This story is strangely reminiscent of a Dr. Studly comment in which I berated him. Bravo, Dr. Studly….let’s see what else you have in store for us.
From the AP
CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez announced Monday he would formally pull Venezuela out of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, a largely symbolic move because the nation has already paid off its debts to the lending institutions.
We will no longer have to go to Washington nor to the IMF nor to the World Bank, not to anyone,” said the leftist leader, who has long railed against the Washington-based lending institutions.
Chavez said he wanted to formalize Venezuela’s exit from the two bodies “tonight and ask them to return what they owe us.”
Venezuela recently repaid its debts to the World Bank five years ahead of schedule, saving $8 million. It paid off all its debts to the IMF shortly after Chavez first took office in 1999. The IMF closed its offices in Venezuela late last year.
Chavez made the announcement a day after telling a meeting of allied leaders that Latin America overall would be better off without the U.S.-backed World Bank or IMF. He has often blamed their lending policies for perpetuating poverty.
The leftist president also has repeatedly criticized past Venezuelan governments for signing structural adjustment agreements with the IMF that were blamed for contributing to racing inflation.
Under former Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez in 1989, violent protests broke out in Caracas in response to IMF austerity measures that brought a hike in subsidized gasoline prices and public transport fares.
Enraged people took over the streets in violence that killed at least 300 people — and possibly many more. The riots came to be known as the “Caracazo,” and Chavez often refers to it as a rebellion against the status quo.”
Above is a picture of Dr. Studly causing problems during Shark week.
Caroline
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My Sunday morning viewing of “Meet the Press” was rather eventful as I watched Joe Biden discuss his long political career and his candidacy for President. Biden throughout the interview was ..smug, testy and oddly earnest. Tim Russert kept provoking him over his vote for the Iraq war. Biden at first tried to explain his reasoning for voting on the war and for the deployment of additional troops in 2005, but then he kept getting testy. Biden stated several times through out the interview that he would not have voted for the War if he had known how incompetent this Administration was..but he was emphatic about getting rid of Saddam.
Biden said…like so many other politicians that were opposed to the Iraq War..that he voted for the war because if he had not…most of Congress would have deemed him unpatriotic. I know what he means, I just watched Bill Moyer’s documentary last week covering such topics. What I don’t understand is..Why did Biden vote for the deployment of additional troops in 2005? He certainly would not have seemed unpatriotic then…the War was already wildly unpopular. Biden told Russert the reason he voted for more troops was…there wasn’t a civil war at the time more troops were deployed. I’m sorry, but that reasoning makes no sense. In my first semester as an undergraduate in my World Politics class we all were well versed in the steps that lead to civil war… they are well defined and easy to read…I knew shortly after the war began that civil war was inevitable in Iraq. So..for Biden to say that he voted for a deployment of more troops on the grounds that there wasn’t a civil war…makes this Democrat not want to vote for him. Whammy, Biden.
Above is a picture of Teri’s rockin’ birthday party last night.
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I’m sure it’s not going to stick, but at least someone is trying to do something about these Argentine psychopaths.
From AP
“BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - A federal court threw out amnesties Wednesday for two leaders of Argentina’s military dictatorship, saying they must serve their life terms in prison for crimes against humanity.
Former military President Jorge Videla and Navy chief Eduardo Massera were leading members of the 1976-1983 military junta that waged a “dirty war” against political opponents, seizing and killing about 9,000 people, according to official records. Human rights groups put the death toll closer to 30,000.
Sentenced to life terms in 1985 following Argentina’s return to democracy, Videla and Massera were granted amnesties five years later by President Carlos Menem, who freed them from a military prison in what he called a gesture of national reconciliation.
Wednesday’s decision, read to The Associated Press by a clerk for the Federal Criminal Court, declared the amnesties to be unconstitutional. It is likely to be appealed.
The court did not rule on pardons granted to other convicted military chiefs, Orlando Agosti, Roberto Viola and Armando Lambruschini, who have since died.
Videla was found guilty of 66 homicides, the torture of 93 other people and the illegal confinement of more than 300. Massera was convicted of three killings, the torture of 12 people and the illegal confinement of 69 dissidents.
