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<p>CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Actor Sean Penn criticized Republican presidential candidates during a visit to Venezuela on Thursday, saying that right-wing policies in the United States aim to benefit the wealthy. Penn made the remarks after meeting with socialist President Hugo Chavez at Venezuela's presidential palace, when he was asked by a reporter about criticisms of Chavez by some Republican candidates.</p>

This writer does not question that the late, great Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was deservedly one of the most monumental and pivotal figures of the 20th century. King's inspirational leadership, oratory, and profession of non-violence may have very well saved this nation from a race war. I am grateful that the Rev. Dr. King emerged as the most visible and influential leader of the civil rights movement as opposed to an advocate of violence such as Malcolm X or a radical communist. No, the Rev. Dr. King was not a communist, however, he did business with communists and...

Harsh Punishments for Poor Mourning The North Korean authorities have completed the criticism sessions which began after the mourning period for Kim Jong Il and begun to punish those who transgressed during the highly orchestrated mourning events. Daily NK learned from a source from North Hamkyung Province on January 10th, “The authorities are handing down at least six months in a labor-training camp to anybody who didn’t participate in the organized gatherings during the mourning period, or who did participate but didn’t cry and didn't seem genuine.” Furthermore, the source added that people who are accused of circulating rumors criticizing...

Viva la gaffe... Mercedes-Benz apologises for using image of Che Guevara to promote 'revolutionary' car sharing programme (Viva la revolucion: Mercedes Benz used an iconic image of Marxist revolutionary leader Che Guevara to promote a new ride-share initiative) Che Guevara, the famous Argentinian-born revolutionary and military theorist, wore many hats – including that of physician, author, and guerrilla leader. But he almost certainly never wore one with a Mercedes-Benz logo. The high-end car company, known for its impeccable - and pricey - motor vehicles, used the late leader to promote a new car-sharing program, much to the horror of Cuban...

Kwanzaa Is Wack: There, I Said It Kwanzaa is wack. The other day I said this on my Facebook page. Actually, what I said was:” Is it wrong of me to say that I love AFRICA, but I think Kwanzaa is wack? #ducksfromthebricks .” Now, when I said it, I meant it but gave no thought to how it might affect people. I’m kind of bad like that. A ton of people (some Black and some not) got on and said they thought Kwanzaa was wack to. I never thought about it again really. Just a funny little thread. Then...

How To Identify A Zombie (Updated) How to Tell the Difference Between Zombies and #Occupy Protesters. Hope it helps.

Report: Occupy Oakland Devolves into “Lord of the Flies” John on October 20, 2011 at 12:01 am From the Oakland Tribune: The next thing Hughes knew he was in a headlock, then he was being punched, and then he was on the ground as a large man began to choke him. This happened as Hughes, a substitute teacher and Occupy Oakland resident, tried to keep a larger man who also lived in the camp from threatening a woman there. Finally, after another threatening incident involving the same individual, the occupiers had had enough: About 3:30 Tuesday afternoon, a group of...

Students Fight to Keep UCSD Landmark Open SAN DIEGO -- A group of UCSD students is fighting to keep an eccentric landmark open. "It's that one last place at UCSD that sort of exudes that college atmosphere," said Alex Peterson, UCSD student. "It sort of represents the revolutionary, liberal, young college student." The Che Cafe opened in 1980 as a co-operative run by students and volunteers. It was named after Ernesto "Che" Guevara, an Argentinian doctor who was a major figure of the Cuban revolution. It's one of the oldest structures on campus. Built in 1960, the building was turned...

<p>A massive storm brought subzero temps and a foot of snow to the Midwest Saturday, also setting off a tornado warning in parts of the South, forecasters say.</p> <p>In the Twin Cities... "I highly recommend that people don't plan to be out and about. It's really going to be dangerous to be traveling outside."</p>

Che Guevara spawns tourism industry with 'Che Trail' In life, Ernesto "Che" Guevara fought to overthrow a corrupt, capitalist elite. In death, he is spawning his own tourism industry – soon to include a three-country "Che Trail." Tourism officials in Argentina, Cuba and Bolivia are collaborating on a historic route that will allow Guevara buffs to retrace the footsteps of the Argentine medical student turned revolutionary in Cuba who was killed in a failed mission to foment an uprising in Bolivia. Bolivia's vice minister of tourism, Marco Antonio Peredo, said that the international "Caminos del Che" trail will include sites...

