Countdown to Tyranny: Last-minute Chavista Propaganda Offensive

As I write this I received an email from one of my contacts telling me the contact's son was beaten by the police during a demonstration.


Two days before the constitutional referendum, the Chavista propaganda machine goes into full offense:

First, the Reuters "facts":
Gustavo Coronel debunks Five Reuters "facts" about Chavez:

"Chavez has won the backing of the poor majority with massive social spending that has expanded health and education programs. He has also cultivated support by openly confronting the United States..."

This is a dangerous "truth". Chavez has not engaged in structural health and education programs. He has spent billions of dollars in massive handouts, not to be confused with plans to attack the structural roots of poverty, illness and ignorance. He distributes fish but does not teach the people to fish. As a result poor Venezuelans are more dependent than ever on the paternalistic, populist and vindictive leader. The entire health, educational and commerce infrastructure has been decimated due to incompetence and corruption. The state of the most major hospitals is deplorable and thousands of patients are flown every year to be operated in Venezuelan funded hospitals in Cuba. Chavez' support domestically has not been increased by his attacks on the U.S. In fact, most Venezuelans reject those attacks, as shown by all credible polls.

Read the rest.

Chavez is doing the old "Blame the CIA" game to distract from the missing electoral observers:
I posted about the blame game this morning; in the same article, Simon Romero in the NYT points out that no electoral observers are invited to the referendum.

Both Mr. Chavez, a self-described socialist who has won elections by wide margins, and his critics say opinion polls show they will prevail, suggesting a highly contentious outcome. But departing from its practice in last year's presidential election, Venezuela did not invite electoral observers from the Organization of American States and the European Union, opening the government to claims of fraud if he wins.

Violence has already marred the weeks preceding the vote. Two students involved in anti-government protests claimed they had been kidnapped and tortured this week by masked men in Barquisimeto, an interior city. And in Valencia, another city, a supporter of Mr. Chavez was shot dead this week in an exchange of gunfire at a protest site.

Gateway Pundit comments,

The New York Times insists that the regime is still some sort of a legitimate democracy. (Healthy democracies don't generally hold elections to give one person abolute power.) However, the Times does at least recognize that Chavez is having some problems controlling the momentum against his referendum on absolute power.

Additionally, the Chavista propaganda wants to portray him as the only hope for the FARC hostages:
As readers of this blog know, Ingrid Betancourt is the Colombian-French politican that was kidnapped in 2002. The French government (which under de Villepin had sent a plane to the jungle searching for her) has been pressuring Colombia's Uribe to negotiate with the FARC for her release. Uribe agreed but after it became evident that Chavez was in cohoots with the FARC, Chavez was fired.

The Economist:

Mr Uribe may reckon that a few insults are a price worth paying for ending a venture that seemed certain to provide political gains for Mr Chávez and the FARC but looked unlikely to free all the hostages—if any.

Now A colombo-americana's perspective has a post on the latest video released of FARC hostage Ingrid Betancourt:

Proof of FARC captives' survival
The Venezuelan media opine, and --surprise, surprise-- the plot thickens. (Video included.) "Información de inteligencia indica que el destinatario de estas pruebas era Hugo Chávez y que iba a recibir la encomienda antes del domingo." ("Intelligence information indicates that the proof of life were to be given to Hugo Chávez, and that he was to receive them prior to Sunday's vote." My translation.) From the Venezuelan daily El Nacional, Betancourt's mother Yolando Pulecio says the proof was to be delivered to Colombian senator Piedad Córdoba.

While The Economist says that

The referendum may be decided by how many Venezuelans bother to vote. Those in the opposition who called for abstention in past elections (claiming that the electoral authority was not impartial) have this time called on their supporters to vote, whereas in the chavista camp, there are signs of apathy. How widespread this proves to be may determine whether or not Venezuela remains a democracy.

I am very pessimistic and share A Second Hand Conjecture opinion that " have zero confidence that the referendum will result in anything other than what Chavez wants (i.e. dictatorial control)." Gustavo Coronel, writing at NRO states that

the Chavez government has already printed, at significant expense, some eight million copies of the "new" constitution, one that has not yet been approved and could well be rejected.

Citizen Feathers has An utterly grim view of the future of Venezuela, too.

I hope we're wrong.
-------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday's countdown

Reminder:
Dr. Luis Fleischman will be my guest at 6PM Eastern next Sunday, December 2, the day of the referendum, to talk about the day's events.
Join us!




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The "Blame the CIA Game" is back!

For a while there it had died (no doubt because of the CIA's clear mishandling of a number of things), but hey! A good game never dies; it just keeps turning up like a bad penny.
(emphasis added to all items)

In Cuba:
Via Babalu, the Cuban government bulldozed a church in the town of El Salado

Fue destruido con un Buldózer utilizado por la policía, el local de la Iglesia Evangélica Reforma Apostólica, en la ciudad de Santiago de Cuba, nos informaba por teléfono desde la oriental ciudad, Juan Ramón Rivero Despaigne, activista de los derechos humanos.
"La iglesia se encuentra ubicada en las calles Nico, #3, en el pueblo El Salado. Todos sus miembros son acusados por el Gobierno de agentes de la CIA. El pastor Alain Toledano sigue celebrando los cultos en el lugar en donde fue destruida su iglesia", concluyó Rivero Despaigne.
(my translation:)
The police bulldozed the locale used as a church by the Reform Apostolic Evangelical Church in the city of Santiago de Cuba, we are told by phone by Juan Ramon Rivero Despaigne, human rights activist.

The church is located at Streets # 3 and Nicon in the town of El Salado. The [Cuban] government is acussing all the members of the church of being CIA agents. Pastor Alain Toledano continues to celebrate worship services at the location where the church was torn down, Rivera Despaigne reports.

In Venezuela:
Simon Romero reports that Chavez came up with a fake CIA memo, which his cronies were too cheap to find someone to translate into English in order to give it a whiff of authenticity:

Mr. Chavez and senior officials here have exhibited increasingly erratic behavior. Mr. Chavez has lashed out at leaders in Colombia and Spain and asked for an investigation into whether CNN was seeking to incite an assassination attempt against him.

Reports of such plots are not in short supply here. The main state television network broadcast coverage this week of a memorandum in Spanish that it claimed had been written by the C.I.A. in which destabilization plans against Mr. Chavez were laid out. American involvement in Venezuelan politics remains a particularly delicate issue here, after the Bush administration tacitly supported a coup in 2002 that briefly ousted Mr. Chavez.

"We reject and are disappointed in the Venezuelan government's allegations that the United States is involved in any type of conspiracy to affect the outcome of the constitutional referendum," Benjamin Ziff, a spokesman for the United States Embassy here, said in a statement.

A C.I.A. spokesman called the document "a fake," while analysts, including investigators who had previously uncovered financing of Venezuelan opposition groups by the United States government, expressed doubts about the authenticity of the memo.

