Cuba Iran Korea Review U.S. Human Rights Violations: Obama's Voluntary Shellacking

Barack Obama joined the U.N. Human Rights Council in 2009 and thus put us on the road to "universal periodic review" of this country's human rights.

For several hours, some 56 countries took to the podium and condemned the U.S.  Unbelievably, the hate for our republicanism is so intense, many "stood in line overnight to be near the top of the list of speakers.

Cuba said the U.S. blockade against them is a "crime of genocide." They harangued us about our "violations against migrants," and they didn't forget our rampant brutality against our mentally ill. We were advised to feed our people and keep them healthy.

Iran is deeply concerned by "systematic widespread violations" in the U.S. and warned us about our abuses against women.

North Korea wants us to take care of our "housing inequalities," and prohibit violence of law enforcement.

Libya points to our "racism.

In the Bush years, the U.S. delegation refused to join this farcical Commission, populated by the most heinously cruel human rights violators on the planet.

The Obama administration could not wait to subject us to the scrutiny of tyrants. Now they have until  Tuesday to accept or reject the recommendations also coming from Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia:

The whole list of criticisms and recommendations, as well as our response, will be put together in a document distributed globally by the U.N. for the edification of America-bashers around the world. 

The United Nations is a pit of vipers. We stroke them and coddle them, and fund their atrocities. We make a mockery of our own democracy by acknowledging their right of communist and totalitarian states to address the human rights of any other country. While their people starve, are tortured in prisons for speaking out about their oppressors, live with no electricity, have their children taken from them, and see women so unspeakably abused  - we submit to their scrutiny. Why would we join this hateful coalition?

At some point we must pull out of the United Nations, and form a body of true democratic countries. The sooner the better. Maybe the next President will have a heart for the benevolence of the U.S. and move to dump this obscene United Nations.

Iran Air 744 Secret Pipeline to US: Iran Air Iranian Agents Exclusive Flight

Iran Air 744 flies bi-monthly from Tehran to Caracas, with some stops in Damascus and Beirut, and has been doing so since February 2007. The flight is exclusively reserved for Iranian agents, Hezbollah, and Iran's Revolutionary Guard. A real concern is that Iran is "schooling" the Venezuelan military. U.S. intelligence believes the flight is a secret pipeline of weapons and spies coming to America, and perhaps uranium heading back to Iran on the Boeing 747SP.

Iran Air 744 

We are concerned about this flight, and how these agents might get into the U.S. from Caracas, Damascus and Beirut, or how staging sites may be established for attacks against us from Venezuela. Apparently we've watched this, and worried about it for 3-1/2 years.

Current and former U.S. intelligence official fear the flight is a shadowy way to move people and weapons to locations in Latin America that can be used as staging points for retaliatory attacks against the U.S. or its interests in the event Iranian nuclear sites are struck by U.S. or Israeli military forces.

"My understanding is that this flight not only goes from Caracas to Damascus to Tehran perhaps twice a month, but it also occasionally makes stops in Lebanon as well, and the passengers on that flight are not processed through normal Venezuelan immigrations or customs. They are processed separately when they come into the country," says Peter Brookes, senior fellow for National Security Affairs at the Heritage Foundation.

The 16-hour flight typically leaves Tehran and stops at Damascus International Airport (DAM), which is Syria's busiest. In 2009, almost 4.5 million passengers used the airport.

After a 90-minute layover, the flight continues the remaining 14 hours to Venezuela's Caracas Maiquetía International Airport (CCS). Upon arrival, the plane is met by special Venezuelan forces and sequestered from other arrivals.

"It says that something secretive or clandestine is going on that they don't want the international community to know about," says Brookes, a former deputy assistant defense secretary for Asian and Pacific Affairs and CIA employee.

"The fact that there is a flight is of course of interest, but the fact that not anybody can gain access to this flight or buy a ticket for that flight is of particular curiosity and should be of concern to the United States."

In addition to speculation about who is aboard, there are significant concerns that the Boeing 747SP airplane might be transporting uranium to Tehran on the return flight. The U.S. government has enacted strong sanctions against Iran because of its nuclear program and there are worries the flight might provide an opportunity to skirt the embargo against materials that might be used for the program.

The major concern is the direct flight from Tehran to Caracas. The "special" passengers of Iran Air 744 "may not even need visas." 

Arizona Federal Boycott: Stash Brigade Mows Down Private Sector

The U.S. Government is boycotting the State of Arizona, jeopardizing the livelihood and personal safety of the people who are legitimate citizens, in the endless quest to protect those who are not, and doing so in violation of federal law. The Department of Education and, astonishingly, Border Control cancelled conferences, where taxpayers have long paid for bureaucrat's massages and sauna time in Arizona's beautiful desert climate. Our government placed signs just 30 miles out of Phoenix saying the area is rife with armed drug and human smugglers, and announced they will sue the state for attempting to defend their own borders. Obama's stash brigade of unions and government workers are mowing down the private sector. He and Attorney General Eric Holder believe they can break the state and if they can break the back of Arizona's sovereignty in our courts, we have to ask, who is next?

Who's Flag?

