Free Republic

“An Iranian government spokesman has said that outgoing President Mahmud Ahmadinejad will return with the Hidden Imam, who according to Shi’ite belief went into hiding in the 10th century and will reappear to bring justice to Earth,” reports Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. “God willing, with the manifestation of Imam Mehdi, Ahmadinejad will also return and work for the establishment of pure Islam,” spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham was quoted as saying by Iranian news agencies. “Ahmadinejad and his close aides have been criticized in Iran over their repeated references to Mahdi and signs of his imminent coming,” reports RFE/RL. “Ahmadinejad came...

Far-left filmmaker Oliver Stone is mourning the loss of late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as only the director can. He's making a movie about the failed socialist leader. Chavez, who died earlier this year after a long battle with cancer, will be the subject of Stone's next film, according to AFP. Oliver Stone is making a very beautiful film about our commander Hugo Chavez... that he will likely finish in the next months," [President Nicolas] Maduro said on Thursday, at an event in the northwestern state of Lara.... Maduro said that one of Stone's producers informed him about the film...

Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro admitted to knowing ‘with IDs and all’ who are the 900.000 Chavistas who crossed lines and did not vote for him in the 14 April election which anointed him as the successor of deceased Hugo Chavez. “When there is a man fallen in combat as was our commander (Chavez) strength must prevail. Instead of feeling defeated by sadness, we must defeat that sadness and overcome the lethargic feeling. We have identified the 900.000 compatriots with IDs and all…which meant that the gap was smaller, when the gap could have been good”, said Maduro during one of...

RUSH: This Obama comparison to Nixon, you hear it now and then. In fact, it was asked about at the press conference this afternoon with the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Reuters White House correspondent Jeff Mason said, "How do you feel about comparisons by some of your critics of this week's scandals to those that happened under the Nixon administration?" OBAMA: I'll let you guys engage in those comparisons, and you can go ahead and read the history, I think, and -- and draw your own conclusions. My concern is making sure that if there's a problem in...

The Venezuelan government was forced to begin importing 50 million rolls of toilet paper this week, due to massive shortages in consumer goods, and food in the country. Alejandro Fleming, Venezuela’s Minister of Commerce reportedly addressed the shortage of toilet paper, stating that, “the ‘Revolution’ will bring the equivalent of 50 million rolls of toilet paper to our country to calm things down.” He went on to address the perceived insidious nature of the shortage, asking citizens that they “please understand that we should not allow ourselves to be manipulated by a media campaign portraying shortages.”

SACRAMENTO -- Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archbishop Jose Gomez and several other Catholic Church officials in California took time from their retreat in Sacramento on Wednesday to make a push for Congress to keep up the momentum on changes to the country’s immigration laws. In a gaggle with reporters, Gomez said reform of the country’s immigration laws is “long overdue.” Gomez, who was joined by San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, as well as several bishops from around the state, urged Congress not to delay in passing a bill, saying the bipartisan package of legislation that has come together offers hope...

According to reports by the ruling regime, Hugo Chavez’s hand picked successor, Nicolas Maduro, barely managed to squeak by opposition candidate, Henrique Capriles, in a highly criticized special presidential election. Those figures were provided by the administration Chaves controlled, and were out of the ordinary for the official press organs who routinely claimed staggeringly high support for the president. Yet even by their own official count Maduro barely pulled off the victory. Critics doubt whether he won at all, citing evidence of widespread fraud and voter intimidation.

The following sermon was preached by Bishop John Bradosky of the NALC at the funeral service given for Kevin Michael Chavez, the son of NALC General Secretary Mark Chavez. Mark served many years as founding director of Lutheran CORE. Kevin died on April 8, 2013, on his way home from college. Lutheran CORE extends its prayers of condolence to the Chavez family. Read below or download a copy here. April 13, 2013 First Lesson: Isa 40:28-31 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will...

Nicolas Maduro Wins Venezuela Presidential Election (50.7%): Opposition Gets 49.1% Socialist candidate Nicolas Maduro has won a narrow victory in Venezuela's presidential poll. Mr Maduro, who was chosen by the late Hugo Chavez, won 50.7% of the vote against 49.1% for opposition candidate Henrique Capriles. The electoral commission said the results were "irreversible". There has been no comment from Mr Capriles, who earlier on Sunday has suggested there was an attempt to doctor the result. Mr Maduro told a rally of supporters in the capital Caracas that he had won a "just, legal and constitutional" victory. However, the margin of...

