In a quickie smear segment this morning 1/25/08 on FOX and Friends, the hosts discussed the revelation that Hugo Chavez chews coca leaves and ingests coca paste, allegedly sent to him by Bolivia’s dictator (is he a dictator too? asks Carlson of herself) and Fidel Castro. Maybe, smirks Carlson, that’s the attraction for “certain people” to visit him.
“allegedly”
Even today, chewing coca leaves is a common sight in indigenous communities across the central Andean region, particularly in places like the mountains of Bolivia, where the cultivation and consumption of coca is as much a part of the national culture similar to chicha, like wine is to France or beer is to Germany.”
Even today drunks in Germany vomiting and soiling themselves publicly from beer ingestion is a common sight. Its part of their ancient culture.
Samo lesson to be learned here: Culture and history are ennobling.
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez urged his Latin American allies on Saturday to begin withdrawing billions of dollars in international reserves from U.S. banks, warning of a looming U.S. economic crisis.
Chavez made the suggestion as he hosted a summit aimed at boosting Latin American integration and rolling back U.S. influence.
“We should start to bring our reserves here,” Chavez said. “Why does that money have to be in the north? ... You can’t put all your eggs in one basket.”
So by all means put em all in the South American basket.
“The empire doesn’t accept alternatives,” Chavez told the gathering, attended by the presidents of Bolivia and Nicaragua and Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage.
Chavez warned that U.S. “imperialism is entering into a crisis that can affect all of us” and said Latin America “will save itself alone.”
Speaking of random threat generators, what is our nobleman Chevez wanting to seize and give back to the people this week?
CARACAS, Venezuela: President Hugo Chavez warned that some milk plants may be expropriated to ease shortages, singling out Italy’s Parmalat SpA and Switzerland’s Nestle SA.
Chavez mentioned the two companies during his weekly program Sunday, saying international companies sometimes “pressure” Venezuelan farmers to obtain their milk for export.
“It’s no use for us to be setting up plants (if) then there is no milk for the plants because Parmalat or ... Nestle take it all away,” Chavez said. “That’s where I say this government has to tighten the screws.”
If companies ensure a supply through “blackmail, offering money up front” while leaving state-run plants without enough milk, “that’s called sabotage,” Chavez said. He added that in such cases, “the plants must be taken over and expropriated.”
Large dairy farms have an enormously detrimental effect on the environment. In California, America’s top milk-producing state, manure from dairy farms has poisoned hundreds of square miles of groundwater, rivers, and streams. Each of the more than 1 million cows on the state’s dairy farms excretes 120 pounds of waste daily.(22) Overall, animals in animal factories, including dairy farms, produce 1.65 billion tons of manure each year, much of which ends up in our waterways and drinking water.(23) The Environmental Protection Agency reports that agricultural runoff is the primary cause of polluted lakes, streams, and rivers. The dairy-products industry is the primary source of smog-forming pollutants in California; a single cow emits more of these harmful gases than a car does.(24)
How about minorities? How evil is milk to minorities?
Millions of Americans are lactose intolerant, and an estimated 90 percent of Asian-Americans and 75 percent of Native- and African-Americans suffer from the condition, which can cause bloating, gas, cramps, vomiting, headaches, rashes, and asthma
77,000 women ages 34 to 59 found that those who consumed two or more glasses of milk per day had higher risks of broken hips and arms than those who drank one glass or less per day.
Chewing coca leaves helps alleviate pain.
The best way to save cows from the misery of animal factories is to stop buying milk and other dairy products. Discover the joy of soy! Fortified plant-derived milks provide calcium, vitamins, iron, zinc, and protein but do not contain any cholesterol. These alternatives are perfect for cereal, coffee, and soups and also work well in baked goods and other recipes. Many delicious dairy-product alternatives—such as almond, rice, oat, and soy milks as well as Soy Dream and Tofutti “ice cream”—are available in grocery and health-food stores. Visit VegCooking.com for ideas, or call 1-888-VEG-FOOD to order a free vegetarian starter kit.
Too bad we need the farmland for biofuels because Chevez keeps threatening to cut our oil… Now thats irony.....
Venezuela’s State Oil Company Halts Oil Sales to Exxon Mobil
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP)—Venezuela’s state oil company said Tuesday that it has stopped selling crude to Exxon Mobil Corp. in response to the U.S. oil company’s drive to use the courts to seize billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets.