One of two Federal Signs 30 miles from Phoenix

Danger - Public Warning

Travel not Recommended

Active Drug and Human Smuggling Area

Armed Criminals and Smuggling Vehicles

In Venezuela's recent past, the working class fought hard against Hugo Chavez' power grabs, but not hard enough. Chavez took away much of everything it takes to make the private sector work, and vested his heavily fortified government pawns and the riff-raff on the street with "his stash." The Stash Brigade bullied and threatened and voted - maybe more than once, and the Venezuelans outside the government lost everything. It didn't happen overnight, but when it did happen, it moved rapidly.

In the land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, we have our own government pawns - their numbers growing mightily every day. Obama's Stash Brigades are the unions, government employees and everyone needing a pension bailout. Many millions of voters.

Chavez nationalized most heavy industry, with another grab this week, and placed tight regulations on business and finance. He devalued the currency, known as the "strong bolivar," and the people lost half of everything they had in January 2010. Chavez didn't let the private sector crisis go to waste. He used his own now hefty government "stash" to lavish on social programs and raises for bureaucrats - the charter members of the Chavez Stash Brigade.

The masses of government pawns won the battle, and the country is has been led into Marxism, as they passed the marker of Socialism. Another South American dictatorship is rising:

Government negotiations with opposition forces are nonexistent; the judiciary rarely restrains government action; state employees are forced to act as campaign props and vote for the government; electoral authorities disregard the law; and the ruling party is allowed to make use of state resources that are systematically denied to the opposition.

The above quote from Javier Corrles, a contributor to Huffington post, comments on the "chaos" in Venezuela:

Chavismo advances its objectives by enabling chaos. This produces discontent, but it also discourages collective action against the state...the promotion of disorder.

The government does nothing to stop rising crime rates or arbitrary decisions of the bureaucracy. Consequently, ordinary citizens live in fear of random violence, regime opponents live in fear of targeted assaults by state-sanctioned thugs, and business leaders live in fear of attacks by government-sponsored labor groups.

Free speech no longer protects Venezuelans. There are no television channels free to express opinion against Hugo Chavez, after finally shutting down Globalvision. And, grocery stores shelves are empty - as "mountains of rotting food" lies in government warehouses. Read this horrific story at the Conservative Hideout.

When government pawns approved lifting the ban on terms limits in Venezuela, President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, along with Fidel and Raul Castro congratulated Obama's "stash brigade" is galloping, and private businesses in the U.S. are stagnant as business owners wait to see what taxes and regulations are coming at them next. Anyone thinking the path to Chavez' heavily booted footprint is not in the line of vision of our government, is ignoring a somber reality. 

Helmerich Payne Rigs Nationalized by Hugo Chavez Venezuela

Tulsa, Oklahoma based Helmerich and Payne, Inc. says they have not yet been notified of a move by Venezuelan dictator, Hugo Chavez, to nationalize their drilling operations. Reuters is reporting eleven Helmerich and Payne rigs in Venezuela will be taken.

Hugo Chavez

Chavez wants to start the company's rig operations that are now sitting idle. They are idle, according to Helmerich and Payne President Hans Helmerich, because the Venezuelan government has not paid for past work. "We stated repeatedly we wanted to return to work, just not for free."

Helmerich and Payne Headquarters - Tulsa, Oklahoma

In January 2010, Chavez announced he was devaluing the Venezuelan bolivar by half.  The Wall Street Journal article on this story says Helmerich and Payne negotiations with Chavez include disputes about "currency conversion" issues. In other words, Helmerich and Payne are likely expected to accept half payment rather than full payment.

Oil is the major source of Venezuela's revenue - most of that derived by nationalizing businesses legally owned by others. It's called Socialism/Marxism.

Globalvision Guillermo Zuloaga Flees Hugo Chavez: Chavez Seizes Bank: Reuters Unabashedly Supports Chavez

Hugo Chavez still had one opposition television station, Globalvision, until he issued a warrant for owner Guillermo Zuloago's arrest and seized Banco Federal, a bank founded by a Globalvision director. See a video below.

Guillermo Zuloaga

Reuters says Globalvision is "often shrill," its reporting "one-sided," and is simply a "soap box," for Chavez' opponents. Memo to Reuters: there are no other television stations opposing the banty-rooster dictator.

Globovision's news director quit in February, raising fears among government critics about its future as an independent voice. A month later, network boss Guillermo Zuloaga was briefly held on charges that included offending the president.

Zuloaga's son is also charged. The families have fled for their lives and their freedom.

Zuloaga told reporters that the charges against him and his son - which also include insulting the president and spreading false information - are meant to intimidate him.

Here is how it works in Venezuela, unfortunately for many, many citizens who fought hard to keep this from happening:

Hugo Chavez 

The authorities would soon turn the Globovision logo red in honor of Chavez's socialist revolution, with a red beret on top, the white-bearded Silva predicted, wearing an olive green shirt and military cap similar to those worn by the president.

Chavez says he will not tolerate illegal incitement in the media, and accuses opponents of a desperate propaganda campaign against him ahead of legislative elections due in September.

Another look at how a socialist becomes a dictator, March 2009:

Caracas, Venezuela – With the plummeting price of oil, so goes the economy of Venezuela. With prices at $40 a barrel and the budget calculated on a selling price of $60, the country’s very foundations are starting to unravel prompting President Hugo Chavez to enforce harsher restrictions on food producers and retailers. Chavez, long a foe of the United States, has been seen as a socialist dictator by many other countries and this tightening of control comes as absolutely no surprise to any of them.

