Evict Bush!

Saturday, May 10, 2003  

The One True Cod

One codpiece to rule them all.
One codpiece to find them.
One codpiece to bring them all, and in the Darkness bind them.

Go over to Digby's place (links bloggered, will update when fixed) and read the Saturday, May 10th post. (snicker)

Around the Web

I could truly spend all day, every day, finding information that's worthy of notice and good blog entries that deserve more eyeballs. And even if I did that, I'd still miss some things that definitely deserve a mention. So, here goes for today's effort to clear my desktop of extra windows that I left open to remind myself to post a link to...

Courtesy of posters at this Daily Kos thread: Pat K brings us an article about how Bush crossed the boundaries of the other f word. Alan brings our attention to the Smirking Chimp's TV ad, which he is willing to provide the copy for free of charge to any Democrat that has the guts to run it. I think he'd have better luck sending the transcript over to Arianna Huffington.

Brooke Biggs told us so, regarding the IDF's current campaign to target human rights campaigners for arrest. (Also from Pat K, foreigners now have to sign liability waivers against being shot by the IDF when entering Gaza.) She then points us to this Alternet interview with her boss, Anita Roddick, wherein the lady gets radical.

Wampum continues to bring us time capsule snapshots of Bush Sr.'s time in office, which headlines seem eerily plausible to have read in this morning's paper.

Lean Left notes that Democrats have stymied attempts to make the Patriot act permanent. Would that they hadn't helped pass it in the first place, but better late than never, I guess.

Brad DeLong comments on an Economist article about behavioral economics. Also known as the radical (to economists) idea that human decisions are made in ways that may seem irrational on their face and that, just maybe, I have no idea how much I'm willing to pay for a cube of butter.

Courtesy of Yahoo News, we learn that the Carlyle group is preparing to expand in Europe. Oh, happy day.

How Long Have You Known The Gook?

About eight years ago (was 1995 really that long ago?) my friend Al came to visit me by Amtrak. I guess it had seemed like a good idea at the time. On the way over, he'd struck up an acquaintance with an anglo teen wearing the pseudo-combat garb popular among urban grunge rock fans. She no doubt knew that Al was getting picked up by friends, people he'd bothered to cross three states on a train to visit. Having come off to stretch her legs on the platform and see him off, she stood around to chat as the guys turned to get the baggage.

And the next words out of her mouth to me after a brief introduction were, "So, how long have you known the Gook?"

She acted rather surprised by the look of blank shock that settled on my face. I stammered something to the effect that I didn't think that was a nice thing to say about someone. She appeared to think that another generically european derived person near her age would find this to be a perfectly acceptable way to talk about even a close friend. Her response was to wave it off by trying to imply that she knew him well enough to be sure that he wouldn't be offended. (Pardon?)

It never occurred to her once, it seemed, that I might be offended.

That incident has not lost its power to stun me. My friend, one of the few saving graces of the hellish year that followed my leaving home, had been insulted to my face by someone who'd known him less than two days. Someone who seemed to think of herself as 'being friendly.' Fortunately, I don't think Al heard her say it, and I sure wasn't going to tell him.

Nothing To See Here

But, of course, he was Asian. And everybody knows that there is no discrimination against Asians in American society. Of course, this is because everyone knows that if your kids are generally assumed to be able to get into college, that no discrimination can be said to exist against you.

And that's another part of the problem. Because everybody also knows a lot of other things about Asians. That they're all smart, rich, and have everything easy. Tell it to the Cambodian refugee kid that sat next to me in high school. Oh yeah, and Asian girls are all like cute little geishas from out of a play, or worse. I won't go into the worse.

Everyone knows these things because living in a culture exposes you to the dominant stereotypes, the shorthand notation for people that aren't like you. And whether we like it or not, these caricatures live ineradicably in our heads. But here's where the ethics come in: What do you do about it?

No one gets all the way to adulthood without having some downright nasty things wind up in their minds. To rattle around uninvited, unwanted, unbidden, till death do you part. We can't do Jack about having been fed a bunch of racist slurs as impressionable young people. Though we can do plenty about whether or not we perpetuate them when we reach adulthood.

