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In an interview with the London Times -- kept behind a paywall by the publication, but partially reproduced by other sources -- Oliver Stone declares his intention to put Adolph Hilter "in context" in the course of a series of documentaries he's currently producing.As part of that context, Stone seems intent on blaming industrialists, the US and Britain for Hitler.The problem for Stone is that the film that places Hitler in his proper context has already been produced.Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, Downfall puts Adolph Hitler within the only context ever really needed: as a madman, ferried into power amidst political and social instability, and then enabled by the simpering weaklings who surrounded him.Downfall features what is almost certainly the most brilliant portrayal of Joseph...

It seems the marxist dictator hugo chavez thinks Canad is run by an ultra right wing govrnment. I guess he is now in coalition talks with iffy and jack.The bolivarian revolution is receding throughout Latin America and Venezuela is an economic basket case. iffy and jack must be so proud of their new ally who also insults HM Forces ."I am talking of a Canada governed by an ultraright that closed its Parliament for various months to [evade] an investigation over the violation of human rights -- I am talking about torture and assassinations -- by its soldiers in Afghanistan," Mr. Chaderton said.The allegations over Canadian soldiers' handling of detainees in Afghanistan have actually focused on whether Canadian troops handed prisoners over to Afghan authorities despite knowing the...

continues his march toward a totalitarian state. Will obamessiah greet him so warmly next time? Will this be an inspiration for obamessiah? What will chavez do as his massive misplaying of the economy brings misery to his people? Can martial law be far behind?Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has sent troops to take over companies that provide services for the oil industry."This is a revolutionary offensive," he told workers near Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela's main oil-producing area.Military vehicles were used as the state oil company seized supply boats and two US-owned gas facilities.Mr Chavez nationalised Venezuela's main oil assets two years ago. The fresh drive comes as falling oil prices put state finances under pressure.The move places hundreds of boats, several ports and an estimated...

and uses the army to take over airports and transportation hubs. Can martial law be far behind? Venezuela is now a police state.Chavez cuts budget over oil pricePresident Chavez urged Venezuelans to be "more realistic"Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has unveiled a series of measures to offset falling oil revenues that account for about 50% of the national budget.He proposed to cut the 2009 budget by 6.7% and increase sales taxes.Mr Chavez also pledged salary cuts for senior public officials, but a 20% rise in the minimum wage.His announcement came shortly after the government had sent army to take control of the country's key airports and sea ports.The government says the move - which was rubber-stamped by parliament a week ago - centralises the running of the country's main transport...

Someone who knows a little more about Venezuela than sean penn ,takes him to task on his hero worship of the commie chavez.(h/t Nova Scotia Scott) Penn is also a fidel worshipper. Will the hypocrisy never end/The saccharine conventions of showbusiness were thrown out of the window last week, when the Hollywood actress Maria Conchita Alonso was collared by paparazzi and asked if she was pleased about her former co-star Sean Penn's recent Oscar victory."He's an amazing actor. I can't take that away from him," she said of Penn, who worked with her on the 1988 cop film Colors. "It's just that he has no clue at all what's going on in Venezuela. He's been praising Hugo Chavez, who is a dictator and a killer. He should shut up about what he doesn't know." Alonso, who was raised in Venezuela, was...

It is a sad day for Venezuela. After silencing his opponents and shutting down much of the opposition media. hugo has won the right to be president for life. He lost the same referendum only 14 months ago. Unfortinately for this bully, economic woes are catching up with him.CARACAS -- Hugo Chavez and his supporters celebrated an election victory that allows him to seek another term as president in polarized Venezuela, as opponents complained on Monday that his use of state funds had made the campaign unfair.Mr. Chavez, who has been in power for 10 years and vows to rule for decades, pledged to repay his poor backers for Sunday's victory by combatting their No. 1 concern -- crime that has given the OPEC nation one of the world's worst murder rates.The fragmented opposition, which was...

hugo is at it again. He has learned from Quebec separatists that if you don't get the results you want in a referendum, try , try again. The price of oil has tanked and he wants to become dictator for life before his economy utterly collapses. We can only hope his people again thwart his nefarious schemes. He is turning Venezuela into a living nightmare.CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelans voted on Sunday on a reform proposal that would allow socialist President Hugo Chavez to stay in power for as long as he keeps winning elections after a turbulent decade ruling the OPEC nation.Chavez, who says he needs another 10 years for his revolution to take root, holds a slim edge in polls, but many Venezuelans remain undecided on the constitutional reform to lift restrictions on re-election....

