News of the Restless

Mofo Martinelli makes Madurito mad

Posted on March 5, 2014 by Sabina Becker

maduro-memorial

Don’t ever make this guy angry. You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.

Uh oh, somebody just put their foot in it big-time. That “somebody” being the president of Panama, and “it” being a coup d’etat that left crap all over Venezuela:

The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, announced to the country that the Bolivarian Government has decided to break off political, diplomatic and economic relations with Panama, under the rule of Ricardo Martinelli.

During a memorial speech on the first anniversary of the death of Hugo Chávez, attended by heads of state, family members, activists and intellectuals at the Mountain Barracks in Caracas, Maduro revealed that Martinelli “has been working actively against Venezuela, creating conditions so that the Organization of American States and other organisms take a step toward intervening in our country.”

Maduro announced that the Panamanian foreign minister, Francisco Álvarez de Soto, was alerted “again and again” as to the intentions of Venezuela to break off relations, as a consequence of his “open conspiracy” against the people and the Bolivarian government.

“In the face of open conspiracy on the part of the Panamanian foreign minister, in the face of open conspiracy by the Panamanian government in the OAS, I have decided to break off political and diplomatic relations with the current government of Panama,” said Maduro, live on VTV.

As well, the national executive has decided to “freeze all commercial economic relations from the moment, in defence of the sovereignty of our land and of peace,” said the president.

“We will not allow anyone to meddle with impunity in our homeland,” Maduro emphasized, saying that Martinelli does not represent the great people of Panama, “the people of Omar Torrijos, the people among whom our Liberator was confronting conspiracies, the same as today.”

Venezuela is facing an ongoing coup d’état directed by political parties of the far right, financed by the United States. This plan includes a fierce campaign against Venezuela, with the participation of countries such as Panama, which is putting the pressure on diplomatically for an intervention in Venezuela.

Translation mine.

Meanwhile, the accused is playing innocent, quite unconvincingly:

The president of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli, said that he was surprised by the decision of the Venezuelan government of Nicolás Maduro to break off relations with his country, according to his Twitter account.

“The Venezuelan government’s decision surprises me. Panama only wishes that this brother land find peace and strengthen its democracy,” wrote Martinelli in a brief message on the social network.

Again, translation mine.

Uh-huh…surrrrrre. That’s what they ALL say. All the putschists out rampaging in the streets are screaming that THEY want “peace” and “democracy” too…when they’re not howling for the blood of a leader elected by the majority of their fellow Venezuelans.

PS: Here’s the video of Madurito making the announcement.

Note the applause when he vows to break off relations. A popular decision? You better believe it.

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Posted in A Man, A Plan, A Canal, Fascism Without Swastikas, Huguito Chavecito, Isn't That Illegal?, Karma 1, Dogma 0, The WTF? Files | 1 Comment

Oliver Stone remembers Chavecito

Posted on March 5, 2014 by Sabina Becker

Filmmaker Oliver Stone gives an interview for Telesur, in which he talks not only about his memories of Chavecito (the subject of his latest documentary, shown on Telesur last night), but also of how Venezuela has grown and changed thanks to him. Since the Comandante’s physical passing, a year ago today, his presence has only grown in stature. His spirit is unmistakable, and so is the antagonism toward it from all the usual sources.

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Posted in Artsy-Fartsy Culture Stuff, Huguito Chavecito, The United States of Amnesia | 1 Comment

The ironies of the Venezuelan opposition, part 42

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Sabina Becker

Video from the popular VTV show, Zurda Konducta, showing just how serious the opposition youth really are about their “demonstrations” and the objectives thereof. “Really, we have nothing planned,” says the first kid. “All we want is to topple the government.” The second one, in a barrage of beeped-out bad language, says he doesn’t give a shit for elections. There’s a bunch of them holding up traffic, keeping workers from their jobs, and generating nothing but ill-will. There’s a whole lot of others, babbling various inanities, but they all seem very vague about everything except their contempt for Madurito…and democracy.

And not just for him. The commercial media, their own faithful allies, have come under attack, as one of them tweeted from the putschist hangout at Altamira:

dagne-tweets

Reading in chronological order, from bottom to top, the tweets say:

“And now the guarimberos of Altamira are hitting @fortunecris and the rest of the press who tried to save him from getting beaten.”

“AFP, EFE, Reuters, Cadena Capriles, Bloque Dearmas, ALL attacked by those we have photographed for the past 3 weeks of protests.”

“All of us from the press are leaving the demonstration in Altamira. There was no way of mediating between the punches and the irrational screams.”

“They protest for freedom of expression and no censorship, and they hit photojournalists for NO REASON? Where is the coherence?”

“I told one of those who attacked us, ‘Buddy, you’ve been watching us for 3 weeks!’ and he replied, ‘Gimme the camera, bitch.'”

“To leave Luis Roche Ave. a group had to turn around by La Floresta and others at Bello Campo to get out without being attacked.”

