April 2007 Archives

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Have You Ever Seen A Woman Stoned To Death?

Filed under: Middle East

The following video was shot by a cell phone camera in Mosul, Iraq. It's hard not to be disgusted when you see it, but the fact that it's out there made me realize that most people cannot comprehend such a thing until they've seen it with their own eyes. So I've decided to post it. Viewer discretion advised.

صحنه هاى بسيار دلخراش از سنگسار يک دختر جوان در موصل عراق

UPDATE: Gateway Pundit covers a protest rally against these honor killings and stonings that are in response to what happened in this video.

MC · April 30, 2007 9:43 AM

Bassiji/Hezbollah militia's crackdown on 'immoral' women Updated with Video

Filed under: Iran

Here are more photos of the crackdown on the women wearing "immoral dresses".. Notice that it's not only in Tehran, but all across Iran, too.

Here is another video from BBC Persian. You won't understand what they say, but the images should be enough to figure out. To sum it up, the women explain how they are harassed.

The police, Bassiji/Hezbollah militia, are the very same 'people' who burn Israeli and US flags, pelt Western embassies, shout "Death to Israel, America", call for the execution of hostages, etc. And are called "students" by the ignorant MSM. By seeing this third series of photos, you may have realized who these "students" really are.

Stefania Lapenna · April 30, 2007 5:44 AM

Historic Iran Divestment Bill Passes Unanimously

Filed under: Iran

Iranian Secularist Movements applauded an historic bill which was passed unanimously by the California Assembly. The bill, proposed by Joel Anderson (R-El Cajon), "would prohibit California’s public retirement funds from investing in foreign owned companies that do business in Iran."

According to Iranian freedom fighters, this is one of the best options the US has to effectively act against the Islamic Republic.

Read the press release: Anderson’s Historic Iran Divestment Bill Passes Unanimously

From the Jewish Journal: Jews and Iranian Secularists unite behind Iran divestment bill . I changed the headline because generally many Iranian secularists don't consider themselves as "muslims" but "Iranians".

Stefania Lapenna · April 28, 2007 5:52 AM

Video of the Crackdown on Iranian Women (and Men)

Filed under: Iran

I was able to find video of a young Iranian girl being arrested by the Islamic Republic's police. In the shocking and sad video, you'll hear the screams of the young girl, whose only "fault" was not covering herself like the black cows.

See the video here.

Here's a translation of what the girl shouts and what the police say to her:

Girl (screaming): I am not coming. Let me go. You man! Dont touch me! Let me go! I dont want to go! I dont want to go! Police (to people): Do not gather! Go!

Where are the Western feminists who always complain against alleged 'discrimination' in the very same societies that grant them full rights? Where are they when you need them? Ms.Nancy Pelosi, anything to say? Are you still planning to go shake hands with the Mullahs' while women are being humiliated? Why dont the Western women take action to help their sisters in Iran?

Stefania Lapenna · April 27, 2007 1:51 PM

Belarusian Protest Babes Remember Chernobyl

Filed under: Belarus ~ Europe ~ Protest Babes

Every year, the Belarusian opposition holds a demonstration to commemorate the world's worst nuclear disaster, which to this day still affects their country. You will want to check out Charter 97 for all the details, including more picture and briefings on police beatings. However, I know what you're all actually interested in is the protest babes... so click "read more".

MC · April 27, 2007 9:02 AM

Nicholas Negroponte discusses the $100 laptop

Filed under: Technology

Bentley College in partnership with TIME magazine hosted the 2007 leadership forum on April 25, in which a lot of important an influential people attended. Even more important we the speakers. I made sure to take video of the entire thing. It's not the best quality, but there is a heck of a lot to learn from these people.

This video is of Nicholas Negroponte giving the luncheon keynote address. He talks about the $100 laptop project, the technology that's driving it, the purpose behind it, and how the business world is making it all possible. I had to chop it up into four pieces for YouTube, but I guess that just allows you to watch it in snippets. Check it out.

MC · April 25, 2007 7:09 PM · Comments (1)

Islamic repression in the streets of Iran (Updated)

Filed under: Iran

A female Bassiji is rebuking a brave Iranian woman who removed her headscarf on a street of Tehran. This picture should prove to you that Iranian women are as much liberal and modern as the women in any Western nation. Wait until the Mullahs' regime falls, you will be seeing amazing scenes on the streets of Iranian cities.

If it's true the saying according to which a picture is worth a thousand words, then this one is. And keep in mind that she's not the only woman who tries to defy the Islamists by taking out the veil. There have been more, and I will post the pics as soon as I retrieve them.

Stefania Lapenna · April 25, 2007 6:24 AM

Women activists treated as criminals in Iran

Filed under: Iran

Shirin Ardalan, Zara Amjadian, Fariba Mohajer and many others were accused of "participating in illegal gatherings and conspiring to disrupt national security," "disrupting public order," and "undermining national security by enticing anarchy." The punishment? Long years in prison for the "guilt" of speaking their mind.

Manuela Paraipan · April 23, 2007 8:20 PM

Absolutely abominable!

Filed under: Asia

The Talibans are distributing a propaganda video with a 12 year old boy being encouraged by men as he takes a knife to behead a Pakistani man accused of being an "American spy."

The men and women around him shout Allahu Akbar – "Allah is Great" as the boy carries on the slaughter.

This is the video clip but I warn you that it is one of the most dreadful things I have ever laid my eyes on.

Manuela Paraipan · April 23, 2007 7:08 PM

A Moment of Opportunity: China, Darfur, and the 2008 Olympics

Filed under: Africa ~ Asia

China, on a domestic and international cleaning binge, is seeking to cleanse its status and reputation by the time it begins hosting the Olympics in 2008 to appear as a developed nation in a first-world prom dress. While this may appear as a farcical whitewash operation by a totalitarian regime, it presents an opportunity for the international community to take concrete steps in resolving the Darfur crisis.

Alexander Baldwin · April 23, 2007 5:52 PM

Yeltsin's Mixed Legacy

Filed under: Europe ~ Russia

Yeltsin dying seems pretty irrelevant to me, but it's one of those news days where not too much is going on. Now that the Anna Nicole Smith affairs is over and done with, the media must be breathing a sigh of relief that Yeltsin died. He was an extremely important world political figure as Russia transitioned from communism. Truthfully, one can only guess to what people will remember of him. I suppose the first thing I think of is vodka, but that's because he didn't affect me much.

Talking he did during his times seems like a waste of time, though. It's well-documented. If you want to know more about his era, read The Oligarchs, which I'd say is a fantastic intro to the era.

His effect on that past of the '90s is much less important than talking about present of today. Outside of shock therapy and all the moves that were intended to promote a democratic and capitalist society, the two moves that he personally made that have the most impact today are the strengthening of the presidency and his selection of Vladimir Putin to succeed him. Facing a communist revolt early in his career, Yeltsin constantly sought to take away power from the Duma so that he could maintain power over the direction of the country. This may have seemed like the right thing to do to erode the power of the communists, but overall it has led to a super-presidency that, in the hands of Vladimir Putin, is neither democratic nor as he intended. I guess that's what I'll remember the most about him.