"I find the document quite suspect," said Jeremy Bigwood, an independent researcher in Washington. "There’s not an original version in English, and the timing of its release is strange."

One of the surest signs of a tyrant is his eagerness to play the "Blame the CIA Game". When that fails, blame the White House (and of course, blame Bush).

More on Venezuela's countdown to tyranny later today.


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Study: Canadian Beer Drinkers Threaten Planet, eh?

Study: Canadian Beer Drinkers Threaten Planet

Scientists have found a new threat to the planet: Canadian beer drinkers.

The government-commissioned study says the old, inefficient "beer fridges" that one in three Canadian households use to store their Molson and Labatt's contribute significantly to global warming by guzzling gas- and coal-fired electricity.

Expert Joanna Yarrow says,

"People need to understand the impact of their lifestyles," British environmental consultant Joanna Yarrow tells New Scientist magazine. "Clearly the environmental implications of having a frivolous luxury like a beer fridge are not hitting home.

Clearly Joanna doesn't understand that a beer fridge is a necessity, not a frivolous luxury.

In the spirit of Canada, here's the beer fridge/wine cooler at casa de Fausta:
[the photo will be brought to you as soon as the camera battery recharges Photo ready.
Apologies for the inconvenience]

(I just realized we're out of beer. Will have to go buy some as soon as the store opens.)

The beer fridge is right next to the fridge featured in the Tim Blair Fridge Project

Over at Tim Blair's, Canadians aim for title.

Of course, if you're worried about cooling beer bottles and cans, there's always buying the keg...

PS,
For those of you in a hurry for their beer to cool, Adam and Jamie proved that the fastest way to cool a six-pack is to spray it with a CO2 fire extinguisher.
Beer + carbon emmissions = cool!

Update: More beer news around the world
Ed has the goods on the Guinness stout keg heist.


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A request for prayer

I would like to request that the visitors of this blog please pray for a special intention.

Thanks.

Venezuela: Today's Countdown to Tyranny

At AgoraVox (in French) La nouvelle constitution vénézuélienne : la réinvention de l’autocratie The New Venezuelan Constitution: Re-inveting autocracy?), by Daniel Duquenal, who is urging people to vote.

Today there's a huge demonstration in Caracas and Miguel is there taking pictures, which Daniel's posting.

At the Washington Post, Juan Forero writes about Old Allies Abandon Chávez as Constitution Vote Nears

But Martínez and a handful of others who once were prominent pillars in the Chávez machine, have defected, saying approval of 69 constitutional changes would effectively turn Venezuela into a dictatorship run at the whim of one man. They have been derided by Chávez as traitors, but their unimpeachable leftist credentials have given momentum to a movement that pollsters say may deliver Chavez his first electoral defeat.

"The proposal would signify a coup d'etat," said Martínez, 58, whose dapper appearance belies his history as a guerrilla and Communist Party member. "Here the power is going to be concentrated in one person. That's very grave."

Pollsters in Caracas say Venezuelans increasingly agree -- even those who continue to support the president but say the proposed overhaul of an eight-year-old constitution goes too far.

Among them abandoning Chavez is Juan Forero himself, along with over 100 individuals and institutions from across Latin America who signed this statement supporting the people of Venezuela in their struggle for democracy:

la pretendida reforma constitucional aludida no sería más que un golpe de Estado ejecutado por medios aparentemente democráticos. Esto constituye un acto más de la nueva modalidad asumida por gobiernos de corte autoritario y populista en Latinoamérica, de apelar a medios ofrecidos por la democracia, para subvertirla hasta hacerla irreconocible.
(my translation, emphasis added)
The purported constitutional reform is nothing more than a coup d'etat carried out through apparently democratic means. This constitutes one more step in the new strategy adopted by Latin American governments cut in the authoritarian and populist mode, through which they go through democratic processes until democracy is subverted to the point where it's made unrecognizable.

Venezuelan students continue to be at the forefront of the protests. NeoNeocon posts about it (emphasis added):

The students of Venezuela may not be able to buck the tide in Venezuela, especially if the election is rigged. It is my sincere hope that they do, though, or Venezuela may end up like Cuba, waiting patiently for their ancient Dictator for Life to finally kick the bucket.

In the latest news, Venezuela Opposition Group Reverses Call on Ballot Abstention

The CNR, in a statement posted to its Web site, said a massive voter turnout would defeat the Dec. 2 initiative to approve 69 changes to the constitution enlarging Chavez's power. Abstention will increase chances of its passage, local pollster Datanalisis said this month.

Countdown continues tomorrow.

More at the Center for Security Policy.

Update
Welcome Michelle Malkin readers! Please read Countdown to Tyranny: Last-minute Chavista Propaganda Offensive
-------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday's countdown


Reminder:
Dr. Luis Fleischman will be my guest at 6PM Eastern next Sunday, December 2, the day of the referendum, to talk about the day's events.
Join us!



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A depressing debate?

Richelieu at the Weekly Standard thinks so:

What a depressing debate. CNN's long slide into mediocrity accelerates. Is this what running for president of the greatest democracy in the world has become? Standing in front of CNN's corporate logo in a hall full of yowling Ron Paul loons and enduring clumsy webcam questions from Unabomber look-a-likes in murky basements?

but I disagree; the basements weren't all murky. Some of those basements actually looked quite bright.

Several bloggers are upset that there were Hillary campaign employees planted in the audience. I would like to see a debate of an entire audience of Hillary employees asking questions to the Republican candidates.

After all, campaign politics is all about bringing your message across under pressure, and that would make for an interesting evening (moronic questions and all -"What Would Jesus Do about the death penalty?" included).

James Joyner, however, doesn't let CNN off the hook:

If one didn't know better, one might suspect that CNN intentionally assembled a bunch of yahoos in the crowd to represent the Republican base and then fed the candidates gotcha questions from Democrats in order to make them look bad. That would be entertaining, I suppose, but horridly bad journalism. It's perhaps more hopeful to think that they simply didn't bother to vet the questioners. Of course, that's not exactly good journalism, either.

Since CNN is known for its fine journalism, however, there's almost certainly a third alternative explanation. It alludes me at the moment.

UPDATE: Wizbang's Jay Tea offers up a new CNN slogan: "If It's News To You, It's News To Us."

Leave it to ScrappleFace (who's actually nice looking) to come up with the best question, though:


More about the debate here


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Third night of rioting in France, and a murder.

Rioting spreads to Tolouse as 20 cars were burned out and rioters set fire to two libraries.

A third night of youth rioting in France:

Youths rampaged for a third night in the tough suburbs north of Paris and violence spread to a southern city late yesterday as police struggled to contain rioters who have burned cars and buildings and - in an ominous turn - shot at officers.

A senior police union official warned "urban guerrillas" had joined the unrest, saying the violence was worse than during three weeks of rioting that raged around French cities in 2005, when firearms were rarely used.

