Chávez’s Vision Shares Wealth and Centers Power - New York Times

Chavez is a wily leader. He proposes changes in the Venezuelan constitution that would give him the possibility of becoming president-for-life, among other things. All this seems to be happening in a popular vote. He is able to do this because of the high price of oil and the revenues that flow from the vast reserves in and around lake Maracaibo. The NY Times Magazine piece describes in detail the rape of the Venezuelan oil company to pay for Chavez's 'buying' of the people without the needed investment to keep the oil flowing.

Unfortunately, with friends like Iran and the need for oil in China and India, he may likely have the markets for oil and refined products (Iran imports gasoline; Venezuela owns Citgo), but without the continued investment in the oil infrastructure, Chavez and his cronies may soon find that the oil revenues cannot sustain the economy and social giveaways that he promises. Nevertheless, Venezuela is the fourth largest supplier of imported petroleum to the United States.

What would be our response if the spigot from our fourth largest supplier were closed?

I fear we have some painful times ahead in the next two decades with Venezuela.

“There is a perverse subversion of our existing Constitution under way,” said Gen. Raúl Isaías Baduel, a retired defense minister and former confidant of Mr. Chávez who broke with him in a stunning defection this month to the political opposition. “This is not a reform,” General Baduel said in an interview here this week. “I categorize it as a coup d’état.”

Chávez loyalists already control the National Assembly, the Supreme Court, almost every state government, the entire federal bureaucracy and newly nationalized companies in the telephone, electricity and oil industries. Soon they could control even more.

But this is an upheaval that would be carried out with the approval of the voters. While opinion polls in Venezuela are often tainted by partisanship, they suggest that the referendum could be Mr. Chávez’s closest electoral test since his presidency began in 1999, but one he may well win.

Total Imports of Petroleum[all products, not only crude oil] (Top 15 Countries)
(Thousand Barrels per Day)

Country	Sep-07	Aug-07	YTD 2007	Sep-06	Jan - Sep 2006
CANADA	2,467	2,510	2,430	2,340	2,330
SAUDI ARABIA	1,560	1,499	1,462	1,564	1,465
MEXICO	1,429	1,474	1,563	1,569	1,763
VENEZUELA	1,325	1,330	1,353	1,386	1,458
NIGERIA	1,181	1,208	1,085	1,078	1,138
ALGERIA	701	827	732	796	660
IRAQ	603	520	494	655	572
ANGOLA	591	412	544	678	526
VIRGIN ISLANDS	381	320	332	396	324
RUSSIA	348	416	409	537	385
ECUADOR	239	240	205	326	280
BRAZIL	232	280	218	191	194
COLOMBIA	186	175	148	185	178
UNITED KINGDOM	185	174	289	239	290
KUWAIT	163	139	191	227	172

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Nov. 14, 2007

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Chávez’s Vision Shares Wealth and Centers Power - New York Times

Global Warming - Books - New York Times

I have just ordered Lomborg's book. According to Revkin, normally an alarmist environmental writer at the NYTimes, the extremist on climate change are coming closer to some middle position on how to spend limited resources to deal with climate change.

 

In this same centrist camp sits Bjorn Lomborg. A Danish statistician, Mr. Lomborg has made a career out of challenging the scariest scenarios of environmentalists and argues for a practical calculus weighing problems like poverty, disease and climate against one another to determine how to invest limited resources.

His first book, “The Skeptical Environmentalist,” put him on Time magazine’s list of 100 most influential people in 2004 and made him a star among conservative politicians and editorial boards.

In his short new book, “Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist’s Guide to Global Warming,” Mr. Lomborg reprises his earlier argument with a tighter focus. He tries to puncture more of what he says are environmental myths, like the imminent demise of polar bears. (Most bear biologists have never said the species is doomed but do see populations shrinking significantly in a melting Arctic.)

Like almost everyone these days, Mr. Lomborg says rich countries should spend far more on basic energy research.

Global Warming - Books - New York Times

Sheep Photo

Just thought this was a nice photo of a sheep.

Spitzer Drops His Driver’s License Plan - New York Times

Governor Spitzer has conceded that his drivers license plan for illegal aliens/immigrants is going nowhere, despite the endorsement of the NY Times and other liberal groups. The good news is that he wisely scuttled the plan. The other good news is that while the proposal was on the table, Americans had a good look at what the Democrats believe about illegals and, in particular, what Mrs. Clinton had to say as she scurried around the issue.

The bad news is that this Congress and this President cannot accept the will of the people when it comes to solving the problem of illegal aliens. Is it any wonder that their approval ratings are dismal?

My earlier views on this license for illegals issue are here:

6 Palestinians Killed in Gaza at Fatah Rally - New York Times

I find it ironic that celebrating the death of a Palestinian leader (a terrorist, make no mistake about that) who had received the Nobel peace prize leads to several deaths and dozens of injuries as his followers (Fatah) were attacked by other terrorists (Hamas). I find it so strange that apologists, like Jimmy Carter and others, for the Palestinians are blind to the strife that is caused by the Palestinian factions...who often blame Israel or America for the sad state of affairs in this troubled land. That's nonsense.

