Caminito del Rey

Via Jim, who in turn thanks Marvin "for the bowel-loosening link."

Good news from Brazil: S&P's rates it "Investment grade'

Bovespa Rises to Record After Investment Grade Rating:

Brazil's Bovespa stock index jumped to a record after Standard & Poor's unexpectedly raised the country's credit rating to investment grade.
...
Brazil's rating was lifted to BBB-, Standard & Poor's lowest investment grade rating, the rating company said today.

S&P cited the country's "continuity" in maintaining its inflation targeting policy and government debt levels "increasingly in line" with investment grade countries.

Brazil became a net foreign creditor for the first time this year, inflation dropped to a seven-month low in February and the benchmark interest rate was at a record low 11.25 percent before this month's increase. The country's economy probably grew at a 4.8 percent rate last year, the fastest since 2004, according to the median economist estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

Things are looking up.

The big news in Brazil, however, is that soccer star Renaldo got caught with three transvestite prostitutes because of "psychological problems due to his knee injury."

When it comes to excuses, that's a new one.



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Puerto Rican superdelegates back in the news

Following Bill Clinton's underwhelming tour of Puerto Rico earlier month, Chelsea is touring the island, this time making a stop right near where I used to live, the Universidad del Sagrado Corazon.

Chelsea Picks Up A Puerto Rico Superdelegate For Her Mother

Chelsea Clinton just bagged a superdelegate for her mother. The youngest Clinton is campaigning today in San Juan, Puerto Rico. A few moments ago, at the Universidad del Sagrado Corazon, Luisette Cabanas, an unpledged superdelegate, announced her support for Clinton, giving the campaign the majority of automatic** delegates on the island.

This is hardly surprising. After the governor of Puerto Rico turned himself in to the Feds on his nineteen counts of electoral funds fraud Obama lost the only superdelegate supporting him.

The rest of the political bosses favored Hillary then, and they still do. Not only that, but they are the ones hosting Chelsea's trip:

Chelsea and her entourage are being hosted by superdelegates Fransisco Domenech and Senate President Kenneth Mclintock.

Last month in my post Desperation and the Puerto Rico primary, I pointed out that

a. Puerto Rico has only 8 superdelegates and 55 delegates.
b. Puerto Ricans living in the island do not vote in the US Presidential elections. Puerto Ricans living in the fifty states do.

So here we have the Democrat party candidate for President possibly being decided by people who aren't voting for him/her.

The primary's scheduled for June 1.

From Chelsea's tour, a photo begging for a caption:




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Obamarama Wright roundup

Why'd Obama Join Trinity in the First Place?

Which, put another way, means that Obama's decision to join Trinity was probably the opposite of cynical. Trinity was the place where, despite the potential pitfalls--and he must have noticed them early on--Obama felt most true to himself.

Rick Moran's podcast, with Ed, Jazz and I. Ed asks, Does Obama’s repudiation lance the boil?.

Baldilocks: View From Under The Bus

Ace: Obama's Speech on Wright, Take Two. And then there's the Princeton professor cheering Wright.

Dan Riehl: Wright's Saddest Truth Overlooked

Iowahawk: Advice for the lovelorn.

Mark Steyn: Mrs. Grievance

Larry Elders Skewers Barack Obama

When Life Hands You Lemons...

And, for a change of subject, here are Rev. Wright's Middle East Views

UPDATE
Nice hat, Senator
Obama Suddenly Objects To Wright Being Called His 'Spiritual Mentor'

And don't miss Denny's.

Special thanks to Larwyn for the links.



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The finer things in life

As we all can see, the baby boomer generation is now nearing retirement age even as that same generation and their offspring become more obsessed with youth. This week Siggy has two essays on ageing that got me thinking about several people I've had the privilege of knowing throughout my life. All these people are too old to be baby boomers.

In his first essay Siggy says

Still, no matter how ferocious attempt to obviate nature, time will not be denied. The devotion to youth upends those who chase what will soon represent the lesser part of our lives. At 40 we enter middle age. At 50, we are reminded that there are those in the wings who are waiting for us to give way, for no other reason than our experiences and wisdom are of less value than youth. Mandatory retirement is no gift or recognition or achievement. It is the conclusion of a process that institutionalizes a process of inactivity and decline at an age when most of us have the capacity, wisdom and insight to be most productive.

While economies need to make way for new employees since at any give time there is a limited number of jobs available and new workers are less expensive than workers with more seniority, societies lose when the more experienced workers are discarded simply because the calendar turned one day.

Siggy also states,

Or are meant to contribute something meaningful and lasting? If we understand that our legacy will be measured in how we left this world a better and more meaningful place, then it becomes immediately apparent that our maturity, wisdom and insight are of far greater value than our physicality. When this truth is realized, the maturity, wisdom and spirituality of those with the experiences of life under their belts more than compensates for their diminished physicality. As our physicality declines, our priorities are reevaluated and ordered- and that usually results in making the four cubits we inhabit and beyond, a better place.

I have met several people who lived to a very advanced age precisely because they didn't retire.

The youngest of my parents' siblings to die lived past age seventy (and he had burned the candle at both ends and the middle), the oldest was at least 106 years old, so genetics has a lot to do with how long you live. How well you live has a lot to do with you.

I learned this at a young age from several people, one of which I'll tell you about now.

When I was first married my husband and I went to his college reunion along with my in-laws since my father-in-law had graduated from the same college exactly thirty years earlier. They went off to some activity or another and I was left by myself enjoying a beautiful day, having lunch at a picnic table. A very elderly gentleman came by and asked if he could join me. Of course I said yes.

He was one of the most fascinating people I've ever met.

He could walk about as long as it was on pavement, but because we were on a lawn he was on a wheelchair. He told me that he of course knew that the reunion was on and wasn't sure he could make it since had recently been inconvenienced by some ailment, but since he was fine now he wasn't about to miss it. He lived in Princeton (where I now live) which is some 300 miles from the college.

Aside from his charm and intelligent conversation, what I learned from him was that one's work is never finished, and that that is a very good thing.

This gentleman was the oldest member of his family still to be involved in the family business, a very large multinational pharmaceutical company. He had through the years been intimately involved in the business even as chairman of the board, and had decided to step aside when he felt that he could not give his job 100% (later on I learned from another board member that he had insisted on stepping aside in spite of the board's recommendation that he stay). But he didn't go off to fade into the sunset.