“We didn’t want to leave. You, demonstrators, kicked us out with violence. You yourselves will be left alone.”

Translation mine.

Smooth move, guys, kicking out your own propagandists. Where’s the coherence, indeed.

And then there’s this lovely bit of peacefulness and pro-democracy:

guarimba-map

A map showing which spots the guarimber@s were planning to use for their road-trashing “demonstrations”. As you can see, they all correspond to major routes in and out of Caracas. Funny coincidence that, no?

And finally, isn’t it ironic that a bunch of “peaceful” Venezuelans who are always and forever protesting how their country has been taken over by Cuba…are being led themselves by Robert Alonso, a demented and quite unhinged old (ex-)Cuban?

Gosh, he sounds on the verge of a cerebral hemorrhage, there.

And just think, folks, that great intellectual of Hollywood, Jared Leto, supports these people — and those OTHER fascists, the Ukrainians and foreign Nazis who stirred shit on the Maidan.

Makes you really hopeful for humanity, doesn’t it?

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Posted in Crapagandarati, Cuba, Libre (de los Yanquis), Fascism Without Swastikas, Filthy Stinking Rich, Fine Young Cannibals, Huguito Chavecito, Isn't It Ironic?, Isn't That Illegal?, Spooks, The Nausea, The United States of Amnesia | Comments Off

Yes, Daniel Ortega IS still alive!

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Sabina Becker

ortega-venezuela

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t give Globovisión the time of day, as they’re an escualido “news” channel well known for exaggerations, falsifications, fabrications and outright lies. (Venezuelans often refer to the channel as Globomojón, for reasons good — it played a big role in numerous coup attempts there.) But yesterday a rumor was making the rounds of the Internets that Daniel Ortega had mysteriously disappeared, and hadn’t been heard from for days. People were wondering if he was dead. Turns out that he’s not, and since this story’s straight, here ya go:

“You worked a miracle resuscitating me, because for a lot of people, I was dead”, joked the president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, to newly-designated Cardinal Leopoldo José Brenes, whom he received at the airport in Managua with a large crowd of Catholics.

The head of state reappeared on Monday after nine days’ absence, which had generated rumors of his death, since his heart problems had worsened weeks before.

[…]

The Sandinista leader left midnight on Tuesday for Caracas, to participate in memorial services for the late Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, on the first anniversary of the Bolivarian Revolution leader’s death.

“We have to head out for Venezuela, because it’s the anniversary of the death of President Chávez,” Ortega explained to the new cardinal, at a ceremony transmitted by Nicaraguan state television on Channel 6.

Chávez died on March 5, 2013, upon losing his battle to cancer.

Translation mine.

So, there you have it. Chavecito may be gone (and sadly missed!), but Daniel Ortega is still with us. Washington might say otherwise, but I’m glad that he is. It would be terribly awkward (and potentially tragic for Nicaragua) if he were not.

PS: Here’s some Telesur video of Ortega welcoming the new cardinal:

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Posted in Good to Know, Huguito Chavecito | Comments Off

Eight international terrorists caught in Caracas; more to come

Posted on March 3, 2014 by Sabina Becker

Dramatic developments in Venezuela as more putschists and violent instigators are behind bars tonight. Here’s the story, via Aporrea:

The Venezuelan government has arrested 41 persons in the Altamira neighborhood of eastern Caracas, who caused damage to public and private property and held up vehicular traffic in the zone on Friday.

Of this group, eight are of foreign nationality, and were wanted for international terrorism, according to President Nicolás Maduro, via Twitter.

The head of state, in the context of the Peace and Coexistence Plan, announced the formation of a special police and military team for investigating the entry of irregulars and mercenaries into the country to create violence by way of narcotrafficking.

Translation mine.

The 41 perps were caught in flagrante delicto, so there’s not much doubt about what they were up to. One of them is a minor. Most are male.

Meanwhile, in other news of guarimberos caught in flagrante, we have this little item:

Venezuelan Robert Alonso, the “King of the Guarimba”, on whose estate 100 Colombian paramilitaries were captured in May 2004, is conspiring in Miami with well-known Cuban-American terrorists, as confirmed inadvertently by a web site identified with Luis Posada Carriles and the most violent elements of the local circles generated by the CIA.

The site “Nuevo Acción” [sic], published by Aldo Rosado Tuero, openly nostalgic for Franco and Mussolini, announced that “opposition leader” Robert Alonso addressed a select group of Cuban-American terrorists at a “patriotic luncheon” located at “La Finca Media Luna”, on the outskirts of Miami.

Alonso addressed the attendees “to call for help and solidarity for the irreducible combatants of Cuban exile for his campaign to increase resistance to the ungovernment of Nicolás Maduro,” reported Nuevo Acción. “Robert explained the function of the ‘guarimba’ and other forms of struggle which a group of ‘Venezuelan patriots’ were performing.”

In the accompanying photo, one can see Reinol Rodríguez, current “military chief” of Alpha 66, along with José Dionisio Suárez and Armando Valladares, three individuals known to belong to organizations formed by the CIA.

