We've become a nation of blue and red states under President Obama

(My new American Thinker post)

We all remember candidate Obama's speeches and promises to unite the nation:

"As he climbed the political heap, a young Barack Obama roused audiences with promises to unite the nation. He was a Senate candidate in 2004 when he told the Democratic national convention, "There is not a liberal America and a conservative America. There is a United States of America."   
In 2007, he declared early in his presidential run that "I don't want to pit red America against blue America. I want to be the president of the United States of America."  
A year later, after he won the Iowa caucus, he promised, "We are not a collection of red states and blue states. We are the United States of America."  And on the November night in 2008 when he was elected president, he insisted his victory proved "we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states. We are, and always will be, the United States of America."  (Goodwin)

In reality, we are the United States of America but we are not very united.

There are two reasons, in my opinion.

The first one is that President Obama has been a very divisive political figure.   We recall President Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagan, et al, sitting down with the other side to find some common ground.  Instead, President Obama said "we won"!

The second reason for the polarization is the political reality in the states, as Dan Balz explained over the weekend:

"Republican states have pursued economic and fiscal strategies built around lower taxes, deeper spending cuts and less regulation. They have declined to set up state health-insurance exchanges to implement President Obama's Affordable Care Act. They have clashed with labor unions. On social issues, they have moved to restrict abortion rights or to enact voter-identification laws, in the name of ballot integrity, that critics say hamper access to voting for the poor and minorities. 
Blue states have also been forced to cut spending, given the budgetary pressures caused by the recession. But rather than cutting more deeply, a number of them also have raised taxes to pay for education or infrastructure. They have backed the president on the main elements of his health-care law. The social-issue agenda in blue states includes legalizing same-sex marriages, providing easier access to voting and, in a handful of cases, imposing more restrictions on guns."

My guess is that the divisions will continue.  However, people will have the last political word.  They will move to red or blue states and increase the electoral vote of that state in presidential elections. So far, the reds seem to be winning that movement

Last, but not least, there is nothing wrong with states going in different directions.  It creates laboratories for ideas, something I'd wish we had done  with healthcare. 

P. S. You can hear CANTO TALK here & follow me on Twitter @ scantojr.

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Mexico leads the way with PEMEX reforms in 2013

(My new American Thinker post)

The big "happy story" of Latin America is Mexico, and its PEMEX reforms.

As Andres Oppenheimmer reports, "El pacto de Mexico" will not be easy because the left will do everything possible to make life miserable for the reformers.  The good news is that the left in Mexico is loud but it does not win national elections. 

Nevertheless, Mexico has demonstrated that reform can happen, especially when you have a leader who wants to lead.   

This is a list of "reforms" in Mexico, again from the aforementioned Mr Oppenheimer via Fausta's Blog:    

Education reform:  Mexico's political parties passed a law in September that will break the country's once almighty teachers unions' control over the education system and will allow for the first time the hiring, promotion and even firing of new teachers based on standardized tests and periodic evaluations. Until now, Mexico had thousands of teachers who couldn't be fired even if they failed to show up in class.    

Political reform: Mexico's Congress agreed to change electoral rules to allow future members of Congress to be re-elected and to reserve half of congressional seats for female candidates. Re-election of legislators had been a long-sought demand by citizens' groups, which complained that, without re-election, Mexican legislators were not accountable to their constituents, but rather to their parties' bosses.   

Fiscal reform: The Mexican Congress, with major backing from the left-of-center Party for the Democratic Revolution, passed a fiscal law that will raise taxes on the wealthiest and impose a new tax on soft drinks and stock market gains.    

Labor reform: In the biggest labor law shakeup in four decades, Mexico's Congress passed a law aimed at making it easier for employers to hire and fire workers. The new law's intent is to drive millions of people out of the underground economy. 

Telecommunications reform: Under the new law, two new regulating agencies will try to bring about more competition in the telecommunications industry, which has been dominated by companies owned by billionaire Carlos Slim.   

