The third Monday in November Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Crossposted

Welcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean, the weekly roundup of news items and blog posts on the region. If you would like your posts included, please email me: faustaw2 "at" gmail "dot" com.

This week's big story: The G20 weekend meeting in Washington DC. While Washington commuters had to put up with the traffic jams, and the leaders pledged to work together to restore global growth, that pledge is probably worth the paper it was signed on (since it wasn't signed on paper), and nothing much else happened. On the bright side, oil is trading in the $56 range.

I'll be talking about the G-20 in today's 15 Minutes on Latin America podcast.

LATIN AMERICA
The Latinobarómetro poll
Democracy and the downturn
Latin Americans are standing up for their rights

ARGENTINA
Menem faces court over bomb probe

Decálogo del asaltado

BRAZIL
The Forest Jihad

COLOMBIA
Pelosi Serves Up Colombia To Europe

Last Chance for a Colombia Pact

UPDATE:UAW Won't Support Colombia Trade Pact For Big-3 Aid

FARC se infiltra en universidades para entrenar a milicianos

Rooting out cocaine production in Colombia

CUBA
To save the ants

From the official Communist party organ, Castro writes a book about Colombia

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominicans charged with organizing fatal journey

ECUADOR
Correa amenaza con incursionar y bombardear territorio de Colombia

ECUADOR
Soros's Narcostate Promotional Team Does Ecuador

JAMAICA
"Driven Life" and others in a dynamic conversation about faith and its impact on the world.
Spurning Europe, Caribbean pushes death penalty

MEXICO
Mexico's War: The Iraq Next Door

Mexico stock exchange says drug war scaring off IPOs

Criminal insurgency strikes Mexican media

NICARAGUA
How to steal an election
Daniel Ortega sets an ugly precedent

Preliminary thoughts on Nicaragua

U.S. Should Cut Foreign Assistance to Nicaragua

PARAGUAY
Landing on our airstrip

Meeting with other Paraguay bloggers in Paraguay

PERU
The Re-Emergence of the Shining Path: The Criminal-Terrorist Nexus

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico to eliminate Electoral Fund in 2009

URUGUAY
Uruguay head vetoes abortion bill

VENEZUELA
On Sunday, Venezuelans will be voting for 23 governors across the country. Mary O'Grady writes about Chávez's threat to bring out the tanks if people don't vote for his candidates: Dodd's 'Democrat' Tightens His Grip

Venezuela News and Views has been posting on the elections. Here's the latest: The Venezuelan 2008 election: update 16 - Holding Margarita

Chavez says Venezuela is moving toward developing nuclear power

The clueless and strange tale of the expelled Venezuelan Diplomats

US POLITICS
The only way is up
After eight years of neglect by Bush, relations between the US and Latin America can only improve under Barack Obama

The NYT has a lame article about how Obama's athletic abilities make him qualified to discuss foreign policy with the likes of cigar-yielding tyrant Castro (I wonder when was the last time Fidel even saw a baseball) and coca leaf growers' union leader Evo Morales, For Obama, a Scouting Report on Athletic Heads of State. James Joyner aims, shoots, and scores in his comment on the puff piece.

SCIENCE and EDUCATIONAL
The 'Secret Jews' of San Luis Valley

An introduction to Spanish nouns and genders

This week’s posts and podcasts
Today's 15 Minutes on Latin America: The G-20.



Huge weapons cache on Mexican border drug wars
“What Obama Might Do?”, on Latin America
Postcards from the edge: Sandalistas {heart} Hugo




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The last Monday in August Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Crossposted at Fausta's blog.com

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

TODAY'S PODCAST AT 11AM Eastern
How the Latin American media glamorizes Obama and ignores McCain.



ARGENTINA
Clouds gather again over the Pampas
After six years of rapid growth, Argentina’s economy is at a familiar turning-point, in which the president’s refusal to change course threatens to make it poorer

USA'08: Madonna, metete la lengua entre las piernas y cerralas

BOLIVIA
Bolivia set for anti-Morales strikes

Bolivia in turmoil over socialist leaders’ attempt to grab wealth

Evo Morales: “Fidel nos dijo: hagan lo que esta haciendo Chavez” - Radio Fides

Libia invertira $us 80.000 millones en Latinoamerica, incluida Bolivia

BRAZIL
Lobao Says Brazil Plans to Uphold Oil Contracts, O Globo Says

Not as violent as you thought: Contrary to stereotype, the murder rate is falling

COLOMBIA
FARC rejected by many of its members

COSTA RICA
Chere Tomayko: Another Battered American Woman Granted Asylum, This Time in Costa Rica, Because the U.S. Will Not Protect Her or Her Children

CUBA
Cuban student leader arrested

ECUADOR
Ecuador says to meet Chevron over $16 bln lawsuit

'Immune' to cancer: The astonishing dwarf community in Ecuador who could hold the key to a cure