Bands of young people set more cars on fire in and around Villiers-le-Bel, the Paris suburb where the latest trouble first erupted, and 22 youths were detained, the regional government said. In the southern city of Toulouse, 20 cars were set ablaze. Fires set at two libraries were quickly brought under control.

Despite the renewed violence, France's prime minister said the situation was calmer than the two previous nights. About 1,000 officers were on patrol in trouble spots in and around Villiers-le-Bel, he said.

AP mentions the ethnicity:

The government was striving to keep violence from spreading in a stern test for new President Nicolas Sarkozy, which highlighted the anger that still smolders in France's poor neighborhoods, where many Arabs, blacks and other minorities live, largely isolated from the rest of society.

No Pasaran posts on a murder in the RER D line, probably unrelated to the rioting.


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Last night on Blog Talk Radio: Pharma and Debate

Last night I joined the guys at Heading Right who liveblogged the CNN/YouTube debate.

I had to break at 9PM for my prescheduled podcast on the pharmaceutical industry. I will post later about what my two guests, Siggy and Dr. Sanity (who called in with questions) had to say about the subject.

After my podcast I went back to listening to the debate. At 10:30PM Ed Morrissey hosted a post-debate wrap-up at Debate Central. Rick Moran of Right Wing Nuthouse, Uncle Seth from Political Vindication and Jim of bRight and Early and I discussed the debate with Ed, who hosted both the Debate Central podcast and the liveblogging at Heading Right. Overall it was a good debate, and it was a pleasure to have been invited.

Listen to the podcasts. You will enjoy them.

Liveblogging the debate

We're liveblogging the debate at Heading Right - and at 9PM join my podcast!

In tonight's podcast: Patents and the pharmaceutical industry

Tonight at 9PM Eastern my two guests are executives in the pharmaceutical industry. We'll be discussing The Patent Reform Act, and its possible implications. Siggy will be there, too.

The call-in number is (646) 652-2639. Please join us!



You can subscribe to my podcasts on iTunes by clicking on the above button, scrolling down the right sidebar and clicking "Subscribe with iTunes".

English-Only Showdown, and the route to failure

John Fund writes about the English-Only Showdown
Does Nancy Pelosi really object to a common language in the workplace?

The U.S. used to welcome immigrants while at the same time encouraging assimilation. Since 1906, for example, new citizens have had to show "the ability to read, write and speak ordinary English." A century later, this preference for assimilation is still overwhelmingly popular. A new Rasmussen poll finds that 87% of voters think it "very important" that people speak English in the U.S., with four out of five Hispanics agreeing. And 77% support the right of employers to have English-only policies, while only 14% are opposed.

But hardball politics practiced by ethnic grievance lobbies is driving assimilation into the dustbin of history. The House Hispanic Caucus withheld its votes from a key bill granting relief on the Alternative Minimum Tax until Ms. Pelosi promised to kill the Salvation Army relief amendment.

As you all well know, I am a staunch advocate of assimilation. I am truly happy to hear that many others are, too:

"We are now celebrating diversity at the expense of unity. One way to create that unity is to value, not devalue, our common language, English."

That's what pro-assimilation forces are moving to do. TV Azteca, Mexico's second-largest network, is launching a 60-hour series of English classes on all its U.S. affiliates. It recognizes that teaching English empowers Latinos. "If you live in this country, you have to speak as everybody else," Jose Martin Samano, Azteca's U.S. anchor, told Fox News. "Immigrants here in the U.S. can make up to 50% or 60% more if they speak both English and Spanish. This is something we have to do for our own people."

Azteca isn't alone. Next month, a new group called Our Pledge will be launched. Counting Jeb Bush and former Clinton Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros among its board members, the organization believes absorbing immigrants is "the Sputnik challenge of our era." It will put forward two mutual pledges. It will ask immigrants to learn English, become self-sufficient and pledge allegiance to the U.S. It will ask Americans to provide immigrants help navigating the American system, the chance to eventually become a citizen and an atmosphere of respect.

This is a big challenge, but Our Pledge points out that the U.S. did it before with the Americanization movement of a century ago. It was government led, but the key players were businesses like the Ford Motor Company and nonprofits such as the YMCA, plus an array of churches and neighborhood groups.

The alternative to Americanization is polarization. Already a tenth of the population speaks English poorly or not at all. Almost a quarter of all K-12 students nationwide are children of immigrants living between two worlds. It's time for people of good will to reject both the nativist and anti-assimilation extremists and act. If the federal government spends billions on the Voice of America for overseas audiences and on National Public Radio for upscale U.S. listeners, why not fund a "Radio New America" whose primary focus is to teach English and U.S. customs to new arrivals?

The surest way to achieve success in our country, the most successful society in the history of mankind, is through integration.

Nancy Pelosi and her cohorts are doing their outmost to ensure the failure not only of immigrants, but of our country.


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"Israeli terrorism", Mr. President?

Shame:


(Video via Gateway Pundit)
Text of Bush’s Remarks at Annapolis Conference:

We express our determination to bring an end to bloodshed, suffering and decades of conflict between our peoples; to usher in a new era of peace, based on freedom, security, justice, dignity, respect and mutual recognition; to propagate a culture of peace and nonviolence; to confront terrorism and incitement, whether committed by Palestinians or Israelis.

And, sure as rain, Israelis will be forced into yet more concessions: Elder of Ziyon looks at the map.

The NYSun:

The sad fact is that Annapolis is sideshow to a larger battle that has to be won before anything appropriate in the way of peace negotiations can take place between Israel and her Arab enemies. Yesterday, while everyone was focusing on Annapolis, Lieutenant General Lute, Mr. Bush's "tsar" for the Battle of Iraq, quietly announced, as our Nicholas Wapshott reported yesterday, that the administration and the Iraqis are about to commence talks on withdrawing American troops in advance of the end of the U.N. mandate in 2008. The important, the most urgent battle in the coming seasons will be securing the victory that our GIs have been crafting in on the battlefield there and advancing the spread of democracy in the neighboring lands. What peace can be established between Israel and her neighbors while a regime exists in Iran to stoke the arsenals of the terrorists in Gaza and Lebanon, the latter of which, our Benny Avni reported earlier in the week, is the more logical place for Annapolis to focus. Messrs. Bush and Olmert are, sadly, the only players on the Middle Eastern battlefield with the kind of credentials — democratic credentials — that really matter.

Over in Saudi Arabia, the authorities have released more than 1,500 reformed extremists who underwent counseling.


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Venezuela: Countdown to Tyranny

UPDATE
Special podcast on Sunday, December 2 at 6PM.
Scroll down for details

Protests rage on

At the Center for Security Policy:

Due to the dire situation inside Venezuela, the staff at the Americas Report will publish daily news briefs between now and December 2, 2007 when the Chavez "reforms" are due to voted on by the electorate. In addition to keeping our readers informed of the latest news coming out of Venezuela, we also want to salute the courage of the students and all those in opposition to this latest attempt by Mr. Chavez to turn Venezuela into a totalitarian state.

