June 23, 2008
June 22, 2008
It's not just Evo or Chavecito...
...it's all of Mercosur rejecting that draconian, disgusting European "Return Statute"--you know, the one that deprives undocumented immigrants of all legal rights, including recourse to an attorney before the country they're in decides to boot them out--after a prison stay of up to a year and a half?
On Friday, the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) and its associated countries expressed their "firm repudiation" of the discrimination supported by the European Union's directive of return for irregular immigrants, approved this past week by the Europarliament. The law decrees incarceration of 18 months for the undocumented."The governments of the participant and associate states of Mercosur deplore the approval on the part of the European Parlilament of the "return directive", announced a communication from the Argentine Chancery, which heads the South American union at this time.
Argentine diplomatic sources say that the EU's measure will be debated at the Summit of Heads of State of Mercosur, which will take place on July 1 in the Argentine city of Tucumán.
June 05, 2008
The myth of happy racism
Found a little item on Aporrea and thought I'd translate it and follow up with a few thoughts of mine own:
Could it be that my black friends in the Venezuelan opposition don't feel that they are being alluded to when other oppositionists use words like "niches" (common, vulgar people), "monos" (monkeys), "macacos" (ditto), etc.? Could it be that they just don't say such things in front of my friends? It saddens me to say that in front of me, yes, they say those things.The Venezuelan right-wing has trouble with its racism for two reasons, one bigger than the other. The smaller is that, as Gabriel Garcia Marquez once said, the main difference between Colombia and Venezuela is that in Colombia, the conservatives win all the wars, and in Venezuela, the liberals win. The conservatives lose the wars but win the peace and go on ruling, because the only visible gain left to the liberals is that racism had become shameful and official ideology camouflaged it. There was racism, stupid like all a priori segregation between people, but up until 1998 it was shifty and artful. The racists would surely blush to show themselves as much as they do in Bolivia. Because in Venezuela--this is the bigger reason--even the most "aryan" has an African grandmother, as Romulo Betancourt once said.
June 01, 2008
One more reason NOT to vote for Hillary
...just in case you needed one:
Yes, she WOULD bomb-bomb-bomb, bomb-bomb Iran. Just like John McInsane.
Clearly, none of them have learned anything since they deposed Mohammed Mossadegh to install that horrid Shah. Hey America, you HAD secular democracy in Iran, and you eated it! Now shut up, stay out, and keep your mitts off their oil!
PS: Need more reasons not to vote for her? How about her boogying with the Religious Reich? Really, there's not a dime's worth of difference between her and Hagee-hugger McCain on this one.
May 24, 2008
The aptly named Ambassador CROCK-er
...has issued some rosy forecasts for total pie in the Iraqi sky. Behold:
The U.S. ambassador to Iraq said Saturday that al-Qaida's network in the country has never been closer to defeat, and he praised Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for his moves to rein in Shiite and Sunni militant groups.Ryan Crocker's comments came as Iraqi forces have been conducting crackdowns on al-Qaida militants in the northern city of Mosul and on Shiite militiamen in the southern city of Basra. Thousands of Iraqi forces also moved into the Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad last week imposing control for the first time in years.
But truces with the powerful Mahdi Army militia that have calmed violence in Basra and paved the way for the Sadr City deployment have been strained in the past two days.
April 18, 2008
What if they built a fortified embassy and nobody came?
Think it couldn't happen? Read this:
The troubled effort to build the giant U.S. Embassy in Baghdad seemed to be months away from completion when a team of top State Department officials flew to Iraq on March 20 to meet with senior staff from the prime contractor, First Kuwaiti General Trading & Contracting. But as insurgent rockets began to rain down on the flimsy trailers housing diplomats inside the Green Zone, the two sides suddenly found ways to settle many of the major issues dividing them."The only way to do this was for us to get in the room, nail the door shut and get this resolved," said Robert S. Nichols, a partner with the Crowell & Moring law firm who attended the meeting and provides legal advice to First Kuwaiti. "It started out as the 'Gunfight at the O.K. Corral' the first day or so, but then we got past it."
Construction of the embassy in Baghdad had been greatly complicated by several factors, including a fast-track building plan that had kept key State Department inspectors out of the loop until the building was largely done, changes made on the spot by the project manager without complete documentation, and cultural differences between State and a Middle Eastern company working on its first embassy project.
Then read this:
Continue reading "What if they built a fortified embassy and nobody came?" »
April 12, 2008
Never gonna give WHAT up?
Rick Astley probably never thought his song would become so useful, but it's the perfect illustration of why John "Insane" McCain should never become president of the US of A.