MC · April 23, 2007 5:00 PM

The Islamic Regime intensifies war on women

Filed under: Iran

The Islamic Republic of Iran has intensified the 27 year tough war on women and Gender Apartheid policy.

Here are some more photos showing the Bassiji-Hezbollah paramilitary militias (including black cows, the female Islamists) repressing and intimidating women who dare not to observe stricly the Islamic dress code.

Notice that the veil in Iran is mandatory for all women, regardless of whether they are Iranian or non-Iranian (even female tourists have to wear it while they are in Iran).

Women took to the police station to be interrogated and who knows what'll be their fate!

Stefania Lapenna · April 23, 2007 12:45 PM

Free Trade In Peril

Filed under: Americas ~ Economics

Three U.S. free trade pacts are about to go down in flames.

Colombia, Peru and Panama, three friendly countries, are about to see the door slammed shut on them by a lunatic U.S. Congress, whose idiots extend to both sides of the aisles.

For Long Beach, whose Press-Telegram reported the story, billions of dollars of trade income is about to be thrown into the dumpster. They might as well take a few warehouses every day and burn them, because that illlustrates the kind of money they are going to throw away. As for the poor black kids in the Long Beach area who have nothing but drugs and gangs in front of them, and no longer any port job opportunities, well, too bad. Democrats (it's mostly them) have better things to do than provide jobs for them.

Like insult our friends.

And what good friends they are indeed. Colombia, Panama, and Peru are at the forefront of defying the leftist push of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez. All three have stood up to him on multiple fronts. It's not just in public forums but in what they are doing. They are defying conventional wisdom about free markets in Latin America and engaging them. That, instead of crony porkbarrel handouts. They also have the highest pro-American sentiment in the region, which is otherwise full of anti-Americanism. Panama's is the highest in all Latin America.

What does this say about us that we would throw out our money and screw our allies? It is O-U-T-R-A-G-E-O-U-S!

And that's not the only outrage. In the absence of a free trade pact, these economies will not just sit there. They can go two ways. One is to move closer to Hugo Chavez, who is offering his 'ALBA' Latins-only free trade pact as an alternative to any trade with America. Won't that be nice to see them move to that circle instead of ours, because they cannot get free trade?

Two is that they will move closer to Red China. They won't be able to sell anything here and they won't be able to buy any American goods, so what's left is China's goods. They'll buy from China and move into China's orbit, their interests fully aligned and set in that direction.

Meanwhile, instead of being able to buy from our choice of Peruvian, Panamanian, Colombian, or Chinese goods, and pick the best prices, we will be stuck buying just from China, Made In China, that's all we'll get.

In both cases, China makes out like a bandit.

And our good and noble friends in Panama, Peru and Colombia, will be stuck on the outside, forever looking in.

This is insanity.

A.M. Mora y Leon · April 23, 2007 4:26 AM

News from Iran

Filed under: Iran

An Iranian researcher wrote a must-read report on the activities of the Mullahs' Lobbyists in the United States. I recommend you to read it all.

University Female Students Rebel Against the Mandatory Veil . Na Toosari, Na Roosari! (No to Veil, No to Submission).

Islamist policeman trying to intimidate two women into respecting the Islamic 'moral code'.

Stefania Lapenna · April 22, 2007 5:52 PM

To appease Iran, not to appease Iran...

Filed under: Iran

According to OPEC, Iran is the fourth leading exporter of crude oil to Europe with Saudi Arabia, Russia and Venezuela the first, second and third leading oil exporters. What a terrific bunch of democratic, freedom loving countries!

On Saturday afternoon, Iran and Austria signed a 30 billion dollar agreement at the 12th international oil, gas and petrochemical exhibition held in Tehran. The event was attended by 797 domestic and 510 foreign companies from 35 countries.

What will Europeans do next? I bet on unimaginably lame approaches. Why sanction Iran hard when we can help mullahs prosper?

Manuela Paraipan · April 22, 2007 5:20 PM

Conservatives against ultra conservatives: who wins?

Filed under: Iran

In Iran, Hashemi Rafsanjani, Mohammad Khatami and Mehdi Karoubi met up and the rumor is that they are joining forces to combat the ultra conservatives in Majlis, Iran’s Parliament. Next step would be to bring Ahamadinejad down, that is if they convince Ayatollah Khamenei to do so.

The West often calls Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami moderates. I have yet to understand why. In Iran’s parliament and government there are only two camps that matter (for now): ultra conservatives and conservatives. Lets see how 'moderate' they truly are.

In 2005, then President Khatami said: “We love Hizbullah.”

About USA he said, “The roots of terrorism are the discrimination and double standard, and the division of mankind into Americans and non-Americans. These roots also stem from the belief held by those in power in America that in order to ensure their interests they have the right to cause wars and cause coup d'état, to interfere in other countries' (affairs), and to apply economic, military, and political and propagandistic pressure on anyone aspiring to independence and desiring freedom.”

And only two days ago, in the Friday prayer, Rafsanjani said, "Occupiers came to the region, but they could not achieve their goals, and were disgraced in the world, and are in danger."
He further added, “Although the enemy is defeated, it is still arrogant, so we should act carefully and properly to get rid of occupiers.” (IRNA, Iran, April 20, 2007)

Manuela Paraipan · April 21, 2007 6:26 PM

Empowering Terrorists

Filed under: Europe

Are we losing the war on global terror? This is the most frequently asked question in these times. The general feeling is that we actually are, though it may sound defeatist to say so. The efforts to undermine the fight against evil are being led by an Europe that has totally lost its mind and rationality, compares counter-terror military actions to the suicide attacks against which the civilized world should be united and, worse yet, prevents the intelligence agencies from haunting and detaining the hate preachers who recruit would-be mass murderers. In Italy, some CIA agents may go on trial for doing basically their duty: capturing an Islamist cleric, known by the alias of "Abu Omar", with proven ties to Al Qaeda recruiters. In spite of plenty of evidence about his terror-enabling activities, he is being victimized like a 'martyr of injustice'.

Stefania Lapenna · April 21, 2007 8:43 AM

Hamas prayer

Filed under:

The United Nations, the Europeans, the Saudis and the Russians said that Hamas is now an example of moderation. Taking in consideration the sources, no wonder it is all a lie.

Sheikh Ahmad Bahr Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council said in a sermon that "America will be annihilated, while Islam will remain." He felt the need to ask God to "vanquish the Jews and their supporters. Oh Allah, vanquish the Americans and their supporters. Oh Allah, count their numbers, and kill them all, down to the very last one." A genuine prayer coming from Hamas ranks, huh?

Manuela Paraipan · April 20, 2007 6:44 PM

Fidel's Mini-me Got a New Toy

Filed under: Venezuela

Reuters reports: "Venezuela launched a Zeppelin on Thursday to patrol Caracas, seeking to fight crime in one of Latin America's most dangerous cities but also raising fears that President Hugo Chavez could be turning into Big Brother." Anybody got a slingshot handy?

Meanwhile, Hugo's supporters held a rally, and the President of Chile came to visit. More photos after the jump.

·April 20, 2007 11:00 AM

Say Goodbye to Bread, Hello to Air Pie!

