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Category Archives: Hugo Chavez
Going John Galt… quietly.
The idea of “Going John Galt” makes me a little bit uncomfortable, to tell the truth. John Galt essentially said screw them all, and shut down knowing that a whole lot of people would be hurt. It was about the … Continue reading
Posted in Domestic Politics, Economics, Hugo Chavez, Libertarianism, Synova's Page
Tagged Ayn Rand, economy, Hugo Chavez, John Galt, Robert Mugabe, social justice, strike, taxation
14 Comments
Chavez Threatens Colombia Because He Finances Terrorism
McQ alerts us to this developing story in South America. Colombia, apparently, struck at a narco-terrorist camp inside Ecuador after tracking FARC spokesman Paul Reyes and other leaders there. Reyes and 16 other terrorists were killed. Chavez reacted by sending … Continue reading
Posted in Chris' Page, Hugo Chavez
Tagged Colombia, ecuador, FARC, Hugo Chavez, Terrorism, uranium, Venezuela
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Blood For Oil
Joseph Kennedy II supports blood for oil. In recent months, my TV has been bombarded with ads from Joe Kennedy promoting his Citizens Energy program, such as the following: The heating oil distributed by Citizens Energy comes from Venezuela on … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, energy, Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, MichaelW's Page
Tagged Chavez, Citizens Energy, command economy, Economics, Exxon, food shortages, heating oil, heavy crude, Joseph Kennedy II, nationalization, oil, oil market, oil production, OPEC, PDVSA, price ceiling, price fixing, price floor, socialism, starvation, Venezuela
2 Comments
Anti-FARC March in D.C.
John Lilyea has the goods: So I decided to add my voice to the millions worldwide from here in DC. I was really surprised that an ad hoc organization put together such a large demonstration in such a short period … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, MichaelW's Page
Tagged Colombia, D.C., drug trafficking, FARC, John Lilyea, march, socialism, Terrorism, Venezuela
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Hugo Chavez, the key to political popularity
If Hugo inspires such love from the masses of South America, how do you explain this? Colombia’s Uribe Approval Rating at Record 80%, Tiempo Reports By Helen Murphy Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) — Colombian President Alvaro Uribe’s approval rating rose to … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, Lance's Page
Tagged Alvaro Uribe, Columbia, FARC, Gallup, Hugo Chavez, Venezuela
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The food crisis accelerates
Following through on what was reported yesterday, Hugo Chavez continues to step up the pressure on food producers: Venezuela’s top food company has accused troops of illegally seizing more than 500 tonnes of food from its trucks as part of … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, Lance's Page
Tagged FARC, food shortages, Hugo Chavez, price controls, socialism, Venezuela
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The Path to Mass Murder III
Haven’t we said this is the way things were heading once Hugo Chavez instituted price controls? Why yes we did. From CNN via Pejman President Hugo Chavez threatened on Sunday to take over farms or milk plants if owners refuse … Continue reading
Posted in Developmental economics, Economics, Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, Lance's Page
Tagged dictator, expropriation, Hugo Chavez, Mugabe
8 Comments
Venezuela’s coming Kristallnacht
McQ points us to a new, if all too familiar, turn the ugly situation in Venezuela is taking: Venezuelan Jews, long uneasy with the Chávez government’s alliances with Iran and other Middle Eastern countries that espouse anti-Israel views, are concerned … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, Lance's Page
Tagged Hugo Chavez, jews, socialism, totalitarianism, Venezuela
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Hugo Chavez: Gravedigger
Apparently Hugo Chavez takes the resurrection of historical idols quite seriously. And much too literally [HT: Dave In Texas]: President Hugo Chavez said Monday that Venezuela should open the coffin of independence hero Simon Bolivar to examine the bones, saying … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, MichaelW's Page
3 Comments
The Bolivian Secession (Update)
It seems that Hugo Chavez is not the only one having trouble instituting his Bolivarian dream state. Evo Morales is facing troubles in Bolivia as well: Since the election of avowed socialist Evo Morales to the presidency of Bolivia, some … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, MichaelW's Page
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Chavez vs. The Venezuelan Electorate
In the wake of the Venezuelan electorate issuing Hugo Chavez a defeat (his first) at the ballot box last week, there was much speculation from blogospheric skeptics about the actual tally of the votes, and about whether or not Chavez … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, MichaelW's Page
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Hugo Chavez: Genius!
