Blue and White

Obama's War

2010-01-02T15:11:00.007-05:00

Reality

For a week....

2009-12-19T21:23:00.003-05:00

I will be here...

The best view on earth

2009-12-10T07:27:00.002-05:00

Elections today in the Honduras while the junta kills

2009-11-29T14:01:00.001-05:00

The blackout of the main stream media here relating to what is going in the Honduras continues. Well, today there are (supposedly free) elections in the Honduras. Such elections are apparently happening in the absence of international monitors, while the legally elected president of that country remains in the Brazilian embassy surrounded by the troops of the junta.

What kind of elections are those? How can there be elections when the legally elected president of the country is surrounded by troops ready to arrest him if he moves out. Such elections are reminiscent of "elections" done by other military regimes in Europe and South America in the 70s and 80s to legitimize such dictatorships.

But it gets more worrisome with recent new developments that show that the junta is willing to kill to establish its rule. Amnesty International USA has called for an immediate investigation of an incident in which the military shot at civilians.

Amnesty International today said it was deeply worried about the safety of victims of and witnesses to a shooting at a military blockade that took place in Tegucigalpa last night. The organization called on the Human Rights Prosecutor to urgently investigate the incident.

According to eye witnesses interviewed by Amnesty International, last night, four men were on their way back home when they saw a military blockade moved from its normal position, close to the Estado Mayor (military compound). They were not given any indication to stop or request to slow down so they drove past.

Immediately after, shots were fired by the military at the car. The men drove on and as they went into a new road, one bullet hit the driver, 32-year-old Angel Salgado, in the head. He lost control of the vehicle which then crashed into a taxi and injured several bystanders, including 45-year-old woman, who was also hit by a stray bullet. She is now in a serious condition in hospital.

That is the climate under which the military junta in the Honduras carries on "elections". Such elections are obviously flawed and not free. These elections should not be recognized by the Obama administration. In fact, the leaders of countries in Latin America have warned the Obama administration that it risks isolation if they recognize such elections.

The United States risks souring relations with much of Latin America if it recognizes upcoming elections in Honduras, the foreign policy adviser to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in an interview on Wednesday.

What is going on in the Honduras is sad. It is an attack on democracy by a military junta, reminiscent of what went on many years ago in other countries in South America in the 70s and 80s. The elections today are not free and any elected leader out of such elections can not and should not be recognized by the US.

Cross-posted in Daily Kos .

POLITICAL ILLITERACY

2009-11-24T08:24:00.005-05:00

.

This is truly total political illiteracy.

This sort of illiteracy elected Bush and because of this sort of illiteracy, republicans and "conservatives" still have 40-45% of the country supporting them. This is an achievement of the system that took long time to get to that level.

Pure Horror

2009-11-06T20:35:00.004-05:00

This is truly shocking and despicable.
From the BBC link above:

"Islamists in southern Somalia have stoned a man to death for adultery but spared his pregnant girlfriend until she gives birth"

and then the article continues:

"Abas Hussein Abdirahman, 33, was killed in front of a crowd of some 300 people in the port town of Merka.

"He was screaming and blood was pouring from his head during the stoning. After seven minutes he stopped moving," an eyewitness told the BBC.

That is an example of how horrendous and criminal theocratic beliefs can be. The criminals who killed this man probably believe they were acting in "gods will".

But where it gets even more scary and chilling, is this part:

"An official from the al-Shabab group said the woman would be killed after she has had her baby."

This is pure horror. An innocent woman is waiting to be killed after she delivers her baby, in the hands of a bizarre group of criminal theocrats. What is the civilized world doing to stop this? I hope that the United Nations and groups for civil liberties will do something to save this woman.

I also hope that the Obama administration and governments of other civilized parts of the world will try to interfere to stop the completion of that horrendous crime.

Crossposted in Daily Kos .

ILLUSIONS

2009-11-04T07:04:00.000-05:00

I finally realized what the problem of the far right is in this country: Illusions.

It is hard to understand how and why, but apparently some believe that the loss of a 100 years+ republican congressional seat is a victory !

Then there are illusions like this one. Of course, in this case there maybe some sort of a deliberate deception. Nevertheless the concept is still surrealistic and based on an illusion.

Now, beyond ridiculous, illusions can be dangerous. For instance, the illusion that Saddam Hussein was an "immediate threat" to us because of "weapons of mass destruction" was used as an excuse to start a disastrous war by the far right.