Filed under: Africa ~ Zimbabwe

Good 'ole Mugabe, liberator of the people of Zimbabwe, has decided that enough is enough. The Western imperialists seeking to overthrow him have apparently become too powerful for his liking. As the country completely deteriorates, and the opposition begins to gain momentum, what does he do? Ban all aid organizations, of course! It only makes sense.

ZIMBABWE has cancelled the licences of all aid groups, accusing them of working with the opposition to oust President Robert Mugabe, sparking fears the ban could cut food supplies to hundreds of thousands of people in the nation dependent on handouts. Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu said that all non-governmental organisations had been deregistered and would have to reapply for permits, reports said yesterday.

Dr Ndlovu said the authorities wanted to identify groups working with "agents of imperialism" to overthrow Mr Mugabe, who is facing growing resistance from Zimbabweans impoverished by his 27-year stranglehold on power, The Times reported.

"Pro-opposition and Western organisations masquerading as relief agencies continue to mushroom, and the Government has annulled the registration of all NGOs in order to screen out agents of imperialism from organisations working to uplift the wellbeing of the poor," Dr Ndlovu said.

The news shocked the local NGO community, stoking fears that the ban could stop desperately needed food aid reaching the country, the newspaper said. More than 1000 aid groups operate in Zimbabwe.

This is basically committing the entire country to suicide. This year's harvest brought in absolutely nothing. The only reason people have been surviving at all is because of Western aid programs that distribute food to people. That this happened though is not that all surprising. As opposition to Mugabe's rule mounts, so does his will to crack down on dissent. He has used food as a political weapon since the day he gained power, especially noticeable in the 2005 election when food was distributed all over the place in order to buy votes.

But now the situation has changed; there will be no food at all. If the Zimbabwean people don't fight now, when will they?

MC · April 19, 2007 5:40 PM

Hezbollah's message: Long live the resistance!

Filed under:

After playing the number games, Hezbollah attempts yet again to mislead the international community. Through its international relations officer, Nawwaf al-Musawi, Hezbollah informed some of the European Union delegates in Lebanon about Hezbollah's role as a resistance. Reportedly al Musawi said "Hezbollah's experiment as a resistance movement in confronting the Israeli threats and reviewed the nature of these threats that are represented in Israel's designs on Lebanon's waters, its continued occupation of the Shab'a Farms, its continued detention of a number of Lebanese prisoners in its jails, and its threats to Lebanon's security". Al-Musawi called on the delegation "to review French Foreign Ministry documents in Nantes and the document of the peace conference that was held in San Remo in 1919 when a memorandum presented by the Zionist movement asked that Israel's borders with Lebanon be delineated north of the city of Sidon". (Lebanese News Agency)

Hezbollah is indeed a very resourceful party and militia. Instead of complying with the UN 1559 and UN 1701 it chooses to blame, who else? the darn Zionists. It is not Israel, EU should be worry about, but rather the fact that Hezbollah still has large amounts of weapons, no honest intention to disarm and that it isn't accountable to the government.

Hussein Khalil, an adviser of Sheikh Nasrallah warned that the Party of God "firmly opposes the supervision of the Syrian-Lebanese border, " and if that were to happen, Hezbollah "has enough weapons to defend Lebanon against ‘Israeli’ aggression."

What Hezbollah (generally) asks to think about disarming:

- Shebaa farms (the territory was taken by Syria from Lebanon, at the end of '50s beginning of '60s, and UN maps and documents demonstrate its Syrian land)
- release all the Lebanese prisoners held in Israel's jails
- for Israel to take back the Palestinian refugees
- to give back all West Bank and Gaza to the Palestinian Authority
- to share Jerusalem
- and to pay the reconstruction costs after the July war Hezbollah triggered

In Hezbollah's words, "the problem did not start with us or other Arabs; it started with the occupation of Palestine."

Hopefully the international community will prove them wrong, but I am not holding my breath for the Europeans to lead this process.

p.s when referring to Israel or Israelis, Hezbollah affiliated sites use quotation marks because they do not recognize Israel as a state

Manuela Paraipan · April 17, 2007 3:54 PM

Is the Election of the President of East Timor Important?

Filed under: Asia ~ East Timor

In the last few days there was much talk about what happened. There was a big election turnout, or was there? The elections were open and not violent, or was their serious coercion from Fretilin? In a run-off the voters for other candidates will switch to Ramos-Horta, or will they go to Fretilin? All interesting, but what is important?

The President of the Country has a figurehead, ceremonial role of relatively limited power. But the current President, Xanana Gusmao, has had more relative power because his opinion is highly valued by the Timorese people. Now an independent (Ramos Horta) is running against a Fretilin party leader (Francisco, Lu-Olo, Guterres) for this figurehead position. Probably both want it because it is more important than it appears, and because Gusmao, who used to want to be a carrot farmer, has declared that he wants to run for Prime Minister, a post he most probably will win.

Is this important for the country? Probably it is. The Fretilin/Alkitiri government has been criticized for failing to invest more money in its people. As Prime Minister Alkatiri avoided any indebtedness for the country, even did not spend oil revenues so the country could have a good bank account in the future. But many, myself included, felt that was a major error. Since the country is so poor, and since future oil revenues probably will be pretty good, the wise thing would have been to request loans, particularly soft loans from the World Bank with very favorable interest rates and long payback times, to invest the money in education, health, roads and agriculture so the country could significantly improve the welfare of its people. Alkatiri did not do that but relied on support from international organizations. Much help was given, but certainly not enough to jump-start the country. Some of the help, like the UNICEF/WorldBank efforts in education, was very inadequate.

So Fretilin wants the Presidency so that their party can keep some form of control (they will also want seats in the parliament), while Ramos-Horta wants the Presidency so he can help the country to take actions to do more for the people. If Ramos-Horta wins, and the Xanana Gusmao becomes Prime Minister, they most probably will take major action to help the people. If Lu-Olo wins he and his party may be able to continue their short-sighted policies of saving money instead of investing it.

So who wins the Presidency is important.

Who becomes Prime Minister is more important.

Dr. Clifton Chadwick · April 17, 2007 2:07 PM

Muqtada is out but not down (yet)

Filed under: Middle East

Shiia cleric Muqtada al Sadr ordered his six ministers to step down from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki government in protest against "his failure in coming up with a timetable for the withdrawal of the foreign forces from Iraq".

Isn't that neat? Finally, Muqtada al Sadr did what he should have done a long time ago. His business in politics was merely to sabotage the government in Iran's interest. Enough is enough even for those who see the coalition forces as "evil".

Today, Al Hayat reported that the negotiation efforts of Anbar tribal leaders finally succeeded between the various armed factions and the Shia tribes in southern and central Iraq "to eliminate the sectarian dimension of the resistance project and to prepare a political program calling for the withdrawal of the occupation (...) The continuous security anarchy and the impotence of the government to deal with the sectarian and party violence are pushing the Shia tribes in southern Iraq to help Sunni armed groups and tribes in western Iraq in their double war against the occupation and the Al-Qaida organization."

As long as the Iraqis have the strength to unite in order to fight Al Qaeda there is still some hope for the country. Is it too much to wish that next they might chop up Iran's and Syria's tentacles? What a day that would be!