Instead what he did was to become involved in projects that the company had with non-profit and community outreach organizations, and with the college (which we were visiting) and its students.

I realized right then that that was exactly why he was so vital, so interesting. His purpose was what gave his life meaning.

While this may sound like a real dozer of a conversation, he was witty, funny, and quick. So witty that it wasn't until an hour later or so after our conversation that I realized that it was he who had donated the building for the school's student union.

Mind you, the gentleman in question wasn't simply another old codger bragging about his work. He was clearly happy to be there, he was enjoying the good food and the cold beer, the beautiful day, the company of a young woman who was totally absorbed in what he had to say. His conversation was not a long list of things he had done; instead it was a series of replies to my questions (since he was a great deal more interesting than I and he had a lot to say), replies which he peppered with humor, puns (and you all know how I love puns) and wit. He was well dressed, accompanied by a uniformed (attractive) nurse, and driven there in his luxury car by his chauffeur.

The guy knew how to live.

May we all learn to appreciate people like him. And may we all learn from people like him to enjoy the finer things in life.

More on aging (and a lot of other topics) in yesterday's podcast.



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New DNC Ad Includes Fahrenheit 9/11 Footage

New DNC Ad Includes Fahrenheit 9/11 Footage: Media Lizzy has the details; she includes two clips,
New DNC ad

Farenheit 9/11 trailer


As Lizzy said,

If there was any lingering doubt over which branch of the Democratic Party will drive message in the General Election campaign - it has been removed.

Looking forward to seeing Michael Moore sitting next to Jimmy Carter at the presidential booth in Colorado...



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Tuesday night tango: Leeds, UK

Natacha Poberaj & Eduardo Villegas


I just got back from a fascinating group panel discussion on Prof. Mickey Edwards's new book, Reclaiming Conservatism: How a Great American Political Movement Got Lost - and How It Can Find Its Way Back. More on that tomorrow.

Tonight, however, I'll be one of Rick Moran's podcast guests at 8PM Eastern.

Chile: One, two, three,...FOUR times a lady!

Old guys in Lo Prado , Chile are about to get four times lucky:

Chilean mayor to offer free viagra to older men

For the first time in Chile, a mayor plans to give out free Viagra to men 60 and older in his town to improve their "quality of life" four times a month, according to media reports.
"This has to do with quality of life and it's done responsibly. It's not just like handing out candy at the corner," Gonzalo Navarrete, a physician and mayor of the poor town of Lo Prado south of Santiago, told Las Ultimas Noticias daily.

He said any man 60 years and older who wants it can have up to four Viagra pills a month after undergoing a thorough medical exam to avoid potentially harmful side effects of the drug Sildenafil.

"We'll give out four, 50 milligram pills, in other words, for four sexual relationships per month," Navarrete said, adding that the program would have a starting cost of about 20,000 dollars.

The reason?

The mayor said the idea for his unprecedented move came from hearing older men in his town complain about not getting enough sex.

I'm willing to bet the younger men in his town have that complaint, too.



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Coming up today: McCain's healthcare bloggers' call

The McCain campaign just released this ad,


More on the call later.

In today's podcast at 11AM Eastern: Is there a "shortage of eligible men"?

Or will we talk of other things?

The chat room will be open at 10:45AM, and the call in number is 646) 652-2639. Join us!

Look who's endorsing Obama

You knew this was coming, did you?


Ed Morrisey transcribed it for your reading pleasure:

"We're going to need to see who is going to be the strongest candidate against Senator McCain. And I believe that is Senator Obama with his emphasis on change and bringing people together, a fresh voice internationally, somebody that is able, in my judgment..to bring... at least I just got back from Latin America, from Venezuela, where he has enormous support, where people really want to see a change in American foreign policy and they see Obama as that agent of change."

As Ed points out, the only Venezuelans Richardson met were Chavez and his cohorts:

In other words, Richardson just delivered the Hugo Chavez endorsement.

In other Obama news, here are the six YouTube videos of Wright's toxic statements at the National Press Club. Glenn Reynolds has a word of advice and a photo for Rev. Wright.

As for the Rev. Wright, Richardson and Andrew Sullivan are on the same page (maybe they were reading from the same page?) when they say that Wright isn't running for office. Sullivan:

Obama needs not just to distance himself from Wright's views; he needs to disown him at this point. Wright himself, it seems to me, has become part of what Obama is fighting against: the boomer, Vietnam era's obsession with its red-blue, white-black, pro and anti-America fixations. That is not what this election needs to be about; and Wright's massive, racially divisive and, yes, bitter provocation requires a proportionate response.

Obama's not about to do that.

Sullivan doesn't believe that Obama shares in Wright's beliefs.

I have to disagree. Obama's been hearing Wright preach this for decades, and he has a long list of hateful friends.

Of course, one can't also discount this possibility: Is the Stage Being Set For the All-Time Sister Souljah Moment?

After all, Obama already threw grandma under the bus.

UPDATE
Robert Stacy McCain compares Obama's Wright problem to George McGovern's Eagleton dilemma.



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Corzine: Squeeze the towns for state trooper costs

Coalition of the Swilling has the story:

Rather than do something silly like, say, cut waste in Trenton or perhaps not add thousands of people to the state payroll our glorious bloated bureaucracy has instead chosen to charge people for what they already pay for.

Asbury Park Press has the details: As times change, so may NJ's free rural state police patrols

TRENTON — New Jersey State Police have patrolled the state's rural areas for 87 years at no extra cost to smaller towns that never created police departments.

In fact, the law that created the state police agency stated it would "primarily'' be used to protect rural areas.

But times have changed, and free rural New Jersey state police patrols may soon end.

As the state grapples with chronic state budget woes, Gov. Corzine has proposed requiring municipalities that get free state police patrols to pay a quarter of the estimated patrol cost to raise $20.5 million for the cash-strapped state.

"These are difficult times, and the decisions and choices we must make are difficult,'' state Attorney General Anne Milgram said.

Of course, reducing the bloated state bureaucracy would never cross their minds, would it?

