Posts by James Bremner
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And now Chavez is into drug trafficking:
More from Stratfor
Venezuela is the main transit route for illegal drugs between Colombia and the European market, the White House director for drug control policy, John Walters, said May 8, calling on EU leaders to "use their influence" to persuade Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to stop illegal traffickers. Walters' statement comes after Venezuelan Justice Minister Pedro Carreno said May 7 he would not allow U.S. agents to carry out counter-drug operations in the country, calling the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration the "new cartel."
I guess Chavez really does follow his buddy Castro's lead. Payoffs from drug traffickers is presumed to be how Castro accumulated most of his $600 or $700 million fortune.
I see Cuba is 165 on RCF press freedom list, 3 places above North Korea on the bottom at 168.
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A bit more on Uribe & Colombia from Stratfor.
The new paramilitary arrests together with the wiretapping scandal are dealing Uribe a tough blow, as they further erode his image as a tough but upright leader determined to uphold the rule of law in Colombia. The fact that both occurred the same day, however, raises the possibility that his opponents somehow managed to stage the timing.
Uribe's hope for political survival now rests on successfully conveying three things to the Colombian people: that he is not personally implicated in these affairs, that his own government is rooting out the corruption and that he has successfully salvaged his country from a brutal civil war and continues to lead the struggle toward peace.
Ultimately, Colombians are unlikely to believe Uribe is clean, though there is a good chance they will realize on some level (Uribe cannot state it directly) that the process of fixing a country on the brink of disaster will not necessarily be a clean one. In fact, it appears Colombians already have implicitly accepted this. Despite the paramilitary scandal, his approval rating has been between 70 percent and 80 percent this year. Though
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Angus,
Couldn't agree more with your previous post.Another simple point, "bedtime story" simple. If the closing of RCTV is such a minor deal, why have so many Venezuelans been out on the streets protesting for days? Says it all doesn't it?
Uribe, while no Saint, has done an amazing job in Colombia by bringing some semblance of order to a country long thought ungovernable, which has allowed the country to experience some progress and growth for a change.
I backpacked through Colombia (whole of Central and South America) in 1992 and came away with the conclusion that Colombia had no chance of ever getting its act together, and now apparently it is in the process of doing just that. Amazing.
And yes, to achieve this, Uribe has had the Army kill a bunch of FARC guerillas. Good on him. In order to make an omelet, you have to break some eggs. God only knows how many people FARC has killed over the decades it has been waging a civil war, and more recently it has been into drug trafficking and kidnapping. Lovely chaps. The more of those that are dead, the better the world is.
Uribe was overwhelmingly reelected last year, so those in a position to judge him, in a free and fair election (unlike the elections in Venezuela) apparently think he is doing okay.
If I had to choose to live in either Colombia or Venezuela today, I would definitely choose Colombia, it is on an upward trajectory, while Chavez has Venezuela heading downward into a miserable Marxist future of poverty and totalitarianism.
Before my wife flew to Caracas last weekend, she had tried to organize to meet up with as many of her friends as possible. She told me, "They are all leaving, all my friends are leaving". It is sad, what Chavez is doing to Venezuela is very sad.
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Paul wrote
"Rather than protest against this censorship and oppression, people of the left are rushing to find excuses for him. Nothing new there, of course: we have been ignoring Castro's oppression of his critics for years."
Way to go Paul, tell it like it is right at them!!
Add North Korea to list of left wing hell holes that the "human rights" and various leftist activists have completely ignore for decades, because it doesn't fit their preferred narrative of the world.
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For all those under the misapprehension that Cuba was a mess before Castro came along, the following article will put you right ...
http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6082
And really, please, Cuba's free healthcare, blah blah blah. If you want to get a flavor for what hospitals are really like for Cubans (as opposed to Fidel and his henchmen), follow this link... Make sure you scroll down to see all the photos (don't look at this if you are having lunch, it is not pretty)
http://www.therealcuba.com/Page10.htm
If Cuba under Castro is so great, why have so many people over the decades risked death to get away? I think Cuba is now the second poorest country in Latin America, presumably after Haiti. Pre Castro it was one of the richer Latin countries.