Menem’s pardons — which he said would “close a sad and black stage of Argentine history” prompted widespready protests.
President Nestor Kirchner’s government has reopened hundreds of human rights cases since a 2005 Supreme Court ruling that struck down 1980s amnesty laws.
Videla, 81, is currently under house arrest in other cases. On Tuesday an Argentine court denied a request that he be extradited to Germany for prosecution in the 1977 killing of a German activist. Spain also seeks his and Massera’s extradition.
After a stroke in 2002, Massera won a court ruling that he was mentally unfit for trial on charges of stealing babies born to jailed dissidents.
Wednesday’s ruling had ” little practical relevance because these are people already being prosecuted or who have been detained in other investigations,” said Horacio Verbitsky of the human rights group CELS.
Gregorio Badeni, a constitutional law expert, said the court likely overreached in striking down a pardon, which is a power granted to the presidency.
Military leaders overthrew President Isabel Peron in 1976. Videla was de facto president until 1981. The military surrendered power to an elected civilian government in December 1983 after the country’s disastrous defeat to England in the Falklands War.”
Above is a picture of what I would look like as a french spy. Don’t hate because I can rock it.
Caroline
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According to”The Guardian” that is all it takes to stifle constitutional freedom…Bush and his administration have followed the steps religiously. The citizens of the United states have seen “the systematic dismantling of our checks and balances”…by interpretation of the author..the dismantling is so flagrant that we as citizens aren’t even aware of it.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2064157,00.html
Let’s see what everyone else thinks…
Caroline
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Yet another journalist was murdered in Mexico. This is really starting to trouble me.
From the AP
“The body of Saul Noe Martinez Ortega, an editor at the Interdiario de Agua Prieta, was found in neighboring Chihuahua state, according to a state official in Sonora, where Agua Prieta is located. The official asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to discuss the case with the media.
Martinez Ortega, 36, was abducted April 16 by men armed with assault rifles who forced him into a car in the center of the city, across from Douglas, Ariz.
The Miami-based Inter American Press Association has reported an alarming number of journalists killed in Mexico on orders from drug gangs, including seven since October. Two others have disappeared and eight have reported receiving death threats.”
Above is a picture of my father right before the Grand Prix began… Viva Mexico!
Caroline
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Man. That made my day. This is SOOO becoming my instant messenger icon.
By the way, DB, I saw you in “The Prestige” and you were the sexiest Nikola Tesla ever. Feel free to talk to me about alternating currents anytime.
XO,
Teri “I wanna be Iman” Hagen
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On a daily basis horrific images and incomprehensible acts of violence are carried out in Iraq. We all hear it everyday and generally..I choose not to write about it…simply because there is no end in sight and it was all so easily avoidable. I’m not one to cry over spilled milk, but there is one characteristic that the media chooses not to talk about. The refugee situation in Iraq is now nearing the most serious if not.. grievous refugee crisis on mother earth. We never hear about it.
According to the latest United Nations figures,..1.9 million have fled Iraq in fear of sectarian violence and civil war. Syrian officials say that the UN numbers are low and do not properly depict the true amount of refugee’s in the country. Even still..Syria is a country of 17 million people and even the lowest numbers points to at least one million Iraqi’s in their country.
Little Lefty is going to keep investigating this…mean while..look at Melissa and I doing the famous stretch dance (that has now reached cult status among our group) in the picture above.
Caroline
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That President Bush is still giving Gonzales a vote of confidence. “This is an honest, honorable man, in whom I have confidence,” Bush stated. Apparently..it was Gonzales’ ..ahem, testimony that made his confidence in him stronger. I know!…It must have been all the times Gonzales said “I don’t recall” that really boosted his opinion of Gonzales. His testimony was a joke…he was totally unprepared and he snapped at the head Republican on the committee. Good Lord.
Above is a picture of Rob watching the Grand Prix… He looks rather intense..It’s probably because he put a large amount of emotional investment in Danica Patrick coming in first place…
Caroline Calvillo
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