Archive for February 9th, 2007
The Downfall Begins
Friday, February 9th, 2007
There’s nothing more intriguing than watching a fledgling socialist nation as it begins it’s inevitable downfall.
Shortages have sporadically appeared with items from milk to coffee since early 2003, when Chavez began regulating prices for 400 basic products as a way to counter inflation and protect the poor.
Yet inflation has soared to an accumulated 78 percent in the last four years in an economy awash in petrodollars, and food prices have increased particularly swiftly, creating a widening discrepancy between official prices and the true cost of getting goods to market in Venezuela.
“Shortages have increased significantly as well as violations of price controls,” Central Bank director Domingo Maza Zavala told the Venezuelan broadcaster Union Radio on Thursday. “The difference between real market prices and controlled prices is very high.”
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“The weight of the law will be felt, and we demand punishment,” Information Minister Willian Lara said Wednesday.
Like a train wreck in slow motion, we don’t want to watch, but are compelled to do so.
I Voted For The President, Right After I Voted For His Successor
Friday, February 9th, 2007
The push to make Florida’s presidential primary among the first in the nation sailed across its first legislative hurdle this morning.
The House Ethics & Elections Committee unanimously approved a bill (HB 537) that would move the state’s presidential primary election from the first Tuesday in March to Jan. 29th or earlier, by formally tying it to one week after New Hampshire’s primary. A priority of Republican House Speaker Marco Rubio’s, the plan is expected to advance rapidly through the Legislature.
What few qualms lawmakers expressed about the legislation — that it is contributing to a multi-state scramble to hold ever-earlier primaries, that only the deepest-pocketed candidates will be able to compete in a state as big as Florida — were drowned out by their enthusiasm for making the Sunshine State an even bigger player on the national political stage.
It seems we just can’t wait to finish this level of the game before we play the next. Crazy. To think we’re squandering the opportunity to spend a full 6-9 months learning about perspective candidates before making a decision. Plus, are we really ready for a solid year of presidential campaign ads? Yuck!
Gizmodo Sux
Friday, February 9th, 2007
I unsubscribed from Gizmodo a while back due to completely innacurate reporting. Chris Lanier has a post today detailing a similar experience. I don’t know who that Chen guy is but he certainly shouldn’t be running a top end technology blog. I’m reading Engadget, Engadget HD, and Gadgetell now, they get their facts straight.
