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Damascus airport rocked after 'Israel air strike' on arms depot
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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Caribbean-Latin America
The Guardian view on Venezuela: a country in pain
[THEGUARDIAN] Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro has failed his country. Picked by Hugo Chavez as successor just before his death in 2013, President Maduro has been an incompetent leader in hard times. He has failed to address the economic crisis triggered when the fall in the price of oil exposed the weaknesses of Chavismo, his predecessor’s ambitious experiment in poverty alleviation and social ownership. Now, in what was once South America’s richest country, more than four households in five are in poverty, twice the level of when he came to power. Babies and children die for lack of access to commonplace medicines. Murder and kidnapping for ransom are rife. Inflation is running above 800%; the economy is contracting sharply. Democracy itself is being eroded as the president defends his faltering grip on power. Weeks of protests have been met by state violence, semi-official vigilantes and, increasingly, counterattack from some opposition groupings. There is a wretched stalemate; and there is a real fear that violence could soon escalate out of control.

Like many of its neighbours, Venezuela’s democrats have to overcome a troubled history of rule by elites with little concern for lifting people out of poverty or shared economic growth. For more than a decade, Chavez seemed to offer a better prospectus: decent housing, proper wages and a fairer future. But after his premature death, the fall in oil prices laid bare the old divisions. His detractors point to a mixture of corruption and his failure to set up a Norwegian-style wealth fund to invest some of an oil income that approached $1tn as causes of the crisis. His defenders accuse the old ruling elite and its supporters of sabotaging the revolution.

But in the past few days, there is a sense that a bridge has been crossed. For the first time, demonstrators have included people from the poorer parts of Caracas, the people who were at the heart of the Chavismo project. Mr Maduro is talking about resuming talks with the opposition, brokered by the Vatican. But there is deep cynicism about these overtures. The opposition suspect him of playing for time, and remember bitterly that the last time they placed their trust in the Vatican’s involvement the talks soon foundered on the president’s obduracy.
Posted by: Fred || 04/27/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Coming soon, to a city near you!
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/27/2017 3:53 Comments || Top||

#2  At least the Department of Gaudy Sashes and Shiny Ornaments still functions
Posted by: Cheaderhead || 04/27/2017 6:14 Comments || Top||

#3  Feel the Berne.
Posted by: Unineng Forkbeard8768 || 04/27/2017 6:37 Comments || Top||

#4  He could actually be thrown under his own bus.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/27/2017 6:43 Comments || Top||

#5  Venezuela’s democrats have to overcome a troubled history of rule by elites with little concern for lifting people out of poverty or shared economic growth.

And many Republicans, too.
Posted by: Bobby || 04/27/2017 7:54 Comments || Top||

#6  Hugo Chávez, Nicolás Maduro and the failed system of socialism. A caution for the U.S. whenever it gets the collective insane notion of putting another Obama in office.
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/27/2017 8:52 Comments || Top||

#7  putting another Obama in office

I understand he's looking for a new gig.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/27/2017 12:20 Comments || Top||

#8  There's no need to wait on a Socialist to become the US President, we already have our own version of Venezuela right here and now--we call it "Obamacare".

That which can't continue forever, won't. Its as true for political systems as it is for faux insurance schemes.
Posted by: Crusader || 04/27/2017 12:21 Comments || Top||

#9  If you can't be a good example at least be a horrible lesson
Posted by: Frank G || 04/27/2017 12:48 Comments || Top||

#10  Socialist have no history, so there is no lesson to be learned.

They'll lie to themselves about the old adage that the 'right people' weren't in charge, ignoring that when you concentrate that much power, there are no 'right people'.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/27/2017 13:07 Comments || Top||

#11  His defenders accuse the old ruling elite and its supporters of sabotaging the revolution.

Now, why does this sounds so familiar?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/27/2017 14:33 Comments || Top||

#12  He could actually be thrown under his own bus.

But with the fuel shortage, all he could do would be a lube job, the wheels on that bus won't be going round and round so very much....
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 04/27/2017 15:07 Comments || Top||


Fifth Column
NYTimes op ed supports censorship by calling it something else
...The recent student demonstrations at Auburn against Spencer's visit ‐ as well as protests on other campuses against Charles Murray, Milo Yiannopoulos and others ‐ should be understood as an attempt to ensure the conditions of free speech for a greater group of people, rather than censorship. Liberal free-speech advocates rush to point out that the views of these individuals must be heard first to be rejected. But this is not the case. Universities invite speakers not chiefly to present otherwise unavailable discoveries, but to present to the public views they have presented elsewhere. When those views invalidate the humanity of some people, they restrict speech as a public good....
Posted by: lord garth || 04/27/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I feel like Alice in Wonderland after going down the rabbit hole; up is down, black is white, big is small, in is out, restricting speech is really free speech.
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/27/2017 9:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Do away with free speech and peaceful assembly and now free press. The Left only wants power.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/27/2017 9:53 Comments || Top||

#3  They don't study history, do they?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/27/2017 11:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Per IowaHawk - You can regulate hate speech, if I can define what that means. Deal?
Posted by: Iblis || 04/27/2017 12:21 Comments || Top||

#5  The Left only wants power.