Nevertheless, the current illusions of the far right are more comical in nature than anything else. Maybe the most ridiculous illusion of the right-wingers is their sincere belief that they stand for "freedom". I only wonder how they would feel if they were able to understand what they really stand for...corporations and antidemocratic policies. A modern version of a neo-fascist ideology. That is what the "conservative", teabagging movement represents in this country. But in their illusions they see themselves as defenders of freedom, etc. etc. In a totally delusional manner.

What is going on in the Honduras? Toxic gas in the Brazilian embassy?

2009-09-26T14:52:00.002-05:00

I really dont get it. There are dramatic developments in the Honduras, but the media almost completely ignores that story. We have the president of the country (Zelaya) in the Brazilian embassy surrounded by tanks and army sent by the fascist junta.

There have been reportedly 10 pro-democracy demonstrators that were killed over the last few days in clashes with the army. The United Nations has formally condemned the "harassment" of the Brazilian embassy by the fascist Honduran regime.

Now, it appears that the junta may be using toxic gas to poison those inside the embassy and force them out.

President Manuel Zelaya, who has taken refuge in Brazil's Embassy in Tegucigalpa, has accused the interim government of using toxic gas to poison those inside the embassy.

A doctor was seen treating people at the embassy Friday. Mr. Zelaya charged that gas caused breathing difficulties and bleeding.

The situation there is more than dramatic and it does not appear that there will be a political solution. But the media here completely ignores these events that have major implications on what will eventually happen in Latin America. They also have major implications regarding the idea of democracy as a whole these days.

Essentially the whole international community, with the exception of far right extremists here (like Fox News and Redstate) want democracy to be restored there. I hope this happens without bloodshed. I just dont understand why CNN and MSNBC completely ignore the events there. At least there is BBC and other independent european stations that have no problem covering really important events. Like this one.

Cross-posted in Daily Kos

September 11, 1973 and modern conservatism

2009-09-12T11:16:00.002-05:00

.
There was another terrible event in history that occured on September 11 that many forget. It was September 11, 1973 when a fascist dictator, Augusto Pinochet, overthrew the democratically elected President of Chile by a coup-d'etat. That day, the fascist forces of Pinochet killed the President of Chile, Salvatore Allende, and established one of the most brutal fascist regimes in history. Over 3200 Chileans died under the military junta of Pinochet, while at least 130,000 were incarcerated without trials and 30,000 tortured.

After many years of terror, torture and killings, the regime of Pinochet eventually collapsed. Pinochet though remained free, until he was arrested in London on October 16, 1998, while visiting europe. After a prolonged legal battle, he somehow escaped prosecution. Despite efforts to bring him to justice later in Chile, at the end he escaped prosecution and died from natural causes on December 2006. Prior to his death, the fascist dictator took "political responsibility" for his crimes.

I believe that there is a strong link between the events of September 11, 1973, the establishement of the fascist regime in Chile and the current conservative movement and republican party of today. For starters, it is well established that the Republican Nixon administration then, with Henry Kissinger leading the effort, helped Pinochet gain power. Kissinger also encouraged the brutal repression of Chile by the Pinochet regime then.

Although people have argued that the help that Kissinger and the Nixon administration gave to Pinochet had only to do with "efforts" to counter the influence of the "evil Soviet empire", in my opinion there are ideological similarities between the Pinochet regime and the conservative movement of today. In fact, one could argue that the ideologies of the republican party of today and of modern "conservatism", are a natural evolution of ideologies of regimes like the Pinochet regime. It is not surprising that some on the right openly still admire and approve of Pinochet's actions. They do so because they represent a more refined ideological homologue of that regime.

The ideological links between fascism and the conservative movement of today can be seen on several issues. Here are some examples:

1. Extreme nationalism. All fascist regimes in history were driven by extreme nationalism. Need to say more?

2. Many fascist regimes in history used religion as a weapon. They have been traditionally pro-religion, whether christian (like many dictatorships in the recent past in South America) or islamic fundamentalists (like the fascist theocratic regimes of the Taliban or Iran). The resemblance with many religious fundamentalists of the republican party of today who think that God drives their actions could not be more obvious.

3. Anti-abortion/ultra-conservative mentality. A classic example was the fascist regime of Mussolini in Italy that had banned abortion as a crime against the state. We all know who would love to make abortion a crime in this country these days.