MEXICO
U.S./Mexico Border Violence, Continues … and why it will not cease

Red Cross gets radio threats in Mexico border city

The Failure of the Social Contract

NICARAGUA
Ortega offers asylum to narco-traffickers

PANAMA
Panama creates controversial intelligence force

PARAGUAY
Paraguay leader replaces military

PERU
Fighting for Freedom in Rural Peru: "ALBA Houses" Threaten Democracy

Peru's army on standby as jungle unrest grows

Peru throws out Amazon land laws

PERU SUSPENDS CIVIL LIBERTIES AS 65 INDIGENOUS TRIBES STRUGGLE FOR THEIR LAND

PUERTO RICO
Más acusaciones contra el Gobernador
Visite nuestro sitio especial: Caso de Acevedo Vilá.

Corpse kept upright for 3-day wake in Puerto Rico (Yup, we’ve got pics) Insólito velatorio: Joven muerto es velado de pie en Hato Rey, según lo pidió a sus familiares.

VENEZUELA
Via IBD Blog, Mario Vargas Llosa: "RESTRAINING THE MEDIA BRINGS ABOUT DICTATORSHIP"

Venezuela Cement Takeover Widens Government's Control (Update2)

Chronology of Venezuela 's nationalization of key industries

Venezuela's Weak Strongman: Chávez does not speak for the South American left.

Vampire bats blamed for Venezuela rabies outbreak

Think progress

Are we under a legal military regime in Venezuela?

Where is the revolutionary gold?

Possibly the dumbest sportscaster ever, via The Real Cuba:


AMERICAN POLITICS
Bill Ayers, Barack Obama and Che Guevara

Miami Ethnic Clash May Preview U.S. Where `Minorities' Dominate

Bill Ayers gets the Chavista seal of approval


ENTERTAINMENT
In Brooklyn, Every Palate Is an Island

Special thanks to Eneas, Maggie, Maria and Siggy.

LAST WEEK’S PODCASTS AND POSTS



4.6 tons of cocaine seized in the Caribbean - port of origin: Venezuela
Latin American news media cover the Presidential campaign, and McCain is invisible
Bill Ayers gets the Chavista seal of approval
Puerto Rico’s governor faces new federal charges



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Tony Snow

Former newsman and White House press secretary Tony Snow died this morning of complications from colon cancer. He was 53 years old. Fox News is breaking the story right now.

UPDATE
Huge roundup at Memeorandum

Welcome, Instapundit readers.
Please note that this is my backup blog since my Fausta's blog, http://faustasblog.com is moving to a bigger new location. Please visit often.

Cancer's unexpected blessing, by Tony Snow, via Juliette.

Crossposted



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Tim Russert dies of a heart attack

The NYPost first had the news. Tom Brokaw made the announcement.

The Washington Post:

Russert's clout was such that when he declared Barack Obama to have wrapped up the Democratic nomination last month, that was treated as a news event in itself.

My condolences to his family, friends, coworkers and associates.
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Associated Press Truth Deficit Disorder

A couple of years ago I coined the term Associated Press Deficit Disorder (APDD)

the innatention of Associated Press and other news agencies to the actual words said by a person who doesn't fit what AP wants to hear.

Add to that Associated Press Truth Deficit Disorder, since AP is now into full fabrication mode: Gateway Pundit has the details, Busted!!... Iraqi Press Denies AP Report On Ayatollah Sistani

Iraqi Press: Sistani DID NOT issue a fatwa declaring it OK to kill US Soldiers!

Yesterday, the Associated Press released a shocking report about how moderate Ayatollah Ali Sistani was "quietly issuing religious edicts declaring that armed resistance against U.S.-led foreign troops was permissible."

This was completely out of character with the previous fatwas and religious edicts by the moderate and popular Iraqi Ayatollah.

Today, Iraqi Nibras Kazimi at Talisman Gate, who has met Ayatollah Sistani before, countered the AP report.

Go to Gateway Pundit for links and details. In the meantime, Doug Ross has the sign:



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It smelled great when I was there

A friend emailed this one, about which she's as baffled as I:
Foul Smell Encircles London

Of course you know who the Brits will blame:

U.K. Media Blames France, but Meterologists Say French Not Responsible

It was so bad, (How bad was it?)

Even the Queen was bothered:

Not even the queen was spared, as newspapers reported that Windsor Castle also suffered from the effects of the putrid smell.

Sheesh! At least the national pride remain intact:

The foul smell was not English, Sarah Holland, a forecaster for the Met Office told the BBC. "The origins of the smell come from Europe," she said.

Here it goes:

British tabloid, The Daily Mail was quick to attack the French for "le stink," reporting that "freak weather" had caused the "French stench" to come to England.

Pepe le Pew?

Alors, non!

according to Helen Chivers, a forecaster at the Met Office, the smell actually came across "from Northern Europe."

Is something rotten in the state of Denmark?