Poland: Your Ché Guevara T-shirt can land you in jail Poland's revised criminal code includes a ban on communist symbols, such as the red star or hammer and sickle, though one artist says "they are no longer meaningful." By Hilary Heuler • A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent. Evocative symbols of Europe’s troubled past, such as the swastika, have long been illegal in countries across the continent. But now Poland has gone one step further, revising its criminal code to include a ban on symbols of communism. Poles can now be fined or even put in prison if...

Shot in Boston, with a cast of 42, it's a wonderful Kwanzaa December 16, 2007 While the Christmas film has been a staple of American cinema since George Bailey discovered it's a wonderful life, the African-American holiday of Kwanzaa, observed from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1 each year, has been around for only about 40 years, and the cinematic pickings are much slimmer. That's why a Boston-based independent filmmaker believes he's breaking new ground with his movie. "Kwanzaa with the Jones's" will have its premiere Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline. The film is the...

$1 Million Note On the Way As Cash Crisis Worsens Zimbabwe Independent (Harare) NEWS 16 November 2007 By Paul Nyakazeya CASH shortages worsened this week amid speculation that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe was working on plans to introduce higher denominations of bearers' cheques. Business digest understands that the central bank is finalising the introduction of $500 000 and $1 million notes. The new bearer's cheque notes are likely to be introduced early next month. The denominations below $10 000 will be scrapped, sources said. "From the discussions and preparation we have had so far I would say the new...

Monday, November 12, 2007 Terror Teaser..."Babes of FARC" Heat Up Colombian Jungle Terror group hopes "Babes of FARC" wins over sympathizers. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) posted "Babes of FARC" photos to promote their communist revolutionary cause. The Colombian FARC terrorists released their calendar for 2007-2008.

Poster relates Che's dark side November 5, 2007 By Robert Stacy McCain - One of the most famous faces of communism is getting a makeover this week, with a new poster designed to teach students the whole story about Cuban revolutionary icon Ernesto "Che" Guevara. "The Victims of Che Guevera" poster, produced by the Young America's Foundation, centers on a collage that uses tiny photos of those killed by Cuba's communist regime to compose the face of the Marxist guerrilla, who has become a popular T-shirt icon. "Che is one of the heroes that the left idolizes," said Patrick X....

SOUTH AFRICA - For generations, members of the impoverished baboon community in the Cape peninsula have suffered from inequality, forced to live in deplorable conditions on the margins of simian society with no access to education, subsidized housing, and universal healthcare - but this paradigm is about to shift. The baboons - whom scientists describe as the most economically oppressed minority among the primates - are finally fighting back, forcing homo sapiens to rethink their place in the diverse biosphere they had exploited for too long without giving back. Scientists are unsure about the cause of the baboons' sudden compulsion...

This afternoon [10/18/2007] the editorial desk of Noticiero Digital contacted the news department of Mérida radio station Estudio 102.7 FM, who confirmed the information reported this morning. They added that the recently inaugurated monument was destroyed by gunfire. The glass monument honoring Argentinian guerilla Ernesto Guevara was not well received by the area's communities, to whom [Che] represented a figure who was totally foreign to its history and values.

The Curse Of Che Guevara By Jens Glüsing Legendary Argentinian guerrilla fighter Ernesto "Che" Guevara was shot dead in Bolivia 40 years ago. Some worship him like a saint, while others credit him with the power to take revenge on his killers from beyond the grave. The man who shot the most famous guerrilla fighter of all time lives in Bolivia's largest city, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, in a typical middle-class neighborhood. The street is quiet and located close to Avenida Paraguay, one of the main thoroughfares in the sprawling city. The man who lives here is 68 years...

On This Day In History - October 9, 1967 Professional revolutionary "Che" Guevara is executed in Bolivia Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, better known to the world as "Che" Guevara, is executed by Bolivian armed forces on this day in 1967. Born in Argentina, Guevara was a professional revolutionary who became involved in the Guatemalan revolution of the 1950s. It was during this time that he discovered Marxism and became a fervent convert to the philosophy. Following the overthrow of the Guatemalan government by a U.S.-sponsored coup in 1954, Guevara traveled to Mexico where he joined up with Cuban revolutionary...

