This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Society

  • Clashes in Venezuela (Updated Oct 24)

     

    Photo from AP via Yahoo News

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    I just got an email from Kate about new riots in Venezuela and sure enough…from CNN;

    Thousands of university students scuffled with police and government supporters during a protest Tuesday against constitutional reforms that would let President Hugo Chavez run for re-election indefinitely.

    Police tossed tear gas canisters into the crowd of opposition students after bottle-throwing clashes broke out with a smaller group of pro-Chavez demonstrators near the National Assembly. Journalists estimated there were about 20,000 protesters, but pro-Chavez lawmakers said there were far fewer.

    The students said they fear civil liberties would be severely weakened under the constitutional changes.

    The story from Kate sounds much more dramatic in Spanish, though. It’s not very surprising – Chavez has been acting a fool. Julia and Daniel have been writing about Chavez’ proposed constutional reforms for months now.

    Just last week end, Chavez jacked up the price of alcohol and tobacco to affect consumption (CNN);

    The price of sin rose Monday in Venezuela where President Hugo Chavez is on a campaign to make Venezuelans cut back on drinking and smoking.

    “Everyone’s shocked,” said Leonora Marino, owner of Bodegon Marino in Valencia, Venezuela, west of Caracas.

    On Monday evening, she was still changing the prices in her store as her customers looked on and complained, she told a reporter.

    Alcohol is now 10 percent more expensive; cigarettes are 20 percent pricier.

    It’s all part of Chavez’ attempt to recreate Che Guevara’s “New Socialist Man” ideal;

    Oh, Hugo. The latest news from Venezuela borders on comical, if it didn’t sound like it was dredged up from the playbook of a failed team from last century. President Chavez is pushing a moral crusade to instill the principles of Che Guevara’s “New Socialist Man” on the Venezuelan population. Chavez wants to heavily limit whiskey imports, raise taxes on tobacco products, and encourage people to not “douse foods with too much hot sauce, exercise regularly, eat low-cholesterol foods, respect speed limits,” or have too much cosmetic surgery.

    Despite Chavez’ dietary restrictions on the Venezuelans, The Devil’s Excrement reports drastic food shortages in Caracas;

    —Datanalisis polls supermarkets and markets and find that many products are not even available in half of them. The most absent? Milk, present in only 25% of them.

    —The Government holds a Megamercal, a huge market where you can get controlled products and people show up at six in the morning to see if they can get some milk. According to pro-Government newspaper Ultimas Noticias (by subscription) people were complaining that they show up at 6 AM and have to stand in line until noon, because there are lines both outside and inside the market. At the end, when you finally get to the head of the line you can buy a limited amount of stuff: one kilo of milk, 2 kilos of sugar and two chickens.

    Daniel from Venezuela News and Views says Chavez blames it on the media.

    So, what is the government explanation? Both Chavez and his minister for Mercal, Rafael Oropeza, yet another military who has no idea on how to milk a cow, say that it is a paid for gigantic media conspiracy, to create panic in the population and make people buy more milk than what they need (you can hoard fresh milk?). What is wrong in this picture? Here are the arguments advanced by the government and the OBVIOUS reply that any journalist should confront the nincompoop uttering them:

    Among the reasons the government gives are global warming affecting milk production and the fact that the poor are drinking more milk thanks to Chavez’ social programs. It must be riot to live there.

    The governmental electoral commission “requested” media outlets to suspend broadcasting propaganda against Constitutional reforms;

    The National Electoral Council (CNE, under its Spanish acronym) issued a formal request for private and public TV stations and for the Ministry of Information and Communication (MINCI, under its Spanish acronym) to stop broadcasting messages that seemed to be intended to campaign for a “yes” or a “no” vote over the constitutional reform proposed by President Hugo Chávez and currently being discussed at the National Assembly.

    While government agencies are busy stroking the poor;

    Venezuela’s Minister of Finance Rodrigo Cabezas, presenting the national fiscal budget for 2008 to the Venezuelan National Assembly, announced increased government spending for 2008 including more money for social programs and increased income from non-oil sectors. Also, according to Cabezas, 2008 will be the fifth consecutive year of economic growth for the country.