In other French news, Illegal workers
French government wants them out, firms and unions do not.
And the Chinese are po'd at France's suppoort of Tibetan independence.



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Why Beautiful Women Marry Less Attractive Men, and a really expensive photo

James asks, Why Beautiful Women Marry Less Attractive Men?
UPDATE
Why women live longer than men: a photo essay

Obi's Sister has unkind things to say about Nancy, too

I find that your rejection does not meet my needs at
this time.

A fool and his money... A nude photograph of France's first lady, Carla Bruni, has been auctioned for $91,000. Related: The Sarkozy effect.

Age rage!

Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi: Only "Retards" Would Vote For Italy's Left

Why people donate to bloggers.

All in good time, my dear

Real 911 calls

"Teenage" America says "yeah, whatever."

Bonus
The very rich don't dress well, via The Baron. Don't they have a Neiman Marcus or a Bergdorf's in SF?
Via Alcibiades, Barack Obama, jedi master



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Stay away from the Botox

Via Greta, at Bloomberg, Botox May Move From Face to Brain, Study in Rats Says

Botulinum neurotoxin type A, sold as Allergan Inc.'s Botox remedy for wrinkles, can move from its injection site to the brain, a study shows.

Scientists injected rats' whisker muscles with botulism toxin. Tests of the rodents' brain tissue found that botulism had been transported to the brain stems, the researchers said in the Journal of Neuroscience published April 2.

You can read the Journal of Neuroscience article abstract here:

Botulinum toxins (BoNTs) are used increasingly to treat maladies from spasms and migraines to obesity and wrinkles. It has been assumed that the toxin remains localized at the injection site, where it cleaves proteins involved in vesicle fusion, thereby blocking neurotransmitter release. But now Antonucci et al. demonstrate that BoNT/A is retrogradely transported along microtubules, transcytosed, and taken up by afferent terminals. When BoNT/A was injected into one hippocampus in rats, it cleaved its target — synaptosomal-associated protein of 25 kDa (SNAP-25)—in the contralateral hippocampus, resulting in reduced neuronal activity. Similarly, when BoNT/A was injected into the superior colliculus or whisker pads, SNAP-25 was cleaved in the retina and facial nucleus, respectively. In the retina, BoNT/A remained active for at least 25 d after injection. Although cleaved SNAP-25 was detected only in afferents that projected directly to the injection site, it is not clear whether further transcytosis would occur over time.

The Bloomberg article says,

Scientists injected botulism toxin into one side of the hippocampus in each rodent brain, and into their superior colliculus, a visual center. From one side of the hippocampus, the toxin migrated to the opposite. From the visual center, the drug went to the animals' eyes.

The effects of the injection into the hippocampus were still present six months later, the scientists wrote.

The FDA is evaluating reports of breathing difficulties and death after use of Botox and Myobloc, according to a posting in February on the agency's Web site. Many of the most serious cases involved children who received the injections to treat arm and leg spasms associated with cerebral palsy, a use not approved by the FDA.

Prescribing literature for Botox and Myobloc now carries warnings about the risk of breathing and swallowing difficulties in patients with neuromuscular disorders. The FDA said the new data suggest that life-threatening side effects may occur in patients with other conditions, including children with cerebral palsy.

On a lighter mode, considering some of the statements regular Botox users make, these new findings are not really surprising.



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Explosion rocks Time Square Military Recruiting Station

A cyclist threw a bomb at the Times Square recruiting station at 3:45AM today: Explosion Hits Military Recruiting Station at New York's Times Square

An explosive device caused minor damage to an empty military recruiting station in Times Square early Thursday, shaking guests in hotel rooms high above.

Police blocked off the area to investigate the explosion, which occurred at about 3:45 a.m., shattering the station's glass entryway. No one was injured.

No one was at the station at that time.

UPDATE
Photos and video



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The USS New York sails tomorrow

The USS New York will be formally dedicated tomorrow. The event will be webcast at 9AM Central.

Fron the NY Sun editorial: The USS New York

Congratulations are in order to the captain and crew of the United States Ship New York, which will be formally dedicated according to Navy tradition tomorrow when a bottle of champagne is broken across her bow at the New Orleans boatyard where it was built. A Navy press release reports the warship, an amphibious transport dock ship that can carry a landing force of 800 Marines, is named New York "in honor of the state, the city and the victims of Sept. 11, 2001." The release says 7.5 tons of steel salvaged from the World Trade Center wreckage was melted and formed into the bow stem of the ship, symbolizing "the spirit and resiliency of the people of New York." The ship's first captain is himself a New Yorker, Commander F. Curtis Jones, of Binghamton. This is no small vessel — 684 feet long, it has a crew of 360 sailors and three Marines.
...
The Navy on Saturday will christen the New York, named in honor of the state, the city, and the victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, during a ceremony at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding facilities in New Orleans. A unique characteristic of the ship is that 7.5 tons of steel salvaged from the World Trade Center wreckage was incorporated into the construction process.

