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 »

Sex and the Welfare State

Jurgen Van Acker is 27 years old and severely handicapped. He cannot walk, talk, sit or eat, but mentally there is nothing wrong with him. With the help of his computer he can communicate. Recently he became a television celebrity in Belgium when he asked that the welfare office pay his prostitutes. read more »

I have posted in other places that “the Cold War never ended”. I think the evidence points to a hiatus from the Cold War and that it never really ended. This article, by the former Estonian ambassador to Russia, is interesting in that regard.

The Beginning of a New Cold War

When last February the Russian president Vladimir Putin unleashed his chilling attack against America in a speech in Munich, he was really addressing the European Union, or “old Europe” to be exact, and most humiliatingly its most influential state, Germany. read more »

Cindy Sheehan is not happy with Democrats.

What’s really interesting though is her explicit invocation of Christian theology to support her point:

"Our message is: Today is Good Friday, when Jesus Christ was killed by the Roman Empire. He rose again on Sunday, came back to life. But our loved ones won't be coming home" from Iraq, she told reporters.

While I don’t quite follow her logic I think it’s fascinating that she would invoke the imagery of the cross and the empty tomb while making a very, very specific point about when US policy:

"The timeline is now, not 18 months, not two years," said Sheehan.

Is the implicit message here that God wants US troops to come home immediately? If so, is there any difference between Sheehan’s argument and Bush’s belief that he is on a mission from God to invade Iraq?

Following up on the Spiegel article that was discussed last week… Germany's Anti-American Neurosis

The European media go for the really nutso tales. The most recent headlines shout out that there's a whole new "trend" in America: Apparently our teens are going out at night to kill homeless people. It used to be Elvis and hip-hop, and now it's murdering street people for fun. How's that for nuts? It's like being stalked by some obsessional maniac because your shoes squeak too loud. read more »

The Brussels Journal looks at regulation and finds Anti-Market Mentality Is Costly

Two recent studies, undertaken by economists at the International Monetary Fund, have examined the impact of (1) laws that limit work time in France, and (2) of government fuel subsidies in several developing countries.

First the French study: read more »

Watch out! Cuba and Sweden are mad at each other:

Cuba-Sweden diplomatic row grows

Sweden's foreign minister is standing by his criticism of Cuba's human rights record, as a diplomatic row between the two countries shows no sign of abating.

This is funny:

Cuba responded to Carl Bildt's comments at the UN by deriding what it called Sweden's imperial past. read more »

An iPod for every kid? Are they !#$!ing idiots?

The Detroit News weighs in on this proposal:

We have come to the conclusion that the crisis Michigan faces is not a shortage of revenue, but an excess of idiocy. Facing a budget deficit that has passed the $1 billion mark, House Democrats Thursday offered a spending plan that would buy a MP3 player or iPod for every school child in Michigan. read more »

William Keenan looks at Sex Ed in Britain:

How not to teach children about sex

British authorities promote sex education programmes that would make a sailor blush - and achieve record rates of disease and pregnancy

One of the worst examples of this destructive intervention in family life is the sex education system that has been imposed on schools. Under this system so-called sexual health officials go into classrooms and are now encouraging children as young as 12 years old to have sex. This is not only destroying childhood innocence but has given Britain the worst sexual health in the western world and the most one-parent families. read more »

The End of History

Mark Steyn quotes Francis Fukuyama:

I believe that the European Union more accurately reflects what the world will look like at the end of history than the contemporary United States. The EU's attempt to transcend sovereignty and traditional power politics by establishing a transnational rule of law is much more in line with a "post-historical" world than the Americans' continuing belief in God, national sovereignty, and their military. read more »

Matthew Omolesky at The Brussels Journal looks at Russia and Islam.

Russia and the Policing of Political Islam

Last week, a Russian law banning foreigners from retail stalls and markets, announced by the cabinet last November, finally took effect. While facially neutral, the law essentially targets immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries. Meanwhile, a Russian city court in Pyatigorsk convicted Anton Stepanenko of promoting Wahhabism, inciting ethnic and religious hatred, and encouraging vigilantism. Yet Stepanenko’s case had become a cause célèbre for many Russian Muslims, and after public appeals to President Vladimir Putin on behalf of the imam (an “exemplary, heroic figure for all the nation’s Muslims,” according to some), the charges were reduced and Stepanenko went free. read more »

Many people are unhappy with Speaker Pelosi’s trip to Syria. Some have even suggested she broke the law. Critics include papers such as the Washington Post, so this doesn’t seem to be a partisan issue.

Now she’s thinking of going to Iran:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo, just back from a trip to Syria that sparked sharp criticism from Republicans and the Bush administration, suggested Tuesday that they may be interested in taking another diplomatic trip - to open a dialogue with Iran.