Reverend Wright

Joe Klein has an excellent point on this article, Rev. Wright Calls Criticism of Sermons 'Attack on Black Church'"

Yes, as many have pointed out, Martin Luther King Jr. gave some angry, angry sermons--especially about the obscenity of the war in Vietnam--but for Wright to say the attacks on him are an attack on the black church is to offer a straitened and solipsistic view of that grand institution. Black liberation theology is not the black church.

I was just discussing with Jazz Shaw whether Obama would disavow Rev. Wright, and we both agreed he won't. As Jazz put it,

No matter how much he "denounces" etc. it will never be enough for his detractors on the right and it won't matter for his supporters, so why bother?

Roger has the video:




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The Last Monday in April Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Welcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean. If you would like your posts included in the Carnivals, please email me: faustaw2 "at" gmail "dot" com.

Today's big story: Bill Richardson's trip to Caracas to ask Hugo Chavez, who has given $300 million dollars to the FARC, to negotiate for the release of three American FARC hostages.

Simon Romero of the NY Times reports,

The meeting itself was exceptional, marking a rare personal encounter between and a prominent American official and Mr. Chavez, following a sharp deterioration of political relations between the Bush administration and Venezuela’s government.

It's not clear whether Richardson is ignorant of or indifferent to the anti-American propaganda Chavez spews weekly on TV.

Video: Bill Richardson habló después de reunirse con Chávez, video in Spanish:

Reunión Gobernador Richardson Presidente Chávez
by Radioaporrea

IBD Blogs commented on the visit. Others blogging about it:
Richardson working hard for his VP spot with Obama
Foreign policy by BDS
Gov. Bill Richardson Meets With Hugo Chavez
No thugs left to pander to
I also posted about it yesterday.

Another big story from last week, the body of Beatriz Porco, a 22-year-old Bolivian who won a scholarship to study medicine in Cuba two years ago, was returned to her family on April 2, minus several internal organs, including the girl's brain, kidneys, lungs, and uterus. Humberto Fontova writing at NewsMax notices that this is not the first time this has happened under the Cuban "free healthcare" system.

LATIN AMERICA
NAFTA is working

ARGENTINA
Argentina Farmers Ready to Revolt Again

Official: Argentine economy minister resigning

BOLIVIA
Morales sees threat from 'separatist' groups

Bolivia's Morales: End Capitalism to Save the World

Once more to the brink

BRAZIL
Brazil Oil Finds May End Reliance on Middle East, Zeihan Says

Brazilian Assumptions of a McCain Victory 'Premature,' 'Reckless'

COLOMBIA
What's at Stake in Colombia

Colombia denuncia nuevo ataque de las FARC desde Ecuador

Guerrilleros de las FARC atacaron con armas no convencionales desde Ecuador a tropas de Colombia que prestaban seguridad a una petrolera, que cumple actividades de exploración en la frontera binacional, denunció el sábado el comandante del Ejército colombiano, general Mario Montoya.

Cousin Mario: "Parapolitics" touches the first family

FARC computer reveals more South American ties

CUBA
WaPo Editorial: No Space for Dissent

Parallel Universes

The Elian Gonzalez Case

As usual, it's fidel's fault

Fins ain't wot they used to be

ECUADOR
Official: Laptop reveals ties to Ecuador

New documents from computers seized in a March raid on a FARC camp in Ecuador show that the guerrilla group may have ties to a prominent Ecuadorean politician.

Dictator Correa is Indeed an "Outrage to Democracy"

Southcom: Air base in Ecuador will not be replaced

"My Hands are Clean and Bloodless, Something Uribe Can't Say"

GUATEMALA
The Indian/Guatemalan Tuk-Tuk Connection?

MEXICO
Mexico's Calderon Makes Fierce Defense Of NAFTA

Kidnappings soar in Mexico as drug gangs seek new income

Editorial: Calderón can't expect unconditional aid

Mexico’s Hugo Chavez wannabe

PARAGUAY
Paraguay wants to renegotiate Itaipu treaty with Brazil

Paraguay’s historic election

Latin America’s Latest Marxist Leader Takes Power in Paraguay

Fernando Lugo, Hugo's latest buddy

PERU
EEUU instalará base militar en Iquitos en reemplazo de la de Manta, revelan

VENEZUELA
Gary Casparov on Chavez

Chavez according to Caballero

Venezuela's Chavez wants government monitoring of news

Abridged world history of lie

Cattle Call in Venezuela

Venezuela nationalisations show disarray

Video
HACER's Eneas Biglione was a guest on "Four Corners" of Press TV, making the case for NAFTA and Free Trade Agreements.

BLOGGING ABOUT THE CARNIVAL
Obi's Sister



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Bill Richardson, Hugo's latest friend

The Democrats continue to side with Chavez: While pursuing the VP spot in the Obama ticket Bill Richardson meets with Chavez and asks him to negotiate with the FARC.


Richardson says Chavez can help with US hostages in Colombia

Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that he plans to put forward a proposal for the release of the three U.S. defense contractors in the coming weeks and that Chavez is willing to work with him as a "primary mediator."

The Democratic governor met with Chavez on Saturday night to discuss the issue. The president did not release any statements following the meeting.

Video in Spanish at Noticias 24:

Reunión Gobernador Richardson Presidente Chávez
by Radioaporrea

IBD Blogsasks questions,

Bill Richardson had an hour and a half meeting with Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez - whose goons were beating up Venezuelan student dissidents in the streets this morning. Richardson had nothing but praise for the dictator, and said he was key to freeing three Americans held hostage in Colombia. Now, Hugo is famous for paying their kidnappers $300 million or at least pledging it, according to information found in the FARC computer. He's no impartial player, he's the FARC's best friend on earth. That makes him a state sponsor of terror. Why Richardson is consorting with such a person is beyond us - we called President Uribe's office a few weeks ago and were told they did not want Hugo Chavez involved in any way shape or form with the hostage release. But still Richardson goes to meet the dictator. Question: What did he promise the dictator? Did he promise to cut off Colombia's military aid if Obama is elected, as one of the 'gringos' named in the FARC computer passed on secretly to FARC terrorist Raul Reyes? These thugs don't give things away for free. What did Richardson promise Chavez? And why is Richardson defying President Uribe and involving Chavez at all?

I want to know, who paid for Richardson's trip? New Mexico's taxpayers?



