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Todos nuestros sueños, la totalidad de nuestra cultura, todo lo interesante sobre nosotros, estas cosas no son necesariamente bonitas. Incluso cuando se convierten en películas bellas, poderosas y socialmente conmovedoras.
19 filmes panameños inscritos al Festival Icaro Internacional de Guatemala
por GECU
Un total de 19 producciones panameñas entre cortos y largometrajes, tanto documentales como de ficción, fueron inscritas para participar en la Sección Centroamericana del Festival Internacional de Cine Icaro, el encuentro fílmico con mayor trayectoria en el ámbito de la región, que tendrá lugar del 25 de noviembre al 2 de diciembre de este año en su sede, la ciudad de Guatemala.
Estas películas serán visionadas y evaluadas por un jurado de cineastas de nuestro medio, quienes escogerán hasta 10 producciones que nos representarán en el prestigioso evento cinematográfico y que formarán parte también de la programación del 16 FESTIVAL DE CINE ICARO PANAMÁ 2023, a desarrollarse del 25 al 30 de septiembre en ciudad capital y del 2 al 6 de octubre en David, Puerto Armuelles y Changuinola, junto a una selección de las mejores producciones centroamericanas y extranjeras que fueron premiadas en la anterior versión del Icaro Internacional.
El ICARO PANAMÁ es una producción conjunta del GECU de la Vicerrectoría de Extensión de la Universidad de Panamá y la Fundación pro Artes Escénicas y Audiovisuales (FAE), los auspicios de DICINE del Ministerio de Cultura y la colaboración de Casa Comal de Guatemala. Para más información llamar al 523-5402 o escribir a cine.universitario@up.ac.pa
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Many of these artists, activists and entrepreneurs have contributed to an ever-growing hip-hop scene within the Deaf community, which includes a subgenre of rap known as dip hop.
Dip hop is one of many styles of rap that have developed over the years. But it stands apart from other subgenres of hip-hop because rappers lay down rhymes in sign languages and craft music informed by their cultural experiences within the Deaf community.
The birth of a musical movement
As an ethnomusicologist, I’ve followed the development of dip hop since 2011, documenting how rappers have pioneered this art form while introducing outsiders, like myself, to Deaf culture.
In 2005, the rapper Warren “Wawa” Snipe came up with the term “DIP HOP” in ASL and English to classify a developing style of rap music within the Deaf community.
While artists of this style identify their music in different ways – some use labels like “deaf rap,” “deaf hip-hop” and “sign rap” – the designation “dip hop” goes beyond adding a qualifier to the broader musical genre of rap. Instead, it signals an independent style grounded in both hip-hop and Deaf culture. Like bounce, trap and drill, the label “dip hop” makes a greater distinction from being a variation of rap to a style that is heavily situated within Deaf culture and determined by Deaf aesthetics.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Deaf DJs and entertainment entrepreneurs organized DIY parties, nightlife events and social gatherings. These venues provided opportunities for rappers, DJs, dancers and other artists to begin to develop and explore their own style of hip-hop and connect with other rappers and DJs.
Cities with Deaf schools served as cultural hubs for musical networking. Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester, New York, have acted as significant sites of production within the United States by connecting deaf and hard of hearing students from all over the world.
Additionally, greater access to recording technology, video streaming sites and social media have given Deaf artists tools to create music and connect with other artists and fans.
The many forms of dip hop
While the incorporation of sign language is a fundamental element of dip hop – and remains at the forefront of defining this style – dip hop extends far beyond crafting original rap songs in sign language.
It involves musical expression that’s shaped through a Deaf cultural lens – songs that reorient mainstream notions of what can be considered music. At the same time, every artist has their own rapping style, with dip hop performances taking on a range of different forms and structures.
For example, some dip hop artists work with both oral and manual languages to make their music accessible to hearing people. There are those who perform in both languages simultaneously, and others who prerecord their vocal track, which plays in the background as they rap in sign language.
Some artists collaborate with interpreters. In “Vergiss mich nicht,” artist Deaf Kat Night raps in German sign language, while the lyrics are interpreted orally in German.
