Blogging the democratic revolution
As Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez flashes his rifles this week, ranting on and on about a nonexistent “U.S. invasion” – a real war is going on in Venezuela, one in which real criminals are waging on Venezuela’s poor people, and one in which its combatants, the police, are starved for funds, as Chavez happily shoots his wad in a bid to buy ever fancier military hardware. Miguel has the facts and figures on this, in an extraordinarily good essay that can be easily understood, even by people not familiar with Venezuela. Read it here.
I was fortunate enough to participate in a conference call with Natan Sharansky hosted by the Heritage Foundation. As you all have probably guessed, I’m a big fan of his book, The Case For Democracy, so this presented a very unique chance to get a question in. I was joined by several heavyweight bloggers Regime Change Iran, Right Wing News, Red State, Power Line, Gateway Pundit, Hugh Hewitt, Atlas Shrugs, and Boker Tov, Boulder. Follow those links! Unfortunately, there was an audio problem so no file or transcript will be available. Meaning I have to go by memory or notes.…
Abu Bakar Bashir, Southeast Asia’s Leading Terror Mullah Source: The Sydney Morning Herald I get a visceral reaction every time I see this guy. I first heard of Abu Bakar Bashir, the leading terror cleric in Southeast Asia, in early 2002 from Sidney Jones, who was then with Human Rights Watch. She knew her stuff on Indonesia and she sounded the alarm loudly about this bastard well before the first Bali bombings in October 2002. She was absolutely adamant about the danger he posed as leader of Jemaah Islamiyah and the sleepiness of the Indonesian government to the threat he…
Sorry for the lack of posts today everyone — we’re packing up the house and moving to Spain. Today is the last day that the packers are here, so posting will resume tomorrow!
Chavez taking aim Source: Globovision Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez vowed to shoot down the independent press today, in perhaps his most pointed threat against it ever. Amid all the Chavista propaganda reported here in the States, suggesting that Venezuela is not a dictatorship because of an existing free press, the fact today is that the media has been threatened with total destruction. Chavez vowed to yank the broadcasting licenses of any television station that opposes him or whose coverage he didn’t like in 2002, showing that once again, he is unable to distinguish party (which he represents) from state (which…
Source: Reuters, via Yahoo! Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez unveiled thousands of cartons of rifles, bought from Russia supposedly to head off a U.S. “invasion.” Lovingly, his official press office released the dingbat photo above. What a bunch of slobs. Via a Bloomberg item found by Alek Boyd at VCrisis, here is what Chavez had to say about this new development, and I kid you not: “Soldiers, this rifle is your new girlfriend. A real soldier loves his rifle.” Miguel has tons more photos of Chavez posing with his “girlfriend” in this special link here.
A couple of months ago, after the golden domed Al Askari Mosque in Samarra had been attacked, I was asked by a friend why Muslims blamed the United States and Israel for this bombing. The Iranian president, his leashed Lebanese poodle Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and a few other folks issued statements and articles accusing the US of wishing to stir up sectarian tensions among the Iraqis. For instance, the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the following in reaction to the tragedy: ???????These heinous acts are committed by a group of Zionists and occupiers that have failed. They have failed…
A new flavor Frito Bandito? Source: Venezuela Today Have you ever wondered whether leftist populist Mexican presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was really cut out of the same kind of cloth as his natural ally, Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez? This informed essay by Gustavo Coronel, on Venezuela Today lays the two of them out, side by side, for your own comparison, well worth reading here. UPDATE: Real Clear Politics has found a second essay on AMLO on The New Republic, delving deeply into this issue, telling us what AMLO is really like, that’s well worth reading here. UPDATE: Two…
If the job of the government is to create development and prosperity, the only way to do it is to create businesses. Businesses are not rich because they have governments, governments are rich because they have businesses – lots of businesses, Carlos Alberto Montaner offers these, and other thoughts on the aim of government and the task ahead for Peru, in an entertaining style that almost resembles Mark Steyn’s creative tone in this strikingly original, kickass must-read essay here.