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Extra traffic

TCM was playing Captain Kidd and it's been a while since I did an old movie post so I thought I'd look the Captain on the Internet Movie Database and post on it.

I was reading the IMDB information when suddenly I read a sponsor link that filled me with dread: Wanted: Movie Extras in Princeton.

I've lived in Princeton since 1989 and during that time two movies have been filmed on location here in town: the dreadful IQ and the very good A Beautiful Mind. (No, House isn't.)

Both movies had open casting calls in town.

I didn't go to the IQ casting call since I'm not interested in becoming an extra, but it was held at the Westminster Conservatory. That was memeorable because the day of the casting call I didn't know that's what was happening and ended up spending a long time stuck in traffic gridlock less than a mile away from my own house.

After the movie started filming on locations all in or near Princeton traffic was backed up for days to no end. It didn't matter where I had to go, IQ was there to tie up traffic, or so it seemed.

Streets were blocked, traffic was detoured all over the place - sometimes without directing us which way to get back to where we wanted - and one time I ended up having to stop and change the baby on someone's lawn because traffic was stuck and the baby needed changing.

It was a disaster.

A friend insisted that I go with her to the casting call for A Beautiful Mind, which was on the Princeton University campus at McCosh Hall. We went on a very cold day, and traffic was backed up, of course. Hundreds of people were standing in line in the cold. Fortunately by the time we got there the line was moving and we went in right away.

The gentleman who was in charge of the casting that day (and whose name doesn't show in the IMDB credits) had the uncanny ability of picking out of a large crowd people who are the same types.

Much to my surprise, I ended up on the podium with five other women. We looked more alike to each other than what my sister and I look alike: same height (give or take two inches), same coloring, same build, probably the same age (give or take five years), and even the same type of clothing (and shoes!).

One of the ladies and I were wearing glasses and we had the same taste in eyeglass frames, too. All of us wore variations of the same hairstyle.

Anyone who harbors any fantasies about their own uniqueness should go stand on a casting call stage for five or ten minutes with five other strangers who not only look like you but even dress like you.

A week or so later I did get called for a job as an extra but turned them down.

By then I was fully prepared for any traffic delays that might come from the Beautiful Mind filming around town. Surprisingly, they managed to film everything on and around campus without having to block any streets. One time I was waiting for a traffic light in the Borough and watched the real-life John Nash cross the street from where Russel Crowe was playing the fictional John Nash. That was the longest I had to wait in traffic because of their filming on location.

But back to this morning's ad on the IMDB, I breathed easy when I saw that it was just an ad.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's WSJ Five Best Books, on essential books to keep in mind for Holocaust Remembrance Day on May 2, selected by Robert Rozett,





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Today's shoes: Delman Women's Manda-P Ballet Flat in coral berry.

Nobody does flats like Delman's.


--------------------------------------------------------------------
It's Sunday, so Pat has the Carnival.



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One question for my readers,

Is there a "shortage of eligible men"? Or is it more a case of a "shortage of men that women find acceptable"?

If there is, is it mostly among an age group, or generalized?

(Yes, that's three questions, and yes, I've been reading Porretto, as always)



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"My dearest love, Duncan comes here tonight"

Patrick Stewart is playing Macbeth on Broadway. You can buy your tickets here.



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Photoblogging Communiversity

My latest post is up at the Star Ledger's New Jersey Voices.

I also had the pleasure of talking to Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ) , who is a very loyal supporter of many of the non-profits who participate in Communiversity every year:

Waxed Ford, in a metaphorical kind of way.

Via Noel Sheppard at Newsbusters, Harrison Ford thinks that having his chest hair waxed is a metaphor for the environment. Or something.

Really: he had his chest hair removed, and now he's Access Hollywood's green star of the week

In an effort to showcase the pain involved in deforestation, Harrison willingly subject himself to the painful process of stripping his chest of all its follicles.

Having worked with CI for 15 years, it was Harrison's hope that his trip to the salon might just shock people into thinking "green."

Like Noel, this is what I think about instead,


And now for a word of advice to the guys:
Chest waxing is a fad, and the reason it's being promoted is that we are obsessing in a culture of eternal youth and unmanly men.

If you have chest hair, ANY woman you are after who does not like men with chest hair is probably the wrong woman for you. Think about it, can you possibly live for any length of time with anyone who is not going to be interested in sex unless you go to the waxing salon every four weeks (or more often if necessary)? If that's the kind of demands she's going to make from the start, what else are you going to have to put up with? Do you really want someone who is that high maintenance?

And look at Harrison: Doesn't he look like he's wearing a hair bra?


Does anyone really believe this can possibly save the environment?

Victor Davis Hanson has more sensible ideas for A New Environmentalism.

And he probably didn't get his chest hair waxed.

(h/t Maria)


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Chavez: "Hunger, misery and violence have taken over the United States"

This is what Chavez is telling the Venezuelan public about the USA:

Here's the translation, incoherence and all. If you use this translation, please credit me:

"This [Venezuela's] percentage is one of the highest in the continent for health spending. Do you know where the government spends almost nothing on health? In the United States. It's all pure capitalism, compadre. Nothing on health and nothing on social security.

"See how much poverty and misery have increased in the US in the last few years.

"That's why today the President of the US was saying, when talking about Fidel's decision, or was asking himself what it meant for the Cuban people, that there was hope for the Cuban people to stop suffering!

"What must be said, what must be done about, in my criteria, is to take the President of the US's words and return them to him. Because, if something has increased in these years in the US, it's the suffering of its people. Social crisis, violence breaking out everywhere, hunger, misery, drug trafficking, drug addiction, businesses going broke, thousands and thousands homeless, economic crisis, economic recession, unemployment!

"At least this gentleman will be leaving soon. At least, because that one's really leaving.

"Uh, Ah, Bush si se va, (Bush is leaving).

"Hopefully there will come a government in the US that instead of spending, look, it's millions and millions of dollars on military spending to invade peoples, to build atomic bombs; They are building weapons for a gallactic war, we don't know against whom, against the Martians, maybe, the gallaxy war. Missile shields, and I don't know what many other things, invisible planes.

"But it's that they spend thousands of millions of dollars on military spending, neglecting their own people. Hopefully there will soon come a government in the US that will take care of that people, the one we also love, the one we also respect, because it's a people which deserves respect, they are human beings same as us."