Then there are those who collaborate with hearing or deaf DJs. “Breaking Barrels,” featuring DefStar, is just one of the many collaborations between Wawa and DJ Nicar.
Performances can also involve musical instruments. Sean Forbes, for example, performs with a live band while also rapping in ASL and English, an approach seen in his music video “Calm Like a Bomb.”
Alternatively, there are rappers who create music for Deaf audiences and solely rap in sign languages. These songs, however, may still have auditory components, which often consist of artists composing their own beats or raising the volume of previously recorded songs to rap over.
Dip hop, like many styles of music, comes to life through live performance. Artists move across the stage with their hands flying through the air as audiences pulse to the rhythm of the blasting bass beat.
A performance by dip hop artists Wawa and Polar Bear at Gallaudet University’s 2015 DSP Bash.
Some artists further immerse their audiences in the musical experience by using specialized instruments and equipment such as subwoofers, objects that can conduct vibrations like balloons, or new forms of haptic technology, which refers to wearables, such as vests, that channel sound vibrations.
Some artists also incorporate visuals into their performances through the use of video screens and sound-activated lights.
Breaking into the mainstream
Dip hop artists have struggled to be acknowledged as musicians in their own right – to have their artistry be the focus of attention, rather than the fact that they’re deaf or hard of hearing.
That’s starting to change.
In 2009, Finnish rapper Marko “Signmark” Vuoriheimo signed a record deal with Warner Music Finland and released “Smells Like Victory” and “Speakerbox” that same year.
This marked the first time in history a Deaf artist was signed to a major record label. The following year, Detroit-based rapper and National Technical Institute for the Deaf alumnus Sean Forbes signed a contract with WEB Entertainment and released the single “I’m Deaf,” attracting mainstream attention to this style of rap.
Sean Forbes poses during the 2014 National Association for the Deaf Breakthrough Awards Gala. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
And through the support of the Deaf community, hearing allies and fans, Forbes’ EP “Little Victories” reached No. 1 in the hip-hop category on iTunes and made it to the top 200 Billboard chart in 2020.
Sup beautiful people
I’m the Godpop of dip hop
Deaf eyes through hip hop
With signs for your eyes
Blow your mind and it won’t stop.
As dip hop evolves, it continues to push the boundaries of convention. In the spirit of hip-hop, dip hop rebels both musically and socially against cultural norms, breaking the mold and expanding possibilities for musical artistry.
Through their performances, dip hop artists not only subvert preconceived notions of music but also of Deaf culture and deafness, changing what it means for music to be heard.
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As John Mellencamp sings: “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” True. And here’s an equally true twist on that aphorism: “If you stand for everything, you won’t amount to anything.”
In a remarkable achievement, a newly formed political organization calling itself “No Labels” has managed to fall into both traps, standing up for everything and nothing at all.
The fledgling entity is using every synonym in the book to assure everyone that it is a middle-of-the-road, bipartisan, centrist, both-sides party, offering hybrid liberal-conservative solutions that won’t offend anyone.
But wait — they’ve chosen a multimillionaire coal baron and multimillionaire son of a global plastics polluter to be their standard bearers. If they’re put on a presidential ticket, Democrat Joe Manchin and Republican Jon Huntsman could unite voters of both parties — against them!
While they don’t stand for much, there is one huge, overriding issue that the No Labels hucksters strongly agree on: corporate money contaminating American politics. These “reformers” are in favor of it!
Indeed, secret fat cat donations are the No Labelers’ financial lifeline, having already hauled in hundreds of thousands of dollars from right-wing corporate interests. Such as? No-no, say the founders — we can’t tell you who’s buying the “No Labels” label, for the funders don’t want the public to know their names or their special interests.
Of course, secret-funding of elections equals secret government — of, by, and for the funders. By standing against the people’s right to know, the group has put a flaming neon “fraud” label on their hokey “reform” movement. Huntsman even admits it, saying financial disclosure would be the right thing to do, but “that’s not the way you play the game.”
“The game?” Just what we need — another gang of corporate politicos who think governing America is a game to be won by hook or crook.