Islamism defeats itself. Every time. This is a simple observation. Take the recent take over of the Somali capital by Islamic militias. This illustrates the archetypical Islamist power grab scenario: in a nation wrought with chaos and violence, and lacking strong leaders of principle, Islamic leaders with machine guns move in to give a desperate land order. Islamists symbolize sound principles and organization. They are often the only faction with a seemingly practical philosophy of governance that is at the same time legitimized in the folk culture of the locals. The Somali warlords of today could just have easily been…
Think back to March 26 2006. Belarussians were on the street protesting against Lukashenka, an Afghan Christian convert risked the death penalty, London Mayor Ken Livingstone had just called the U.S Ambassador a ‘chiseling little crook’, and the Commonwealth games had just concluded. Whilst some sort of closure has been brought to all of those events, one news story from the week wrangles on. Ukraine went to the ballot box 4 months ago – a government has still yet to be formed. For those of you who have not been following the story, it will not take long to explain…
As if making the political comeback of the century wasn’t the ultimate in good fortune, Peruvian president-elect Alan Garcia has gotten lucky once again: Peru’s leftwing Chavista presidential candidate, Ollanta Humala, is watching his political party, one that was so eagerly expecting victory, splinter into disintegration. In the mire of their defeat to Garcia, they’ve cracked up. What does that mean for anti-Chavista president-elect, Alan Garcia? A more powerful political party, one that now holds the highest number of seats in Congress. Prior to the crackup, it was Humala’s far-left party which was set to control the Congress. Not any…
From SMCCDI “In several cities groups gathered in order to organize opposition soccer gatherings, in which they displayed the banned “Lion & Sun” flag and some posters of the Islamic regime’s crimes. Such actions were very noticeable, especially, in cities, such as in Los Angeles, where, the Marzeporgohar Party had rented a full restaurant in the Westwood area, and where tens of Iranians gathered to watch the match on Television. In Dallas and in Seattle, several SMCCDI and Iran National Secular Party members took off the Islamic regime’s displayed flags, from the walls of some businesses, where some Islamic regime…
This is just breaking, thousands of Iranian women are demonstrating for equal rights now in Tehran – police are going after them with full Islamofascist barbarism. Speculatively, it might well be that the Iranian soccer babes had an impact – I felt they would when I saw them. Keep an eye on GatewayPundit, if anyone catches this in full, he will. UPDATE: I was right, go see GatewayPundit’s excellent roundup and photos here.
Two days ago, Madrid has been flooded with over a million people who marched to say a sound NO to Zapatero and his appeasing policy toward ETA. The Spanish Prime Minister decided to open a dialogue with those who terrorized and murdered hundreds over the last decades. This demonstration was not at all meaningless. It showed how not all of Spain’s population supports their prime minister’s absurd policies. And yet, there has been a total media blackout. However, I found tons of photos in several Spanish blogs. It fills the media vacuum! “Why do you hate Spain, Zapatero?” “Spain does…
The SMCCDI Movement informs that there have been clashes in Iran soon after the match, with people voicing their disgust for the Islamic Republic regime: Unrest, sporadic clashes and attack of some public buildings and materials happened in several Iranian cities, yesterday night, following Iran’s 3-1 loss to Mexico in the frame of the 2006 Soccer World Cup. Angry supporters expressed their hostility, against the Islamic regime and in cities, such as, Tehran, Ahvaz, Shiraz and Esfahan. Several were injured or arrested by the Islamic regime’s security forces and plainclothes men. Ä…Å Already many Iranians were speaking about the way…
President Tony Saca of El Salvador Source: Yahoo! Images When we think of leaders named “Tony” – our first glint of thought is maybe of the great Tony Blair of the United Kingdom, who always has the right thing to say, yet whose actions speak louder than any of his eloquent words. He’s a great ally of civilization and some of his greatest work has been to help crush al-Qaida. By coincidence, there’s another leader named Tony and in our own hemisphere, the great Tony Saca of El Salvador, whose leadership has turned tiny, beat-up, war-torn, communist-battered failed-state El Salvador…
