Hands off Venezuela!

Now that's "Foreign Aid" !

He's from Texas. He's a Republican. He's not Ron Paul. Despite these obvious intellectual disabilities, Congressman Ted Poe makes a coherent argument against government waste:

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I agree, cutting $400 billion is really not much of a cut, especially in these times when Congress continues to spend more and more money. Maybe it's time to reconsider our foreign aid that we send to countries throughout the world.

Now, this map over here to my left shows the world, and most of it is in red. All of those countries that are in red on this map receive American taxpayer foreign aid.

We don't separate the countries one at a time and vote up or down on whether they ought to get American money. I think if we did that, most of these countries in red wouldn't be seeing any American money. With the way the rule works, we put all 150-plus countries in one package, and we vote for all of them.

...we just keep sending it and sending it and sending it, and we send it to countries that many Americans don't even understand why we send it to those countries...

But here is something that most Americans may not know about. We give money to Venezuela. Why do we give money to Chavez and Venezuela? He hates the United States. He defies our President, makes fun of our Nation. We don't need to give him any foreign aid.

Source: Congressman Ted Poe

Of course, you could nitpick.

The United States appears "in red" on the congressman's map, even though it only receives Chinese - not American - foreign aid.

As for Venezuela, Americans may not approve of George Carlin's rule over that country. But they're sure to support the reconstruction efforts taking place on Maria Corina Machado's face:

In fiscal year 2010, the Venezuela account showed $6 million. For fiscal year 2012, the administration has requested a little less for Venezuela -- $5 million.

The funding comes from the Economic Support Fund, which, according to the State Department, "promotes stability and U.S. security interests in strategic regions of the world."

Members of a local group called Súmate who had received U.S. aid for a project on electoral observance "were accused of conspiracy and betrayal. The trial against them, which was initiated in 2003, is still pending."

In a 2006 article based on Freedom of Information Act requests, the Associated Press reported that Chavez accused his opponents of taking "gringo money" to undermine his regime.

Source: PolitiFact

Of course, that's not fair.

Perhaps this money is supporting doctors, nurses, & generic drug producers looking to improve the lives of the most destitute and needy.

Or perhaps Dambisa Moyo was right all along, and all this money ends up in the hands of a corrupt cabal:

Another administration document says aid helps "strengthen the capacity of non-governmental organizations to monitor and report on government performance" -- in other words, to be a watchdog of the government, not a supporter.

Source: PolitiFact

Of course, it's a judgment call.

Sure, they could fund NGO's who support the government in dealing with crippling droughts & floods.

But then who would give the U.S. State Department's annual 'Human Rights Report' that air of impartiality?

Venezuela is a multiparty constitutional democracy with a population of approximately 28 million.

The following human rights problems were reported by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the media, and in some cases the government itself: unlawful killings, including summary executions of criminal suspects; widespread criminal kidnappings for ransom; prison violence and harsh prison conditions; inadequate juvenile detention centers; arbitrary arrests and detentions; corruption and impunity in police forces; corruption, inefficiency, and politicization in a judicial system characterized by trial delays and violations of due process; political prisoners and selective prosecution for political purposes; infringement of citizens' privacy rights; restrictions on freedom of expression; government threats to sanction or close television stations and newspapers; corruption at all levels of government; threats against domestic NGOs; violence against women; trafficking in persons; and restrictions on workers' right of association.

Source: U.S. State Department

Of course, impartiality is priceless.

Precisely because it doesn't exist:

Venezuela worse, Colombia better on rights: US

Human rights conditions worsened over the past year in Venezuela, but improved in Colombia, the US State Department said Friday in an annual review.

In Venezuela, ruled by firebrand President Hugo Chavez, the US cited a litany of abuses including "unlawful killings, including summary executions of criminal suspects; widespread criminal kidnappings for ransom; prison violence and harsh prison conditions."

In Colombia, the Santos government "made demonstrable advances in improving the human rights environment" and implemented new policies to accelerate the return of land to displaced families.

Source: Agence France Presse

Of course, Congressman Ted Poe is right.

...we just keep sending it and sending it and sending it, and we send it to countries that many Americans don't even understand why we send it to those countries...

It's time we reconsider foreign aid and save American taxpayers money. We are at war in two countries now. This debt is tremendous. We have a lot of issues in this country, and we need to start taking care of America before we start sending American money to countries throughout the world. It's a time to reconsider foreign aid.

