The Catholic Archbishop of Merida State in Venezuela has long been actively working to subvert the Chavez government, but the just published Wikileaks cable from the then U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela details that the Archbishop was expressly asking the U.S. to increase its own subversive efforts in Ve:

http://cablesearch.org/cable/view.php?id=0...



The Archbishop should be prosecuted for treason, or at least have the tax-free status of his church removed.

Construction and real estate companies have been selling to-be-built homes and apartments to the public, then not transferring ownership even when the the buyers have paid all of the originally agreed price. They were apparently holding them back to sell at a higher price to others. In some case, they have sold the same houses or apartments to several different buyers. The Chavez government has responded by expropriating the companies involved and transferring ownership or re-payments to the defrauded buyers.



See English language edition of Correo Orinoco at www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve/wp-content/upl... / which publishes an English edition every Friday.

At the very moment that the Democrats may move to abolish the military’s anti-gay “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, (see Joan McCartér’s “DADT Repeal Prospects Look Good” on Dailykos of 9/15/10), Republican primary winner,Christine O’Donnell, is crafting her first piece of proposed Senate legislation to be introduced in her current U.S. Senate campaign.

Referred to by O’Donnell insiders as the “Don’t Touch, Tell All” policy, it would require the military to prohibit all sexual self-stimulation, including masturbation, in its ranks on pain of dismissal from the military.

O’Donnell’s proposed regulation would require all military personnel, married and unmarried, to submit to weekly polygraph questioning on the subject of their personal sexual habits, especially instances of self-stimulation.

Similar to Scientology’s auditing process, all military personnel would be questioned about their sexual practicing during the previous week. Those who truthfully admitted to instances of masturbation would be given a demerit for each instance of masturbation.

Those admitting to more than eight instances of masturbation in any six month period would be placed on probationary status, while a score of 12 or higher would mandate automatic dismissal from the service. (Demerits could be removed from a service member’s record by his/her providing documentary or video proof of equivalent instances of male-female sexually procreative practice).

Those who appear to be giving deceptive answers to the weekly sexual questioning would be automatically re-tested. Persons scoring as deceptive on three or more sessions of polygraph testing would be summarily dismissed from the service without benefits.

More of this SNARK at http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/9/1... .

Ed No. 1: This is SNARK! as indicated in original link to daily kos. That is, unless O'Donnell steals the idea, which is a logical extension of her position on masturbation. Link to dailykos re-newed, hope it works now.

This story is absolutely accurate. There are many, many newspapers here, and the overwhelming majority are published by anti-Chavez companies. The U.S. State Department and U.S. media continually accuse Chavez of suppressing the opposition press, but the opposition press controls most of the print media here and much of the TV programing. They publish quite freely and openly criticize Chavez and the government.

The news published in the U.S. about Chavez and his socialist government is full of totally false allegations. They fear printing the truth about Venezuela because U.S. citizens might start fighting for similarly helpful social programs -- like totally free medical, dental and optical care, free public education to the doctoral level, low cost food markets and government loans for buying houses and starting small businesses and cooperatives. Given that the corporate banksters in the U.S. have totally destroyed the U.S. economy, such programs are desperately needed by all Americans.

While the U.S. Department of Education reports that 47 million Americans are functionally illiterate, illiteracy, which was common before Chavez was elected to office in 1998, has almost disappeared here. Poverty has been halved. We need to do the same in the U.S.

This story is absolutely accurate. There are many, many newspapers here, and the overwhelming majority are published by anti-Chavez companies. The U.S. State Department and U.S. media continually accuse Chavez of suppressing the opposition press, but the opposition press controls most of the print media here and much of the TV programing. They publish quite freely and openly criticize Chavez and the government.

The news published in the U.S. about Chavez and his socialist government is full of totally false allegations. They fear printing the truth about Venezuela because U.S. citizens might start fighting for similarly helpful social programs -- like totally free medical, dental and optical care, free public education to the doctoral level, low cost food markets and government loans for buying houses and starting small businesses and cooperatives. Given that the corporate banksters in the U.S. have totally destroyed the U.S. economy, such programs are desperately needed by all Americans.

While the U.S. Department of Education reports that 47 million Americans are functionally illiterate, illiteracy, which was common before Chavez was elected to office in 1998, has almost disappeared here. Poverty has been halved. We need to do the same in the U.S.