Here's the latest:

Civil disobedience against Chavez is not undemocratic
By Luis Fleischman*
The Constitutional reform in Venezuela that is scheduled to be ratified by popular referendum is having major repercussions in Venezuela now. President Hugo Chavez has been gradually reducing the power of civil society in Venezuela for the last several years. This present constitutional reform, which is another step in the same direction, has generated a stronger reaction. What we are facing now is probably the largest civil protests in Venezuela since February 2003 when groups in civil society were struggling to hold a re-call referendum on Chavez.

Indeed, in the last several years, Chavez has increased his political power and fully controls the legislature.

In addition, he has manipulated the judiciary and the military by appointing officers and judges loyal to him. In the economic sphere, he has gone against the will of important groups in civil society by halting foreign exchange, and placing price controls on domestic and imported products. Venezuela is moving from a relatively diverse economy into an Arab-like oil petro-tyrannical welfare state. This situation has forced producers to stop producing, resulting in food shortages. By the same token, commerce and investment in the country has deteriorated tremendously.

In the area of human rights and freedom of expression, Chavez has encouraged violence against journalists and passed laws criminalizing opinions. He has denied jobs as well as identity cards and passports to people who signed in favor of the re-call referendum, a public referendum aimed at placing the continuation of the Chavez regime on the ballot.

It is interesting that the business association (Fedecameras) complains about the fact that petro-dollars circulating in the market are not a sign of economic strength, because there are shortages of food, medicines and materials. We are also beginning to hear again from press rights organizations that are denouncing deterioration of the freedom of the press in Venezuela and warning that further restrictions may come out of the constitutional reform. By the same token world intellectuals such as Mario Vargas Llosa and European philosophers such as Bernard Henri Levy and Andre Glucksmann are denouncing Chavez's abuses.

This new anti-Chavez movement has been brought about by one man. He is the former Chavez Defense Secretary; General Rafael Baduel. Baduel has publicly opposed the constitutional reforms in Venezuela calling them an attempt at a "coup d'etat. As a result he has become the new de-facto leader millions of Venezuelans were waiting for. Until recently, Baduel could be blamed for allowing Chavez to co-opt the military in Venezuela and use it to strengthen his regime and for loyalty to a man who spoke about installing a socialist, revolutionary regime backed by the military. Yet, it is the same Baduel that now begins to rebel.

Whatever Baduel's reasons were, there is no doubt that the former Defense Secretary and Chief of staff has generated a new momentum and opportunity which will be foolish for those who oppose Hugo Chavez to miss.

In the last couple of weeks students have gone to the streets demanding a halt to the constitutional reforms and protests were organized across the country. Meanwhile the government became defensive; Chavez called Baduel a traitor while Hanz Dietrich, the master intellectual of the Chavez socialist revolution, recommended that Chavez withdraw the proposed constitutional reform and try to co-opt Baduel to avoid further deterioration of the regime. The governor of the State of Anzoategui, Tarek William Saab, taking a defensive position, stated that Baduel responded to the wishes of the (American) "Empire and international Zionism". (By the way, in the past Saab allegedly undermined the indictment process of three Arabs arrested in Venezuela for having allegedly participated in the terrorist attack that destroyed the Jewish community center (AMIA) in Buenos Aires in 1994).

Tarek William Saab. Source: Prensa Gobernación Anzoátegui.

In the pages of the America's Report we have repeatedly warned that those fighting for freedom against the Chavez tyranny in Venezuela have been abandoned. The student movement in Venezuela is today the Latin version of the Prague spring of 1968. Whereas the political opposition has become flaccid, legalistic and virtually shut down by the intimidating nature of the Chavez regime, it is the non-political students who are fighting. They are not doing it in pursuit of any gains other than a way of life free of the dogmas and dictates imposed by the growing Chavista state.

Chavez's image in the world is that of a highly distasteful leader. However, there is an unchallenged consensus that his regime is legitimate because it was democratically elected. Thus, Western common sense tells us that his removal must take place only through democratic means. The reality is that Chavez has designed a model of "totalitarian democracy" where he has used state resources to gain political power at the expense of civil society and where petro-dollars have allowed him to buy the hearts and votes of people who have chosen to ignore the fact that they have less representation, less dignity, and fewer rights. However, there is no doubt that Venezuelans are paying greatly now and will pay heavily in the future.

Democracy is not the mere act of conducting elections. Elections embody the last stage of a large system of liberties and rights that develop gradually over some period of time. Chavez is like Hamas in Gaza using elections to subjugate rights and impose his will. Chavez currently controls the electoral process. The Chavez regime is by far less respectful of the law than the Hungarian and Polish governments were during their last period of communist rule. Opponents could appeal to Hungarian or Polish law to achieve something. In Venezuela to wait for legal means to remove Chavez from power is an illusion because the successive "constitutional" reforms in Venezuela were aimed at reducing rights and the rule of law not increasing rights as a real constitution should.

This has been done in order to create a situation where Chavez will ultimately stand alone before the people with no law that restricts him and no rights that protect or empower them. This is why removing Chavez by non-electoral means is as much a legitimate act as acts of civil disobedience were forty years ago in the US South. Disobedience is an expression of rebellion against unjust laws and an unjust regime. As in the 1960's Southern United States, this experience could have an effect of a political renaissance and open better opportunities after Chavez's removal.

Civil society must come out now to the streets and show that they are protesting not for salaries, not for or against some specific policy carried by the Chavez regime but for the sake of human dignity and a free way of life. These are basic natural human rights that Chavez seeks to p swallow as a boa does with a rat.

If the citizens come out to the streets the world will respond. Baduel, for his part generated something important. If he can convince the military to resist Chavez, this could have key consequences.

*Dr. Luis Fleischman is an advisor to the Menges Hemispheric Security Project at the Center for Security Policy in Washington DC. He is also an adjunct professor of Political Science and Sociology at Wilkes Honor College at Florida Atlantic University.

I will continue posting these every day.

UPDATE
Dr. Fleischman will be my guest at 6PM Eastern next Sunday, December 2, the day of the referendum, to talk about the day's events.
Join us!


Update 2:
Via Sweetness & Light, Hugo, who insists on a place at the dining table for Simon Bolivar (who died in 1830), now says that CNN may be instigating his murder. Cue Patsy.


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On Blog Talk Radio

This afternoon at 4PM Eastern I'll have the distinct pleasure of being Rick Moran's guest. Rick is one of my favorite bloggers and Right Wing Nuthouse is one of my daily reads.

Update

Link to podcast

In my podcast tomorrow night at 9PM Eastern, two pharmaceutical industry executives will be talking about patents and the pharmaceutical industry. Siggy will be there, too. The call-in number is (646) 652-2639. Please join us!