American Policy And Racism

And because everybody knows that there is not, and never has been, discrimination against Asians in American culture, we can forget all about a great many uncomfortable incidents. Like the Japanese internment, the disgusting treatment of early Chinese immigrants, the US involvement in the Philippines, the murder of well over a million Vietnamese on false pretenses, the carpet bombing of Laos and Cambodia, the sanction of the Cheju massacre in South Korea, and the poisoning of the South Asian genome through Agent Orange contamination. Nor is this an exhaustive list.

Many people are willing to consider the possibility that the cultural tendency to demonize people from the Middle East may have something to do with the ongoing proclivity to stir up trouble in their countries. To at least mull the idea that people with browner skin that happen to live on the other American continent, or in Africa, or even the ones that lived here originally, are lower down the US' list of priorities. A little less important in American moral calculus than lighter skinned people living on the continent of Europe.

But our history in Asia is as bad as any of these, and there is no shortage of issues that might be addressed there. No shortage of unpopular government policies that would have been forced to change years ago without external support from the west.

Yet these people, and their problems, remain largely invisible. They remain so because Americans have a tendency to substitute the stereotype of the successful Asian businessman or perfect catalog bride for the real circumstances of over a third of the world's population.

And it isn't funny. Not even a little bit.

Update: From comments, Jenny points us to a Big Bad Chinese Mama's take on the geisha/mail order bride complex which so fascinates perverts everywhere.

Notable Posts

Looks like Natasha, James and I have all been roaming the web today and finding some great stuff to share.

TomPaine.com has an interview with George Lakoff! (Via Ruminate This.) His model for framing messages so they can be heard by people was such an amazing revelation to me. If we apply his lessons well, we should be able to create messages that are much more powerful than those on the right. It still boggles my mind that in order for them to sell their policies, they have to lie. Healthy Forests for opening old growth forest to the timber companies. No Child Left Behind before defunding schools. We just have to make sure we can expose their lies and express our vision (without having to lie). Lakoff has given us some powerful tools to use.

Another area I've been concerned about is that the Democrats haven't made a strong case that refutes Bush’s gunslinger foreign policy. It is clear to me that a multilateral cooperative foreign policy is the way for us to find security for ourselves and for the world. Demosthenes has one of the most cogent defenses of this policy that I've found. I think if the Democrats can speak as clearly on this policy, then we will have a strong national security argument to take to Americans.

Liberal Oasis thinks we might be seeing the tipping point on the public attitude toward Bush and his war. He notes that both WaPo's Cohen and the NY Times' Kristof are questioning the lies used to take us into war and that their perspectives will start to color the mainstream' perceptions.

ToTheBarricades asks Do We Need A Boston Tea Party. A bit of heavy leafleting and pamphleting would be good. Let’s make sure we throw the bums out. BTW: When you drop by Stephen's new digs, make sure you admire the new French artwork.

My blogging partner, James R MacLean inspired The American Sentimentalist to ruminate more on fascism. Read what he has to say here and here.

Update: In dKos's OpenThread, Pat K recommends an article which sees fascism reflected in Bush's million dollar campaign stunt.

Support the Troops
Virtual March Reminder

On this Daily Kos comments thread, DrFrankLives posted the following:

In March 2001, George W. Bush told the Boys & Girls Clubs that he supported them.

The NEXT DAY, he slashed their budget.

In September 2001, George W. Bush told NY Firefighting heroes that he would make sure to pay them back for their sacrifice.

By December, he had cut funding to New York's firefighters and policemen.

In May 2003, George W. Bush stopped an aircraft carrier to use the sailors in a photo op.

He didn't tell them he had slashed veterans benefits and cut funding to their kids schools while they were away.

Now, George W. Bush is telling you he wants you to elect him President.

Watch your wallet.

Vote Democrat in 2004.

In that vein, we would like to urge you once again to get out the word about the virtual march in support of Veterans Affairs funding, funding for the schooling of military dependents, and full retirement benefits to veterans of former wars, as promised by their recruiters. Send the government a wake up call on Thursday, May 22nd. It's time they stopped praising the military when they're off fighting, and treating them like dirt when they come back home.

Stephen Charest of To The Barricades has kindly offered to be a press liaision for this event, and has composed a press release (rtf file) for the occasion. Spread the word.

"Money is truthful. When a man speaks of honor, make him pay cash." - Robert A. Heinlein

PS: For a reminder of what President Bush was doing when his country asked him to serve, visit AWOL Bush and read up. He truly has no right to call upon current and former members of the armed services to make further sacrifices in the quality of their lives.

