News roundup (we use three blades that shave you closer than two blades)

Why do we love Setty so much? This is why. Click through to hear about the cold snap we australs are going through right now and the power cuts all over the region too. Fave Settyline is this one, talking about the big cut in northern Peru over the weekend;

"Winning quote from that story is the electric utility saying they have a contingency plan, but they couldn’t implement it because there was no electricity".

Classic. Go read it all, like now.

Venezuela Analysis (aka V-Anal) reports on the Banco de Venezuela nationalization one year on. As the report notes, BdV is now the biggest bank in the country (it was 3rd when taken over) and has been surging in loan deals too. But as it was Chávez that told the world in a presser, it has to be lies, right? Remember folks, don't let the facts get in the way of etc etc.

Jakob at Maladjusted gets his wonk on and does a great job of walking us through the UN's newest methods to (attempt to) measure poverty. Lots of examples, charts, words and the necessary sneering at the correct points. A great post.

Peter Capusotto is back! Last night South America's best funnyguy (by a mile) hit the screen of Argentina again for his new series and, Argies doing good by the world, the first episode is already largely up on youtube. For those conversant in the ways of the language, the sketches linked here with characters Micky Vainilla, Violencia Rivas, Jesús de Laferrere and "Consumo" are unmissable. Knowledge of rock music culture and Argentina underground useful for full enjoyment potential.

UPDATE: Esp the Mick Vainilla one. Watched it 3 times already.

Peter Capusotto: Hasta Cuando

I'm happy to say we get thousands of visitors per day to this humble corner of cyberspace, but this time the content is aimed at a small, select few. To get full value out of the linked youtube you need to:

• Have a decent level of Spanish (for people without the ear for it, Argy Spanish can be tough and the below is spoken at a fast clip)

• Know Argentina well (sorry, the two week package tour or that business trip doesn't count)

• Know who Peter Capusotto is and his trajectory (e.g. Cha Cha Cha, Todo X2$, Y Sus Videos)

So if I'm lucky there will be a couple of dozen people who fill the criteria, but no matter. This is genius and it's worth it if even one of you gets the same kick out of it.

Capusotto now does a radio program, and one of the segments is 'Hasta Cuando'. I've been laughing so much at the several episodes available on Youtube this morning that there's been no time to post anything here. If you really want to understand Argentina, listen to this example episode (and the others available by clicking through). Magical stuff.