Reuters points out two other television stations, Venevision and Televen TV were anti-Chavez during the "coup," but have since dropped their more extreme opinions, and became more balanced. Translated: Venevision and Televen caved, followed the government line, and have been allowed to keep their so-called programming on-air. Can Reuters get any more disgraceful?

January 2010:
Military Takes Control of Major Venezuelan Cities Amid Protests - January 2010

Thousands of University students take to the streets and chant "Reform, no - democracy, yes.!"

Venezuelans protest after Hugo Chavez takes TV channel off air

January 2010

Guillermo Zuloaga Flees (video)

New Species of Man Revealed: Childs Skeleton from 2M Years Revealed

This Thursday, scientists will reveal a two-million-year-old skeleton of "a child!" From the hominid species, said to be "the evolutionary branch of primates that includes humans," some believe 'the child' belonged to a "previously-unknown type of early human ancestor that bridged the gap between ape-dom and humans. To add a little humor, Drudge has this headline above the photo seen below:

FOUND: MISSING LINK BETWEEN APES AND MAN

Experts who have seen the skeleton say it shares characteristics with Homo habilis, whose emergency 2.5 millions years ago is seen as a key stage in the evolution of our species.

The new discovery could help to rewrite the history of human evolution by filling in crucial gaps in the scientific knowledge...

Palaeontologists and human evolutionary experts behind the discovery have remained silent abut the exact details of what they have uncovered, but the scientific community is already abuzz with anticipation of the announcement of the find when it is made on Thursday.

The skeleton was found by Professor Lee Berger, from the University of the Witwatersrand, while exploring cave systems in the Sterkfontein region of South Africa, near Johannesburg, an area known as "the Cradle of Humanity."

 Read the entire story at The Telegraph.

Socialism Chavez Style: Devalue the Currency Cripple the People Steal the Farms

Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, announced the devaluation of the country's currency, the bolivar, by half, and just as bad news from the Obama administration is announced on weekends or late on Friday, Chavez delivered the startling proclamation during an important Friday night baseball game. Here is a good example of Socialism once it is on a roll:

The socialist Chavez believes the state should have a weighty role in managing the economy. During his 11 years in office he has nationalized most heavy industry, and business and finance are tightly regulated.

The devaluation is politically risky but means every dollar of oil revenue puts more bolivars in government coffers. That allows Chavez to lavish cash on social projects and fund salary increases ahead of parliamentary elections in September.

Opponents were quick to criticize the socialist, who a year ago promised the global financial crisis would not touch "a hair" of Venezuela's economy. He announced the devaluation on Friday night during an important baseball game.

"By establishing the exchange rate at 4.3 bolivars per dollar, the quality of life for Venezuelans is automatically devalued since we now have half the money we had before," said Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma, a Chavez opponent.

Government workers and those on the government dole will be the benefactors, thus increasing the loyalty vote for Chavez...which gives him a few more years to increase his chance of being elected dictator-for-life.

The Wall Street Journal calls this a humilitating turn:

...for a currency renamed the "strong bolivar" two years ago when Mr. Chavez chopped three zeros off the old currency and declared the beginning of an era of monetary fortitude.

With inflation in 2009 between 25% and 30%, Venezuela is home to one of the top ten oil reserves in the world. This is a wealthy country, but these are bleak times for the people.

In February, "the people" lifted term-limit restriction on the presidency. About 54% of voters approved the ban. How does that happen? How do the people vote to end their democracy, and why? Javier Corrales, a contributor to HuffingtonPost says "the systems of checks and balances has become inoperative."

Government negotiations with opposition forces are nonexistent; the judiciary rarely restrains government actions; state employees are forced to act as campaign props and vote for the government; electoral authorities disregard the law; and the ruling party is allowed to make use of state resources that are systematically denied to the opposition.

And Corrales says "Chavismo" has gone beyond the normal "garden-variety electoral autocracy," by "enabling" "the promotion of disorder" and "chaos.

Then, after the referendum:

Opposition leaders who won regional elections in December have been denied funding to run their governments or pushed into self-exile-to avoid arrest under selectively applied corruption laws. Other leaders have been jailed. The government has begun to ban books from libraries. With the help of the military, it has also accelerated the arbitrary nationalization of private assets. Chávez has repressed independent student groups, and is attempting to shut down Globovisión, the most critical television news channel left in the country.

Long before the ban on term limits, Chavez began seizing farm land  - "forced land redistribution" - and once seized, the plan was to be "utopian farming villages for squatters. Army commandos stood by and watched as squatters did the devil's work back in 2007, and after, and threatened farm owners with machetes, rifles and their lives.

The redistribution of wealth did not work, of course. This report from May 2009:

The 32,000-acre (12,950-hectare) El Charcote Ranch in central Venezuela was meant as a showcase for President Hugo Chavez's agrarian revolution, turning a country with food shortages and runaway inflation into one that could feed itself. But since troops and peasants seized the land from a British agribusiness company four years ago, beef production has dropped from 2.6 million pounds (1.2 million kilograms) annually to zero.

