COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Saturday, September 27, 2008

"The world is fast developing geopolitically."

"The world is fast developing geopolitically." Hugo Chavez.

Russia offers Chavez nuclear help amid US tensions
Sep 26 02:05 AM US/Eastern
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was to meet Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on Friday after Russia risked Washington's wrath by offering the fierce US foe help developing nuclear energy.

The two were to meet in the city of Orenburg after hawkish Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told Chavez in Moscow on Thursday that Russia was "ready to consider the possibility of cooperation in nuclear energy."

The countries have boosted ties in recent weeks following sharp US criticism of Russia's incursion into Georgia, with Moscow dispatching long-range bombers and warships to Venezuela for exercises near US waters.

Putin made the nuclear offer after Russia this week delayed talks with the United States and other powers on fears Iran is developing nuclear weapons, concerns critics say have been exacerbated by civilian nuclear technology provided by Moscow.

Chavez called for increased ties with Russia as a counter-balance to US power.

"Today like never before all that you said on the multi-polar world becomes reality. Let us not lose time," Chavez told Putin. "The world is fast developing geopolitically."

In deployments not seen since the Cold War, Russia this month sent two long-range bombers to Venezuela for exercises and has dispatched a flotilla of warships from the Arctic base of Severomorsk to Venezuela, near US waters.

Putin thanked Chavez for the "warm welcome" given to the planes and said South America was growing in importance for Moscow.

"Latin America has become an important chain-link in creating a multipolar world, and we will pay more attention to this vector," he said.

Russia's relations with the United States are in a deep chill, most recently over the brief war in Georgia last month -- a conflict where Chavez was one of the few world leaders to support Moscow.

During that war, Washington angered Moscow by holding naval exercises near its Black Sea coast. And when the war ended, the United States used warships to deliver humanitarian aid to Georgia.

Chavez and Medvedev were expected to touch on military and energy cooperation in Friday's talks, a Kremlin official said.

The Kremlin on Thursday announced that Russia had granted Venezuela a one-billion-dollar (682-million-euro) loan to buy Russian arms.

Venezuela has signed deals for 4.4 billion dollars' worth of Russian arms since 2005, including fighter jets, tanks and assault rifles.

Russia's Kommersant daily reported last week that Venezuela was planning to purchase anti-aircraft systems, armoured personnel carriers and more combat aircraft.

Chavez arrived in Russia from China and will continue on to France as part of a world tour ahead of local elections in Venezuela in November. It is his third trip to Russia since June of last year.
----------------

Russia is buying friends and influencing people in our own back yard. Russia has the third largest cash reserves in the world and has established itself as an aggressive, major energy player while the United States is suffering a financial meltdown. The next President will face Russia, Iran, Venezuela, South Korea, al-Qaeda and a rising fundamentalism throughout the Islamic world. A world of troubles destabilized by misfits and malcontents bent on opposing capitalism and freedom. In the last century this conglomerate of dysfunctional ideologies were spearheaded by Communism. Communism went by the way side, but the dysfunction never died. As long as mankind survives on this planet, he must battle the dark forces of bitterness, greed, envy and malevolence. This duty falls to every generation in one form or another.

No one knows the outcome of our current financial crisis. We could be entering a decade or longer period of recession, malaise or depression. It seems very likely that the next President will be forced to fight the good fight with a hamstrung economy even as the dark forces have overflowing coffers.

9 comments:

  1. Ron Paul was on Neil Cavuto's show this afternoon. Please alert the EB management when the transcript is ready at Fox News.com.

    He had a dire warning about the full extent of the meltdown. BTW - the Paul transcript there now is from yesterday.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Germany has recalled its ambassador to Iran because a German diplomat attended a military parade in Tehran, a foreign ministry spokeswoman said Saturday.

    The spokeswoman confirmed a report in the news magazine Der Spiegel that Ambassador Herbert Honsowitz had been told to report to Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Monday morning.

    The magazine said the foreign minister was "very angry" that the embassy's defense attache attended the parade after ambassadors from EU member states had agreed to boycott it.

    A banner reading "Israel should be erased from the world" was displayed at the event, which was addressed by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the report said.

    Der Spiegel said Monday's meeting was intended to clarify whether the ambassador had failed to give proper instructions to his defense attache.

    On Friday, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Charlotte Knobloch, warned that Iran presented a threat "to all democratic states" because of its nuclear ambitions.

    ReplyDelete
  3. GDP numbers (not in any particular order).

    1. USA: $13.84 trillion
    2. Japan: $4.29 trillion
    3. China: $6.991 trillion
    4. Russia: $2.088 trillion
    5. UK: $2.137 trillion
    6. Germany: $2.81 trillion
    7. Brazil: $1.836 trillion
    8. Venezuela: $334 billion
    9. Canada: $1.266 trillion
    10. Mexico: $1.346 trillion
    11. Iran: $753 billion
    12. Saudi Arabia: $565 billion
    13. India: $2.989 trillion
    14. Pakistan: $410 billion
    15. California: $1.7 trillion

    Just wanted to share some CIA data.

    Chavez and Putin can piss up a rope. We may be down, but we will recover.

    We'll have to watch the Chinese, but without an export business, their going to be hurting as much as anyone.

    We'll get through this.

    ReplyDelete
  4. RCP has VA up 1.8%
    Up for Obama

    Changing their "No Leaners" map to
    Obama/Biden 286 McCain/Palin 252

    ReplyDelete
  5. PAUL: ...
    I think, ultimately, though, there will be no difference between the Republican and the Democratic leadership. Nancy Pelosi and George Bush are buddies right now, working on the bailout. And I wouldn't be surprised if there will not be a sharp distinction between McCain and Obama, because they belong to the same special interest groups.

    And that is why you won't get any real debate over the Federal Reserve system or the foreign policy or monetary policy. That will all continue. And that is why so many people in this country have come to the conclusion that there's not a dime's worth of difference between the two parties.

    And I think you will see that, once this bill is passed, how the groups got together.

    ReplyDelete
  6. As I said, the Federal Socialists

    ReplyDelete
  7. That's the Paul interview from Thursday. He was on again today. That's the one we all should be see.

    ReplyDelete