what did i say?

In a previous post "Calling the Kettle Black" I
compared Chavez to Oprah and then CNN comes out
with an article titled "Look out Oprah! Chavez
gives Chomsky a boost."

http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/21/news/funny/
chavez_chomsky/index.htm

Copycats!

Chavez at the United Nations General Assembly 61st session, Sept 20 Speech

Hola!

I have included the link to the UN Webcast of Chavez's speech at the GENERAL DEBATE (19-29 September 2006)Statements and Webcast. Make sure the date is for Sept 20. Scroll down to Venezuela.

http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/61/gastatement20.shtml

Also the below link should get you right to the live webcast.




Enjoy!

Calling the Kettle Black

A star has been born. His name is Hugo Chavez. And he called Bush the devil. How do you like them apples?

I was speechless....and for those of you who know me well know that such a response speaks volumes. Chavez's face is on the main page of practically every major news source website for calling him the devil, EL DIABLO!!! Joder. But when Rumsfeld compared him to the likes of HITLER. HITLER!!!!!...the man responsible for the strategic and well-organized execution of over 12 million people and many others in battle....It barely got a peep in the media.

But Chavez made a splash at that podium today, didn't he?

What can I say? Is there anything to say.

Oh yes....I wanted to comment on the article in the Times regarding the reading practices of Castro and Chavez. I am sure the Bush Administration will use this article as proof of the liberal media conspiracy. What makes me sad is that Castro and Chavez have probably read more books than George W and his DWI-star twins combined. The only person in that family that could maybe rival the "literate" duo is Mrs. Bush. Now was Ms. Laura even invited? I think she would look smashing in a crisp red beret. Don't you?

Chavez could be to Latin American readership what the Oprah Bookclub is to the US. Maybe she should make a visit? You think she'd suffer a dip in ratings?

While I was reading the article I had to put my special Inspector Gadget goggles on to read between the lines. And as my professor taught me....ask yourself...what does this have to do with me. Well, the article mentions that a book by Libya's Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. Do readers really care that Chavez reads? No. But they may be concerned about what he's reading.

Anyway, I am off to walk the streets with a little extra bounce in my step. Why? Because as much as I believe that calling Bush a devil was completely gratuitous I also get a kick out of it. A little chuckle. It's funny no?

Hot Money-Democracy

American policy both domestic and foreign is a product of our "hot money democracy." Our government is a metaphor of our finanicial ethics. The four-year terms pressure Presidents and policymakers to perform and provide the American public with "results" to ensure re-election. Whether it be in regards to jobs, the economy, education, whatever. In the end, policy is not geared towards long-term objectives in the way it should be. Understand my point? Policy objectives reflect the sentiment of "instant gratification" that plagues the American way of life. Just like how our fast food nation diet has come back to bite us in the ass as the rates for obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc climb our "hot money" diplomacy is doing the same. Can I get an Iraq? Can someone say Chavez? Or Iran? Hello!

In my opinion this creates a long narrative of what I call "bandaid policies." It fills the crack in the dam but doesn't prevent the flood.

The reason why this country runs like multinational corporation specializing in "hot money" is because we are run by the leaders and owners of multinational corporations that specialize in "hot money," making a quick buck, lots of quick bucks.

Since I am trying to do more than just complain I will make a prescription or two.

First of all I don't propose that we lengthen presidential terms. I think that Americans have fought too hard to maintain domestic political stability to set a precedent for out-with-the-old, in-with-the-new democracy. What I think we need is greater citizen participation!!! WE THE PEOPLE are responsible for all everything that is going on right now. ME, YOU, US! the american people are guilty of allowing our democracy to become a pathetic excuse of a government supposedly to be of and by the people. I am tired of blaming the media and corrupt politicians....WE, the people of america need to point the finger at ourselves. Hold OURSELVES accountable for our OWN actions...or lack there of.

Think what a powerful message it would create if American consumers refused to use their cars, go to work, and consume petroleum products in protest to finacing foreign oil and high prices at the pump and corrupt president's getting wealthier by the second....If THEY don't hear the protest chants maybe we should speak their language...the language of the bottom line. It is not enough to exercise your right to vote....this is a CAPITALIST country. Your dollar speaks VOLUMES over your vote. Get it!!! Think like your dollars spent at Mobile, Nike, American Express, etc were votes in a parallel government structure.