The dictator Chavez continues his totalitarian ways. Unfortunately for him oil prices have crashed. He faces tough opposition in civic elections.While the candidates of Mr. Chavez's United Socialist Party are plagued with accusations of inefficiency, corruption and cronyism, opposition parties competing in 22 gubernatorial races and for 328 mayoral posts may win up to a third of the contests.In the last regional elections four years ago, Mr. Chavez's supporters won control of 21 of the state governor posts and about 300 of the mayoral posts.But now Mr. Chavez's support is eroding, just as domestic inflation and crime rates are soaring and oil prices are dropping.Voters appear to have grown jaded with promises of "21st-Century Socialism," when they face constant power outages, inflation of...

Last fall I wrote a short article that appeared in the Canadian Student Review on the erosion of economic and political liberalism in Venezuela, and how little Chavez had actually achieved in terms of poverty reduction, equality, and quality of life indicators.Despite an attempt to appeal to both critics and supporters of Chavez, one letter writer felt I was being unfair to the Venezuelan leader. As is customary, I was given the opportunity to respond to his arguments. I'll let you be the judge (it's probably best to read the original article first to get the proper context):The poor and working class of Venezuela have enjoyed noteworthy increases in living standards, especially in the areas of housing, health care, education (especially literacy), and workers’ rights, over the past ten...

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Chavez and his goons have been caught helping FARC. It is an act of war against Columbia. More evidence that this marxist thief is a destabilizing influence in the region and in his own country. All efforts must be made to stop him. Hopefully this will show his neighbours how dangerous he truly is.Rebel Documents Present Damning Evidence of Venezuelan Aid to FARCThursday, May 15, 2008 Venezuela offered substantial military help to Colombian rebels in their fight against the Colombian government, according to a report Thursday by the Washington Post, which cited internal rebel documents.The Post reports that Venezuelan officials set up contacts with Australian arms dealers and arranged for missile training in the Middle East, according to the documents, which were on computer hard drives...

Colby Cosh writes about Hugo Chavez. Chavez's Venezuela, seems to be a state sponsor of terrorism. He is supporting his marxist comrades, farc.Colby Cosh on Hugo Chávez and FARC: Meet the Western Hemisphere's first state sponsor of terrorismPosted: May 09, 2008, 5:52 PM by Dan GoldbloomColby CoshVenezuelan president Hugo Chávez has been accused of many things: squandering his country's petroleum income, suppressing opposition media, using his army to intimidate the citizenry, compromising the populace's access to food and even exporting his brand of authoritarian socialism to neighbouring countries by means of publicity and under-the-table cash. Now documents recovered by Colombian soldiers from computers belonging to FARC, Columbia's drug-funded Leninist insurgency, suggest that...

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I don't profess to be an expert on South American affairs let alone Venezuela. Except for a course I aced in University, I've kept abreast by reading various publications whenever time permits. However, I am heartened to have read that Venezuela rejected Hugo Chavez's insane and ludicrous plan to be dictator for 50 years under the guise of a socialist "paradise." That guy is bad news.Venezuelans, it appears, are not...

Hugo Chavez today tries to snuff out democracy, There is a lot of opposition to his changes in the constitution, but I am not sure there is enough and I don't trust chavez to be honest. Here is an explanation of some of the changes Chavez wants to make.Chavez's allies are also thinking of changing the constitution in countries like Bolivia. People have said to me , why do I worry about communism, it is dead. It is still alive in the small minds of dictators like chavez and mugabe. I hope the referendum will be voted down, but I am not hopeful. I congratulate the students of Venezuela that have worked for freedom. Let's hope these changes to the constitution are stopped....

By Cam VidlerOriginally published in the Canadian Student ReviewEver since his election as president at the end of 1998, Hugo Chavez’s fiery rhetoric and deep reforms have drawn attention and created controversy around the world. While many supporters point to his high approval rating and aggressive campaign of social programs for the poor, others see his agenda as a recipe for economic stagnation and repression of liberty reminiscent of Cuba or the Soviet Union. One point that all sides can agree on is that Chavez, with his championing of "twenty-first century socialism," has attacked capitalism from all angles. Unfortunately, there is mounting evidence that this undermining of free markets has spilled over into a loss of political and civic freedoms as well. To make matters worse,...

Most Spanish newspapers are supportive of HM King Juan Carlos on his spat with chavez,HM is a great defender of democracy. Indeed without HM intervention Spanish democracy would have long ago perished. I agree with the comments of the Spanish Newspapers. Someone should have told the clown to shut up long ago.Mr Chavez repeatedly tried to interrupt, despite his microphone being turned off.The king then leaned forward and said: "Why don't you shut up?"According to reports, the king used a familiar term normally used only for close acquaintances - or children.The king then stormed out as Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega stepped in to back Mr Chavez.In Spain, the king's actions were applauded.El Mundo said: "The king has put Chavez in his place in the name of all Spaniards."It said the...