Exxon Mobil is locked in a dispute over the nationalization of its oil ventures in Venezuela that has led President Hugo Chavez to threaten to cut off all Venezuelan oil supplies to the United States. Venezuela is the United States’ fourth largest oil supplier.
Tuesday’s announcement by state-run Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, was limited to Exxon Mobil, which PDVSA accused of “judicial-economic harassment” for its efforts in U.S. and European courts.
PDVSA said it “has paralyzed sales of crude to Exxon Mobil” and suspended commercial relations with the Irving, Texas-based company.
“The legal actions carried out by the U.S. transnational are unnecessary ... and hostile,” PDVSA said in the statement. It said it will honor any existing contracts it has with Exxon Mobil for joint investments abroad, but reserved the right to terminate them if permitted by the terms of the contracts.
It was unclear how much oil PDVSA supplies to Exxon Mobil, the world’s biggest publicly traded oil company. Both Chavez and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez previously said the company is no longer welcome to do business in Venezuela.
“Build us an Infrastructure....Now get out! You’re not welcome!”
Feb. 17 (Bloomberg)—Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who threatened to cut off oil sales to the U.S. a week ago, said the government won’t do so unless the South American country is attacked.
``We don’t have plans to stop sending oil to the U.S.,’’ Chavez said today in comments broadcast by Venezuelan state television. ``All I’ve said is that, if the U.S. attacks us, if they assault us, we’ll have to decide not to send one drop of oil to the U.S.‘’
Is this guy hardcore Che or what?
``Listen to me, Mr. Bush, Mr. Danger,’’ Chavez said Feb. 10 during his weekly television show. ``If the economic war continues against Venezuela, the price of oil will reach $200. Venezuela will take up the economic war and more than one country is inclined to join us.’’
But then we may decide to invade.
“Mr Danger” - what a poet of and for the masses.
A former Colombian hostage who spent nearly two years in the captivity of the country’s second largest leftist insurgent group has accused Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez government of providing safe haven to the rebels, Spain’s EFE news agency reported on Sunday.
Geologist Jorge Andres Sierra, who was in the captivity of the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN), went into exile soon after his release by the group.
Sierra has accused the Venezuelan government of having a secret pact - a “non-aggression treaty” - with the rebels, which allows the group to move freely in that country and in return it would not kidnap Venezuelan citizens.
CARACAS (Reuters) - Shoppers in oil-rich Venezuela often can’t find basic food items in stores but the government of President Hugo Chavez on Sunday turned up a huge stash of milk and chicken in a private health clinic.
Inspectors from the consumer protection agency Indecu found the shelves of the upscale Caracas Policlinica Metropolitana stocked with half a tonne of milk and a similar amount of chicken.
Milk is unhealthy. chicken too.
Chavez has repeatedly complained that private clinics charge too much for services and has threatened to take them over.
Sean Penn and Michael Moore would be soo proud.
Government leaders attribute the shortages of basic foodstuffs to increased demand by poor families. They also say unscrupulous businesses are hoarding food or smuggling it into neighboring Colombia where it fetches higher prices.
Cant blame the poor.
Chavez has won broad support from the nation’s poor by using oil revenues to finance social programs, but his supporters are increasingly complaining about food shortages, rampant crime and poor trash collection.
Even if you’re a Che-wearing good people global villager shouldn’t you, in response to Venezuala’s poor handling of trash,
be hanging nude the from trees in front of their consulates worldwide in defiant protest? No?
Naomi Campbell has joined British GQ as a contributing editor and her first assignment is an interview with zealous Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. Typo? You wish. In what seems like at least a brilliant Halloween, if not journalistic pairing, the sometimes cellphone-throwing supermodel has penned an article from an interview she recently conducted with the headstrong political figure who gained notoriety in recent years for his verbal chastising of the Bush administration, among other things.
You can’t say GQ isn’t politically conscious now. Imagine the effects of an army of supermodel reporters; Heidi Klum Speaks To Iran’s Ahmadinejad, maybe Iman Interviews Osama? In any case, Blackline must caution GQ on future pairings. Naomi vs. Korean strongarm Kim Jong-il might not be a good idea - nuclear war head trumps Nokia cellphone, every time.
Whats next? Perhaps a non-colored New Zealander chastising a non-colored gringo for mocking a person of color mocking a famous female person of color for interviewing another famous person of color, mainly because Chavez is so much more than just a mockable person of color.