The Democratic speaker from San Francisco and Lantos, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, were asked at a press conference in San Francisco Tuesday whether on the heels of their recent trip to the Middle East they would be interested in extending their diplomacy in the troubled region with a visit to Iran.

"Speaking just for myself, I would be ready to get on a plane tomorrow morning, because however objectionable, unfair and inaccurate many of (Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's) statements are, it is important that we have a dialogue with him,'' Lantos said. "Speaking for myself, I'm ready to go -- and knowing the speaker, I think that she might be.''

Interesting. Should she go?

N.J. School Portrays Christians as Terrorists

I had to roll my eyes at this:

In late March, the Burlington Township High School – in an effort to prepare students for a real-life crisis – staged the mock attack, with two police detectives portraying angry Christian men armed with handguns. They entered the school with force, pretended to gun down students in the hallways, then took 10 students hostage and barricaded themselves in the school’s media center.

The fake gunmen were described as "members of a right-wing fundamentalist group called the ‘New Crusaders’ who don’t believe in the separation of church and state.”

Puleeze! read more »

Is Moulitsas a realist?

No matter how much I care about progressive politics, at the end of the day, it's my family and their well-being that's going to come first.

Tim Worstall has this to say:

Quite Markos, that's the way the rest of us feel too, why we're against many of the things you hold dear, like that aforementioned redistributive taxation. We'll do what we think is in the best interests of our families, you do what you think is in the best interest of yours and we'll also agree not to use each other's money to do so, eh?

I guess that's the end of progressive politics then.

Plant growers served search warrant.

On a regular Saturday evening, three roommates stood around their apartment going about their normal routine when suddenly eight to 10 police officers, guns drawn, came into the apartment and served the unsuspecting men a search warrant.

Robert Barry, a senior civil engineering major, stood in shock as police searched his apartment for a suspected marijuana growth.

Just three hours earlier, two people, who Barry said were there on behalf of the landlord, were reviewing the apartment when they noticed a growth lamp in a hall closet.

“They went straight to the closet and saw tomatoes,” Barry said. “They regrouped for a second and then searched the rest of the apartment visually.” Barry said the officers found nothing and even threatened to bring dogs back to search the apartment further. read more »

New Employment Numbers Out.

Jobless Rate Falls, 180,000 Jobs Added

Unemployment Matches 5-Year Low; Jobs Surge by 180,000

WASHINGTON (AP) -- If you were looking for a job as a teacher last month, you were in luck. Same goes for health workers, retail clerks and building contractors.

All told, the economy added 180,000 new jobs, dropping unemployment to a 4.4 percent rate that matched a five-year low.

But there were many more job winners than losers. Construction jobs led the way, especially for contractors and for commercial building. Retailers, health care providers, educational services and leisure and hospitality companies were among those boosting their payrolls.

"Businesses have a very good appetite for hiring workers. The job market is sturdy," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "It is a good time to be looking for a job, particularly if you have skills and education." read more »

Media Bias: How It Works.

There you have it. Dr. Gray is a fuddy-duddy who "has long railed" and is outside the "mainstream." He has "dug his heels in" and is so out of date that he tries to dispute the obvious fact that the world is currently getting warmer! The AP is telling us that, however distinguished Gray may be, he can safely be disregarded on this issue. read more »

Chavez lays out collective property plan.

President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that his administration plans to create "collective property" as part of sweeping reforms toward socialism...

Wherever land reform like this has been tried, it always ends up hurting the poor the most. Chavez may honestly believe he's helping the poor with his reforms, but he is only hurting them. There are already
shortages of many essentials such as food.

The leftist leader also plans to slap new luxury taxes on the wealthy and do away with presidential term limits that would otherwise bar him from running again in 2012. read more »

China seen topping U.S. carbon emissions in 2007.

China is on course to overtake the United States this year as the world's biggest carbon emitter, estimates based on Chinese energy data show, potentially pressuring Beijing to take more action on climate change.

China's emissions rose by some 10 percent in 2005, a senior U.S. scientist estimated, while Beijing data shows fuel consumption rose more than 9 percent in 2006, suggesting China would easily outstrip the U.S. this year, long before forecasts.

China received a special dispensation from the Kyoto protocols because their economy is relatively young. But China is so big and is growing so fast that it won't be long before their emissions dwarf those of the rest of the world, even on a historical scale.

Interesting article:
Researchers Question Validity Of A 'Global Temperature'.

Discussions on global warming often refer to 'global temperature.' Yet the concept is thermodynamically as well as mathematically an impossibility...

He explains that while it is possible to treat temperature statistically locally, it is meaningless to talk about a a global temperature for Earth. The Globe consists of a huge number of components which one cannot just add up and average. That would correspond to calculating the average phone number in the phone book. That is meaningless. Or talking about economics, it does make sense to compare the currency exchange rate of two countries, whereas there is no point in talking about an average 'global exchange rate'.

We keep hearing about how global tempuratures are rising, so this is a different perspective on the issue. read more »