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Hace ya más de cien años, el médico, microbiólogo y ganador del Premio Nobel Robert Koch advirtió: “Un día la humanidad tendrá que luchar contra el ruido tan ferozmente como contra el cólera y la peste”.
Quizás ese momento ha llegado, ya que hoy en día el ruido ambiental se considera el segundo factor de riesgo ambiental para la salud, solamente por detrás de la contaminación atmosférica. De hecho, la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) afirma que 22 millones de personas sufren de molestia crónica al ruido en la Unión Europea, causando la pérdida de más de 1 millón de años de vida saludables, 12 000 muertes prematuras y 48 000 casos de enfermedades coronarias al año.
El ruido ambiental se define como cualquier sonido no deseado o dañino derivado de la actividad humana. Puede provenir de una variedad de fuentes, como el tráfico rodado, la actividad industrial, la construcción o la música muy alta. Pero ¿cuándo se considera un ruido nocivo para la salud?
De acuerdo con la Directiva Europea de Ruido, exposiciones mayores a niveles de ruido equivalentes al periodo día-tarde-noche mayores de 55 dB son perjudiciales. En otras palabras, estar las 24 horas del día, durante 365 días al año bajo la exposición de un ruido equivalente al emitido por una conversación causa efectos adversos en la salud. Sorprendentemente, unas 10 137 000 personas en España están expuestas a niveles de tráfico rodado por encima de este umbral.
El ruido nos hace enfermar
Y eso supone un problema de salud pública. Los principales efectos no auditivos reconocidos por la OMS y la Agencia Europea de Medio Ambiente incluyen problemas para dormir y sus consecuencias a corto y largo plazo: deterioro del desarrollo cognitivo, alteraciones metabólicas, problemas cardiovasculares… Y molestia, mucha molestia.
De hecho, si le preguntásemos a un experto en ruido ambiental cuál es el principal efecto del ruido, probablemente la respuesta sería “molestia”. Es más, el reciente modelo de reacción al ruido, donde se caracteriza el mecanismo por el que el ruido afecta a la salud, pone énfasis en una vía indirecta. Esta vía indirecta implica la percepción cognitiva del ruido, que conduce a la activación cerebral y la respuesta emocional de molestia.
Es decir, somos conscientes de que hay ruido y nos molesta. Si esta sensación se prolonga en el tiempo, puede causar estrés.
El estrés psicológico derivado del ruido depende de la sensibilidad individual y la capacidad de cada persona para afrontar situaciones de estrés. Se cree que nuestra mente tiene un mecanismo para no sufrir tanta molestia al ruido: la habituación. Se trata de un mecanismo mediante el cual la percepción de ruido se aleja de la consciencia, y se reduce la activación emocional de la corteza prefrontal. Dejamos de sentir molestia. De ahí que las personas que viven en entornos ruidosos se acostumbren a vivir con ello. ¿Problema resuelto? En absoluto, porque este mecanismo de habituación psicológica no implica habituación fisiológica.
El eje HPA es un eje neuroendocrino que, entre otros procesos, coordina la respuesta al estrés y el sistema inmunitario. Por otro lado, el sistema nervioso simpático forma parte del sistema nervioso autónomo y prepara al organismo para situaciones estresantes o de emergencia.
La activación simultánea de estos dos sistemas hace que el cuerpo libere hormonas del estrés: el cortisol, la hormona del estrés por excelencia y las catecolaminas, como la adrenalina o noradrenalina.
Cuando llegan a la sangre, estas hormonas provocan el movimiento de la energía almacenada a los músculos. Como consecuencia, la frecuencia cardíaca, la presión sanguínea y la frecuencia respiratoria se elevan. Al mismo tiempo se inhabilitan procesos metabólicos como la digestión, el crecimiento o la respuesta inmune.