Around the Web

Pandagon points out that Republicans may lose the supply siders, right after the gay haters, because $350 billion just isn't enough for some people. Earlier, we are directed to this Charles Murtaugh post, where Bush's fly-boy persona is likened pretty reasonably to Zaphod Beeblebrox. Yes, there must be a special place in heaven for Douglas Adams.

T.C. Mitts links aren't working so click here and scroll down until you find the Friday, May 25th entry, hot off the police blotter. Heh. Also, he points us to Bush's resume, which I hadn't gotten around to reading yet. If you haven't, you should.

Daily Howler talks about the Hardball slurpfest over the stunt of record, and directs us to the transcript. I didn't get very far before I found these two little gems, 'questions' Chris Matthews asks of a Republican Senator, and had to take a breather:

Matthews: ...What’s the importance of the president’s amazing display of leadership tonight?...

(shortly after)...And that’s the president looking very much like a jet, you know, a high-flying jet star. A guy who is a jet pilot. Has been in the past when he was younger, obviously.

What does that image mean to the American people, a guy who can actually get into a super sonic plane, and actually fly in an unpressurized cabin, like an actual jet pilot?...

That guy has actually got an actual hidden Prozac drip, Bob's your uncle. Farther down, we get this unbelievable quote that reminds Democrats everywhere that Bush Sr. at least had a modicum of class, and an unintentional reminder of what a pretender the current president is:

BOB DORNAN (R-CA), FORMER CONGRESSMAN: Cross my heart, I begged his father to do this in July of 1992 in the White House, in the Oval Office alone. I said Mr. President, go fly that B-1. Go fly one of your Navy Tomcats. Go out to a carrier. Do something to remind this country that you have 58 combat missions. You won in 1988 with that amazing little camera shot. That old .8-millimeter film being plucked out of the ocean onto a submarine. Let the nation know. These are my exact words. Swear to god. Don’t let this draft dodger sit in this Oval Office, and he winced....

And then there's this, which just defies description:

MATTHEWS: That was Hillary Clinton on Monday night. We’re back with Ann Coulter and Pat Caddell. Ann’s publicity agent has a clever marketing campaign. They sent us an e-mail with Hillary’s new book and Ann’s new book side by side, with the following text: “Yes, both Hillary and Ann have announced their books are coming out in June. But the more important question is”-I love this-”which blonde would Bill Clinton rather spend the night with? We ask you the question. You decide.”

Avedon Carol finds the layout of Joe Lieberman's bait-and-switch.

Billmon talks about our enduring and passionate commitment to free speech in Iraq, as expressed by seizing a TV station that had the temerity to rebroadcast Al Jazeera. Also, that Norwegians are trying once again to murder irony in cold blood by nominating Bush and Blair for a joint Nobel Peace Prize. For the war in Iraq.

SK Bubba talks about life after the US military coup, and a diplomat quoted in the article says one of the few rational things that's come out of this government (albeit anonymously) in recent times:

A midlevel official complained that intemperate remarks by administration hawks have damaged American interests. "Goodwill is an element of national security - and perhaps one of the most profound elements of national security," he said.

Alas, I almost forgot: Ampersand explains (with pictures, even) why libertarians stick with the Republicans.

Blog fascination

Tonight I found the following post on DKos's Open Thread from last night:

As a result of the MN peace movement I've discovered this whole new world to me of news and views on the web. I love all the links. I have become a real bore at family gatherings with all my new found knowledge. How long have blogs like this been around? Are the hits and postings growing at a noticable rate? Maybe getting more people like me informed and involved could be enough to make a difference in the next election. Like a ripple effect.(Go Wild! 3-2)

Posted by blogfan at May 8, 2003 09:34 PM

My thoughts about this post:

Careful!!, this medium is really addictive!

What is the history? Well, here is a great essay I found about the history of this medium: weblogs: a history and perspective

Is it growing? Absolutely. It is so hard to keep up with all the bloggers and blog readers these days, and I know that there are some wonderful bloggers out there I'll never get to know because I'll never have time to find them.

Can blogs make a difference in the next election? Well, I certainly hope so! Here is one excellent column on what might be possible if blogs fill their potential. If blogs were to matter, what would they look like?

So, why do I find them so addictive? I think it is because of the sheer interactivity of them. Unlike any other mass media, this one invites us in and allows us to participate. Can you name any other mass media that provides us a way to comment on what you see or hear or reflect upon so easily? And the comment box is an invitation to comments without any of the fuss and muss of a formal email.

