The Chavez revolution continues.

By Alex Kennedy

May 25 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez plans to put the nation's most popular TV network off the air this weekend, accusing the broadcaster of ``coup-mongering'' and causing ``moral damage'' with violent, sex-filled programming.

Chavez is refusing to renew the license for Radio Caracas Television, known as RCTV, whose mix of news, soap operas, comedy and reality programming makes Venezuela's oldest private network also its most watched. At midnight May 27, RCTV stands to become the country's first network to lose its license. read more »

We read and hear a great deal about "low presidential approval ratings" and Republicans grieve over the effect on the party of the public discontent with President Bush. Republicans, as a part of the general public, are as ready to be upset with the president as anyone, as you will note if you read any conservative blogs. The best sort of comment you might read will be "I think (and hope) that History will deal kindly with President Bush. History will take note of and appreciate his________." and then there will be something about resolve in the face of adversity, or compassion for the ordinary American, or something else. In the context of all other remarks, it sounds like trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. read more »

This morning, after this story in The Politico.com, the Atlanta paper finally "investigated" the tangled web of Rep David Scott’s (D-GA) campaign finances. The AJC story consists largely in uncritically reporting the Scott camp’s explanations of documentary evidence that, according to the paper, "has been anonymously circulated among news organizations, including the Journal-Constitution, in recent months."

Scott is moderate and well-connected (his brother-in-law is Hank Aaron). The latter fact by itself may explain why no one locally bothered to look into these documents. But I can’t help thinking that the AJC and the national press would have been all over similar allegations about any Republican. In this case, it took a national story by an up-and-coming political website to provoke my somnolent local paper to file even a cursory report.

Don't you think we deserve better in Atlanta, both from our representatives and from our newspaper?

Last week, we had a bit of a staff shuffle that moved one teacher from History and Geography (taught in French) to simply French language. She was irate that she'd have to create new lesson plans and "start all over from scratch." This teacher had been doing History and Geography for years and she was a well oiled machine. Now she was being asked to alter it slightly and she was steaming mad for several days.

Tomorrow we have an inservice for our staff. We are getting one of the foremost minds in educational technology thinking, Alan November, to come speak about some pretty radical things. He is going to talk about how we must utilize and integrate technology into our daily lesson and not just lay a PowerPoint presentation over the top of what we already do. He is going to say that we have to challenge kids with deeper and more difficult questions because the old ones just don't work in the world of Google and Wikipedia.

I'm jazzed. read more »

Over at my blog, my co-blogger, CK, has asked the following questions. My readers aren't commenting, but I think these questions deserve a bigger audience. What do you think?

What is patriotism? What is nationalism? How are the two the same? How are they different? Is it possible for a Christian to be a patriot? How much of what is called patriotism in the United States in the current age is actually nationalism? Dictionary definitions will get you no points unless you use them as a jumping off point for your own exploration and thought of the aforementioned questions!

Yesterday, the House passed a bill that would make gasoline price gouging a federal offense. How does the House of Representatives, in their infinite wisdom, define gouging?

(1) IN GENERAL- It shall be unlawful for any person to sell crude oil, gasoline, natural gas, or petroleum distillates at a price that--

(A) is unconscionably excessive; or

(B) indicates the seller is taking unfair advantage unusual market conditions (whether real or perceived) or the circumstances of an emergency to increase prices unreasonably.

So who defines "unconscionably excessive"? Since when was there anyone in Congress with a full understanding of the economics of gasoline and the entire supply chain to be able to definitively state what the price of gasoline should be?

This is exceeding foolish legislation that ignores the basics laws of economics. The law of supply and demand dictates that prices must rise when demand rises. This is a basic economic fact that isn't open to interpretation.

As a result there is a fairly obvious solution to rising gasoline prices - STOP DRIVING. The great irony here is that while there is much talk about decreasing our dependency upon oil, this bill ensures that we will continue our dependency upon oil. Those clamoring for more hybrid cars and a more "green" energy policy should be calling for higher gas prices if they were honest. A corrollary to the law of supply and demand is that increased prices will create a decrease in demand. Isn't that what we want???