Energy reform: By far the most covered by foreign media, Mexico's new energy reform will change the Constitution to allow private firms to work with the giant state-owned Pemex oil company in the exploration and drilling of new fields. The constitutional overhaul is expected to bring billions of dollars in foreign investments over the next decade.   

"Mexico has proved capable of doing the politically impossible," Mexican Congressman David Penchyna, who heads the congressional Energy Committee, wrote in the daily newspaper Reforma this week. "We have opened a new page in history."   

My opinion: It is too early to tell whether Mexico's 2013 reforms will indeed turn the country into the new star of the emerging world. Much of it will depend on whether Peña Nieto is able to keep the new laws from being watered down by special interests in the implementation process.  But Mexico has given the Americas a lesson in civility, which many countries in the hemisphere would do well to emulate.   

Wouldn't it be great to see a Pact for Argentina, a Pact for Venezuela and a Pact for the United States 2014?   It seemed impossible in Mexico, and yet it happened."    

Again, the left will make life miserable with marches and lots of screaming.  They will say that President Pena-Nieto has "sold out" to the foreigners at the expense of Mexican sovereignty.     

Thankfully, most Mexicans, and specially the middle class, understand that PEMEX had to be reformed.   

Thumbs up to President Pena-Nieto for leading the way.    

P. S. You can hear CANTO TALK here & follow me on Twitter @ scantojr.

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“Duck Dynasty”: El dinero habla y “Abuelo Duck” ganó! (Money talks and Granpa Duck won)

(My new American Thinker post)   

It took less than 2 weeks for A&E to crack:    

"The A&E channel said it’s reversing its decision to drop “Duck Dynasty” patriarch Phil Robertson from the show for his remarks about gays.    
In a statement Friday, A&E said it decided to bring Robertson back after discussions with the Robertson family and “numerous advocacy groups.”  
The channel had put Robertson on what it called “hiatus” following his comments in a magazine article about how the Bible informs his view of gays.   
His comments were slammed by groups including GLAAD, the gay media watch organization. But A&E’s decision drew a backlash from those who said they supported Robertson’s comments and others who defended him on the basis of freedom of speech."

A&E has been running show marathons for the last week, or a very funny way of showing their displeasure with Granpa Phil!

Can we now get serious and talk about real problems?      

Like violence in Venezuela?    

"The Venezuelan Violence Observatory estimates that 24,763 killings occurred this year, pushing up the homicide rate to 79 per 100,000 inhabitants. It was 73 per 100,000 people in 2012. In 1998, the rate was 19."     

The latest Obama Care problems?   

"Some patients who think they have insurance may not get insurance cards on time, and they're afraid they might fall through the cracks. "

Frankly, I thought that this whole "Duck" story was an intentional distraction from the Obama Care mess and growing disillusionment with President Obama.

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Venezuela and "la violencia"

(My new American Thinker post)

We've read about the "Cubanization of Venezuela," such as shortages, repression and censorship of the free press.   

My friend Daniel Duquenal, who writes a blog from Venezuela, reports that "....the "official" inflation rate is above 50%, and probably around 80% in real life."  

Fausta's Blog is now calling Venezuela the next Zimbabwe!  

Add to that the country is violent - very violent.

Let's look today at the crime wave in Caracas and the country:

"A non-governmental group that tracks violent crime in Venezuela says the country's homicide rate has risen again in 2013 and has quadrupled over the past 15 years.
The Venezuelan Violence Observatory estimates that 24,763 killings occurred this year, pushing up the homicide rate to 79 per 100,000 inhabitants. It was 73 per 100,000 people in 2012. In 1998, the rate was 19.
Venezuela's government has gradually blocked access to murder statistics as violent crime has worsened the past decade. The report published Thursday was compiled by researchers based on press reports, victim surveys and comments by officials.
Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres said last week that the homicide rate has fallen this year from 50 to 39 per 100,000 inhabitants. But he declined to provide details."