Why should he? Because The Huffington Post itself thinks this was a most brilliant idea:
What Naomi Campbell wants, she generally gets. The supermodel has a reputation for being one of the fashion world’s most demanding icons.
So it is perhaps not surprising that such grit and worldwide fame has landed the Streatham-born model, 37, with a prize job at the men’s magazine GQ - involving interviewing world leaders, fellow celebrity A-listers and global sporting stars. Or, for that matter, that Campbell’s first scoop is a one-on-one audience with the controversial Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chavez.
In the interview, doubtless about to be dubbed “beauty meets the beast” by US Republicans, Mr Chavez pulls no punches with his glamorous counterpart who manages to get him to answer a wide range of questions with all the rhetoric that has made the Venezuelan President both loved and reviled in equal measure. From describing the President George Bush as “completely crazy” to the Cuban President Fidel Castro as “the most stylish world leader”, Mr Chavez has handed Campbell a scoop for a magazine where she now acts as a “contributing editor.
And she goes real deep, right away:
Asked by Campbell to name the best-dressed world leader, the socialist president, who is a firm friend of Mr Castro, exclaimed: “Fidel, of course! His uniform is impeccable. His boots are polished, his beard is elegant.”
Wow.
It also appears that Mr Chavez was able to get a few questions of his own in during the interview and was keen to find out about Britain’s monarchy, asking Campbell: “Do you know Prince Charles?” When the supermodel replied that she had met him and had also known Diana, Princess of Wales, Mr Chavez declared: “I like the Prince. Now he has Camilla, his new girl. She’s not attractive is she?”
Asked by Campbell to name the best-dressed world leader, the socialist president, who is a firm friend of Mr Castro, exclaimed: “Fidel, of course! His uniform is impeccable. His boots are polished, his beard is elegant.”
You do realize that Fidel was one of the original members of Village People, don’t you? (He was the one wearing the fatigues that were personally designed by Giorgio Armani.)
You do realize that Fidel was one of the original members of Village People, don’t you? (He was the one wearing the fatigues that were personally designed by Giorgio Armani.)
The USA should’ve continued to ignore this fat, ugly, blowhard Commie bastid with his large fan base of Euro-style Critical Thinkers for a Unwarmed Global Village.
I like the way global villager Chavez first exhausted all venues of diplomacy, dialogue and pleas of peace and love to the UN before drawing troops at the border to Colombia as a last resort, reluctantly threatening death and destruction upon those who would embrace imperialism by violently meddling in the affairs of other, sovereign countries.
Yeah Chavez is a dick. just throwing his weight around all the time suprised american doesn’t just try and oraginise another coup and get rid of the fat bastard. So annoying that poverty rates have falling by 50% under his government and introduce free healthcare and education! Does socialism ever work dam it!
Yeah Chavez is a dick. just throwing his weight around all the time suprised american doesn’t just try and oraginise another coup and get rid of the fat bastard. So annoying that poverty rates have falling by 50% under his government and introduce free healthcare and education! Does socialism ever work dam it!
Poverty rates have not fallen by 50%… and like everywhere else, just because you don’t pay at the time of service does not make it free… let alone good…
That aside, they’re headed towards being a dictatorship. Hey, that’s one place socialism doesn’t disappoint. :)
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez harshly criticized the US administration again after the unauthorized passing of the USS George Washington along the coast of the Latin American country. Chavez promised to bury the USA in the 21st century.
“When Americans appear near our shores with their navy, the George Washington aircraft carrier, one should not forget that it happens at the time when we together with Brazil are creating the Defense Council of South America,” Chavez said in a speech that was broadcast by all TV and radio channels of Venezuela.
“In this century we will bury the old empire of the USA and will live with the American nation like with a brotherly nation, because over 40 million of its citizens live below the poverty line,” the Venezuelan leader said
Of course, should I still refuse to, Chevez will probably single me out to teach me love and devotion, Latin style. And, if that doesn’t work, Commie style. It could be I need to learn how to work for free, for all people, first…
WASHINGTON—When Bolivia’s Evo Morales was elected the Western Hemisphere’s first indigenous president of a country with an indigenous majority, Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez wasted no time proclaiming himself an ally.
Now, as four of Bolivia’s richest provinces prepare to vote in referendums to declare their autonomy from the central government in La Paz, Morales might be wondering if his cozy relationship with Chavez has become his millstone
Some selfish rich people, US imperialist stooges, want out of the workers’ paradse.