John Edwards came out today in a defense policy speech and said that the "global war on terror" is simply a Bush administration ideological doctrine and that there is no GWOT. I can already visualize the mouth-frothing on right-wing sites and the "Amen, he is speaking truth to power" silliness on left-wing sites.

However, this is a worthwhile discussion that deserves some serious thought and dialogue. Is it possible that we can provide a platform here to have that conversation? Prove me right folks.

The US has just signed a $1.5 billion dollar deal to supply Iraq, Iraq, with weapons. Just what they need- more weapons. Just what we need, more arms in a volatile region.

How much do you want to bet that in a few short years, the weapons we deliver to Iraq, along with Iraq's close ties to Iran, will be cited as a basis for further US weapons spending?

Is there any other issue in contemporary politics that's treated this way?

Side A: We've got a major problem here -- millions of people are committing Crime X.

Side B: You're right. Let's start enforcing the laws we already have that make Crime X illegal.

Side A: Don't be ridiculous. What we need to do is exonerate anyone who's ever committed Crime X.

Side B: Um...okay, but can we at least build a wall that will make it harder to commit Crime X in the future? And maybe punish the people that are hiring the people to commit Crime X?

Side A: Oh hell no. But I'll tell you what -- you can create a program that gives people a way to do basically the same thing as Crime X, but legally. And it will only cost $5000! read more »

Last week I had the honor of being interviewed on Wilson Smith's What's Goin On? radio show. Wilson is an attorney in Vidalia, GA and hosts one of the best radio shows on politics in Georgia. Recent guests have included my friend Erick Erickson of Peach Pundit, Sally Bethea of Upper Chattahoochee RiverKeeper, Doug Monroe, and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle.

I'm not sure how I got on Wilson's radar to discuss politics but I very much enjoyed this conversation.

Click here to hear the interview. read more »

I know this isn't the usual topic for GWH, but it does indirectly hit on economics, so maybe it is fair fodder. Otherwise, just consider this a light Sunday afternoon topic to throw around...Mrs. Expat Teacher and I are seriously looking to buy a place here in DC and we've been to plenty of open houses and even viewed some new condo construction, but I've avoided getting a real estate agent since the MLS listings are now available via ReMax. I can just contact the seller directly. If I use a real estate agent, the seller pays a 6% commission on the sale, usually split 3% between the buyer and seller agent. read more »

A friend of mine recently told a discussion group that he was amazed to find himself "squarely in the middle" amongst us on a political issue. Although he wasn't trying to claim the higher ground, I was taken by how his staking out the middle ground had that effect anyway. It led to this end-of-the-week rumination:

Even as he was amazed to find himself "squarely in the middle", so I am amazed at how deeply entrenched political discourse is in mathematical metaphors. In one sense, all language is metaphorical--I think this is a result of God revealing Himself through ectypal figures while He Himself is incomprehensible as archetype. However, what amazes me in this case is how the mathematical metaphor itself carries persuasive force.

One might trace this back to the Pythagoreans, who believed that all of reality could be reduced to mathematical relationships. The Pythagorean theorem was, for them, not simply a geometric truth; it was a metaphysical truth. In fact, it was a religious truth. The Pythagoreans had a significant influence on Plato and when regarding his Doctrine of the Forms, it is important to keep this influence in mind. Plato's Forms (or Ideals) are not cookie-cutter semblances of the material objects; they are closer to something like a form(ula). read more »

In the latest Zogby Poll, Bill Richardson has surged ahead to 10% in New Hampshire. He's still in 4th place, but within margin of error of reaching Edwards. Quite impressive considering that he was only at 2% last month. John Zogby said, "Of greatest significance is the move of Bill Richardson into double-digits from merely a blip on the screen. He is now a player in all this.” I think I've been saying that all along. ;-)

He is the beginning of a nice story about momentum and progress. He's moving upward in both Iowa and New Hampshire. His second quarter fundraising will be higher than his very respectable first quarter's. He'll move into the autumn as the politician with momentum on his side. Governor Richardson's visibility will improve and his impeccable record and qualifications will be on display. Against the other Democratic candidates, he'll continue to stand out.

