His buddy, former Venezuelan Defense Minister Raul Isaias Baduel, has been the biggest name to defect but the polls aren’t looking great either:

President Hugo Chavez is trailing ahead of a key vote on constitutional reforms, according to a new poll Saturday that shows opponents of the changes ahead by a strong margin.

The survey was conducted by Caracas polling firm Datanalisis, whose polls ahead of past votes have consistently matched Chavez’s electoral victories. It found about 49% of likely voters oppose Chavez’s reforms, well ahead of 39% who favor the changes.

“Chavez has never gone into an election without being an overwhelming majority from the beginning,” Datanalisis pollster Luis Vicente Leon told The Associated Press. “This is the first time it’s reversed.”

The sad reality is that there’s little hope that Chavez will respect the constitution, or the will of the people, whatever the results may be.

All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, a Latin American dictator to hang with, and I’m fine.

“Sean Penn is in Venezuela,” Chavez said over national television. “I spoke with him by telephone and will see him” tomorrow.

“He came by himself on a commercial airliner,” he said. On Tuesday, Penn “walked the neighbourhoods of Caracas,” Chavez said.

He said that tomorrow, the 2003 Oscar-winning actor of “Mystic River” visited Barlovento, 100 kilometres east of Caracas.

Penn “is moved by his conscience, in search of new pathways,” Chavez said.

Snuggling up to Chavez is profitable - dictators know how to handle friends and enemies:

Chavez also recently welcomed US actor Danny Glover to Venezuela and gave him 18 million dollars to finance a film on Haitian independence leader Toussaint Louverture.

This happened a few days ago but people keep telling me they haven’t seen it. In the video you’ll see that Barron’s support of Chavez doesn’t sit too well with Housley.

Some background on Barron from Wikipedia:

He is often regarded as a racist and radical leftist, holding to beliefs he formed while in the Black Panther Party, which is no longer in existence. Some critics have called Barron a die-hard rebel fighting for black issues that are no longer relevant. He claims that criticisms of him being a “revolutionary” or “over-the-top” on black issues are simply the result of ignorance on the part of his white colleagues; he has, however, used the term “elected revolutionary” to describe himself[9]. He is adamant on his issues, claiming that they are still important today, such as the issue of reparations for slavery:

“America—from 1789 to 1865, America—American government supported the institution of slavery. You don’t tell Jewish people to forget about the Holocaust. We don’t tell the Japanese people to forget about their oppression. When you are engaged in those kinds of crimes, you have to pay the debt. They don’t mind inheriting the riches from slavery. Nobody says, ‘Well, all of this money that was generated by the government, by private corporations, by private estates’—if you can inherit the wealth from slavery, then you must inherit the crime and responsibility from slavery.”[10]

Barron received reprimands and a certain amount of notoriety[11] for a remark he made during a 2002 reparations rally:

“I want to go up to the closest white person and say, ‘You can’t understand this, it’s a black thing’ and then slap him, just for my mental health.”

He has also shown support for Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez, in an interview with Tucker Carlson, calling him a “Humanitarian”.

 
Check out the entire album.

This is just beautiful:

Radio Caracas Television, the station silenced by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, has found a way to continue its daily broadcasts — on YouTube, the popular video Web site.

Although the station is officially off the air, CNN’s Harris Whitbeck said its news department continues to operate on reduced staffing, and the three daily hour-long installments of the newscast “El Observador” are uploaded onto YouTube by RCTV’s Web department.

In addition, RCTV’s Colombia-based affiliate, Caracol, has agreed to transmit the evening installment of “El Observador” over its international signal. The program, which will run at midnight, could reach about 800,000 people in Venezuela.

Although this is drastically reduced from RCTV’s previous audience, its continued presence is a sign of hope for the staff.

“We’re just doing our job as journalists,” said an employee of RCTV. “As long as somebody is seeing us, we consider what we are doing to be valid.”

Daniel Duquenal believes that the RCTV closure may signal the beginning of the end for Chavez’s Bolivarian Revolution:

It does not matter whether Chavez remains at Miraflores Palace until he dies of old age in his sleep: this week his revolution died.