    UPDATED: Kate wrote more, posted a YouTube video and Daniel from Venezuela News and Views has more photos and videos and details from yesterday’s clash. The Devil’s Excrement describes moments that no one else but Chavez could call “democratic;

    To make matters even worse, the pro-Chavez groups blocking the way included a couple of Deputies of the National Assembly, demonstrating that democracy is not alive and well in Venezuela. As the representatives of the students went into the Capitol building, only the pro-Chavez media was allowed in and even more remarkably a group of pro-Chavez “students” who had nothing to do with the march were also allowed in. Deputy Calixto Ortega won the day in terms of shame, when he said he did not understand why these students required “special” treatment, since the reform has been discussed extensively (!!!) and the students were getting “too much coverage” from the press. I guess the right to express yourself has now become a “special right” in Venezuela.

    The Catholic News Agency reports that Chavez announced more reforms for next year;

    The Venezuelan president said he was also preparing what he called a “2008 Revolution Plan,” which he said would be “a revolution within the revolution.”

    The revolution would begin with the approval of the constitutional reforms,” Chavez said, “but I am not going to give any preview of the 2008 Revolution, which will be a deepening of the revolution,” he reiterated.

    One might wonder how deep he plans to bury Venezuela.

  • Discussion is good; dissention is not so much

    Ahh – Islamofacism Awareness Week, the brainchild of David Horowitz founder of FrontPageMagazine and the Center for the Study of Popular Culture. I was inspired in college by Horowitz’ story – a New York City Red Diaper Baby and one of the founders of the New Left movement in Berkeley in the 60s turned conservative. Horowitz began the dialogue about the atrocities of the Soviet Union and the moral bankrupcy of the Left. I first heard of Horowitz in my comparative politics class when his later (mature) opinions were compared to those of Noam Chomsky.

    Within a few years after I graduated college (at the age of 39), Horowitz was writing books – controversial books like his autobiography “Radical Son” and “The Politics of Bad Faith” that warned Americans about the war being fought against our Constitution and our way of life using the “gay rights” movement and the AIDS epidemic as cover. Horowitz is an excellent writer and his books are riveting.

    I met Horowitz on January 20, 2001 in front of the Supreme Court building at a Freeper rally in support of President Bush’s impending inauguration (I know it’s hard to remember, but the Left and the various factions were protesting President Bush before he even became President – before there was a war). After reading nearly all of his books, I expected a vociferous, passionate man – but all I met was a quiet, typical, little Jewish guy who was shivering from the cold, drizzling January morning. I was disappointed.

    I’ve seen him several times on television since then and he always comes off as this smart little guy who figures that if you don’t see things his way, he has no interest in talking to you. Well, that’s why, when I read Uncle Jimbo’s recounting in Blackfive of last night’s Islofacism Awareness Week event in Madison, WI, I smiled a bit, because Uncle Jimbo was just as disappointed as I was that wet January morning nearly eight years ago. Horowitz is a brilliant guy, but his presence is kind of weak. He should really just stick to writing.

    But the Islamofacism Awareness Week event has the Left pretty worked up, according to Ishmael Vera at Front Page Mag. The Kokesh merry band of tools and idiots has rewritten their flyer, spread it nationwide and they explain why they hate Americans – but don’t worry, it’s just a parody. Nothing worth punishing anyone over, I’m sure.

    Spanish Pundit writes that there is a plot afoot by Iran and the Saudis to disrupt the IFAW events – and they’re spreading out money to groups like Kokesh’s. They’re in good company – the Clinton Soros cabal is doing the same according to Horowitz. Gateway Pundit has complete coverage of the week’s events at his Incorrect University website.

    Pamela Geller (Atlas Shrugs) takes Charles Johnson (Little Green Footballs) to task for sounding like a CAIR press release. It’s sure getting muddy out there.

