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Policy and Procedure, Caribbean Style

Honduras, South America leaps to the front page of the New York Times with the headline “Honduran President Is Ousted in Coup”, and to be fair to the NYT – the events of the last 48 hours do in fact bear all of the hallmarks of a classic coup d’état.

However, the story demands a little more investigation …

The now former President of Honduras, one Manuel Zelaya has been working towards an objective of increasing presidential term limits and if everything had gone according to plan – Sunday would have been the day of a national non-binding referendum on the subject. As things turned out, said referendum turned into the trigger for events that resulted in his removal from office and lots of news in the media on the role of the Honduras armed forces a subsequent pyjama drama in Costa Rica.

However, if we look deeper into the legal context a number of facts emerge:

  • The Supreme Court, top electoral body, and human-rights ombudsman have ruled the referendum illegal.
  • Article 239 of the Honduran Constitution, forbids any former chief executive from being re-elected President, states that any citizen (including the president) who proposes reforming this law, and any others who support such a person directly or indirectly, are to immediately “cease carrying out” any public office.
  • Article 42, Section 5 of the Constitution states that citizenship is lost for “inciting, promoting or supporting the continuation or the re-election of the President of the Republic.”
  • Both the court and the National Congress have ratified the actions of the armed forces.
  • The National Congress named and ratified Roberto Micheletti as President.

The last item in the above list is interesting in that normally the role of President would fall to the Vice President, Elvin Santos (Zelaya’s running mate). However, Santos had already resigned that position in order to run for the next Presidential Election in January 2010. Zelaya had replaced him with Arístides Mejía Carranza under the title “Vice President Commissioner” (a position barred from taking the position of President). This paved the way for the appointment by Congress of Roberto Micheletti (as President of the National Congress) to the position of Provisional President of Honduras until the end of the current term.

With all of the above information on the table – Barack Obama’s statement was telling:

I am deeply concerned by reports coming out of Honduras regarding the detention and expulsion of President Mel Zelaya. As the Organization of American States did on Friday, I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter. Any existing tensions and disputes must be resolved peacefully through dialogue free from any outside interference.

No coup d’état – just policy and procedure Caribbean style.

794 replies on “Policy and Procedure, Caribbean Style”

500
HusseinStWorm

The term limits in the US are an accepted convention which all players are happy to observe, this cannot be stated for Honduras.

Well clearly Zelaya is a player and was not happy with the constraint, in fact most of the Honduran Presidents have looked for ways to extend their terms. But moving along from artificial absolutes, I don’t see a majority of the population standing up and shouting for changes to term limits.

By Post Author

Cat, more speculation, how are you judging what the public wants? The only way to determine the publics mood on the issue is through a vote, which is exactly what Zelaya was trying to do.

HusseinStWorm at 502
Where’s the speculation?

As to the determination of the public mood, your absolutely correct, however, the Supreme Court ruled against authorisation of that poll and that decision changed the dynamics. Zelaya’s actions after this got him to where he is now.

By Post Author

Ousted Honduras president and coup leaders agree to talks
Manuel Zelaya and rival Roberto Micheletti accept mediation by Costa Rican president

Manuel Zelaya, who was toppled 10 days ago, and Roberto Micheletti, head of the interim government that replaced him, said on Tuesday they would accept mediation by Oscar Arias, the Costa Rican president who won a Nobel prize for helping to end regional conflicts in the 1980s.

The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, announced the initiative after meeting Zelaya in Washington, the Obama administration’s first centre-stage foray into the crisis

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/08/honduras-president-coup-leaders-talks

By Post Author

The speculation is in this sentence, “I don’t see a majority of the population standing up and shouting for changes to term limits.”

You’re implying something through anecdotal evidence

HusseinStWorm at 505

How silly of me. I was thinking I was only asserting an observation and hadn’t factored into things the implications that said observations could be interpreted as the supply of anecdotal evidence supporting speculation.

Back to nail gel.

🙁

By Post Author

Chris
Is this going to kick microsoft in the groin or what?

Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. Because we’re already talking to partners about the project, and we’ll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve.

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/introducing-google-chrome-os.html

I used it a couple of months ago. Went straight back to Firefox. Easier to use. I have used other Google stuff. Found it not very user friendly.