And to read about how successful Uribe has been in Colombia, follow this link... Amazing stuff, Uribe has really turned Colombia around.
And Chavez is taking Venezuela on the path that leads to Cuban style oppression and poverty, and closing the TV station was just one step on that sorry path.
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RB,
Make no mistake; Chavez is a nasty little Castro wannabe thug who by not renewing RCTV's license is simply taking an opportunity to silence voices that might express opinions against him. He knows he needs to control information to further his "Bolivarian revolution", and this is one more step toward that control.My wife is Venezuelan; she is in Caracas with our son as we speak, so this subject cuts a bit close to the bone. I don't think things are really going to get too out of control, Chavez and his goons will beat and kill as many as it takes to keep control, but it is sad to watch a country with so much potential going down a path that only leads to poverty and suffering. Chavez models himself on Castro, and look how Castro has ruined Cuba.
As for winning elections, Chavez won the first one fair and square, but after Chavez took control of the election authority I think it is anyone’s guess as to what the real results have been for the last few elections. There was strong evidence that he rigged the recall election a few years ago.
While Chavez’s regime might not be a full blown military dictatorship yet, he is taking Venezuela in that direction. My wife and her family are very pessimistic about the future of Venezuela under Chavez. He has already done a tremendous amount of damage to the society and the economy, the only thing holding up his regime up is the high price of oil.
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Jackie,
Pleased to provide some more background for you. I can quite see how it looks like living in fear, and in some cases in the US it is. If I lived in the 'hood with drug activity all around me, it would be about fear. America does have real problems in its society, no doubt about that.While some Americans are real gun enthusiasts, for me and many, many Americans, gun ownership is just a matter of being prepared for an event that you hope never happens. And my main concern is not so much a break in, but for another situation like post Katrina NOLA where law and order breaks down, and for some reason I couldn't evacuate. The Second Amendment is very important in those situations.
Simon,
As I have written repeatedly, most of the gun crime in NOLA in drug or gang related, it doesn't affect or threaten me. Also, no amount of gun control is going to keep guns out of the hands of those kinds of people.As for whether I live in fear or not, I think I am best placed to judge that, and I can tell you that I sleep very well and hardly ever think about being a victim of crime (except during discussions like these). One of the reasons I sleep well, is that I know I am prepared to deal with a bad situation, if one arose.
Tell me Simon, do you lock the door at night and make sure your windows are closed? If so you are obviously living in fear!! I don't know what Bali is like, but if you lived in NZ, Auckland especially, you would be mad if you didn't lock your doors and windows.
Does nasty gun crime only occur in the US? Maybe not.
http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=041907DA leftie European's take on Anti Americanism, which is way beyond anything reasonable or justifiable these days. Most of those of us who live here, know that.
linkApologies to those who aren't interest in WWII, you have a couple of WWII nuts on the blog.
Simon,
Go back and read what I wrote. I did not say that the Yanks defeated Nazi Germany. I did say that if America hadn't existed or didn't get involved in WWII, Imperial Japan, which brought us such delights as the rape of Nanking would have had the Pacific as its very own lake, and either of Hitler's Third Reich with its Holocaust or Stalin's Soviet Union with its Gulags would have prevailed in Europe and Central Asia, and could have had any other real estate in the world it wanted, which in Stalin's case was everywhere.
Do you disagree with this analysis? If so, on what basis?Consider those facts and then take a moment to reflect on what the world would have been like over the last 60 years if it weren't for the Yanks. It is a pretty dreadful thought. It is also true that the Yanks kept the Soviets at bay for over 50 years after WWII.
