Barry's Buddy Hugo Seizes 60 Privately Owned Oil Companies - like two peas in a pod

image by rees

Venezuelan oil companies occupied, nationalized by troops - specifically for redistribution of wealth - if that sounds familiar it's because Obama told "Joes the plumber" that there should be redistribution of wealth. Barry already has control of financial institutions and the auto makers, next he can create a crisis to justify seizing control of the oil companies. Maybe he'll just pull-out the old "too big to fail" card, and use that for justification. One way or another, he'll probably try.
Rees

from Earth Times
May 9, 2009

Caracas ­ Venezuelan troops Saturday occupied about 60 privately owned companies that provide support to the country's oil industry. The move follows an order on Friday from President Hugo Chavez, who ordered the full or partial takeover of about 60 firms in the state of Zulia. Chavez's order came after legislative enactment of a new hydrocarbons bill.


According to media reports citing Energy and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez, more than 80 per cent of those companies now find themselves under the control of the state-owned PDVSA oil company.

Zulia is in the country's north-west, near the border with Colombia.


Chavez says the nationalization will save Venezuela about 700 million dollars a year. The move also places about 8,000 employees on the government's payroll. Venezuela is the fifth-largest producer of oil worldwide.

Government officials said that money that would have gone to the private companies will now become state profit, which can be redistributed for social development projects across Venezuela.
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Absolute Must Read: Romney Says Obama Has Been A Timid Advocate of Freedom

President Obama has failed his early foreign-policy tests.
By Mitt Romney
from The National Review
April 21, 2009

At last week’s Summit of the Americas, President Obama acquiesced to a 50-minute attack on America as terroristic, expansionist, and interventionist from Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega. His response to Ortega’s denunciation of our effort to free Cuba from Castro’s dictatorship was that he shouldn’t be blamed “for things that happened when I was three months old.” Blamed? Hundreds of men, including Americans, bravely fought and died for Cuba’s freedom, heeding the call from newly elected president John F. Kennedy. But last week, even as American soldiers sacrificed blood in Afghanistan and Iraq to defend liberty, President Obama shrank from defending liberty here in the Americas.

In his first press interview as president, he confessed to Arabic television that America had “dictated” to other nations. No, Mr. President, America has fought to free other nations from dictators. And in Strasbourg, the president further claimed that America has “showed arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.” London’s Daily Telegraph observed that President Obama “went further than any United States president in history in criticizing his own country’s action while standing on foreign soil.” Of course, it was not just the Daily Telegraph that was listening: People around the world who yearn for freedom, who count on America’s resolve and support, heard him as well. He was heard in China, in Tibet, in Sudan, in Burma, and, yes, in Cuba.

The words spoken by the leader of the free world can expand the frontiers of freedom or shrink them. When Ronald Reagan called on Gorbachev to “tear down this wall,” a surge of confidence rose that would ultimately breach the bounds of the evil empire. It was the same confidence that had been ignited decades earlier when John F. Kennedy declared to a people surrounded by Communism that they were not alone. “We are all Berliners,” he said, because “freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free.” Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s confident commitment, spoken as he led us into the war that would free millions in Europe, inspired not only Americans but freedom fighters around the globe: “The American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.” Such words of solidarity, of confidence, and of unwavering conviction that America is indeed “the last best hope on earth” are what freedom’s friends would have expected to hear from our president when our nation was slandered. Instead he offered silence, smiles, and a handshake.

Even more troubling than what he has or has not said is what he has not done. Kim Jong Il launched a long-range missile on the very day President Obama addressed the world about the peril of nuclear proliferation. As one of the world’s most oppressive and tyrannical regimes is on the brink of securing the “game changing” capability to reach American shores with a nuclear weapon, the president shrinks from action: no seizure of North Korean funds, no severance of banking access, no blockade.

Not to be outdone by Kim Jong Il, President Ahmadinejad announced that his nation has successfully mastered every step necessary to enrich uranium, violating the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty it has signed. So, like North Korea, Iran will have changed the world’s equation for peace and security: It will be capable of devastating Europe and America, and of annihilating Israel. And as with North Korea, the Obama administration chooses inaction — no new severe sanctions, no hint of military options. Ahmadinejad can act with confidence that the forceful options once on our proverbial table have been shelved.