Wonder why he "declined" to provide details?

Sad to say but Venezuela is falling apart.  

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Question of the year: Is anyone really insured?

(My new American Thinker post)

Like most of you, I've bought insurance policies over the years. My understanding is that you are covered after you fill out an application and pass some kind of underwriting. 

Most importantly, your application does not go to underwriting until you present the agent or company with a payment, usually the first month's premium.

We heard that many people went to the AHCA website over the last few days but some people are still in the dark, or don't know whether they have coverage or not according to CBS:

"The last minute spike in enrollments now puts pressure on insurance companies to process hundreds of thousands of new customers in a very short time. 
Karen Defnall, who runs a daycare in central Virginia, said she thought she enrolled last week, but has no confirmation from the insurance plan. She said she's now concerned she won't have proof of insurance when her coverage is supposed to begin next week.
"What if a need comes up? What if January 2, I have an injury and I have to go to the hospital? They're going to ask for insurance verification, and I don't have anything to give them," she told CBS News.
"Will I be denied coverage? Will I be denied access?"
The surge of late signups is good for those patients who finally have insurance, but it is likely that the first few weeks of Obamacare will be confusing.
Some patients who think they have insurance may not get insurance cards on time, and they're afraid they might fall through the cracks. 

This is incredibly irresponsible.  How do you expose people to that kind of uncertainty? 

Add to this is that the NY Post reports that more fees and costs are coming in 2014!  

More "unaffordability" for the Affordable Health Care Act?

Wonder what kind of investigation would follow if a private insurance company that did this to applicants? 

My guess is that there'd be bunch of state AG's and Insurance Commissioners chasing down the executives for an explanation!

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Freezing and listening to Larry Lujack on WLS-Chicago

(My new American Thinker post)

My sons don't believe that I walked home from school listening to a little transistor radio.   

"What's a transistor radio, dad"?  It's sort of like an I-Pod but the music did not sound that good but I didn't know any better. 

Yes, I did walk home and I was listening to Larry Lujack out of WLS in Chicago.  It came in very clearly on 890 AM.  My little transistor was always ready for Larry when I left school!

I learned that Larry Lujack passed away over the holidays;

"First at WCFL-AM and later at WLS-AM, a clear-channel station that could be heard far beyond Chicago, Mr. Lujack -- known on the air as Uncle Lar' or Superjock -- spent 20 years spinning records and spouting opinions.  

Frequent targets of his opprobrium included the very albums he was playing, the very stations he was working for and various rival D.J.s. (Mr. Lujack once stormed a competitor's show and threatened, on the air, to ram the man's head through a wall.)   

He became famous for regular features including "Klunk Letter of the Day" and "Cheap and Trashy Showbiz Report." His best-known feature, done in collaboration with his longtime on-air partner Tommy Edwards ("Li'l Snot-Nose Tommy," Mr. Lujack fondly called him), was "Animal Stories."   "

Yes, it was the "Klunk letters" that had me holding the little transistor next to my frozen ear. 

My other favorite memory was the weekly WLS Top 30 countdown. 

I recall one day that Larry introduced The Beatles' "Lady Madonna" and wondered if Ringo was really doing the lead vocals. I screamed at the radio saying:  "No Larry, it's Paul sounding like Fats Domino".

I guess that "those were the days," another song that Larry introduced me too!

RIP Larry Lujack.  You had one Cuban kid growing up in Wisconsin listening to you every chance I got!   

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A&E has a funny way of showing their displeasure with Grandpa Phil

(My new American Thinker post)

Maybe I'm cynical but is this "Grandpa Phil" controversy part of a plot to introduce millions to the "Ducks"?

This is what A&E is doing for Christmas:

"A&E may have given "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson the heave-ho when they suspended him from future episodes of the show last week, but the network is still welcoming him home for holidays.  