    I guess no one like to hear an opposing view – Horowitz just tells you you’re stupid for disagreeing, while the Left, typically, throws money at other people to tell you you’re stupid. MAS and CAIR tell us they want to have a discussion, but they don’t want to hear opposing views – we should just sit there with our hands folded and bleat out agreement sounds while they tell us what to think. That’s why people like David Horowitz have to use their same tactics to get attention. There is no discussion – there’s only CAIR and MAS megaphones.

    Kokesh and his bunch come right out and call us facists before a word is spoken for wanting to talk in public about the extremists who happen to be Muslims. That’s how the small-minded leftist leaders keep the smaller-minded students on the plantation – call the other side names first and keep calling names. Well, as long as Kokesh calls names from behind a police barricade with lots of armed protection. Can’t have those facists grabbing him by his scrawny neck and doing what his polo pony pushing Daddy should have done about 20 years ago.

    So I guess discussion is good, but dissention is good not so much. Discussion is much better than the alternative – as illustrated by Bloodthirsty Liberal.

    Kesher Talk reports that “Calm Breaks Out at Princeton” IFAW event.I guess most important is the fact that stuff is being said at all – ten years ago it couldn’t. Amazing times we live in.

  • Gore’s Tennessee is Greener than Bush’s Texas… NOPE Think Again

    Forbes has an article entitled America’s Greenest States. Al Gore’s home state of Tennessee would HAVE to be more environmentally friendly than George (The W stands for Wicked) W Bush’s Texas wouldn’t it? Not so much…
    While not in the top ten, or even twenty, Texas at number 34 beats the hell out of Tennessee at 43…
    Some of this article is straight common sense, i.e. Rhode Island and Vermont have tiny carbon footprints…

  • I don’t know art, but, I know what I like, and I LIKE!

    Red Planet Cartoons has this:Red Planet Cartoons
    B-E-A-UTIFUL!

  • Values voters not satisfied

    Today’s Washington Times runs an article by Ralph Hallow entitled “Values Voters Find No Satisfactory Candidate“;

    Several conservative leaders yesterday concluded that none of the principal Republican presidential hopefuls deserves their support, not even Mike Huckabee, a Southern Baptist minister.

    “There was no consensus on candidates, no agreement, period,” a participant confided after the meeting, held at the Washington Hilton one day after several of their groups participated in a “Values Voters” summit at that hotel.

    Then, referring to Mr. Huckabee, he said, “He’s finished, I think. Bad things will be coming out about him,” referring to long-standing accusations surrounding Mr. Huckabee’s clemency for a rapist who later murdered someone in another state.

    It pretty much describes the feeling I’ve had this election season. Last weekend, while surfing around the ‘net, I got involved in a discussion over Rudy Giuliani and his “values” such as they are, at Little Green Footballs. When I made the point that Giuliani is no more trustworthy than the Clintons because of his marital infidelities and the speed at which he changes his platform to suit his audiences, I was called a troll by several LGF lizards. 😮 Me? A troll?

    Well, it turns out that alot of supporters of various Republican candidates are as rabid as the supporters of a certain candidate with two first names who shall go unnamed here to keep my spam filter from overloading. Giuliani supporters are willing to overlook the fact that he’s just another Northeast Liberal Rockefeller Republican that wants to take our guns and pass out abortions on demand because he refused a check from a Saudi prince once.

    That’s just immature. Some Republican voters are beginning to sound and act just like the carcatures of us that are spread around the other side of the internet. Would I pull the lever in a Presidential election for Rudi Giuliani? Probably – but only because of the alternative. In essence, I’d be voting for him for the same reasons democrats voted for Gore and Kerry – against a candidate instead of for a candidate.

    I think we’ve led ourselves into a trap – we’ve trapped ourselves by becoming single-issue voters. Although, I agree that the war against terror is the foundation of everything that happens to us from this day forward, I think it’s irresponsible of us to just follow the sound of whichever piper is playing our tune.