The students might succeed in overthrowing Chavez, or might go home when they get bored, or might end up in a blood bath. But in three days they have nailed the coffin of the pseudo revolution that has been tormenting us for too long.

When Chavez closed RCTV he made the fatal mistake that all revolutions, real or spurious, make, that mistake that sooner or later will bring them to their end. In some revolutions it is easy to point that turning point, even if they are still running.

More video can be found here.

Their praise for Hugo Chavez reveals a more ambitious plan:

According to a report of the Foreign Ministry’s Information and Press Department, Hosseini said the Iranian government and people had high praises for the free and competitive atmosphere in which the Venezuelan election was conducted.

“The victory of freedom seekers and independent-minded figures in Venezuela and Latin America points to the love of the people of the region for real independence and their hatred for US officials’ arrogant attitude,” he reiterated.

Commenting on the impact of the election on Tehran-Caracas relations, Hosseini said Tehran hopes the positive development would lead to further expansion of wide-ranging ties between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Venezuela and other states of the region.

Hosseini also hoped Tehran-Caracas relations would serve as an example for regional states as well as countries of the South.

The battle lines are being drawn:

Anti-U.S. leaders Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad met in Tehran on Saturday, pledging mutual support for one another, state media reported.

Chavez’s two-day visit came as Iran faces renewed international criticism for its nuclear program and as a backer of Hezbollah guerrillas, engaged in fighting with Israel since they captured two Israeli soldiers July 12.

The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council on Friday reached a deal on a resolution that would give Iran until the end of August to suspend uranium enrichment or face the threat of economic and diplomatic sanctions.

Following talks, Chavez pledged that his country would “stay by Iran at any time and under any condition,” state television reported.

Venezuela is beefing up it’s military at a rapid pace. We can thank Spain, Russia, and China for that. It’s even more frightening when you read the report in Iran’s state media:

Confirming Venezuelan president remarks that the US era is coming to an end in the world, the ayatollah noted that this reality can be seen right now and the number of nations and countries who resist against the US are increasing.

Referring to President Chavez stances on the world issues, Ayatollah Khamenei said they reminded the stances of Simon Bolivar, the Latin American Revolutionary figure.

The ayatollah also emphasized the necessity of expansion of bilateral cooperation between the two countries in different fields.

President Chavez, for his part, by expressing pleasure over his new visit to Iran, called Bolivarian revolution of Venezuela as a brother of the Islamic revolution in Iran and said, ” We intend to expand relations with Iran in different areas.”

Chavez said the American empire is coming to an end and the increasing number of governments in Latin America opposed to the US policy is an evidence to prove claim.

He emphasized the necessity of consolidation among countries with the same stance and opposed to the US policies and pointed out that such countries should expand their cooperation and increase their ability and potentials and never be frightened by the US threats.

Some people will do anything to get attention. Details via CNN/Reuters:

North Korea has launched a missile but it was not the intercontinental missile being monitored by the United States, CNN reported on Tuesday, quoting sources.

CNN said the missile, reported to have landed in the Sea of Japan, was smaller than North Korea’s Taepodong-2 missile, which is believed to be capable of hitting some parts of Alaska.

and from Fox News:

Japanese government officials were trying to determine whether the missiles were Taepodong II, long-range ballistic missiles that have been sitting on a launch pad for weeks, or whether it was a different type of missile.

One U.S. government official told FOX News that if the first were the Taepodong missile, it was “a real big dud.”

It just got serious. Breaking via CNN:

North Korea test-fires at least three missiles, one of them a long-range weapon that the U.S. has been monitoring, U.S. sources say.

It looks like the Taepodong-2 was a dud:

North Korea launched a long-range Taepodong-2 missile early Wednesday in an apparently unsuccessful test that failed in flight, a senior State Department official said.

North Korea also tested at least two smaller missiles, U.S. sources told CNN.

John Murney asks:

Can someone out there please explain to me why Iraq was invaded, while North Korea remains uninvaded?

Unfortunately we’ll probably see the usual expression of diplomatic “outrage” and other symbolic acts while the North Koreans continue to tinker with nukes. Sanctions? Bleh.

