Banana Republic Newsflash

[Sigma_Orionis]

R - E - S - P - E - C - T

Find out what it means to me.

Enlighten Me, you Pinko Commie Liberal Oil Hungry Gringo Imperialist

[Swift]

R - E - S - P - E - C - T

Find out what it means to me.

Enlighten Me, you Pinko Commie Liberal Oil Hungry Gringo Imperialist

Just channeling my inner Aretha.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Didn't know Aretha Franklin did a song about it

[Sigma_Orionis]

And here we go again....

Venezuelan leader Maduro seeks economic help on tour

Does this idiot really think that he's going to get anything from the Chinese, the Russkies and the rest of OPEC? I DON'T THINK SO.

I think he just went on a "Photo Op Tour" to make headlines that will proclaim "how hard he's working to defeat the Economic War waged by the Evil Imperial Imperialist Empire against us".

[Sigma_Orionis]

I still can't process this:

US rejects Venezuela's offer of prisoner swap for Lopez

[Sigma_Orionis]

As I have said before, IMO the reason we keep idiots like Chavez and Nicky in office, and tolerate such a high degree of dysfunction is cultural.

here is a review of a book called "The Magical State", written by a Venezuelan Anthropologist.

Whether the review is accurate or not, or even if the book goes deep enough or not doesn't mask the fact that we refuse to what is needed to at least behave like adults: we want someone else to do the work. In the old days we simply payed someone else (read: FURRINERS) to do it for us. Nowadays we expect them to do it for free.

I don't now how representative this is, but, I can see it in my job. I've been managing a DataCenter for the last 6 years, NOBODY around here has the slightest idea of how to make it run. They can't even be bothered to enter the Monitoring System I installed to see how the thing is running. You could argue that it's the same everywhere. Sure: setting up the thing from scratch is a skill that might or might no be all that common, BUT KEEPING THE LIGHTS ON? give me a break.

On an unrelated note, Nicky just came back claiming he got the Chinese to invest 20 (US) Billion Dollars on us. Very skimpy on the details. Not a good sign.

[SciFiFisher]

As I have said before, IMO the reason we keep idiots like Chavez and Nicky in office, and tolerate such a high degree of dysfunction is cultural.

On an unrelated note, Nicky just came back claiming he got the Chinese to invest 20 (US) Billion Dollars on us. Very skimpy on the details. Not a good sign.

If you believe that I have a canal in Panama to sell you.

[Sigma_Orionis]

I think you meant to say Nicaragua

[Sigma_Orionis]

This link requires only one comment from me WHEEEEEE!: Trampling the Food Minister to get to the food

As for this, it shows WHY I don't trust the opposition, that sewer rat should have been thrown to the garbage heap long ago. Even your evil imperialist state department thinks the guy is trash

[Sigma_Orionis]

The Week in Review Meh!

As I have said before, IMO the reason we keep idiots like Chavez and Nicky in office, and tolerate such a high degree of dysfunction is cultural.

On an unrelated note, Nicky just came back claiming he got the Chinese to invest 20 (US) Billion Dollars on us. Very skimpy on the details. Not a good sign.

If you believe that I have a canal in Panama to sell you.

So do the Chinese Bottom line?

In the end, they mostly spoke about existing agreements, and Maduro even admitted he wasn’t sure the Chinese “investment” would help Venezuela survive these low oil prices.

(from the link above, not this one )

You can keep your Canal

[SciFiFisher]

The Week in Review Meh!

As I have said before, IMO the reason we keep idiots like Chavez and Nicky in office, and tolerate such a high degree of dysfunction is cultural.

On an unrelated note, Nicky just came back claiming he got the Chinese to invest 20 (US) Billion Dollars on us. Very skimpy on the details. Not a good sign.

If you believe that I have a canal in Panama to sell you.

So do the Chinese Bottom line?

In the end, they mostly spoke about existing agreements, and Maduro even admitted he wasn’t sure the Chinese “investment” would help Venezuela survive these low oil prices.

(from the link above, not this one )

You can keep your Canal

But, wait there's more!

[Sigma_Orionis]

There's always more.......

[Sigma_Orionis]

Nothing like a change in name. Now Nicky is not saying that the Evil Empire is waging an "Economic War" against us. Since that failed thanks to the diligence of our glorious revolutionary leaders, now the Evil Empire is overseeing an "Economic Coup D'Etat".