Chavez’s engagement quickly moved beyond the famous man-hug photo-op at Morales’ inauguration. He has put cash directly in the hands of Morales, by many accounts as much as $80 million last year alone. Morales in turn has happily appeared throughout the country passing out checks to mayors and other local leaders
Bags of rice and corn and kaffiyehs I can understand, but literally throwing - ick - money around?
This festival of giving seems to have no clear long-term development objective. Rather, it is seen as a brazen campaign to buy political support -- sometimes to comic effect: One mayor, according to Bolivian media, took a $45,000 check from Morales and fled the country.
The fast cash, though, is clearly corrupting more than just a single mayor. Jaime Aparicio, former Bolivian ambassador to Washington, told me he fears that Chavez’s interference is distorting an already chaotic and challenging situation. Normally, Aparicio said, “when you need funds, you negotiate.” But with Chavez’s generosity, Morales has had little need to engage his opponents. Instead, he buys support and thus undermines a fundamental process of democracy.
With money.
He rode into office on a wave of anti-American sentiment that had brought down the presidency of Gonzalo Sanchez de Losada in 2003
What a brave champion among men.
Bolivia was already near the breaking point when the Sanchez government failed. Two decades of aggressive economic reforms and strict fiscal discipline, implemented at Washington’s urging, had failed to overcome the country’s persistent poverty. Forced eradication programs, conducted as part of U.S.-funded anti-drug initiatives, enraged the nation’s coca growers, who saw cultivation of the crop as their cultural right.
So thats “culture” - the right to cultivate and sell narcotics for fun and profit as one sees fit. Unlike, say, guns, or stuff.
Chewing coca leaves with a dash of powdered lime is a nutritious and energising way to induce healthy mood without causing an unsustainable high. Unfortunately its bad for the teeth.
Shamans from some traditional Indian tribes still smoke coca leaves for magical purposes. Inhaling the sacred vapors induces a trance-like state. Coca enables a shaman to cross ‘the bridge of smoke’, enter the world of spirits, and activate his magical powers
No meddling gringos there. Cocaine is indeed magic.
One mayor, according to Bolivian media, took a $45,000 check from Morales and fled the country.
Nah, thats a lie. He’s just taking a Euro-style vacation.
Willie Harcourt-Cooze, an eccentric Devonshire entrepreneur, has spent the past 11 years trying to create the purest bar of chocolate in the world. His bizarre quest, which began with the purchase of 1,000 acres of land in Venezuela on which he planted 10,000 cacao trees, has since won him a £500,000 deal with the supermarket chain Waitrose and has seen him dubbed the “British Willy Wonka” on a Channel 4 documentary television series following his travails.
But Mr Harcourt-Cooze, who has boasted that his South American plantation produces “the finest, rarest and most expensive cacao in the world”, has now seen his success turn sour after discovering that the Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, has ordered an investigation into his export business.
Mr Chavez – who has been described as a fairly eccentric man himself – has accused Mr Harcourt-Cooze on Venezuelan television of refusing to pay fair prices for his cacao, the chief ingredient in chocolate. The socialist leader, who was speaking on his weekly programme, Hello President, also suggested the farmer was exploiting local workers
Chavez orders expropriation of Venezuela’s largest steel maker
By CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER – Apr 30, 2008
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday ordered the expropriation of Venezuela’s largest steel maker after attempts by the government to acquire a majority stake in the company failed.
Venezuela’s government will turn Siderurgica del Orinoco, which was controlled by Luxembourg-based Ternium SA., into “a socialist company,” Chavez told workers gathered at a Caracas theater.
Sidor, as the company is known, “has now recuperated by the revolutionary government,” Chavez said.
His government last year seized majority control of the country’s largest telecommunications and electricity companies, and of joint oil ventures run by some of the world’s largest oil companies. Earlier this month, he announced plans to nationalize cement companies including Mexico’s Cemex SAB, France’s Lafarge SA and Switzerland’s Holcim Ltd.
Ternium representatives in Venezuela could not be immediately reached for comment late Wednesday. Ternium is controlled by Argentine-Italian conglomerate Techint Group
Looks like some Euros have been seduced by the practices of US multi-national KKKongloms.
But right on, Chavez, give it all to the hard-working proles.