The ranch and many like it across the country raise the concern that the dream of a Venezuela living off its own land is just one more socialist promise heavy on rhetoric and light on results. The Chavez government says it has taken over more than 5.4 million acres (2.2 million hectares) of farmland from private owners. Yet food imports have tripled since 2004, the year before Chavez began his aggressive reform program.

The reality of a government-promised utopia:

This vast ranch used to be filled with grazing herds of cattle, but the green pastures are now overgrown with weeds and dotted with patches where poor farmers grow corn and beans. The cows have vanished.

The Chavez plan went astray as oil prices plummeted and funding for his bloated social programs, and vote purchasing, was not sustainable...without devaluing the monetary holding of the people. What a sad story...and a word of warning to America. Oh, and a reminder to America too: President Obama and Hillary Clinton congratulated Chavez on his un-term-limited future, along with the Castro brothers. Do ya think there's an agenda here?

Hugo Chavez Cosmerso: Venezuelas Socialist Super Shopping

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to Venezulans, who have lost their privately owned radio and television, and now will be treated to Socialist Super Shopping. How do private businesses stay open against government competition? The answer: not long.

Hugo Chavez

Source: Breitbart

President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday announced a new chain of government-run, cut-rate retail stores that will sell everything from food to cars to clothing from places such as China, Argentina and Bolivia.


 "We're creating Comerso, meaning Socialist Corporation of Markets," Chavez said at the opening of a "socialist" fast-food location for traditional Venezuelan arepas (cornbread). 

"They'll see what's good. We'll show them what a real market is all about, not those speculative, money-grubbing markets, but a market for the people," said Chavez in his drive to change Venezuela from a market-based economy to a socialist one.

"We're going to challenge all that junk food that just fattens people up," he added referring to the arepa stand he opened to the public.

Chavez said the Comerso chain of stores will include "a network of subsidiaries" that will sell new vehicles directly imported from China nd Argentina, "without capitalist intermediaries." 

"We're going to defeat speculation. Private individuals in sales can still sell, but they'll have to compete with us and with a people who is now fully aware," Chavez said. 

He said the new discount retail chain will also sell clothing and furnishings imported from Bolivia, Venezuela's closest leftist ally in the region.

The socialist retail outlets will serve the public alongside the Mercal supermarket chain, which sells subsidized food in Venezuela's working-class neighborhoods.

In his effort to break Venezuela's ependency on foreign goods, Chavez in May launched the Movilnet cell phone company that makes the "Vergatario," a locally made mobile that sells for 13.95 dollars but that few stores have in stock.

The Margarita Island Hilton was recently seized by Chavez, and it joins it's previously stolen Caracas Hilton, which was seized by Chavez two years ago:

Last week it acquired a sister: the government seized the Hilton on Margarita island, Venezuela's tourist playground. It had angered Chávez during a meeting of African leaders he hosted at the hotel. "The owners tried to impose conditions on the revolutionary government. No way. So I said, 'Let's expropriate it.' And now it's been expropriated."

Banks in Venezuela are having their problems as well. Saying "we aren't here to make money," Chavez shut down the 8th bank in less than three weeks earlier this month.

Before the government stepped in, the eight banks accounted for about 9 percent of the Venezuelan banking industry. They had about 4,000 employees, many of whom are expected to absorbed by a new state-run bank that is being created.

Related and Background:

Venezuelans Fight the Loss of Free Press

Honduras Thousands in the Street: Micheletti Supporters in the Streets

The political situation in Honduras is not difficult for most of us to understand, since the Honduran constitution is all over the web. Most Americans get it right, but not the politicians dreaming of their own empiric crowning. What the media is not telling us or showing us are that Hondurans by the thousands are in the streets, and they support Roberto Michelletti's constitutional succession. Video below. When Venezuela's Hugo Chavez seized power for as long as he wants it in May 2007, little was seen in the mainstream media of the protests against Chavez. You can see and read that sad story here and here. This is what Hondurans had to look forward to, but instead they got ahead of Zelaya and sent him packing. If you listen to the media, you would think the only protesters are Manuel Zelaya supporters hanging out on airport runways and the Nicaraguan border. That is a wrong impression. Watch the Pajamas Media video below. Links to Zelaya-Michelletti background below the video.

Honduras Thousands in the Street Video

Background: Lugar Clinton: Explain Honduras Foreign Policy Please Honduras Defending the Constitution: Constitutional Succession - Defending Democracy Honduras Constitution: Zelaya Removal Constitutional Honduras Thousands in the Street: Michelletti Supporters in the Streets Honduras Threatened with Banishment from Organization of American States Zelaya Returns to Honduras: Micheletti Government to Block Zelaya Plane Micheletti Still Denies Zelaya Engry: Zelaya Visits Hillary Instead Honduras: Last Bastion of Democracy Zelaya, Micheletti in Costa Rica: Zelaya, Micheletti Meet with Negotiators Zelaya Returns: Zelaya Retreats

Zelaya Returns: Zelaya Retreats

In a humiliating move, ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya gussied up to the Nicaragua-Honduras border at Las Manos, lifted a border chain, according to reports, and stepped onto his native soil. Honduran military stepped back about 20 yards, and apparently prevented violence. Now what would Zelaya do? Well, he would tuck-tail and return to Nicaragua.