Reinol (Reynol or Reynold) Rodríguez belongs to the small group of paramilitaries tied to international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, in Miami. Rodríguez is the killer of Carlos Muñiz Varela, who was shot dead from a car in a march on April 28, 1979. The young Cuban was then director of the Varadero Travel Agency, in the capital of Puerto Rico, and organized visits from exiles to Cuba as part of a process of political rapprochement.

Dionisio “Pool of Blood” Suárez Esquivel was sentenced for the assassination of former Chilean minister Orlando Letelier, on September 21, 1976. Arrested in 1990, he admitted his guilt. He was freed by George W. Bush in 2001, just a few days before September 11.

Armando Valladares was one of the 17 terrorists arrested on Christmas Eve of 1960, in Havana, amid a CIA-directed string of attacks on stores and movie theatres. During the raid, they discovered three bomb-making factories and a large quantity of weapons and explosives. Freed after several years, Valladares went to work for the CIA, who used him in a series of international events as a “Cuban dissident”. In 2009, he joined the authors of a fascist conspiracy in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, to assassinate President Evo Morales, and foment a civil war. He later appeared alongside Honduran putschists in Roberto Micheletti’s gang.

Robert Alonso fled Venezuela in 2004, after the discovery of a plan to assassinate President Hugo Chávez and the arrest on his estate, by Venezuelan security forces, of 153 Colombian paramilitaries, who were wearing uniforms of the Venezuelan armed forces.

The operation took place in a zone controlled by then-mayor Henrique Capriles Radonski — now leader of the opposition — and counted on the complicity of police officers of the territory. Previously, Alonso had participated with Capriles in the assault on the Cuban embassy during the coup d’état of 2002.

A permanent promotor of acts of violence in Venezuela, Alonso fled the country with false documents, across the Colombian border, to later install himself in Miami, Florida, where his buddies were waiting for him.

The brother of the Cuban-American singer/actress María Conchita Alonso incited the “guarimbas”, violent street protests by the Venezuelan opposition, causing deaths and injuries an various parts of the land.

Alonso is associated with the military putschists of the Plaza Altamira, who called for an insurrection against the elected Chávez government, and were linked to acts of terrorism against the Colombian consulate, diplomatic installations of Spain, and the Organization of American States (OAS) in Caracas.

Son of a wealthy Cuban family that prospered under the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, Robert Alonso left the island at the age of 11, to live in Venezuela. Truly his father’s son, he studied at Deer Park High School in Deer Park, Washington, at the Kinman Business school of Washington State in Spokane, at the College for Television and Film (Munich, Germany) and took journalism at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

The appearance of Alonso in the pages of Nuevo Acción arose at the same time as the existence of a series of e-mails sent by ultra-right-wing political advisor Juan José Rendón and opposition deputy María Corina Machado and Ricardo Koesling came to light in Venezuela, offering details of their destabilization plots against the Venezuelan government.

Koesling, known in Venezuela for his participation in violent acts against the Cuban embassy in 2002, is a long-time partner-in-crime of Luis Posada Carriles. In 1976, he was already in the orbit of the CIA agent working for the Venezuelan secret police when he ordered, from Caracas, the destruction of a Cuban aircraft in mid-flight. In 2000, Koesling communicated with Posada, in prison in Panama for terrorism. Today, he is still connected to the community of CIA assassins in Miami, on account of his Venezuelan connection.

The putschist organization to which Alonso belongs extends as far as Colombia, and to the far-right circles represented by Álvaro Uribe Vélez, has many other members in Miami who have already demonstrated their willingness to resort, without the slightest scruple, to violence in order to finish off the dignified legacy of Hugo Chávez.

All of them recognize in Posada Carriles, the former “Commissar Basilio” of the DISIP [Venezuelan secret police, now disbanded] who, for several years in Caracas, tortured, kidnapped and murdered dozens of young Venezuelan revolutionaries who dreamed of a new Venezuela, freed from its predators.

Translation mine.

Don’t be too surprised if the eight “foreigners” among those arrested in Altamira turn out to have ties to this band of elderly, but still very nasty, thugs. After all, they all hang together.

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Posted in All About Evo, Cuba, Libre (de los Yanquis), CubanaBomber Death Watch, El NarcoPresidente, Fascism Without Swastikas, Filthy Stinking Rich, Fine Young Cannibals, Guns, Guns, Guns, Huguito Chavecito, Isn't That Illegal?, Not Hiding in Honduras, Puerto Rico, Gente Pobre, Spooks, The United States of Amnesia, Under the Name of Spain | 2 Comments

Music for a Sunday: All hail King B!

Posted on March 2, 2014 by Sabina Becker

Bruce Springsteen in Auckland, New Zealand, paying tribute to a young local talent who recently got famous. Maybe you’ve heard of her? Anyway, he takes her bouncy, breezy, teenage hip-hop send-up of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, and strips away the steady electronic beat of the original, paring the instruments down to just an acoustic guitar and his own gravelly, syncopated voice, until what you get sounds like the old, old blues that the whole rock/hip-hop genre sprang from. And while it sounds more haunting than funny, I bet he winked at the audience, too…right at the end.