Children of Che Guevara meet Iran’s culture minister Tehran Times Culture Desk September 27, 2007 TEHRAN -- Two children of Ernesto Che Guevara met Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad-Hossein Saffar Harandi here on Tuesday. Aleida and Camilo Guevara are currently visiting Iran and are scheduled to meet with high-ranking Iranian officials. The culture minister paid tribute to Che Guevara and said Iran and Cuba have one point in common, which is the fact that both have experienced U.S. hostility. Saffar Harandi added that Cuba has made good progress over the years, and congratulated Aleida and Camilo on...

Lock of Che Guevara's hair to be sold Mon Sep 3, 12:51 PM ET MIAMI - A former CIA operative and Cuban exile plans to auction what he says is a lock of Che Guevara's hair, snipped before the Argentinian revolutionary and friend of Fidel Castro was buried in 1967. Gustavo Villoldo, 71, was involved in Guevara's capture in the jungles of Bolivia, according to unclassified U.S. records and other documents. He plans to auction the hair and other items kept in a scrapbook since the joint CIA-Bolivian army mission 40 years ago. "It's time for me to put the...

The Peace Racket Bruce Bawer An anti-Western movement touts dictators, advocates appeasement—and gains momentum. If you want peace, prepare for war.” Thus counseled Roman general Flavius Vegetius Renatus over 1,600 years ago. Nine centuries before that, Sun Tzu offered essentially the same advice, and it’s to him that Vegetius’s line is attributed at the beginning of a film that I saw recently at Oslo’s Nobel Peace Center. Yet the film cites this ancient wisdom only to reject it. After serving up a perverse potted history of the cold war, the thrust of which is that the peace movement brought down...

Ga. mayor's outreach to Venezuelan leader upsets some residents Associated Press - August 12, 2007 MACON, Ga. (AP) - Some Macon residents have called for demonstrations and boycotts after the mayor of the middle Georgia city formally reached out to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez with a declaration of solidarity. Mayor Jack Ellis said the declaration -- sent about two weeks ago by courier -- was a message that local leaders can stand together despite disagreements at the highest reaches of government. Some local leaders have blasted the mayor's decision to support Chavez -- who is a vocal ally of Iran...

Tinseltown Deifies a Mass Murderer By IGS IGS | July 30, 2007 Not content with only one disingenuous biography of mass executioner Ernesto "Che" Guevara, Hollywood's now got plans for another Che-flattering flick. In Tinseltown, historical reality routinely loses out to radical chic. The real lowdown is that Guevara helped Castro come to power in Cuba and personally carried out executions for him. The same group that wanted California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to stop the execution of multiple murderer Tookie Williams because of opposition to capital punishment have no problem walking around in Che T-shirts, despite the fact that on...

Che Guevara: PC Icon by Larry Pratt July 12, 2007 02:00 PM EST Che Guevara's image graces many a T-shirt worn in the US. Wearing one of these seems to be intended as a statement that it is good to be free of the crushing norms of a civilization tricked up by dead white men. The T-shirt image depicts a long-haired 1960’s hippy gazing steadfastly into the future. The truth is, Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the one-time number three in Fidel Castro's thugocracy, would have had a guy looking like Guevara's resemblance arrested and sent to a concentration camp known by...

Business execs arrested for refusing to cut prices By Angus Shaw ASSOCIATED PRESS July 9, 2007 HARARE, Zimbabwe – Police arrested 16 more business leaders in a crackdown on those suspected of violating the government's order to slash prices by 50 percent, the official media reported yesterday. The mandated price cuts ordered more than two weeks ago are a desperate attempt to confront inflation that has spun out of control during Zimbabwe's economic crisis. The falling prices have caused stampedes, panic buying and near-riots. Among those arrested in the latest sweep were the directors of Edgars, a leading clothing and...

Chinese officials break "one-child" policy Jul 8 11:56 AM US/Eastern Nearly 2,000 officials in central China have violated the nation's "one child" family planning policy, further revealing difficulties in implementing population controls. Family planning departments have exposed 1,968 officials in populous Hunan province who have breached the law, Xinhua news agency said Sunday. One "national" level official surnamed Li even went so far as to sire four children with his four different mistresses, the report said. The local family planning commission caught 21 national and local legislators, 24 political advisers and 112 businessmen violating the birth control policies in the...

Red Star Ignorance - Cameron Diaz and the great Peruvian faux pas By Court Pearman Epoch Times Washington, D.C. Staff June 30, 2007 Oh, Poor Cameron Diaz! She got roasted for wearing a bag with a red star and a quote from Mao Tse Tung on it in Peru, a country that suffered massive bloodshed at the hands of Maoist rebels. People who survive civil wars are so uptight. It is not like she was wearing a bag with a Hitler quote and a black swastika on it. That would have been really bad. And she wasn't wearing a KKK...