Manuel Zelaya

The ousted president of Honduras has briefly crossed the country's border with Nicaragua, in a symbolic move the US has described as a "reckless". Mr Zelaya, wearing his customary cowboy-style hat, walked up to a sign reading "Welcome to Honduras" but did not go any further into the country.

Costa Rican mediator, President Oscar Aria, failed to mediate. It's fairly simple from what we can see today: Zelaya wanted to be Hugo Chavez and the Congress and the Supreme Court would have none of it. Instead they sent Zelay packing and the Micheletti government is carrying on with Democracy as outlined in the Honduran constitution. What is there to mediate? Who would think mediation would work? Oh, yeah - that would Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. I remember a time when the counsel of the United States meant something around the world. I guess we can't blame Zelaya. He thought if Chavez could do it, surely he could do it. After all, his family is powerful, he's wealthy, he was the president, you know...he could buy the vote of the poor. At one time it didn't suck to be Zelaya. Background: Lugar Clinton: Explain Honduras Foreign Policy Please Honduras Constitution: Zelaya Removal Constitutional Zelaya, Micheletti in Costa Rica: Zelaya, Micheletti Meet with Negotiators Honduras - Last Bastion of Democracy Honduras Thousands in the Street: Michelletti Supporters in the Streets Honduras Defending Constitution: Constitutional Succession Honduras Threatened with Banishment from Organization of American States Zelaya Returns to Honduras: Micheletti Government to Block Zelaya Plane Micheletti Still Denies Zelaya Engry: Zelaya Visits Hillary Instead

A Lesson in Socialism: Of Coffee Beans, Sugar and Health Care

The Return of Scipio has a great piece on Socialism. The plot is that Chavez has ruined the coffee industry in Venezuela, a place where Scipio says: really, one cannot swing a dead cat in Venezuela without hitting some coffee planter. Here's a snippet and here's where to go to read the entire post:

Socialist Nicaragua runs out of water. Socialist Cuba runs out of sugar. Socialist Venezuela runs out of coffee. Believe it or not, once socialist Argentina ran out of beef. This happened in a nation that has the finest steakhouses in the world, just as the US has the finest medical care in the world. Even America hating dictators come here when they need surgery. If Obama Care ever becomes law, we can expect both rationing and shortages. The laws of economics are hard and unforgiving. Not for nothing has that discipline been called “the dismal science.”

Hugo Chavez Gifts Barack Obama with a History Book

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called Barack Obama a "poor ignoramous" a few months ago for not understanding the history of Latin America. He advised the President to do a little studying.

Hugo Chavez - Barack Obama

After Obama claimed that Chavez "exported terrorism and obstructed progress in Latin America," Chavez said Obama didn't have a grasp on reality.

He goes and accuses me of exporting terrorism: the least I can say is that he’s a poor ignoramus; he should read and study a little to understand reality," said Chavez, who heads a group of left-wing Latin American leaders opposed to the U.S. influence in the region.

My, what ignorance; the real obstacle to development in Latin America has been the empire that you today preside over," said Chavez, who is a fierce critic of U.S. foreign policy.

Today, while the two are attending the Summit of the Americas, Chavez gave Obama some schoolin.' Handing the President a copy of The Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent, by Uruguayan Eduardo Galeano and written in Spanish, Obama says he took it thinking it was a book written by Chavez. The book was designed to humiliate the America President. It attacks the U.S. and Europe for exploiting the area in some 500 years of colonization, and well, basically, "pillaging" it. Jake Tapper and Sunlen Miller have some interesting quotes from the book. Here's just one:

The book also criticizes the U.S. for "spreading and imposing family planning...In Latin America it is more hygienic and effective to kill future guerillas in the womb than in the mountains or the streets.

These photo ops and handshakes are taking on a life of their own.

Obama Chavez Handshake: The "Brothers" Handshake

President Barack Obama and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez

As President Obama exchanges the friendly "brother" handshake with Venezuelan dictator-wannabe-almost is, Hugo Chavez, headlines are shouting the demise of liberty in that country. I've listed some of those headlines below - headlines from all over the world, but first I want to say a few words about that handshake, because it is no mere greeting. I ran across a blog by James Burnett, Burnett's Urban Etiquette. His profile says he is a newspaper reporter and radio correspondent, currently writing for the Miami Herald. Mr. Burnett writes about behavior, good deeds, etc., as well as current events - An August 2006 entry is about The Handshake. Here is a snippet:

You know what I mean by that handshake though - not the standard, traditional firm grip with one or two shakes. I'm talking the light slap of palms, the gladiator grip, and the ending with a flourish, maybe a finger snap or two. Back in the day they called it "dap." And I once wrote on another blog in another life that "Dap is that coolest of handshakes. It's the urban greeting that says 'I could just grip your hand squeeze and shake twice, but you and I have an understanding, so I am going to throw some 'English' on this handshake and jazz it up a little, as a sign of our friendship and mutual respect." That's right. That handshake....dap is a personal handshake, not to be traded without forethought.

Burnett's blog has a new url and a new name these days. The Handshake is left behind, but you can find him here. Here are the Chavez headlines. It's an old familiar story. Why is our President giving this guy "The Handshake?"