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Wankers of the Week: The Battle of Ukraine

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Sabina Becker

Crappy weekend, everyone! Well, isn’t this a party? Only a week after the Olympics, and the Yanks have decided that now is a good time to poke the Russian bear over Ukraine. Somebody’s forgetting the size of the claws on that motherfucker. Not to mention the long reach of those big paws. It’s like nobody’s learned a goddamn thing since the Cuban Missile Crisis. Well, maybe that wasn’t a close enough call for them. They just won’t be happy until the whole Crimean Peninsula blows up in their faces. Looks like it just might. While we wait for THAT shitstorm to hit the fan, here are some other shitheads to keep us entertained…in no particular order, as always:

1. Pat Fucking Buchanan. As a matter of fact, repealing civil-rights laws WOULD result in a return to Jim Crow, with a vengeance. One has only to look at the uneven application of “Stand Your Ground” in Florida to know that only white people can use that as a defence…and that even a blind drunkard can get his guns back. Anyway, isn’t it time Puke-Cannon went to meet his Maker…Cthulhu?

2. Chris Fucking Mapp. So, it’s normal to call Mexican and other Central American immigrants “wetbacks”, is it? Well, where I come from, it’s okay to call idiots and racists what they are. And in his case, the words “teabag”, “asshat” and “dumbfuck” also apply.

3. Jim Fucking Nielsen. So, men are often “surprised” when their wives leave them? Well, throwing up more hoops for divorcing women to jump through won’t change a thing about that. How about teaching men not to be assholes? That would lower the divorce rate considerably. Or, if it doesn’t do that, well…at least the assholes getting dumped won’t have to wonder why.

4. Beau Fucking Broussard. Just how dumb and gullible are those right-wing white bubbas in the South? They’d vote for you if you bribed them with beans…and they refuse to vote for blacks because, to quote this one, “They got their place, I got my place. That’s the way I was raised.” The South shall rise again!…in a pig’s neoconfederate ass.

5. Brad Fucking Butt. If anyone would know about vote fraud, it’s the SupposiTories. After all, they stole enough ridings in the last election to make sure that they don’t want anyone who’d vote against them and their disenfranchising policies to vote in the next one!

6. Steve Fucking Martin. So, women are just incubators for fetuses? Well, I always did suspect that’s what fetal personhood was really all about. It’s the complete depersonalization of the woman, stupid!

7. John Fucking McCain. What was he doing over there in Ukraine? Shaking hands with fascist putschists, natch. Next stop: Venezuela!

8. Rob Fucking Ford. Robbo gets asked a question he doesn’t like — by Daniel Dale, whom he also doesn’t like? Robbo threatens to take his ball and go home. Next time, Robbo, try holding your breath…that’s what all the other toddlers do! PS: Ha, ha. PPS: Careful how you bluster, Robbo, someone might just call your bluff!

9. Robin Fucking Thicke. So, finally Paula Patton wisely dumps his sorry ass. Guess he crossed too many “Blurred Lines”, eh? I hope she takes his douchey convict suit to the cleaners while the money from that awful song is still rolling in.

10. Rush Fucking Limbaugh. Never mind the “gay panic” testimonies of the killers themselves…Rusty seriously believes that the murder of Matthew Shepard wasn’t an anti-gay hate crime! Next up: Sky green, water dry, and fish live in the desert sand.

11. Perez Fucking Hilton. Black women are like WHO? Um, no. Dude. Do NOT go there.

12. Matt Fucking Barber. Feminism means “rape me”? Um, NO. Only in your overheated wingnut imagination, dude.

13. Paul Fucking Cameron. Of course HE’s “open” to the idea of a death penalty for gays. After all, it won’t affect HIM. And he’s not human anyway.

14. Tucker Fucking Carlson. Legally mandated non-discrimination is “fascism”? Um, NO. It’s actually the polar opposite of. But hey! Isn’t it nice to know that even with a better haircut and no more fucking bowtie, the Superannuated Fratboy is just as dumb and obnoxious as ever?

15. Dick Fucking Cheney. Why?

That’s why. Yup, same old warmongerin’ Big Dick. Nice to see that despite extensive surgery, he still has no heart.

16. Paula Fucking Deen. Being that racist hypocrite trying to make a comeback is like being “that black football player who recently came out”? Um, no. HELL no. Just NO.

17. Geoffrey Fucking Pyatt. How does a Jewish ambassador get to be a supporter of Ukrainian neo-Nazis? Is this some new brand of diplomacy that I wasn’t aware of till now?

18. John Fucking Baird. So, he’s just excluded all parties but his own from that junket to Ukraine? I would say I’m terribly shocked, but then I remember that this is actually going to be a meeting of kindred spirits. You know, of the fascist antidemocratic kind, and all.