My sons girlfriend is on Thank God Your Here. Tonight 7:30 on 7.
She’s the one who has to teach highland dancing to someone.
Recorded about 2 months ago. Alicia is in Canada, leaving for England, where Scott and her will go on a 3 week Contiki tour around Europe. Then Alicia goes to the Edinburgh Tattoo for a month. Then back on the Television for that. I think that covers everything

501 Catrina Eight years is more realistic. Mind you, if they had hung George Bush after 4 years that would have been OK. 😈
I don’t think if he had tried to pass a referendum on extending his term.
1. It would not have passed.
2. The military would have not sent him out of the country.

Looking through a machine translation of article 375 of the constitution, my reading is that this precludes replacement of the constitution with a new constitution – in that it is saying that the constitution cannot loose it’s force through amendment (based on the defined procedures) OR my other means.

I ARTICULATE 375.- This Constitution does not lose her force neither to stops complying for act of force or when fuere supposedly abrogated or modified by any another middle and different procedure from the one that she same arranges. In these cases, every citizen invested or not of authority, has the duty to collaborate in the maintenance or re-establishment of its emotional force.

They will be courts, according to this same constitution and the laws sent off in conformity with her, the responsible for the facts indicated in the first part of the previous paragraph, the same thing that the main officials of the governments that be organized subsequently, if they have not contributed to re-establish immediately the empire of this Constitution and to the authorities constituted according to her. The Congress can decree with the vote of the simple majority of their members, the confiscation of all or splits of the goods of those same people and of who they have themselves enriched covered by the supplanting.

And finally, it would appear that an attempt to supplant the constitution can cost you the shirt of your back.

By Post Author

Hell Catrina. Where are all the politic 101’s spanish-speaking professors of constitutional law when you need them.
It just doesn’t seem possible, that a country’s constitution should have no legal means of amendment.
If that is indeed the case. Then it makes a mockery of the whole idea of democratic rule by the people of that country.

Egad! It’s almost as bad as starting an ashes series in Wales.

Letterman Takes On Palin Resignation: Something I Said? (VIDEO)

The Huffington Post
I don’t think she can recover from this. At least on the winning the President thing. Oh? Could she have ever? Well. George Bush.

paddy at 516

It just doesn’t seem possible, that a country’s constitution should have no legal means of amendment.
If that is indeed the case. Then it makes a mockery of the whole idea of democratic rule by the people of that country.

It’s not as bad as that – the constitution has a suite of mechanisms supporting amendments. It’s just that a few essentials are nailed down (and given the region’s history, one could be tempted to speculate that maybe that’s not such a bad idea).

🙂

By Post Author

508 gaffhook Sorry Gaffy. I thought it was referring to the Google web browser. Funny, last year I said to my son Scott, that’s what they would do. Scott being a computer programmer and in the know. Dismissed it out right. My theory, every time Google makes something for nothing and gives it away. Googles profits takes a big jump. It could work, although they need to work on the user friendly bit. Sounds good.

521
Thanks for the clarification Cat.
The whole situation re Honduras is so complex and confusing, it makes my brain hurt.
The articles I’ve read on various websites and news outlets, have generally tried to simplify the whole business, but it seems to defy any easy solution.
I just hope that saner heads can prevail and drag both sides back from the brink.

Paddy at 516: ““If that is indeed the case. Then it makes a mockery of the whole idea of democratic rule by the people of that country.”

Stuff the obsfucation….. I’m with you a hunnert pah cent on this one, paddy.
Realpolitik(ally), big picture-wise, and rule; of the people , by the people and for the people.

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/72765

During the Vietnam War years I proudly defied the Law of Australia when Oz pollies, abetted by our MSM, yet again sucked up to Uncle Sammy and made a blood sacrifice of conscripted Aussie youth. We fought the law and we won.

Fuck Caesar! We were not imperilled one iota and didn’t have to “fight them over there” at all.

And what did it all prove for the victims of ‘Nam??
Well…. nearly four million Vietnamese, 68,000 Seps, and 520 once young Australians won’t be participating in any discussions about it, that’s for sure.
And that’s not mentioning the physically and mentally maimed.

July 7:
http://news.yahoo.com/edcartoons/patoliphant;_ylt=AkwYkR.6MpXhvFMKMpZeYVsl6ysC

July 8: The banality of evil
http://news.yahoo.com/edcartoons/tonyauth;_ylt=Al693TyJ8RzR3.ml.ofVEFgl6ysC

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/72767

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/72768

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Go, Danny Froomkin, you little Bobby Dazzler!