Opposition accuses Chavez of power grab after ballot: Chavez has concentrated power since Feb. 15 vote eliminating term limits Chavez Opponents protest moves to erode power, sideline key critics in Venezuela:

Soldiers have seized ports controlled by governors of the opposition

Top Chavez opponent disappears ...; opposition says he could be in danger

Mayor faces corruption charges. Opposition believes no chance of a fair trial.

New Law Weakens Anti-Chavez Mayor

A government-appointed official takes over the city of Caracas

As Venezuela's Chavez silences critics, opponents lash back: Mayor denounced Chavez as a tyrant...trampling on the Venezuelan Constitution Foe of Hugo Chavez arrested in Venezuela: A prominent political adversary of Chavez was arrested at gunpoint

Remember November 2006 when the protests against Chavez began?

Chavez Protests

Remember May 2007 when Chavez shut-down Radio Caracas TV (RCTV)? To refresh your memory on Chavez' power-grab, read through some of Gateway Pundits posts (just follow the links). Hugo Chavez Quotes, leaving out those vile attacks on President G.W. Bush:

"I am convinced that the path to a new, better and possible world is not capitalism, the path is socialism." “I have said it already, I am convinced that the way to build a new and better world is not capitalism. Capitalism leads us straight to hell.” “I hereby accuse the North American empire of being the biggest menace to our planet.” “The left is back, and it's the only path we have to get out of the spot to which the right has sunken us, ... Socialism builds and capitalism destroys.”

How about the Venezuelan people brave enough to protest their loss of freedom? How about the Venezuelan citizens who realize what's coming their way? How will President Obama show his solidarity with those people in Venezuela? "The Handshake" is not a promising sign for Venezuela or America.

"This Liberal," Maxine Waters, Threatens Nationalizing the Oil Companies

Listen up! This IS the Democrat agenda! View though to James Rosen's quote at the end.

Thanks BigMouthFrog2



Technorati Tags: Senator Maxine Waters, Oil, Energy, Nationalizing Oil Industry in USA, Liberalism, Far Left, Socialism

How McCain Can Beat Jimmy Obama

Dan Calabrese from North Star Writers Group says today: "The Democrats are about to nominate Jimmy Obama." Calabrese lays out two issues that will allow McCain to gain sufficient votes from Hillary supporters to claim the White House for the GOP. (Related: Calabrese broke Hillary Clinton conspired to violate the U.S. Constitution. Jim Simpson at Truth and Consequences - two important posts: Homegrown Terrorists: Part 1 and Homegrown Terrorists for President: Part II.)

How McCain Can Win Hillary’s Voters, and Defeat Jimmy Obama By Dan Calabrese May 22, 2008

Barack Obama is so amazing, he gets closer to clinching the Democratic presidential nomination every time Hillary Clinton creams him in a primary – as she did on Tuesday in Kentucky. It’s too late, of course, for these huge wins in predominantly white, working-class states to help Hillary. But if John McCain is paying attention, Hillary may be doing him the favor of all favors – with a huge assist from Obama himself, of course. Obama’s recent policy statements, viewed in the context of demographic trends in Democratic primaries, point the way to a McCain victory. White working-class voters, as well as older voters, have gone for Hillary in huge numbers. That’s why she’s won states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia so handily. If Michigan’s primary had been a real contest, the result may very well have been the same. Let’s look at three of those states. Ohio’s 20 electoral votes barely went for President Bush in 2004. Pennsylvania’s 21 and Michigan’s 17 went for John Kerry. If McCain holds Ohio in the red category and manages to steal either Pennsylvania or Michigan, he probably wins the election. If he holds Ohio and steals both Pennsylvania and Michigan, McCain wins without a doubt. Here’s how he can do it: Obama has recently made two astoundingly wrongheaded statements. First, he opined that Iran is not really much of a threat to the United States. Second, he said the following to a group of environmentalists in Oregon: “We can't drive our SUVs and, you know, eat as much as we want and keep our homes on, you know, 72 degrees at all times, whether we're living in the desert or we're living in the tundra, and then just expect every other country is going to say OK, you know, you guys go ahead keep on using 25 percent of the world's energy, even though you only account for 3 percent of the population, and we'll be fine. Don't worry about us.” So, to recap, Islamic radicals who openly vow the destruction of Israel and are aggressively pursuing the development of nuclear weapons are not much of a threat. And American prosperity is no longer possible because “other countries” won’t accept it. The Democrats are about to nominate Jimmy Obama. Remember when Obama’s campaign slogan was “Yes, We Can!”? Apparently that didn’t refer to the continuation of the American dream in any practical sense. We can’t. Other countries say so. Presumably, then, “Yes, We Can!” refers to allowing apocalyptic-minded nutcases to gain control of the most dangerous weapons in the world. In fact, Obama is even willing to go personally meet with these lunatics – without pre-conditions. Why will the world’s thugs need Jimmy Carter anymore? Hugo Chavez and Kim Jong Il won’t need to settle for a disrespected former president from a generation ago when they can get an audience with the current occupant of the White House. If McCain hammers these two themes, he will win enough of Hillary’s voters to win the White House: 1. We can drive SUVs, eat the food we want and heat our homes to our hearts’ content, if we unleash America’s ability to create wealth, make wise use of its resources and empower individuals to improve their own lives. It has nothing to do with “other countries.” We have to do some things better and smarter, but there is no reason in the world that America has to resign itself to austerity, and certainly not because other countries aren’t going to “say OK.” Good grief. Remember when John Kerry said he wanted to submit America’s foreign policy decisions to other countries in the form of a “global test”? Remember how that went over? Obama wants to do the same thing with our domestic policies! 2. America has to take serious threats seriously, and not give away its strategic positioning or its international prestige to thugs who don’t deserve it. Read more here.