It is U.S. consumption of illegal drugs which is fueling the corruption and drug-related violence in other countries throughout the world, including Mexico and Colombia. By de-criminalizing currently illegal drugs, all the profits would be taken out of the illegal drug business. The cartels would no longer have their vast profits with which to buy politicians and police or to fund their huge paramilitary operations. The U.S. is the cause of the massive corruptions and violence and we can end it all very simply by changing our laws.

Venezuela Asks UNASUR to Establish Peace Zone in South America.

While the U.S. is building seven new military bases in Colombia, one right on Venezuela's border, and sending troops and war machines into Costa Rica, as well as sailing its Fourth Fleet of ships off Venezuela's coast, Venezuela seeks to have South America declared a "Peace Zone".

"I think it is appropriate that this should be done this way, because peace in Colombia represents peace in Venezuela and the region," Ambassador Marquez stressed, noting that the proposal will have an open agenda that seeks to consolidate UNASUR as a political mechanism, whose effectiveness is possible thanks to the will of each member state...

UNASUR "is the natural setting to discuss our problems and to make South America a peace zone, where diplomacy, understanding and the mechanisms for creating transparency in our relationships should prevail."

Marquez stated that there's a clash of two visions: A war-like vision reflected in the attitude of Colombia’s outgoing Foreign Minister, Jaime Bermudez ... who flatly rejected the proposal ... and the prevailing conception in Latin America, which seeks peace, respect for human rights and the deepening of democracy. He recalled that only negotiated solutions and peace agreements had brought about the end of decade-long conflicts in countries like El Salvador and Guatemala.

Ambassador Marquez expressed the belief that the government of Alvaro Uribe seeks to support the campaign promoted by Washington regarding alleged Venezuela protection of guerrillas and drug traffickers to create conditions for an eventual intervention in Venezuela. He noted that, towards that end, Bogota filed a complaint last week with the Organization of American States (OAS) as to the alleged presence in Venezuela of members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) ... an accusation which forced President Hugo Chavez Frias to break diplomatic relations with the neighboring country.

Marquez described what happened at the OAS as a "show made in the USA," which sought to support the complaint with pictures and videos lacking evidentiary value: "This is a new hoax designed to divert world attention. We respect the sovereignty of the Colombian people and State, but this is an issue that concerns the entire region."

Marquez also pointed out that the attack on Venezuela occurs in the context of the US State Department’s building of a theater of war in the region, which includes the installation of military forces in Costa Rica ... with 46 warships, more than 7,000 troops, two submarines and 10 aircraft. "There is no explanation for this."

"It seems to be kind of threat ... a warning ... a pressure they want to exert on Venezuela and other countries that are creating independent policies and developing transformative constituent processes. That worries the empire which has been losing ground in the region and wants to recover it through dollar diplomacy, the big stick and the Monroe Doctrine," he continued. The opening of naval bases in Panama, the installation of military bases in Colombia and the activation of the Fourth Fleet add to these facts ... "It's as if they were preparing a war zone..."

http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=9...

President Chavez shut down the banks and financial institutions here in Venezuela that were using their depositors' money to speculate for their own personal gain. The Bush and Obama administrations bailed out the U.S. banks and even funneled money to Goldman Sachs for doing the same thing, to the tune of billions, if not trillions, of dollars.

Meanwhile, in the U.S. the administration claims there won't be enough money to pay full Social Security benefits without raising the age to receive payments. Of course, we can't increase the payments into SS from the very rich, we can only take benefits from the "little people". The U.S. does have plenty of money for two wars and 800 military installations in 75 foreign countries around the world, including seven new ones in Venezuela's neighbor, Colombia.

Venezuela nationalized or shut down the corrupt banks here -- and paid back all their depositors every cent they were owed.

When a government agency here (PDVAL) allowed foodstuffs, intended for the government subsidized markets, to rot in warehouses. Venezuela put the agency top officials in jail and are charging them for their malfeasance.

Americans can worry about Venezuelan bank laws after the U.S. government puts Summers, Geithner and the heads of the SEC who failed to regulate the big banks in jail. Don't hold your breath for that to happen.

If Chavez were in charge in the U.S., the heads of BP who cut corners on safety in order to increase their corporate profits would already be in jail, as would the government mining regulators who allowed BP to carry out its corrupt practices.

In Venezuela, policies are now designed to protect "the little people" not the rich corporations. The same cannot be said for the U.S., where citizens are suffering massive unemployment and now being deprived of even minimal unemployment benefits for the "sin" of being unemployed too long.