“In yet another sign of how online media outlets are strengthening as their older establishment predecessors are struggling to survive, The Huffington Post has hired Dan Froomkin to be its Washington Bureau Chief and regular columnist/blogger. Froomkin will oversee a staff of four five reporters and an Assistant Editor, guide The Huffington Post’s Washington reporting, and write at least two posts per week to be featured on its main page and Politics page.”

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/07/07/froomkin/

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/72731

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http://www.truthdig.com/cartoon/item/20090708_winners/

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/72761

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/72771

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/72780

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/72754
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July 7:
http://news.yahoo.com/edcartoons/tomtoles;_ylt=AuCL201MRyTIdOKiPNVdZzs0vTYC

527
For God’s sake BO , whatever you do, don’t let possum see that graph!!!
It would have the furry one leaping out of his tree in excitment. :mrgreen:

528
😆
That’s a cracker of a map of “democracy”!!

During the Vietnam War years I proudly defied the Law of Australia

I’m beginning to think it’s time we manned the barricades again Ecky.

The bullshit that’s being pedalled around about Afghanistan and the gallant adventures of “the troops” is starting to *really* piss me off. 🙁
Cluster bombing weddings, parties and funerals is a *really* clever way to win hearts and minds. FFS The idiot prince has finally been fucked off from the land of the free. So it’s time to extract his legacy from the banks of the Oxus as well as the Euphrates.
I know that there’s lots of talk about “playing the long game”.
But I’m much more of a “cut and run” person myself.
Time for a glass of red and a game of cricket. 🙂

Yo, Bo-Bo! Luvly to see you again.
I’m no economic expert, but go along with Keen & Co, who reckon we’re not out of the woods yet because the bears ain’t done what they do when they occupy the woods in the first instance.

Looking forward to your informed comments as we soldier on through these economically closeted times dealing with the recession that dare not speak it’s name.

Been having a look over the fence lately. Hadn’t been there for ages but checked in when GrechGate exploded.

They did a really good job there dissecting and debating it for a few days. Was very interesting stuff…the kinda stuff that annoys guys like J Hartigan lol.

But the last couple days have been really funny.

A couple of Greenies have been throwing a few barbs the way of Labour, St Kevin and St Therese.

Hilarious stuff watching the LabourRight hack squads heads explode.

Delightful to see you to, Ecky. I have had a busy few months dealing with the GFC in my own modest way. Speaking of bears, I have to deal with the grizzlies every day. They long for lower prices, prefer to wait longer rather than buy sooner and let their doubts crowd out their hopes. It is exhausting being among them.

The green shoots? hmmm! Very delicate, tentative and cryptic shoots, I think….but there are still shoots just the same. The bears get tired too and want to feel the sun on their faces.

I’ll try to take a more prominent part in things here. You have all been dedicated bloggers, I can see.

Yes paddy (@ 529), possum would be ecstatic. That would be something to behold! The thing is, you can really see how rare it is for the system to fly so far out of orbit as it has done in this cycle. And you can see how dynamic – even disordered – the pathway can be, even though the system seems to be ultimately self-centering.

Jen
Hope you have been able to hold it together after yesterday.
Those occasions are always sad.
The Rude Pundit will give you a good lift for a while this morning though.

533
HH
My sentiments entirely.
They had reasonable debate and and some good insight into Grechgate as you say, but then Becca the Wrecker hit the fan and LOL, Better than a three Amigo ring circus.

521 “It’s just that a few essentials are nailed down”

Like I said earlier Cat, the Rule of Law can be used to enslave as much as to liberate. It all depends on who has the power to make the laws.

If certain ‘essentials’ are not decided by popular mandate, or where popular review is disallowed, then you don’t have a democracy at all.

Rather than make them run from democracy, the Honduran past should ensure the power is retained by the people to decide their own future and their own laws – even with all its inherent risk. We all know democracy is risky – it gave us Dubya, Howard and Blair – and also enabled us to be rid of them.

Or they could appoint Sarah Palin as President and be assured she won’t even see out 1 term.

Ah yes ticsters. The delicious Annabel C is at it again today. 🙂

The forbidden allure of Red Julia
Annabel Crabb
Something very strange is happening to Julia Gillard. After years of being hyped as the hard face of Australian socialism, she’s become something very, very surprising: a right-wing pin-up.