19. Michelle Fucking Bachman. What — her, fade into peaceful irrelevance, where she belongs? Not a chance! Nope, Marcus’s Beard wants us all to tolerate intolerance, and save her marriage by making sure he never comes out of mothballs and leaves her for some dude. Don’t worry, Mish, the gay guys don’t want him anyway!

20. Doug Fucking Ford. Go ahead, Dougie, launch that complaint. Maybe you and Robbo will get to share a cell yet. At this rate, you both deserve to. Tweedledum and Tweedledee should never be separated, after all!

21. Robert Fucking Jeffress. And moar “tolerate mah intolerance”! Yeah, I’ll tolerate your genocidal, eliminationist tendencies, Jeffy-poo…IN A PIG’S ASS.

22. Judson Fucking Phillips. And even MOAR “tolerate mah intolerance” from the head of Tea Bag Nation. Would you like a slice of penis cake with that, sir? Don’t worry, I’ll cut it from the part right below the balls.

23. Vitaly Fucking Klitschko. Guess who’s been trying to turn Ukraine into a fascist Balkan? Yup. THIS guy. And Anonymous has the goods on him.

24. Curtis Fucking Lepore. Why?

He’s been accused of rape and assault on his former girlfriend, and now he’s looking to clear his not-so-good name by trolling for teenage girls to “willingly have sex” with him. NB: He’s over 20. Dude, you’re barely Internet-famous. Do you want to be real-life infamous?

25. Jacek Fucking Protasiewicz. It’s important to remember that being drunk doesn’t turn you into someone else, it just brings out the part of you that you’ve kept hidden and repressed. So, that being said, what are we to make of this guy, who yelled “Heil Hitler” at a customs agent in Frankfurt Airport while drunk, and started asking people if they’d ever been to Auschwitz?

26. Lawrence Fucking Lockman. What kind of proto-teabag “patriot” sees sexual assault as a harmless outlet for “sexual freedom”? THIS guy. Also, he hates abortion and teh queers, and has some amusingly outdated notions about how AIDS gets spread. Most of all, though, he hates the IRS. I mean, who doesn’t, right? But he sure does love cosplaying as Dracula. That’s gotta count for something, even if in his case, “something” is Teh Stoopid.

27. Bill Fucking Donohue. Poor widdle oppwessed religious people — they can’t bash gays with impunity anymore. Whatever is the world coming to? I don’t know, but it sure makes me happy to see HIS butt in a world of hurt.

28. John Fucking Derbyshire. Well, in case there was every any doubt, Pervyshire has finally decided to wear his swastikas and jackboots out in public, along with every other unsavory impulse he’s had a hard time keeping under his cloak. He’s even recommending that his fellow neofascists study a certain hideous “pickup artist” site, run by one James Fucking Wiedmann, whose dating advice would be laughable if it didn’t result in real-life harm to actual women. If Pervyshire thinks that all that’s needed to turn ladies into good little Nazi bootlickerettes is some “alpha male seduction strategies”, he’s in for one helluva shock. That kind of tactic is likelier to turn its targets into radical feminists over the long haul.

29. Patrick Fucking Brazeau. Maybe he should change his last name to Brazen, because not only is he working at a seedy strip joint, he’s also inviting Robbo (and all the other crapped-out politicos) to come and take advantage of the — and I quote, verbatim: “Buffet is free, would cost taxpayers nothing, free, rien, nada! GR8food! Simple math!” Yeah, dude, I’m sure they would come to a place called “Barefax Gentlemen’s Club” for the fucking food. Didn’t Robbo say he got enough to eat at home, anyway?

30. Mike Fucking Karpele. Didn’t I so often say that Bitcoin is Shitcoin? Well, now the Shitcoin has hit the fan. Mt. Gox, the ludicrously named speculators’ exchange for the worst currency concept ever, has been raided and is under bankruptcy protection. The funniest part is watching all those anti-government libertarians scrambling to the evil, evil regulators in a futile effort to recoup their (largely unearned) money. It’s like no one ever learned a thing from the Wall St. crash of ’29…and in this case, they made a collective, concerted effort to unlearn everything. Well, libertarians, there’s your grand economic philosophy…shot to death by its own invisible hand. Ha, ha.

31. Joe Fucking Arpaio. Awwwww. Duzzums haz a mad? Hey, if people call you Hitler, it’s a distinct case of “If the shoe fits…diddums.”

32. Ann Fucking Coulter. She speaks of people on pot with some degree of authority. I’m guessing that dates back to her days as a Deadhead. Although I honestly can’t fathom why the Grateful Dead would put up with a hanger-on of such obnoxious ilk.

33. Alex Fucking Jones. I already demolished Bowtie Boy (see #14, above), but if you ever want to double your displeasure and double your dumb, just put him in the same room with this tinfoil haberdasher. Jesus H. Christ, what a fuckpile of Teh Stoopid.