The ship was built by Northorp Grunman Ship Systems. Here's the Wikipedia page.

Congratulations!

UPDATE
Rising from the ashes



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William F. Buckley Jr. Is Dead at 82

From Maria,
William F. Buckley Jr. Is Dead at 82

Back in my childhood I always found him amusing. The old guy with the huge vocabulary, who was able to debate anyone without rasing his voice. And he always looked like an old Oscar Werner, too.
(Of couse, WFB would not approve of the run-in sentence).

Once I left my liberal ways, I recognized WFB's contribution to the American conservative movement.

NRO has an excellent tribute here.

I'm sure the Good Lord told his angels to "Bring me a dictionary, Buckley's coming."



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Not that kind of rubber

Every so often I come across news that warms my inner geek:

The French have come up with a kind of self-healing rubber made of vegetable oil and urine whose "tiny hands" of hydrogen bonds allows it to repair itself.

Cool.



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Michelle as Hillary redux, and other posts from the FIHMYs

It's time for a Friends I Haven't Met Yet roundup:

The Anchoress says Michelle Obama is just Hillary redux, and The Anchoress is right.

Siggy tackles Confusion And The Crumbling Nation and hits the ball out of the ballpark while I mix my metaphors.

Laurie Kendrick comes across The Stamp of Disapproval.

Jeremayakovka quotes U. S. Grant.

Spanish Pundit has a bilingual post on why Kosovo's independence is not a good thing.

John Chappell ponders the news in Barcelona.

Nothing Is As Lovely As Global Warming On A Tuesday In February

Speaking of global warming, Gateway Pundit's got cold news. Tim Blair wants us to listen to the AAAS.

ShrinkWrapped opens the archive on The Arab Mind.

Mamacita goes shopping.



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The Iraqi reconciliation law

Yesterday I posted that Iraq had passed a major reconciliation law.

Ending Impasse, Iraq Parliament Backs Measures

More than any previous legislation, the new initiatives have the potential to spur reconciliation between Sunnis and Shiites and set the country on the road to a more representative government, starting with new provincial elections.

The voting itself was a significant step forward for the Parliament, where even basic quorums have been rare. In a classic legislative compromise, the three measures, each of which was a burning issue for at least one faction, were packaged together for a single vote to encourage agreement across sectarian lines.
...
The three measures are the 2008 budget; a law outlining the scope of provincial powers, a crucial aspect of Iraq’s self-definition as a federal state; and an amnesty that would apply to thousands of the detainees held in Iraqi jails.

Belmont Club explains that the new law is a linchpin for reconciliation, and possibly the start of a new federal system,

This measure is vital to institutionalizing the gains won by the Surge. Iraq has long been crippled by the defective, UN-designed "closed-party list" voting system, which created political parties based on sectarian affiliation. A UN website describes why it adopted this system. It had the advantage of being easy ("no census is required") and creating what in the UN view was an appropriate structure of political coalitions. The trouble was the system encouraged the very same fraction that took Iraq to the brink of civil war.

One of the key problems facing strategists of the Surge was to find a way to institutionalize the grassroots movement of the past year. Former insurgents would of course, be retrained and put under the discipline of the Army or Police. But what of the political leaders? The natural path was to encourage the leadership which emerged during the Surge to stand for office, which proved very difficult to do under the closed-party list system. They were dressed up with no place to go.

The impasse in Baghdad is partly the result of a logjam of sectarian interests. There are also a fair number of politicians, who because of the sectarian nature of the coalitions, are stooges of Teheran. A new election law could sweep the logjam away in a flood, with the stooges in the bargain. Electoral reform is supremely important for long term success. It is the linchpin of "reconciliation".

Setting a budget is a very big step towards reconstruction and the building of not only an infrastructure but also a strong economy.

In a thorough post, Bill Ardolino examines the Iraqi legistalive branch.

While the term "accomodation" may or may not be more appropriate than "reconciliation", there is no doubt that the Iraqi Parliament has made a huge step towards more representative government.

UPDATE
Ed Morrissey notices that Even The New York Times Notices Progress

They leave a few points out of this editorial. For instance, they leave out that none of this would have been possible had we listened to General Harry Reid and Admiral Nancy Pelosi, both of whom declared defeat -- Reid doing so literally -- and demanding a bug-out for the last two years. They don't mention that Hillary Clinton all but called (the real) General David Petraeus a liar for telling Congress that the situation had greatly improved in Iraq. The editors also fail to mention their acceptance of an ad that called Petraeus a traitor, placed by MoveOn, which supports candidates like Reid, Pelosi, and Clinton.

Had we listened to them, Iraqis would be dying by the tens of thousands, al-Qaeda would have turned Iraq into their own state, and they would have their hands on Iraq's oil resources. The Times doesn't bother to mention that, either.

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The only Britney Spears post you'll likely see in this blog

For all the years I've been blogging I've scrupulously avoided celebrity blogging because the subject doesn't interest me.