    Giuliani thinks he’s golden because he’s probably the most pro-national security candidate, but given his recent record, I wouldn’t trust him to take out my garbage. If alot of Republicans are disappointed in George W. Bush’s performance, i’m pretty sure they’ll be apoplectic during a Giuliani Presidency. At least when Bush became President, he told us exactly what he was going to do before he was elected and that’s what he did. With Giuliani and his position shifts over the last year, who knows what he’s going to do in office.

  • Violence erupts in Georgetown

     

    Photo from Nikki Kahn and the Washington Post

    The trendy Georgetown section of Washington, DC was rocked by vandals and Black Bloc thugs last night according to the Washington Post‘s “Violence Erupts at Protest in Georgetown”;

    Wearing black shirts and covering their faces with bandannas, scores of sometimes unruly demonstrators marched through Georgetown last night to protest the international finance and development organizations meeting this weekend.

    Despite the large contingent of officers on scooters and bicycles who flanked and followed the 200 to 300 protesters, violent incidents broke out. A woman bled after being struck in the face with what police said was a flying brick.

    Trash cans were overturned in the rain-dampened streets, objects were thrown, and newspaper boxes were overturned. Two protesters were arrested in connection with an incident in which an officer was pushed from a scooter, Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said.

    Many store windows were boarded up in anticipation of the demonstration, which targeted the meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, but two unprotected windows were struck near Wisconsin Avenue and M Street. It was not clear whether they were broken.

    In previous years, demonstrations had focused on the institutions’ headquarters just west of the White House. But Rusty Shakkleford, 18, said protesters went to Georgetown, in addition to the traditional sites, because it was where the delegates dined and stayed. “We’re just here to tell them the American people will not let them exploit the Third World community,” Shakkleford said. 

    Yeah, I’m pretty sure his name was Rusty Shakkleford – the nom de guerre of King of the Hill character Dale Gribble. And I guess by turning the DC neighborhood into a trash-strewn battle zone makes some kind of point. The working people who make Georgetown the attraction that it is are the ones who pay the price and do the cleaning. Who do these thugs think they’re hurting? 

    Washington Times’ Tom Knott did some background on their “philosophy” the other day;

    Down with capitalism. Down with neoliberalism. Down with the wealthy exploiters of Georgetown and their sycophants who take from the poor and feast on the culinary delights of Nathan’s Restaurant.

    The supporters of the so-called “October Rebellion,” designed to protest the actions of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, convene at 9 tomorrow night at Washington Circle in Foggy Bottom before moving to the streets of Georgetown and letting the bourgeoisie pigs there know that the proletariat are wise to their human rights abuses.

    If it were not for the greedy denizens of Georgetown, there would be no homeless people shuffling up and down Wisconsin Avenue. And these homeless people would not be talking to imaginary voices. Instead, these homeless people — at least a few of them anyway — would be living in the home of George Stephanopoulos and staging keg parties every weekend night. 

    I wonder how many of these peach-fuzzed children (who, by the way, aren’t brave enough to show their faces while they’re involved in criminal behavior) have even been to a third world coutry – or how many are willing to spend a few weeks in a third world country. Spoiled rich kids living in Mom’s basement. They use complicated problems as an excuse to destroy other people’s property like juvenile, immature little punk-ass sissies.

    I’ve read stories in local news sources about Metro and transit cops chasing down thirteen-year-old girls and wrestling them to the ground and cuffing them for eating french fries on a subway platform – yet they can’t summon the courage to stop these little weasels? Believe me, no one is more pro-cop than me, but DC’s public safety administration officials are gutless, politically correct incompetents.

    Since the Black Bloc punks got themselves all worked up, today’s protests at the World Bank building ought to be exciting today. I wonder how the new police chief will handle it.

    If you thugs want to save third world countries, join the Army and join the fight for freedom. Or shut up.

    This is what a struggle for freedom in a third world country looks like;

    From the anti-Chavez demonstrations in Venezuela last Spring

    Photo from Venezuela Llora

    Where were you protesters when the chavistas were shooting down protesters in Caracas? Well, they don’t really care – these protests are just an excuse for the little punks to break stuff and assault working people.