Este conjunto de reacciones es muy importante para la supervivencia y en situaciones agudas de estrés el cuerpo es capaz de autorregularse y volver a los niveles basales de dichas hormonas. Cuando el estrés se convierte en crónico, en cambio, el cuerpo pierde la capacidad de recuperarse. Este fenómeno se denomina sobrecarga alostática. Se ha demostrado que el estrés crónico aumenta la inflamación, suprime la inmunidad y conlleva problemas del sistema vascular. A su vez, esto se relaciona con el riesgo de enfermedades cardíacas, hipertensión, diabetes y enfermedades neurológicas.
Silenciemos el ruido
Se dice que un mundo sin ruido no es mundo. Pero un mundo sin descanso y sin salud tampoco lo es. Por ello, las intervenciones para reducir la exposición al ruido son vitales.
Entre las intervenciones más efectivas se encuentran el cambio de pavimento para reducir la fricción, la reducción de la velocidad máxima a la que circulan los vehículos en los centros las ciudades, las restricciones temporales y espaciales de los focos de emisión, la construcción de las barreras de ruido y una planificación urbanística eficiente.
Un buen ejemplo de medidas urbanas es el proyecto de las superislas de Barcelona. Se trata de agrupaciones de nueve manzanas donde el tráfico queda restringido a las calles periféricas, con el objetivo de reducir la contaminación procedente de los vehículos a motor y priorizar la circulación de peatones y ciclistas. Este nuevo modelo de ciudad reduce la exposición al ruido, mejora la calidad del aire y aumenta el uso público y recreativo de la zona.
En este proyecto, además de la restricción del tráfico, también se fomenta la eliminación del asfalto y el aumento de espacios verdes. Se sabe que los espacios verdes tienen la capacidad de atenuar el ruido, la contaminación ambiental, las altas temperaturas y la luz artificial. Sin olvidarnos de que fomentan la actividad física y facilitan la interacción social.
Entonces, ¿a qué estamos esperando? Se prevé que para el 2050 el 68 % de la población mundial viva en ciudades, y el 75 % de la población europea vive ya actualmente en urbes. ¿En qué modelo de ciudad queremos vivir? Yo lo tengo claro, ¿y tú?
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Some living conditions for a family of nine in Veraguas. Photo by the Ministry of Social Development.
Hunger and megadebt
by Miguel Antonio Bernal V.
Two hundred thousand Panamanians suffer from hunger, three hundred thousand people eat badly in Panama and about 15% of children under five years of age suffer malnutrition while the PRD government squanders a million bucks on phantom employees and organizes a shameless search for more than $10 million for the “legalization” of illegals.
All of the above occurs while the deputies of the PRD, accompanied by the Panameñistas and “Yanibel’s caucus,” vote in the National Assembly for Benicio and Huevito to preside over the Budget and Credentials Committees, while the public debt of our Panama, in the face of widespread indifference, amounts to a sum greater than forty-eight BILLION US dollars.
The public debt is the debt that the state has, that is, the population of a country. It’s divided into internal and external. There are debtor countries and creditor countries. In addition, “the classification of the debt is made according to its origin, the term of the thing owed, the title representing the obligation, the nature of the debtor, the way in which it must be satisfied and the place where the payment must be made.”
The increase in the public debt of our Panama during the last decades, has been constantly and permanently ascending.
In 1990 Panama’s debt was $3.300 billion. By the end of 2009 – the government of Martin Torrijos – the debt reached 10,802 million and with Martinelli in 2014, it rose to 17,639 million. Then Varela raised it to 26,612 million in 2019 and Cortizo will practically double it by the end of 2023.
The “justifications” of the different governments from 2000 to date, have not changed since they have all followed the same economic conceptions of an outdated neoliberalism based on the unstoppable desire for profit and to privately enjoy the honey of power.
Given the government’s action as a joint criminal enterprise, pretending to know where the billions in loans acquired in the last four years with Cortizo have gone, is more difficult than knowing what happened during the last 18 years that preceded it.
The obligatory question that we citizens must ask ourselves – among many – is how and with what are we going to pay a debt that does not stop increasing day by day? The social damage that government debt policies represent for the vast majority of the population is also unknown. Neither the government, nor the political parties, nor the leaders of the labor unions, business groups, nor civic associations come out to explain or denounce. It’s one of the main obstacles to our ability to limit and reduce the unstoppable social inequality that suffocates the majority of the population.
