Blogging the democratic revolution
Why is the International Monetary Fund still around? Formed as a multilateral entity to address “balance of payments” crises, its real purpose has been obfuscated by the ending of the Bretton Woods treaty in the 1970s, which set the gold standard as the benchmark medium of exchange. Without the gold standard with which to measure trade balances and currency and things like that, the dollar became the replacement, because SOMETHING will replace anything that’s ever taken away. Unfortunately, the dollar represents one country, the U.S. and the U.S. is as subject to pressure groups and special interests as any within…
London 09.06.06 ö At last, a group of Venezuelan opposition politicos is playing the cards right and it’s cornering Hugo Chavez’s electoral minions. So far so good. As Miguel and I have reported any semblance of meaningfulness vis-a-vis the audit to the electoral roll proposed by Venezuela’s most respected universities -UCV, USB and UCAB- vanished after the details of the CNE-sanctioned audit were announced in press conference by new ‘minister of elections’ Tibisay Lucena. Teodoro Petkoff was attacked by supporters of chavismo yesterday in truly exemplary fashion of official consent towards dissent. Julio Borges asked UCV, USB and UCAB to…
You know I’ve posted pictures and referred to other sites where the reality and ugliness of Castro’s Cuba can be seen in whole, but there’s just something about these new pictures from Val Prieto at Babalu blog that say something unlike anything else anyone can describe about the Castroite hellhole. What a hellhole. What a dump. Communism in action. What communist could ever justify Castro’s regime within sight of such pictures? What a revolting sight. See the whole thing here. UPDATE: Fausta‘s take on this is a short swift brilliant item here.
Long overlooked on the world scene, China has been a great destabilizer of several regions of the world by its strategy in seeking to lock up supplies of oil. Sudan. Iran. Venezuela. Ecuador. China is a player in all of these areas and more. China’s efforts to lock up oil may not be as barbaric in means as the Japanese, who went on resource conquests just before World War II but it is the same idea. In any number of ways, it could lead to World War III. It’s no good for anyone. Fausta at Fausta’s blog has an illuminating…
The New York Times publishes the announcement by Gen. George Casey at a press conference alongside U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Iraqi Prime Minister Jawad al-Maliki: ???????Ladies and Gentlemen, Coalition Forces killed al-Qaida terrorist leader Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi and one of his key lieutenants, spiritual advisor Sheik Abd-Al-Rahman, yesterday, June 7, at 6:15 p.m. in an air strike against an identified, isolated safe house. ???????Tips and intelligence from Iraqi senior leaders from his network led forces to al-Zarqawi and some of his associates who were conducting a meeting approximately eight kilometers north of Baqubah when the air strike was launched.…
Mexico held its presidential debate last night, and pundits are divided as to who won. Boz has some fascinating commentary here, and this Reuters piece here gives further reliable detail, as does this excellent longer EFE piece. Goldman Sachs summarizes it well: Calder????n Had a Slight Edge on the Second Televised Debate Yesterday, the five presidential candidates conducted the second presidential debate, which went on for two hours. The format of the debate was rigid, limiting spontaneous debates or fluid discussions. The debate covered six topics: governance, security, international affairs, immigration, Federalism versus regional government, and the reform of the…
According to Dick Marty’s report on secret CIA flights and prisons on the European continent, fourteen countries were complicit in either allowing or turning a blind eye to the CIA’s activities. That’s right, fourteen countries. Including the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Most of the important European Union countries. Interesting. Doesn’t sound like this “spider web” of illegality was really all that secret, huh? Many of these countries have already acknowledged that they allowed flights to stop on their territory. A lot of this has been shown through cross-checking travel logs. The biggest accusation, however, is that some of…
… in the Islamic world! That’s right everybody, it’s summer and the time has come for the latest in beach fashion being bought by babes from as far-flung as Turkey to Saudi Arabia. Last year, this triggered a three post sensation due to the wide interest in the subject. And for good reason. Prepare yourselves for some of the most revealing and raunchy swimwear you’ve ever seen! Only if you’re a radical Islamist, anyway. Don’t bother with the sunscreen, this new line does the job for you. Last time I checked, the beach was for having some fun in the…
Drugs are bad. I’m not talking about the kind people smoke to chill out after work, though. I mean the stuff people snort and waste their entire lives trying to get more of. Snow. Blow. Crack. Cocaine. It ruins families, drains investment and productivity from the economy, funds terrorist groups, and supports authoritarian regimes. Yet the problem has been almost impossible to counter because high consumer demand has driven up prices, which has in turn made it a much more valuable cash crop compared to other agricultural products. For years, the U.S. government has tried to wipe out the supply…