It's time to make an exception.

We have been exposed to the Britney Spears meltdown for a couple of years. Was most of it a publicity stunt? I don't know.

Certainly Britney has shown extremely poor judgement in her choice of men, her flashing the papparrazzi, her drinking and driving - and her insistence on driving herself after her license was revoked, her shaved head, and on and on, in ever-descending circles.

But if it started as a publicity stunt, it has now become a health issue. She's been confined to a mental hospital, probably against her will, for at least a few days. Now a court has placed her and her estate under temporary conservatorship:

Conservatorships are created to care for people deemed by a court to be incapable of taking care of themselves or managing their finances. A court appoints another individual or organization to act as the person's "conservator," taking charge of the person's care or finances or, in some cases, both.

Her father is now conservator.

A year ago The Manolo wisely stopped wanting to ridicule Britney.

Now all I can wish for is that the media will stop playing games with this very troubled woman who should be given time and privacy to restore her health.

As for celebrities being "role models", I don't buy into that, either. Either you behave with integrity or you don't, and children will recognize that in the adults around them. They don't need celebrities to learn.



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The last-Monday-in-January Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Welcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean.

The ongoing maletagate case, where a suitcase full of Chavista money for the Argentinian Kirchner campaign was intercepted, continues to be at the top of the headlines. A Colombo-americana's perspective (who I had the pleasure of meeting yesterday) has stayed on top of the story and has the latest here.

Chavez continues to threaten Colombia, claiming that Colombia and the US are about to invade Venezuela (see more links under both countries), while he also threatens Guayana. If that weren't enough, he's seizing food shipments.

If you would like your links on Latin America to be included in the Monday carnivals, please email me by Sunday evening: faustaw "at" yahoo "dot" com.

VIDEO
Isabella Rossellini talks about La fiesta del chivo


WEBSITE OF THE WEEK
Caribbean News

LATIN AMERICA
Sweet and Sour

IMMIGRATION
"Hispanic panic”"as Arizona immigration crackdown bites

Zogby: American Public Sees Latin America through Narrow Immigration Lens

UPCOMING CONFERENCE
Cumbre iberoamericana de Prensa en Burgos el 30 de enero

ARGENTINA
Stop all the clocks

BELIZE
For many Belizeans, UDP winning this election is not the ending but the beginning

Belizean Musician Andy Palacio: A Remembrance



National Geographic's Intelligent Travel has a section rating Caribbean Island destinations

BRAZIL
Wolf Pack: The survival of patronage politics

CHILE
Chile: Adventist media guru keeps country on communication edge

COLOMBIA
Colombia Hurled Into The Cold - with a kiss

Random musings on Colombia and Venezuela

Colombia refuses Chavez hostage efforts

Rice pushes Colombia free trade deal

Hugo Chavez, the key to political popularity

With An 80% Approval Rating Uribe Battles Democrats For Support

Hugo Chavez and the FARC boost Uribe's popularity

OUTRAGE!... Congressional Democrats Continue to Give Loyal US Ally Colombia the Shaft

Politicians Fear Colombia-Venezuela Military Face-Off

CUBA
Join Lech Walesa & Help Support the Cuban People

Havana's Martin Luther King Center Marks 20th Anniversary

Giuliani and Cuban refugees

ECUADOR
Ecuador Denies Letting FARC Leader Reyes Operate on Its Soil

GUYANA
Guyana deaths spark village anger

GUATEMALA
More from Intelligent Travel, Leave your heart in Guatemala

JAMAICA
Jamaican police report significant drop in drug mules

MEXICO
Tariffs and tortillas
Trade is not to blame for the poverty of Mexican farmers

NICARAGUA
Same As the Old Boss?

VENEZUELA
Arroz con leche

Don't miss this post: Milk is Milk

Slum Lord

PETROLEOS DE VENEZUELA NOW ENGAGED IN MILK AND TUNA IMPORTS

Venezuelan troops seize food

Zimbabwe On the Caribbean

Whipsawed

Annals of Infiltration

Chavez Causes Exodus to Florida

The Chavez-FARC-Drug trafficking connection

Does Hugo Chavez's NPD (narcissistic personality disorder) have something to do with his taste for coca and his martyr behavior? and Night of the Living Dead, which might explain the latest in TV entertainment: people praying at Chavez during his TV show, En Alo Presidente ... rezaron ante Hugo Chavez

Chavez: Pull Reserves From US

Si un presidente está en la mira por su peligrosidad, ese es Hugo Chavez
Chavez entre las FARC y el narcotrafico

Announcement: Memorial Mass for Venezuela's Cardinal Rosalio Castillo Lara in Washington DC

Special thanks to Maggie, Kate and Siggy for their support.