End North Star Writers Group article. Posted by Maggie Technorati Tags:Senator John McCain, Senator Barack Obama, Senator Hillary Clinton, Energy, President Jimmy Carter, 2008 Elections, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez,

The UN Continues Corrupting Itself - A Chavez Connection

Cross-posted at Reject the UN The United Nations simply cannot be shamed. The anti-poverty agency within the U.N., the U.N. Development Program (UNDP), is using it's procurement power to favor Hugo Chavez. This is a dizzying web of deceit...it isn't easily explained, and the UN is hiding it's paper trail as I write. All the details are not known but here's my summary: The UNDP is charged with fighting poverty - their mission is anti-poverty development. The UNDP needs to procure goods and services to fulfill its mission. The agency has rules governing how those procurements are made. The rules require that bids be "let" and that the bidding environment be "competitive." Fox News (April 18th, 2008) discovered that much of the bidding was anything but "competitive," in fact, competitive bidding was waived "on more than half of the $1.5 BILLION in goods and services it paid for over the past three years."

The same UNDP documents also show that by far the largest and most frequent requests for UNDP procurement cash — and their subsequent approvals — come from countries with questionable track records for government honesty and transparency. Among the big winners are the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Honduras and Iraq.

William Easterly, a former World Bank economist, is quoted as saying:

The totals are “shocking,” and “scandalous,....There could be some extraordinary circumstances involved, but even those cannot possibly explain why the bulk of UNDP operations are waivers of competition.”

According to Fox News, the waivers for competitive bidding broke down this way:

The value of the waivers ranged from $259 million, or 50 percent of total purchases in 2005,... to a high of $409 million, or two-thirds of the total for 2006,... before settling back to $210 million, or 54 percent of the total last year.

Well, so far, this is not good...but then, it is the United Nations, and of course, it gets worse.

UNDP’s procurement procedures became an issue on April 1, when FOX News questioned the agency’s 2007 authorization of 19 airport walk-through body scanners worth $2.3 million, on behalf of the Venezuelan government of Hugo Chavez.

While it appears that corruption in bidding occurred, it is not clear who or what actually paid for the scanners for Venezuela, but it seems, at the least, UNDP acted as a mediator between a Venezuelan manufacturer and Chavez. Fox News' George Russell points out the obvious questions, at least obvious to those of us with reasonable common, and moral, sensibilities:

Behind the foggy complexities of UNDP’s role in the airline scanner puzzle lies a deeper question: what role is an agency devoted to alleviating international poverty playing as a general contractor for the authoritarian rulers of an oil-rich nation, who are also avowed supporters of terrorism in the Western Hemisphere? And another question: whether the close, often secretive, and apparently quite profitable relationship that UNDP has forged in Venezuela really serves the high-minded goals of the United Nations as a whole.

Fox News on the benevolent UNDP's affinity for Venezuela:

Oil-rich Venezuela, with an estimated GDP per capita of $12,800 in 2007, shares one characteristic with many of the biggest beneficiaries of UNDP funding: its low ranking on the Transparency International corruption perceptions index. In 2007, along with four other countries, it ranked 162nd — in the place immediately above the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Two Fox reports that I've linked to include PDF's of UNDP documents, including "confidential UNDP minutes," and a list of Venezuela's waivers for 2007. To add some more fuel for those warm fuzzies we're feeling toward the U.N. right now, this also from Fox:

(The U.S., which is on the executive board, pays roughly 22% of UNDP’s $5 billion annual budget.)

Homeland Security speaks:

Sums up Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, a member of the U.S. Senate’s homeland security and government affairs committee: “We simply cannot afford to give President Chavez or the UNDP any benefit of doubt.”

Article End - Posted by Maggie Permalink: http://maggiesnotebook.blogspot.com/2008/04/un-continues-corrupting-itself-chavez.html Trackback URL for this entry: http://haloscan.com/tb/maggiesnotebook/6481275387528581836 Technorati Tags: U.N.,United Nations, Poverty,World Hunger,Venezuela, Hugo Chavez,Congo,Fox News

Fox News' Adam Housley Smacks Down New York Councilman Charles Barron

Photo courtesy Fox News Channel

Fox News' Adam Housley calls an arrogant NYC Councilman an SOB - on live television.

While reporting from the streets of Caracas, Fox News' Adam Housley responds to Neil Cavuto's guest, NYC Councilman Charles Barron(D). As Barron dismisses any consideration of Chavez' recent actions as anything less than admirable, and accuses Housley of not reporting fairly, Housely levels him with "fair and balanced" accounts of his coverage of both protests and counter-protests.