Please also note that you can susbscribe to Fausta's Blog Talk Radio shows through iTunes. Go to the right sidebar, scroll down to "Subscribe" box and click on "Subscribe with iTunes".

Bilingual Discord in LA

Discord roils L.A. Unified parent panel
Acrimony with racial overtones has plagued the advisory council. The key issue: whether meetings in Spanish should be allowed.

For months, parents on a Los Angeles Unified School District advisory council have disagreed over whether their meetings should be conducted in Spanish or English. Such arguments became so abusive that district officials canceled meetings for two months and brought in dispute-resolution specialists and mental-health counselors.
...
They offer advice on -- and oversight of -- the expenditure of $385 million on federally funded programs for students from poor families.

What is wrong with this picture?

First of all, the public meetings of an organization bankrolled at taxpayers' expense, are being held in the United States. While the USA has no official language, the language of goverment, the language in which all the laws are written and all the documents on which our nation was founded, is English.

As the article states, the Council is managing federal funds. While there are a lot of people in the USA and undoubtedly many people in the LA School District who speak Spanish, we live in an English-speaking country.

The Los Angeles Unified School District evidently has a large number of Spanish-speaking immigrants:

Some meetings consist entirely of Spanish-speakers in a district where more than 266,000 students (and probably many more parents) are English-learners out of a student population of about 694,000.

First of all, they are English-learners; in practical terms, every immigrant family I have come across has the situation where the children have learned English even if the parents do not. And, second, even with their large numbers, they are still a minority. I expect that there are areas in Los Angeles and other cities in California where Vietnamese, or Mandarin, or Russian, is the prevailing language. California is a state of immigrants.

But the real issue is not immigration; the real issue is integration.

By demanding that the meetings be held in Spanish, a large number of attendees have demonstrated that they have no intention of integrating into mainstream America.

According to the article,

The goings-on raise another round of questions about parent participation in the nation's second-largest school system, which has been repeatedly criticized by auditors for inconsistent and ineffective parent involvement and outreach. Critics say the district rarely seeks true parental input and instead uses parents to rubber-stamp budgets and programs. District officials insist they are determined to change this perception and are making progress.

The English-speaking parents who are involved have every reason to expect that the meetings be held in English. It behooves the Spanish-speaking parents to learn the language. That is the best way they can participate in the political process.

I know so from experience.

As I have asserted time and time again, acculturation is not simply being bilingual; however, by denying themselves the opportunity to learn English, the Spanish-speaking parents are denying themselves all the opportunities this country has to offer them.

In the long term, they are also denying their children those opportunities.

Earlier this year I posted about the deleterious effect that bilingual education has on children's learning. Take a look at the world's best-paid professions; look at how India's becoming an economic powerhouse because its people speak fluent English.

The LA Times article says that a woman

considers it racist when parents are told that, in America, they have to speak English.

This is hardly surprising; after all, the best-known Hispanic activist group, La Raza, features race in its name. Additionally, pulling a race card has been used repeatedly by those who would rather not be inconvenienced into learning a language, and there's also an industry of victimhood willing to support them.

As Tony Blankley has said when talking about bilingual ed,

It is hateful of ideological "civil rights" activists to try to intimidate any politician who would dare to liberate kids from the linguistic ghetto that serves the political power of these "civil rights" activists. Once these kids have mastered English and fully entered American life, they will no longer be vote fodder for the "civil rights" activists' political ambitions.

The special interest ethnic activists prefer to have a new generation of clients, rather than a new generation of fully integrated American citizens. And what they fear is an honest and open debate on the bilingual teaching method.

Allow me to point out, again, that "Hispanic" is not a race. In the two-dozen Spanish-speaking countries in the world you can find people of every race and ethnic background.

As we watch the problems Europe has with millions of immigrants who the Europeans never integrated into their societies, it is time we insist on every immigrant's duty to learn the language and the customs of our country.

Racism has nothing to do with that. It's all about becoming Americans, and to become an American you still can remain being yourself.


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77 Policemen hurt in Paris riots

Reuters, AP and the BBC:

Nearly 80 French police officers have been injured, six seriously, during a second night of riots by youths in the suburbs of Paris, police unions say.
The police say some officers suffered bullet wounds, while others were hurt by stones, fireworks and petrol bombs thrown at them in Villiers-le-Bel.

The youths said they were avenging the two teenagers killed when their motorcycle hit a police car on Sunday.

A senior union official said the riots had been more intense than in 2005.

The 2005 unrest, sparked by the accidental deaths of two youths, spread from a nearby suburb of Paris to other cities and continued for three weeks, during which more than 10,000 cars were set ablaze and 300 buildings firebombed.

'Fired upon'

The second consecutive night of rioting began early in the evening in Villiers-le-Bel, the northern suburb that saw most of the violence on Sunday.

Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to keep at bay gangs of youths who were attacking them with stones, fireworks and petrol bombs.

More than 70 vehicles and buildings, including the municipal library, two schools and several shops, were set on fire.
...
Mr Ribeiro said police were facing a situation that was "far worse than that of 2005", which began in the nearby suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois.

Associated Press, however, states

Police were shot at and are facing "genuine urban guerillas with conventional weapons and hunting weapons," Ribeiro said.

Some officers were hit by shotgun pellets, Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said.

This brings the total to a hundred and three policemen and firemen injured since Sunday.

Gateway Pundit has more.

In other French news, a huge security breach at the Pantheon gets the clock repaired.


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Hugo's meltdown, at IBD

After getting fired as negotiator with the FARC for talking directly to Colombia's army chief, Hugo's on yet another tizzy.

Investor's Business Daily has the details:

In theory, a mediator should persuade two sides to each give up something to achieve a common end. The only one who gave up anything, however, was Uribe, who watched Chavez cavort with terrorists before TV cameras, giving them a legitimacy in Caracas they never had known.

Even worse, Chavez proved to be acting as an agent of the terrorists. Uribe's sudden cutoff of the mediation effort at a hastily organized press conference last Wednesday suggested disturbing new information.

On Sunday, Chavez confirmed it: "I think Colombia deserves another president, it deserves a better president," he said.

That followed a discussion in a U.S. prison between extradited FARC terrorist Ricardo Palmera, aka "Simon Trinidad," and another mediator and Chavez ally appointed by Uribe, Senator Piedad Cordoba. They discussed "a transitional government" with the terrorist as a bargaining chip for the hostage swap.

On Monday, Chavez repeated what he had in mind to make sure Uribe understood. "Reconciliation is impossible," he said. "We have to wait for a new government in Colombia we can talk with. I hope it arrives sooner rather than later."

No wonder Uribe lashed out, saying Chavez was less interested in mediating than in overthrowing Colombia's government. That may have sounded far-fetched, but it's what the guerrillas have been fighting for since 1964, and Chavez's admiration for them is no secret. Uribe, who has come down on the guerrillas harder than any other Colombian leader, is the president they want gone.