I am tired of being a victim of bad decision making.
I am tired of innocent people being victims of "hot money" American democracy.
I am tired of my tax dollars and consumer dollars going towards policies and politicians that have no genuine interest in the betterment of society.
I am tired of feeling like I am just one person with no power in a system created to EMPOWER the voice of one.
I am tired of the words on my money saying in "God we Trust" because the people that have most of the money are so far from God that they don't even know they are suffering......suffering because they have NO soul!!! No spirit!!
I am tired.
I am so tired.
So tired that I am retiring to the confines of the sierra madres of my mind. The last refuge in this world sans satellites and ears everywhere.
In the sierra madres of my mind I will struggle and fight.

And this time the revolution will be televised.....even if i have to do it budget on "You tube" and put it on my myspace.com page.

Can you dig it!?

100% Venezuela

Venezuelan Film Festival @ NYU
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
The Albert Schweitzer Chair in the Humanities
September 21-24
NYU’s King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, Department of Spanish and Portuguese
and Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies present
www.nyu.edu/kjc/100_venezuela/program.pdf
53 Washington Sq. South
212-998-3650
www.nyu.edu/kjc


100% VENEZUELA will show 14 films from the South American country. Presented by King Juan Carlos Center and the Department of Spanish and Portuguese of New York University, the Festival focuses on the violence that has characterized Venezuelan cinema through its history, exhibiting classic films from the 80´s and 90´s, and the most recent productions of Venezuelan filmography. Solveig Hoogesteijn and Alfredo Anzola, among other important Venezuelan filmmakers, will attend the screenings and participate in a symposium. Curated by Javier Guerrero, NYU Department of Spanish and Portuguese.With the collaboration of Cinema Tropical (www.cinematropical.com)


Thursday, September 21 (4:15 p.m.)
- 4:15 p.m.: PANDEMONIUM, HELL'S CAPITAL (1998, 97')
- 6:15 p.m.: I'M A CRIMINAL / SOY UN CRIMINAL (1976, 112')

Friday, September 22
- 2:00 p.m.: AMOR EN CONCRETO / LOVE IN CONCRETE (2003, 102')
- 4:00 p.m.: SANGRADOR/ BLEEDER (2000,89')
- 6:15 p.m.: MANUELA SÁENZ (2000, 97')
- 8:15 p.m.: SE SOLICITA MUCHACHA DE BUENA PRESENCIA Y MOTORIZADO CON MOTO PROPIA (1997, 90')

Saturday, September 23 (11:00 p.m.)
The following filmmakers will be present: Solveig Hoogesteijn, Diego Risquez, Leonardo Henriquez and Alfredo Anzola.

Saturday, September 23
- 2:00 p.m.: THE WEDDING / LA BODA (1982, 110')
- 4:15 p.m.: 3 NIGHTS / 3 NOCHES (2001, 105')
- 6:15 p.m.: TENDER IS THE NIGHT / TIERNA ES LA NOCHE (1990, 90')
- 8:15 p.m.: SANTERA (1997, 97')

Sunday, September 24
- 2:00 p.m.: JERICÓ (1990, 90')
- 4:15 p.m.: PUNTO Y RAYA (2004, 105')
- 6:15 p.m.: DE CÓMO ANITA CAMACHO QUISO LEVANTARSE A MARINO MÉNDEZ (1986, 90')
- 8:15 p.m.: MAROA (2006, 102')

www.nyu.edu/kjc/100_venezuela/program.pdf

Let the Games Begin

If some of you read the NY Times this weekend (Sunday, September 10) you may have caught the article on PAGE 3! of the A section on the local games played in Venezuela.

Now, if you didn't read the article here is a brief summary. Coleo is a local game played in Barinas, Chavez's home state. The object of the game is to see how many times competitors, riding horses, can trip the bulls while pulling their tails. Granted, I think it is assinine, but I think the same way about most competetive sports in America and the world abroad. The article comes off as making the locals, and all those Venezuelans who engage in this game seem like a bunch of backwards illiterate hicks with no sense of decency. Now, bullfighting, which is still practiced in SPAIN to this very day as it is in Venezuela, Mexico, and Peru is as "brutal" and "inhumane" a spectator sport as Coleo. Punto. But because it is Venezuela, the current political climate warrants publishing anything in the media to demonize anything Chavez. This article on Coleo has become a psuedo- representation of what the media wants to portray about Venezuela.