All I am saying is that we should all keep these facts in mind when we think of America today. I am not suggesting that we should kowtow to or not criticize the Yanks at all, far from it; we should hold America to a higher standard. We shouldn't gloss over the mistakes America has made, but let's acknowledge reality and the tremendous good America has done in the world and of which we are all beneficiaries. If we could all do that, we would all be in a much more reasonable and balanced place.
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Jackie,
A couple of quick points.
I don't live in fear, at all. I try to be prepared for situations that hopefully will never happen, but might. That is all.I lived here on NOLA, which has quite a bit of crime, without a gun quite happily for years. I am a reasonably strong guy and I could put up a fight and I could certainly jump out a window and run like hell to get away from a bad situation, and that was always my plan.
My change of mind came about from watching all the post Katrina chaos and looting and the breakdown of law and order and I realized that now I am married and have a son I can't just jump out a window or run, or if I try to fight someone and get stabbed or shot, then what happens to my wife and son?
If someone breaks into my house, I might be able to grab my wife and child and be able to get out, but I really doubt it and I don't intend to take the chance.
As far as my wife's views on the matter, she is from Venezuela, where it is pretty normal to have a gun in the house for exactly the same reason I bought one for, so she is fine with it. She grew up with her father having a gun in the house. In fact she wants me to get a smaller shot gun that she could use if she needed to. If she didn't want a gun in the house, post Katrina I would feel quite conflicted.
I took a gun safety course and went to a gun range to get used to the gun and I am comfortable that I could use it safely and effectively if I had to. I bought cartridges with finer pellets that won’t go through a wall so no one on the other side of a wall could get hurt if I ever used it.
I keep the gun tucked away where only I can get to it (quickly) for now, and I have looked into gun mount that is lockable but is very quick to release so when my son gets older so he can’t do anything with it.
A few years ago a good friend of mine, a good Mississippi boy, got a call from his wife (then girlfriend) who was freaked out one night because some people were acting really suspiciously in front of the house and she thought they might try to break in. Gene told her to go to the closet and get his shotgun, to go by the window above the front door and to "pump" the pump action, which makes that mean noise that always seems to carry a long way. Everyone knows, especially dodgy characters, what that noise means and the guys immediately ran like dogs which had been shot in the behind. End of problem.
That is why I bought a pump action shotgun and that is all I hope to ever have to use it for.
The gun thing over here is very different from what we have in NZ, and to most Kiwis, it looks just insane, and that is what I thought when I came here. Some of the "gun thing" has terrible consequences like VT, but some of it, like the example above are good, but never make it into the stats. There is no doubt at all that there is a real deterrent value in the knowledge that many houses have guns in them.
There are different ideas and different views about guns, but no perfect solution to this question. It sure as hell isn't perfect over here in the US and from talking with my family in NZ and reading about some of the awful violent crime committed in NZ, it sure as hell isn't perfect in NZ either.
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Some of the anti American comments in the Herald's blog about the VT shooting were just utterly tasteless and appalling and deserved some scathing replies, the comments were not something to be proud of at all. You would think that people would be decent enough not to use a tragedy such as the VT shooting to puke up a bunch of anti-American bile, but apparently that would be to give too much credit to too many people. Shame on them. When Americans read that kind of garbage, you can't blame them for developing "f#@k off all of you" sentiments. And anyway, coming from NZ it is kind of like the flea lecturing the elephant. Also as NZers, like most of the rest of the world are voracious consumers of all things American, from technology, to business ideas, to films, music and Lord knows only what else, and whose Government is frantically trying to suck up to the US to get a trade deal that would improve the living standards of New Zealanders’, so it really is all a bit rich.
A couple of other points
Here is an interesting article on gun crime in the UK v the US that has some stats that goes back over a hundred years. An interesting perspective.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/2656875.stm
I saw Weston writing that “the Democrats are good people”, and implying that people who are not Dems, Repubs, are not good people. That view is a prevalent view held in NZ and much of the world, and it is wrong and just way too simplistic.