As the Noticias 24 article notes, Chavez forgot to mention his own military spending.

What's even funnier that this crap Chavez spewed out, is the comments section. Among the few clean comments,

Hopefully there will soon come a government in the US that will take care of that people
Take the revolution to them
leave us alone,
we're unworthy of all this privilege!

Humor aside, every time Chavez has a chance he's telling Venezuelans that there are severe food shortages in the US because Costco is limiting the sale of commercial sized 20 lbs bags of rice (not the retail size bags) to four per customer.

These are the bags we're talking about:

Costco has limited the amount each customer can purchase to 4 per customer per trip to the store.

And now for a reality check:
Take a look at the lines for milk in Venezuela:

A las 7:15 de la mañana cerca del estadio de Guaraguao-Anzoategui (el Estado donde actualmente se extrae y procesa mas petroleo), la gente fue ubicada en una estructura metalica para hacer la cola que le permitiria comprar dos kilos de leche por persona. La venta estuvo a cargo de Pdvsa.
My translation:

At 7:15AM near Guaraguao-Anzoategui stadium (in the state which presently produces and processes the most oil), people were placed in a metal structure to stand in line for buying two kilos of milk per person. PDVSA was in charge of the sale.

While this is going on, this article at Nueva Prensa talks about how many people in Cambalache are living off what they can scavenge at the local dump,

Ortiz indicó que pese a que la venta de cartón, el papel y el vidrio se ha reducido, otros productos como el plástico de las botellas, equipos de música, sillas y poncheras se ha incrementado, generando ganancias monetarias para sus recolectores.
Ortiz stated that even when the sale of cardboard, paper and glass has decreased, other items, such as plastic bottles, musical instruments, and chairs, has increased generating income for the scavengers.

Rest assured, sandalistas everywhere will spin this as an exemplary ecologically aware miracle brought about by the Bolivarian Revolution.

Welcome, Instapundit readers. Here are my other posts on Latin America this week:
Expect more food shortages and black markets in Bolivia, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba
Paraguay: Fernando Lugo, Hugo's latest buddy
The Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean
and The Puerto Rican Pre-Raphaelites.
And on a different subject, this week we talked to Expelled producer Mark Matthis in our podcast.



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The No Fun League

Ed Morrissey has it right: the Dems have no sense of humor left in them.

One of their guys (DNC director of research Mike Gehrke) has been reprimanded for twittering this:

"Mike is twittering: You know what you call someone who digs up dirt on John McCain? An archeologist."

I kid you not.

Someone in the DNC repeats a Leno joke and gets reprimanded. Unbelievable.

TigerHawk gets to the root of the problem:

The problem, of course, is the hideous identity war going on within the Democrats. With each of the Obama and Clinton campaigns applying the unnatural standards of corporate diversity training to the other while spinning furiously to induce people to vote on the basis of the color of their skin or the contours of the genitalia, any joke that can be contorted into grounds for outrage has been. The Democrats have become even more anti-humor than they are anti-war, which tells you what we are in for if they capture the White House. If you think our "national conversation" is stilted and hyper-sensitive now, just wait until the donks control every branch.

Let's add to that the groaning and gnashing of teeth we're going to get once their economic policies and global warming hairshirts get handed out.

UPDATE
Check out Porretto's excellent screed, Cause people.



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Friday afternoon Leonard Cohen: First we take Manhattan

UPDATED
Jeremayakovka has a tribute to Leonard Cohen, who we both like.

There are a lot of Leonard Cohen's videos on YouTube which can not be embedded. I particularly like First We Take Manhattan with its upbeat tempo. Here are the lyrics:

(Radio announcer's voice)
Was die Attentäter betrifft, die in Berlin den Anschlag auf die Deutsch-Arabische Gesellschaft verübt haben, ist die Polizei einen Schritt weiter gekommen. Die jetzt nach dem Anschlag...

They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom
For trying to change the system from within
I'm coming now, I'm coming to reward them
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I'm guided by a signal in the heavens
I'm guided by this birthmark on my skin
I'm guided by the beauty of our weapons
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I'd really like to live beside you, baby
I love your body and your spirit and your clothes
But you see that line there moving through the station?
I told you, I told you, told you, I was one of those

Ah you loved me as a loser, but now you're worried that I just might win
You know the way to stop me, but you don't have the discipline
How many nights I prayed for this, to let my work begin
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I don't like your fashion business mister
And I don't like these drugs that keep you thin
I don't like what happened to my sister
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I'd really like to live beside you, baby ...

And I thank you for those items that you sent me
The monkey and the plywood violin
I practiced every night, now I'm ready
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I am guided

Ah remember me, I used to live for music
Remember me, I brought your groceries in
Well it's Father's Day and everybody's wounded
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

What does it mean?

The upbeat tempo belies the threatening words.

But I don't even know what the German words at the beginning mean.

Unlike most pop songs, Cohen's lyrics always have meaning.

Do the lyrics mean that the man singing the song is a killer who went to prison the first time for an attempted act of violence and is now coming back to try again? Why all the references to family, i.e., "I don't like what happened to my sister", "Well it's Father's Day and everybody's wounded"? Who is the "mister" from the fashion business?

Go read Jeremayakovka's post - he's created some verses inspired by LC. While you do that I'll ponder the lyrics of First We Take Manhattan.

Here's two other versions, one by REM, another one by Joe Cocker


UPDATE
I bothered a few people canvassed a few friends and EuropeNews kindly explained that

There was an assassination at the Deutsch-Arabische Gesellschaft Berlin 29. March 1986.
in front of the Deutsch-Arabischen Gesellschaft office in Berlin-Kreuzberg detonated on march 29 an explosive charge. eleven persons were hurt

A terririst attack, twenty-one years ago.

The song was copyrighted on 1987, so it appears that yes, the song refers to an assasin who left prison and is now back on the prowl. Terrorism in our times.



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McCain: "It is very clear who Hamas wants to be the president of the US"

I joined Sen. McCain's bloggers' call this morning, which he did while waiting to board an airplane.

He first started by talking about his recent speeches, and restating his proposed tax cuts while contrasting them to Obama's proposed increases in capital gains tax rate and the cap on wages subject to social security taxes: "Anybody who wants to raise taxes during hard times is lacking in understanding of economics."

