Venezuela

The hypocrisy of the Republican Party does not seem to surprise me anymore. Sometimes I think that Republicans are in denial and lie to themselves to believe the non-sense that they reiterate. In fact, they seemed like zombies as they chanted, “USA or Drill, Drill, Drill” during John McCain’s speech.

Then I heard something that struck a chord with me. As Palin stood on the stage she touted how she fought the oil companies. She claimed to be a maverick and had stood up to big business. She secured $1200 per person for the state of Alaska due to her initiative. "It's a one-time, special return of the vast wealth that Alaska has right now. We're returning it to the resource owners, the people of Alaska," claims Palin. Republicans praised her and labeled her a reformer for this cause.

Files Released by Colombia Point to Venezuelan Bid to Arm Rebels - Files provided by Colombian officials from computers they say were captured in a cross-border raid in Ecuador this month appear to tie Venezuela’s government to efforts to secure arms for Colombia’s largest insurgency.

Clinton rejects calls to quit Democratic race - Sen. Hillary Clinton on Saturday rejected calls by supporters of rival candidate Barack Obama to quit the Democratic presidential race, and Obama said Clinton should remain in race "as long as she wants."

Blu-ray copy protection 'cracked' - A company claims it has cracked the anti-piracy technology on Blu-ray discs. Slysoft says the new version of its AnyDVD programme allows users to make "backup security copies" of high definition movies. The claim is a blow to Sony which developed the Blu-ray format.

Sadr Makes Truce Offer - Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is offering to pull his fighters off the streets of Basra and other cities if the government halts raids against his followers and releases prisoners held without charge. The offer is contained in a nine-point statement issued by his headquarters in Najaf.

'Open Skies' heralds new era in air travel - The first plane has landed under the "Open Skies" agreement between the United States and Europe, heralding what many hope will be a new era in air travel. The Continental Airways flight from Newark to Heathrow touched down under rainy London skies at dawn on Sunday morning.

I am extremely grateful for Becky spotting this article that appeared in The New York Times. It offers commentary on the resolution that the Organization of American States was able to achieve after just a few days of negotiations.

Who would have ever thought that diplomacy was still viable? In an age where pre-emptive strikes are the norm and backing down is seen as cowardice, I was quite relieved that Latin America was practicing core democratic values as they are suppose to be.

It seems that compromise does not entail defeat. Simon Romero claims, "A day after the crisis was resolved at a summit meeting in the Dominican Republic on Friday, it was already clear that nearly all of the players lost something. The leaders of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela traded charges that muddied each of them. Colombia and its ally, the United States, found themselves isolated in the region."

This submit meeting though was positive for all parties involved. Romero chimes in, "the biggest winner appears to have been the region [Latin America] itself, which resolved its own dispute without outside help and without violence." Ecuador and Colombia were able to rectify their concerns without a serious altercation or an intervention from the U.S. or United Nations. Venezuela but in particular Hugo Chávez represented themselves quite well as to avoid any demonizing by foreign nations. All parties behaved like gentleman at the end. Perhaps, the U.S. and other countries may learn a lesson from this event . . . not all solutions must entertain violence.

The media but in particular U.S. media loves to talk about Hugo Chávez only when they can conceivably spin the issue it make it seem that he is dictator like. But what happens the other 365 days that Chávez is acting President of Venezuela. Well, as the New York Times was able to relay . . . he is doing good things that President Bush does not care to comment about. According to the New York Times, "Latin America’s largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, freed three men and a woman, all former members of Congress, held in captivity for more than six years after negotiations led by President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela." This also came after he was able to get two hostages earlier in the year.

This should be something that the media informs the general public about, but that is not in their agenda. Their role is to make Chávez look like a person that is up to no good. What does this say about U.S. backed Columbian President Uribe who can not even get negotiations done in his own country. Perhaps, the media does not want to talk about his incompetency or is it that he has no interest in these matters. Whatever it is, you sure do not hear about Chávez . . . when it isn't in the intrest of the U.S.