There are plenty of both Dems and Repubs in D.C and around the US who are great people, honest, intelligent, decent hard working people, just fine people. And there are plenty of both Dems and Repubs in D.C and around the US who are vile, lousy, lazy stupid, corrupt, dishonest scumbags. A few quick examples, the Repubs have their Duke Cunninghams, Abramoffs and Bill Neys, and the Dems have their Dan Rostenkowskis, Bill Jeffersons and if you believe recent reports, apparently Diane Feinsteins, there are plenty of other examples on both sides. Neither Dems or Repubs have a monopoly on either virtue or vice. If you understand this fact, you will have a much better foundation on which to build an understanding of the US and US politics and be able to more effectively screen what you get in the media and on the web.
I can’t resist diving into a WWII discussion!!“Nov 1942, many consider the turning point in the Second World War. Four major campaigns were undertaken during this period, costing hundreds of thousands of lives and sending the enemy, Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, on the defensive for the first time in three years. The battles were Alamein, Guadalcanal, Stalingrad, and Torch.” Without a doubt the Battles of Britain and Midway were critical as well.
Were the Yanks at Guadalcanal and Torch? Hmm, let me think…
As for El Alamein, while there may not have been many P51s at El Alamein, that might have more to do with the fact that P-51Bs and Cs started to arrive in England in August and October 1943, which would be after El Alamein. Hard for a piece of equipment to be in a battle before it has been made!!
As for the Yanks’ contribution at El Alamein, let me quote the BBC for you from the link below:“Three hundred Sherman tanks that were hastily shipped to Egypt from the USA were a crucial influence on the outcome of this battle. The tanks gave Montgomery a significant advantage in firepower.”
Monty had about 1200 tanks, so about 25% were American made and delivered. Rommel had 500 tanks, so in one go the Yanks gave Monty 60% of Rommel’s tank strength. I think most people would call that a significant contribution.
More from the Beeb: “The Second Battle of El Alamein was a turning point in the North African campaign. It ended the long fight for the Western Desert, and was the only great land battle won by the British and Commonwealth forces without direct American participation.”
Here is how the tanks got to the battlefield.
http://www.usmm.org/seatraintexas.html
As for the Yanks contribution to the Soviet effort, the book linked to below, “Feeding the Bear” concludes that:
“The Soviet Union most likely would have survived without Lend Lease . . . but the war would have been much longer, the alliance less firm and the victory less complete.'
http://www.greenwood.com/catalog/VTL%252f.aspx
Without the Yanks WWII would have ended up a nightmare with Japan ruling the Pacific and either Hitler or Stalin ruling Europe and central Asia.
Stop to ponder that thought for a moment before you whine and complain and spit bile over America again.
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Ben,
You wrote about gun control that "Places where it has been tried it has worked. "
That is a myth, not an accurate statement.
The assault weapon ban tried here had no impact, which was why it was allowed to expire with barely a whisper from anyone.
Gun control has been tried in the UK and Aussie, and apparently it doesn't work as advertised.
See the link I posted in another post.
http://www.geoffmetcalf.com/guncontrol_20010302.html
Some key points from the article.
The International Crime Victims Survey, conducted by Leiden University in Holland, found that England and Wales ranked second overall in violent crime among industrialized nations.
Twenty-six percent of English citizens -- roughly one-quarter of the population -- have been victimized by violent crime. Australia led the list with more than 30 percent of its population victimized.
The United States didn't even make the "top 10" list of industrialized nations whose citizens were victimized by crime.
The United States, despite its high murder rate, was among the middle ranking countries with a 21 percent victimization rate," the London Telegraph said.
More specifics on Aussie sine it enacted its gun ban:
Countrywide, homicides are up 3.2 percent.
Assaults are up 8.6 percent.
Amazingly, armed robberies have climbed nearly 45 percent.
In the Australian state of Victoria, gun homicides have climbed 300 percent.
In the 25 years before the gun bans, crime in Australia had been dropping steadily.
There has been a reported "dramatic increase" in home burglaries and assaults on the elderly.