Hugo, of course, is incessantly trying to strengthen his stranglehold on Venezuela,

What better way to make Venezuelans forget their problems than to whip up populist sentiment against Colombia. It also is noteworthy that he's rousing military support against the neighboring state, something he may really find use for as rebellion grows at home.

Weekend polls showed that ever since the king of Spain publicly told him to "shut up" in Chile two weeks ago, support for Chavez's move to seize absolute power in Venezuela has fallen below 50%.

Read every word.

"That's no lady, that's my wife!"

UPDATED with video
Via Memeorandum,
Bride, groom stopped in Iraq actually terror suspects.

They might have gotten away with it, if only the bride wasn't so butch:


UPDATE
Via Pamela,

The gloves are a nice touch, aren't they?


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Today's Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Last week's top story:
Not as strident as all the Venezuelan news, but very important, Four killed in Bolivia clashes over new constitution

A Bolivian protester died early on Monday after being injured in clashes with police over the weekend, local officials said, raising the death toll to four from violent confrontations over a new draft constitution.

Jose Luis Cardozo "died in the early hours on Monday," said Fidel Herrera, the head of the municipal council of Sucre, and one of the protest leaders.

Cardozo suffered serious injuries on Saturday as thousands of demonstrators demanded their southeastern city of Sucre be named the capital of Bolivia and protested pro-government delegates approving a new constitution.

The protests took a violent turn on Saturday evening when another demonstrator, a 29-year-old lawyer, died of a gunshot wound. Police later used tear gas to quell the protests.

Two other people, a police officer and a third protester, were also killed in the street violence and dozens were injured.

The Bolivarian Revolution's not quite going as planned in Bolivia.

Bolivian protesters free prisoners

SUCRE, Bolivia (Reuters) - Demonstrators opposed to efforts by Bolivian President Evo Morales to overhaul the constitution on Sunday torched police stations and stormed a jail, freeing 100 inmates, while on the streets protesters clashed with police and one officer was killed.

The protests in the southern city of Sucre came hours after pro-government allies in a constitutional assembly approved a preliminary draft late on Saturday of the new constitution, a key Morales political project.

Morales, a leftist and Bolivia's first Indian president, says the new constitution will give the country's indigenous majority more political power.

But the vote was boycotted by the rightist opposition, which has heavily criticized the assembly.

On the streets of Sucre, protesters stood face to face with police officers, setting fires to tires as tear-gas rained down on them.

They also set fire to Sucre's San Roque prison, starting a prison riot that saw at least 100 inmates escape, local media said.

In other Bolivian news, Bolivia's Gas Nationalization: Opportunity and Challenges

Spanish-language website of the week:
RELIAL Red Liberal de America Latina

Don’t miss HACER's roster of Latin American blogs and the Wall Street Journal in Spanish.

SOUTH AMERICA:
Crisis in the Americas

Terrorist In The Neighborhood

As fears mount, experts debate terrorist inroads in Latin America (registration required)

Don't like your constitution? Then rewrite it
In Latin America, revisions can renew a nation's pride - or exploit its people

CHILE
I want my two dollars

COLOMBIA
Media Myths About Free Trade Cause Many To Forget Benefits

Notes from a Reader in South America, Ambassador Gherbasi

Betancourt's husband asks Chavez to keep mediating

Uribe and Chavez trade insults as Venezuela freezes ties

Uribe: Chavez wants a Marxist FARC government in Colombia

Further adventures in Bolivarian diplomacy

CUBA
Is there a doctor in the Gulag?

Around the Block for Some Cafe ... (roundup)

Jeff Jacoby: Writing the truth about Cuba

ECUADOR:
I Marched with the Terrorists: Chevron-Texaco sued again in the Amazon

Ecuador's Correa wins control of constituent assembly, official results show

Unofficial Vote Count Confirms Correa Victory

VENEZUELAN-ECUADOREAN-IRANIAN AXIS ON THE MOVE

IMMIGRATION
Estados Unidos, Admision Gratis

MEXICO
U.S. Anti-Drug Plan Would Recast Legal System in Mexico

From Mexico but posting on the Brooklyn madrassa, War of Ideas on the Homefront

PANAMA
Panama November Rains Leave Jamaica Mission Team Stranded

PERU
Victims of Ica Held a Peaceful Strike During Friday's Riot

Violently Treated Women in Peru March for Their Rights

You tax money at work: UN declares 2008 as 'International Year of the Potato' (IYP)

PUERTO RICO
Pageant officials investigate who put pepper spray on Miss Puerto Rico Universe's gowns

VENEZUELA
The referendum on the extensive rewrite of the Constitution is scheduled for December 2.

Who are the students of the Venezuelan opposition?

This Ain't Hell has a roundup of referendum articles and posts.

Read the item-by-item analysis of the constitutional reforms at the Venezuela's Constitutional Reform website.

To vote or not to Vote? Venezuela at the crossroad or all the doors will open Chavez's reform

Venezuela's path to self-destruction
Voters are on the verge of handing President Hugo Chavez the power to turn their country into a dictatorship

Vi a Maria A comeback for communism

Do Wealthy Liberal Democracies Fail?

Chavez Loses Lead; Declares Opponents Traitors

Only The Sith Deal In Absolutes

Center for Security Policy's articles on Venezuela via CVF
(In Spanish)
Countdown to Tyranny I
Countdown to Tyranny II
Countdown to Tyranny III
Countdown to Tyranny IV

Article 98: Patents and the decline of innovation in Venezuela

Other Venezuela-related posts:
Yes, we have no milk in Venezuela

"Do you want me to pee on you?"

Chavez budgets $250 million for 'alternative' groups
Venezuela's proposed budget includes more than $250 million for 'anti-imperialist' groups in the United States and Latin America.

Colombians fire Hugo

Video: Unhinged in Venezuela
Breakdown

Excusing Chavez and Defending The Indefensible
Voting in Tyranny
Loving Chavez
Excusing Chavez

Chavez under fire

James Petras, Gunslinger

Clown Conference, Tehran, November 19, 2007

HUGO CHAVEZ VS. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

Stalin Vs. Chavez

"I hope so, too."

Hugo and 'Jad, talking currency
--------------------------------------------------------------
Special thanks to Maggie, Eneas Biglione, Larwyn, and Maria.

Linking to the Carnival:
A Colombo-americana's perspective
Pajamas Media



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Money matters

Men motivated by 'superior wage'

Scans reveal that being paid more than a co-worker stimulates the "reward centre" in the male brain.

Traditional economic theory assumes the only important factor is the absolute size of the reward.

But researchers in the journal Science have shown the relative size of one's earnings play a major role.

If I were a waging type, I'd bet you that if they scanned my brain the findings would be similar.

I'll be posting the Carnival shortly. This is one busy morning!

Paris rioting, again

The banlieus are in flames, again:
Boys' moped deaths ignite riot in Paris suburb

Rioting broke in one of Paris's tinder box suburban housing estates last night after two young boys were killed when their moped collided with a police car.