The Palestinians choose to actively oppose Israel and refuse to make peace. Israel has built a wall to defend itself successfully against the suicide bombers so rampant in Israeli cities a few years ago. Israel will not be pushed into the sea and the Palestinians will be better served by leaders willing to get on with the task of building for themselves a viable nation-state.

Awarding the peace prize to Arafat in 1994 is a sad commentary on the judgment of those making that decision. Giving the same prize to Al Gore (and the thousands involved in the UN effort to report on climate change) in 2007 represents the same foolishness. A 'peace' prize should be awarded to those who dedicate themselves to making peace where there is strife in this world. Neither Arafat nor Gore have done that.

It’s Time to Act Like Grown-Ups - New York Times

Everyone should pay attention to the salubrious advice of Ben Stein. Here is a fellow that nearly everyone should like.

Why are Republicans in Congress targeting Google? Two reasons | The Iconoclast - politics, law, and technology - CNET News.com

Google is/are Democrats. I find it fascinating that the political ideology of large corporations aligns so monolithically with a political party. Certainly, there are 'Republican' corporations also. Or do they align with a political party based on the political winds most favorable to their companies? I think the Googlers are died i the wool Democrats/Liberals.

Out there somewhere must be a conservative Libertarian company, more like me !

"...Republicans know that Google is run by Democrats. It's true.

Chief Executive Eric Schmidt has written checks for $163,000 to Democratic campaign committees. Google board member John Doerr has given more than $507,000 to Democratic committees (and that's not even counting individual politicians). Google board member Ram Shriram gave to only one presidential candidate this year: Barack Obama. Google board member Shirley Tilghman gave money only to Democratic causes, including Emily's List. And so on.

An article I wrote earlier this year looked at contributions to Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Rudy Giuliani, and Mitt Romney. Only one Googler (and one in Chicago, at that) gave money to either of the Republican candidates.

Google's policy staff reflects this partisan split. Andrew McLaughlin, Google's director of global public policy and government affairs, was once a House Democratic aide. So was Johanna Shelton, a Google policy counsel. Google's Washington spokesman was Sen. Joe Lieberman's press secretary. Alan Davidson, Google's senior policy counsel, worked in the White House Office of Policy Development in the Clinton administration. John Burchett, Google's state policy counsel, was chief of staff to Jennifer Granholm, the Democratic governor of Michigan. (The lone exception i"

Clinton Gets an Instant Chance to Wield a New Weapon - New York Times

Bravo for a woman (the waitress)with some common sense in this silly campaign season. The article itself demonstrates the silliness of some of the press coverage, this piece in the Times as a prime example.

"“You people are really nuts,” she told a reporter during a phone interview. “There’s kids dying in the war, the price of oil right now — there’s better things in this world to be thinking about than who served Hillary Clinton at Maid-Rite and who got a tip and who didn’t get a tip.”"

Facebook Everywhere - Bits - Technology - New York Times Blog

Google's OpenSocial announcement is a direct response to Facebook's ad network strategy. Google will do anything to prevent erosion of their advertising revenue. While I don't think Facebook's advertising plan will be nearly as successful as Google might think, Google will thwart that possibility in the marketplace, in any way they can. Here's another take on the OpenSocial announcement from Wired.

One other point...just how big is the online advertising revenue pie? Certainly, the pool is expanding as print revenue shrinks in favor of online ads, but there is a limit. I'm sure these online advertisers have researched the data, but I haven't come across it yet. The pool of advertising dollars is not unlimited.

At first blush, I find the Facebook model somewhat intrusive, so I probably will opt out of allowing my Facebook data to be used in the fashion shown in bold below.

"Two Facebook executives said yesterday that Facebook is indeed planning an ad network. They didn’t give details, and said the timing depends on how the first phase of the Social Ad system works.Presumably, Facebook could offer two
different sorts of ads.

First, it could simply use its data about what users put
on their profiles as part of a network that serves ads on other sites. Facebook claims that users have an incentive to tell the truth in their profiles because they are used mainly to communicate with their friends, not strangers. And so
that data about age, location, education, work and interests can be quite reliable for advertisers.

Even more interesting, perhaps, Facebook may be able to
append the implicit endorsement of friends to ads on this network. Imaging checking out the forecast on Weather.com, and you see a banner with a picture of your buddy Joe, saying Joe just bought a Canon digital camera from Amazon.com
next to an ad for the latest Canon model. If someone else went to the same site, they might see an ad featuring a product recently endorsed by one of his or her friends."

Blacks must drop victimhood and reclaim dignity | csmonitor.com

Another sensible exhortation by Bill Cosby and his friend at Harvard for blacks to move beyond the victim and 'trash' culture so many of them inhabit. He's not popular among many blacks with his stance, but I have not seen any realistic alternative from the naysayers.