He also praised Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, who he visited yesterday. I didn't have a chance to ask questions (as it turns out both Michael Goldfarb and Jim Geraghty asked the question I had) so I'm linking to the posts of the bloggers who did. most of the comments had to do with the North Carolina ad, and Bill Ayers.

Hugh Hewitt asked what obligation does Obama have

to address the details of his association with Ayers/Dohrn, and what obligations the media had to push for that explanation.

McCain responded by again blasting Obama's comparison of Ayers and Coburn, and said an apology from Obama was necessary as Coburn actually works to save lives and Ayers had worked to take them. He repeatedly referred to Ayers as an unrepentant terrorist, and expressed surprise that there hasn't been more discussion about the comparison, or about what an unrepentant terrorist which is what Ayers is. McCain said that Obama had to repudiate Ayers and apologize for ever having had anything to do with an unrepentant terroist. McCain noted that Ayers brags about his organization and is unrepentant about his past, so that Obama can try and persuade the American people or perhaps he can make a case that Mr. Ayers made some contribution, but it was a terrorist organization, and that the media ought to be discussing it.

Michael Goldfarbasked McCain about the North Carolina ad. Jim Geraghty posted the conversation:

"It's just not the tenor of the kind of campaign I want to run. I understand the discussion of Rev. Wright, and he has brought this up by doing media appearances, but there are differences that are mad... There are many differences between our parties and differences between myself and Senator Obama, and I want this race to be about those differences.

McCain mentions Cunningham, and how that too wasn't in keeping with the kind of campaign he wants to run.

Q: Competing hard in California? Strategy for that?

"I intend to compete in California. I'm a western senator. I understand the issues in a state like that - land, water, the environment. I'm going to travel the state extensively. It cannot be written off again. Gov. Schwarzenegger has proven that as a Republican, even if you have different views, you can win that state."

Q: Your thoughts on Maliki's operations in Basra.

McCain notes that Maliki went down there himself. "They had setbacks and had desertions, and we had to provide support. But in last several days, with limited American support, the Iraqi army has taken over whole city of Basra. [Maliki's] actions seem to have united the government more... The entire Iraqi government said that any group that bears arms against government - and that's basically Sadr and his army — will not be allowed to partake in next elections... I'm rather pleased. This incident exposed some weaknesses, but they sent a new general and established government control."

Geraghty's own question, also on the North Carolina ad,

I asked a follow-up on the North Carolina ad, asking the senator whether his position was that voters could take Obama's relationship with Jeremiah Wright into account in their voting decision, but that he didn’t feel it was an appropriate issue to run ads on.

McCain: Voters can take into account any issue they feel Is relevant to themselves; I certainly have no control over that. But I have my agenda, and I think this ad is offensive to some and I would like it taken down. I want the best kind of campaign and most positive kind of campaign.

McCain reiterated that he can’t control the N.C. GOP, but he can ask them to take it down.

Jennifer Rubin

I asked about Hamas’s endorsement of Barack Obama. McCain bluntly responded, "It's clear who Hamas wants to be the next President of the United States." He continued “" will be Hamas' worst nightmare" and said that he "ever expects" to hear a Hamas official say they want him as President. On the subject of Bill Ayers, McCain displayed none of the hesitancy he has shown about discussing Reverend Wright. He said he was "a bit surprised" the media had not made more of Obama's association with "an unrepentant terrorist" and Obama's equation of his relationship with Ayers to his friendship with Senator Tom Coburn. McCain said he was "offended" by the latter and that a "repudiation and apology" are due from Obama to the American people.

Ed Morrissey posts,

Obama withdrew from a debate in North Carolina. Would he be willing to have a "conversation" with Hillary instead? McCain says it's inappropriate until the Dems have a nominee.

Sen. McCain is going to visit with Huckabee in Arkansas, then travels to Florida, and will get on the bus with the media.

Sean Hackbarth and Ace also posted on the call.



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Obama's 'Distractions'?

Dr. Krauhammer asks in his article, Obama's 'Distractions'?

How does one explain campaigning throughout 2007 on a platform of transcending racial divisions, while in that same year contributing $26,000 to a church whose pastor incites race hatred?

Dr Krauthammer gets to the heart of the matter (emphasis added):

What is Obama to do? Dismiss all such questions about his associations and attitudes as "distractions." And then count on his acolytes in the media to wage jihad against those who have the temerity to raise these questions. As if the character and beliefs of a man who would be president are less important than the "issues." As if some political indecency was committed when Obama was prevented from going through his latest -- 21st and likely last -- primary debate without being asked about Wright or Ayers or the tribal habits of gun-toting, God-loving Pennsylvanians.

Many of us who voted for Bill Clinton the first time learned the hard way that the character of a man who would be president is a crucial matter.

I would even venture to say that is possibly the main reason why so many Democrats are in Obama's camp, instead of Hillary's: they learned from the Clintons that the Clintons are not to be trusted.

Character and personal beliefs permeate every action and decision a person makes. They are not "distractions". To the contrary, they are signposts directing you to what road they will take.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't miss today's podcast at 11AM Eastern. The morning's going to be busy, but there will be more posting later.



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Today at 11AM Eastern: Dr Richard Landes and Yaacov Ben Moshe

UPDATE
Richard and Yacob weren't able to make it so Siggy, Jazz and I talked about art, freedom of expression and the right to offend.

Join us today at 11AM Eastern, when Dr Richard Landes of Augean Stables and Yaacov Ben Moshe of Breath of the Beast will update us on their project Second Draft.

Chat opens by 10:45 and the call in number is 646 652-2639. Join us!

A prayer request

Yesterday I heard some very sad news about a very dear man who is fighting a terrible illness and is not expected to live long. I last saw him in November last year and would have never guessed this was going to happen. I would like all my visitors and friends to pray for him and for his family, and for all the people who have known him throughout all these years.

Thank you.

Did Nancy get her "Bible quotation" from a Hallmark card?

Nancy's fond of saying,

"The Bible tells us in the Old Testament, 'To minister to the needs of God's creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us.' On this Earth Day, and every day, let us pledge to our children, and our children's children, that they will have clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and the opportunity to experience the wonders of nature."

Peter Winn has been looking into it, and the Bible doesn't say any such thing.

But maybe Hallmark does.