What is it about La Gillardine, the implacable, unflappable executioner of John Howard’s industrial legacy, that causes such pandemonium in the hearts of certain conservative males?

I noticed this the other day during the ABC’s Insiders program, when my fellow panellist Andrew Bolt, of Melbourne’s Herald Sun, interrupted his ordinarily reliable flagellation of the Australian Labor Party with some words of admiration for “DPM”, as the Prime Minister fondly knows her.

“Hello, hello, hello,” I thought. “What’s all this?”

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/the-forbidden-allure-of-red-julia-20090708-ddb2.html

HusseinStWorm at 500,

The concern was that being in control of the government tilts the balance in your favour to begin with – in other words, incumbents are more likely to win than not win. Thus, a charismatic incumbent willing to utilise all the legal forces of government could in effect become a dictator. Term limits prevent this from happening.

The historical parallels with Caesar are again interesting. The fear was that Caesar was going to become king, either actual or de facto, through popular acclaim. The fact that someone can be popularly elected a dictator does not alter the fact of the dictatorship. A nation that has grounded fears of dictatorship, such as one with a history of popular leaders becoming dictators, might wish to enshrine something in their constitution in an attempt to prevent that.

In the case of Caesar, the senators did not have the ability to challenge the legality of Caesar’s actions in the courts, and we know where their use of violence led to. Perhaps a legal option is a better one.

As to all players in the US being happy with the term limits, that is not the case. A number of senators have attempted to put forward the notion of amending it.

DG, I think is the telling point in your reply is this, “The concern was that being in control of the government tilts the balance in your favour to begin with”. You have to ask yourself who is controlling the government now and what do they stand to lose from a President with enough time and popular impetus to implement and bed down any real reform of the economy and society of Honduras. As I aluded to in my response at 500, I don’t think it’s Zelaya who is being the dictator in the Honduran scenario.

Roman history is for the bards. 🙂

HusseinStWorm,

But the problem here then is this: why did Zelaya provide his enemies with such an easy way to dispose of him? My thinking is that he went through this route because he thought that he had sufficient popular appeal to be able to override the law with impunity, the very definition of a dictator.

There may be other explanations, of course – he might have simply taken actions without thinking through their implications, or he might simply not be all that bright. Or something else.

As for Francis Collins, he might do okay. But I hope he keeps God out of the picture …

Why he went down that route is difficult to say. Perhaps he realised that if he was just a good boy and played by the rules then he would have achieved nothing anyway. Maybe he did what he did to expose the injustice of the situation and to apply pressure on the country from as many sources as possible to get the situation fixed.

I have to say that I think he could have done more as president than not as president. He handed his opponents a means by which to paint him as a breaker of the law; someone who ignored the constitution. That assists them reduce his appeal inside the country. And if he speaks out against the country, why, that just *proves* he’s the traitor that they make out. I think that arrogance – a feeling of untouchability – is a more likely explanation for his action.

Except Daivid, the coup can’t buy a friend at the moment and Zelaya has a reported half a million people turning up to the airport to welcome him back. Usually it’s the guy firing the bullets who knows he can’t win at the ballot box.

HusseinStWorm,

I am not sure what you are arguing against. I said that it is likely that Zelaya believed that he had sufficient popular support to break the law with impunity. 500,000 people turning out to support him indicates that he may have been right about the levels of support, but not about its ability to protect him.

Where did you get the figure of half-a-million, by the way? That would be a *huge* protest in a country with a population of only 7.5 million – bigger in percentage than the 1979 Iranian protests, which are considered to have been the biggest in the world. I’ve read of thousands of protestors, and 2,000 protestors near the palace, but not half a million.

Did you not say at 551 that Zelaya’s actions had given the Coup ammunition to assist them reducing his appeal and make him out a traitor? I was arguing that there has been no consequence to Zelaya in that regard over his actions.

I found a reported strike of 100,000 workers, but the numbers have not been independently verified. There have also been reports of ‘large’ protests in support of the new government. How large, it did not say.

HusseinStWorm at 55,

Ah. Well, I disagree. However, it is definitely difficult to tell – after all, we do not know his level of support prior to him taking these actions, and we do not know his level of support now. But giving your opponents a means by which to legitimise their actions is never a good idea. I would suggest that if there have been no negative consequences from that then it is through good fortune and not good planning.

