Las Politicas

Venezuela has formally transferred the nation’s remaining privately owned oil company’s to state run ventures.  Chavez first announced the final step in complete nationalization  during  mid 2006. Exxon Mobile and Conoco Phillips will be affected by this step. I’m not an economist, but I wonder if this the right step for Venezuela? Radical socialist approaches such as these created an abyss of corruption for Mexico with Pemex. Maybe I’ll have a more formulated opinion after some Smart Water.

Above is a picture of a Rootin Tootin Cowboy! ( Rob)

Caroline 

Please- and I am extending a serious PLEASE, check this out… www.invisiblechildren.com

Here is the story: “Invisible Children” (2003),  is a documentary that brings to light the forced conscription of children in the ongoing rebellion in Uganda.

In the spring of 2003, University of Southern California film school graduates Jason Russell and Bobby Bailey, along with their friend Laren Poole, traveled to Africa intending to film the humanitarian crisis in Sudan. They found themselves in the northern part of Uganda, witnessing the horrors of a 20-year rebellion in which most of the combatants — an estimated 80 to 90 percent — are children.

They discovered that children as young as eight were being methodically kidnapped nightly from their homes by a rebel group called the Lord’s Resistance Army. The abducted children are desensitized to the horror of violence and killing as they themselves are turned into vicious killers. Some escape and hide in constant fear; most remain captive and grow to maturity with no education other than life in the bush and fighting in a guerilla war.

“Invisible Children” highlights what the community refers to as “night commuters,” the thousands of children who migrate out of fear from the villages to nearby towns each night to avoid the LRA abductions. They sleep in public places, vulnerable and without supervision.

The film focuses on four young boys: Jacob, Thomas, Tony and Boni. Through them the audience relives the terror of abduction, the courage of survival, the heartbreak of losing a brother and the innate joy found in childhood. The three filmmakers were struck by the many things these children had in common with themselves and other young people in America.

As the three left northern Uganda, they were appalled by what they had seen but awed by the resilience and hope they found in these children and this community. The filmmakers wondered how such atrocity could have existed for such a long time without the world knowing.

They first screened “Invisible Children” in 2004 for friends and family and soon expanded to high schools, colleges and organizations. The film has sparked a grassroots movement to bring assistance to the children of northern Uganda. In September 2004, the filmmakers formed a nonprofit organization called Invisible Children, Inc. to coordinate the efforts of those who want to help. The organization has started an education program and a bracelet campaign that provides employment to Ugandans and helps fund the education program.

In addition to screenings around the nation, “Invisible Children” has been shown to the United Nations Association, at the Carter Center and at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. Footage has also been shown on the Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN and the National Geographic Channel.

(I totally copied that from the UW-Eau Claire website. )

Anyway, there is a “Displace Me” night that is super easy to participate in, and I would love for anyone and everyone that you know, and everyone that they know, to do it.  You basically displace yourself from the comforts of your own home to mimic the diplacement of others.  Its on April 28th.  Click on “Displace Me” under the “Movement” tab on the site to sign up.  April 29th is my birthday, and I can’t think of a better way to bring it in.

 Caro, I am counting you in on this.  Go sign up right this second.

Unfair trade..it’s fact.. It happens all the time to the detriment of Global South nations. The World Trade Organization is so glacial that by the time a a complaint is disputed there is nothing left to dispute. The latest is that Ecuador has asked the WTO to rule on whether European banana import tariffs are too high, restarting a decade old dispute of discrimination. Let’s see how long this one takes. 

Above is a picture of two  women riding tough.

From the Associated Press…..

“MEXICO CITY - Mexico’s largest leftist party announced Wednesday that it is filing a legal complaint against former President Vicente Fox, accusing him of violating the law by intervening against its presidential candidate who lost last year.

The Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, accuses the Fox administration of having supported current President Felipe Calderon with public comments, government television ads, and other means. Mexican law prohibits the president and other officials from using their office to support or oppose candidates.

The PRD claims that comments made by Fox last week at the Kennedy Center in Washington amount to a confession that he helped Calderon win the 2006 race.

In Washington, Fox made an apparent reference to a 2005 decision by prosecutors to drop charges of abuse of authority against Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, then mayor of Mexico City. The charge, over a land dispute, would have prevented Lopez Obrador from running for president.

“I lost,” Fox said. “But 18 months later I had victory. On election day, my party’s candidate won.”