Molotov cocktails were thrown, and cars and plastic bins set on fire following the tragedy in Tolinette, a notoriously crime-ridden district of Villiers-le-Bel, some 20 miles north of the centre of the French capital.

One police station was set alight and another, in a neighbouring suburb, was ransacked after youths threw cocktails, and set bins alight and upturned cars.

Officials said seven police and one firefighter had were injured and there were fears the violence, which spread to the neighbouring town of Arnouville-les-Gonesse, could also take hold in other poor, suburban enclaves.

The boys who died were said by locals to be "aged between 12 and 13".

advertisementPolice insisted that their car had not been chasing the boys, and that the officer driving suffered facial injuries in the incident, which happened soon after dusk.

While one rioter asserts that "the rioting ;was not violence but an expression of rage,'", France24 reports that gangs torched cars and looted shops and buildings in the north Paris suburb of Villiers-le-Bel, injuring 25 police officers.
More blogging later.

Update:
The Times (UK) has a slideshow.

In other French news, Consternation as Muammar Gaddafi seeks to pitch his tent on Nicolas Sarkozy’s lawn

Le Point, the French magazine, said that advisers to the 65-year-old Libyan leader had told Paris he wanted a tent because he suffered from a phobia brought on by being confined indoors.

So what to do, then? Try some dhimmitude:

The protocol service is unsure how to respond, since it is unwilling to displease the volatile ruler but unsure about setting a precedent that could lead to similar demands from other heads of state.

No further comment.

The gift-giving (and taking) season

Bill & Hillary: the gift that keeps on giving and taking
Doug Ross has an excellent post on The bizarre ties between the Clintons, Vin Gupta and InfoUSA. Doug asks,

Questions for Hillary
Several obvious questions for Hillary Clinton arise from these many, varied relationships.

* Why would you and your husband sell the Clinton Library Donor List to InfoUSA but not disclose the list to the public?

* Will you describe all of your family's financial ties to Vinod Gupta and InfoUSA, such as your husband's true compensation?

* Should we trust any poll coming from CNN/Opinion Research Corporation given various financial ties -- not all of which have been disclosed -- between Vinod Gupta and your family as well as other key Democrats?

After you read Doug's post make sure to visit Gateway Pundit (to which I linked on this post).
-----------------------------------------------------------
Never one to stop giving,
The Archbishop of Canterbury misplaces his empire anxiety, again.
-----------------------------------------------------------
For your shopping pleasure:
Gerard VanderLeun has come up with this year's Black Friday American Digest Home Shopping Guide.

Unfortunately he left out the Freudian suckers.
-----------------------------------------------------------
The first minister of Scotland "chooses works that reflect the spirit of his native land" for the WSJ's 5 Best:


A couple of comments on these selections:
Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations should be required reading in high schools around the world. If you haven't read it yet, now is the time.

How the Scots Invented the Modern World is not only very interesting, it's also amusing and entertaining, particularly if you're fond of men who like to tinker, and are inclined to engineering and the sciences.

I specifically chose The Wind in the Willows edition illustrated by Ernest Shepard (who also illustrated the original Winnie the Pooh) because of its charm. A friend gave me this particular edition when my son was born. However, do not for a moment think this is a book intended solely for children. It isn't. It's a book about home, longing for one's place in the world, and the value of friends. And it's also very funny, too.

I highly recommend the Wordsworth Poetry Library editions.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Shoes for the Holidays
I'm in a red shoes mode right now, and Steve Madden Women's Luvvy Pump in red patent are perfect:

If red patent is not to your liking, they also come in navy pinstripes, or in tweed (unfortunately the Amazon link shows them in polka-dots, not to my liking at all).
-----------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Sanity has The Carnival of the Insanities




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Animal Farm

My latest article is up at The Star Ledger's New Jersey Voices.

Associated Press Deficit Disorder and those inconvenient stringers uncovered by Jawa...

Powerline: The AP Reports on Itself

Bilal Hussein, an Iraqi stringer who has taken many photographs for the Associated Press, some of which are in evident collaboration with Iraqi terrorists... has been held for 19 months in Iraq after being captured in the company of two terrorists. Now, the AP reports that new evidence has emerged against Hussein, on the basis of which a criminal case is likely to be pursued against him.

AP is suffering from its chronic Associated Press Deficit Disorder, claiming that this is a "sham of due process."

But it's not a sham.

As you can see at the Powerline post, there are very strong indications that Hussein had to have been collaborating with terrorists. According to the BBC article (click on Hussein's photo above), he was "sheltering strangers" at the time of his capture.

Bruce Kessler explains,

Actually, quite a bit is known about Bilal Hussein. Michelle Malkin presents a useful summary, with Hussein's "convenient" photos, and John Hinderaker at Powerline neatly asks, “How stupid does the Associated Press think we are?” Bob Owens provides further information about the legal process and AP grandstanding.

Jawa Report was involved in the capture of Hussein:

He had been sitting in Abu Ghraib for a month, and nobody realized that he was the AP photog who had snapped dozens of staged photos with al Qaeda fighters. The reader was in Abu Ghraib as an investigator working on an unrelated case when he saw Bilal Hussein and recognized him from the extensive coverage we had on The Jawa Report.

He reported it up the chain of command and within days Bilal Hussein was transferred to a different facility, NCIS got involved, and eventually a criminal investigation opened on him.

as Jawa said,

So, the blogosphere helped bring to light the outrages that the MSM considers standard operating procedure. Helping produce and disseminate terrorist propaganda is just showing "both sides of the story" to the MSM.

They call it journalistic ethics, we call it treason.

And if it weren't for the blogs, it would go uncovered.


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The End of the Stem-Cell Wars

As I posted last Wednesday, scientists have Induced Pluripotent Stem cells (iPS) to generate patient- and disease- specific stem cells. (Pluripotent means that the cells are capable of developing into any type of body tissue.)

This is a spectacular achievement. In today's Weekly Standard (via Real Clear Politics) Ryan Anderson writes about The End of the Stem-Cell Wars:

Leading scientists are telling us that they can pursue the most promising stem cell research without using--much less killing--human embryos. This breakthrough enables researchers to create human embryonic stem cells directly from adult cells. In fact, the new method may actually prove superior to embryo-destructive alternatives. This is the biggest stem cell advance since James Thomson became the first scientist to isolate embryonic stem cells, less than a decade ago.

It is a new study by Thomson himself that has caused the present stir, but this time Thomson is not alone. Accounts of independent research by two separate teams of scientists were published on November 20--one in the journal Cell and one in the journal Science--documenting the production of pluri-potent human stem cells without using embryos or eggs or cloning or any morally questionable method at all.

The new technique is so promising that on November 16, Ian Wilmut announced that he would no longer seek to clone humans. Wilmut, you may remember, is the scientist who cloned Dolly the sheep. He recently sought and received a license from the British government to attempt to clone human embryos for research purposes. Now, citing the new technique, he has abandoned his plans.