Once this is understood and taken to heart, everything else they do becomes easier to understand.

Why do the Dems claim to care about women's rights and LBGT rights, yet love them some Islam, which is incompatible with those rights? Because the left wants only power.

Why do the Dems advocate for open borders when doing so puts the safety of us all at risk? Because the left wants only power.

Why do the college-educated left advocate for "free" stuff, when they surely understand that such policies are economically unsustainable? Because the left wants only power.

And so on. And so on.
Posted by: Crusader || 04/27/2017 12:29 Comments || Top||

#6  I went to the link and read the first half dozen or so paragraphs before I gave up. It seems the writer doesn't believe people should be able to talk about their personal experiences...or something to that effect. But he rambles so much and uses so many words to get to the point that I couldn't really tell. Such drivel.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 04/27/2017 12:40 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Cruz Introduces "El Chapo Act": Use $14B Asset Forfeiture to Pay for Border Wall
[Legal Insurrection] As the GOP and President Trump kick the border wall funding can down the road, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has proposed the Ensuring Lawful Collection of Hidden Assets to Provide Order (EL CHAPO) Act. The proposal includes using the expected $14 billion to be seized from El Chapo should he be convicted to pay for the big, beautiful border wall.

UPI, same story.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/27/2017 02:25 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Love him or hate him - ya gotta admit - that's clever.
Posted by: Bobby || 04/27/2017 7:49 Comments || Top||

#2  How do they think they are going to get el chapos money? I somehow doubt he has it in a regular US bank.
Posted by: chris || 04/27/2017 9:01 Comments || Top||

#3  Palletized unmarked bills waiting for shipment to Iran?
Posted by: Mugsy Glink || 04/27/2017 9:37 Comments || Top||

#4  Mexico WILL pay for the wall.
Posted by: Whavish Thusoling5684 || 04/27/2017 10:27 Comments || Top||

#5  Every time they find drugs in a car, truck, airplane or boat coming into this country they confiscate it. When they catch people attempting to smuggle large amounts of cash into Mexico they confiscate it. When they catch coyotes smuggling people into the country they confiscate any vehicles or cash they find. It may not pay for the entire wall but it's gotta help.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 04/27/2017 12:48 Comments || Top||

#6  Close a door, a window opens.
Posted by: newc || 04/27/2017 21:00 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
The Real Story Behind ESPN’s Wednesday Massacre
You also can place this at the feet of the sports leagues and conferences. When you try to pander to that segment of the population who instinctively hate sports, you drive away your traditional customers and change your product to please your new customers. It's unworkable...

FTFA:

[Federalist] ESPN, the self-proclaimed worldwide leader in sports, became the worldwide leader in sports layoffs on Wednesday morning after news leaked that the cable network was in the process of laying off 100 staffers, most of whom are reported to be on-air talent.

The layoff reports came as no surprise to those who have followed ESPN and its on- and off-air struggles to profitably provide the kind of content that most sports fans want to watch. Shortly after the mass layoff reports were confirmed, the Internet hot takes began. ESPN is failing because of cord-cutting, because it has too much politics, because it has too little politics, because sports fans are racists, you name it.

So what’s the real reason the network felt forced to slash its payroll overnight? There is no one reason. There are a number of factors, each of which has been multiplied by poor strategic decisions. ESPN would have you believe that the network is a victim of circumstances, caught up in an industry whirlwind over which it has no control. Maybe, but that’s hardly the whole story. The real reasons aren’t all that complicated, but they’re not as simple as much of the social media hand-wringing would have you believe.

ESPN isn’t struggling because of one thing. It’s struggling because of a bunch of different things happening simultaneously. Some are outside of its control, and some are not. Here are the big reasons for these mass layoffs.

1) ESPN Overpaid for Broadcast Rights
In a nutshell, ESPN committed to paying massive long-term fixed costs for the right to air professional sports events, namely NFL and NBA games. Sports reporter Clay Travis of Outkick has been banging the drum on this score for quite some time, much to ESPN’s chagrin (Just last month Travis predicted Wednesday’s mass layoffs only to have ESPN sic its PR hounds on him and accuse him of making it all up).