Ah yes, the Financial Times, being a tool of the Evil Imperialist Imperial Empire, considers that Nicky didn't get a cent from the Chinese (you'll have to register to read it)

[Sigma_Orionis]

I'm telling you gringos, Castro and & Co are one wily lot

Cuba Is Hoping To Replace Venezuelan Oil With American Tourists

Of course it's mostly speculation but as the saying goes "Se non è vero, è ben trovato"

for example:

It’s easy to lose sight of just how central Venezuela’s oil largesse has been to the Cuban state’s financial strategy. Following a landmark 2003 “Cooperation Agreement,” Venezuela has been sending 115,000 barrels a day to the island. The Cubans re-export some of the crude that Venezuela sends them to other countries, pocketing some $765 million in 2014. That’s a vital source of fresh dollars for an island that doesn’t have a lot of other good options for earning hard currency

So, we have major issues with our imports and we still finance the Cubans, ain't it Grand?

[Sigma_Orionis]

I have to admit that this chronicle of Nicky's World Incompetence Tour 2015 is pretty damned funny.....

On a not so funny note this we're ALL guilty thing grates me. Even after all my complaints that the main problem is our cultural peculiarities rather than the Chavez Clique..... Why? It's often used as an excuse for not getting anything done.

[Sigma_Orionis]

And so far, no words from the Glorious Chavista Anti-Imperialist Socialist Patriotic Government on how is going to attempt to tackle our mess (other than saying "It's the empire's fault" that is). He was supposed to make a speech tomorrow on his Grand Plan, alas, it has been suspended.

So, here are the top ten excuses for suspending his speech.

Funny, "The Dog Ate My Speech" is not amongst them.....

[Sigma_Orionis]

So: last night Nicky had his much awaited televised speech (our equivalent of your "State of the Union" speech) where he was supposed to lay out his grand plan to solve this mess.

And here are some of the highlights

I started listening to the speech and got bored after 20 minutes of NOT saying anything.

So, to get out of this mess his grand plan consists of doing nothing and dumping even more inorganic currency in an economy with already-sky-high inflation.

And again, every time your Right-Wing nutjobs attempt to equate your HNIC to these maniacs, I cringe. Even taking into account the usual hyperbole inevitable in Politics, it's absolutely unbelievable. To the point that every time someone in the US right wing uses the cliched description "I'm Socially Progressive and Fiscally Conservative" I have to ask what the hell they're talking about when they live in a country with less than 2% annual core inflation. "Fiscally Conservative" ONLY MAKES SENSE in a country with 60% annual inflation.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Here's Reuter's take on Nicky's blabber

[SciFiFisher]

To the point that every time someone in the US right wing uses the cliched description "I'm Socially Progressive and Fiscally Conservative" I have to ask what the hell they're talking about when they live in a country with less than 2% annual core inflation. "Fiscally Conservative" ONLY MAKES SENSE in a country with 60% annual inflation.

They usually mean they are for things like balancing the budget, reducing the tax burden on "job creators", and eliminating excessive government regulation.

[Sigma_Orionis]

To the point that every time someone in the US right wing uses the cliched description "I'm Socially Progressive and Fiscally Conservative" I have to ask what the hell they're talking about when they live in a country with less than 2% annual core inflation. "Fiscally Conservative" ONLY MAKES SENSE in a country with 60% annual inflation.

They usually mean they are for things like balancing the budget, reducing the tax burden on "job creators", and eliminating excessive government regulation.

Quite true, but what's their boogeyman? Inflation

[SciFiFisher]

To the point that every time someone in the US right wing uses the cliched description "I'm Socially Progressive and Fiscally Conservative" I have to ask what the hell they're talking about when they live in a country with less than 2% annual core inflation. "Fiscally Conservative" ONLY MAKES SENSE in a country with 60% annual inflation.

They usually mean they are for things like balancing the budget, reducing the tax burden on "job creators", and eliminating excessive government regulation.

Quite true, but what's their boogeyman? Inflation

Right now the far far (and not so far) right seems to think its the HNIC. Obama apparently is supposed to have caused everything from the financial crisis of 2008 to the imminent collapse of civilization as we know it.

[Sigma_Orionis]

My underlying sympathy for the HNIC may be showing, but I am starting to think that his tenure has been slightly similar to that of Harry Truman's.....

[Sigma_Orionis]

I've been reading several of the usual inflammatory pieces at http://www.aporrea.org

Too bad most of you don't read Spanish: The twisting and turning they get themselves into to complain about Nicky and not to try to sound like the opposition are hilarious.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Now that Nicky has run out of steam, he has his buddy: Bolivia's Evo Boy says that the "North American Empire is attacking Venezuela politically and economically"

Here's the link (in Spanish] and here's something similar in English

Fun fact: aporrea.org's site is hosted in the evil imperial imperialist empire. AVN's (Agencia Venezolana de Noticias, Venezuenal News Agency, Nicky's mouthpiece) is hosted in France....

[cid]

"...aporrea..." -- isn't there a new medicine for that?