I mean really....Is the NYTimes serious? In all the madness going on in this world---Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Israel, Somalia, Niger, Chad, Sri Lanka---an article about some bull-teasing country game in one of the most remote regions of Venezuela garners the right to PAGE 3!! (G-d Help US) of the New York Times A section Page 3 on Sunday, September 10. Especially since it was followed by two HUGE ads and then some chiquito articles on Iraq and Iran. Why else would they publish such an article and give it such significant placement?

If you ask yourself the question: What about this makes it newsworthy to the American public? it seems a bit silly to write an article about Coleo. But, since the fundamental premise to presenting international news to the American public is to answer the question: What does this have to do with me? Then it makes sense. Right? Right....but in a sinous kind of way.

Why are Americans concerned at all about Venezuela and Chavez? Besides his anti-American rhetoric and diplomatic ties with our sworn enemies. THE OIL!!!! The black gold....Petroleo!!! Por dios! Problems or concerns regarding Venezuela makes the price of oil go up which upsets the American consumer. This is why we care about Venezuela. At least for the most basic of reasons. Chavez+Oil= Rising Prices at the Pump. At least that's the formula the media and politicians have been using. (In actuality the price of oil doesn't need to be anywhere near what it is. But that's for another blog.)

So, printing an article about some "brutal" sport in some country Venezuelan town helps perpetuate a negative image of Venezuela further bolstering opposition towards his leadership in the States.

Now, why would the NYTimes publish an article on Coleo on page 3 of section A on a Sunday? Duh....because it's newsworthy.

Fotos

ann coulter gives blondes a bad name

A bit of psychology before I go into my rant on Ann Coulter......

As a child I used to pray for blong hair and blue eyes. I begged my mother to take me to the hair salon to dye my hair and the optometrist to get blue contacts. Why? Because I thought that if i looked that way the teacher would pay more attention to me, take me more seriously, that i would be popular and get all the boys, but worst was that I thought it was the epitome of beautiful.

So, since then my issues with blondes was sewn. I guess regardless of whatever self-love I have for myself there is a residue of self-hate.

Which is why......Ann Coulter is probably the worst thing to happen to blondes since Jessica Simpson and why the mere sound of her voice makes my blood boil. She is a manipulative republican mannequin that couldn't produce a creative or independent thought even if they injected during her Botox treatment. In addition, it is so obvious that Coulter is a puppet for a media freak show. She loves to attack liberals for their allegedly self-righteous critics. Meanwhile here she is, PROJECTING. There's some psychology for ya! You Ann, are the self-righteous hypocrite. For a woman, who claims to be religious and well read and intelligent, but uses her physical attributes for the right book deal is a prostitute and a hypocrite. She is a tall, thin, attractive blonde chic who is "tough," "sassy," "sexy" and easy to sell. Which is why the mere thought of her name ignites a wave of childhood memories. It infuriates me that the only reason why she is even getting any play what-so-evah is because she is a a tall, thin, attractive blonde chic who is "tough," "sassy," "sexy" and easy to sell.

But this is what the Democratic party doesn't get. And this is why they all get to wear a big "L" on their foreheads for LOSER!!!

See, the Republicans get it! They get it!!! Another example of how WELL they get it....Gov. Arnold Schwarzaneggar. Or Gov. Ronald Reagan.

Do you get my drift?

Seems like the Republicans have a much savier way of using celebrity than the Democratic party does.

The Donkey needs to find himself a poster child. This is AMERICA! Sex sells. Enough of the liberal morality. It is tired, it is boring, and most of all it's not sexy.

Wake up! The Clinton Era is O-vah! The democratic party needs to bring " the sexy back" like Justin says and get with the program. The Left used to be the cool people in the room. Now we're the soggy loosers that listen to wah-wah-wah music.

Look at what Pamela Anderson has done for PETA!!!

Get it!

Below, is a list of possible celebs for politics
1-P Diddy.....the man is a marketing genius. he could sell you a rusty muffler, make you feel like the hottest dude on the block, and next week have everybody wearing it as a chain
2-Paris Hilton.....easy puppet and easy to control.
3-Brangelina.....they could do some stuff with that Oval office desk you know no one else has even thought of. And their marriage protest--refusing to marry until same-sex marriage is legalized--beats out Yoko and John's bed protests.