The channel is celebrating Christmas with a staggering 25 consecutive episodes of their No. 1 show, beginning at 3:30 p.m. on Christmas Day and running until the wee hours of Dec. 26.   

According to the schedule on A&E's website, the Robertsons will take over the channel until 4 a.m., and then paid programming -meaning infomercials-will kick in."

That's a lot of "duck" for a network that finds Grandpa Phil's remarks so difficult. Are they planning to delete "Grandpa" from their show this weekend?

We hear that A&E took this "principled" decision because their "gay" staff was offended by the remarks. 

So they give us "Duck 24/7"? I guess that the "gays" at A&E have learned that "profit" means a lot more to their employer than shielding them from Louisiana "duck wood values"!

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'Duck Dynasty' has a new fan

(My new American Thinker post)

A&E ran a bunch of "A Duck Dynasty" shows on Sunday.  I finally sat down and watched a couple of them.


First, it is hilarious. You got these "ZZ Top bearded guys" with beautiful wives, a successful business and a wonderful sense of humor. Uncle Si is the greatest "TV uncle" since Uncle Charlie in "My 3 sons"!  That fellow SI is a superstar!    

Second, Grandpa Phil, the man in the middle of the controversy, looks like the kind of guy that you want to go hunting with.   His wife, Miss Kay, is exactly the kind of woman you want cooking your next holiday meal.  She loves dogs and spoils her grandchildren.   

Third, the brothers, or the guys who run the business, are funny and treat their employees very well.   Wonder how many people watching this show wished that they had a boss like "brother CEO"? 

Fourth, I saw the Christmas play episode.  We enjoyed the family putting a Nativity play at church and treating their friends to food and gifts.  

There are a lot of people like the Robertsons in the south, probably everywhere else too.  They are good family people who contribute a lot to the nation, from creating jobs to keeping our traditions intact.   

Yes, Grandpa Phil could have expressed himself a bit different.  However, I can see why so many people love this show:  Can you believe that the show attracts 13 million viewers a week?  A&E viewership is up 10%!  Top 3 shows on TV!   

Suddenly, "clinging to your guns and religion" is a smash on TV!  Frankly, it's amazing that it took the TV networks so long to figure out that there is a huge audience out there for this kind of stuff.  

The left is not helping itself by mocking men and women like The Robertsons.  They connect with a lot of people!   

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The 'Duck' is all about the left being bored with Obama

(My new American Thinker post)

Why is the left picking a fight?  The answer is that they are ready to come "Undone" as the Guess Who used to say.    

Let's look at this partial list of disappointments:

1) GITMO is still open and it won't close anytime soon;

2) The NSA program has really shaken up liberals;

3) The "still in place Bush anti-terror policies" that they hated so much at "the yes we can" rally;

4) Income inequality at a high level in the 5th year of "hope and change" (Income Inequality Worse Under Obama Than George W. Bush);

5) Black unemployment is very bad under our first black president;

6) The Iran deal under attack by Senate Democrats;

7) Global warming not so warm; and,

8) The Obama Care "roll out" has raised serious concerns about competence and the future of liberalism.   One more change was made this week.  You can make a good case that the law is falling apart.

My point is that you will see a very aggressive left on same sex marriage, abortion, Voter ID cards, and the issues that create excitement with the base. They need something to grab and "get pumped up about."  It already started with Charles Blow bringing racism into it. 

The good news is that these issues will get people excited at the rally. The bad news is this base is way to the left of the country.

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The Rangers really good with Shin Soo Choo!

The Rangers' great off season continues with the addition of Shin-Soo Choo, a guy with a .389 lifetime OBP over 853 MLB games. 

In other words, this guy is on base almost 40% of the time.   How do you think that Prince Fielder feels about coming to Texas?  or Elvis Andrus who will now hit behind this OBP machine.