34. Christopher Fucking McFadden. What the hell kind of judge lets a man off for raping a woman with Down Syndrome? And just because she wasn’t acting “right” for a victim, whatever the hell that is supposed to mean, doesn’t mean he deserves to get let off. Sign the petition, folks, and pass it on, because this kind of stupidity shouldn’t even be graduated from law school, never mind occupying a judge’s bench.

35. John Fucking Boehner. Well, well. Looks like the Weeper of the House finally has something real to cry big oily orange tears about. Memo to the media: It’s all right if you start pronouncing his name “Boner” now, everybody else does anyway!

36. Josh Fucking Miller. Why?

That’s why. Because apparently, it’s not laziness or drug abuse when right-wing assholes do it.

And finally, to this bunch of fucking wankers at the University of Ottawa. Not only did they think that raping an elected student leader was some kind of a joke, they are actually suing her for making their bro-on-bro banter public. Sorry, dudes, but chat logs are NOT private. Anything you say on the Internets can and will be used against you. Good luck with your lawsuit…and by “good luck”, I mean FUCK YOU. Up the ass, of course, since you seem to like it that way.

Good night, and get fucked!

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The ironies of the Venezuelan opposition, part 41

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Sabina Becker

paz-guarimba-contradiction

Left sign: “We want peace!”
Right sign: “Don’t mess with my guarimba!”
As you can see, Señora Tontica has a bit of cognitive dissonance going on. It’s a common thing with Venezuelan disociad@s.

Good evening, and welcome to another dose of VenOpIronía. I wasn’t feeling particularly festive today, seeing as a lot of grotesque putschist shit is still going down in Venezuela, so FLFB is not happening. What is? Moar guarimbas — oh sorry, “peaceful protests” (note the quotes, there for a reason). And moar irony. Obviamente.

But don’t take my word for it…see for yourself:

In the video above, a senior citizen tries to cross a trash barricade thoughtfully put in place by young opposition demonstrators. One of them at first “offers” to help him cross it, then abandons him to his fate. The man tries to climb over it, but his elderly bones just won’t make it. In the end, he has to give up and go back the way he came, hurt and bewildered. Meanwhile, the snippy young thing walks away grinning like she’s pulled off a coup. Not quite, sweetie…not quite.

Here’s another example of those fine young cannibals in action, this time in none other than New York City:

This one got arrested for throwing things at the Bolivarian demonstrators. Here’s the story from Aporrea:

An opposition demonstrator was arrested by New York police after violently assaulting a journalist in Union Square.

According to New York-based Venezuelan activist Williams Camacaro, spokesperson for the Alberto Lovera Bolivarian Circle, the opposition demonstration, amounting to some 200 people, became violent, shouting obscenities, pushing and throwing objects, at a group of 20 citizens from several countries who questioned their arguments and their motives.

The demonstrators, most of them young Venezuelans of the upper class, “began to yell at us, asking how much Maduro was paying us, but they lost control completely when we asked them where they got the dollars to study in the US,” said Camacaro. The Venezuelan students receive a sum of preferential dollars, awarded by the Bolivarian government, to pay for their tuition, maintenance, medical insurance and other foreign costs.

Lourdes Vela, activist and community journalist, said that “the crowd came at us when we started chanting slogans in support of the democratically elected Maduro government. A woman started throwing pieces of ice at my face and was there when the police intervened. They handcuffed her and took her into custody. She was beside herself.”

“It’s impressive the level of violence and hatred there is in these persons. If the police hadn’t been there, they would have lynched us. There were many more of them than us, and it took the police a lot of work to contain them,” said the activists.

According to the authorities, the woman faces charges for assault, and her court date is set for May 13, 2014. “In the video you don’t see even a quarter of what happened. Her attitude was extremely violent, to say the least. Luckily, we have videographic testimony to show in court,” Vela added.

Univisión reporters on the scene caught the aggression on video and showed it on their evening newscast, but the opposition website La Patilla got it all backwards, with the title “Chavista detained in New York for trying to sabotage a protest against Maduro”, citing the known paid propagandist Casto Ocando of the Miami Herald as their source. The “news” was spread virally via Twitter, without any verification.

The twisted “news” from La Patilla and the Miami Herald drew many comments on Twitter from opposition supporters, calling for the “deportation” of the “horrible Chavista”, without any clear idea of whom they were accusing. “That bitch should be declared persona non grata in the US, send her to Venezuela in a dog carrier so she learns some respect,” commented Angel Castillo. Another commenter, Van Lesster, wrote, “Deport that lowlife so that she can roll in shi…pardon, the homeland.”

From Ohio, Edward Mercado, a Venezuelan activist, reported that opposition demonstrators also tried to attack him and stop him from talking to Fox 19 during a protest in his city. “I was at the protest to ask for the right to speak, as a Venezuelan against violence, but they insulted me and tried to take the camera from the Channel 19 crew,” Mercado said.

Translation mine.