The unqualified success that Hugo Chavez has had at picking apart Venezuela’s democracy, buying political support with oil, getting his men into office in other countries, supporting terrorist groups, and pressuring political opponents has led many to think that a tidal wave of totalitarian leftism is sweeping the southern continent — and that it’s unstoppable. Until now he has been. The Bolivarian Revolution has marched on and on without impediment. It’s quickening pace has led people to believe in his self-fulfilling prophecy. What is never taken into account is that his actions must inevitably provoke a reaction. The same has…
This post refers to events that occured in Algeria last weekend. The Algerian regime, though it has made some reforms, is not pleasant. It is corrupt, gluttonous, and repressive. Life is difficult for many in Algeria, especially for the forgotten ones of Boumerdes who were displaced by an earthquake in 2003 and still have not been able to return to their homes from temorary housing units made of tin called chalets. Corruption, frustration with the tortse rate of housing construction, and the general quality of life led 200 Algerians in the area to demonstrate infront of the town hall of…
I hate Islamists. You know the deal. But if you don’t, it’s at the end of every news article about Algeria: “Algeria’s civil war between the military and Islamist militas began in 1992 after the military halted elections that the Islamist FIS was poised to win took over 150,000 lives . . . blah blah blah”. That’s why. Islamists come in many different forms though. Some are peaceful and practice a sort of social gospel. Others are irritable and beat women for not being covered. Others massacre entire villages. Still others advocate sectarianism and conflict between religious groups in countries…
Alan Garcia, probable winner, Peru presidency, and second-time lucky Source: Reuters, via Yahoo! … and his far-left Hugo-Chavez-style opponent, Ollanta Humala is trailing by about five percentage points. Assuming there are no surprises, this represents one of the greatest political comebacks of all time – the greatest comeback since …. Nixon. And it’s nothing to cry about either, we can be as happy as the people in the pictures, because although wilder things have happened in politics, it’s everyone’s victory this time. GOOD!!!!!!!!!!! Garcia savoring victory, happy he beat both Hugo Chavez & his own record Source: Reuters, via Yahoo!…
Hong Kongers hold a vigil to remember young people who died at Tiananmen Square in the name of seeking liberty for China. Source: Associated Press, via Yahoo! In Hong Kong, tens of thousands of people – some 44,000 – commemorated the 17th anniversary of the Tienanmen Square massacre in China. Even more bravely, some people in China came out to march in Tiananmen itself to commemorate the anniversary. Their signs were torn up by Beijing cops and they were promptly repressed. This commemoration was for one of the most significant democracy struggles of our times. And based on the growing…
Communism or capitalism? It sounds a little stark, but it might come down to that. Today’s the second and final round of Peru’s election for president and Peruvians today are heading to the polls. Peru’s presidential ballotSource: UPI, via El Comercio Peruvians voting in the Inca city of Cuzco Source: Reuters, via Yahoo! They will decide whether to choose Alan Garcia, a former president, or Ollanta Humala, a cashiered ex-army officer, as their next president. Alan Garcia after casting his ballot Source: AFP, via Yahoo! The former, Alan Garcia, is a failed leftist ex-president from the 1980s who says he’s…
Today’s the Big One, Peru goes to the polls today. I’ll have something up on that in a minute but here is an important background topic I post as a sidebar: Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez’s political meddling in Peru during its election. At times, it’s been the central issue of the entire Peruvian campaign in the second round. Meddling is such a vague term. If a foreign leader expresses preference for a certain candidate in another country’s election, I don’t exactly consider it major meddling – I consider it really just dumb. After all, voters do not have to heed…
I visited Yaracuy, Venezuela, a few months ago. It’s an agricultural state famous for its sugar and it looks like this: A Yaracuy sugar farm But the atmosphere was tense everywhere, for land wars were going on, and people were getting their farms confiscated. That wasn’t the only fear. Every day, I witnessed people worrying about kidnappers grabbing them for ransom. Farmers cellphoned their wives every few hours from the fields and the pickup trucks to assure them so that they didn’t worry. Everyone tried to keep a low profile because fear reigned the day. Still, the fear of the…
It’s happening in three countries of the Americas, simultaneously at this very moment: Venezuela, Bolivia, and Cuba. In at least two of the three cases, Venezuela and Bolivia, there’s a rapidly building case for civil war as productive land owners seek to defend their life’s work from the Mugabization of it all into smoking ruins. Bloodshed will follow. Land wars are nothing new in Latin America but they haven’t happened in about two decades, so this is a negative new development powerfully signalling a spread of tyranny. In every land war, a dictator seeks to destroy the very concept of…
The Big One, Peru, is ahead tomorrow. Will it a Chavez pawn take power in Peru? Voters go to the polls about it in just a few hours… Boz has the last and latest polls on that, and more polls from around the Americas in this key election year. Go see if Hugo Chavez really is a goner in Peru or not. Boz has got it here.