With events like these it is no surprise that lefties want to abolish monarchy:King Juan Carlos of Spain told the Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, to "just shut up", bringing an Ibero-American summit to end in spectacular fashion. Spain's monarch stormed out just before the scheduled end of the forum on Saturday, furious at Mr Chavez's description of his former prime minister as a "fascist" and for launching a wide-ranging tirade that could not be stopped. The dispute was a dramatic finale for the 17th meeting of the heads of state and government of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, and the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries of Latin America.It's hard not to agree with the king -- finally, somebody told Chavez what he's needed to hear for a long......

Despite the widespread view, advanced by Hugo Chavez and regurgitated by rich-world leftists, that Latin America has been devastated by a neo-liberal agenda and Anglo-Saxon economics, the region may be doing much better than is commonly perceived. And surprisingly, at least to those who are pessimistic about the merits of laissez-faire, this recent market-oriented economic growth has most noticeably benefited the poor and is now slowly reducing inequality. In Chile, by far the most economically liberal in the region, results are especially impressive (see chart).Last week's issue of The Economist covers the phenomenon:In Latin America as a whole, according to calculations by Banco Santander, a Spanish bank, some 15m households ceased to be poor between 2002 and 2006. If the trend...

Hugo Chavez has many friends among the left. Who cares if he is a dictator who attacks his opponents and closes down the press. I heard Sid Ryan and Lauara Babcock defend Chavez on the Michael Coren Show last night. Even in America there are people who support this man. Fortunately most Americans recognize Chavez for the petty little commie dictator he is.The Road to Caracas, From Macon With Loveby Erick EricksonPosted: 08/17/2007Over the past few months, C. Jack Ellis has become as familiar a name in some households outside Macon, Georgia as inside Macon. The first black mayor of Macon, GA, a deeply rooted city in the heart of the South, Ellis, in February, converted to Islam and declared himself Hakeem Mansour Ellis. He then declined to legally change his name. His latest stunt,...

Now I like him even less now. He is now hanging out with commie Chavez. Both are enemies of the United States. Perhaps sean could stay in Venezuela when he goes to visit his commie bud.CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has praised Sean Penn for his critical stance against the war in Iraq, saying the two chatted by phone and soon plan to meet in person.Chavez said Penn traveled to Venezuela this week wanting to learn more about the situation in the country and walked around some of Caracas' poor barrios on his own."Welcome to Venezuela, Mr. Penn. What drives him is consciousness, the search for new paths," Chavez said Wednesday in a televised speech. "He's one of the greatest opponents of the Iraq invasion."...

RCTV, one of the few media outlets that dared to remain critical of Hugo Chavez, has finally been silenced...I believe the following is their final few minutes on air. Staff and their supporters are seen singing, crying, and protesting:Here's a compilation of Chavez's outbursts against the station in the run-up to shutting it down. The propaganda is outrageous. His serfs are eating right out of his hand.It's sad to see yet another country go down this path. Hopefully this latest assault on liberal freedoms doesn't receive the usual excuses from the rich world left. As Colby Cosh at the National Post was quick to point out, the closure of RCTV has been condemned by a variety of human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders. To put it plainly, RCTV is not a...

RCTV, one of the few media outlets that dared to remain critical of Hugo Chavez, has finally been silenced...I believe the following is their final few minutes on air. Staff and their supporters are seen singing, crying, and protesting:Here's a compilation of Chavez's outbursts against the station in the run-up to shutting it down. The propaganda is outrageous. His serfs are eating right out of his hand.It's sad to see yet another country go down this path. Hopefully this latest assault on liberal freedoms doesn't receive the usual excuses from the rich world left. As Colby Cosh at the National Post was quick to point out, the closure of RCTV has been condemned by a variety of human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders. To put it plainly, RCTV is not a...

Anti-Americanism makes for strange bedfellows. Iranian ultra-conservatives and Latin American socialists are finding common ground in their hatred of the United States. Left-wing intellectuals in the West need to remember this when they are quick to support the likes of Daniel Ortega and Hugo Chavez. I find it funny that despite the so-called progressive platform of the NDP, many of their...

I don't care how many votes this guy got, he's as much of a democrat as Robert Mugabe. The wannabe Robin Hood, with his latest nationalization antics, is on his way to fully revoking the liberties of Venezuelans, not to mention foreign companies that fair and square invested their own resources into Venezuela's economy. This is a dark day in South America, and one can only hope that influential...