UDPATE
Moe Lane has a request.



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Bill Ayers, Obama's hateful friend

The Obama affiliation with Weather Underground unrepentant ex-terrorists Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers was the big story yesterday at a lot of blogs. I intentionally waited to post on it today because we should be paying attention for more than one news cycle.

Powerline Blog: The friends of Barack Obama, part I

It turns out that we don't have to go back as far as 2001 to find that Obama's friends are as unrepentant as ever. Just last year, Ayers and Dohrn attended a reunion--no kidding--of what must have been the tiny remnant of SDS members who still haven't figured out that they were wrong about everything. Listen to what Bill Ayers, who hosted Barack Obama's first fundraiser, has to say about the United States.

Go to Powerline to listen. Part II has more. Keep in mind that those clips are from a reunion in November 2007.

Marathon Pundit has much more in Ayers and Dohrn, starting here: Broadway Baby and Weather Underground. Follow the links.

Dohrn is now a law professor at Northwestern University. Her husband Ayers is an education professor at the University of Illinois.

Siggy points to this article: Obama's Real Bill Ayers Problem
The ex-Weatherman is now a radical educator with influence (emphasis added)

Barack Obama complains that he's been unfairly attacked for a casual political and social relationship with his neighbor, former Weatherman Bill Ayers. Obama has a point. In the ultraliberal Hyde Park community where the presidential candidate first earned his political spurs, Ayers is widely regarded as a member in good standing of the city’s civic establishment, not an unrepentant domestic terrorist. But Obama and his critics are arguing about the wrong moral question. The more pressing issue is not the damage done by the Weather Underground 40 years ago, but the far greater harm inflicted on the nation's schoolchildren by the political and educational movement in which Ayers plays a leading role today.
...
Chicago's liberals have chosen to define deviancy down in Ayers's case, and Obama can't be blamed for that.

What he can be blamed for is not acknowledging that his neighbor has a political agenda that, if successful, would make it impossible to lift academic achievement for disadvantaged children. As I have shown elsewhere in City Journal, Ayers's politics have hardly changed since his Weatherman days. He still boasts about working full-time to bring down American capitalism and imperialism. This time, however, he does it from his tenured perch as Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Instead of planting bombs in public buildings, Ayers now works to indoctrinate America's future teachers in the revolutionary cause, urging them to pass on the lessons to their public school students.

Indeed, the education department at the University of Illinois is a hotbed for the radical education professoriate. As Ayers puts it in one of his course descriptions, prospective K–12 teachers need to "be aware of the social and moral universe we inhabit and . . . be a teacher capable of hope and struggle, outrage and action, a teacher teaching for social justice and liberation." Ayers's texts on the imperative of social-justice teaching are among the most popular works in the syllabi of the nation’s ed schools and teacher-training institutes. One of Ayers's major themes is that the American public school system is nothing but a reflection of capitalist hegemony. Thus, the mission of all progressive teachers is to take back the classrooms and turn them into laboratories of revolutionary change.
...
Ayers's influence on what is taught in the nation's public schools is likely to grow in the future. Last month, he was elected vice president for curriculum of the 25,000-member American Educational Research Association (AERA), the nation's largest organization of education-school professors and researchers. Ayers won the election handily, and there is no doubt that his fellow education professors knew whom they were voting for. In the short biographical statement distributed to prospective voters beforehand, Ayers listed among his scholarly books Fugitive Days, an unapologetic memoir about his ten years in the Weather Underground. The book includes dramatic accounts of how he bombed the Pentagon and other public buildings.

AERA already does a great deal to advance the social-justice teaching agenda in the nation’s schools and has established a Social Justice Division with its own executive director. With Bill Ayers now part of the organization's national leadership, you can be sure that it will encourage even more funding and support for research on how teachers can promote left-wing ideology in the nation's classrooms—and correspondingly less support for research on such mundane subjects as the best methods for teaching underprivileged children to read.

This is a particularly harmful waste of school hours for underprivileged children who need a strong and rigorous school curriculum since school is most likely the only place where they would learn literacy skills, without which they can not progress: Betsy asks,

Think of the problems that we have today in teaching literacy and basic math skills. Would any of those problems be ameliorated by teaching "social justice and liberation?"

Also via Siggy, At NPR

The issue, though, isn't what Ayers thought then; it's what he thinks now.

Read Ayers' memoir, Fugitive Days, which was published — in actual horrific irony — on Sept. 10, 2001. Though I have to admit it's pretty well written, it's filled with more paternalism ("A squad of cops in Cleveland had dragged Black men from a motel and shot them down in cold blood, and now we would, I thought, even the score.") and romanticism of what were ultimately terrorist acts. Ayers was also quoted in 2001 saying that he has no regrets for his past actions, but rather he feels that "we didn't do enough." Take a gander at his Web site and see if you find contrition or self-aggrandizement.

What someone did 40 years ago — within reason — should not damn that person forever. But that's assuming offending individuals pay their debt to society and repent. Ayers has done neither.

I genuinely hope Obama's got as much distance as humanly possible between himself and Ayers, and that Ayers is just, as Obama said in the debate, "a guy who lives in my neighborhood."

Some neighborhood: There are Auchi, Rezko, and terrorist fundraisers, too.

Obama, Auchi, Rezko Timeline? A Conspiracy? Don't forget to check Rezkorama for developments on that case.

Terrorist fundraisers for Obama. Roundup and more at Stop the ACLU, visuals by Doug Ross.

Gateway Pundit links to videos:


The distractions? Or the reality?


Rick Moran asks, Is Obama in trouble?. Well, from looking at all the above, he ought to be.

Special thanks to Larwyn for the links.


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Expect more food shortages and black markets in Bolivia, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba

LatAm leaders in food price pact

Four Latin American leaders, meeting in Caracas, have agreed on a $100m (£50m) scheme to combat the impact of rising food prices on the region's poor.

The presidents of Bolivia, Nicaragua and Venezuela and Cuba's vice-president also agreed on joint programmes to promote the development of agriculture.

Chavez's efforts at creating a command economy and setting price controls has lead to shortages of beef, poultry, sugar, milk, ground coffee, cheese and beans for over a year. Cuba's ruined economy for decades has had its people subsisting on rations that are worse than slave rations.