Fox, who left office Dec. 1, had long said the case against Lopez Obrador was a legal matter, not a political or personal one. He has also denied giving Calderon any unfair support in the July 2 elections, which Calderon won by a razor-thin margin. Lopez Obrador claims the polls were marred by fraud.

Javier Gonzalez, head of the PRD in the lower house of Congress, said that the complaint will be delivered Thursday to federal prosecutors who will decide whether to investigate the accusations, file criminal charges against Fox, or drop the case.

The PRD still refuses to recognize Calderon’s authority. Lopez Obrador has declared himself Mexico’s legitimate president.”

 Obrador…give up the ghost..you lost. Put your influence to better use or take a page from my book and relax..see picture above

Well…maybe not an approval, but I’ve noticed that the Z magazine crowd, the hard/dissident/socialist left has not attacked John Edwards…. yet. They’ve gone after Obama vigorously, and they practically equate Hillary Clinton with Margaret Thatcher. They seem to be leaving Edwards alone. I’m not entirely sure why, but perhaps it’s because he’s discussing real problems and talking about solutions to them that won’t be tolerable to establishment interests. Paul Krugman, the left-liberal Princeton economist is in favor of Edwards and says so in his New York Times column.

Even in social settings politics plays an important role…see picture above.

Caroline

While I disagree with mandating a vaccine upon the masses for many reasons (includung the high cost and its effect on the lower classes), I am not with the Christianazis that it encourages sexual activity among young girls.  Coming from a family with a CRAZY cancer statistics, I am still wary of Gardasil.  That stuff is too new to start a mass vaccination.   The side effects are not fully known, and the last think anyone wants to see is anothe Vioxx or Celebrex situation.  But that is just my opinion.  And Rick Perry can put that in his pipe and smoke it.   His gilded pipe.  Gilded by Merck contributions.

Glad that the lobbying has ended,

Teri

 (insert pic of Caro rocking her ashes here)

All Catholics are giving something up today for Ash Wednesday!!  Caro, stay away from the Sugar-free Red Bull!

The new leftist president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa said that he will resign the presidency if his supporters are unable to win control of an assembly to amend the constitution. Correa took office on January 15 and says he will “simply have to go home” if opposition lawmakers take control of the assembly. Quite early on for dramatics don’t you think, Rafael? This has “the boy who cried wolf” syndrome all over it.  Correa won a runoff pledging to lead a “citizen’s revolution” against the political machine in Ecuador.

 Above is a discusion that took place on a fat cat Republican boat ( and it ruled)

Ok… I know that my last few posts have been totally off-topic, but I have found myself less enthusiastic regarding the goings-on in DC lately.  It will pass, and I will soon be a crazy political blogger again, but today, I really want to address this walking fiasco:

Seriously, where is Christ’s name are this chick’s parents?  Speaking of that, she is the mother of two children that are yet to break free of the burdens of diapers and bottles.  Let’s just hope that they won’t remember this. 

Is this what our society has fallen to?  Where we put more interest in having the front row seats in viewing this poor girl’s demise than hoping that she gets her ass to the closest rehab facility possible and gets help for her blatantly obvious addictions????  I am just as guilty of this lack of comapssion and hunger for the dirty underbelly of Hollywood as the next person, so please don’t take my comments as passing judgment.  Watching her downward spiral has just really made me a little sad lately.   Someone please hand me a picture of Paris Hilton’s wonky eye to rejuvenate my spirits… and speaking of spirits… Caroline, you were missed at Downing Street on Saturday. 

It seems that, Chavez is in the habit of employing his family to political posts in his administration. Chavez is under increasing scrutiny over corruption that is linked to family members. His father is the Governor of the state of Barinas and his brother is the Mayor of the city of Sabaneta. The positions were acquired through democratic elections, but there are controversies surrounding misappropriated funds. All five of his brothers are linked to him politically or are elected officials. Chavez’s older brother, Adan is the  most influential he is ambassador to Cuba, private secretary to the president and minister of education. Opponents maintain that the Chavez family is benefiting from the state resources to the detriment of many citizen’s. Private Jets, expensive trips abroad, plastic surgery and medical treatments all have been allegedly paid for by the citizen tax dollars. Chavez’s mother parades around ( and is photographed) with her poodle that sports designer outfits and gold jewelry. I wonder what Fidel thinks about all of this. 

This is the first I’ve heard of this news..I’m not really sure what to think about it. I wouldn’t surprise me if it were true.

Above is a terrifying moment from my shark week party that my favorite librarian, Ranger took ….

Caroline