Bush's Magic Invisibility Cloak

George W. Bush's military record was never something I looked into much but it seems to me that with his acting like he is a big military hero and his strutting around in a flight suit there is more than enough reason to check out the record again.

Today Andrew Sullivan decided that he had had enough of the anti-Bush people making a big deal about the "missing" year so he posted portions of a NY Times article (archive) written in November 2000 to his site:

Two Democratic senators today called on Gov. George W. Bush to release his full military record to resolve doubts raised by a newspaper about whether he reported for required drills when he was in the Air National Guard in 1972 and 1973.

But a review of records by The New York Times indicated that some of those concerns may be unfounded. Documents reviewed by The Times showed that Mr. Bush served in at least 9 of the 17 months in question....

On Sept. 5, 1972, Mr. Bush asked his Texas Air National Guard superiors for assignment to the 187th Tactical Recon Group in Montgomery "for the months of September, October and November."

Capt. Kenneth K. Lott, chief of the personnel branch of the 187th Tactical Recon Group, told the Texas commanders that training in September had already occurred but that more training was scheduled for Oct. 7 and 8 and Nov. 4 and 5.

But Mr. Bartlett said Mr. Bush did not serve on those dates because he was involved in the Senate campaign, but he made up those dates later. Colonel Turnipseed, who retired as a general, said in an interview that regulations allowed Guard members to miss duty as long as it was made up within the same quarter. Mr. Bartlett pointed to a document in Mr. Bush's military records that showed credit for four days of duty ending Nov. 29 and for eight days ending Dec. 14, 1972, and, after he moved back to Houston, on dates in January, April and May. The May dates correlated with orders sent to Mr. Bush at his Houston apartment on April 23, 1973, in which Sgt. Billy B. Lamar told Mr. Bush to report for active duty on May 1-3 and May 8-10. Another document showed that Mr. Bush served at various times from May 29, 1973, through July 30, 1973, a period of time questioned by The Globe.

But notice that she implies that Colonel Turnipseed backed up Bush's story as Bob Somerby noted in his column today.

And in June 2000, Bartlett told the press Bush did serve with Turnipseed:

Spokesman Bartlett said Bush remembers meeting Turnipseed and performing drills in Montgomery sporadically during the campaign and more frequently after the election in November and December.

"Governor Bush specifically remembers pulling duty in Alabama at the end of the campaign," Bartlett said.

The Associated Press reviewed nearly 200 pages of Bush's military records released by the National Guard Bureau in Arlington, Va. They contained no evidence that Bush reported for duty in Alabama. [Ed: emphasis added]

However in a followup interview with Colonel Turnipseed he continues to state that he did not remember Bush showing up for service in Alabama.

In its October 16, 2000, issue, The New Republic reported: "In interviews last week, Turnipseed and his administrative officer at the time, Kenneth K. Lott, said they had no memory of Bush ever reporting. 'Had he reported in, I would have had some recall, and I do not,' Turnipseed said. 'I had been in Texas, done my flight training there. If we had had a first lieutenant from Texas, I would have remembered.'

"Turnipseed also [reported] that the then-squadron operations officer of the Alabama Guard also has no recollection of having seen Bush.

"Furthermore, a spokesman for the Alabama National Guard estimates there were 600 to 700 members in the unit Bush was supposed to have served with in 1972. But none of these men has ever come forward to say he remembers Bush, and Bush has not named a single one of them."

This becomes curiouser and curiouser. Why didn't anyone come forward? And why didn't Bush release his records? Especially since he says that he did serve with Turnipseed?

So I did some more Googling. And this is what I found. There are a number of questions about why George W. Bush didn't fly anymore after April 1972, but one thing is true, he could dispel all of the questions by voluntarily releasing his service record.

A voluntary disclosure of this kind is not without precedent. During the South Carolina Republican primary this campaign year, rumors were spread by fellow Senators about Senator John McCain's mental health as a result of his imprisonment as a POW. McCain immediately quashed those rumors by voluntarily releasing his entire military record, which confirmed no indications of adverse physical or mental conditions.

Thus, Bush could easily put to rest the questions surrounding "his failure to accomplish annual medical examination" - and his subsequent suspension - if he would simply release his complete military service record, which cannot be released by the Air Force without Bush's explicit consent.