(On This Day In History) June 26, 1948 : Berlin Airlift Begins In response to the Soviet blockade of land routes into West Berlin, the United States begins a massive airlift of food, water, and medicine to the citizens of the besieged city. For nearly a year, supplies from American planes sustained the over 2 million people in West Berlin. On June 24, 1948, the Soviet Union blocked all road and rail travel to and from West Berlin, which was located within the Soviet zone of occupation in Germany. The Soviet action was in response to the refusal of American...

June 19, 1953 : Julius and Ethel Rosenberg executed Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, a married couple convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage in 1951, are put to death in the electric chair. The execution marked the dramatic finale of the most controversial espionage case of the Cold War. Julius was arrested in July 1950, and Ethel in August of that same year, on the charge of conspiracy to commit espionage. Specifically, they were accused of heading a spy ring that passed top-secret information concerning the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. The Rosenbergs vigorously protested their innocence, but after a...

Johnny Depp 'Digs' Che by Humberto Fontova Posted: 06/04/2007 The cover of the current Rolling Stone magazine features mega movie star Johnny Depp hugging mega rock star Keith Richards. In the world's top-grossing movie of the moment these two "blood brothers," as Rolling Stone calls them, team up as father-son. Throughout the RS article, Depp, who moved to Hollywood as an amateur rock guitarist only to see his fortunes blossom elsewhere in the entertainment industry, gushes about the Rolling Stones, and Keith Richards in particular, as his " models, inspiration," etc. etc. Hanging from Depp's neck during the Rolling Stone...

A Chinese-language international TV station called New Tang Dynasty TV (NTDTV) recently broadcast a news item on Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv's adamant prohibition of Jews deriving any benefit from Chinese organ harvesting, even in life-threatening situations. Elyashiv, the most respected halachic authority among haredi Lithuanian Jewry, ruled over a month ago that it was forbidden to use organs harvested from members of the Falun Gong, a spiritual movement that is being persecuted by the Chinese Communist regime. Although Elyashiv did not mention the Falun Gong by name, he said it was a desecration of God's name for Jews to exploit...

1989 : Tiananmen Square Massacre Takes Place Chinese troops storm through Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing, killing and arresting thousands of pro-democracy protesters. The brutal Chinese government assault on the protesters shocked the West and brought denunciations and sanctions from the United States. In May 1989, nearly a million Chinese, mostly young students, crowded into central Beijing to protest for greater democracy and call for the resignations of Chinese Communist Party leaders deemed too repressive. For nearly three weeks, the protesters kept up daily vigils, and marched and chanted. Western reporters captured much of the drama for television...

September 21, 2006 Rangel to Chavez: Shut Up Cross-posted from The Dread Pundit Bluto Even as Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez was receiving applause at a Harlem church, Representative Charles Rangel (D-NY), as partisan a Democrat and vociferous a critic of the Bush administration as you will find, was condemning Chavez' "devil" remarks at the United Nations yesterday. From Rangel's official website:WASHINGTON - I want to express my extreme displeasure with statements by the President of Venezuela attacking U.S. President George Bush in such a personal and disparaging way during his remarks at the United Nations General Assembly. It should...

Harkin defends Venezuelan President's U-N speech against Bush by Darwin Danielson Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, a democrat, today defended Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's United Nations speech in which Chavez called President George Bush the devil. Harkin said the comments were "incendiary", then went on to say, "Let me put it this way, I can understand the frustration, ah, and the anger of certain people around the world because of George Bush's policies." Harkin continued what has been frequent criticism of the president's foreign policy. Harkin says Bush came to office saying he wanted a new humility in foreign policy in...

UN panel sees grave women's rights abuse in Mexico 27 Jan 2005 20:04:47 GMT Source: Reuters (Adds background, detail, paragraphs 4-14) By Irwin Arieff UNITED NATIONS, Jan 26 (Reuters) - A U.N. panel accused Mexico on Thursday of "grave and systematic" rights violations for failing to solve the killings of hundreds of women in the past decade near the Mexico-U.S. border. The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women said it was "greatly concerned at the fact that these serious and systematic violations of women's rights have continued for over 10 years." The panel, in...