Banana Republic Newsflash

[Sigma_Orionis]

Shootouts between police and 'government-sponsored' paramilitary? Are the police not also 'government-sponsored'? Why is the government sponsoring paramilitary gangs that engage in shootouts with the police?

You haven't been paying attention, have you?

See my post about the "Colectivos", THOSE are considered to be the government-sponsored paramilitary.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Oh my.

Nicky says that the current slump in the prices of oil is a conspiracy the US has against Russia.

I read it in the newspaper here in the morning, and so far only places like Chinese Newspapers have the story:

Venezuela blames U.S for global oil price slump

Washington is "flooding" the market with cheaper shale oil to bring down prices and ultimately impact Russia and other oil-producing nations, Maduro said at a televised Cabinet meeting.

"The U.S. and its allies want to affect oil prices to harm Russia, which produces around 10 million barrels per day, and that is the vital income of their economy," said Maduro.

Riiiiight!, are we on Candid Camera?

[SciFiFisher]

Oh my.

Nicky says that the current slump in the prices of oil is a conspiracy the US has against Russia.

I read it in the newspaper here in the morning, and so far only places like Chinese Newspapers have the story:

Venezuela blames U.S for global oil price slump

Washington is "flooding" the market with cheaper shale oil to bring down prices and ultimately impact Russia and other oil-producing nations, Maduro said at a televised Cabinet meeting.

"The U.S. and its allies want to affect oil prices to harm Russia, which produces around 10 million barrels per day, and that is the vital income of their economy," said Maduro.

Riiiiight!, are we on Candid Camera?

Well, our motivation may not be to sink Russia's little red wagon but we are actually right at the point of exporting more than we use in both natural gas and oil (thanks in part to shale oil extraction). Essentially, it all started in the 1970's when OPEC decided to start holding the US hostage.

[Sigma_Orionis]

How self-centered of you, not wanting to be held hostage to a cartel's whims. No wonder nobody in the developing world likes you

[SciFiFisher]

How self-centered of you, not wanting to be held hostage to a cartel's whims. No wonder nobody in the developing world likes you

Well, it is all about U.S.

[Sigma_Orionis]

U.S. that's Uncle Shylock right?

[Sigma_Orionis]

Looks like nobody wants to give up their guns......

How is the disarmament plan doing so far?

Here's the punch line, according to the law (link in spanish) possesion of an illegal firearm carries a jail term of 7 to 20 years.

Yet they have to hold out "voluntary disarmament plans" which picked up 800 guns in a month. And even a telethon.

In the meantime, seized weapons are stolen from the police and even a military base.

And you people say your government is inept.

[SciFiFisher]

Looks like nobody wants to give up their guns......

How is the disarmament plan doing so far?

Here's the punch line, according to the law (link in spanish) possesion of an illegal firearm carries a jail term of 7 to 20 years.

Yet they have to hold out "voluntary disarmament plans" which picked up 800 guns in a month. And even a telethon.

In the meantime, seized weapons are stolen from the police and even a military base.

And you people say your government is inept.

Yes, but we have a lower standard for inept.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Crybabies

[Sigma_Orionis]

And we keep burning money like there's no tomorrow.

According to these guys The Bank of America estimates that we'll be in the red for US$ 12 billion. With all that implies.

So, apparently Nicky had to go hat in hand to the Chinese and beg them to relax the terms of Oil shipments we make to pay for the loans the made to us, because we're flat broke. The Chinese apparently agreed to do so. (you'll have to register to see it at the Financial Times, if you want to see their source, it's here ). It's interesting to note that half the money China has poured in Latin America has been on this sinkhole. So, I guess that helped.

Someone at Caracas Chronicles estimates that the new terms will allow Nicky to raise at most US$ 8 billion, so we still have a US$ 4 billion hole. Notice that the Chinese relaxed the terms of the current deals, so I suspect we won't get any fresh money from them.

Like I told my old man a couple of months ago, "The Democratic Boys" (the governments we had from 1958 till 1998) took 40 years to ruin this country, but that the Chavistas did the same thing in 15. He wasn't too happy. Yet it's the sad truth.