I agree with Richard Justice that Texas is very improved and a favorite to win the AL pennant again:

"There's a case to be made for at least 15 clubs being good enough to win the World Series in 2014. With the talent level spread so evenly among the top teams, it's getting more and more difficult to identify a true favorite.

Still, no team is better positioned to get to the World Series than the Rangers. If they're not at the top of the American League power rankings after adding two impact hitters -- Prince Fielder and Shin-Soo Choo -- they're close.

Best of all, they did this without touching the core of one of baseball's best pitching staffs. So almost two months after a 2013 season ended badly, Rangers general manager Jon Daniels has his fans rightfully awash in optimism and expectations.

This offseason began with the Rangers missing the playoffs for the first time in four years. They were the first team in eight years to win 91 games and miss the playoffs, but that was small consolation for their fans."

What happens with Mitch Moreland, the first baseman, and Michael Choice, the young outfielder.  Where do they fit in this new plan?  I think that Moreland will play first behind Fielder and start a few games in the outfield.  Choice is a very promising player so I expect him to play a little outfield too.

This is a very good team that the Rangers will put on the field in 2014.      

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5,000 reasons not to shake Raul Castro's hand

(My new American Thinker post)

The Obama-Castro handshake happened last week and we saw examples of hardcore repression on the island.

Our friends at Babalu brought this terrible fact to our attention:  Political arrests in Cuba surpassed 5,000 for 2013

Just yesterday, the Castro regime arrested another 30 ladies of "The Ladies of White" movement, a group of women who march on Sundays after mass calling for reforms and often freedom for their husbands in political prisons.

To our knowledge, Raul Castro did not return to Cuba and make any statement about the handshake with President Obama.  More importantly, there are no signs that "the handshake" will have any impact on political reforms in the island.

More of the same, handshake or no handshake.

We should add that "the handshake" did have a profound impact on Tom Hayden, the 1960s activist. He wrote this about what is happening in the island:   

"The Cubans are moving toward market socialism, with a strong state protecting its widely admired health care, education and social programs. "

We are not sure what "market socialism" is.  Maybe it's that economic system that my professor discussed that one day that I skipped Econ.  

I would remind Mr Hayden that no one has ever held a referendum in Cuba asking the Cuban people if they really want "a strong state" protecting their social programs. 

We hear this often from leftists like Mr Hayden or Mr Moore's film who don't live in Cuba and get their medical care somewhere else.    

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Leave 'The Duck' alone

(My new American Thinker post)

In the interest of full disclosure, I do not watch "The Duck Dynasty" show. I have never seen an episode and couldn't tell you a thing about these bearded guys and their ladies. In fact, I always thought that it was a show about an Alaska family because those long beards must be "hot as you know what" in the Louisiana humidity.

I am not a fan or follower of the show However, I am a big fan of The First Amendment and common sense.

"The Duck Dynasty" has touched a nerve in the country.  It's kind of a 2013 version of "The Waltons" from the 1970s. We used to watch "The Waltons" and see one of our own family members on that series. 

The show emphasizes family and sitting down for dinner. These are values that play very well in the country, especially all of those red counties between New York City and San Francisco.

I agree with Senator Cruz:   

"The reason that so many Americans love Duck Dynasty is because it represents the America usually ignored or mocked by liberal elites: a family that loves and cares for each other, believes in God, and speaks openly about their faith."


Have we reached the point where people can not express themselves? "Grandpa Duck" (or I believe his name is Mr. Robertson) was talking about homosexuality in the context of the bible. Frankly, thousands of people do that every Wednesday night across the country. Are all of these people bigots? 

No one is forcing anyone to watch this show anymore than I have to watch MSNBC or something else.

We have choices and the freedom to choose.  We all have this little clicker thing that switches channels.  I'd wish that more people would use it and stop lecturing the rest of us about what is wrong with what we watch or believe.

Last, but not least, let's not overlook what is happening on the left. They are watching with horror how ObamaCare may be destroying liberalism or how little has been done to change the Bush anti-terror policies that they all criticized so much at "the yes we can" rally.