Manuela Paraipan · April 16, 2007 3:33 PM

Police State, or Why The West Can't Help Russia

Filed under: Europe ~ Russia

Ilya Somin wrote a good summary of the opposition protests that occurred in Russia this weekend, in which Gary Kasparov was temporarily arrested (along with hundreds of others, who were also beaten), taking place in both Moscow and St. Petersburg. Somin is certainly right to say that it's hard to be optimistic about the country's near-term political future given who is running it, but the statement before it reeks of optimism: "Hopefully, there will be enough of an international outcry to persuade Putin to desist and force him to tread more cautiously in the future."

MC · April 16, 2007 3:15 PM

Michael Moore: A Big, Fat Sicko

Filed under: Americas ~ Cuba

A New York Post exclusive reveals that Michael Moore, for his new fraudumentary called "Sicko", is taking a bunch of 9/11 workers down to Cuba so that they can experience the joys of free national healthcare. Cuba's healthcare system is considered by many so-called experts and governments as the best in the world, so what Moore is trying to do is make the argument that America should mimic the Cuban system.

Only, it isn't the best. Not near it. Those foreigners and wealthy people who go to Cuba, including the people that Michael Moore are bringing down, are only shown the few top of the line facilities which probably are some of the best in the world. It's a huge propaganda campaign aimed at deceiving people into believing that Cuba does, in fact, have the best healthcare system in the world. This is totally false. The clinics and hospitals that the everyday Cuban sees, if they see one at all, are cockroach infested hovels that one might be wise to stay away from lest they get worse.

Michael Moore is just aiding in promoting Fidel Castro's mythology. If he gets away with it, he'll have all blue-state Americans believing it rather than just most of them.

In case you missed it nearly two years ago, here are the photos of real Cuban clinics accompanying a story written by Carlos Wotzkow and María Elena Morejón for Gentiuno.

MC · April 16, 2007 11:35 AM

Five Days in Zimbabwe's Jail

Filed under: Africa ~ Zimbabwe

Journalist Alex Perry, writing for Time magazine, was in Zimbabwe only 22 hours before plainclothes policeman picked him up and threw him in jail. Five days of rotting there without food, water, or sleep. His crime? "Dedicated journalist on a clandestine mission."

This kind of humiliation and repression is what the Zimbabwean people face every day, and often much much more. It's a pretty good read though. Check it out here.

MC · April 16, 2007 8:20 AM

Hail, Colombia!

Filed under: Americas

Colombians protest the Marxist violence of FARC's vile narcoterrorists
Source: AP, via Yahoo! News

Two hundred thousand Colombians protested Thursday in the city of Cali. They marched against terrorism brought on to them by the Marxist FARC narcoterrorists, who, for the first time in years, were emboldened to blow up a police station in the city. Instead of getting cheers from the populist mobs, or indifference, as would have happened in the past, the FARC got an earful and eyeful from the citizens who spontaneously - in their hundreds of thousands - took to the streets to send a message that these dirtbag fishes will never have a sea to swim in in Cali, as the Maoist saying about revolution goes. Instead, they'll have every Colombian against them, daring them in the open streets to try to stop them, not flinching.

Bear in mind that this is Cali, Colombia's third largest city. It used to be one of the world's most odious narcoterrorist nests. It was a dreaded hellhole twenty years ago. If you've ever seen the movie "Our Lady Of The Assassins" you will know how narcoterrorism saps the life and spirit of a city, making everyone corrupt - churches, pregnant women, toddlers, doctors, absolutely everyone. The net result is that everyone turns inward and looks out only for themselves. Eventually, everyone just dies.

Now, like a bad dream, it's just a movie. With the great leadership of President Alvaro Uribe, that scenario no longer exists. The city of Cali has been transformed. Not just with new buildings, which is exciting enough. But in the hearts of the people, the hardest thing in the world to change. Civil society has blossomed. People care about each other again. They are not turning inward but turning outward, and turning to each other! They are no longer terrified and they won't let themselves be intimidated. Never again will leftist terror be permitted to take over, ever so cynically 'in the name of the people.' The message to the FARC is that here are the people all right and they don't like leftist clowns who bomb in what they claim is the name of the people. The people have spoken. And they've struck a blow for democracy.

Hail Colombia!!!!

Source: Semana

A.M. Mora y Leon · April 15, 2007 3:04 AM

Saturday Morning Captioning

Filed under: Europe ~ Russia

Opposition leader and chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov, along with 170 other activists, were rounded up by Russian security forces before a planned peaceful protest today. But more than just rough-handling, I think the police might get sued for sexual harassment. Here's why...

... any good caption ideas? Post in the comments!

MC · April 14, 2007 7:26 AM

Is Dictatorship Economically Excusable?

Filed under: Economics

Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution answers an email from one of his readers, which asks: "Is authoritarianism excusable or permissible - for any length of time - if it is justified by a need for economic growth/reform?" Here's the meat of his response: (followed by my own, of course)

More democratic versions of those regimes would have been better. That said, I don't think absolute majoritarian democracy in Singapore, from day one, would have been better than the reign of Lee. It would have led to ethnic voting and the quick end of democracy, in destabilizing fashion. Yet now Singapore, a successful and well-established country, can and should become more democratic. When it comes to Pinochet, we should condemn part of the regime and praise some of the parts concerning economic policy. Viewing Pinochet purely as an individual moral agent, he was quite wrong to act the way he did. If you ask "would I be willing to endanger the good economic reforms by eschewing torture to enforce the rule of the regime," the answer is yes I would want to immediately end the torture and take that risk.

MC · April 13, 2007 5:25 PM

And Then They Came For My Minivan...

Filed under: Asia ~ Maldives

The editor of Minivan News, the largest Maldivian opposition website on the net with over 70,000 viewers a day, has sent out an email saying that the site has been hacked and replaced with a giant picture of the dictator-in-chief.

Dear all,
Our site has been temporarily hacked.

The front page is currently displaying a picture of President Gayoom with the banner "Our Nation, Our Culture", and the quote "our strength is our unity, don't let anyone break it. Protect this country from those people who are trying to corrupt it."

There is no way to navigate away from this page, so our home page and news articles are unavailable for the moment.

We apologise and hope to have the problem resolved as soon as possible.

We will be continuing to work as normal and maintain full email access.

The site will be updated as soon as the hack is resolved.

So now, as governments crack down on physical media, now they and their supporters are going strong against news sites as well. If anything, though, I'd say this just brings more attention to them.

MC · April 13, 2007 2:31 PM

Plotting The Wrong Russian Revolution

Filed under: Europe ~ Russia

Big bad billionaire Boris Berezovsky declared to the Guardian that he is "plotting a new Russian revolution," saying that force is the only way to remove Putin from office and change the regime of ex-KGB officers. His latest is that he's bankrolling members of the Russian political elite in an attempt to cause a split. He's made statements like this before, and it's always hilarious because Pootie Poot's cronies go bonkers.

His criticisms of Putin's regime, that he's rolling back democracy and that it may only be possible to remove his regime through force, are ideas and options that should be weighed and considered -- especially the first. But when it comes to violence, some character assassination is in order.