I would argue that the coup did more to legitimise Zelaya than Zelaya’s actions did to legitimised the coup. The elites still run the country but hey always did anyway. Honduras is now looking like a new Zimbabwe in the eyes of the international community and for a country where foreign aid accounts for 65% of it’s GDP, that has to be a worry.

Perhaps. But I do not think that Zelaya will win this one. I think that it is pretty obvious that he did not expect to be kicked out of the country and that he did not expect to be blocked from returning to it. He had different plans, and while he may still yet be able to implement them, things have become trickier for him.

I don’t think he’s the only one who’s been surprised by the response to their actions, David. Rich people hate leftist Presidents because they’re bad for business, but so is living in a pariah state.

I think that right-wing coups – assuming for the sake of argument that this is one 😉 – always expect international reaction of this kind. They also count on it dying down within 12 months. And, given the history of the last 60 years, they are onto a pretty sure bet.

Yes David, I can remember fondly the international condemnation for all of those right wing coups of yore. Particularly during the cold war.

Okay, perhaps ‘rightwing coups’ was a poor example. But in general nations that perpetuate violence on their citizens have historically gotten away with it, despite international outrage, sanctions and stern warnings from serious diplomatic figures.

In fact, I find it hard to think of a nation that hasn’t gotten away with it. South Africa could be one example, but it took decades.

Hmmkay, now you’re getting too weird even for me. And that’s saying something. 😀

Now that I’ve got your speed, it’s a lot of fun watching you two exchange pleasantries 🙂

HSW @ 562: “Rich people hate leftist Presidents because they’re bad for business”

Broadbrush-wise, of course you’re right Hussey. But businessfolk can still do business in most politically left places, even Cuba,. It’s just that the fat cats can’t go the gouge as deeply which is unfortunately one of the consequences of countries/societies that place the accumulation of bucks, both mega and fast…… before fundamental human decency.

Corporations, even mild-mannered money-sucking merchants in socialist democracies in Europe for example, still manage to turn a buck there otherwise they’d have skedaddled yonks back.

And straight on the heels of Hartigan’s spray on Bloggers about honesty and integrity comes a tiny snippet of Roo the Poo diving more deeper in the poo and showing what a dill Hartigan is.
I really hate it when the poor bastards shit and fall back in it.

Today, the Guardian reveals details of the suppressed evidence, which may open the door to hundreds more legal actions by victims of News Group, the Murdoch company that publishes the News of the World and the Sun, as well as provoking police inquiries into reporters who were involved and the senior executives responsible for them. The evidence also poses difficult questions for:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jul/08/murdoch-papers-phone-hacking

Of course you’re right EC, but I was just trying to represent the situation as the wealthy Latin American elites would see it. One of my funniest memories of Pilger’s movie “War On Democracy” is a rich Venezuelan guy sitting in his mansion talking about how Chavez had turned the place into downtown Siberia.

D’accord Hussey, once the adoration of Moloch & Mammon has began these people sprout nictictating membranes which obscures all vision of victims as they lunge for their kill, like Great Whites do the moment before they hit a fat surface seal from below in vertically launched missile mode.
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July 9:
http://news.yahoo.com/edcartoons/tonyauth;_ylt=AiJkTt9bpzzhKG_nSTSVfrDmcLQF

July 8:
http://news.yahoo.com/edcartoons/patoliphant;_ylt=AuC35VH_CWCQcb9La9XbE0_V.i8C

http://news.yahoo.com/edcartoons/edstein;_ylt=AnJVBsSmJTNBWiRgJEjAoXYxvTYC
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July 8:
http://news.yahoo.com/edcartoons/bensargent;_ylt=AiYYyessQzcTxzHhK_pyGq_V.i8C

“But the minute I start to whine and cuss, the mainstream media totally misunderstands my verbiage and the combination of things that brought me to this place of knowing. And I know that I know that I know those crappy bloggers will put out more confliction stories.
I keep explaining what impacted me, but everyone seems more confused and ironic than ever. What is it about average, hard-working Americans like me that Americans can’t understand?”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/08/opinion/08dowd.html

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/72784

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/72786

Que?! Change
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/72791
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Woodward says: “On February 5, 2002, about 25 men representing three
different Special Forces units and three CIA paramilitary teams gathered
outside Gardez, Afghanistan, in the east, about 40 miles from the Pakistani
border.