Edited to Fix Link.

[Sigma_Orionis]

The gall of this people. here is how apparently those oil backed loans were set up. What pisses me off is this quote.

“In this stage of the Bolivarian process, it was crucial to overcome the elections of October 7th, 2012, as well as the elections of December 16th of that year. Consolidating political power was an essential objective for the strength of the revolution y for the opening of a new stage in the process. Overcoming these obstacles required a great sacrifice met with an economic and financial effort that brought the use of resources to extreme levels, something that had to be reviewed in order to guarantee the sustainability of the economic and social transformation.”

The quote is from Chavez's top economic advisor whom was recently sent packing. In a public "goodbye letter" ( here, in spanish of course). He said that. Sure, it could be "sour grapes" but I doubt it. These idiots gave the "coupe de grace" to our economy just to have their blabbering idiot re-elected. Now you know why I say that the only way to deal with these people is Nuclear Weapons.

[Sigma_Orionis]

And speaking of Nuclear Weapons, the folks at aporrea just managed to make God-Like Productions look sane.

Here (yes gringos, as usual it's in Spanish). Some idiot claims that the World Trade Center Towers, were destroyed by two "Mini-Nuclear Bombs" (and of course Al-Quaeda was the patsy). Furthermore, he claims that experts at the Sandia National Laboratories made a "confidential report" confirming this.

Go ahead, tell me that Faux News is worse.

[SciFiFisher]

And speaking of Nuclear Weapons, the folks at aporrea just managed to make God-Like Productions look sane.

Here (yes gringos, as usual it's in Spanish). Some idiot claims that the World Trade Center Towers, were destroyed by two "Mini-Nuclear Bombs" (and of course Al-Quaeda was the patsy). Furthermore, he claims that experts at the Sandia National Laboratories made a "confidential report" confirming this.

Go ahead, tell me that Faux News is worse.

Faux News is worse.

[brite]

And speaking of Nuclear Weapons, the folks at aporrea just managed to make God-Like Productions look sane.

Here (yes gringos, as usual it's in Spanish). Some idiot claims that the World Trade Center Towers, were destroyed by two "Mini-Nuclear Bombs" (and of course Al-Quaeda was the patsy). Furthermore, he claims that experts at the Sandia National Laboratories made a "confidential report" confirming this.

Go ahead, tell me that Faux News is worse.

Faux News is worse.

You aren’t helping, Superman...

[Sigma_Orionis]

He only says that because he doesn't live here

[code monkey]

He only says that because he doesn't live here

oh please, sigma. you were begging for it.

[Sigma_Orionis]

And since when is that news?

[SciFiFisher]

He only says that because he doesn't live here

oh please, sigma. you were begging for it.

to quote an analogy.... It was an opening big enough for a Mack truck.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Yer still an evil capitalist imperial imperialist from evil imperial empire

[SciFiFisher]

Yer still an evil capitalist imperial imperialist from evil imperial empire

You type that like it's a bad thing.

[Sigma_Orionis]

It will be when the revolution comes....... hey! wait a minute!

Edited for clarity

[Swift]

I will be when the revolution comes....... hey! wait a minute!

If I'm waiting a minute for the revolution to come, it must be rotating at 1 RPM.

[Sigma_Orionis]

It came and went, end result? the evil gringo empire still stands and we're broke. And you want THAT to happen ONCE per minute?

[Sigma_Orionis]

I don't care what kind of right wing nutjobs run the Wall Street Journal, Murdoch or no Murdoch: THIS is spot on:

Even Brazil, which has had far more responsible economic management than Venezuela or Argentina, is starting to struggle with rising prices and a boom in credit that is starting to turn. Last year, one Brazilian summed up the Atlantic bloc harshly: "Brazil is becoming Argentina, Argentina is becoming Venezuela, and Venezuela is becoming Zimbabwe."

Today's depressing LatinAmerican quote was brought to you by the letter I (I presume y'all know what the I stands for don't you? )

[Sigma_Orionis]

Somebody just discovered Warm Water.....

Could Low Oil Prices End Venezuela’s Revolution?