2, 2012~~
~World Famous Men who born as female~
~~Balian Buschbaum~~
Balian Buschbaum was born in 1980 as Yvonne Buschbaum, and he is a former German pole vaulter. Though he was the second best female pole vaulter in Germany, in 2007 Buschbaum announced his retirement due to a persistent injury. He also expressed his desire to begin gender reassignment therapy. In 2008 he officially changed his name and underwent gender reassignment surgery to become a man.
~~Buck Angel~~
Adult film maker and transsexual Buck Angel is an icon in the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community. Buck was the 2007 winner of the Adult Video News Award “Transsexual Performer of the Year”. He currently works as an advocate, educator, lecturer and writer, and runs his own production company.
~~Loren Cameron~~
Loren Rex Cameron is an American photographer, author and transsexual activist. His work includes portraiture and self-portraiture which consist of lesbian and transsexual bodies; he documented his own physiological transition from female to male. Cameron’s photography captures images of the transsexual body that “provide an affirming visual resource for transgendered people and to demystify the transsexual body for the non-transgendered viewer.”
~~Ian Harvie~~
American Ian Harvie is a stand-up comedian who often uses his transsexuality as material in his act. He has performed with Margaret Cho and many other notable celebrities and is a well-known fixture in the LGBT pop culture community
~~Lucas Silveira~~
Born in Canada in 1979, Lucas Silveira made history being the first openly-trans man to be in a rock band which was signed by a major record label. Silveira is a vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter for The Cliks, he has also released a new solo album which is available now.
~~Katastrophe~~
Rocco Kayiatos is known as Katastrophe, an American hip-hop rapper and producer. Kayiatos is widely credited as the first openly transgender singer in the hip-hop genre.
~~Thomas Beatie~~
Thomas Beatie gained international attention for being the one of the world’s most visible “pregnant” men. Born female, Beatie lived his life as a woman until his mid-twenties. He then began taking male hormone therapy but decided to retain his female sex organs so that he and his wife, who could not conceive herself, could have children together using donor sperm. Beatie has since had three children and is back on his male hormones.
~~Ryan Sallans~~
Ryan Sallans was born as Kimberly Ann Sallans, and he is now a LGBT rights advocate and public speaker who travels the U.S. to educate people about transgender issues and changes to the health care system. He underwent his transformation from female to male over the course of several years and completed his transition in 2005. Sallans has been featured on “Larry King Live!” and the LOGO channel, as well as countless magazines and other publications.
~~Andreas Krieger~~
Andreas Krieger was a German shot putter who competed as a woman on the East German athletics team. From his early teens he was given anabolic steroids without his knowledge, which lead him to become more and more masculine in appearance and attitude. Krieger retired from the sport in 1990 and underwent sex reassignment surgery in 1997, and he has publicly said that he wishes he hadn’t been drugged so that he could have discovered for himself what his gender preference was
~~Chaz Bono~~
Chaz Bono was born Chastity Bono, the daughter of famous American performers Sonny and Cher. Raised in the public eye, Chastity came out as a lesbian when she was 25 before realizing that she was actually a transgender. Chaz underwent a sex change operation over the course of two years and is now happily living his life as a man. Chaz went on to be a contestant on the hit television show, Dancing With The Stars.
It Is What It Is 