From E. Frank Stephenson: From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez thinks it’s curtains for America as a world power. “By the crash of the dollar,” he says, “America’s empire will crash.”Tyler Cowen’s suggestion that currencies are not … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, Humor, Lance's Page
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Chavez Will Win His Referendum
I’d say this is good news except that I have zero confidence that the referendum will result in anything other than what Chavez wants (i.e. dictatorial control): Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has lost his lead eight days before a referendum … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, MichaelW's Page
35 Comments
Hugo Chavez and the path to mass murder II
Part I is here, but in The Ruin of Venezuela I wrote: As we have seen with Mugabe and many others, once you go down this road it is very difficult to turn things around. As the situation gets worse, … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Hugo Chavez, Lance's Page
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News Brief, Psychocandy Edition
Cross-posted to The Conjecturer Defense & The War In the midst of petulantly crossing his arms and throwing a tantrum about the Future of Iraq Project, an anonymous FSO makes a really good point: “Sending officers into this failed, hideously … Continue reading
Weiss on Chavez
Heh: What’s a fair indication that a fascist masquerading as a socialist has lost his “base”? When a student named Stalin says enough is enough: “The message to the Congress and to the government is that there is … a … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, Lance's Page
1 Comment
The Subtle Oil Shock
It hasn’t been all that shocking. Why not? Greg Mankiw supplies a few possibilities. My favorites? Well let us start here: In contrast to much rhetoric to the contrary, capitalism is the most powerful weapon to achieve energy efficiency we … Continue reading
Crushing of Dissent: Venezuela (Updated)
The slow march towards full-fledged totalitarianism in Venezuela is picking up the pace. Citizens opposed to Chavez’s plans to change the constitution were forcibly deterred from meeting with the National Assembly by Venezuelan authorities: Venezuelan riot police fired tear gas … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, MichaelW's Page
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Che-canery
It is a sad commentary upon the state of the world that anniversary of a bloodthirsty tyrant’s death is celebrated around the world, and here in the United States, not with glee that his anti-freedom rampage was cut short, but … Continue reading
Posted in Domestic Politics, Foreign affairs, History, Hugo Chavez, Media, MichaelW's Page
15 Comments
The steady march to totalitarianism
Chavez begins bending another set of private institutions to his will.
Posted in Education, Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, Lance's Page
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Socialism’s Last Supper
Lee over at Postpolitical has some thoughts on the mural below found in Caracas Venezuela: [tags] Hugo Chavez, Venezuela, Jesus, religion, Last Supper, Marx, Castro, socialism, communism [/tags]
Chavez the Bizarre
From Fausta I get this: Venezuela: A Decree for the Clocks Moved by claims that it will help the metabolism Wh?? Help what metabolism? and productivity of his fellow citizens, President Hugo Chavez said clocks would be moved forward by … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, Lance's Page
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The Venezuelan Tuna Caper
Sometimes folks truth is way weirder than fiction. In the case of Hugo Chavez clownish doesn’t come close to describing him. In the wake of the devastating earthquake that shook Peru, aid has flowed in, including from the government of … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, Lance's Page
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News Brief, ASHC Hates My Cyrillic Edition
Cross-posted at The Conjecturer Defense Doug Bandow has a pair of great pieces up, on how the GWoT and Iraq are actually opposed to a free society, and more precisely just how badly the Iraq War has distorted us as … Continue reading
News Brief, Supermassive Black Hole Edition
Cross-posted at The Conjecturer. Defense I suppose it goes without saying that the Nintendo DS is already basically an “advanced sensor platform,” since it is natively wireless, adaptive, touch-sensitive (and easily modded for tilt), and has a microphone. But don’t … Continue reading
News Brief, Eany Meany Edition
Cross-posted at The Conjecturer. Defense Is al-Hurra, the Arabic-language Voice of America satellite channel, nothing more than an al-Jazeera clone? Hardly. One of the reasons Voice of America is as respected as it is was its willingness to broadcast news … Continue reading
News Brief, Я ненавижу ваше лицо Edition
Cross-posted on The Conjecturer. Defense The IDF is generally thought of as one of the world’s top armies—though it lacks expeditionary capability (which is usually a function of solid logistics), its warfighting is top notch. Not so, according to the … Continue reading
The Death Spiral in Venzuela Continues