    The Sniper‘s Thus Spoke Ortner wrote about the impending protests on Thursday, and has the details of the “organization” of these punks and misfits. Michele Malkin has background on October Rebellion, the umbrella group for these retards and misfits. The local Fox 5 affiliate reports that one working woman was hit wth a brick last night.

    Fox 5 reporter Roby Chavez is reporting that one woman who worked in a Georgetown-area store has been injured in the protests. A woman was hit in the head after a protester threw a brick through the window of an Abercrombie and Fitch store and a United Colors of Benetton store near the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue and M Street.

     

    Video of the Fox 5 report here. More video and dead-on commentary from The Jawa Report.

    Griff Jenkins of Fox News Channel reports that they took his camera and smashed it. Sounds like it’s time to start policing these thugs ourselves since the cops can’t. 

  • North Carolina Hangs Nifong Out to Dry

    After a prosecution rife with horrendous errors of judgment and prosecutorial misconduct the state of North Carolina has decided to let Mike Nifong stand or fall on his own. Having attempted to railroad 3 innocent young men, in a manner that should chill anyone, I can only hope he gets what he deserves.

    Is the state’s motivation in hanging him out to dry simply justice and a strict reading of regulations as this Breitbart article states or is it a jaded effort to distance the state and hope the attorneys for the falsely accused men don’t set their sights on the really deep pockets? I don’t know, and I honestly don’t care. As District Attorney Nifong’s job was to ensure actual criminals were prosecuted and convicted for their crimes, in this case he failed to do that and instead attempted to make his bones on the backs of three men who committed no crime.

  • Bill Cosby’s message airs “dirty laundry”

    In this morning’s Washington Times, Brian Debose writes about the latest reaction to Bill Cosby’s new book “Come on People”;

    Civil rights activists and scholars are softening their criticism of Bill Cosby’s message to black Americans to stop blaming racism for their problems and engage in more personal responsibility.

    While black leaders still differ on the role institutional racism plays in the social ills of blacks, Mr. Cosby’s new book “Come On, People” is not receiving the same backlash its author did when he first publicly spoke out on the matter in 2004.

    Cosby’s message is that individual Black Americans must take responsibility for their individual behavior instead of blaming racism. Although “Black leaders” claim to agree, the problem is that Cosby’s saying it in public.

    [Harvard professor Alvin] Poussaint agreed, saying that criticizing [Barack Obama] and Mr. Cosby for “airing our dirty laundry in public” in the presence of whites is unwarranted and stymies dialogue and progress.

    “If we are going to communicate and share information, we have to share. Bill is [saying] that we cannot worry about white people. We have to take these things on ourselves,” he said.

    See, that’s what I don’t understand. Whites are blamed for the institutional racism, yet we can’t sit and discuss solutions to the problem? That’s how the problem got to this point – the race pimps tell White America to just hand them the money and they’ll fix the problem. But problem doesn’t get fixed because the race pimps prefer the government handouts to actual solutions. Even when “reparations” are being discussed, the race pimps tell the Black community that the money from any reparations would be more effective if it was funneled into the race pimps’ organizations for the general community.

    On the subject of dirty laundry, Bill Cosby had the perfect answer;

    “Let me tell you something. Your dirty laundry gets out of school at 2:30 every day, it’s cursing and calling each other [the n-word] as they’re walking up and down the street. They think they’re hip. They can’t read. They can’t write. They’re laughing and giggling, and they’re going nowhere.”

    But Al Sharpton doesn’t want white America to do anything but hand over more cash;

    But some civil rights activists charged that blaming blacks gives ammunition to conservatives and draws attention away from prejudice in the criminal justice and education systems.

    For example, Mr. Sharpton said this week that simply telling people to be “well-behaved and well-mannered” while inequality in the schools and courts continues is “not in [blacks’] best interests.”

    Let me say this, Mr. Sharpton, I’m one conservative who doesn’t need ammunition – I only want a solution and by keeping me out of the discussion, you’re getting further away from a solution. But then, that’s in your best interests, isn’t it?Â