Boris Berezovsky and his ilk, along with Putin, are just two sides of the same corrupt coin. He spent a great part of the 90s buying up the country at bargain barrel prices using his own connections in the government, leaving the country in ravages while he profited. Berezovsky, at one point, was Russia just as Putin is now. Since he was sent into exile, he has been using words such as "democracy" like he owns them. But contrary to what he says, democracy isn't just political elites -- him and Putin -- being able to fight like dogs for power. It certainly isn't a slogan to be thrown around to gain Western support.

All in all, he's just another billionaire slimeball whose very actions led to the rise of a person like Putin. There are plenty of people who are actually in Russia, risking imprisonment and police baton beatings, who are fighting for democracy there. Chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov, ex-prime minister Kasyanov, and a host of others are trying to put together a feasible democratic opposition at this very moment. Others, like Anna Politkovskaya, actually died trying to bring about a democratic Russia.

In other words, Berezovsky can shove it.

MC · April 13, 2007 9:18 AM

The World's Best Performing Stock Market

Filed under: Africa ~ Zimbabwe

It's certainly not the United States, London, or even China or India. Hong Kong pales in comparison, and Brazil is but an afterthought. Mexico? Where's that? All of these places are doing well enough, but they aren't top dog. The Ludwig von Mises Institute, however, has the answer we're all seeking.

Zimbabwe??

MC · April 12, 2007 12:35 PM

Paul Wolfowitz Paying For Some Honey

Filed under: International Institutions

The Statesmen reports that Paul Wolfowitz, head of the World Bank, is embroiled in a nepotism scandal. Apparently his longtime girlfriend, Shaha Riza, a communications officer for godsakes, has been receiving some pretty large pay raises that haven't been approved by the ethics committee as they're supposed to be. By large, I mean an extra $47,300, bringing her up to $180,000, since Wolfowitz arrived. Then she got another $13,590 last year. Now everyone is wondering why these raises were ordered and bypassed around the ethics committee. Well, now we know.

At the risk of turning this into a tabloid, occurrences like this are particularly regrettable because it reflects on the entire organization. Wolfowitz went into the World Bank promising to clean up corruption and make it actually, you know, work so that its goals are achievable. Politicians and bureaucrats, especially at the international level, are all sleazy. It's no wonder that hookers line the streets of New York in force when political conventions and conferences come to town.

Speaking of which, wouldn't it be cheaper from the World Bank to get Wolfowitz one of those rather than boost his girlfriend's salary by over $60,000?

MC · April 12, 2007 9:04 AM

The Spring Offensive

Filed under: Kyrgyzstan

The Taliban has nothing on these guys when it comes to organizing and getting your people out there in the springtime. Kyrgyz opposition forces, meanwhile, know how to party like its 2005 and the Tulip Revolution was just a rehearsal. Right now 10,000 protesters, and apparently many more to come, have gathered in Bishkek's Alatoo Square to demand the implementation of promised reforms and the resignation of President Bakiev.

MC · April 11, 2007 1:45 PM

The Catholic Church Can Save Zimbabwe

Filed under: Africa ~ Zimbabwe

The latest Publius feature article title, "The Catholic Church Can Save Zimbabwe," can be found by clicking on this link, looking at the right sidebar, or clicking on the Articles tab. It explores the relationship of the Catholic Church's support for the liberation of Poland and ties it into the potential for support that it can give to the people of Zimbabwe in their own struggle. Check it out.

MC · April 11, 2007 9:09 AM

Fearless Iran?

Filed under: Iran ~ Middle East

The Islamic Republic of Iran announced it produces nuclear fuel on an industrial level. Reza Aqazadeh, the country's vice president and head of its Atomic Energy Organization said that the 3, 000 centrifuges from Natanz are merely the beginning. "When we say we have entered industrial scale enrichment, (it means) there is no way back. Installation of centrifuges will continue steadily to reach a stage where all the 50,000 centrifuges are launched." (IRNA)

Meanwhile the United States, Russia, China and Germany (holder of the EU Presidency) accused Tehran of abusing the goodwill of the international community.

Clearly the isolation measures didn't work and new tactics have to be employed to moderate Iran's nuclear and regional ambitions. The West at large tends to forget that in the ME a soft approach is often perceived as weakness. Vigorous actions are needed, diplomatic or otherwise.

Manuela Paraipan · April 10, 2007 4:25 PM

Once A Militia, Always A Militia

Filed under: Middle East

In a televised speech on Sunday, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said that Lebanese "are stuck with us for 50 years more." He further added, "If we were to choose between civil war and keeping the situation this way for a limited period of time, we prefer to continue with this state of affairs (stalemate)."

He doesn't want anymore the 19/11 government formula his party proposed and continues to oppose the international tribunal in Rafiq al Hariri's assassination.

Sheikh Nasrallah is actually promising 50 years of political isolation, poverty, social despair and economic disasters. If Hezbollah will continue sabotaging the government of Premier Siniora, Lebanon will be very soon in a constant state of pandemonium and servitude to Iran and Syria. That is what the 14 March is trying hard to prevent and what March 8 aims of restoring.

Manuela Paraipan · April 10, 2007 1:13 PM

The Hug That Launched A Thousand Fatwas

Filed under: Central Asia ~ Pakistan

Look at her, Nilofer Bakhtiar, that harlot. Not only is she parading around in public as Pakistan's tourism minister, but she's going around giving hugs to French men, walking around sans ninja gear, and... and... are those boobs?? Many may believe that she is clapping for something in this picture, but really, she is sinisterly rubbing her hands together plotting the weakening of the public morality!

At least, this is what people inside the Taliban-like Red Mosque are saying right now. These people issued a deadly fatwa against this poor woman for giving a victory hug to an instructor after a successful parachute jump. No mind that this was her first jump, which takes a great deal of courage, and not to mention that the jump was for an aid organization raising money to aid the people of Pakistan who had been injured or displaced in the great October 2005 earthquake.

But who cares about them, right? All that really matters is that women aren't in public doing, well, anything!

MC · April 10, 2007 11:33 AM

Venezuela's Two-Edged Sword: Media

Filed under: Venezuela

There's something of a revolutionary ferment in and around Venezuela's media. More so than any other Latin country. Maybe it's because Venezuela's billionaires, like Gustavo Cisneros, are media kings. Maybe it's because of the starry international appeal of the many Miss Venezuelas. For whatever reason, media is pivotal in Venezuela as an essential instrument of dynamism and change. That explains a lot about why RCTV is under such seige from Chavistas, as this excellent account from Daniel's Venezuela News & Views shows here.

It's also a two-edged sword.

On the one hand, the power of media in Venezuela has contributed signficantly to the rise of Hugo Chavez, whose persona and mastery of the colloquial speech, the raging diatribe, the entertaining tale, and even the song have propelled him to the top from obscurity as Venezuela's leader in 1998. It's not very well known here, but Hugo Chavez is a product of the Venezuelan boondocks, not a product of its cities, nor its experienced political establishments. He's a rube outsider from the outback of Barinas state near the Andes. But as a leader, he's managed to use media to propel him to stardom, a short route to power in a state with a calcified political power establishment. From there, he's kept with it, hosting his own reality television show as president.