“It was very cold, and they were bundled in camping or outdoor clothing. No
one was in uniform. Many had beards. The men stood or kneeled on this
desolate site in front of a helicopter. An American flag was standing in
the background. There was a pile of rocks arranged as a tombstone over a
buried piece of the demolished World Trade Centre. Someone snapped a
picture of them.

“One of the men read a prayer. Then he said, ‘We consecrate this spot as an
everlasting memorial to the brave Americans who died on September 11, so
that all who would seek to do her harm will know that America will not
stand by and watch terror prevail.

“‘We will export death and violence to the four corners of the earth in
defence of our great nation.'”

http://www.cpa.org.au/garchve03/1123review.html

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/72785

Add another twist – as most of you know President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica is leading a mediation process on the Honduran crisis – in fact the first day of a two day meeting is scheduled for later today at Arias’ home in San Jose (1700 GMT or 11:00 local time). However, Nicaragua doesn’t seem to be too keen in letting this happen.

TEGUCICALPA, HONDURAS – Nicaragua has denied the use of its airspace to interim Honduras leader Roberto Micheletti, who plans to travel to Costa Rica Thursday for dialogue with deposed President Manuel Zelaya, Honduran aviation authorities said.

It was yesterday or perhaps the day before that Venezuela terminated the supply of crude oil to Honduras.

By Post Author

This Caribbean caper has more twists than a Chubby Checker Convention, Cat.
Curiousier and curiouser.
Anyway, I reckon Brutusina’s people should make Team Ticster an offer; one that could, naturally, be refused without offence 🙂
Couched, as always, in a deep and overriding sense of humility….wonder how many other non-commercial blogsites have put in an effort like ours?
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Political Prisoners of Obama (my erstwhile hero):

*sobs, splutters, curses*

Show trials are exactly what the Obama administration is planning. In its own twisted way, the Bush approach was actually more honest and transparent: they made no secret of their belief that the President could imprison anyone he wanted without any process at all. That’s clearly the Obama view as well, but he’s creating an elaborate, multi-layered, and purely discretionary “justice system” that accomplishes exactly the same thing while creating the false appearance that there is due process being accorded. And for those who — to justify what Obama is doing — make the not unreasonable point that Bush left Obama with a difficult quandary at Guantanamo, how will that excuse apply when these new detention powers are applied not only to existing Guantanamo detainees but to future (i.e., not-yet-abducted) detainees as well?
Whatever else is true, even talking about imprisoning people based on accusations of which they have been exonerated is a truly grotesque perversion of everything that our justice system and Constitution are supposed to guarantee. That’s one of those propositions that ought to be too self-evident to need stating.

http://www.commondreams.org/print/44347

D’accord Hussey, once the adoration of Moloch & Mammon has began these people sprout nictitating membranes which obscures all vision of victims as they lunge for their kill, like Great Whites do the moment before they hit a fat surface seal from below in vertically launched missile mode.

Brilliant, EC. 🙂

577

One wonders also whether South Floridian papers like the Sun-Sentinel could use a few distractions too.

570 gaffhook I was just about to post an article on the same thing, when I checked first. Good one Gaffy.

This is a follow-up to my own question at 577 in the context of the events referenced at 574. Could one argue that the events in Honduras could be seen as potentially weakening ALBA (the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas) – and that what we are witnessing is the remaining ALBA members fighting for Zelaya?


Regional map of ALBA membership.

But this isn’t all that simple – after all, Honduras signed up to ALBA with Congressional approval back on the 9th October 2008. Even so, Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua have been whipping up a storm compared to the more restrained rhetoric coming out of the OAS.

ALBA Members
Venezuela: 14 December 2004
Cuba: 14 December 2004
Bolivia: 29 April 2006
Nicaragua: 23 February 2007
Dominica: 20 January 2008
Honduras: 9 October 2008
Antigua and Barbuda: 24 June 2009
Ecuador: 24 June 2009
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: 24 June 2009

By Post Author

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LI2mHRycJ4&feature=related

Grunt becomes growl,

Cuneiform becomes papyrus.

Drum accompanies smoke signal,

(Progression du son et lumiere,

formidable n’est-ce pas?)

Guttenburg, courier pigeon, semaphore,

Broadsheet, telegraph, radio, telly,

Intertube, blog, email, twitter.

Media evolve, they are the message says Marshall:

Yet our xenophobia and our failure to communicate remain.