So you can see several layers of irony at work there, eh? An escualida assaults a pro-Madurito demo in Manhattan, and gets arrested (as she should) for that. “Peaceful” oppo demonstrators also attacked a FUX Snooze crew, of all people. Yeah, that’ll get you sympathy!

But funniest of all are the escualidos’ responses to the Angry Escualida from Manhattan: Taking one of their own for a Chavista, they really let fly with the insults, which of course are downright gendered. What I translated as “lowlife” is actually malparida, a word for which there is no English equivalent; it means “a woman who has miscarried”, and I guess can be quite the insult, as it has all kinds of abortion- and slut-shaming connotations. I decided to go with another meaning, less gendered (as there is also a male equivalent, malparido): “misborn”, “misbegotten”, or “low-born”. Which, in current slang, translates very loosely to “lowlife”, and captures the classist nature of escualido insults pretty well, I’d say. After all, they have a seething contempt for all classes but their wealthy and privileged own.

And greater contempt hath no man than one who would do something like this:

On Thursday, in the state of Carabobo, a young man was killed while trying to clean up the barricades in the streets so he could exercise his right to free transit, according to the Attorney General of the Republic, Luisa Ortega Díaz.

During a press conference, the public servant said that the citizen had been killed by a gunshot.

“The aggressiveness of a group of Venezuelans has occasioned all these violent deeds which have occurred during the last several days throughout the land,” Díaz emphasized.

Translation, again, mine.

Killed by a gunshot for trying to push some junk and debris out of the way so he could get to where he was going. Ain’t that some shit?

I guess it really is true what the oppos say. There really IS no guarantee of life or freedom in Venezuela…at least, not in those areas dominated by the “peaceful” opposition!

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Posted in Fascism Without Swastikas, Filthy Stinking Rich, Fine Young Cannibals, Found in Translation, Huguito Chavecito, Isn't It Ironic?, The United States of Amnesia | Comments Off

25 years ago today, this happened in Venezuela

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Sabina Becker

North Americans have a curious selective amnesia about the Caracazo of 1989, which began at 5 a.m. local time on this day 25 years ago. But the people of Venezuela, where it happened, haven’t forgotten:

The cruelest page in contemporary Venezuelan history was written by the government of Carlos Andrés Pérez on February 28, 1989, a day in which the indignant people took to the streets of Caracas to show their frustration with the neoliberal politics imposed by the IMF.

Pérez, who sought to liberate the economy of the land, which was already in trouble due to economic spirals which caused the devaluation of the national currency in 1983, set in motion a “package of economic measures” which comprised decisions over exchange policies, external debt, the financial system, fiscal policy, public services, and social policy.

This “parcel of penuries”, as it was popularly known, caused the fragmentation of the Venezuelan welfare state, CAP’s key electoral promise.

After announcing the “parcel”, on February 16 of that year, popular discontent grew, since the people had already lived through an odyssey for survival, while poverty and misery propagated like a virus throughout the land.

The reactions of the 27th of February, 1989, began on the buses of Trapichito, when the passengers found themselves faced with the speculation of the transport companies, who raised their prices by 300%, not 30% as ordered by the Pérez government. Reaction exploded there, in the Guarenas-Guatire terminal. Later the wave of protest expanded to Caracas and the inevitable followed: looting and riots in the land, in reaction to the “parcel of penuries”.

Faced with popular outrage, the Pérez government decided to suspend constitutional guarantees for ten days, and ordered the armed forces to repress the people. General Henry Rangel Silva, currently governor of the state of Trujillo, recalled that day as the one on which “the nation’s armed forces were obliged to take up arms against the people”.

As dusk fell on Tuesday, February 28, the cruelest curfew in Venezuelan history began. The “Caracazo” left an undetermined number of deaths, although official government figures put the number at barely 277 deceased.

With the arrival of Hugo Chávez Frias as president of the republic, who had a strong awareness of the miseries suffered by the people during the 40 years of “representative” democracy, there began a serious and detailed investigation of the events of the Caracazo, headed by the Attorney General of the Republic, Luisa Ortega Díaz.

In 2011, Ortega Díaz informed that 71 victims of the Caracazo had been buried in a common grave in La Peste, in Caracas, and the compensation of the victims’ families began.

Ortega Díaz also catalogued February 27, 1989 as the date on which the second largest genocide in the land began. The investigations of this hard page of contemporary Venezuelan history continue to this day.

Comandante Chávez considered the Caracazo as the seed that would germinate on February 4, 1992, when he led a military insurrection heralding the birth of a new country.

25 years after the events of the Caracazo, the protagonists of Puntofijismo, now installed in the lines of the opposition, and supported by the economic powers, are seeking once more to destabilize the economy of the land with hoarding, speculation, boycotts, and violent demonstrations.

However, today the Venezuelan economy is much stronger. the social politics set in motion by Comandante Chávez and continued by President Nicolás Maduro have significantly improved the quality of life among the people. Good nutrition, culture, education, health, work and sports are the backbone that sustains the Bolivarian Revolution.

Translation mine.