Blogging about the Carnival
A very special Carnival day
A Second Hand Conjecture
Obi's Sister
Earn a Ph.D.d.F.
The end of Venezuela as I know it



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Bobby Fisher dies, and the morning roundup

Chess legend Fischer dies at 64. He had been living in Iceland, where he was granted citizenship in 2005 as a way to avoid deportation to the USA, and

Mr Fischer was wanted for breaking international sanctions by playing a match in the former Yugoslavia in 1992.

He also had alienated many in his homeland by broadcasting anti-Semitic diatribes and expressing support for the 11 September 2001 attacks in New York.

Ed Morrissey has more on Fisher.

By the way, I don't believe that madness and genius go together. I've known scores of insane idiots, and several very sane geniuses.
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Bob Bidinotto wrote an excellent article on the Ron Paul newsletters, and notices much more than the loathsome bigotry,

Steve Green's article in TNI cited Paul's highly restrictive position on immigration (to the right of Tom Tancredo), his hypocritical support of pork-barrel earmarks for his own congressional district, his opposition to various free-trade agreements (like NAFTA) on wacko-conspiratorial grounds that they surrender U.S. sovereignty to Evil International Institutions, and his appalling, blame-America-first version of "noninterventionism" in foreign policy.

To that, Wendy McElroy points to Cong. Paul's pro-federal-interventionist anti-abortion bill (read her whole commentary), which would deny women the right to end a pregnancy and even deny the courts the power of judicial review in the matter -- a clear violation of separation of powers, which is a curious position for this self-proclaimed champion of the Constitution.

But what can you expect from a religious conservative who, on Lew Rockwell's website, rejected the Jeffersonian principle of a "wall of separation" between religion and government? As the congressman put it, "The notion of a rigid separation between church and state has no basis in either the text of the Constitution or the writings of our Founding Fathers." For Ron Paul, then, "Far from mandating strict secularism in schools, it [the First Amendment] instead bars the federal government from prohibiting the Pledge of Allegiance, school prayer, or any other religious expression. The politicians and judges pushing the removal of religion from public life are violating the First amendment, not upholding it." In other words, "libertarian" Dr. Paul believes the First Amendment was meant to allow state governments to promote religion in their laws and public institutions.

Thus, he supported legislation keeping the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance and has voted in favor of a bill that, in defiance of a federal court decision, would allow a courthouse to maintain a display of the Ten Commandments. Such a display, of course, expresses specifically Judeo-Christian religious views, and represents government endorsing "an establishment of religion" -- a particular religion. Like a fellow Baptist, GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, Cong. Paul rejects the scientific theory of evolution and accepts the scientific rubbish of "Creationism." One can only imagine what he would allow to be taught as "science" in state and local public schools.

This is not a political record or a philosophy of consistent support for individual rights and freedom. Rather, it is a record of support for an extreme "states' rights" brand of federalism that -- contrary to all legal precedents established in accordance with the 14th Amendment -- would give a green light to wholesale violations of individual rights at the state and local level.

Libertarians are not pleased, indeed.
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Human Rights First has issued an action alert to Demand Medical Attention for Critically Ill Cuban Prisoners.

Because in Cuba there is no such thing as free healthcare.
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Rachel Eherenfeld has a new article on Terror's financiers

Due diligence currently available identifies the routine and obvious risks associated with Western market participants. However, growing Islamic banking and Shariah-compliant industries promote themselves as hot new financial markets in which to invest. The attraction for U.S. and Western banks and investors is the $1 trillion and rising annual Saudi and Gulf state oil revenues.

Then again, like many other "innovative" products, the "ethical" and "socially responsible" Middle East and Islamic banking and investment market present many new risks not currently addressed either by their proponents or by regulatory agencies, much less due diligence services now available.

These markets and products lack transparency and Western accounting. Frequently, their documentation and offering statements do not disclose information required by federal laws and banking regulations. Furthermore, this market is increasingly governed by radical Islamic clerics whose provenance is unknown to the Federal Reserve Board, U.S. and international equities and bond ratings agencies, index providers and other insufficiently educated market participants and facilitators.

Data-mining software is available in the market today. But it lacks the ability to also analyze social and political networks and identify terrorist links. An important new program will shortly be available to fill that gap. It will also aid collection, processing, investigation, discovery, data-sharing and reporting intelligence.

The government needs this technology to stop terror financing. And businesses need objective consultants with regional expertise, language skills and access to the latest software to fully meet their "know you customer" and disclosure regulations.

Cinnamon Stillwell writes that Juan Cole and CAIR Accuse 2008 Presidential Candidates of "Islamophobia".

Rachel and Cinnamon were my podcast guests last September.
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BRAVO! 'Meanest Mom on Planet' Sells Teen Son's Car After Finding Booze Under Seat
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The iconography of the Left continues its inexorable march towards capitalism: In Mao Mao’ing Mao (+ BTW, Where's MAD) Bruce Kessler found out that in China there's a thriving occupation for Mao impersonators. Watch out, Elvis.

Dr Helen Szamuely read about the Mao Cafe in Dublin and asks, What motivates this people?