He's simply a natural. In Chavez, anyone can see his star qualities from his early speeches. I have seen them and was struck by how full of magnetism he is. He seems to be talking right to you through the television set. It's only in later years that some sort of mask has formed over him, a signal of his growing guardedness. He still emits bursts of volcanic bile in his public addresses. But he doesn't have quite the same early charisma. He's also grown fat and sloppy as he becomes comfortable and complacent in his absolute power.

But if Hugo can master media, there are plenty of others who can innovate into it, too.

A very dramatic example of this is Carlos Ortega, the imprisoned former union boss who led the great oil strike of 2002-3. Ortega escaped from a Chavista military prison in August 2006, and has been in hiding for several months, with no one knowing where he is. His story is here. Now, taking a page from another escaped political prisoner, Governor Eduardo Lapi of Yaracuy state, Ortega has started using media to transmit messages to his people. Unlike Lapi, who writes letters, Ortega is using electronic television media. It's a very dangerous and rebellious thing to do in a system that no longer allows dissent.

Ortega might have borrowed this idea for this from, of all people, Osama Bin Laden, who also uses filmed messages to his followers as a way of leading them, too. Just as Bin Laden uses Al-Jazeera to transmit his terror messages to destroy America, so Ortega uses the popular Globovision station to transmit messages designed to rally his followers and fight an odious dictator who's oppressing his people. Media, after all, can transmit any message, good or bad, and this new means is ideal for a leader on the lam.

Ortega is a gutsy brawler of a union boss, whose daring defiance of Hugo Chavez began with the great oil strike of 2002-3 and extended from there. He's never feared Chavez, and he won his own union elections with powerful political support. That's why he scares Chavez - it's because of that proven record of winning elections and his fearlessness. That's why Hugo Chavez not only fired Ortega from his elected union boss job, he also threw him in prison. Ortega didn't let prison walls stop him though. He escaped, with the aid of his military guards, probably. Now Ortega's given Chavez another reason to fear him, he's using media beyond what even Chavez did to to rally Chavez's enemies. That's innovation.

What we may see is a YouTube revolution capable of taking out Hugo Chavez, his own mastery of television media superceded by the determined Carlos Ortega's innovations. Keep an eye on this new evolving development - in a dictatorship where all dissent is forbidden, YouTubes may be the final unbeatable path to democracy.

A.M. Mora y Leon · April 10, 2007 5:15 AM

Happy Easter!

Filed under: Philosphy

Happy Easter everyone! Enjoy your holiday weekend. I know we will. Publius will be back on Monday,

MC · April 7, 2007 8:27 AM

K-I-S-S-I-N-G

Filed under: Europe ~ Russia

Is President Bush giving Russian war criminals too much, er, lip service? Kim Zigfeld takes issue with it, as it appears that our Commander-in-Chief met with a Russian war criminal in the Oval Office without even really knowing who he is. Definitely not the way to speak out for human rights. It's our latest Publius feature article, so check it out here!

MC · April 6, 2007 8:18 PM

Halal Banks in UK

Filed under: Europe

We already have the Islamic Bank of Britain (2004) and more will follow soon. Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported yesterday that the British banking group Lloyds TSB (one of UK's leading banks) has introduced a new service for Islamic banking for Islamic-owned companies. Apparently other banks will introduce such services in the next two to three years. Sharia prohibits the interest and investment in businesses that are morally deviant (eg alcohol)

If we were to live under Sharia law the tax, jizyah, would have to be paid only by non-Muslims male. Women and children don't have to pay the tax. And men would pay only 0.5% of their yearly earnings. Economically that doesn't sound bad, if it weren't for the other steps of Islamic rule, 1) dawah, primary invitation to Islam followed by intellectual debates, 2) paying the jizya and 3) preparation for an offensive Jihad.

The discourse about an Islamic Caliphate in UK now includes, among others, the economic benefits. Too wild? Not really, if we check the demography statistics of the old continent.

The Muslims advantages are: "fervor and conviction, which in most Western countries are either weak or lacking. They are self-assured of the rightness of their cause, whereas we spend most of our time in self-denigration and self-abasement. They have loyalty and discipline, and perhaps most important of all, they have demography, the combination of natural increase and migration producing major population changes, which could lead within the foreseeable future to significant majorities in at least some European cities or even countries." (Bernard Lewis, 2007)

Manuela Paraipan · April 6, 2007 11:11 AM

Sitting In The Privileged Chair

Filed under: Middle East

Nancy Pelosi got a very interesting, symbolic, relatively meaningless privilege during her trip to Saudi Arabia.

Riyadh: US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday visited Saudi Arabia's unelected advisory council, the closest thing in the kingdom to a legislature, where she tried out her counterpart's chair - a privilege no Saudi woman can have because women cannot become legislators.

Pelosi, the first US woman house speaker, said she raised the issue of Saudi Arabia's lack of female politicians with Saudi government officials on the last stop of her Mideast tour, but she refrained from criticising the kingdom over it.

"It's a nice view from here," said Pelosi as she sat in the chair, facing the ornate chamber with its deep blue and yellow chairs and gilded ironwork.

I don't know why the Saudis would make such an exception. Perhaps that's the cause for the shocked expressions in the picture. Maybe it means that they think she's a man? I can imagine how they'd make the mistake since she wasn't wearing that hijab she picked up. . .

MC · April 6, 2007 9:30 AM

Dressed To Mock

Filed under: Middle East

One quick glance at a photo of the [now freed] British sailors shows a bunch of guys wearing new suits, and a female sailor bedecked in an Islamic headscarf. People noticed this immediately and condemned the way it must have been forced on her. Such outrage was greater inflamed when Nancy Pelosi went parading across Syria wearing one.

As for the guys, they looked pretty clean pressed. But look closely... Ahmadinejad got one last laugh.

See it? None of the sailors are wearing ties! In fact, the chick isn't the only one donning the latest fashion of the mullahs. The hottest new thing is mock-Ahmadinejad suits with unbuttoned shirts! A favorite of clubbers and tyrants alike. But more importantly, where is The Manolo on this?

MC · April 5, 2007 1:55 PM

Beware of wolves in sheep's clothes

Filed under: Middle East

The Quds press agency (UK) announced on April 2 that more than 4,000 members of Al-Mahdi Army joined the Iraqi police and regular forces even before the implementation of the much publicized security plan for Baghdad (which is running for almost two months now). The South of the capital is dominated by the Al Mahdi Army of Shiia cleric Muqtada Al Sadr.

The plan of Al Sadr seems to be that of deliberately sabotaging the work of the Iraqi police and security forces by all necessary means. Since the Mahdi militia members joined the national forces the violence escalated in Baghdad.

Manuela Paraipan · April 5, 2007 3:23 AM

A Gentler, Softer Iran

Filed under: Middle East

The latest feature article is up on the right. It takes on the British hostage crisis in the context that Iran is trying to win over European public support to stop sanctions against the country. In fact, it argues that Iran probably treated the sailors really well for that express purpose. To read the article, click here.

MC · April 4, 2007 7:21 PM

Whither The Protest Babes?