April 06, 2008
Five Years Too Many
Veterans For Peace staged a brilliant bit of civil disobedience in Washington on the 5th anniversary of IraqAttaq. The vets marched, delivered a citizens' arrest warrant for Dubya, the Big Dick and Auntie Condi and unfurled a large replica of the Constitution to raucous cheers on the steps of the National Archives. Watch for cameo appearances from Buddy Georgia ("drummerboy" on UNN) and Buffy Ste. Marie.
April 01, 2008
Halliburton is poisoning the troops
Sadly, this is NO April Fool's joke:
If you know a returned Iraq vet who has been in contact with any facilities "serviced" by Halliburton, KBR, etc.--please, urge them to see their doctor to be tested for waterborne pathogens. You could save a lot of lives.
March 29, 2008
Greeted as liberators?
Two Iraqi expats--journalist Ali Fadhil, working out of London, and professor/author Sinan Antoon, of New York, talk with Charlie Rose about the invasion/occupation of Iraq.
March 28, 2008
Oh, too bad! Oh, so sad!
Now they can't go blaming exploding oil prices on their favorite Venezuelan scapegoat...
OPEC nation Venezuela is not interested in a further rise of oil prices although a credit crisis in the United States is making stability difficult, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Thursday.Chavez told a news conference with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva that the war in Iraq had put an end to a balance on the oil market and exporters like Venezuela were not to blame for the rally.
"We are not interested in prices rising further, but the crisis in the United States can affect the world," Chavez said. "May the prices not rise, but we are not the ones responsible."
Chavez has said recently he viewed $100 per barrel as a fair price for crude, which fetched around $107 a barrel in New York on Thursday.
Oh well. I'm sure they'll find something else to blame on him soon enough. (I suggest hiccups, pinworms, earwax and toe jam.)
Meanwhile, it's always instructive to see who Chavecito himself is blaming for the crisis.
March 25, 2008
Burn, baby, burn...
Disco Inferno? Nope...just the yearly Venezuelan custom of Burning the Judas.
March 23, 2008
Headline Howler: Dueling Republicans
Cue up the banjo music. Here comes some inadvertent hilarity from a party that once marched to war on Iraq in lockstep.
First, Sen. Lindsey Graham, on Face the Nation, claiming a "breakthrough in Baghdad" thanks to Dubya's "surge":
March 20, 2008
EU gets a phone call from beyond the grave
Ring-ring. Osama calling. Yeah, so I'm dead. So what? If you could resurrect a bunch of shitty Danish 'toons in time for the Prophet Mohammed's birthday, I guess I can come back from Hades to haunt you and taunt you.
And pay no attention to the fact that this bit of blatant scaremongering comes right in time for the fifth anniversary of Operation Royal Fuckup. Which, BTW, is STILL based on a pack of lies...
Booga, booga, booga.
ExxtortionMobil is simply pathetic
And they should fire their corporate spinmeister, too. Here's what he said in response to yesterday's decision against his company:
Exxon Mobil spokesman Alan Jeffers said the company has no plans to appeal the ruling and that the judge based his decision on jurisdictional issues."The important thing, from our perspective, is the court did not question the merits of our underlying claim," he said.
And here's proof that he's talking out his ass:
Judge Paul Walker noted that such freezing orders are rare and occur in cases where there is "usually compelling evidence of serious international fraud.""In the present case there is no suggestion whatever of fraud on the part of (Petroleos de Venezuela SA) or any entity or person associated with it," Walker said in a summary of conclusions released by the court.
During the court case, Walker also signaled that he agreed with PDVSA's argument that the case didn't fall under British jurisdiction since it isn't a British company and has no assets, businesses or bank accounts there.
No, that doesn't sound like he's questioning the merits of ExxtortionMobil's case at all. Actually, it sounds an awful lot like he's just saying they're a pile of shit.
March 18, 2008
ExxtortionMobil fails!
(Translation: "Gimme everything you got under your belt." The belt in question is the Orinoco Belt, a region rich with extra-heavy crude oil.)
Pardon me for the Schadenfreude, but this is just too sweet...
March 17, 2008
Why does Dubya not want you seeing this?
Yes, you read that correctly. Dubya, that great champion of freedom, is a would-be censor, making sure the people of the United States stay in the dark about what's really happening in Iraq. Here's the video:
Ahahaha...I think I know why he doesn't want you to see this. The Iraqis want the Dems to win, and they like both Hillary Clinton AND Barack Obama. They have nothing good to say about the situation the war has plunged their country into. And it is SO OBVIOUS from this that the Iraqis are not the backward stupidheads BushCo wants us to believe they are.
March 15, 2008
Oh look, the world's #1 terrorism sponsor is projecting again
Does this sound like the behavior of anyone you know?