Marty Heldt went to the trouble to request Bush's record through the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) and has provided the closest thing to the formal records that Bush has failed to released.

So here is a quick summary: he stops flying for some undisclosed reason in April 1972, and then is formally grounded in August 1972 and then he asks to transfer to Alabama where he never shows up according to Turnipseed and somehow everyone of the other 600-700 people he would have served with have completely forgotten that he was there.

I think that he must have a magic invisibility cloak, just like Frodo Baggins. Otherwise, someone would have remembered seeing him there.

More for the record: Finally the Truth about Bush's Military Service Record and an Index of articles by Marty Heldt.

Updated for the record: Both Uggabugga and Atrios have more links.

Around the Web

Stonerwitch has an excellent post up about the Christian mythology of Iraq. Both its prominence in biblical stories, and its expected central role in the End Times. As she says:

...What is disturbing about all this is not so much that millions of Evangelical Christians actually believe it, although that is plenty disturbing in its own right. What should scare anyone with two brain cells to rub together is that President Bush is a self-proclaimed born-again Christian who, in all likelihood, also believes it....

Along those lines, learn why the Christian right is happy about worsening environment. In short, the worse things get, the closer the Rapture is. They get to be taken up to heaven, the rest of us will go through mass cataclysms that eventually destroy all human life, they get to come back and have the run of the place. Like a pack of buzzards waiting for us to die so they can take our stuff. So, recycle, dammit.

South Knox Bubba lays out the Florida election irregularities. Get mad, get furious, get worn out. He also tells us what became of a Syrian plan to clear ME of WMD.

From the Arab News: Female education minister may be appointed. Saudi Arabia gets its first independent human rights group.

Someone has clearly spent way too much time dwelling on the perfidy of the Bush family for their own good. But hey, great links.

From BuzzFlash: Just how big is Halliburton's contract, anyway? Scott Ritter still speaking out on the administration's lies about Iraq. US troops encouraged looting, Belgium may bring war crimes charges against Tommy Franks. Latin America furious over US purchase of private information on citizens, via the company that brought us the Florida voter roll scrub. Bushies now leaning on Iran. Neocons believe peace is abnormal, say "it's always better to err on the side of strength."

White House leaning on Nebraska Democrat. First pressure, now a prized offer of aid for the state in return for supporting the full tax cut proposal.

Yellowstone National Park Under Bush's Protection

A whistle-blower reported of a problem where hunting guides were luring elk from Yellowstone National Park to outside the park using salt licks and now has lost his job.

Jackson, 55, was ordered by NPS in 2001 not to speak to the press after he accused hunting guides of illegally luring elk from the park by placing salt licks just outside Yellowstone boundaries.

Elk hunting, which is illegal in Yellowstone, is permitted in bordering national forests, but the use of salt to bait game is not.

Park officials told Jackson in 2001 to return home to Promise City, Iowa, weeks ahead of schedule and said he wouldn't have a job in 2002. But PEER filed a complaint with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, and NPS was ordered to rehire Jackson and remove the gag order.

Jackson, the park's longest-serving seasonal ranger, said he feels that history is coming back to haunt him this year.

"I wasn't surprised," he said. "I figured from what had happened before that they would try to get rid of me."

Senator Charles Grassley is looking into it:

"The Park Service and Ranger Jackson's supervisors at Yellowstone have exhibited a clear pattern of retaliation and hostility toward Ranger Jackson," Grassley wrote. "He's blown the whistle about serious problems at Yellowstone and now it looks like the Park Service would rather lose out on Ranger Jackson's enforcement skills than suffer the scrutiny and face the real problems at the park."

Under Bush, there has been a steady erosion of protection of the national parks and Yellowstone has been the center of controvesy ever since the administration reversed Clinton's rules that banned snowmobiles in the park. In every case under Bush where there is a trade-off between science and Bush's constituents, science loses. Bush's environmental policy is a nightmare for the planet.

Support Public Radio

Last night I spent time answering phones at Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) for their spring radio drive. I’m so hooked on listening to public radio that I find myself suffering, yet still listening through the entire drive. My way to make pledge week less painful is to go down to the station and hang out with a bunch of other people who are also fans. OPB is a really good public radio station, on the level of KQED in San Francisco. It is also a very successful public radio station, with over a quarter million of listeners every week.