Source: Congressman Ted Poe

The Good Wife - Taking on the world's toughest energy challenges™

Either the leisure class has nothing better to do...
Or 'The Wall Street Journal' loved the psy-ops in 'The Good Wife' so much...they jizzed out an entire transcript of last nights episode:

Source: Wall Street Journal (April 13, 2011)

Former Senator Fred Thompson plays an actor turned lawyer who turns up, explaining that the Venezuelan government has nationalized Latin Star.

Chavez is changing the law so there can be no fair market assessment. He has that power whenever he sees it necessary to protect the interest of Venezuela.

“Oh my God,” says Will. “It’s like being in a Woody Allen movie.”

The judge then rules that it would be in everyone’s interest for Lockhart, Gardner to join Frank in representing Chavez in the lawsuit.

“Great,” mutters Will. “We have a dictator for a client.”

A lot of incomprehensible back and forth leads to Will getting $87 mill, the extra bucks explained as “standard surcharge for dictators.”

There was good reason to ignore Venezuela's countless internationally monitored elections, billions of dollars paid out for takeovers, & astoundingly uncharismatic lawyers.

The American government, CBS, & Exxon could not let 'The Apple Pirates' go unchallenged:

Source: CBC Radio 3 (April 12, 2011)

Watch this great bunch of kids called the Apple Pirates covering Arkells’ song “The Ballad of Hugo Chavez”.

Hahaha! Cute cover of an old song that still gets rotation up here:

Album: Arkells - Jackson Square

Song: The Ballad Of Hugo Chavez

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QUOTED FOR LIFE

New state officials
Are outside runnin' around...
They're telling the public
That I need...
To be put down

And Washington's saying...
Emphatically...
That I wasn't doing things
Democratically.

But in the...
(Pop! Pop!)
Night...
Of the sun...
(Hey! Hey! Hey!)

Let's go to Mexico!

Freeze! You're surrounded!

Tired of being associated with rogues like these:

Source: New York Daily News

Of the 30 industrialized countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, only Mexico, Turkey and the United States fail to achieve universal coverage.

Embarrassed by being singled out in lineups like these:

Source: National Geographic & What If Post

Countries with universal health care are represented by a blue line, those without universal coverage have a red line. The United States and Mexico are the only countries with red lines.

The graph compares the health care systems of developed countries in terms of cost per person, life expectancy, and number of doctors visits.

Click to enlarge

Mexico has decided to reform:

Source: Harvard Science

Seguro Popular, a Mexican health care program instituted in 2003, has already reduced crippling health care costs among poorer households, according to an evaluation conducted by researchers at Harvard University in collaboration with researchers in Mexico.

Among participating households, those suffering catastrophic health expenses were reduced by almost 60 percent, contributing to a 30 percent reduction in catastrophic health expenses across treatment communities.

Reinforcing their side of the border:

Source: Xinhua

Universal health care in Mexico is expected to be achieved next year, Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said Friday.

The Northern state of Coahuila will be Mexico's first state covered with universal health care next week, and five more states with a population of 32.75 million or more will be under the same system in four months, Cordova told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

The five states, which will be covered by universal health care, are Sonora, Chihuahua, Tamaulipas, Guanajuato as well as Mexico state, the most populous state with more than 15 million people.

Monopoly man! You are surrounded by socialized medicine!
Release your hostages & come out with your hands up!

UPDATE! Mexican authorities are reporting a spike in border activity. The illegal migrants claim they are fleeing a devastated homeland & only seek coverage:

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Be a menace to Cuba cuz the only thing they'll charge you for in Texas is your juice

Texas executions: Strictly reserved for the radical chic

In a controlled environment, randomly selected jurors were presented with evidence most would consider "damning":

Source: Associated Press (March 15, 2011)

A New York Times reporter who interviewed a shadowy ex-CIA operative about masterminding bombings that rocked hotels, nightclubs and an iconic eatery in Cuba in 1997 is set to testify at his perjury trial Wednesday after long resisting taking the stand.

Transcripts of the interview included in court files have Posada saying, "in the hotels, we put small explosives because we don't want to hurt anybody. Just make a big scandal."

Italian tourist Fabio di Celmo was killed by an explosion in the lobby bar of Havana's Hotel Copacabana, and about a dozen others were injured in the wave of blasts between April and September 1997. A Cuban medical examiner testified earlier in the trial that di Celmo's throat was cut when the explosion blew apart an ashtray, sending shrapnel flying. Asked about di Celmo's death, Posada said, "It's sad because it's not intentional."

Bardach said she recorded only five or six hours of the 13 she spent talking with Posada. "He was damning on tape, but he was much more damning when it was turned off," she said.

Posada has since recanted statements he made to Bardach, saying they were in English, which he doesn't really speak. However, Posada lived and worked in Ohio, and also served as a translator while helping the U.S. support Contra rebels.