Barron, a former member of the Harlem branch of the Black Panther Party, is baldly revealed to not have a clue.

Watch the Fox News video at Hot Air and check-out AllahPundit's links to more bad behavior by Charles Barron.

For incredible photos of the anti-Chavez protests, visit Gateway Pundit. Excerpt: Wow! Daniel now has photos from the massive march estimated at 1.4 million!

Article End.
Posted by Maggie

Trackposted to Pet's Garden Blog, Stageleft, The World According to Carl, Blue Star Chronicles, Webloggin, The Pink Flamingo, Cao's Blog, and Colloquium, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.


Maggie's Notebook pinged Another Massive Anti-Chavez Protest in Caracas from Gateway Pundit. Excerpt: Amazing!It was the largest protest in Venezuelan history! Wow! Daniel now has photos from the massive march estimated at 1.4 million!

Maggie's Notebook pinged Better off Fred? from a A Newt One. Here are just a few little-known facts about Fred Thompson: Every night before going to sleep, Osama bin Laden checks under his bed for Fred Thompson. Though Fred Thompson left the Senate in 2003, Harry Reid still hasn't stopped wetting his pants.

Maggie’s Notebook pinged Recruiters Show Support from Big Dog’s Website.
Excerpt: On 19 May the Gathering of Eagles conducted Operation Recruiter Appreciation. This was a day where Eagles showed up at recruiting stations all across the country and provided food and drinks for recruiters and expressed just how much we appreciate what they do.


Technorati Tags: Fox News Channel, Adam Housley, Caracas, Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, Free Speech, Free Press, NYC Councilman Charles Barron

Russians Mourn the Loss of Free Press

Trackback URL for this entry: http://haloscan.com/tb/maggiesnotebook/1514266793645659671


Putin enjoys a "cuppa," while this flattering photo of him is taken by the free press privileges of the BBC. Photo courtesy of the BBC.

In Russia, the people silently mourn the murder of their democracy at the hands of President Vladimir Putin. After the killing of beloved Russian journalist, Anna Politkovskaya in 2006, the International Herald Tribune put it this way:

I am convinced that her killer was, first and foremost, the paucity of freedoms in Russia. The lack of freedom killed freedom - this is where the sad logic of her killing comes from, no matter who is behind it.

Lack of freedom spawns lawlessness: Russia has fostered numerous vindictive, unpunished people indignant that someone dares to point a finger at them and to say that their actions are criminal. At the same time, authoritarian power always fragments into clans, and the accusations of an independent journalist can be a priceless weapon in the battle of clans or for the liquidation of political rivals.

And then this:

Hundreds of people who came to say farewell to Anna looked not only crushed, but also helpless. The mourners were shown their real place, as people without rights, who will be told only what the authorities want them to know.

And this::

...at least twelve journalists have been killed in contract-style slayings. No one has been brought to justice in eleven of the twelve cases.

And another important piece on how unattended freedom is killing freedom in Russia.

For thoughts on Venezuelans fighting in their streets for free press, read: how Danny Glover and Hugo Chavez give a "nose-thumb" to freedom.

This a day to remember just how precious are our freedoms and to fiercely battle back against those who would hastily feed the gators, hoping they will eat him last.

A closing thought on how we make freedom ours:

You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man's freedom. You can only be free if I am free. Clarence Darrow

Technorati Tags:Russia, Vladimir Putin, Russian Journalists, Danny Glover, Hugo Chavez, Venezuela,
Free Press, Free Speech, Fidel Castro, Cuba, Memorial Day, Dictators

Venezuelans Fight the Loss of Free Press

Freedom across the globe dwindles as Danny Glover steps-in and cozies-up with Chavez, snatching the Bolivars right out of the hands of the people.

Venezuelans are in the streets fighting for free press. Their dictator, Hugo Chavez, has taken-down the most popular television station there, and replaced it with a state-sponsored station.

Glover thumbed his nose at Venezuelan liberties (he need not worry, American troops are protecting his) and aligned himself with deep pockets and dictators, revealing his true lack of concern for freedom, for the poor and the down-trodden.

Glover snagged his $20-$30 Million (depending on whose reporting you believe) before Venezuelan actors, anchors, agents, writers, camera crews, and grips lost their jobs. Three thousand people out of work and a station operating for 53 years is gone. Glover will make two movies in Venezuela, but no, the jobs for those in television will not be replaced by Glover's ventures. On Glover's love of America:

Glover was a signatory to "The Conscience of the World," a public letter signed by 160 artists which condemned the War in Iraq, and pledged support for the Communist dictatorship of Cuba. He also supports the Maoist group Not In Our Name (NION), which "pledges resistance to endless war, detentions and roundups, [and] attacks on civil liberties," and is directed by members of the Revolutionary Communist Party.

As Glover attempts to add legitimacy to dictatorships, Chavez controls the military, the legislature, the courts, most private industry, including our American oil companies - he also controls former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

For thoughts on loss of free speech in Russia, read Russians Mourn the Loss of Free Press

This a day to remember just how precious are our freedoms and to fiercely battle back against those who would hastily feed the gators, hoping they will eat him last.

A closing thought on how we make freedom ours:

You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man's freedom. You can only be free if I am free. Clarence Darrow