Here's what's important:

The new technique produces patient-specific stem cells with all the benefits of stem cells from embryos, but without the production and destruction of human embryos or the use of human eggs.

Ryan Anderson explains how

Having political leaders of principle who insist on ethical standards in scientific research, then, is always of the utmost importance.

Go read it all.

Gateway Pundit aces Lebanon

Gateway Pundit has today's must-read: Fireworks in Lebanon... Pro-Syrian President Steps Down

Some 2000 Anti-Lebanese-president and pro-government supporters, set fireworks dancing beating drums and shouting 'Lahoud out' as they gathered in a Sunni Muslim neighborhood celebrating the departure of president Emile Lahoud, in Beirut, Lebanon, Late Friday Nov. 23, 2007.

Go follow his links.

More at From Beirut to the Beltway

"Clinton wins surprise support from former French first lady" whose husband is under investigation, that is.

Via Memeorandum:
Clinton wins surprise support from former French first lady

U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton won surprise backing from the wife of former French President Jacques Chirac on Thursday, together with a pledge to join her on the campaign trail.

Bernadette is clearly impressed:

"From the first look, the first words, Hillary Clinton is a friendly, smiling person who never lets herself be caught out," she said.

Bernadette is ready, willing, and able:

She even expressed interest in attending the Democratic convention in Denver in August. "And if I can be of any use to her somewhere in the campaign, I'm available. I'd like to go with her and I'm going to suggest it to her."

Oh, yes, please, Bernadette! Please do join Hillary on the campaign trail. It'll bring you a welcome respite from Jacques's fight for what little "honor" he has left [See Saturday 24 Nov. Update below]:

French ex-President Jacques Chirac says he will fight for "truth and honour", after being placed under investigation for misuse of funds while Paris mayor.

It's now time for a Fausta's blog flashback: On October 7, 2005 I posted:

Blacque Jacques Chirac's "lunch money"
Last March I posted that 47 people were on trial for rigging public works contracts (ah, a whiff of New Jersey chez le Seine?) and that on Nov. 2002 Chirac had avoided prosecution over his exhorbitant food bills (which avearaged 600 euros (£420) a day on average between 1988 and 1995) from back when he was mayor of Paris because the statute of limitations had ran out.

Now Socialist MP Rene Dosiere (emphasis mine) sheds light on Chirac's mysterious millions. President costs taxpayer three times official figure: Elysee Palace has 1,000 staff and budget of €82m

the palace's annual budget - which MPs set this week at €32.7m (about £22m) for 2006 - represents only a third of what it actually gets. Mr Dosière revealed that the Elysee employs about 1,000 staff, "the equivalent of the municipal workforce of a town of 50,000 people". He said the palace's "extraordinary opaqueness" meant he could not rule out further serious "Republican anomalies".

In a financial maneuver worthy of the UN,

. . . Mr Chirac also pays some 150 to 200 employees out of his "official" budget, meaning he has at his disposal a staff of 1,000, Mr Dosière said. He has calculated that some 280 hours of presidential flying time, at an average cost to the taxpayer of €5,750 per hour, are unaccounted for by his official requirements.
But perhaps the biggest mystery is the president's salary, which is fixed not by law but by himself and amounts - officially but hardly credibly - to just €6,594 a month, less than a third of that of the prime minister (€20,206) and less than half that of a minister (€13.471).

Très cher, that Jacques.

As if this wasn't enough bad news for Jacques, The Telegraph has this story, How Chirac 'ordered' his own secret, secret service

A former French secret agent has accused President Jacques Chirac of ordering him to run a private secret service to channel ransom money to hostage-takers in Lebanon and Bosnia.
. . .
But Marchiani claims that the money was transferred to his accounts to set up an "intelligence outfit" on the orders of the former interior minister, Charles Pasqua in the mid-1980s, when Mr Chirac was prime minister.
"It was a system put in place at the request of Charles Pasqua in place of the official secret services," said Marchiani.
Marchiani said he used the funds to secure the release of hostages in Lebanon, held by Hizbollah in 1986.
"We did not collaborate with the French secret services, we worked in their place," he said.

And that flashback's just to whet your appetite for all things Chirac; There's the Clearstream affaire, Jacque's part in a coup in the Comoros, Jacques's own secret service mentioned above, and the Chirac connections in the Oil-For-Food scam.

Captain Ed writes,

Why wouldn't Hillary want to get linked to Jacques Chirac? After all, he epitomized European resistance to the Bush administration, didn't he? He did a lot more than that, however. He also epitomized French undermining of sanctions against Iraq. Chirac's administration not only demanded an end to sanctions, they actively undermined them for years, stuffing billions of dollars into the pocket of Saddam Hussein and selling him dual-use technology forbidden by the UN. Rather than have that exposed, Chirac sided with Russia (who had committed the same kinds of acts) and Saddam.

Flopping Aces wants to know,

Why is it that criminals and their families seem to flock to the Clinton family?

Why indeed? In other Hillary news, SEC Opens Investigation of Company Headed by Key Supporter of Clintons.

I'm sure there's room for Bernardette in the picture, while the other Hsu drops out of sight.

Update:
Was Media Really "Surprised" With Latest Hillary Endorsement?
Update 2:
The Paris prosecutors' office has dismissed a suit against Donald Rumsfeld accusing the former U.S. defense secretary of torture

UPDATE, Saturday 24 November:
Jacques is not merely "defending his honor", as the Beeb so quantly phrased it; he's been charged with embezzling public funds (link in French via No Pasaran).


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Apple pie, updated

Last year I posted my apple pie recipe, which many people have come back for this year.


Yesterday I baked another one, only this time I added 1 cup seedless raisins soaked in 1/2 cup of Wild Turkey bourbon for two days.

Apple, pecan and raisin pie:
(In a glass dish, marinade 1 cup of raisins in 1/2 cup of Wild Turkey for two days. Cover and set aside)
Heat oven to 400F.

In a very large bowl, mix:
8 large apples, peeled and cored, and cut into large (1/4" thick) pieces
(You might want to caramelize the apples slightly.)
1 tbs cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 cup pecan pieces. You can also use chopped walnuts.
1 cup red seedless raisins soaked in Wild Turkey bourbon for 2 days.

Mix all ingredients until well coated.

Line a deep pie dish with one Pillsbury pie crust (if you make your own crust, Steve has the best crust recipe in his book Eat What You Want and Die Like a Man).

Pour the apples and pecans into the pie plate. Cut 1/4 lb (one bar) of refrigerated butter into chunks and dot the apples with the butter. Please use butter. Cover the apples with the other pie crust, seal the edges and perforate the top with a fork.

Bake at 400F for 45 minutes.

Remove from the oven and cool at room temperature for 2 hours. Serve with whipped cream or with Devonshire cream.

Technorati: recipes
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