While the fascist Colombian government of Uribe hides its dead bodies in mass graves, the U.S. hides its funding of such terrorism from the American people by labeling it "top secret", hiding it from oversight by Congress and crafting appropriate falsehoods for dissemination to our own right wing media.

The U.S. was very much involved in Colombia's attack inside Ecuador's borders two years ago, using its base in Manta, Ecuador, to fly surveillance missions for the Colombian operation. When Ecuador refused to renew the U.S.s Manta base, the U.S. then entered into an agreement with Colombia for the placement of seven new U.S. military bases in that country, an agreement which gave total immunity to U.S. military and contractors within Colombia, just as they immunized our troops and contractors in Iraq. The U.S. is now to be completely surrounded by U.S. military bases in Colombia and the Caribbean.

U.S. taxpayers are likewise paying millions of dollars from the U.S. Treasury to opposition parties within Venezuela (the same parties which carried out the illegal coup against President Chavez in 2002), as well as funding groups which are pushing for Venezuela's oil-rich states of Zulia and Tachira to secede from Venezuela and join Colombia.

I couldn't agree more with your critique of Emanuel. He represents the corporate wing of the Democratic Party and the saner wing of the Republican Party, many of whom now support the DLC Taken together, these groups form the Democorporate or Republidem Party. Unfortunately, we are discovering that Obama too is a Republidem. Obama-Emanuel would be very happy to destroy the progressive wing of the Democratic Party so they and their corporate buddies can reign supreme in untroubled serenity.

But, forming an alliance with Grover Norquist, whose own goal is to destroy progressives, indeed all Democrats, just to attack Rahm on a fairly collateral issue, however factually justified, in hopes of bringing Rahm down is a diversion from our main job of keeping the progressive congressional reps united in supporting a stronger bill and electing progressive Dems to replace the Blue Dogs that Rahm put in office while head of the DCCC and to replace the conservadems in the Senate, to whom Rahm and Obama pander.

I'm sure Jane realizes that Attorney General Holder has no intention of investigating Rahm, with or without the signature of Grover Norquist. Nor will Congress do so. The demand letter is meaningless.

But, as a result of signing the demand letter with Norquist, Jane has created a serious division among those who oppose the Senate Bill and very much want to work for an improved bill with the public option, if not single-payer. That this division has been created is clear from the many, many posts on Dailykos and DU taking sides on the issue of Jane and Norquist.

So instead of debating how we are going to keep the progressive congressional reps strong and how we can find and elect more progressive Dems and truly destroy Rahm's power, we are debating Jane, Grover and Rahm. Jane has thus weakened her own credibility among some progressives, when we need so much to speak with one voice to pass a decent health bill.

 
No, I didn't know about Admiral William Brown, an Irish revolutionary who fought for Argentinean independence and against the British invaders in Argentina and in Argentina's Malvinas Islands. Argentina, out of respect for Brown, was the first country to recognize the Irish Republic when it was first declared at Easter, 1916.

This is a great song by the Irish Wolf Tones about Brown and his history. It's also great to be reminded of the fighting Irish spirit, especially now when, shamefully, too many Irish Americans are unfortunately sharing Pat Buchanan's reactionary views.

I recently learned the story of another Irish freedom fighter who came to Venezuela from Ireland to fight along side Simon Bolivar in his battles to liberate Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru from Spanish rule in the early 1800's. A close friend of Bolivar, Daniel O'Leary fought beside him, attained the rank of general in the liberation army, and later, after Bolivar's death, organized Bolivar's writings and chronicled their campaigns. There is a statute commemorating O'Leary in Caracas and he is buried with many other Venezuelan revolutionaries in the National Pantheon of Venezuela.

One of our major progressive organizations needs to organize a national referendum to learn, once and for all, if single-payer is "politically plausible" in the U.S. I'm betting the vast majority, if given the choice, would vote for "Medicare for All". Let's ask them:

1. No health care reform

2. Reform with Public Option.

3. Reform without Public Option.

4. Medicare for all citizens.

If heroin (and all other illegal drugs) were legalized, the Taliban, the Afghan warlords, Al Qaeda, Mexican and Colombian drug cartels, and the CIA would all be put out of business immediately. The money saved could be used for health care for all Americans, treatment programs for addicts, and food and water for millions around the world.

Taking the profits out of the drug business would solve an immense number of the world's problems. Addiction could then be treated as what it is, a health problem.