President Putin might want to watch out! A colored revolution may be brewing in his own backyard, as the protest babes advance on him. This babe, who represents the most decadent kind of freedom (my favorite kind), is setting up a youth group as an alternative to the many pro-government ones set up over the past few years. Serious threat or publicity play? You decide. All I know is if I were a male Russian teenager, I’d be rushing to join this club. RUSSIA’S most famous party girl has formed a political youth movement that could undermine one of her…
Elections to the lower house of the Czech Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, begin at 2:00 PM on June 2 and end at 2:00 PM on June 3. The Chamber of Deputies is the more important part of the bicameral Czech Parliament. The Chamber of Deputies has 200 members, elected for four year terms. A party needs 5% of the vote to be represented in the government. In the election four years ago the Czech Social Democratic Party (center-left) received 30.2% of the votes and they currently hold 70 seats, the Civic Democratic Party (center-right) received 24.5% and hold 58…
Nazanin, a 17-year-old Iranian girl, who was attacked by an Iranian rapist thug in a Tehran park as her weaselly, masculinity-challenged ‘boyfriend’ ran away, was left to defend herself with a small knife, and in the course of that act, accidentally killed the vile bastard, who is now in hell where he belongs. But that wasn’t enough for Iran’s mullahs. Showing the depth of their ethics, they insisted that SHE, the helpless teenager, was the real criminal, and Iranian society could simply not exist in its current form if Iranian rapists were not allowed to do as they wished to…
Whenever Sandalistas gather in Caracas, the net result is a grotesque orgy of consumption, where leftwing political tourist after leftwing political tourist buys up Che t-shirts, Hugo Chavez barbie dolls, hippie bracelets, Castro bumper stickers, tapes of Chavez’s speeches, pot-leaf ski caps, fake Birkenstocks, Hugo-Chavez coffee cups, hammer and sickle posters, Allende backpacks and anything else the exporting merchants of capitalist China can dream up, sure these suckers will buy, mom’s credit card or not. These vast Sandalista bacchanals help these leftists feel good about themselves as they consume away like Roman epicures – amid the sea of quietly piled-high…
This hardly has to be said… but here’s another example of fanatical Islamists going nuts over humor. It’s just like the Danish cartoon controversy. Someone does a parody and suddenly hundreds of people are out on the streets causing trouble! The usual suspect, Hezbollah, is behind the latest street rioting in Lebanon, where a television station broadcasted a mock of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and they apparently got peeved. BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) – Hundreds of Shiite Muslims enraged by a TV comedy that mocked the leader of Hezbollah took to the streets of southern Beirut on Thursday night, burning car…
Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez addressing OPEC this morning Source: Associated Press, via Yahoo! OPEC is holding its quarterly meeting in Caracas right now and sure enough, Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez and his new best-friends-forever in the Iranian regime have sought hard to cut oil production to drive up prices and stick it to the Americans. That’s gone over like tar sands in the Hummer tank among the OPEC heavies, and these nations, mostly Arabs, who KNOW what the oil cycle is like, and who know that $70 a barrel oil is always a prelude to $8 a barrel oil, have…