They see disillusionment in the ranks, from young people tuning out ObamaCare to growing income inequality after 5 years of "hope ahd change".

The "Duck" feud may be the first of many more to come. The left needs something to get excited about because Obama is boring them to tears.    

P. S. You can hear CANTO TALK here & follow me on Twitter @ scantojr.

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Dear Mr Hayden: My “octogenarian Cuban mother” wants to give you a “bofetada”

(My new Babalu post)

It's easy to get angry and throw Tom Hayden's column in the trash and move on to happier thoughts in this season of "Navidad".

After all, Mr Hayden has very little influence. He's been irrelevant since Chicago 1968, or when he was running with other misguided fools waving Viet Cong flags!

We also remember Tom and Jane Fonda in North Vietnam in 1972!  This is the picture that Jane Fonda apologized for later, specially when she was selling her "work out" videos.  Jane was forced to apologize because a lot of ladies with military connections found her aforementioned 1972 performance in Hanoi just a bit too much to take.

We also remind you that Mr Hayden has been involved with most left wing movements over the years.

However, I had to respond to Mr Hayden's column because the men and women executed in Castro's political prisons deserve it. Their families in Miami elsewhere must know that they didn't die in vain. The Cubans sitting in Castro's prisons have to know that we are willing to fight for them.

Like a few others, Tom Hayden has been overwhelmed by the Castro-Obama handshake. He explains it in glowing terms. He sees it as a historically transforming moment, such as the day that man landed on the moon or Columbus discovered the New World, or something like that!

Let's just say that Mr Hayden was really impressed!   

This is a bit of what Tom Hayden is writing these days about US-Cuba policies and those "....octogenarian Cuban immigrants from the Bay of Pigs generation" opposing any changes toward the island's regime:

"The Cubans are moving toward market socialism, with a strong state protecting its widely admired health care, education and social programs."
"When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, devastating Cuba’s economy, it was widely predicted that a popular anti-Castro revolution would quickly follow, as happened in Eastern Europe. But that was almost 25 years ago, and it never happened — not because Cuba is a perfect police state but because the Cuban people deeply prefer a peaceful transition to a future they themselves choose. Vain attempts to return to the past, or plunge into civil war, are not real alternatives compared with gradual evolution. "
"Cuba should release the American contractor Alan Gross, who sits in prison after taking prohibited advanced communications equipment into Cuba on multiple occasions. The United States should release four imprisoned members of the so-called Cuban Five back to Cuba. The men were convicted in Miami of conspiracy to commit espionage and other charges after the Cuban air force shot down two planes carrying anti-Castro Cuban exiles."

There is a lot more to this column but let's try these for now:

First, Cuba is not moving toward any kind of "market socialism". It is a failed state desperately looking for someone to bail them out. Mr Hayden should talk to the people who escape the system constantly or the countries that the Castro regime owes money to!

Second, the only ones who admire Cuba's health care system are the people, like Mr Hayden, who get their care somewhere else.

Third, the Cuban people have not chosen anything, unless Mr Hayden is familiar with some multi-party election that I missed since the Soviet flag come down in 1991.

Last, but not least, comparing the case of Mr Gross and "the Cuban 5" just confirms that Mr Hayden is totally out of touch with reality.  How can Mr Hayden compare the two cases?  Wondering if he understands that Mr Gross never got a fair trial and "The Cuban 5" did?

I'll be happy to debate Mr Hayden anytime he wants.  Just contact me and we will go one and one on this topic.

I'll even introduce Mr Hayden to my "octogenarian Cuban" mother who will probably yell at him for knowing so little about Cuba!

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“La agencia Los Hermanos Castro” has a big car sale in the island!