Continue reading "Oh look, the world's #1 terrorism sponsor is projecting again" »
March 10, 2008
A former FBI interrogator on torture
Yes, Foreign Policy is a smelly rag with some pretty horrible biases and outright distortions. (Their blog also sucks because it can't keep the most basic facts straight, such as the identities of non-white supermodels.) But Jack Cloonan's words to them on the subject of torture are well worth hearing:
BTW, he totally shoots down the "24" scenario of the "ticking bomb" that can only be defused by a torture-obtained confession. He also points out that torture victims tend to become martyrs to their supporters, even if they are "the bad guys" to those on the other side. Not to mention that it really, REALLY makes the torturers look like shits.
March 05, 2008
Colombia: Even deeper in it than originally thought
And if you have to ask what "it" is, here's a hint: It's brown, it steams, it smells bad, and you don't want it all over the bottom of your shoe. Unfortunately, that's exactly where Alvaro Uribe is wearing it right now, in light of the following:
One of the three female FARC guerrillas wounded in the Colombian military operation in Ecuadorian territory last Saturday said today that there had been two bombings against the clandestine encampment in the border region of Angostura.
Continue reading "Colombia: Even deeper in it than originally thought" »
March 04, 2008
So this is what John Perkins warned Rafael Correa about...
...and of course, it would have to be Colombia, deciding to repeat not-so-ancient history and once more, conduct a raid on foreign soil without having the common decency to identify that soil's government about its intentions ahead of time.
Continue reading "So this is what John Perkins warned Rafael Correa about..." »
February 24, 2008
Rafael Correa: Take this debt and shove it!
It's odious, and Ecuador won't pay anymore!
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa on Saturday said an ongoing government probe into the country's foreign debt has unveiled "illegitimate" credits that he has vowed not to repay.Correa, a leftist former economy minister, has pledged to stop payments of "illegitimate" debt or credits which he said were acquired under unfair terms by past corrupt administrations and that forced Ecuador to lower social spending.
But the U.S.-trained economist had until recently lowered his tone and refrained from halting debt payments. Last year he created a special commission of government officials and international experts to investigate any illegalities in foreign credits.
"Their (commission) findings are scandalous... we are not going to pay some of this illegitimate debt," Correa said during his weekly radio address. "We are advancing in the investigation."
You can watch or listen to him talking about that and more with Greg Palast at Democracy Now.
And now we know why John Perkins raised the red flag. He undoubtedly saw this coming.
February 13, 2008
How do you say "Up Yours" in Spanish?
Don't look now, but I think Venezuela just said it to the confiscatory greedheads at Exxon Mobil.
Oh, it is so ON, kiddies!
February 12, 2008
Iran: Lessons from history
Did you know Iran WAS once a democracy? And that the US is the reason it became a tyranny? And that Britain, too, had imperial ambitions over it? And that oil is the secret cause behind it all?
In just 6 minutes and 20 seconds, you can learn a lot.
February 04, 2008
The difference between "sucks" and "ROCKS!"
Usually, I tune out all mass-media traveloguery. Having been to j-school (and having had the misfortune to study under a "magazine writing" instructor who preferred throwaway travel and celebrity puff pieces to actual, worth-paying-money-for MAGAZINE JOURNALISM), I guess I'm just plain prejudiced. I certainly had a lot of blinders ripped off my eyes as to what passes for "good" in the Industry--and in a word, it is DRIVEL. It has to be; it's just page-filler. Its sole purpose is to take up the space the advertisers didn't want, and to titillate the casual newsstand browser into buying a fish-wrapper or birdcage-liner she probably didn't want either. If magazines could be all ads and still get bought on the newsstand by paying customers, trust me--they would be. But we fickle consumers, we still insist on some semblance of substance, however vague. And if we wanted to read nothing but ads, there's all that junkmail cluttering up our recycle bins.
It should go without saying that the people who write those expensive, cloth-bound travel guidebooks have actually done a lot more homework than the professional tacky tourists who "do travel writing" for The Media. (Stands to reason; they don't have to fill non-ad space, and they have to be certain that their writing will be of use to someone--and not end up getting pulped for toilet paper.)
And I'm positively certain that well-travelled progressives could revolutionize the travel-book industry if they ever chose to go that way. Happily (or unhappily, depending on where you sit, yearning for progressive adventures), they're not in the Baedeker business. Leftists may profit from their travels, but they don't travel for profit. They're in it for something more than money. They don't give a hang if they've seduced you into shelling out for a package tour of the latest ecotourism hotspot (and if they do, you can be sure that they're NOT real leftists). What they do care about, is making sure that whoever deigns to read gets an accurate, socially-aware picture of what's going on elsewhere--the good and the not-so alike.
I bring this up for a reason.
Continue reading "The difference between "sucks" and "ROCKS!"" »
February 03, 2008
More FARC hostages to be released
Score another point for evil Chavecito...