“The global village predicted long ago by Marshall McLuhan is today’s reality. But in this tuned-in, online, cell-phone-accessible brave new world, are we hearing each other? And more important, are we giving each other enough information to make a smart decision?

Or is it all like the biblical Babel, a world that could collapse because we talk, we listen, but we don’t understand?”

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/movies/orl-db-moviereviews-searchresults,0,3279701,results.formprofile?turbine_cdb_lib__cdb_01_txt=Babel&Find+it%21=Submit+Query

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LaP6-QGQbQ&NR=1

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Yes, Catrina, seems the Nicaraguans have picked up on the gist of the Honduran coup d’etat. Dunno too much about events in Argentina, but Taskmistress Extraordinaire that you are, I’m confident the situation will be duly rectified in Ticsterdom. Going forward. 🙂
And I really like your maps, more please ma’am!

History : Geography :: Physiology : Anatomy

Makes political pathology easier to understand, imho.

Thanks very much, Hussey. Nothing is more satisfying than a stroke from one’s peers….. as opposed to Madame Lash whom, as sources close to her dungeon assert, really knows how to hurt a bloke :mrgreen:

I wonder if Turdy got weak knees and spilled his guts?

Under a cloud of secrecy, Karl Rove was deposed by John Conyer’s House Judiciary committee, a few weeks after Harriet Miers’ under-the-radar June 15th deposition.

Tuesday, Karl Rove faced John Conyers and the House Judiciary Committee behind closed doors. The NY Times reports he was interviewed. AP reports that he was deposed.

Politico reports “Roves deposition began at 10 a.m. and ended around 6:30 p.m, with several breaks, Conyers said.”

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Rove-Deposed-By-Conyers-Un-by-Rob-Kall-090708-893.html

This is a follow-up to my own question at 577 in the context of the events referenced at 574. Could one argue that the events in Honduras could be seen as potentially weakening ALBA (the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas) – and that what we are witnessing is the remaining ALBA members fighting for Zelaya?

According to this Op-ed piece Catrina this bloke seems to angle that way. It is being driven by those who probably do not want interference by ALBA.
Couple of videos though you may have already seen them.

In Honduras, Roberto has attempted the latest coup d’etat. He has the backing of the “best” people. The rich landowners, the US agricultural cartels, the Canadian mining companies and US big oil have backed Micheletti at each step. They have ousted democratically-elected President Manuel Zelaya and have forced him into exile. To discourage the people from resisting the coup, they have resorted to censorship, curfews, death threats and beatings. In the latest confrontations, the soldiers have fired into the crowds killing several.

They fear the citizens and the gradual ascension of human rights. Leaders in other South American leftist democracies see the coup as a backwards step to the former mean and repressive regimes. They are putting more pressure on the Micheletti leadership to withdraw from power. Economic sanctions include holds on World Bank loan money and US humanitarian aid. The three neighbors of Honduras have sealed the borders.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/1/Coup-D-Etats-are-a-Hondura-by-Jason-Paz-090708-887.html

The stunned Mullet fast becoming a herring in sauce.
Pinochio Palin troughing shit again by the looks.

Turns out the costs of the defending Pinochio Palin against those awful smear charges are costs that Alaska Government would have had to pay whether she was charged or not. The figures put up by Palin as a saving to Alaskins were figures worked out as the costs of the in house lawyers etc and the rest is bullshit again.
My guess is she is leaving The Dude and moving in with T/Rush

But Murrow, the spokesperson, acknowledged to our reporter, Amanda Erickson, that this total was arrived at by adding up attorney hours spent on fending off complaints — based on the fixed salaries of lawyers in the governor’s office and the Department of Law. The money would have gone to the lawyers no matter what they were doing. The complaints are “just distracting them from other duties,” Murrow said.