Fox broadcast reports that John Bolton is working the phones in an urgent attempt to reach members of the U.N. Security Council.

Life goes on:

The mountain that houses NORAD is right outside my window, probably a half-mile down the canyon. Should I feel safer, or wouldn’t they target it?

I’m taking Ellie to the dog park.

Not that she deserves it, after throwing up on my bed twice last night. Once at 3 a.m., on the sheets, right by my pillow, and I woke up with dog puke on my arm. So I get up, change the sheets, take a shower … lovely.

Dog puke is the greater short-term threat but if the world continues to let countries like North Korea continue on this path we’ll all have reason to worry.

Bill Clinton’s name is popping up all over the blogosphere and cable news shows right now:

What makes North Korea a tremendous danger to the world is that now, thanks to the Clinton Administration and former President Jimmy Carter, North Korea does have nuclear weapons in it’s arsenal.

Fox News broadcast just reported that up to 6 missiles have been launched. Dongs are flying all over the place. It’s not a good day to be a fisherman in the Sea of Japan.

South Korean media is reporting a total of 10 missiles fired:

North Korea on Wednesday test-launched 10 short-, medium- and long-range missiles, Yonhap news agency reported, citing South Korean intelligence officials.

The number of tests exceeded the six that the United States had so far estimated. All of the missiles are believed to have landed in the waters between the Korean peninsula and Japan.

John Howard is pissed:

John Howard has labelled North Korea’s latest missile test extremely provocative and called on other countries to condemn the launch.

The Prime Minister said he was still gathering information on the nature of the tests, but Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary said North Korea fired up to six missiles early today, with CNN television reporting that one of the missiles was a long-range Taepodong-2.

“But whether they are big or small missiles, or a combination of the two, this development is very provocative and runs completely counter to the interests of North Korea and the interests of the whole region,” Mr Howard told ABC radio.

I think everyone, except maybe China, Iran, and Syria probably agree with you John but does anyone have a plan for putting a stop to this?

The Security Council will meet in the morning:

The U.N. Security Council plans to meet in closed session on North Korea’s long-anticipated missile testing on Wednesday morning, a French spokesman said.

The meeting was requested late on Tuesday by Japan’s U.N. ambassador, Kenzo Oshima, who is expected to introduce a draft resolution, diplomatic sources said.

Do I think it will amount to much? Not really. We’ve been ineffective for decades. Why shift gears now? Besides, despite all the hype, there is a much more immediate threat in Iran.

I had to fight the urge to use a title like this:

Kim Jung Il’s Dong Goes Soft

Mine was much much worse but you’ve been spared.

It turns out that North Korea has a July 4th message for Hugo Chavez:

Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People’s Assembly, Monday sent a message of greetings to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias on the occasion of the day of its independence. The message reaffirmed the DPRK’s full support and solidarity with the president and people of Venezuela in their efforts to resolutely defend the Bolivarian revolution from the U.S. attempt for interference and aggression and expressed the belief that bonds of friendship and cooperation between the two countries would grow stronger in the future.

But they’ve issued that press release before.

CNN is reporting a later firing on a seventh missile. I guess South Korean reports of 10 were overblown:

The Japanese Defense Agency said one ballistic missile was fired from southeastern North Korea around 5:20 p.m. (4:20 a.m. ET), landing in the Sea of Japan about 10 minutes later.

The range of the missile has not been confirmed by CNN. However, Japanese news agencies said it was medium-range.

Related:
NORAD at Bravo-Plus: Ready for North Korean Missile Launch

Future updates will occur in new posts. This one is closed.

