As the right wing circus celebrates the passing of the brutal dictator Hugo Chavez, life in the free states under our jurisdiction goes on:
Saudi human rights activists sentenced to 10 years in prison
Two human rights activists have been jailed in Saudi Arabia for inciting rebellion and misinforming foreign media. A Riyadh court sentenced Mohammed Fahd al-Qahtani and Abdullah Hamad to 10 years each. As members of the banned ACPRA pressure group, they had called for the introduction of elections and a constitutional monarchy in a state that forbids political parties altogether.
Piece of Mindful 
I was wondering Mark what killed all forms of life on the red planet?
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/22/us-venezuela-chavez-mars-idUSTRE72L61D20110322
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Until you show some sign of life, I’m not going to wonder about your silly links.
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Don’t have to wonder. There’s cut and paste.
Reuters) – Capitalism may be to blame for the lack of life on the planet Mars, Venezuela’s socialist President Hugo Chavez said on Tuesday.
“I have always said, heard, that it would not be strange that there had been civilization on Mars, but maybe capitalism arrived there, imperialism arrived and finished off the planet,” Chavez said in speech to mark World Water Day.
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So Chavez, among his other virtues, had a good sense of humor. Thanks for sharing, Swede.
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The “sulfur” joke had ’em rolling in the aisles.
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Here’s a side splitter.
Chavez’s red shirts show up in force to confiscate a farmer’s property.
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You say they’re Chavez’s red shirts. Maybe they’re just bankers.
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Swede doesn’t know who or what they are. All he knows is what he is told.
One thing is certain. Freedom of the press is alive and well wherever that is! Lots of cameras and lots of microphones.
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Yeah, it’s weird enough when Swede posts links you figure he hasn’t read. But to post a video you know he can’t understand, priceless!
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Fluent in three languages.
Here’s an interpretation. http://faustasblog.com/2009/10/video-venezuelan-farm-stolen-by-chavez/
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Swede , agrarian reform is a large part of any democratic movement in an oligarchy, as a few interests (often foreign corporations and individuals) usually own most of the land. But a small farmer with 105 hectares is not the problem, so that I would suspect that the red shirts (hint hint you old cold warrior), and as Steve W said the presence of cameras, makes this a staged confrontation done for your and others’ benefit.
Think about it: if this type of stuff was going down, there would be no cameras allowed to film it, as it is inflammatory.
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Think about Mark. This predated Hugo’s censorship of the free press.
Cameras and all.
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It is impossible to debate with someone who lives in a fact-free environment, and who is black/white to boot. Truth is that it’s complicated like everything, with rule by an oligarchy kind of a natural order, and repression of popular movements a necessity for its survival. The long term answer is investment in people, use of resources for their own benefit, education, infrastructure … If any of that was going to happen under the oligarchy, it would have gotten off the ground by now. It’s only been 500 years. But the 1%, protected by another 9%, managed to keep 90% impoverished. That’s a concern for regular people who want to see a good life for as many as possible.
I don’t have answers, do not think that Chavez was the ideal leader, but do know he improved things, offered some hope.
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In Swede’s world, it is ideologically impossible that Hugo Chavez could improve anyone’s lot except Chavez’ own. There is no evidence that could change Swede’s mind about this. Swede has fixed his mind to miss all sorts of information that doesn’t fit his ideology. End of discussion.
Of course, Swede voted for Mitt. Swede doesn’t see the outrageous hilarity caused by the incongruity encompassed in his behavior. He’s completely blind to it. Asi es la vista mundial de los pendejos.
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When I was in my twenties I got a phone call from a woman who claimed that I had hit her parked car with mine and left the scene. I had done no such thing, but our little Datsun was the same color as the one she saw. She had combed the neighborhoods looking for it. She called me (in those days you could look up a phone number by address) and accused me of the crime. I had no idea what she was talking about.
Later she called me again, and this time she had proof. She had taken the license number off of our car as it sat in front of our house, called the county, and found it belonged to us. That nailed it. Later an attorney called, same story, and he easily saw that she was barking up the wrong tree.
I am now thinking this woman might have been Swede’s mom.
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