(CNN) -- The man former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez handpicked to be his successor has won the country's presidential vote, officials said late Sunday. With 99% of votes counted, Nicolas Maduro won 50.66% of votes, National Electoral Council President Tibisay Lucena said, calling the results "irreversible." Opposition candidate Henrique Capriles won 49.07% of votes, she said. "I have won by nearly 300,000 votes. It is the decision of the people," Maduro told cheering supporters late Sunday, calling on Venezuelans to respect the results and respond peacefully.

How close are we to becoming what the young girl in this North Korean video thinks all countries should become? The Religion of Kim in North Korea The North Korean propaganda video presented below was released several years ago and was apparently designed to show the life of a family in (comparatively privileged and tightly controlled) Pyongyang. In it, a girl studying to become a teacher praises her and her family's happiness granted by a government that provides everything for them. They in turn give the government their full devotion; it appears to own them. She compares their happy existence...

Watchdog.org reported: Thanks to your generous support, the New York City-based People’s Rights Fund has been able publicize the great work of Karl Marx and dictators Kim Jong-Il, Hugo Chavez and Saddam Hussein. Don’t remember writing that check? If you paid federal taxes after 1997, some of your money went to Tides, a San Francisco-based clearinghouse that collects and distributes about $251 million every year to hundreds of leftwing organizations. Much of the money flowing into Tides comes from wealthy benefactors who use Tides as a clearinghouse — a way to help finance left-liberal organizations without leaving any fingerprints. But...

Easter was on March 31st this year. So was Cesar Chavez Day. ... Everyone has their priorities.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Holding a Bible in her arms at the start of Holy Week, seamstress Maria Munoz waited patiently to visit the tomb of the man she considers another savior of humanity. The 64-year-old said she had already turned her humble one-bedroom house into a shrine devoted to the late President Hugo Chavez, complete with busts, photos and coffee mugs bearing his image. Now, she said, her brother-in-law was looking for a larger house to display six boxes' worth of Chavez relics that her family has collected throughout his political career.

Ed Driscol notes that Google has a predictable manner of observing Easter. Ironic, since whatever else you could say about Cesar Chavez he was a devout Catholic: “While two billion Christians around the world celebrate Easter Sunday on this 31st day of March, Google is using its famous ‘Doodle’ search logo art to mark the birth of left-wing labor leader,” Twitchy.com notes, adding that “Google’s Easter insult sparks Twitter backlash, mockery,” as well it should.  The timing of latest in-your-face politically correct homepage is oddly appropriate. As Dennis Prager has written, “You cannot understand the Left if you do not...

One suggests some basis for hope, another writes about oppression by Chavistas and the third pursues the same theme.El Presidente for Life, THugo Chávez, died on or before March 5, 2013. He may have died in Cuba, in Venezuela or perhaps elsewhere. There has been much speculation but nobody who knows for sure seems to be talking. In any event he is almost certainly dead now, a good thing -- or at least I hope it is good -- for Venezuela. Before proceeding further, here are some points that should be kept in mind about Venezuela: 1. Venezuela has a...

This will probably come as a crushing blow to Chris Hayes, (the legacy of Hugo Chavez is “complicated” donchaknow…) but it seems that the dictator may miss out on his chance to become a permanent national monument in corpse form. It turns out that the process to permanently embalm and display the now room temperature leader would take a bit more work than can be managed. Venezuela’s information minister says the government has decided that the body of Hugo Chavez will not be embalmed for permanent display, as officials had said it would be.Ernesto Villegas’ tweet Friday night says the...

At first glance it seems like a reasonably decent airport. Then after a while you notice the dilapidation, the inoperative urinal, the broken floor tiles. A surprisingly pretty Immigration Agent waves me over, inspects my documents, asks a few questions in passable English and allows me into the country. I retrieve my bag and then pass both the bag and the carry-on through the x-ray machine just before the the exit. This is my first trip to Caracas and I was not without anxiety given the tumultuous events of the last few weeks. I had been invited to come and...

Chavez is dead. Is Venezuela?h/t Devil's Excrement Daniel, one of my two favorite bloggers on things Venezuelan, published this article today. It summarizes what's wrong with Venezuela today and does not raise any false hopes for her immediate future. Her future is bleak. Here's the first paragraph. The wake is suspended, Chavez rests for the time being in a military museum, an old barrack to ensure past presidential safety at Miraflores, now unable to ensure safety in an area that has been overcome by slums. For a military that was never able to understand what the civilian world and democracy...