Greed, lack of moral compass, self-loathing and nihilism come to mind, Helen.
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Don't miss this morning's podcast at 11AM


Laurie Kendrick's joining us!


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Ron Paul: Angry White Bigot

Racism, homophobia, and anti-Semitism in the newsletters from an Angry White Man who's running for President:

Take, for instance, a special issue of the Ron Paul Political Report, published in June 1992, dedicated to explaining the Los Angeles riots of that year. "Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks three days after rioting began," read one typical passage. According to the newsletter, the looting was a natural byproduct of government indulging the black community with "'civil rights,' quotas, mandated hiring preferences, set-asides for government contracts, gerrymandered voting districts, black bureaucracies, black mayors, black curricula in schools, black tv shows, black tv anchors, hate crime laws, and public humiliation for anyone who dares question the black agenda." It also denounced "the media" for believing that "America's number one need is an unlimited white checking account for underclass blacks." To be fair, the newsletter did praise Asian merchants in Los Angeles, but only because they had the gumption to resist political correctness and fight back. Koreans were "the only people to act like real Americans," it explained, "mainly because they have not yet been assimilated into our rotten liberal culture, which admonishes whites faced by raging blacks to lie back and think of England."

This "Special Issue on Racial Terrorism" was hardly the first time one of Paul's publications had raised these topics. As early as December 1989, a section of his Investment Letter, titled "What To Expect for the 1990s," predicted that "Racial Violence Will Fill Our Cities" because "mostly black welfare recipients will feel justified in stealing from mostly white 'haves.'" Two months later, a newsletter warned of "The Coming Race War," and, in November 1990, an item advised readers, "If you live in a major city, and can leave, do so. If not, but you can have a rural retreat, for investment and refuge, buy it." In June 1991, an entry on racial disturbances in Washington, DC's Adams Morgan neighborhood was titled, "Animals Take Over the D.C. Zoo." "This is only the first skirmish in the race war of the 1990s," the newsletter predicted. In an October 1992 item about urban crime, the newsletter's author--presumably Paul--wrote, "I've urged everyone in my family to know how to use a gun in self defense. For the animals are coming." That same year, a newsletter described the aftermath of a basketball game in which "blacks poured into the streets of Chicago in celebration. How to celebrate? How else? They broke the windows of stores to loot." The newsletter inveighed against liberals who "want to keep white America from taking action against black crime and welfare," adding, "Jury verdicts, basketball games, and even music are enough to set off black rage, it seems."

Such views on race also inflected the newsletters' commentary on foreign affairs. South Africa's transition to multiracial democracy was portrayed as a "destruction of civilization" that was "the most tragic [to] ever occur on that continent, at least below the Sahara"; and, in March 1994, a month before Nelson Mandela was elected president, one item warned of an impending "South African Holocaust."

Martin Luther King Jr. earned special ire from Paul's newsletters, which attacked the civil rights leader frequently, often to justify opposition to the federal holiday named after him. ("What an infamy Ronald Reagan approved it!" one newsletter complained in 1990. "We can thank him for our annual Hate Whitey Day.") In the early 1990s, a newsletter attacked the "X-Rated Martin Luther King" as a "world-class philanderer who beat up his paramours," "seduced underage girls and boys," and "made a pass at" fellow civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy. One newsletter ridiculed black activists who wanted to rename New York City after King, suggesting that "Welfaria," "Zooville," "Rapetown," "Dirtburg," and "Lazyopolis" were better alternatives. The same year, King was described as "a comsymp, if not an actual party member, and the man who replaced the evil of forced segregation with the evil of forced integration."

While bashing King, the newsletters had kind words for the former Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, David Duke. In a passage titled "The Duke's Victory," a newsletter celebrated Duke's 44 percent showing in the 1990 Louisiana Senate primary. "Duke lost the election," it said, "but he scared the blazes out of the Establishment." In 1991, a newsletter asked, "Is David Duke's new prominence, despite his losing the gubernatorial election, good for anti-big government forces?" The conclusion was that "our priority should be to take the anti-government, anti-tax, anti-crime, anti-welfare loafers, anti-race privilege, anti-foreign meddling message of Duke, and enclose it in a more consistent package of freedom." Duke is now returning the favor, telling me that, while he will not formally endorse any candidate, he has made information about Ron Paul available on his website.

