Monthly Archives: August 2011

Does up mean down in legalese?

Posted on August 31, 2011 by

Once in a while, in the privacy of my own home, when no one is looking … I enjoy taking a peek at codes and statutes. I did it again today. See, one of the more recent controversies the opposition … Continue reading →

Posted in Way Back (Older Posts) | 26 Comments

Somebody’s watching … and recording

Posted on August 31, 2011 by

My new favorite blog is Monitoreo Ciudadano. The decent folks there are putting up a nice little stock of videos, documenting the use of government media – from good’ol VTV to the unwatchable ANTV – for partisan purposes. It’s good … Continue reading →

Posted in The Media | 20 Comments

Where does Fonden money go?

Posted on August 30, 2011 by

So now that we have those Fonden disclosure documents, it’s time to jump into the minutiae. Of course, we only have detailed 5-year disclosures for $40 billion out of the $69 billion Fonden has apparently assigned, but beggars can’t be … Continue reading →

Posted in The Economy | Tagged | 40 Comments

Fonden isn’t just “Big”, it’s this big.

Posted on August 29, 2011 by

Perhaps the most important aspect of The Fonden Papers doesn’t have to do with the $29 billion tabulation screw-up. Indeed, innocent explanations might account for that. Perhaps the big deal instead has to do with simply getting, for the first … Continue reading →

Posted in The Economy | Tagged | 6 Comments

How exactly do you misplace $29,342,391,393.66?

Posted on August 27, 2011 by

This isn’t a massive, government-shaking scandal. But it should be. That’s right, it’s the full, scanned version of the Fonden report we promised you two weeks ago: the one sent by Finance Minister Jorge Giordani, in response to a parliamentary … Continue reading →

Posted in The Economy | Tagged , | 60 Comments

Procolonial Chronicles

Posted on August 26, 2011 by

The “procolonial forces.” That’s how Venezuela’s state news agency, AVN, now describes the Libyan rebels. Believe it! Ok, I admit it: I get this weird, dirty pleasure reading the government media’s treatment of the Libyan uprising. It’s just fascinating.

Posted in International | 38 Comments

Illegal Mining Outlawed

Posted on August 25, 2011 by

MINCI’s propaganda pitch on the virtues of expropriating the Gold mining sector pushes the boundries of revolutionary non-sequitur. Consistently recasting mining practices that are – and always have been – illegal as “capitalist”, MINCI’s case comes down to saying the … Continue reading →

Posted in The Economy | Tagged | 36 Comments

Live-by-the-sword Chronicles

Posted on August 24, 2011 by

The Venezuelan Embassy Ambassador’s Residence in Tripoli is being ransacked and looted. Or, as Hugo Chávez would put it, it’s in the way of a “popular rebellion,” a “spark” that will ignite “the engines of a revolution.”

Posted in International | 78 Comments

Sincerest Form of Flattery Chronicles

Posted on August 24, 2011 by

Chigüi, pana, ¿y mi hat-tip?!

Posted in In Other News, International | Tagged | 8 Comments

Today in Unfortunate Search Engine Results

Posted on August 23, 2011 by

Oh man.

Posted in In Other News | 9 Comments

Never! Never ever! Never in a million years! Never, you hear?!…NEVER! Ok, just this once.

Posted on August 23, 2011 by

Newsflash: Hugo Chávez vows never to recognize any government in Honduras Libya other than Zelaya’s Gaddafi’s. Oh…right… The pathos, the isolation, the sheer ranting lunacy is really reaching a very worrying level here. It fazes the guy not at all … Continue reading →

Posted in International | 11 Comments

“The market in physical gold is tiny, and largely comprised of nut cases.”

Posted on August 23, 2011 by

Turns out transporting 211,000 kg. of gold to Caracas isn’t exactly straightforward. The basic problem is insurance. Felix Salmon has the skinny:  I have no idea how many insurers there are in the world who would be willing to take … Continue reading →

Posted in In Other News | Tagged | 15 Comments

Exponential

Posted on August 23, 2011 by

It used to be that when the government wanted to shut down a TV station, or a radio broadcaster, they’d at least go through the motions of couching the moves in  neutral-sounding bureaucratese. RCTV went down not to a “shutdown“, … Continue reading →

Posted in Repression, The Media | Tagged , | 19 Comments

The Libyan uprising through rojo-rojito-tinted glasses

Posted on August 22, 2011 by

AVN: “Obama demands Gaddafi’s resignation as a condition to stopping the blood-bath in Libya.” TeleSUR: “Cameron affirms that aggression against the Libyan people was ‘necessary’” Aporrea: ”NATO using sonic bombs to terrorize [Libyan] women and children.” Correo del Orinoco: “NATO’s attacks … Continue reading →

Posted in International | Tagged , | 12 Comments

Stand By Your Man Chronicles

Posted on August 21, 2011 by

Showcasing once more his impecable sense of timing, Hugo Chávez picked Sunday evening for…a stirring denunciation of the Gaddafi Regime’s foes. And that, my friend, is how the mind of a guy who names his pet roosters after his best … Continue reading →

Posted in Chavez's mental health, International | Tagged | 19 Comments