(My Babalu post)  

The Castro dictatorship has just announced "la ultima reforma":

"The Communist Party newspaper, Granma, said the Council of Ministers approved new regulations on Wednesday that "eliminate existing mechanisms of approval for the purchase of motor vehicles from the state."As a result, Granma said, "the retail sale of new and used motorcycles, cars, vans, small trucks and mini buses for Cubans and foreign residents, companies and diplomats is freed up."The Cuban state maintains a monopoly on the retail sale of cars."

So la "nueva reforma" means that the rules have been relaxed but you still have to buy your car from "La Agencia de los Hermanos Castro"?

I guess that every "reforma" always has a connection to the pockets of the Castro brothers.

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More bad news from Venezuela (and some good news from Ciudad Juarez)

(My new American Thinker post)

Venezuela and Ciudad Juarez, on the other side of El Paso, Texas, have been in the news for several years.   Ciudad Juarez was "ground zero" for the Mexican cartel war.  Venezuela is slowly falling apart, a perfect storm of bad management and a determined effort to undermine democracy.

We actually got some "good news" from Ciudad Juarez, as reported by The New York Times;

"With violence down to a quarter of its peak, Ciudad Juárez, a perennial symbol of drug war devastation, is experiencing what many here describe as a boom.   

New restaurants pop up weekly, a few with a hipster groove. Schools and homes in some neighborhoods are gradually filling again, while new nightclubs throb on weekends with wall-to-wall teenagers and 20-somethings who insist on reclaiming the freedom to work and play without being consumed by worry.  

"It's a different city," said Mr. Lujana, 31, who moved back a few months ago.

"The drug dealers have receded; it's not cool anymore to be a narco."  

Frankly, that is wonderful news.  I know people who left Ciudad Juarez because of the violence.   It's been hell down there for quite some time.  I am happy that things are turning around. 

Venezuela is another story.

We've heard these allegations for some time.  Could Venezeula's leadership be involved in drug trafficking?    Fausta Wertz brought this Spanish story to our attention:  

""This news confirms what many already knew about the significant and growing presence of drug trafficking in Venezuela and its important relations with the top echelon in the government and the Armed Forces," former Venezuelan ambassador to Sweden and Guyana, Sadio Garavini commented.

"Venezuela has become a center of command and control of international drug trafficking since the expulsion of the DEA (U.S. anti-drug agency) of the country and the indefinite suspension of the effective partnership with former United States cooperation in the fight against drugs."

Again, I am not surprised to read this.  It simply points out how dangerous it would be for a communist dictatorship to take over in Venezuela.  At the moment, dissent is under attack and there is little independent reporting of the regime's activities in drug traffic.

P. S. You can hear my discussion of this with Fausta Wertz & Daniel Duquenal here : 

on Twitter @ scantojr.

Check Out Politics Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Silvio Canto Jr on BlogTalkRadio

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Babalu: Barbara & her false Messiah (“Barbara y su falso mesías”)

(My new Babalu post)

Barbara Walters admitted the obvious, i.e. too many people got caught up in Obama the Messiah:

"Barbara Walters said the difficulties engulfing President Barack Obama are a reflection of the let-down people are feeling from the high expectations they had during his earliest days in office when she and others thought he was going to be "the next messiah."

The 81-year-old broadcast journalist made the remarks during an interview on CNN's "Piers Morgan Live" on Tuesday, after Morgan asked her why Obama is facing so much opposition and why "he is struggling so much to really fulfill the great flame of ambition and excitement that he was elected on originally in 2009?""

Really Miss Waters? It took 5 years to figure this out.

It took Miss Walters 5 years to figure out that a guy who had never managed anything might run into a few problems trying to run the federal government.   Obama had no executive experience, only 2 years in the US Senate, no significant accomplishments in the Illinois Senate and so on.    Obama was totally unprepared for this job.

Wonder what other liberal is going to come out and admit that he or she fell for the false Messiah?

My guess is that more will "come out of the closet", specially after they learn that The Affordable Health Care Act is not affordable at all.

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