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/republican-party/key-reason-palin-gave-for-quitting-appears-to-be-false/

Oscar Arias
Fuel for a Coup
The Perils of Latin America’s Oversized Militaries
By Oscar Arias

Latin America is enveloped in a climate of uncertainty and turmoil that I had hoped our region would never experience again. The recent coup d’état in Honduras, which has embroiled that country in a constitutional crisis, has provided a sad reminder that despite the progress our region has made, the errors of our past are still all too close. I have been asked by the leaders of our region to serve as the mediator in this crisis. Once again, we must trust that dialogue — so often scorned as too slow or too simple — is the only path to peace and the light that can guide us through these dark hours.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/08/AR2009070803551.html

By Post Author

Catrina
She has also added a new dimension to the definition of “Meme”
according to this Alaskan blogger.

meme. n. A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. [Ref #1]

New dimension:
an idea that is fed by a less than truthful politician to a lazy mainstream media, which is uncritically transmitted to the public when the true facts are readily available & have even been reported on already — sometimes even by the same media source as the one now passing on the prevaricating politician’s false information.

http://www.henkimaa.com/2009/07/07/the-2-million-dollar-meme/

Hu’s on first base?

No home run anytime soon.

Brewing crisis with our new big pal China?

You betcha.

Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo, reporting from the Costa Rican capital San Jose, said Micheletti was returning to Honduras, leaving some advisers in San Jose to continue the talks.

… while the NYT is reporting that both presidential contenders left early.

SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica — Prospects for a quick resolution of the political crisis in Honduras were thrown into doubt Thursday, as the two men claiming their nation’s presidency left negotiations only hours after they had begun and showed no signs of budging from the positions that have divided the country.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/10/world/americas/10honduras.html?ref=americas

By Post Author

Video footage of civil unrest in Iran reportedly from yesterday (but unconfirmed).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2adQe1CBmSc&feature=player_embedded

In related news the New York Times is reporting that Iran Protesters Take to Streets Despite Threats

CAIRO — Thousands of Iranians poured into the streets of Tehran on Thursday, clapping, chanting, almost mocking the authorities as they once again turned out in large numbers in defiance of the government’s threat to crush their protests with violence.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/10/world/middleeast/10iran.html

By Post Author

Electoral-vote.com: Palin Revisited

There has been a ton written about Sarah Palin’s resignation in the past few days. The dominant view (Charlie Cook being an exception) is that she is scheming to run in 2012 but her unorthodox move will backfire against her. With a bit of reflection, there is perhaps another story line. The main thing to consider is that she really disliked being governor. She refused to live in the governor’s mansion in Juneau and instead lived at home in Wasilla, a suburb of Anchorage 600 miles from the capital. She had endless fights with the Republican-controlled state legislature and has been the subject of over 15 ethics probes and has spent over $500,000 of her own money (which she doesn’t have) on lawyers defending herself. The bottom line is that she really hated the job so once she had decided not to run for relection in 2010, why stay at a job that is no fun at all?

Palin is also an impulsive person. She makes decisions on the spur of the moment without carefully weighing the pros and cons. Unlike Mitt Romney, who probably has an Excel spreadsheet with a row for every day from now until the Iowa caucuses in January 2012 listing precisely which Iowa villages, hamlets, and farms he is planning to visit that day and what he is going to say there, Palin is probably now focused on making a lot of money in the next 18 months so she can at least afford running in 2012, if she decides to do so. After all, in 2011 she probably won’t have an income and it is hard to run for President and charge for your campaign speeches. She needs to make a few million this year and next even to seriously consider running. An upcoming book and paid speeches will fill the bill nicely.

Her resignation speech was rambling to the point of being incoherent. It is very unlikely she has a master plan at all. She just didn’t like the situation she was in and wanted to get out of it and who knows what comes next.

Hu? What? Oh, that detainee…

As Jon Faine drily noticed this morning on ABC radio when Julie Bishop gave a ‘Rambo’ style spray, dunning the government for not dropping a snatch squad into Beijing, “four people in a row have emailed to ask why you did nothing about David Hicks.”

(Rundle, Crikey)

…oh, they would ask that, wouldn’t they?

I thought, as I watched Malcolm urging Kev to go the Foo Manchu is was a tad inconsistent for a party that never lifted a finger for citizens who’d been rendered under Caesar’s imperial dictate.

Well ticsters….Tomorrow is a special day.
Gough Whitlam will celebrate his 93rd birthday on Saturday 11 july Happy birthday you lovely old bastard. :mrgreen:
And thanks for all the fish……and Medicare……and free universities…..and a host of other things that made me proud to be an Australian leftie.
So (raising a nice glass of cab-sav) here’s looking at you kid.
May you and Margaret have a great day.

Meanwhile, some people seem determined to downplay just what a breath of fresh air you brought to the body politic.
But I’m not one of them. 😆
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/whitlam-to-mark-birthday-with-family-20090710-dfr5.html

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