The article's caption to this photo reads "Cuba is among several countries dependent on food imports"; The reason for that is that Communism ruined the Cuban agricultural industry. The Cuban regime can not subsist without foreign governments bankrolling it. In the olden days, it was the Soviet Union, and this meeting would have taken place in Havana. Nowadays, it's Chavez who's providing the funds, so the meeting took place in Caracas.

Bolivia and Nicaragua now join them on the path to ruin.



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Bias at the Beeb?

Blame Israel, read later,
Fuel crisis threatens UN Gaza aid. The Beeb declares,

Israeli sanctions imposed in an attempt to force the Palestinian group Hamas to stop rocket fire have caused shortages

Having made that assertion, the Beeb then mentions the Hamas-generated strike by the Gaza oil distributors as "Israel says":

But Israel says Hamas is deliberately preventing fuel from being distributed.

It says there are a million litres of fuel at a border terminal which Gaza fuel distributors, with the backing of Hamas, have refused to collect in protest at the Israeli restrictions.

It's not until paragraph #15 that you read

The fuel shortages have been compounded since 7 April by a strike by Gaza's fuel distributors and petrol station owners, who have been refusing to pick up about 1 million litres that Israel has pumped into the Nahal Oz fuel terminal, saying the quantity is insufficient.

Not that that had anything to do with shortages...



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Possibly the Best.Linkfest.Ever

by the Anchoress.

I could almost weep: James Bond's Aston Martin DBS falls in the drink

Bond car plunges into Lake Garda

A stunt driver has crashed the car used by movie secret agent James Bond into Italy's Lake Garda during filming of 007's latest movie, Quantum of Solace.

The driver was delivering the iconic Aston Martin DBS to the film scene in heavy rain when he lost control around one of the lake's narrow curves.

The Beeb has video.

Looks totalled.



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The missing France2 rushes

Joe Noory has posted The Missing France 2 Rushes on YouTube.

Dr. Richard Landes and Nidra Poller have reported on the al Dura case.

For now, here are the rushes








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Paraguay: Fernando Lugo, Hugo's latest buddy

From the looks of it, Paraguay's new president Fernado Lugo is Hugo Chavez's latest buddy. As you can read in Bridget Johnson's article, Latin America’s Latest Marxist Leader Takes Power in Paraguay, Marxist former Bishop Fernando Lugo is the latest of Hugo's friends to come to power with the help of Hugo's oil money. He joins Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, Bolivian President Evo Morales, and Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa in the choir paid for by Hugo's money. And I'm not including those suitcases full of money Hugo was sending Argentina's Cristina Kirchner.

This means the least competitive economy in South America is now in Chavez's pocket.

Paraguay has elected former Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo in spite of the fact that the Paraguayan constitution prohibits ministers of any faith from standing as a political candidate. Lugo claims to have resigned from his position, but unfortunately for him, the Catholic Church isn't amenable to resignations by ordained clergy since ordination is a Sacrament and carries a lifetime commitment. He may be defrocked.

Here is Lugo's BBC profile, which says that Lugo's ready to put the squeeze on Brazil:

In particular he wants Brazil to pay Paraguay a lot more money for the electricity it buys from their jointly-owned Itaipu dam, the world's biggest hydroelectric plant. He says he will take Brazil to the World Court in The Hague if necessary.

He also wants to establish relations with China

Lugo fits the populist cookie-cutter:

They are protectionists, rejecting Washington's proposals for free trade throughout the Western hemisphere, and preferring to build up a South American bloc as a counterweight to Nafta.

They are populists, using public projects to buy support. They are nationalists, picking fights with the US, the World Bank and, when all else fails, each other.

They are, if not anti-democratic, at least anti-parliamentary, articulating their peoples' contempt for politicians: Bonapartists, if you like.

Monsignor Lugo fits the mould neatly. He is a brilliant orator, whether in Spanish or in the indigenous language, Guaraní.

While he recently tempered his anti-yanquismo, he none the less attacked Washington's unhappy record of backing dictators. And, for all his ideological proximity to Brazil's leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, he played on anti-Brazilian nationalism.

Lugo's victory completes the triumph of the radical Left in South America.

Which makes Paraguay ripe for Hugo's Bolivarian Revolution.

The Latin Business Chronicle urges Lugo to follow Chile's example because of the dismal economic conditions after sixty-one years of Colorado party rule:

Paraguay needs to follow Chile's - not Venezuela's - example as a way to reduce the country's poverty and corruption.
...
First and foremost, Lugo should realize that Paraguay's status as the poorest nation in South America is not due to Capitalism, but rather the lack of true free markets. Even after Paraguay became a democracy nearly 20 years ago, the country continued to be dominated by corruption and the rule of influence instead of transparency and the rule of law.

Paraguay has the least competitive economy in all of Latin America, according to the 2007 Global Competitiveness Index from the World Economic Forum. It ranks 121 worldwide among the 131 nations the survey looked at. Its low rank was due to such factors as weak institutions, inefficient infrastructure, insufficient macro economic stability, little innovation and low technology readiness. Paraguay is among the countries with the lowest Internet and fixed telephony penetration in Latin America, according to the 2007 Latin Technology Index published by Latin Business Chronicle, which ranked its overall technology level at 15th out of 20 nations in the region.

Meanwhile, the Milken Institute says that Paraguay ranks as the second-worst in Latin America when it comes to access to capital for entrepreneurs. Only Haiti ranks worse, according to the Capital Access Index released in February. Paraguay ranked in 94h place out of 122 nations worldwide.
...
Transparency International gave the country a score of 2.4 (with 10 being best) on its 2007 survey of corruption perception. That makes Paraguay the fourth-most corrupt nation in Latin America.

Lugo will be following Chavez's example,

n contrast, the radical-populist policies implemented in Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador have increasingly deterred foreign investment and in most cases spurred even more poverty. Corruption has also been growing. Venezuela's international ranking has fallen from 71st place (out of 90 nations) in 2000 - when Chavez became president - to 162nd place this year (out of 179 nations), according to Transparency International. Only Haiti is more corrupt in Latin America.

Unfortunately there possibly are dire consequences in the region's security, since Paraguay has significant organized crime and terrorist activity in the TriBorder Area (TBA), which continues to show in the terrorist radar where meetings attended by Hezbollah and al-Qaeda have recently taken place.



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