That's it. My creativity is waning. But I am open for some more celeb-politician suggestions.

In the end, I feel sorry for her. Well not that sorry, she's laughing all the way to the bank. But sorry in that she's a pawn fool. She has no credibility what so ever. If she's such an intelligent woman, why would she let her elephant family make her look like such an ass......?

And here I am with all my hot talk and being typically Donkey party---all that talk and not a SINGLE credible prescription for change. Who's the ass now?

in due time

One of the things that frustrates me most about the recent barrage of news about Chavez in the mainstream media is that almost all of what they are sayin now, I! have been saying for over three years. The other thing is that most of it is slanderous and demonizing. If the American media and public took a little time to be INFORMATIVE they would know what is REALLY going on Venezuela.

This is not rocket science. Just a little light reading. It still amazes me that in an age with such tremendous access to information that people are so MISINFORMED. How ironic. Anyone with access to a computer and reading proficiency in Spanish could have made fair and comprehensive assessments of Chavez's domestic and foreign policies. But why be accurate when you can be slanderous use words like threatening to help boost ratings. Our own government's research is little more comprehensive than news coverage on FOX!

The truth is, I find myself in a funny place. As an American I would be lying if I didn't admit that his strengthening diplomatic ties with Iran, Libya and Syria weren't a concern to me. His ambitions for a greater presence in global politics worries me less. But if I were to just examine his domestic policies I would be Chavista. Punto.

But can I?

I find myself being so critical of the right-wing policies of the Opposition and Bush adminstration that pratically gave birth to Chavez by trying obliterate the poor by starving them out and erasing them from the mirrors of society. Their policies created a void and Chavez filled it. But on the other hand, I am not so sure I like the idea of Chavez being so cuddly with Iran. Or Syria.
Inherently this is my problem with the left. LEFT IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT!!! Okay, so Chavez wants to make friends with some of our enemies. Why? Just because. Because its the alternative to the status quo? Bolstering the support of a nation that sponsors terrorism is not the way to gain credibility. But because it speaks to the Anti-American sentiment of much in the Arab and Islamic world (or the world at large for that matter) it brings political capital.

His goals to create a sphere of influence and a greater presence for Venezuela in the international arena is what it is, but is he really aware of the implications? Increased insecurity and competition. Chavez's ambitions to increase his influence in Africa doesn't only challenge the US but China as well.

Chavez looks at China as a lucrative alternative to the US market for his oil. But is he willing to overlook the fact that they have been arming the genocide in Sudan? Will his grassroots Bolivarian revolution overlook the fact that a trading nation is CAPITALIZING on the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of people in order to achieve a political domestic objective? The same type of CAPITALISMO that he heralds as the root of the world's evils and moral problems. The same CAPITALISMO that funds his Bolivarian Revolution everytime the US buys Venezuelan petrol. Seems like the Bolivarian Revolution's foreign policy is more like the US than he thinks. Seems like he could be learning to turn the other cheek and making for allowances when there is an overall objective. (That's what we've done with Saudi Arabia. Right?)

During a conversation I had with a friend of mine in Venezuela, we concluded that Bush and Chavez are actually more alike than not. Personality wise that is. Both are heavy handed presidentialist leaders. Neither are afraid of using force in light of aggression. They are both average height with possible Napoleonic complexes. They both like to refer to foreign leaders with nicknames. For example, Chavez called Bush Mr. Danger. (Rumsfeld called Chavez Hitler) Saddam Hussein has been refered to as Evil, as part of the Axis of Evil. (Sounds like something from an Austin Powers flick.) Both use catchy words and phrases during their speeches to romanticize the content of what they say. Bush favorites are terror, freedom, and democracy. (The only words he can...never mind, they'll probably come to my house if I finish that sentence) Chavez's words are imperialism, capitalism, neo-liberalism and a mutual favorite democracy. Oddly enough Chavez is technically the more democratically elected President out of the two. Funny.

Anyway, I began this rant in response to the increased media coverage on Chavez and how LATE it is. So LATE! Three years plus late. The Financial Times, ironically enough, has relatively good articles on Venezuela. As does the BBC. If you read spanish check out Elpais.es or UltimasNoticicas.com.ve It's a local paper that is a bit more middle of the road.