Vice President Biden was right that the new president would be tested early in his administration. What the world learned was not good news for freedom and democracy. The leader of the free world has been a timid advocate of freedom at best. And bold action to blunt the advances of tyrants has been wholly lacking. We are still very early in the Obama years — the president will have ample opportunity to defend America and freedom, and to deter nuclear brinkmanship. I am hoping for change.
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OBAMA'S FOREIGN FAILURES

from The New York Post
by Ralph Peters
March 25, 2009

AMERICA'S enemies smell blood and it's type "O."

All new administrations stumble a bit as they seek their footing. But President Obama's foreign-policy botches have set new records for instant incompetence.

Contrary to left-wing myths, I wasn't a fan of the Bush administration. (I called for Donald Rumsfeld to get the boot in mid-2001.) But fair's fair. Despite his many faults, Bush sought to do good. Obama just wants to look good.

Vice President Dick Cheney was arrogant. Vice President Joe Biden is arrogant and stupid. Take your pick.

Don't worry about the new administration's ideology. Worry about its terrifying naivete.

Consider a sampling of the goofs O and his crew have made in just two months:

China: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (you know that gal married to the Saudi hireling) crawled to Beijing to tell the party bosses that human rights don't matter. Our "relationship" is more important than freedom and human dignity.

Beijing's response? A staged military confrontation with an unarmed US Navy vessel; continued screw-America currency cheating; a renewed crackdown on dissidents and, yesterday, a call for a new global currency to replace the dollar.

Thanks, Hill. You're a sweetheart.

Pakistan: With viral corruption throughout and Islamist fanatics sweeping half of its territory, Pakistan's coming apart. Its Dem-adored prez tries to ban opposition parties and gut the judiciary. It has nukes and seethes with hatred of America. And Islamabad controls our primary supply route into Afghanistan, using it as an extortion tool.

Obama's response? Billions in new aid for Pak pols to pocket. We'd be better off handing the money to AIG to pay out more bonuses.

Afghanistan: Obama's Vietnam. Am I the only American who remembers that candidate Obama had a plan to capture Osama bin Laden and fix our previous "mistakes" in Afghanistan? President Obama doesn't have a clue.

Iran: Obama tried to reach out, to talk. After all, talking got him to the White House. But America-bashing is what keeps Iran's leaders in office, it's their political essence. After 30 years of fierce hostility, hasn't anyone figured out that the senior mullahs need us as an enemy? Without the Great Satan America to blame, they'd have some real explaining to do to their homies. So O got the left-hand finger.

He wanted to chat with the Taliban, too. They told him he could stick it where the sun don't shine.

North Korea: Obama wanted a fresh start. North Korea's response? Threats of war with South Korea and the kidnapping of two American journalists. And the renewed pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, along with rocket tests.

Cuba: Obama would like to liberalize our relationship. The Castro boys told him to kiss off. They need an enemy, too. (Dear Mr. President: It's not always about us or how evil America is.)

Venezuela: Guess who else needs an enemy?

Mexico: The good news: Obama knows where it is on a map and recognizes that Mexico's government faces a narco-insurgency that threatens our country, too. His first action? Cave to the Teamsters, violate a lawful treaty on cross-border trucking, reignite fading anti-Americanism and undercut President Felipe Calderon.

Poland: Obama's stance on our bravest ally on the European continent? The Russians are more important than you are. He's sending the same message to Ukraine and Georgia.

Russia: Bolshie Biden, the commuting commissar, knows he's the man who can turn Russia into our best pal. After "Friend of Bill" Strobe Talbott tried and failed disastrously. And after poor W saw into Putin's soul, only to get his butt handed to him. "Uncle Joe" Biden has nothing to learn from past failures, though: He's got a re-set button.

Moscow's response to the Obama administration's bid for a new start? It threatens NATO members it once occupied and continues to back Iran's nuclear program. Plus, it bribes Kyrgystan to kick us off the critical-to-Afghanistan Manas airbase (then offers to help replace that supply lifeline, giving Russia a choke-hold on our troops).