4. Political illiteracy of fascist supporters through history. Traditionally the supporters of fascist regimes have been illiterate, or at least politically illiterate people who are easy to manipulate and instill hate. The similarities with the tea-baggers of today are more than obvious.

5. Anti-immigrant hysteria.

6. Bigotry, hate towards homosexuals.

7. Racism.

In summary, I believe that there is a lot of evidence that the current "conservatism" of today is in many ways the evolution of fascism from the 40s, 70s and 80s.

2009-08-30T08:10:00.006-05:00

.
.

Bolt again

2009-08-23T09:09:00.002-05:00

And here is an interesting article from New York Times about Usain Bolt. And here one from Times online .

The question is what will be the next WR he will break. Will he be the first human to go below 19 in the 200 m? or touch 9 in the 100s? Amazing.

Unbelievable

2009-08-23T08:31:00.012-05:00

Something really unbelievable has been happening in track and field. Usain Bolt recently broke both the 100 meters world record with an unbelievable 9.58 and the 200 meters world record with an also unbelievable 19.19. The videos are worth watching. What is going on? It is shocking that these records were reached. We are witnessing the impossible.

Nathalie Cardone

2009-08-04T10:35:00.014-05:00

One of the very best

Dont believe me? Try this one then .

Silvio

2009-07-31T15:02:00.004-05:00

My opinion of Berlusconi is getting better by the minute. I may not agree with his right-wing policies, but the guy is cool.

How could anyone blame him? He is brilliant.

How could he not notice?

2009-07-10T12:56:00.003-05:00

I would be disappointed with him if he did not. Probably the most interesting scene from the G8 summit. Sarkozy cool as always.

Fascist Military Coup in Honduras

2009-06-28T22:24:00.003-05:00

A group of fascists military officers deposited the democratically elected president of the Honduras and took control .

Fascism sucks and South American fascism sucks in particular. That will be a big test for the Obama administration. I hope that they will do the right thing. That the will not recognize the fascist junta in that country and that will work with other countries in the hemisphere to isolate this fascist group and help to restore the democratically elected president of that country.

Lydia Guevara

2009-06-22T17:23:00.004-05:00

Being a vegetarian, I totally agree with her new revolution.

Chavez's Idiocy and Google News

2009-06-21T14:53:00.006-05:00

Yesterday, I wrote this diary in Daily Kos pointing out that Hugo Chavez is an idiot for supporting the fascist regime of the Iranian theocrats.

Well today, I was looking for more news regarding Chavez and Iran and I did a search in Google News . Well, I realized then that my diary in Daily Kos was among the top news articles in Google news about Hugo Chavez and the only blog article quoted about Chavez. Interesting. Anyway, as I wrote there, Hugo Chavez is a total idiot. Supporting the criminal theocratic regime in Iran is supporting crimes against humanity. It is despicable.

Iranian Theocrats Murderers

2009-06-20T15:42:00.007-05:00

.
Monsters of the Iranian regime shooting and killing students who are fighting for democracy.

And more killings by the theocrat criminals.

Murderers

I think that it is now clear that after such crimes the fascist theocratic regime in Iran will collapse. It is only a matter of time.

Hortensia Bussi

2009-06-19T17:45:00.004-05:00

Hortensia Bussi, the wife of Chilean President Salvador Allende just died at age 94 . She was among the leaders of the opposition in Chile against the monstrous dictator Augusto Pinochet who had ousted her democratically elected husband and established one of the worst dictatorships in history. The picture above is of the heroic president of Chile Allende the day of the coup when he fought the thugs of the mass murderer Pinochet, shortly before he was killed by them.

Dramatic Videos from Iran

2009-06-18T07:13:00.003-05:00

Here

Remarkable video

Will fascism be defeated in Iran?

2009-06-16T06:53:00.002-05:00

History tells us that when an uprising like that happens, a fascist state eventually collapses. The fascist regime of the mullahs and religious fundamentalists that controls Iran is destined to collapse one way or another. It may not happen now, but it will happen eventually.

And here is why .......

2009-05-17T07:48:00.006-05:00

Bush and Cheney should not be investigated for potential war crimes.

It makes sense.

Pelosi

2009-05-17T07:35:00.007-05:00

I am very impressed by Pelosi. She must be the first speaker of the house ever that openly accused the CIA of having lied to congress. She is really cool.

The hate of the republicans against her is also somehow a proof that she is really good.

Swedish are cool

2009-05-16T20:19:00.004-05:00

Very cool. My favorite country on earth.