The problem is that as with all other public services in Oregon, it is affected by the terrible economic times and the rotten budget. Monday morning the Oregonian ran a story that says the state is considering not providing any funds at all to OPB. If this happens, it will be the only public broadcasting station in the country with no state funding.

Industry leaders say the station is viewed as one of the best public broadcasters in the nation, but Oregon's budget crisis has led Governor Kulongoski and legislative budget writers to propose doing away with O.P.B.'s three-point-five million dollars in state funding.

OPB is one of the oldest public radio stations in the country. It was started under a state charter in 1922 in Corvallis broadcasting out of the agricultural school there. OPB is unique in public broadcasting stations in the country as it has had the goal of reaching most of the state and you can listen to OPB in Lakeview or Pendleton as well as Portland. In 1993, OPB separated from the state and because an independent radio station and a law was passed in Salem that guaranteed the state would continue to support OPB for its part in delivering educational programming and as a part of the emergency alert system. That law was rescinded a few years ago.

In 1994, OPB got 22% of its funding from the state, but by this year it had dropped to 2%. Fortunately, they've attracted enough listeners that they have been able to not only keep going, but to actually improve its services.

My plea to you is, if you listen to OPB, please consider giving a donation to help them make up that extra $3.5M (over two years) so we can continue to have the top rated radio station in the state. (With a quarter million listeners, this means more listeners hear ATC than Rush in Oregon. Let’s keep that happy state up!)

Oregon's premier anti-tax activist's troubles

Yesterday's post by Orcinus about Bill Sizemore's troubles gave me my latest topic for Oregon's Political State Report.

Bill Sizemore was the most prominent anti-tax activitist in Oregon throughout the 90’s. Sizemore has contributed greatly to the budget problems facing Oregon resulting from his use of the initiative process. He largely shaped the political arguments of the 90’s and created an atmosphere where the majority of progressive efforts in Oregon have gone to defeating the numerous initiatives he placed on the ballot. In 1998 he ran for governor against John Kitzhaber and lost. This week, a Multnomah County judge declared that his Oregon Taxpayers United Education Foundation was a sham and must dissolve. Full Post

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One thing that is hard about doing these stories for the Political State Report is trying to do a straight news report without inserting my personal opinion. I have lots of opinions about Bill Sizemore, but one thing that I also found out is that Oregonians are just plain stubborn and about as reflexively anti-tax as one can find. According to this report:

Oregon voters haven't passed a tax increase since 1930. According to Wentz, "Mistrust of the government has been going on for a long time and there is a strong anti-tax movement in this state which has been very strategic about beating their anti-tax drum. For some voters, the legislature's decision to propose a tax increase is like Non [sic] going to their stockholders and saying give us money we'll get it right this time."

It gives me pause to consider that perhaps Grover Norquist's wish to see a state go bankrupt might just happen here in Oregon. There seem to be so many forces aligned against reforming our tax system because it relies on citizens being well-informed about the issues and proposals before going to vote.

Beautiful Horizons has two posts in succession on ChoicePoint's* sale of personal data on Latin American citizens to the US government. The translated articles he recounts probably won't appear too extensively in the US press.

* ChoicePoint is the charming parent company of the company that scrubbed Florida's voter rolls before the 2000 elections, wrongfully depriving tens of thousands of mostly minority citizens of their right to vote.

Venezuela Update:

Were the Belgian and Dutch navies involved in the 2002 coup?

Former Venezuelan coup plotters receiving asylum abroad.

US accuses Venezuela of being soft on terror, is unhappy over their rejection of a US approved referendum, sends a democracy expert to Venezuela's opposition, shuts off the tap at the Export-Import bank.

May 1st saw the largest street demonstrations since February, with both friends and foes of the Chavez government coming out in droves. A member of the opposition shot dead during the marches.

Australian Greens explain why leftists have been supporting the government over the unions in the ongoing political clashes in Venezuela. The unions themselves are undergoing major changes.

Brazil and Venezuela ratify a far-reaching mutual development pact for their oil and gas industries.

They may quibble over border security, but Venezuela and Columbia have come to an agreement on a natural gas pipeline.

Venezuela importing Cuban revolution. In farming. Fortunately, Venezuela's constitution (see below) forbids the death penalty, so with any luck it will end with urban gardening.

A look at Venezuela's current constitution. It's long, but even a cursory skim through the human or social and family rights sections is very interesting.

Venezuela Archives