Filed under: Europe ~ Protest Babes ~ Ukraine

Supporters of the pro-Russian government coalition protest on Independence square in Kiev. Ukraine's pro-Western president Viktor Yushchenko held crisis talks Tuesday with his prime minister, as a deepening power struggle between the two rivals brought thousands onto the streets in protest.(AFP/Sergei Supinsky)

Normally this isn't a problem, but Yahoo! News doesn't have a single picture of a protest babe on either side. Neither Yanukovich nor Yushchenko have babe backing, and Tymoshenko doesn't have the protest appeal like she used to. That must mean that, indeed, Ukraine is in a true crisis.

MC · April 4, 2007 7:23 AM

Zimbabwe State Journalist Killed Over The Truth

Filed under: Africa ~ Zimbabwe

Disturbing images revealing Mugabe's henchmen brutally beating opposition leaders last month were leaked to the West, greatly amplifying the shock that many felt reading through the headlines. The name of this brave journalist is Edward Chikombo, a cameraman for state-run broadcaster ZBC. Or should I say, was? Revealing his name on this site makes no difference. Today, he turned up dead about 50 miles away from the capital.

MC · April 4, 2007 5:45 AM

Venezuela On Less Than 1 Million A Day

Filed under:

Venezuela has dropped from being our number one oil supplier, as it was in 1998, to our fifth-largest supplier. The Energy Department statistics just came out today and for the first time in a long time, Venezuela's exports to the U.S. dropped below 1 million barrels a day, to only 955,000. See here.

Chavez and his pals claim it's because they're selling oil to China, and for sure it's up, but I wouldn't be so sure about that being the main reason. There have been vast breakdowns in Venezuela's supply chain, like this one here, which affects Venezuela's ability to produce oil. That, and a lot of things, make Venezuela an unreliable source of oil for the U.S., and thus declining in importance.

Meanwhile, today Venezuela doubled its planned international borrowing (who the heck would lend to them!) through the issuance of a $7.5 billion bond, which is up from the planned $3 billion. Clearly, people want to buy the bond, but just as clearly, the Venezuelan oil company needs foreign investment from this bond to keep its oil wells producing. Chavez has already robbed the foreign oil investor companies of their assets so the only thing left to do to get cash is to get it from the banks, as this debt illustrates.

The main thing this points to is that Venezuela's oil company is spending more than it's earning, and its declining earnings are not being made up elsewhere. It's all a function of declining oil sales to the U.S.

While Venezuela is selling us less oil, our oil import consumption is up, based on the statistics provided by all but 2 countries (Venezuela and Angola). The Mexicans are selling us more. The Saudis are selling us more. The Canadians are selling us more. Two players worth noting who are selling us significantly more are the Colombians and the Brazilians, both of whom nearly doubled their oil sales to us. That bears watching as the strategic picture evolves. One month's sale doesn't tell us a whole lot, but a long pattern of it will be interesting news.

Keep an eye on the whole thing here. And watch Venezuela Today for updates, too.

A.M. Mora y Leon · April 3, 2007 8:44 PM

Government: Stay Away From Estonia

Filed under: Europe ~ Russia

Is there a terrorist threat against its major cities? Do mass rallies and civil war rue the day? Good old chaos and anarchy?

Who knows?

In case you're wondering, it's not the American or European governments that have issued such an order. It's the Russian government, of course. True to its bullying nature -- especially against the Baltics! -- First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov has told citizens that they should shun Estonia. The real reason is because Estonia plans to take down an old, irrelevant WWII monument that the people widely regard as a symbol of the beginning of Soviet occupation. Yes, those crazy Estonians are going to tear down a statue! First it's a statue, then the entire Russian Federation!

How ironic that as the Estonians prepare to take down a symbol of Soviet oppression, the Russians react by basically calling for a boycott on Estonian tourism and goods. How perfectly predictable! Big bad Russia's ego gets bruised by baby Estonia and, failing to reconcile with its own history, throws a temper tantrum.

MC · April 3, 2007 12:39 PM

Foul Play In The Escaped Governor's Case?

Filed under:

I really hope not.

Yaracuy Gov. Eduardo Lapi escaped from a Venezuelan prison on Sunday. He'd been imprisoned by the Chavistas for a more than a year on "corruption" charges in the state capital city of San Felipe. Venezuelan law says one is supposed to get a fair trial in less than a year but he never got it. All he had heard was that he was going to be transferred to a more dangerous prison in the coming days, according to relatives.

From what I know of Yaracuy, it sounds like there is a really vicious, venal Chavista political machine there. It forced peasants to expropriate farmers' land whether they wanted to or not. But it also had this incredibly mean woman who ran the land institute who constantly decried Christopher Colombus. She did this as a means of beating on the Spanish and Italian farmers who tried to get justice when their land was stolen by campesinos and guerrillas. Can you imagine getting abused for Christopher Colombus just because you are Spanish and then being told you deserved to have your land confiscated as a consequence? You can see the lawlessness of Venezuela right there in that vignette. That's what Lapi was operating against.

But Lapi wasn't like that. Lapi was a popular and efficient governor who I think first had the election stolen from him in 2004, shortly after Chavez's recall referendum, and accepted it stoically, but eventually was swept up because his remaining popularity continued to be a threat to the Chavistas, who were filthy, corrupt, tacky and inefficient.

I went to Yaracuy and by chance I met Gov. Lapi when he was out of office. He had not yet been arrested or taken to prison. He told me he thought they were going to eventually get him. If I recall correctly, he didn't even have a fixed place to stay because they were looking for him. And I recall they had already gotten his private house. We had scotch and dinner at Venezuelan club whose wood and dark surfaces and palms and windows sort of looked like 1940s Havana, I remember I had some kind of soup and then steak and so did he. He was a fine man, quick witted and tended to draw a crowd. I asked him if the election was stolen from him and he said, matter of factly "oh yeah." He spoke fast, sometimes too fast for me to understand, and seemed to have an agile mind.

Soon after that, he was hauled off to prison on "corruption" charges, which I do not believe had merit in themselves. Also, Chavistas don't prosecute corruption anyway, if they did, they'd have to go after themselves first.

On Sunday, he escaped. But no one knows how he got out and everyone knows he didn't have the money to pay anyone in the prison system. His "escape" is the second high-profile prison break in the last couple years, the first was of Carlos Ortega who led the great strike of 2002-2003.

His wife Jeanette, meanwhile, says he hasn't contacted her and she had no inkling of his possible escape, all she knew was that he was never given the trial he had a right to within a year, and he was slated to go to an even worse prison than he already was, and he'd already had death threats. She thinks there's been foul play and he's going to turn up in a ditch somewhere in rural Yaracuy, "shot trying to escape." It certainly is a possibility and it's a chilling one. After all, this is someone I had dinner with. It makes me worry. No one knows where he is right now.

Later in my trip, I went to the governor's mansion now being occupied by his successor who stole the election from Lapi, a guy named Gimenez who pasted his face all over the billboards in a big greasy politician grin. The locals called a drunk and showed me the fresh tire skidmarks ON THE WALLS of his governor's mansion as proof of that. I mean, who drives their Hummer (Chavistas love pricey, militaristic vehicles) on the side walls rather than across the driveway unless they aren't completely in control? When I inspected those skidmarks and got a photo, armed troops rushed out and asked me what I thought I was doing. I said I was a tourist and everything was all so beautiful, the sun, the sky, this pretty house, this architecture, these flowers ... getting the hell away from the guy as fast as I could. But I got the skidmark picture, think I have posted it earlier, and I will do so again when I can.