Like blacks, gays earn plenty of animus in Paul's newsletters. They frequently quoted Paul's "old colleague," Representative William Dannemeyer--who advocated quarantining people with AIDS--praising him for "speak[ing] out fearlessly despite the organized power of the gay lobby." In 1990, one newsletter mentioned a reporter from a gay magazine "who certainly had an axe to grind, and that's not easy with a limp wrist." In an item titled, "The Pink House?" the author of a newsletter--again, presumably Paul--complained about President George H.W. Bush's decision to sign a hate crimes bill and invite "the heads of homosexual lobbying groups to the White House for the ceremony," adding, "I miss the closet." "Homosexuals," it said, "not to speak of the rest of society, were far better off when social pressure forced them to hide their activities." When Marvin Liebman, a founder of the conservative Young Americans for Freedom and a longtime political activist, announced that he was gay in the pages of National Review, a Paul newsletter implored, "Bring Back the Closet!" Surprisingly, one item expressed ambivalence about the contentious issue of gays in the military, but ultimately concluded, "Homosexuals, if admitted, should be put in a special category and not allowed in close physical contact with heterosexuals."

The newsletters were particularly obsessed with AIDS, "a politically protected disease thanks to payola and the influence of the homosexual lobby," and used it as a rhetorical club to beat gay people in general. In 1990, one newsletter approvingly quoted "a well-known Libertarian editor" as saying, "The ACT-UP slogan, on stickers plastered all over Manhattan, is 'Silence = Death.' But shouldn't it be 'Sodomy = Death'?" Readers were warned to avoid blood transfusions because gays were trying to "poison the blood supply." "Am I the only one sick of hearing about the 'rights' of AIDS carriers?" a newsletter asked in 1990. That same year, citing a Christian-right fringe publication, an item suggested that "the AIDS patient" should not be allowed to eat in restaurants and that "AIDS can be transmitted by saliva," which is false. Paul's newsletters advertised a book, Surviving the AIDS Plague--also based upon the casual-transmission thesis--and defended "parents who worry about sending their healthy kids to school with AIDS victims." Commenting on a rise in AIDS infections, one newsletter said that "gays in San Francisco do not obey the dictates of good sense," adding: "[T]hese men don't really see a reason to live past their fifties. They are not married, they have no children, and their lives are centered on new sexual partners." Also, "they enjoy the attention and pity that comes with being sick."

The rhetoric when it came to Jews was little better. The newsletters display an obsession with Israel; no other country is mentioned more often in the editions I saw, or with more vitriol. A 1987 issue of Paul's Investment Letter called Israel "an aggressive, national socialist state," and a 1990 newsletter discussed the "tens of thousands of well-placed friends of Israel in all countries who are willing to wok [sic] for the Mossad in their area of expertise." Of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, a newsletter said, "Whether it was a setup by the Israeli Mossad, as a Jewish friend of mine suspects, or was truly a retaliation by the Islamic fundamentalists, matters little."

Years' worth of newsletters.

The Ron Paul campaign says,

"When I was out of Congress and practicing medicine full-time, a newsletter was published under my name that I did not edit. Several writers contributed to the product. For over a decade, I have publicly taken moral responsibility for not paying closer attention to what went out under my name."

If it had been a couple of newsletters, maybe. But as I said, it's years' worth of newsletters.

And may the ghostwriter come forward, please?


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Why Iowa?

To people like me, the Iowa caucus is just a ridiculous political circus.

Luckily there's Christopher C. Hull, Adjunct Assistant Professor in Georgetown University's Government Department, willing to explain its significance:
Demystifying Iowa:

The old saw in Iowa is "caucus" is an Indian word for gathering together to make a great noise. That may be apocryphal, but the noise Iowa's caucuses generate is certainly no myth.

Having read the article, I reserve my opinion on the circus.

Eternity Road casts a more positive glance at Iowa

It's fitting that this unique approach to candidate selection should precede the other states' primaries. It's a reminder of why the states are significant even today, after Washington has sucked nearly all their autonomy out of them: they're supposed to compete with one another, in form and content.

My friends at Heading Right are liveblogging.


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Bhutto did die of gunshots

Doug Ross has the photos; Ed Morrissey has the video:

As Ed explains

Musharraf has a huge credibility problem, and this video makes it crystal clear. Until now, Musharraf has resisted calls for an international investigation into the assassination. Today, CNN reports that the Pakistani government could reconsider that decision. If they do, the family of Bhutto could then agree to an exhumation and an autopsy by an independent coroner which will confirm the cause of death.

That will open up a lot of questions about the official government story and what prompted it. With so many eyewitnesses to the murder, why float such a ridiculous theory about a sunroof handle? What were they trying to cover up? The video also shows the vehicle surrounded by people; where was a security cordon? How could the police, seen standing around the vehicle, allow a gunman to get within a few feet of Bhutto?

I certainly hope the FBI stays away from any kind of investigation.

Bhutto's son named as successor in what amounts to a feudal succession.

Tariq Ali says that Pakistan deserves better than this grotesque feudal charade. Unfortunately he can't think of anyone.

Meanwhile here in the USA, since the front-page spotlight's not shining on her, Hillary's saying she risked her life on White House trips in yet another lie, after claiming she was pals with Benezir Bhutto. Siggy, however, has better memory than Hillaray and asks

One has to wonder why Senator Clinton would be so close to someone who referred to her supporters as 'chumps and loonies.'

Your guess is as good as mine.



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