Colombia's Farc rebels have said they will release three hostages captured over six years ago, for health reasons.The Farc told local media that it would free the hostages in return for mediation efforts made by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
The group released two high profile hostages earlier in January in a deal that Mr Chavez helped to broker.
The hostages to be released were named as former lawmakers Luis Eladio Perez, Gloria Polanco and Orlando Beltran.
No handover date was given.
In a statement, the Farc repeated their desire to exchange hostages for jailed rebels.
Such an exchange has been blocked over a Farc demand that the government demilitarise a large area in southern Colombia to enable a handover.
...and another black eye for the gringos' "good guy" Alvaro the para-narco-politician.
I really don't know why Dubya and Harpo want free trade agreements with that little putz; no one else does.
On the other hand, Chavecito's fair-trade pacts, such as ALBA and Petrocaribe, keep getting more signatories. And his hostage-release efforts, funnily enough, just keep bearing fruit. Shit, he's even combatting drug trafficking from Colombia through Venezuela at an unprecedented rate--one surmises it's a good thing he kicked out the DEA.
You'd think, eventually, that someone high up in Colombia would get the hint. Well, maybe they might--but they'll have to get rid of Alvaro first.
January 26, 2008
John Perkins: Rafael Correa is in danger
From the man who wrote Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, which among other things treats of his own experiences in Ecuador, a warning to the current president of that country: Watch your back! The jackals are circling!
Video in Spanish. Story from Aporrea:
Continue reading "John Perkins: Rafael Correa is in danger" »
January 11, 2008
I am NOT coming to youuuuuuu!
Gather 'round, kiddies, 'cause here's a fine example of just how desperate the Bush Crime Family is to start a war on Iran. First, here's a video from the Pentagon, supposedly detailing a menacing move by Iranian patrol boats in the Strait of Hormuz:
It doesn't seem terribly conclusive, except towards the end, when the screen suddenly goes black, and a menacing voice with a heavy accent drones out over the radio, "I am coming to youuuuuuu...going to explode after a few minutes."
Booga, booga, booga!
Now, after you're done scrubbing the skidmarks out of your underpants, watch this video, which was taken from one of the Iranian patrolboats in question:
January 09, 2008
Evo does it again
Damn, how this man has a thing for getting it right. Get a load of Evo's latest big move:
Bolivian President Evo Morales and regional governors have agreed to draw up a pact of national unity to prevent the country from splitting apart.Mr Morales and the governors said they want to settle their differences over a new draft constitution and revenues from natural gas exports.
Four of Bolivia's governors declared autonomy last month after Mr Morales's allies adopted the draft constitution.
Mr Morales's reform plans still need to be put to a popular vote.
...which they will win. He still has enormous popular support, and no wonder--he's done several things that were supposed to be impossible. He nationalized Bolivia's natural gas (and renegotiated all foreign contracts in Bolivia's favor) without a shot being fired; he's now seeing record levels of foreign investment; he made sure that the elderly got enough of a pension to live on; he also got a new constitution written after delays (the result of fascist and foreign interference) which caused widespread speculation that the project would founder and put a quick end to his presidency. By now, Evo's pulled so many rabbits out of his hat that he might just want to become a magician, if he's not too busy.
Now, get set for something totally hilarious as the Beeb veers off into the realm of comedy:
December 19, 2007
A quickie lesson in Saudi history
4 minutes from the movie "The Kingdom", taking us from Ibn Saud to 9-11.
And yes, it's all about oil.
December 17, 2007
So much for state media being "socialist"...
Yeah, tell it to the Beeb. It seems to have been bending over to prove the opposite lately. Especially with "reports" like this:
This so-called reporter, John Sweeney, is absolutely incredible. As in, "not credible". As in, "like a three-dollar bill". As in "Is he carrying water for Big Oil and that crazy Boris Johnson? Smells that way to me!"
Continue reading "So much for state media being "socialist"..." »
December 13, 2007
Richard Pombo's ba-ack...
...and for some strange reason, the above image was the first thing that came to my mind after reading this:
December 12, 2007
CNN: Have I told you lately that I loathe you?
CNN: What do your initials stand for? Crap, Nutjobs and Nitwits? I mean, just look at the shit you print--and the shit you reprint. Granted, this crappy editorial is bylined to Investor's Business Daily, which explains a lot. Including the language:
High oil prices do squeeze the poor. But oil companies do not control them. Dictators such as Chavez do. Eighty percent of the world's oil is held by inefficient state oil companies. Venezuela is one of the worst, producing its oil with scab labor since a 2003 strike, and it has also confiscated at least $1 billion in U.S. oil assets since then. Some industry analysts estimate that Chavez adds as much as a third of the cost to world oil prices. No wonder he wants someone else, like Big Oil, blamed.