The New York Times gave The Associated Press additional excerpts. Those include a part where Posada says he understands English and declares he has a clear conscience, saying "I sleep like a baby."

Not surprisingly, the all-Texan jury confirmed what researchers have long suspected - offspring of the inbred possess significantly damaged frontal lobes (part of the brain responsible for language, planning, & judgment):

Source: McClatchy (April 8, 2011)

EL PASO, Texas -- After deliberating for three hours, a jury of seven women and five men acquitted Luis Posada Carriles on Friday on all 11 charges of lying to immigration officials about how he entered the U.S. in 2005 and his alleged role in bombings in Cuba in 1997.

The verdict was a surprise to many observers who had expected jurors to deliberate for several days and find Posada guilty on at least some counts. No one had predicted an acquittal across the board on all perjury, fraud and obstruction charges.

"I feel happy," said Posada, beaming. "I am supremely grateful to the United States of America, to the fairness with which I've been judged, to the jury that absolved me and what happened here should serve as an example for justice in my country, Cuba, which is unfortunately in the hands of a dictator."

Before this trial, researchers only possessed anecdotal evidence:

Source: The Daily Mail

George Osborne then recounted a meeting between Boris Johnson and George W. Bush a few years previously.

Bush appeared to be enjoying himself until he spied Boris's wrist.

'Are you wearing a Che Guevara watch?' asked Bush with a confused look on his face.

'It's actually my sister's,' blushed Boris.

'I don't care about that,' smiled Bush. 'In Texas we execute people for wearing Che Guevara watches...'

Product Placement

Antonio Sola puts the finishing touches on his new product.

Meet Michel Martelly, Haiti's first gay president:

Source: The Guardian & welcome2haiti

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In the years following Aristide's restoration to power in 1994, Martelly became obsessed with hatred for the man. In a video from not too long ago, which can be seen on YouTube, the candidate threatens a patron in a bar where he has performed. "All those shits were Aristide's faggots," he says. "I would kill Aristide to stick a dick up your ass."

How did the belly-button flasher who'd like to "stick a dick up your ass" become president?

Source: McClatchy

Though Martelly attended Haiti's prestigious Saint-Louis de Gonzague, he proved to be a lackluster student. He enrolled at Red Rocks Community College in Colorado in 1984, and later at what was then known as Miami-Dade Community College, but dropped out.

Through late-night shows, Martelly became associated with a Haitian elite class openly indifferent to the suffering of the poor majority. That show of defiance was on display in the early 1990s. After military leaders toppled the democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 1991, Martelly stayed, running a club with his wife.

The new Michel Martelly, always neatly dressed in a dark suit, engages in the kind of keen strategy that gets him photographed alongside former President Clinton. Martelly hired a Spanish consulting firm with right-of-center ties to help put a polishing touch on the biggest performance of his life so far: winning the Haitian presidency.

That "right-of-center" Spanish consulting firm is 'Ostos Sola', lead by Antonio Sola:

Source: Inter Press Service

In Mexico, Antonio Sola from Spain, who has ties to Spain's rightwing opposition Popular Party, and Dick Morris of the U.S., ex-consultant to former President Bill Clinton (1993-2001), advised current president Felipe Calderon during the tense electoral campaign in 2006 that led to his victory.

Sola and Morris -- who in 1996 resigned from the Clinton reelection campaign after his own affair with a prostitute, who revealed private White House information, came to light -- have been identified as the people behind Calderon's smear campaign against his opponent Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who was the candidate of the leftwing Democratic Revolution Party (PRD).

Perhaps you'll recall his recycling of fascist era imagery in Spain & Mexico:

Source: Inter Press Service

The theme of the girl -- 'la nina' -- has triggered controversy. The Cuatro TV station reported that its origins can be traced back to Franco's granddaughter, Carmencita, whose grandparents voiced a similar phrase half a century ago. The station also pointed to similar words used by Mexico's current conservative President Felipe Calderon in a speech in a stadium in 2006, when he was a candidate.

According to the station, the 'coincidence' can be attributed to the fact that adviser Antonio Sola had worked for both Calderon and Guatemala's rightwing Patriotic Party & the Spanish PP candidate.

Maybe you saw one of his many spots in El Salvador, where Hugo Chavez apparently ran for president:

Source: Reforma

Sola llevó a las pantallas salvadoreñas las frases "Funes: un peligro para El Salvador" y, en referencia al candidato de Arena, Rodrigo Ávila, "el presidente del empleo". Las mismas que utilizó en el 2006 para denostar a Andrés Manuel López Obrador y promover a Felipe Calderón.