I hope Gov. Lapi really did escape and is safe in Bogota or Mexico City or Miami. He doesn't deserve any of this. The fact that he was targeted by the Chavistas, had the election stolen from him, had his freedom taken from him and now may have had his life taken from him is too much injustice to contemplate. Keep watching and waiting.

Daniel at Venezuela News & Views has an absolutely riveting three-post roundup of all that's being said in the Venezuelan press about this strange and disturbing case. I really enjoyed reading this update of his. Highly recommended, read the whole thing here, here and here.

See also what Venezuela Today has in updates.

A.M. Mora y Leon · April 3, 2007 1:21 AM

Chavez Goes Mullah On Easter Celebrations

Filed under: Americas ~ Venezuela

"It is really ridiculous, like implementing a Muslim regime," said Jorge Dominguez, 36, leaving a liquor store at 4.55 p.m. with two chinking carrier bags full of beer.

"I got nervous. I thought Chavez had prohibited the sale of liquor seeing how he talks about Cuba, socialism and the (Iranian) ayatollahs," said 67-year-old retiree Enrique Salazar after buying three bottles to last him through the holiday.

Hugo's really done it now. He's relegated all of Venezuela to the status of college freshmen. Until the end of Easter, alcohol sales will be limited in public services such as restaurants to between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. while sales altogether are explicitly banned throughout the holy weekend. You heard me right. No spring break for Venezuelans.

The reason for the ban is because alcohol drinking infuriates Chavez. He blames Venezuela's love of whiskey on the great enemy up north, the United States. You see, it's all a plot to degrade the moral fiber of the country, leading to the 100 or so deaths every Easter blamed on drinking. It's no simple criminal act in which people need to be thrown in jail; it's an enemy plot!

What he didn't anticipate was that people would not simply submit to his edict. They're doing what all of us did at some point in college, only worse. Coca-Cola is ordered with a wink, a smile, and some extra tip. Bottles are being bid on as if liquor stores were stock exchanges. Given that everyone found out at the last minute, the mad rush to get the weekend wine has assured not only that everyone will get what they want, but Chavez will look like he's kowtowing to an Islamic regime on a Christian holiday.

Oh yeah, and he'll look like an idiot. Even Russian President Vladimir Putin lost some of his highly acclaimed popularity when, early last year, Russia experience an extreme vodka shortage. Because whiskey is to Venezuelans what vodka is to Russians, there is just no telling how far down Chavez may go!

MC · April 2, 2007 11:21 PM

Ukraine May Backslide In Just One Day

Filed under: Ukraine

In perhaps the ballsy-est move he's made since gaining the presidency, Orange Revolution President Viktor Yushchenko signed a decree disbanding the parliament and calling new elections.

MC · April 2, 2007 4:23 PM

Iranian "Students" Demonstrate At UK Embassy

Filed under: Middle East

Jim at GatewayPundit has a big photoessay of the Iranian "students" in a "spontaneous" demonstration against Britain's embassy. It echoes the 1979 student demonstrations of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's youth, back when he seemed to be a member of the hostage-taking "students" who took American diplomatic personnel hostage in the not-missed days of Jimmy Carter. Britain's appeasing attitude is not going to help.

See the whole thing here.

Hat tip: Instapundit

A.M. Mora y Leon · April 2, 2007 9:52 AM

Putintime In Review

Filed under: Europe ~ Russia

Russia contributor Kim Zigfeld takes a look at Russia since Putin gained power, year by year, month by month, and ends with a scary conclusion.

MC · April 1, 2007 9:43 PM

Chavista Mobs Howl For RCTV Private Media Expropriation

Filed under: Americas

The mobs put "expropriation" at the top of their graffiti spree, signaling what they really wanted.

Here, the graffiti comes from a "campesino" group in Yaracuy, a western state. The militants there were totally nuts when I met them in Yaracuy, they discussed 'revolutionary tourism' and had a raving 'thing' against Christopher Colombus. I am not surprised they showed up in Caracas. Notice that they condemn Nixon Moreno, an antichavez student leader, and the Vatican, both of which have stood up for RCTV.

You can see that they made a pigpen of the place, that looks like a once-nice building.

And the sidewalk graffiti! They were all over that, too.

Along with the dead dog, there are a lot of communistic epithets here, calling people 'dirty lackeys' - I think that must be 'running dogs' to us, and the statement at the bottom, which says 'The class struggle is the poor against the rich.' Yeah, right.

Here we have more uglying the place up in Technicolor, in the name of 'poder popular' or, people power.

RCTV is under fire. The big television station, which has been broadcasting under license in Venezuela for 54 years, sort of the equivalent of FoxNews or CBS, officially loses its right to broadcast at the end of today. But that wasn't all that happened.

Like furies, red tshirted Chavista mobs gathered and bayed liked wolves in the days leading up to this end of an era, graffiting and spray-painting the TV station with words like 'expropriacion' along with filthy slogans that if you know Spanish, you can see the equivalent of 'f word' among, racism charges, campesino movement slogans, anti-Vatican slogans (the Vatican actually defended this TV station, which is run by a devout Catholic) and 'RCTV out' slogans. They also left plenty of garbage and mess, including what looks like a dead dog - a mob symbol if there ever was one, behind.

This is how Venezuela is being ruled right now - not just by arbitrary "legal" rulings based on what Chavez likes, but by the added calling card of the Chavista mob, spray painting its vile messages in its 'revolutionary' fervor to get the point across that this isn't about law or the public interest anymore, this is about bloodthirsty mob rule.

One little fact that will make you sick to hear is that I know exactly who organized the attack. I hung out with him in Caracas because I was curious how the other side thought and I went to his "Bolivarian Circle" meeting and I got literature - it was 100% against the dissident TV stations - and I even got drunk with him in one of the mayor's offices out in the western slums. I know who he is and how he thinks. He had a string of "community" television stations of his own, and he told me the pbig rivate TV stations were "against democracy." His people were after Globovision and its broadcasting equipment at the time but they rapidly moved against RCTV and have been talking about destroying them through violence. He even had state-funded pamphlets, with the little Venezuelan government jumping-people logo on them to give to me and I still have them. His bile against private media finally came to fruition yesterday. And he will be the beneficiary of the spoils.

The injury added to insult against RCTV shows that not only is the law against the existence of the dissident TV station, it's also against enforcing even civic laws against the integrity of the property itself. Think about how you would feel for your personal safety in the wake of these attacks. These thugs would have thrown a bomb or set a fire if they could but the government wants to steal the equipment for its own 'public broadcast' service, which will fall into the hands of this rapcious graffiti mob. This is violence, from top to bottom, with the state making common cause with the criminal elements to make Venezuela a holy hell for anyone who produces anything of value.

God help Venezuela.

UPDATE: Alek Boyd at VCrisis sends me a correction - RCTV is slated for closure on May 31, not March 31 as had been reported earlier. Thanks Alek! Read Alek's item on RCTV, complete with more strings of photos, here.

UPDATE: Venezuela Today has a whole special section on RCTV with all the coverage and all the photos for easy viewing here.

A.M. Mora y Leon · April 1, 2007 12:55 AM