Next, the Kremlin threatens massive re-armament and demands the abandonment of the dollar as the international reserve currency.

Obama's response? Push that re-set button again. And again.

At what point does naivete become cowardice?

As for our allies, Obama apparently needs them less than Bush did. O treated Britain's prime minister like the deputy Paraguayan veterinary inspector, and he blindsided the leaders of the Czech Republic, Poland, Mexico and Canada on issues ranging from missile defense to trade. But he'd like them to take the Gitmo terrorists off our hands, please.

The one bright spot thus far has been Iraq, where Obama quickly tossed aside his campaign promises. The O-man doesn't want to be on the blame-line for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in Baghdad. And his MoveOn.org supporters can throw all the tantrums they want. (Breaking news, folks: O's a professional pol, not the messiah . . . )

Apart from Iraq, a success Sen. Obama did all he could to prevent, his foreign policy's an instant wasteland. By comparison, the Carter administration is starting to look like a model of manly strength, courage and patriotism.

Ralph Peters recently became Fox News' first "strategic analyst."

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North Korea Says It Detained Two Americans for Illegal Entry

The first news I read about this situation indicated that the two reporters were standing in Chinese territory taking pictures of North Korea. That early article indicated that North Korean soldiers crossed over into Chinese territory to abduct these two reporters. If that is true, Obama can add another diplomatic mess to his plate.

The bottom line is that North Korea is holding two American Reporters. What is he going to do about it?
Rees

from Bloomberg.com
By Bomi Lim
blim30@bloomberg.net
March 21

(Bloomberg)-- North Korea said it detained two Americans this week for “illegally intruding” into its territory from China, confirming an earlier statement by the U.S. State Department.
The two Americans were taken on March 17, the communist country’s official Korean Central News Agency reported today. “A competent organ is now investigating the case,” it said, without naming the detainees or providing further details.

Two female journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were on assignment with San Francisco-based Current TV when they were taken into custody close to the border region, the Los Angeles Times reported. State Department spokesman Robert Wood said March 21 two U.S. citizens had been held by North Korean authorities.

The State Department is seeking information from “a number of parties” and has asked the Swedish embassy to discuss the case with the North Koreans, Wood said. The U.S. and North Korea don’t have full diplomatic relations.
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The World Will Test Us, Part III

Russian planes fly over U.S. naval ships

posted March 21, 2009
by Ed Morrissey
from Hot Air

Joe Biden tried to warn America; he really did. In October, while campaigning for his running mate, Biden predicted what would happen if America elected an untested, inexperienced, single-term Senator as President:

“Mark my words,” the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. “It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking.”

Indeed the world is, er, looking. And Russia, which floated the notion of basing its bombers in Cuba last week, gave the US Navy up-close looks at its bombers twice this week:

Two Russian planes flew within 500 feet of U.S. Navy ships participating in military drills with South Korea, military officials said.

After trying unsuccessfully to contact the pilots, U.S. fighter jets met up with the Russian planes and flew with them until they left the area, CNN reported.

One incident occurred Monday, when Russian Ilyushin IL-38 maritime patrol aircraft flew over the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis while it was in international waters in the Sea of Japan. The Russian aircraft flew within 500 feet of the carrier, which was lower than other Russian flyovers in the past year, military officials said.

On Tuesday, two Russian long-range bombers overflew the Stennis and the USS Blue Ridge several times at about 2,000 feet, U.S. military officials told CNN.

Earlier this month, the Chinese started harassing an unarmed Navy exploration vessel, requiring the US to send armed escorts into the international waters of the South China Sea. North Korea is about to launch an ICBM with a reported range that easily includes American territory.

Moscow has flipped Kyrgyzstan and put our supply routes into Afghanistan in jeopardy.

Biden was right; they’re testing the mettle of the new President. Evidentally, they’re finding that he doesn’t have much, and they’re becoming more and more arrogant about their provocations.
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Here's one of the great comments:

I don’t know why everyone’s so worried. After all, we have Mrs. Clinton out there leading our foreign policy team. And she’s armed with Smart Power!

Now, if you’ll excuse me. I’m going to go build a fallout shelter. The apartment complex is not going to like this.

kingsjester on March 21, 2009 at 12:24 PM