Following on from Stefania’s post, the World Cup match between Iran and Mexico went on, and Iranian exiles, though they didn’t win the match, did a good job cheering their team. As Stefania noted, many of the exiles were making a political statement about Iran’s regime by waving the old Iranian flag, which featured a lion and sun emblem. You might argue that there’s something off about politicizing a soccer match by waving politically loaded flags, but I see something very different – the babes are cheering the Iranian team (and I am sure it’s a state-sponsored team) even though…
Despite the presence of the regime’s vice-president at the stadium, tens of Iranian fans cheered their team but also staged a significant anti-regime protest. While the Islamic Republic’s national hymn was played, many Iranian fans sang the original Iranian national anthemn, named “Ey-Iran! Marze por Gohar”. The latter has been officially banned by the Khomeinist regime since 1979. The same goes for the national flag, that is the Lion & Sun flag, used for thousands of years with small changes in the centuries, but abolished by the Islamist regime since when it took power in 1979. Since then, the regime…
While cheering their national team, the Iranian exiles in Germany will be demonstrating against the regime, in and out of the stadiums where Iran will play. Hundreds of members of Iranian Diaspora are expected to seize the opportunity, offered by the game, in order to stage a protest rally against the Islamic regime, inside and outside the Nuremberg Stadium, by carrying the banned “Lion & Sun” Flag and shouting slogans. The Islamic regime which is aware of this preparation will broadcast the game with a short delay, in order to allow the censors to cut off hostile footages. Iranians in…
In his most direct and brazen threat against the private sector yet, Hugo Chavez has warned Venezuelan businesses that unless they repatriate $10 billion in capital flight for his own disposal, he’ll take every last thing they have left in Venezuela. It’s a profoundly menacing statement, and not only because he mentions he’ll act in just a few months, after he’s reelected in December but because he sounds so sure he’s going to win. If Venezuela were a true democracy, (and Chavez was not an election cheat) he would not be so sure of that. But more specifically, the threat…
Front Page, The Bangkok Post, June 9, 2006 Today, millions of Thais turned all of Thailand into a sea of gold and yellow, wearing the colors of the widely loved Thai king, His Royal Highness Bhumibol Adulyadej on the 60th anniversary of his reign. Fishermen vowed to give up fishing endangered fishes in honor of the king. Prisoners were freed. Golden barges made rare sailings. Buddhist monks made blessings. The king addressed his subjects for the first time in 20 years, for he doesn’t say much. And he exhorted them to be kind to one another, a most divine and…
I spotted this on a leftwing Bolivian blog – Clinton is busy courting Evo Morales for his September summit. http://www.barrioflores.net/weblog/archives/2006/05/evo_to_attend_c.html The blog reports that Morales has accepted Clinton’s invitation (I notice Clinton’s site doesn’t say anything about this, he must know Morales’ name is starting to stink). http://www.eldeber.com.bo/2006/20060529/al42.html Morales announced today that he’d be confiscating railroads, power plants and phone companies. He’s already gone after gas, oil, land and possibly mines. http://www.efenews.com/detalleFrontPage.asp?opcion=0&id=1215278 This rightwing Bolivian blogger says Morales is going after bank accounts: http://aruiznavajas.blogspot.com/2006/06/rumour-has-it-update-1.html#links Morales has also ranted and raved about how much he loves Che Guevara, says he’s taking…
Alvaro Vargas Llosa, who is Peruvian, found himself unexpectedly pulled by the fate of the heavens back to Lima which he’d generally so wanted to be away from. By a further mysterious sleight of hand, it was election weekend. Vargas Llosa wrote – echoing something of what I had believed earlier – of the courage of Peruvians and the courage he felt coming to himself, as he joined the majority, in voting for the otherwise-dreaded Alan Garcia. It takes incredible courage to vote for a person like him, someone you hate, someone who’s done terrible things to you – to…
I did my best to analyze the latest statements by Oriana Fallaci released at the New Yorker. I think you might be interested in reading my article at Tech Central Station here.