What ludicrous conclusions this fool jumps to! Big Oil companies don't set prices--but Chavez does? Where do they get THAT? Last time I looked, they are the price-setters. (When it's not the Wall St. traders, that is.)
Continue reading "CNN: Have I told you lately that I loathe you?" »
December 08, 2007
Guatemala says "hola!" to Chavecito
Things are getting mighty interesting in Latin America. Guatemala just elected a new president, and it looks like he might just become another amigo for Chavecito. Maybe not a prospective signatory to the ALBA--yet. But at least, one for another of Chavecito's regional unifiers--namely, the Petrocaribe oil bloc:
The president-elect of Guatemala, Alvaro Colom, today declared his interest in entering into an energy accord with Venezuela."We are working on the possibility of constructing an energy accord in order to enter into Petrocaribe", said Colom in a statement to the press, according to AFP.
Colom indicated that the topic would be broached with president Hugo Chavez when they meet in Argentina for the swearing-in of president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
On the prospect of Guatemala entering into the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), which Chavez launched, Colom said he would start a dialogue with his fellow Guatemalans in order to share these decisions with them.
However, since Guatemala has a free-trade agreement with the US, the entry into ALBA "is a little complicated", said Colom, without elaborating further.
Colom will be take power in Guatemala on January 14.
Translation mine.
So much for Chavecito being isolated...and for that matter, so much for Guatemala being in the bag for Washington.
I can just hear John Negroponte gnashing his teeth already.
December 07, 2007
One more blow for the Empire
And this one comes from Brazil.
The president of Brazil, Luiz Lula da Silva, affirmed that South America has put the era of neoliberalism behind it, and said he agrees with the nationalization of natural gas by his colleague in Bolivia, Evo Morales.According to the ANSA news agency, Lula, in a meeting with other South American leaders, said that in recent years the region has experienced a "political phenomenon" in which governments were elected that were "advanced in socio-political matters."
The Brazilian president opined that his Bolivian counterpart "did the right thing in nationalizing gas. The gas is an instrument, a raw material, it is the only thing Bolivia has", according to the Folha de Sao Paolo newspaper.
After the nationalization of Bolivian hydrocarbons on May 1, 2006, Brazil suspended its investments in the country, in what it considered a defense of the interests of its oil company, Petrobras.
However, Lula da Silva reiterated his decision that the company would re-invest in Bolivia, which he will visit on the 17th of December.
Translation mine.
There goes a major pin from under the Bolivian fascist opposition, which has undoubtedly been after Evo's blood. For what? What else--preventing them from profiting by Brazilian investment. They claimed he was ruining the country. How it's possible to ruin a country by raising its share of the profits of its natural resources, such that Bolivia no longer has to borrow money to pay its civil servants' Christmas bonuses, is beyond me.
But such is the logic of the fiscal fascist. If they're not making all the money, no one else deserves a cut either.
Good on Evo, though, and good on Lula. Let's hope Lula does the same with Brazil's burgeoning oil reserves as Evo is doing with Bolivia's gas.
Next front in the oil wars--Brazil?
Watch out, Lula. With every one of these finds you make, you end up endangering yourself and your country...
Further oil and gas supplies have been discovered off the south-eastern coast of Brazil, boosting the shares of state energy firm Petrobras.The emergence of a new reserve in the Espirito Santo field comes a month after a reserve of up to eight billion barrels was found nearby.
No figures have been put on the size of the latest discovery although Petrobras said it offered "high potential".
It believes Brazil could become one of the world's top 10 oil producers.
Brazil currently has proven oil reserves of 14 billion barrels, more than half of which have been discovered in the past five years.
Ministers believe a succession of recent finds could enable Brazil to eventually match the oil output of powerhouses such as Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.
This would be a good time for Brazilian voters to turf out every last right-wing free-trader in their parliaments, and elect someone who will put that oil money to good use developing the country from within. You know, somebody like Chavecito. Only speaking Portuguese rather than Spanish.
Of course, as soon as they do that, Washington will want a piece of their ass, too.
December 04, 2007
Woo-haa, let's all get naked!
Now that I have your attention, get a load of Dubya. He just never quits looking for people to fuck up the ass, does he?
First, there's Colombia...
President George W Bush has called on Congress to pass a controversial free trade deal with US ally Colombia to help promote regional stability.Some Congress members are opposed, citing concerns over workers' rights.
Mr Bush suggested the deal could help counter the influence of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, with whom both the US and Colombia have difficult relations.
[...]
Mr Bush's comments came after he was asked to react to the result of Venezuela's referendum on Sunday, which saw Mr Chavez's proposed constitutional reforms defeated.
"The Venezuelan people rejected one-man rule. They voted for democracy," Mr Bush said.