Chavez has railed against the rising cost of health care and set up free clinics. Combined with other factors this has resulted in Health care getting far more expensive. His threats to seize the health care sector completely won’t stop this spiral: Continue reading
Venezuela Seizes Oil Operations
Get ready for higher gas prices, as inexperienced bureaucrats take over the operations of 4 major refineries. Venezuela stripped the world’s biggest oil companies of operational control over massive Orinoco Belt crude projects on Tuesday, a vital move in President … Continue reading
Thanks Manny
Manny Lopez has written a nice editorial at The Detroit News about his experience entering the world of blogging and my and Lee Garnett’s interview of him discussing Hugo Chavez and developments in Venezuela. Our first time to get mentioned … Continue reading
Posted in Hugo Chavez, Lance's Page, Media
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News Brief, I Want to Be Your Sledgehammer Edition
Cross-posted at The Conjecturer. I’m going go try to shorten these and better group them thematically at some point, but I just find too much during the day to really limit things. Should I give up the pretense of exhaustiveness? … Continue reading
Hugo Chavez decides to form “socialist formation” classes
Given our little debate in the comments section of our interview with Manny Lopez about the direction Hugo Chavez is heading with his little dictatorship, here is one more tidbit to digest: Venezuela’s government will require workers to spend four … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, Lance's Page
9 Comments
Venezuela Under Socialism: An Interview with Manny Lopez
Manny Lopez, editorial columnist for The Detroit News, recently returned to Venezuela after a nine year absence. He filed a striking piece from Caracas which caught my and a lot of people’s attention. It illustrated better than most reporting I’ve … Continue reading
The fight against Inflation
Via Lawrence White I discover today a Sri Lankan columnist who goes by the wonderful and apt nomme de plume Fuss-Budget. He wags his tongue at governments need to control inflation, or at least our ability to know about it. … Continue reading
Posted in Developmental economics, Economics, Hugo Chavez, Lance's Page
3 Comments
Alexandra Storr on Venezuela Part Three: History’s lessons
Chavez seems to have learned little from history. My last excerpt is one he should read, but will not. You can of course read the this and more here.
Alexandra Storr on Venezuela Part Two: The Curse of Oil
The discouraging course of nations dependent upon mineral extraction for their wealth has been oft remarked upon. Unfortunately we see the same trends playing out in Venezuela:
Alexandra Storr on Venezuela Part One: Living Large
Alexandra Storr has an interesting essay in the American Scholar on Venezuela entitled Living Large on Oil. (Hat tip: Megan McCardle.) Here is part one and it is a different perspective than what I will be discussing in the coming … Continue reading
Another shoe may soon drop in Venezuela
One of the steps in turning countries into a totalitarian state is the placing of power in local committees selected for “Revolutionary commitment.” Cuba has used the local committees as the states eyes and ears, enforcers and purveyors of terror. … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, Lance's Page
2 Comments
Hugo Chavez and the path to mass murder
Lee over at postpolitical takes my theme from the other day and fleshes it out with regard to events in Venezuela. Well worth reading in gaining an understanding of the dynamic that inevitably occurs. [tags] Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, socialism [/tags]
Posted in Economics, Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, Lance's Page, Uncategorized
5 Comments
The Ruin of Venezuela
Lee Garnett makes a point that often eludes most Americans, whose view of South America is of vast poverty and squalor as the norm. Most people who would travel to much of the developing world would be surprised at how … Continue reading
Shelia Jackson Lee Seeks To Arm Our Enemy
I wonder what “pas d’ennemi a gauche” sounds like with a Texas drawal? Here’s what it looks like in congressional speak: A U.S. congresswoman called on the Bush administration Wednesday to reconsider its ban on selling parts for U.S.-made F-16 … Continue reading
Down The Road to Dicatatorship (Updated)
Hugo Chavez travels a bit further down the road to his ultimate destination – Supreme Dictator of Venezuela – with the help of his wholly-owned subsidiary,the “National Assembly”: Venezuela’s Congress on Wednesday granted President Hugo Chavez powers to rule by … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Foreign affairs, History, Hugo Chavez, Libertarianism, MichaelW's Page
2 Comments
A Distinction Without Difference
Putative Ãœbermensch, Hugo Chavez, waxed poetic at his inaugaration Wednesday: His right hand raised Wednesday, Chavez declared in words reminiscent of Fidel Castro’s famous call-to-arms: “Fatherland, socialism or death — I swear it.” Do you think he realizes that there’s … Continue reading
Hugo’s (Invisible) Handiwork
Is Hugo Chavez a gift to mankind? Man’s greatest accomplishment is his ability to adapt. Whether through technological development, increased efficiency, innovation of skill, or just good old fashioned hard work, mankind always finds a way to meet its needs … Continue reading