Blogging the democratic revolution
Peter Mork at Economics with a Face has some intelligent observations about ongoing efforts in certain European cities to eliminate all – repeat ALL – traffic rules in the name of fewer traffic accidents, an idea that scares the heck out anyone who first hears about it. But it turns out, it’s not that crazy…
OK, it was a ratbag of a bill. It lumped in everything that possibly could be lumped in, good with bad. Excellent, friendly deserving nations, like Vietnam, Colombia and Peru, (in short, our equals), got much of what they needed. Nations ruled by disgusting, undeserving, ungrateful governments, like Ecuador and Bolivia got plenty too. Messes…
Anti-communist women from Santa Cruz are detained in Bolivia by police enforcers loyal to the leftist government of Evo Morales, which is showing growing intolerance of political dissent. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened them today for their refusal to support Morales. Source, all photos: Getty Images Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez has warned the Bolivian babes…
Now that Hugo Chavez has been reelected president by a wide margin, Venezuela is swiftly moving toward a one-party state. I know, you think I’m just being a rightwing alarmist. I’m just making it up, it’s nothing but some ruse to make Hugo Chavez look bad. But this isn’t coming from Venezuelans, or from my…
Jeanne Kirkpatrick, 1926-2006 Source: Getty Images, via The New York Times The great Jeanne Kirkpatrick, who was the first to distinguish between totalitarian and authoritarian dictatorships, a key steps toward dividing and conquering the world’s tyrants and winning the Cold War, has died. She was only 80. Her work paved the way for democratic revolutions…
In the wake of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s thundrous electoral victory on Sunday, he’s back in action, legislating new taxes on Venezuela’s battered middle class. For his first move, he’s decided to tax toilet seats as an “inessential item.” I guess the Venezuelans, some of whom elected him, are now supposed to just go without….
Congress has just wrapped up a huge free trade package! They actually are allowing it to go to the floor for a vote around 4 p.m. Eastern! They darn well better pass it! Not only will Peru, Colombia and Vietnam get some kind of trade relief for the next year (it’s temporary for the first…
The nominees for the 2006 Web log awards are out! These are great fun to vote for, and they introduce us all to great new blogs we have not heard of. Check out the new candidates at this site here – and when you can, make your vote. Here are my own personal endorsements below…
Patriotic Australians, perhaps like this recent Miss Universe, will march for democracy in their bikinis Saturday to demonstrate their opposition to Sexy Saudi Swimwear Source: PubTV Enraged at the local mullahs’ medieval declaration that unveiled women are ‘uncovered meat,’ thousands of angry Australians will march on their mullah mosque Saturday to protest that declaration ……
On September 8, 1999, several hundred pounds of explosive detonated on the ground floor of a nine-story apartment building in the southwestern Moscow neighborhood of Pechatniki. 94 people were killed and 150 wounded. Five days later, a second building was leveled, this time on Kashirskoye Highway, again in the southern region of the city. In…
Voting around Caracas on Sunday. These photos were taken by a pool of 38 citizen journalists who documented the electoral process. Their fascinating slideshow can be found at this Flickr site, here. Hat tip: Venezuela Today Venezuelans went to the polls today to decide who their new president would be. The polls are closed, except…
Based on who I’ve talked to, here is the latest reading of what is believed to be likely to happen Sunday. It pretty much makes sense – on Monday, we can see how it stacks to reality. 1. Markets went hog wild Friday and one source tells me it’s because the markets are pricing in…
Venezuela is staring down D-Day, the great final election of a year full of Latin American elections, beginning this Sunday. At stake: Will Hugo Chavez be thrown out of power by his own people? Right now, the polls are mixed, with Chavista polls saying Chavez has a wide lead, and Opposition polls saying Manuel Rosales,…
Final Thoughts Before the Elections By Alex Beech Political marches induce hope in the best cases, and hysteria in the worst. During the referendum, I noticed how a march can beintoxicating – to see all those people in one place, to feel the energy. But at the end of the day, millions stay home, and…
In his memoirs, Ernest Hemingway wrote: “If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.” The Russian variant would be just a bit different: ???????If you are lucky enough to…
Scenes from Mexico’s Congress Source: El Universal, via StJacques at Free Republic Mexican Congress has opened, and supporters of failed presidential candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the ridiculous little man who could not take defeat like and man, and instead inaugurated himself president last week, are determined to not allow real electoral winner, Felipe Calderon,…
Amid the recrudescence of Cold War murder from Russia, the specter of strife in Lebanon, and the shadow of tyranny darkening over the defiantly hope-filled streets of Venezuela, there also is great suffering among the people in Iraq, where the recent attacks have been the war’s most violent. Of course it is a civil war….
Rafael Correa, 43, an avowed leftist “economist” educated at the University of Illinois, has won the presidential election in Ecuador. He’s a good friend of Hugo Chavez and has campaigned on promises to de-dollarize Ecuador, default on the sovereign debt, and nationalize private oil companies, chasing out every last penny of foreign investment. He’s one…
Now I know what you are thinking. This being Evo Morales, president of Bolivia, getting stoned means he was caught smoking the holy leaf. Particularly since this was Santa Cruz, home of granola, Angela Davis, Surf City, leftists up the wazoo and the banana slugs volleyball team. Who could be surprised if Evo was stoned…
The Manuel Rosales presidential election rally in Caracas Saturday Source: Aleksander Boyd at VCrisis The size and depth of the crowd at the Rosales rally in Caracas Saturday Source: Daniel Duquenal at Venezuela News & Views Venezuelan flags at the Rosales presidential rally in Caracas Saturday Source: Anonymous, via Venezuela Today The babe count was…
Poisoned Russian ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko on his deathbead Source: Kim Zigfeld, at La Russophobe In his defiant last statement, poisoned Russian ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko said, “The bastards got me. But they won’t get everybody.” Incredibly brave words for a man going down in lingering pain from a now-unknown poison. Less than a week ago, Alexander…
Relatives of assasinated Lebanon minister Pierre Gemayel mourn Source: Reuters, via Yahoo! News Following the assassination of Lebanon’s Pierre Gemayel in a hail of gunfire by Syrian agents this week, the funeral in Beirut has rapidly turned into a gigantic anti-Syria demonstration. Lebanon’s leaders have lashed out at the Syrian tyrants who are attempting to…
This time, avalancha in Barquisimeto, Venezuela Source: Aleksander Boyd, VCrisis How does one explain this? The huge ‘avalancha’ crowds of Venezuelans from end to end of the vast South American nation the size of three Texases, all seeking an end to Chavismo is the rainbow swirling edge of pure democratic revolution. The photos – and…
After putting Mexico through a summer of turmoil and protests over a presidential electoral defeat he could not bring himself to accept, all I can say is: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Source: AP, via VOA Look …. at that …. ridiculous … little … man. He’s like the little man on the wedding cake! Yesterday,…
Cuba’s immensely wealthy Castro family, which Forbes magazine pegs for just under a billion provable dollars, is beginning to look outward for asylum with their money. That’s why the Chilean press yesterday reported that Mrs. Castro, the second or third wife of the Cuban dictator, has just bought a parcel of land straddling the Chile-Argentina…