Los spots que advertían que el amigo favorito del candidato del FMLN era el presidente de Venezuela se convirtieron en los más numerosos. Según el coordinador de campaña de Funes, Roberto Lorenzana, al final de la campaña Chávez apareció más en la propaganda electoral que el candidato de Arena: de 6 mil 296 spots entre el 1o. de febrero y el 1o. de marzo pasado, 2 mil 852 fueron dedicados a Chávez y 2 mil 128 a Ávila.

Why is any of this important? Because Michel Martelly had his ideological opponents erased from the ballots - leaving only dusty musty Mirlande Manigat as his competition. Faced with virtually no challenge, his people kept the kids gloves on...taking the presidency with only 15% popular support.

They're saving all that dirty ammunition for the real campaign - which is just beginning.

He's a vengeful god. More reason to ignore the little bitch.

Still they sang: "Hit me with your best shot. Fire away!"

I am the Lord! I will send all my plagues upon thy heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayst know that there is none like me in all the earth!

Source: The Old Testament

Devastating floods
Exodus 9:18 - Behold, I will cause it to rain...such as hath not been since the foundation thereof even until now.

Severe droughts
Exodus 7:19 - Stretch out thine hand upon their pools of water, that they may become blood.

Rolling blackouts
Exodus 10:21 - Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land, even darkness which may be felt.

Disappearing beef
Exodus 9:3 - Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field.

The unthinkable
Exodus 11:5 - All the firstborn in the land shall die

Venezuela, art thou deaf?! I am the Lord!!!

Source: Canadian Press & Datanalisis

Leon said Chavez remains Venezuela's most popular politician, with an approval rating of more than 50 per cent — though Leon did not release a specific approval rating.

Al Giordano: Il duce of dumbasses

The extent of Al Giordano's gorilla training

On February 23 2011, Al Giordano decided he was a strategic genius:

Source: The Field

[Skipping the first 11 paragraphs of shameless, rambling, self-promotion...]

Somewhat less skillful, on Castro’s part, has been his ham-handed attempt to shift the attention from the atrocity underway to a hypothetical one: His statement that, “the United States is totally unconcerned about peace in Libya and will not hesitate to give NATO the order to invade that rich country, possibly in a matter of hours or a few days.”

First of all, what could NATO possibly do to the Libyan people that Gaddafi isn’t already doing?

...these events indicate that it is not NATO or foreign powers that will most quickly dispose of the despot, but the very people he has governed for 42 years.

Today is March 20 2011 & US Vice Adm. William Gortney is showing off Pentagon video of NATO's various attacks on Libya.

When asked about NATO's killing of Libyan ground troops, he responded: "If Libyan infantry are moving onto opposition forces in Libya, they are under attack."

When asked if NATO would stop rebels from attacking immobile Libyan troops, he responded: "At this point I'm not ready to step outside the messaging we've put out."

Al-Jazeera has just reported smoke arising from the Libyan presidential palace, and explosions all around the capital of Tripoli. The result of NATO aerial bombings.

We thank Al Giordano for his ham-handed attempt at out-thinking a man who's outlasted 9 American presidents.

P.S. If you think I couldn't have done any better, see what I wrote on February 22 2011 (one day before Al posted his piece). At least my self-promotion comes under 10 paragraphs, and contains truth.

Clearly, he's the least credible

Word motherfucking life.

Source: EU Military Exports (page 160) & Associated Press

European Union nations approved sales of $470 million in weapons to Gadhafi's military in 2009 alone.

The U.S. peak was $46 million in approved defense sales — up from $5 million in Libyan defense sales the year before.

Transfers included guns, ammunition, explosives, chemical/biological materials, surveillance equipment, & military vehicles.

Source: Southeast European Times

This week Turkey stood firm against military intervention and economic sanctions against the regime of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Turkish projects in Libya are valued at $15.3 billion, and the trade between the countries amounted to an estimated $2.4 billion in 2010. According to Ankara's export planners, Turkey's arms trade in the Middle East and North Africa has not been affected by the turmoil. Defence exports are expected to total $1.5 billion this year.

Source: Sunday Times

South Africa had a legal obligation not to trade in conventional arms with states engaged in repression, aggression or terrorism.

More than 100 sniper rifles and more than 50,000 rounds of ammunition may have been exported to Libya in late 2010. Other weapons systems sold appeared to include 40mm multiple grenade launchers, Hercules C130 aircraft, and armoured personnel carriers.

Source: Reuters

After the meeting on Venezuela's Caribbean resort island of Margarita, Chavez presented Gaddafi with a replica of a sword of South American independence hero Simon Bolivar.