In accounting terms, the network committed to high long-term fixed costs (broadcast rights) in exchange for declining variable revenues (cable subscription fees and advertising dollars). You don’t have to be a mathematician to see the problems with this formula for success. Even if ESPN is making decent money right now, the music is eventually going to stop, people are going to stop dancing, and somebody’s going to be stuck without a chair.
More at the link
Posted by: badanov || 04/27/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  One word: Disney.
Posted by: Pappy || 04/27/2017 8:37 Comments || Top||

#2  ....another example of why the Sherman Anti-Trust Act should have been actively enforced. Never allow such concentration of power. Fortunately, it appears ESPN is significantly financially obligated in long term contracts with the sports leagues now facing declining revenue and fans. The leagues are unlikely to renegotiate the terms and costs of those contracts which means senior management, Disney, is going to have to cover the losses.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/27/2017 9:58 Comments || Top||

#3  The pressure on the costs of broadcasts rights will have an interesting impact on team finances and player comp. We're already seeing it in the NFL -- moving teams, more primetime/night games, color rush unis, paid sponsorship of every aspect (USAF Fly Over Courtesy of Sprint), expanded coverage of Draft Day, Fantasy gambling.
Posted by: regular joe || 04/27/2017 11:57 Comments || Top||

#4  Is there a link anywhere to who was let go? The most recognizable name I heard mentioned yesterday was Ed Werder.
Posted by: Crusader || 04/27/2017 12:17 Comments || Top||

#5  On the day ESPN laid off 100 people, it celebrated Asatta Shakur, who murdered a police officer in 1977.
Posted by: Spolugum Unineque9148 || 04/27/2017 14:57 Comments || Top||

#6  ...when a diehard sports fan finally decides that ESPN’s just not worth the cost of cable anymore. This brings us to the next cause of these revenue problems. Yeah, I'm one of those. Cable companies gouge you and you still have to put off with a plethora of commercials.

ESPN has a near monopoly on many sports events, e.g. college football. If they can't make money under those circumstances, they must have a bunch of morons running things. Moreover, they are not paying their bills as I understand it.
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/27/2017 15:44 Comments || Top||

#7  Here's a link of carrion groaning for burial:

https://www.si.com/tech-media/2017/04/26/espn-layoffs-firings-list-details

The targets appear to be mostly working sports announcers and analysts rather than that the JV SWJ debate team...

Ed Werder; longtime columnist Johnette Howard; espnW staffer Jane McManus; college football and ESPN Radio analyst Danny Kanell; NHL reporters Scott Burnside, Pierre LeBrun and Joe McDonald and a mass of college sports reporters including C.L. Brown, Eamonn Brennan‏, Jeremy Crabtree, Brett McMurphy, Max Olson, Dana O’Neil, Jesse Temple, Derek Tyson, Austin Ward, Ted Miller, David Ching, Chantel Jennings‏, Dr. Jerry Punch and Brian Bennett.

MLB reporter Doug Padilla, ESPN Dallas columnist Jean-Jacques Taylor, soccer reporter Mike Goodman, ESPNU anchor Brendan Fitzgerald, NFL analyst Trent Dilfer, SportsCenter anchors Jay Crawford, Darren M. Haynes and Jade McCarthy, correspondent Reese Waters, contributor Jarrett Bell,​ legal analyst Roger Cossack, golf broadcaster Dottie Pepper, NBA writers Ethan Strauss, Justin Verrier​ and Calvin Watkins, NFL reporter Ashley Fox, Len Elmore​ and longtime MLB reporter Jayson Stark.
Posted by: regular joe || 04/27/2017 16:01 Comments || Top||

#8  Yet Jemele Miller and Michael Smith are oh so popular with their SJW management with their Black Sports Center @ 6PM. Covering all the achievements each day by Black athletes only
Posted by: Frank G || 04/27/2017 16:32 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
26[untagged]
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1Lashkar e-Jhangvi
1Moslem Colonists
1Narcos
1Pirates
1Taliban
1Boko Haram (ISIS)
1Hamas
1al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent
1Jamaat ul-Ahrar
1Jundullah

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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2017-04-27
  Damascus airport rocked after 'Israel air strike' on arms depot
Wed 2017-04-26
  Abu Sayyaf beheads captive Philippine soldier
Tue 2017-04-25
  Sweden arrests second suspect over deadly truck attack
Mon 2017-04-24
  Drone strike kills 5 Qaeda suspects in Yemen
Sun 2017-04-23
  5 terrorist suspects arrested in Brussels after arms, ammo & drugs seized in police raids
Sat 2017-04-22
  Dozens of About 140 Afghan troops dead in Taliban base attack
Fri 2017-04-21
  ISIS Media Chief dies in airstrike
Thu 2017-04-20
  Paris - cops shot, 1 killed. Suspect dead, Suspicious package left
Wed 2017-04-19
  US: Man screams 'Allahu akbar!' and kills three civilians
Tue 2017-04-18
  Pakistani Taliban leader Ehsanullah Ehsan 'surrenders'
Mon 2017-04-17
  Pirates killed while trying to hijack ship near Somalia
Sun 2017-04-16
  At least 43 killed as car bomb hits Syria evacuees
Sat 2017-04-15
  Islamic State mufti killed in Mosul air strike, Iraqi forces say
Fri 2017-04-14
  Iraqi command says controls 60% of western Mosul
Thu 2017-04-13
  US drops MOAB on ISIS tunnel complex in Afghanistan

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