Governing by borrowing without limit, in addition to simultaneously stealing from government coffers, requires no greater effort by those who exercise public function for other than public service.
However, the other figures – which they hide from us – of unemployment, housing and road deficits, school dropout rates, state bureaucracy, etc., are also frightening. All this does not seem to worry those who, with their “me-with-me” dialogues, pacts to close gaps, failed parallel constitutional reforms and so on, have found a modus operandi to continue indebting and suffocating us. The current pre-election histrionics only portend more of the same.
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Juan Diego Vásquez, the young independent deputy from San Miguelito, was the only vote against Benicio Robinson for leadership of the Budget Committee. Vásquez isn’t running for re-election and won’t be a running mate on a presidential ticket because he’s not old enough. He may yet have a political future if that’s what he wants to do with his life. National Assembly photo.
Same old, but it won’t likely hold
by Eric Jackson
Benicio Robinson (PRD-Bocas del Toro) continues as president of the all-powerful — if you are into political patronage politics — with National Assembly Budget Committee. Raúl Pineda (PRD-Panama City) as vice president and Cenobia Vargas (PRD-Panama City) repeating as committee secretary.
Surely on the agenda are more under-the-table — because the secretary won’t allow public access to the records about them — deals to re-elect PRD office holders. Vargas got through her primary, but her uphill court battles to deny access to public records and her ill-fated proposal to deal with rape by giving every girl aged 12 or younger a $75 per month subsidy while keeping criminal laws against them having abortions in place are likely to generate some general election problems that would go beyond a general shift against the PRD. If she gets ousted next May, she would join independent San Miguelito deputy among those not returning to the committee.
Noriega’s guy and that whole slate in 1989, Mireya’s crowd in 2004, the Martinelistas in 2014 — all pointed examples that under the dictatorship’s 1972 constitution that made political patronage a centerpiece of Panamanian government, it doesn’t always work to get people or parties re-elected. Benicio has been there forever and will probably return, but membership in and control of the National Assembly are up for grabs.
And how did Robinson, Pineda and Vargas do it? With the help of Martinelli supporter Yanibel Ábrego, who lost the Cambio Democratico presidential primary to Rómulo Roux and can’t be on the ballot for any office next year, and her dozen or more CD Martinelistas. You just know that, no matter what smiley face he may put on it, PRD standard bearer Gaby Carrizo, who will be running against Martinelli or some puppet surrogate of the latter, is not happy about the situation.
#LoÚltimo Con los votos del PRD, Cambio Democrático y Panameñismo, Benicio Robinson logra la reelección como presidente de la Comisión de Presupuesto. El único que no votó por Robinson fue el independiente @JDVasquezGut. @ecotvpanamapic.twitter.com/PnO8klMBGd
— FÉLIX ANTONIO CHÁVEZ (@felixchaveztv) July 25, 2023
Ábrego herself? She has nearly a year to go in the legislature before she has to leave and the sticky fingers from Capira will do that time on the also powerful Credentials Committee. They vet or torpedo presidential appointees and allow or don’t allow impeachment moves against top executive and judicial branch figures. Benicio Robinson is on that committee, as are CD / Martinelista figures Mayín Correa and Sergio Gálvez, the self-proclaimed stud bull from El Chorrillo. Roux seems unlikely to allow Correa or Gávexz to run for anything down-ticket as Cambio Democratico and says that he certainly would not allow Ábrego to do so. The 15 CD deputies who defied Roux in favor of Martinelli’s directions seem destined to go.
Same old, same old? Well, yes, for the next year in Panama’s legislature. But then the roster changes, probably quite dramatically once an electorate that isn’t very happy at the moment has its say next May but in any case with a bunch of retirements, voluntary or otherwise.
Another assembly with a bunch of new faces with old ways of doing things? Panama has been there and done that, too. We shall see. The percentage of the electorate that becomes demanding rather than waiting to see may affect the nature of the legislature after this one.