November 26, 2007
Fine allies Dubya has, part umpteen
Oh, Saudi Arabia. The problem with that country isn't the general insanity of its theocracy--it's where to start. A few posts ago, I blogged about a rape victim getting punished for being a victim. Now, it gets even worse--the authorities have decided to heap defamation on top of abuse and humiliation, no doubt in an effort to make themselves look better.
Saudi justice officials say a woman who was sentenced to prison and flogging after she was gang-raped has now confessed to an extramarital affair.The case of the unidentified woman, 19, drew international criticism after an appeal increased her 90-lash sentence to 200 lashes and six months' jail.
The justice ministry statement rejected "foreign interference" in the case.
It insisted the ruling was legal and that the woman had "confessed to doing what God has forbidden".
November 25, 2007
Loud and clear, but saying the wrong thing
Somebody please tell Harpo that the incumbent Australian PM got voted out because he refused to sign on to the Kyoto Protocol. Harpo opened his piehole wide at the Commonwealth Summit in Kampala, Uganda...and the wrong sounds came out. And right on the heels of that came a major, MAJOR fuckery:
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper insisted any reference to binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions be deleted because the call for committing to such targets would not apply to all major polluters."What we were dealing with here was an initial proposal that would suggest binding and absolute targets on some countries and not others. And Canada has been insistent now at three consecutive international forums that we need one effective international protocol that ultimately involves action by all major emitters," he said.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who met earlier Saturday with Harper, was one of the strongest advocates of a binding commitment to reduce greenhouse gases.
But Canada refused to agree to the plan, and without consensus, the Commonwealth was blocked.
Continue reading "Loud and clear, but saying the wrong thing" »
November 20, 2007
We all live in a Brazilian submarine
Everybody sing! "Brazilian submarine, Brazilian submarine..."
And our friends are all on board; many more of them live next door. And the band begins to play...
This month's discovery of a monster offshore oil reserve justifies Brazil's plan to build a nuclear submarine because it would be used to protect the find, the defense minister said."When you have a large natural source of wealth discovered in the Atlantic, it's obvious you need the means to protect it," Nelson Jobim said Thursday at a defense conference in Rio de Janeiro.
Jobim said Brazil must safeguard the Tupi field and its 5 billion to 8 billion barrels of oil reserves from other nations and from "actions that could come from the area of terror," the government's Agencia Brasil news service reported.
November 14, 2007
Now watch them all cry poor...
Damn that irrepressible Chavecito, he's sure keeping me hopping with all the news about him today. Get a load of his latest zany antic...
Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez has called on oil-rich nations to dramatically reduce what they charge poor countries for the commodity.The poorest countries should only pay about $20 (£9.60) for a barrel of oil compared with current market prices of more than $90, Mr Chavez said.
Opec members should set aside $100bn from oil revenues to improve education and health in poor nations, he added.
Mr Chavez said he was seeking debate on what he said was "an explosive issue".
Shut up the shuttin' up, already...
Oh, this is too good. First the King of Spain tells Chavecito to shut up. Now, the damage control begins.
The Spanish foreign minister has moved to defuse a public row between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Spanish King Juan Carlos."I don't believe it should affect relations with Venezuela", he said.
On Saturday the king told Mr Chavez to "shut up" at a summit in Chile after the president said ex-Spanish PM Jose Maria Aznar was a "fascist".
The next day Mr Chavez said the king was "imprudent" and asked if he knew in advance of the 2002 coup against him.
Spain's Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said that he wanted dialogue with Venezuela to continue "on condition that we are respected".
November 13, 2007
More truths the king can't shut up...
And these come straight from Chile. Enjoy!
Sen. Alejandro Navarro on Monday demanded an apology from Chile's Foreign Minister Alejandro Foxley for criticizing the behavior of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at the XVII Iberian-American summit held last weekend in Santiago.
October 26, 2007
Well, whaddya know...
Premier Stelmach paid attention!
First it was Venezuela. Now, Nigeria is reviewing its relationships with international oil companies and the oil-rich Canadian province of Alberta is set to announce a decision Thursday on increasing royalties from the energy industry. It's a move the industry warns could devastate Alberta's oil patch.At least once analyst compared Alberta to Venezuela last month after a government-appointed panel called for the province to boost its total take from the energy industry by 20 percent a year, or roughly $2 billion.
October 22, 2007
Paying the Price: Killing the Children of Iraq
John Pilger's documentary, broadcast on British channel ITV in 2000, explores just how old the "Saddam had WMDs" fallacy was, and how destructive. And also how hypocritical was all the tut-tutting on the part of the US and Great Britain. Both countries were responsible for the ascension of Saddam as well as for the WMD stockpiles he did possess--the same ones which were destroyed later on under the UN's eyes.