Why not join this locomotive that is gaining steam? Richardson for President!

Life is often about being at the right place at the right time. Often bloggers and reporters in D.C. have a huge leg up on the rest of us that do political blogging and commentating for the obvious reasons. Today however I was in the right place at the right time. In the wake of last night's Republican presidential debate, Rudy Giuliani came to Atlanta today and chose Oglethorpe University as a place to speak, which coincidentally is less than 500 yards from my house.

Rudy spoke for about 45 minutes to a packed house. Not surprisingly, he comes across much better in this type of "townhall" format than he does in a televised debate. He spent the first 20 minutes speaking about what he thinks are the two most important issues and then took questions. Rudy spoke very forcefully about national security and terrorism and explained that we have to be on offense. Regardless of your opinion on national security, this is Giuliani at his best. read more »

I posted this, with links, at the NLT site.

Formal newspaper reports aren’t yet available on the web, but two veteran AJC reporters blogged on the visit here, here, here, and here. There’s video from local TV here (featuring a distinguished local political analyst) and stills on the Oglethorpe website. read more »

Tonight, in my role as grass roots coordinator for DC for Richardson, I was invited to a private fundraiser for Gov. Richardson at Bob Bennett's house and got the luxury of meeting and briefly speaking with the Governor.

This was a private fundraising event and had a very intimate feeling. I met several people, all of them strong Richardson supporters, who work in the space industry. In fact, probably half the people there were involved in the space industry. Of course, they love Governor Richardson because he has the vision and understanding to see that commercial space flight is not only feasible, but a future billion dollar industry. It is that kind of vision and leadership that filled Bob Bennett's house this evening.

After making his way around the room and shaking everyone's hand, Governor Richardson was able to speak for 10 minutes or so. He didn't give his stump speech because everyone in the room already knew how incredibly qualified he is for the presidency. Instead, Governor Richardson spoke about how the campaign is moving up (apparently he is 2nd in Minnesota and has increased in the Iowa) and his vision for America. read more »

Last night's debate certainly was much more exciting than the last yawn-fest. And we certainly got a much better picture on some of the difference between these candidates. So who won, who lost, and what were the highlights of the evening?

Overall, I would say that all of the candidates performed better and seemed more themselves than the last debate. Tom Tancredo and James Gilmore were much more forceful and aquitted themselves better than the last debate. Gilmore in particular was more than happy to attack his competition though he was rather reluctant to single anyone out by name which is quite the cowardly way to do it. read more »

I saw Will in the room and promised to cross-post what I wrote for NLT. Here are my first thoughts. There will be more, and I'm sure Will will favor us with his views as well.

Giuliani spoke to a packed room of 250, most of whom responded well to what he had to say, both in his stock remarks and in his off-the-cuff responses to questions. He led with (what he and I regard as) his strengths--national security and domestic economic policy--and avoided (what I at least regard as) his weaknesses--social policy, like abortion. (The closest he came to that was in response to an off-the-wall question about killing unwanted animals: he’s against it, would promote adoption, and doesn’t regard it as a federal issue. Should we read something into this?) read more »

Bubba Ludwig may only be 10 months old, but he has already successfully obtained a gun licence in Illinois.

Bubba's father, Howard Ludwig, applied on his behalf after his grandfather gave him a shotgun as an heirloom.
...
Two rejections did in fact come, he said, but both related to technical problems - on one application he forgot to tick a box stating his son was a US citizen - rather than Bubba's youth.

His third attempt was rewarded with a state firearm owner's identification card (FOID), complete with details of Bubba's height, weight and date of birth. read more »

Rudy Giuliani will be speaking at Oglethorpe University at 12 noon on Wednesday, May 16th. The venue is the Emerson Student Center. Follow the crowds on an otherwise empty campus (we held commencement this past Saturday).

There's a notice on the front of Oglethorpe's website for those who need directions.