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“As a nation, the time is long overdue for fundamental changes to our national priorities. Cutting military spending is a good first step.” Senate Democratic Caucus photo of Senator Sanders, who is elected as an independent but caucuses with the Democrats and serves as the caucus’s outreach coordiinator.
Sanders says he opposes $886 billion in military spending amid healthcare and climate crises
Senator Bernie Sanders announced Monday that he intends to vote against legislation authorizing $886 billion in military spending for the coming fiscal year, arguing the Pentagon budget should be cut in favor of investments in healthcare, education, housing, climate action, and other priorities.
“As a nation, the time is long overdue for fundamental changes to our national priorities,” Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote in an op-ed for The Guardian. “Cutting military spending is a good first step.”
Sanders, the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, has introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would cut the US military budget by 10%. Earlier this month, House Republicans refused to allow a vote on a similar amendment put forth by Representative Barbara Lee (D-Calif.).
In his op-ed Monday, Sanders pointed to the “enormous crises” facing the United States, including “unprecedented and rising temperatures” caused by fossil fuel use, a “broken” healthcare system in which insurance and pharmaceutical giants profit while tens of millions go uninsured, a “teetering” education system, and a dire shortage of affordable housing.
“And then there is defense spending. Well, that’s a whole other story,” Sanders wrote. “The proposed military budget that the Senate is now debating would increase defense spending by $28 billion to over $886 billion, an all-time record. The total is over $900 billion if you include nuclear weapons spending through the Department of Energy.”
Sanders argued that in addition to being unnecessary, an even larger military budget would be actively harmful given that the Pentagon “cannot keep track of the dollars it already has, leading to massive waste, fraud, and abuse in the sprawling military-industrial complex.”
“Much of this additional military spending will go to line the pockets of hugely profitable defense contractors—it is corporate welfare by a different name,” the senator noted. “Almost half of the Pentagon budget goes to private contractors, some of whom are exploiting their monopoly positions and the trust granted them by the United States to line their pockets.”
Defending the American people is not only about pouring money into the Pentagon. It’s about making sure children get a good education and have a habitable planet. It’s about making sure that every American has quality health care and affordable housing.https://t.co/ejrjU72TZM
Sanders’s opposition to the NDAA comes after House Republicans passed their version of the legislation after packing it with right-wing amendments and rejecting proposed changes aimed at reining in out-of-control Pentagon spending and cracking down on fraud.
The Senate is expected to continue working on its own NDAA this week.
As Congress prepares to authorize around $900 billion for the US military, House Republicans are pushing for steep cuts across the federal government, targeting everything from education programs to climate spending to clean water funds. The House GOP proposals have heightened concerns that the government will shutdown on September 30, the end of the fiscal year.
Meanwhile, Sanders said in a statement Monday that he has had “very productive conversations” with members of the Senate HELP Committee on bipartisan legislation to address the nation’s worsening primary care crisis. Sanders said he hopes to have a bill ready by the first week of September.
Last week, Sanders introduced legislation that would invest $20 billion over a five-year period into expanding community health centers. The senator said the measure would “provide the resources necessary to recruit, train, and retain tens of thousands of primary care doctors, mental health providers, nurses, dentists, and home healthcare workers.”
The nation is currently hurtling toward a primary care cliff. If Congress doesn’t act by September 30, community health centers across the United States will face a devastating 70% funding cut.
The National Association of Community Health Centers estimates that nearly 7 million people will lose access to healthcare if Congress doesn’t extend the critical funding.
“As every American knows, our country faces a major crisis in primary care and a massive shortage of doctors, nurses, mental health professionals, and dentists,” Sanders said last week. “Tens of millions of Americans live in communities where they cannot find a doctor while others have to wait months to be seen.”
“At the end of the day,” he added, “this crisis not only increases human suffering and unnecessary deaths, but wastes tens of billions a year as Americans flock to expensive ER rooms or hospitals because they could not access the primary care they need.”
The U.S. Senate is now debating an $886,000,000,000 defense budget. Unless there are major changes to the bill, I intend to vote against it. Here’s why. pic.twitter.com/tOjh7lr9AD
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