So now we see where that amnesia comes from, don’t we? And wouldn’t you know, it’s from the same massive blind spot in the gringo psyche that refuses to acknowledge just how disastrous “free market” capitalism really is. And how important Chavecito and 21st-century socialism have been in unravelling that Gordian knot of socioeconomic disasters.

The good work that Chavecito began continues now under his successors, and that’s why we’re seeing these temper tantrums on the part of the “opposition”. 25 years ago, those same people were not the opposition, but the government — or, more broadly, the traditional ruling class that had always taken its own undisputed supremacy for granted, and monopolized the economy accordingly. The Caracazo was a harsh wake-up call to them, the poor majority’s way of saying that things had gone too far, and it was now time to change direction…or else.

Clearly they haven’t learned their lesson yet; they seriously think they can get the country back under their thumbs by holding their breath and letting the economy turn blue. There’s just one problem with that little theory: Every single time it’s been tried since 1999, when Chavecito was elected (and ten years after the Caracazo), it’s been an epic failure. The people always came together, and always came together behind the man that the oligarchy pointed the finger at. He was the one who saw what needed to be done…and that meant circumventing the old economy by setting up a parallel, state-run one that sold all the necessities at fair prices, so that the people would no longer have to put up with the same hoarding, speculation and price gouging that caused such outrage in the lead-up to the Caracazo. In other words: not a free market, but a kind of freedom FROM the market. And by logical extension, a freedom from control by the traditional, rotten ruling classes.

The same ruling classes, of course, that are in such a tizzy today.

PS: Don’t miss this great docu-drama by Roman Chalbaud, now with English subtitles:

Powerful and moving. Well worth the time to see.

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Posted in Barreling Right Along, Economics for Dummies, Fascism Without Swastikas, Filthy Stinking Rich, Huguito Chavecito, Karma 1, Dogma 0, The "Well, DUH!" Files, The United States of Amnesia | 3 Comments

Why Leopoldo López turned himself in

Posted on February 26, 2014 by Sabina Becker

leopoldo-lopez-police-escort

When I first heard that the Prettyboy Putschist of Venezuela had turned himself in to the federales, I thought it smelled a bit…fishy. Venezuelan fascists are well known for their elusiveness, their stubborn unwillingness to face reality or recognize legitimate authority — and, in the case of one ex-general in their ranks, a certain penchant for staging dramatic standoffs. I wondered why Leo had had such an unexpected change of heart, and why he would meekly allow himself to be carted off to jail. Now it turns out that he had a rather compelling reason for doing so:

Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López handed himself over to police upon learning of a plot against him, says a Russian analyst.

According to Nil Nikandrov, writing for the Foundation for Strategic Culture, the head of the Voluntad Popular party decided to “change his plans” and turn himself in to the forces of public order after the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN) made public a telephone conversation between two representatives of an ultra-right-wing organization in Miami who discussed plans for the “physical elimination” of Leopoldo López, with the intent of blaming the death on the Maduro government in order to create a political crisis and drag the country into a civil war.

Nikandrov says that the external conspirators sent several groups of terrorists to Venezuela, and that they also have accomplices in López’s entourage.

Agents of the CIA in Caracas knew of the terrorists’ intentions, but took no measures to guarantee his security. Nikandrov emphasizes that the opposition leader “was condemned to a cold-blooded assassination in the interests of the United States.”

“The conspirators hoped that this ‘martyr’ would unleash processes of destabilization in the land,” says the analyst, and adds that the assassination would also have strengthened the position of another opposition leader, Henrique Capriles, López’s old rival.

In spite of the tensions in Venezuela and the multiple problems López created for the government, the president of the National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, personally contacted the opposition leader’s family and informed them of the threats against him.

López’s wife, Lilian Tintori, confirmed to US media that the veracity of the recording was never in question, since they knew the people who were planning the murder, according to Nikandrov.

Translation mine.

Recall that I blogged a few days ago about how Leo was treated well when he handed himself over, and that Diosdado Cabello was on hand personally to make sure that he was all right. Recall, too, that Leo’s wife confirmed that the authorities treated her husband well, and that there had been “death threats” against him. She didn’t specify where they were coming from, but now we know. And now we also know why Diosdado Cabello took the trouble to personally ensure Leo’s safety. This was no ordinary arrest; this was protective custody, as well. Leopoldo López feels safer in the hands of the federal police (and the “tyrannical” Bolivarian government!) than he does among his own compinches.

It sure speaks volumes about the respectability of the Venezuelan government, does it not? And conversely, about the kind of people who run with the Venezuelan opposition and the CIA.

I have said, repeatedly, that the Venezuelan oppos have no qualms about killing their own, and nowhere is that more clear than in the fact that they would not hesitate to “martyr” no less a figure than one of their own so-called leaders. And that the CIA would happily sit back and let it happen, knowing that Venezuela would devolve into political chaos…exactly according to plan.

What a pity their plans were foiled, and that Leo’s instinct for self-preservation was what spoiled it for them.

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