Judging by the sudden jumps in cancer rates and birth defects, related by the doctors you see here, it's a no-brainer that Iraq was nuked with the ultimate dirty bomb--the "depleted" uranium shell. Yet another layer of Anglo-American hypocrisy reveals itself. Just who were these people to try to starve out Iraq in the name of eliminating a dictator they created and armed? And what right had they to use WMD on Iraq--in the name of eliminating Saddam and his WMD, which they themselves supplied?
Bear in mind that this is the country PNAC urged Bill Clinton to bomb in 1998, feeling that what was going on, though devastating to ordinary Iraqis, was just not devastating enough. Clinton declined to bomb--but over half a million sanctions-related child deaths were, apparently, quite acceptable to Madeleine Albright's State Department. Meanwhile, Saddam Hussein and his cronies were demonstrably NOT affected in the slightest by the sanctions. Gee, maybe PNAC was right about bombing and full-scale war (i.e. more death, more destruction, and even less humanitarian aid getting through) being needed to dislodge him.
Oh wait, there was bombing, too. It was still not enough to appease PNAC. Maybe because the targets were a few shepherds, their children...and sheep.
And don't forget, this all happened BEFORE Gulf War II and the current occupation.
October 09, 2007
They could learn a thing or two from Venezuela
From Straight Goods, two interesting articles on Alberta and its oil.
Numero Uno notes that Ontario's oil addiction is fueling Alberta's polluting ways, and reviews a bomb-throwerish book whose basic thesis is that Albertans are stupid for polluting so much and not giving a shit. Of course, it's not as if our entire country isn't car-dependent to a fault, and it's not as if that isn't feeding into the nasty state of affairs in Alberta. And it's not as if there aren't conservative politicians all over it doing their damnedest to keep it that way--because, they say, jobs depend on it. (Someone kindly clue them in to the radical notion that protecting the ecology is also good for the economy--environmentally-friendlier technology CREATES jobs. Someone also inform them that green politics are taking hold in Alberta even as the pollution problem goes from bad to worse--precisely because there IS a pollution problem, and the ranchers aren't so happy with the oilpatch. Remember, farmers feed cities!)
Numero Dos is even more interesting. Finally, word is getting out that the way Alberta's oilpatch does business...is not sound business. Alberta's public sector is suffering because oil is treated as a private-sector purview, which it shouldn't be. And the fact that the oil industry is still crying poor, has Ricardo Acuña of the Parkland Institute calling foul:
Continue reading "They could learn a thing or two from Venezuela" »
October 08, 2007
Does democracy suck?
The Beeb asks a not-so-pertinent, but provocatively phrased question: Why Democracy?
...And then falls flat on its fanny with the usual obtuse conclusions I've already seen ad nauseam from people who call themselves the intelligentsia. They are too windy and too flaccid for me to excerpt here.
Why Democracy, indeed. When Democracy is just a smokescreen for capitalism and profiteering, why ask why? Drink Bud Dry.
And stop complaining about the hangover. After all, you bought a round and boozed it up with all the rest of them.
September 29, 2007
Don't tase the penguin, bro!
Once again, I am in awe of Tom Tomorrow. He sure knows how to hit Alan "Ayn Rand's Little Disciple" Greenspan where it counts.
One question for you, Mr. G: Why did you not say it was all about oil back when something could still be done to stop this train wreck? Oh wait, I guess that would have something to do with the evils of regulating capitalism, which should just be free to run unfettered and roughshod all over fucking everything. I guess that ideology tied your First Amendment's tongue. In other words, a false and illusory freedom trumped a genuine one. Now it makes sense...
Actually, here's another, just for good measure: If you're so libertarian (and libertarians are, according to their own prattle, so individualistic), why did you sell your soul to the L. Ron Hubbard of political philosophy? Seems such a collectivist thing to do.
And, in light of the job you just left, rather dangerous to boot.
August 28, 2007
Well, that didn't take long...
Looks like that whole immunity-for-ex-paramilitaries thing isn't working out so well in Colombia. Whatta surprise:
A US court has requested the extradition of former Colombian paramilitary boss Carlos Jimenez.The move comes a few days after Jimenez, alias Macaco, was stripped of his preferential prison treatment afforded to demobilised fighters.
Colombia said Jimenez violated a peace agreement by continuing to organise cocaine shipments and run a criminal empire from prison.
Jimenez is wanted in the US on drug trafficking charges.
August 12, 2007
24/7 Wall St. bullshit
Courtesy of one "Douglas A. McIntyre", a little piece of absolute hogjaw twaddle:
The prevailing wisdom is that oil prices will move down. They have already dropped from over $78 to $72, and most observers think that is only the beginning. Troubled financial markets and the potential of a slowing global economy should being demand down.Don't tell the president of Venezuela, nut job Hugo Chavez any of that. He wants the world to believe that he can control the price of crude, which is only partially true. According to Reuters: "I've always said that oil prices are headed straight to $100 per barrel," Chavez said during a televised speech. His argument is simple. Supplies are dwindling and consumption is still going up.