Others Blogging:
Hot Air
Speed of Thought
Austin Bay
Stop the ACLU
Pajamas Media
Suitably Flip
Baldilocks
Infidel Bloggers Alliance
Iowa Voice
Assorted Babble
AubreyJ.org
From the Mind of Netjin
The Moderate Voice
Ed Driscoll
FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog
Outside the Beltway
The Captain’s Quarters
Morning Coffee

Taepodong-2
Global Security
Federation of American Scientists
Wikipedia

North Korea:
Korean Central News Agency
CIA World Factbook
Global Security - North Korea Military Guide
Wikipedia
DPRK home page
FAS North Korea Special Weapons Guide
BBC News Country Profile
North Korea Zone

Kim Jung Il Photoshops:
1 | 2

That’s the title of an Wharton County Junior College professor’s essay that appears on a Venezuelan news site and Indymedia:

Just over 50 years ago it was No Gun Ri. Then My Lai. And now Haditha.. and, as (headlines declare), even more mass murders, most recently in the Iraqi villages of Ishaqi, Hamdaniya, Latifiyah, and Yusifiyah; young men fresh out of high school, frustrated by life, with nothing better to do than to sign up as mercenaries ready and willing to kill for their country, yet, as always, afraid to die and angry as hell as a result of buddies (comrades-in-arms) having been killed, everyone of them having been thrown into a world of cultural confusion and death wanting nothing more than an opportunity to return home, body and mind unimpaired. You see, for each of these young men and women, there will be two wars; the first a physical battle to stay alive, the second a psycho-spiritual effort, a struggle to live with what they “had to do” in order to stay alive. In war there are no winners… only those who lose least!

Isn’t it ironic that just this week the commanders in charge of forces in Iraq, after having suffered the painful blowback, the natural consequences, of having so punctiliously trained our children to kill, having trained them to reflexively disregard the rather inconvenient intrusion of an always present voice reminding one of the value of human life, have found it necessary to reverse the harm they have done, that they tighten the slack in their leash on the troops, that it might be better if soldiers did begin to think, did in fact begin to use their minds, before choosing to take the life of another human being.

…So many of our young folks have been brought up to believe that being a good person has something to do with that of having a good reputation, being liked by everyone, being held in high esteem by others, even that of being a patriotic citizen, but such has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with that of being a truly decent person. I beg the young people of this nation to consider the ominous proposition that, as it was in the days of Nuremberg when the Nazis were held responsible for crimes against humanity, when the leaders of the German nation dressed their children “in brown shirts” reminding that they had a moral obligation (a national duty) to fight for the Fatherland, it will be the same for the leaders of our nation, as well as for those who blindly allow themselves to be coerced into fighting for our country, a nation having come under the nefarious control of malefactors convinced that our nation has been given the right, the God-ordained responsibility, to oversee the planet, to, in fact, rule the world.

So someday when you reach the end of your days, when you become rather old, and are no doubt ready to die, realize that no one (at least no one of any significance) will ever choose to ask if you were a good citizen, if you were a patriot, if you were loyal to your country. You will never be asked if you wore a uniform with distinction. The only thing for which you will be held accountable, by “those who count,” is that of having chosen to become a decent human being, that of having chosen to live your life according to the laws of humanity (the principles of justice, peace, and love), the Law of God, which demands but one, and only one, thing…. that we love one another.

Written Doug Soderstrom, Ph.D. [send him email], whois a Psychologist based in Wharton, TX. Doug is a featured columnist at PopulistAmerica.com

If you think that’s bad you won’t believe his poetry. There’s more at Iranian.com if you can stand it.

Remember North Korea? They may be preparing to test a missile that can reach the states:

North Korea is preparing for a possible test of an intercontinental ballistic missile with the potential to hit the US, according to Washington officials.

A senior official said there were “enough indications” to suggest that Pyongyang was getting ready to fire a Taepodong-2 missile from a launch pad in eastern North Korea. It would be the Stalinist state’s first test of a longer-range missile since 1998 when Pyongyang generated an international crisis by unexpectedly firing an intermediate-range Taepodong-1 over Japan.

We’re distracted by Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Venezuela, and stuff like American Idol (mostly American Idol) while the North Koreans are stockpiling longdong missiles. That can’t be good. But there’s some hope. They may be bluffing:

Pyongyang – which is keenly aware that the US can monitor its preparations by satellite – could be bluffing. Kim Jong-Il, the North Korean leader, has a history of performing eye-catching stunts when he feels he is being ignored, which has happened recently as Washington focuses on resolving nuclear tensions with Iran. Another US official said he might be “playing games” to get attention.

For some reason I’m just not finding any comfort in the fact that he might be bluffing.