via Exxon Mobil: $908 M awarded in Venezuela dispute – Yahoo! Finance.

Chavez’s plan is simple. He says to avoid obesity, cut your calories. Here’s the funny part . . .

“Be careful with weight gain!” warned Chavez on Sunday, speaking during his weekly television and radio program. “We are eating better, that’s been proven. We’re leaving malnutrition behind. It no longer exists in the country, but be careful with obesity.”

Contrary to Michelle’s ‘Let’s Move’ program, which is being funded from taking food from the mouths of hungry (the Food Stamp Program), Chavez’s program depends on empty shelves in the supermarket.

Venezuelans complain of shortages of basic food items: Many residents say they often take four or five trips to various markets only to end up with bitter coffee and unbuttered bread.

When he says it’s ‘been proven’ that Venezuelans are eating better, he means they are eating maybe two meals a day, up from one and a half meals a day.

Links:

Chavez urges Venezuelans to cut calorie intake |  What’s on the shelves of Hugo Chávez’s socialist supermarket |  Dems Message For Food Stamp Recipients: Eat Less, part 2

In response, the Obama administration revoked the visa of the Venezuelan ambassador to the U.S. Bernardo Alvarez who was out of the country at the time. Great move by the State Department and the President. What we have down there in Venezuela, aside from a maniacal communist dictator, is another Kim Jong Ill of the West that is building his political career on hating the United States and supporting all sorts of things that can ultimately bring harm to the United States.

Both sides have shown firmly entrenched stances and no willingness to compromise in the past week as the U.S. government revoked the Venezuelan ambassador’s visa in response to Chavez’s refusal to accept the chosen U.S. envoy.

“Much of the cooperation between the United States and Venezuela in recent years has involved lower-level and lower-profile individuals and agencies than the ambassadors, so the immediate fallout will be limited,” said Shannon O’Neil, a fellow for Latin American studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

“But this latest round of escalating tensions ends any hope for calmer relations or more expansive cooperation. Demonizing the United States remains too important a political foil for Chavez,” O’Neil said.

This news account does not say what input Sec. of State Clinton had in the decision, but I’m reminded of a James Carville quote, when he said ‘if Hillary gave [Obama] one of her balls, they’d both have two.’ Regardless of how it came about, Obama did the right thing.

First on his agenda is to get control of the internet, having already taken over broadcast media. Saying that his government should protect citizens against online crimes. In his little communist mind, an online crime would be disagreeing with him and/or his policies. Like this blog post for example.

Chavez’s congressional allies are considering extending the “Social Responsibility Law” for broadcast media to the Internet, banning messages that “disrespect public authorities,” “incite or promote hatred” or crimes, or are aimed at creating “anxiety” in the population.

Whether or not they will admit it, the folks in Washington have a huge problem with Chavez and his band of gypsies and anti-capitalists. With his proclaimed disdain for the Unites States, supporting the world’s worst regimes and making way in Venezuela for a combination of a hostile Russia, Cuba, Iran, China, and North Korea in our own hemisphere does not portend for a peaceful (by any measure) future. Toss in an extra boost for the drug lords, al-Qaeda, and a lack of border security at home, and we are looking at a future of unrest and tumult.

Links: Venezuelan legislature grants Chavez decree powers | Chavez defends plan for Internet regulations

Henry Rangel Silva will take over as General-in-Chief, Chavez said on state television. The military won’t tolerate an opposition government because it would try to “sell” the country, the general said in a November 8 interview published in Caracas Ultimas Noticias.

“You will see at what price we buy them, since they belong to the people, and at what price we sell the rods,” he said.

Chavez has ordered several nationalizations in recent weeks, including a big fertilizer plant, a motor lubricants maker and a major local farm supplies company. This, after taking control of the TV broadcast media in advance of, and to the benefit of his party, Venezuela’s legislative elections.

Link: Venezuela’s Chavez nationalizes local steel company | Reuters

Meanwhile, with his slim 48.9% to 47.9% victory, Chavez is pushing the notion of issuing firearms and training for a civilian militia.

Chavez says the militia should be prepared to defend the country against any threat, foreign or domestic. He also believes the United States poses a threat to his oil-exporting country.

Opponents of the leftist president say the militia is essentially a personal army for Chavez aimed at intimidating his adversaries, maintaining control and keeping him in power.

Links: Chavez vows to radicalize after Venezuela election | Chavez: Civilian militia should be armed full-time

An electoral official accused President Hugo Chavez and his allies of breaking campaign laws by using state-run media to berate rivals and praise friends ahead of this month’s legislative elections.

Vicente Diaz, one of the National Election Council’s five directors, said Chavez is violating legislation prohibiting elected officials from using their posts to promote candidacies. Chavez has ignored the law, which also bans the use of state media and public funds for campaigning.

Opposition independent candidate for the National Assembly of Venezuela, Maria Corina Machado said . . .

While we are visiting voters, going from house to house, the ruling party’s campaign is imposed through televised speeches.

It’s enough to make President Obama’s inner circle jealous. It is also interesting to note how many of the mainstream media outlets in this country no longer have the links active. One would expect that for a President to break the law to control the media message to influence election results would be of interest and at least be on the front page. Wouldn’t you? Have you even heard about this?

Related link: Joseph Kennedy, Meet Maria Corina Machado

The theme is ripe for a SNL skit. The media and administration are trying to put lipstick on a pig by saying that the economic recovery isn’t happening as fast as they had expected. The punch line is you first have to have a recovery.

They just can’t and won’t admit that the policies implemented are making matters worse, not better.  Saying that it isn’t happening as fast as hoped entirely misses the point.  (The media watchdog died years ago.) There hasn’t been any recovery yet. Unemployment is still high and getting worse. The FUD factor (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) created by this administration has not abated one bit. People and entrepreneurs are holding on to whatever assets they have, afraid of what the administration will do to them, their business, their taxes, or to their employees next. Working people are hitting their retirement accounts just to get by. Just like Obama is providing their children’s and grandchildren’s future debt, their parents are spending their retirement money before they retire. See any red flags here?

And Vice President Biden is still bold to say . . .

There is “no doubt we’re moving in the right direction.”

I have to agree with Biden on that point. There is no doubt that we are moving in the direction that Obama wants. It is required if he is to remake America like he said he wanted to do. So from Biden’s perspective, yea, Obama is a genius and everything is just dandy. We’ll be brought to our knees economically until socialism seems to be better than starving. Until we all are dependent on the federal government. It would be enough to make Hugo Chavez jealous.

And, November elections can’t come soon enough.

Biden: ‘We’ve seen this movie before’: The Swamp.

Red flag moment!

We now know that, for all practical purposes, this administration’s definition of the word ‘bailout’ has become synonymous with the terms ‘takeover’ or ‘nationalize.’

We also know the propensity for President Obama to mimic the actions of Hugo Chavez.

Understand now what the Hugo Chavez version of reinventing the media means. Given free reign, don’t think for a New York minute that Obama woudn’t just love to control the media like his socialist soulmate Hugo. Why, to a Progressive, what could be better than a high-paying, Cadillac benefit, union job like that?

Link: TV channel owner ordered arrested in Venezuela