Some hypocritical and absurd questions found in the DS-160 form, needed to get a US Visa: Do you have a mental or physical disorder that poses or is likely to pose a threat to the safety or welfare of yourself or others? Are you or have you ever been a drug abuser or addict? Have you ever violated, or engaged in a conspiracy to violate, any law relating to controlled substances?

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On Monday, I met the Chief Information Officer of a large US Government Administration in Washington DC. His office was surprisingly small and functional compared to European “big government” offices. A nice reminder of how European bureaucracy and public sector spending in administration itself is burying us. But what caught my attention the most was the largest picture in the office: it was not Obama`s, a diploma, a family picture, a flag… it was this:

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After 36 years of democracy, [Spain] is the second country in the world with the most “disappeared” after Cambodia Source Regional President Camps free, the Duke Urdangarín seems like is not going to be punished… and judge Garzon being judged. And you ask me why I say I am “European” rather than “Spaniard” or “Valencian”?

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This is not going to be one of those deep, thoughtful, analytical posts (as if I ever wrote one 😉 ). I just need to vent. Last Saturday, in Prince Street, in the middle of Soho, a man (I will not mention his name, because as you will see, he does not deserve publicity) was handing out CDs. As with anything digital, I felt the urge to find out more, so I took it.

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Yesterday I went to the New York Public Library to see Pedro Almodovars "Talk to her", as part of a <a title="https://www.nypl.org/blog/2011/12/06/films-pedro-almodovar" href="https://www.nypl.org/blog/2011/12/06/films-pedro-almodovar" target="_blank">series</a> of Almodovars films screenings in the NYPL. But, to my surprise, the screening (and remainder ones) had been cancelled. I talked to the person in the information desk, and she told me that the collecting society (that would be the despicable SGAE, which does not even deserve a link in my blog) and Almodovar`s Production company (El Deseo Producciones) had raised what they had previously been asking for as royalties or compensation for the (free) screening of the (not in movie theater) films, and the amount they were now asking was so high, the NYPL could not afford it, so they had to cancel the screenings.

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Jorge Cortell

My blog in English

Senior Advisor, Health and Life Sciences at Harvard University Innovation Laboratories - Advisor at NLC

Cambridge, MA (USA)