Interesting facts I learned today: 1) American-founded Venezuelan anti-Chavez media corp

[El_Johns]

Empresas 1BC (also known as Grupo Phelps, Centro Corporativo 1BC, and Grupo 1BC), is a privately owned Venezuelan corporation which operates diverse media enterprises such as Radio Caracas Televisión... This conglomerate is headed by Marcel Granier and headquartered in Caracas, Venezuela.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empresas_1BC

Radio Caracas Televisión Internacional (RCTV Internacional) is a Venezuelan cable television network headquartered in the Caracas neighborhood of Quinta Crespo...On 27 May 2007, RCTV made headlines when the Government of Venezuela decided not to renew their radio broadcast license for what it said was the station's role in the 2002 coup which briefly overthrew Venezuela's democratically elected government.

RCTV lost its free-over the air broadcast licence, but it was not out of business. In an article in the 5 July 2007 edition of AM New York, the head of RCTV, Marcel Granier said that he was considering taking the network's programming to cable or satellite. This was accomplished in the Summer of 2007.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCTV

Marcel Granier

Marcel Granier Haydon (born July 4, 1941) is a Venezuelan businessperson. He is the President and CEO of Empresas 1BC and the General Director of Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV), which until becoming a cable TV-channel on May 27, 2007, was the most watched television channel in Venezuela.[1]

Marcel Granier was born on July 4, 1941 to Marcel Granier Doyeux and Brígida Haydon Urbaneja.[2][3] He attended law school and later married Dorothy Phelps Tovar, the granddaughter of the founder of Empresas 1BC and Radio Caracas Radio, William Henry Phelps.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Granier

William Henry Phelps (June 14, 1875 – December 8, 1965) was an American ornithologist and businessman...Born in New York City to Dudley F. Phelps, and of Louise Lander Prince Phelps, he attended Milton Academy and Harvard College..Once he finished his studies at Harvard, Phelps returned to Venezuela in 1897, to marry Alicia Elvira Tucker and settle in Maturín...William H. Phelps also founded Radio Caracas Radio.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Phelps

William Henry Phelps, Jr. (December 25, 1902 – August 13, 1988) was a Venezuelan ornithologist and businessman. Along with his father, William Henry Phelps, he founded the first commercial radio station in Venezuela, 1 Broadcasting Caracas...After finishing his studies in Lawrenceville School and getting a B.Sc. in 1926 from Princeton University, he published over 78 books on the birds of Venezuela... In 1953 he founded one of the most important Venezuelan television stations, Radio Caracas Televisión, and served as its president for 34 years. He died in the city of Caracas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Phelps,_Jr.


Interestingly also, this Phelps family is related to the Phelps family of the mining corp, Phelps-Dodge:

Phelps Dodge Corporation was an American mining company founded in 1834 by Anson Greene Phelps and his two sons-in-law William Earle Dodge, Sr. and Daniel James who ran the Liverpool (England) based side of the organisation - Phelp, James & Co. On March 19, 2007, it was acquired by Freeport-McMoRan and now operates under the name Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phelps_Dodge

[El_Johns]

1. Well, I'll kick this because I think it's relevant to recent happenings.

Do we really know who the players of the "Great Big Game" are?

[hack89]

2. What's your point?

marrying a Venezulan woman with an American grandfather somehow taints him?

[El_Johns]

3. I think I stated my point: do we really know who the players are?

More on the Phelpses of Boston:

Gustavo A. Cisneros Rendiles (born 1945)[1] is a Venezuelan media mogul of Cuban descent. He is among the world's richest men according to Forbes magazine, which estimated his fortune at $4.2 billion in 2010. The New York Times calls Cisneros, "one of Latin America’s most powerful figures" and says he and his wife, Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, have a reputation for being "a Latin American power couple in business and the global social scene."

Cisneros is the son of Diego Cisneros. Diego Cisneros was in business in Caracas from 1929 and received the Pepsi concession for Venezuela in 1940, before going on to gain the concession for private TV channel Venevisión in 1961.

The Cisneros family was the first-wealthiest in South America on the 2006 Forbes ranking.[3] He graduated from Suffield Academy in Connecticut in 1963[4] and from Babson College in Massachusetts in 1968.[5] In 1970, he married Patricia Phelps. The granddaughter of New York ornithologist William Henry Phelps, Phelps was educated in the United States.

In addition to Venezuelan citizenship, Cisneros also holds Spanish and Dominican citizenship.[7]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustavo_Cisneros


William Phelps & William Jr weren't simply ornithologists as they're usually described; they were powerful businessmen who maintained strong ties to the US. As do their descendants:

Patricia Phelps de Cisneros has been a significant MoMA benefactor; since 1992, she has been a trustee of the museum and made substantial cash contributions to the museum's recent renovation. Her name is on one of the institution's exhibition rooms.

This is what the international ruling class looks like.

[reddread]

4. kicking for clues

we seem to have become accustomed to our roles in a no information society.

[El_Johns]

6. Yes, we have.

[woo me with science]

5. K&R