August 10, 2007
Festive Left Friday Blogging: Chavecito's whirlwind tour of duty
Chavecito has been very busy again lately on the front of Latin American integration. Talk of continent-wide energy integration is topmost on the agenda. He's been in Argentina, Uruguay and Ecuador; now he's in Bolivia. Here's some video from his visit to his other amigo--Evo.
He got full military honors, as you can see. And a big hug from Evo, and lots of cheering from the crowd.
Looks like the Bolivarian project is also marching forward at a brisk clip!
August 03, 2007
The war drums just got louder
When you hear things like this, you know the Military-Industrial Complex will once more press for its pound of flesh...
Sustained oil prices close to $80 a barrel could hit US economic growth, Energy Secretary Sam Bodman has said.The US economy has never faced such high prices for "an extended period," Mr Bodman warned.
There is concern about whether oil supplies can meet global demand and Mr Bodman urged oil producing nations to increase output to avoid shortages.
July 30, 2007
Why they're howling for Chavecito's blood
I've gotten so much crapaganda from the lamestream media in my inbox lately. All of it about how the Venezuelan opposition is feeling persecuted lately.
Um, you might want to start learning how to spell PROSECUTED, lamestreamers, because anyone who supported the April 11 coup by showing up at Miraflores the next day to support the illegal "provisional government" of Pedro Carmona--and maybe make money or get jobs off it--is definitely complicit in high treason and should therefore NOT be eligible for US citizenship. Let alone of a preferential fast-track variety while real refugees are turned away. No, the only asylum these people deserve is the mental kind, because their thinking is clearly delusional. It's pretty obvious to anyone not mentally impaired that the coup was not democratic but antidemocratic--every democratic institution was declared null and void for two days, and every freely elected official's legal status was blatantly disregarded. Many elected Chavistas feared for their lives and had to go underground or be "arrested" in what amounts to REAL persecution. (And they didn't flee on luxury yachts to Curacao, either.)
And as a glance at the timeline of that coup will clearly show, the entire thing was all about money, money and more money. (It will also show that the army, still under Chavez's orders, took pains not to use violent measures against the opposition even when it was most justified in doing so.)
But then again, being lamestream, mainstream US media people just don't grasp little nuance-y things like that. Nor will they give you an honest look at the "democratic" Venezuelan opposition. They much prefer to reprint whatever PR bullshit comes into their office over the wires. It saves them having to report and do any digging of their own, you see. (And it also saves them from all risk of having to go off the message the State Dept. wants Americans to get.)
So of course, I figured Chavecito must be doing something right again, and indeed he is. But you have to be able to read Spanish, and keep your eye on oil and money, to know just how right. So, with no further ado, here's a little something from Aporrea:
Continue reading "Why they're howling for Chavecito's blood" »
July 21, 2007
Fallujah: The Hidden Massacre
A half-hour video exploring the use of napalm (which nobody calls it anymore, but which in fact it is) at Fallujah.
July 19, 2007
Well, whatchoo know 'bout dat?
I wonder what else about Gulf War II will prove to be fictitious.
A senior operative for al Qaeda in Iraq who was caught this month has told his U.S. military interrogators a prominent al Qaeda-led group is just a front and its leader fictitious, a military spokesman said on Wednesday.Brigadier-General Kevin Bergner told a news conference that Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, leader of the self-styled Islamic State of Iraq, which was purportedly set up last year, did not exist.
July 15, 2007
State Dept. ratchets up the crapaganda
Against whom? Oh, the usual suspect down in Venezuela.
A top U.S. State Department official criticized Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Thursday, decrying a "politics of fear and division" that impedes progress.U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, on a one-day visit to Brazil, told reporters that most countries in the region agree that "the way forward is not through the politics of fear and division but democracy, social justice, poverty alleviation, trade, integration in the Americas and good relations with the United States."
"This is not in Chavez's agenda," said Burns, who later addressed the closing session of a U.S.-Brazil innovation conference.
But Burns also downplayed Chavez's influence in the region.
"Leaders tend to gravitate to other leaders who have a positive and constructive role," Burns said, naming Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Chile's Michelle Bachelet. "I could name 10 other leaders, but Chavez is not one of them."
July 09, 2007
Bush Over a Barrel
Greg Palast takes a trip to Venezuela and gets a load of Chavecito:
And what a load it is. Don't miss the appearance of Eva Golinger, who's been doing excellent work uncovering the State Dept. and the CIA's interference in Venezuela!