Anyone with even passing knowledge of Venezuelan politics had to know that after his defeat at the polls last December that Hugo Chávez would make another run at a re-election amendment.
Via the AP: Chavez seeks reform for indefinite re-election
President Hugo Chavez is asking supporters to propose a constitutional reform that would allow him to seek indefinite re-election.
Chavez, who was first elected in 1998, is barred from running again when his term expires in 2024.
However, he only wants 6 more years (or so he says):
Chavez on Sunday said he would stay in office until 2024 if voters abolished the term limits.
However, the BBC report clouds the 2024 question, quoting the President:
“I am ready, and if I am healthy, God willing, I will be with you until 2024, until 2024,” he said.
Well, that clears it up. (Reuters goes with 2024).
Well, Chavez has been having a problem getting things through the voters (odd, for an alleged dictator). And with the 50% reduction in oil prices, I imagine that his stock hasn’t gone up with them, either.
Comment by Barry — Monday, December 1, 2024 @ 4:30 pm
I knew it was coming: OU jumping UT to go to the Big XII Championship, but it still sucks. Oh, playoff, wherefore art thou?
While I fully understand that if we had just beaten Tech, none of this would matter, but it really stinks to watch to two teams your team beat (OU and Mizzou) go to the title game.
Even as a Sooner fan, I actually feel (a little) bad for Texas. It’s unfortunate that the Big XII uses the BCS rankings as a tiebreaker for a division. What SHOULD be happening is Texas and Oklahoma should be playing again for the title. I don’t think anyone questions that these are the top two teams in the conference. Yes, Texas won the regular season matchup, but rematches have been common in the Championship game since its inception. Let’s just trash the division format and put the two best teams out there.
What I’d really like to see is an OU win next week, and a squeaker of a Florida win that somehow doesn’t let the Gators jump the Horns. Unfortunately, I don’t think the coaches would allow it to happen. If Florida does win, I expect they will jump from 4th to 1st just to make sure the game is inter-conference.
Comment by Mark L — Sunday, November 30, 2024 @ 5:57 pm
The divisional structure is a tad annoying, to be sure. Indeed, an OU-UT Big XII Championship makes more sense than OU-Mizzou.
Ah well.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Sunday, November 30, 2024 @ 5:59 pm
Mark, a Florida team that beats an undefeated number 1 team should jump 2 & 3. On another note, I know it has to be frustrating for Texas, but I doubt they would have had any sympathy for Texas Tech had they themselves gotten in and put Tech in their own position. But aren’t they just playing to see who gets to get beat by Alabama anyway.
Comment by Talmadge East — Monday, December 1, 2024 @ 9:37 am
As an OSU fan, I am still recovering from the Cowboys’ collapse in the last quarter (okay, half) of Satuday’s game against OU.
However, I definitely acknowledge that the selection process is pretty screwy. It’s crumby that Texas beat both of the so-called “champion” teams this season.
Comment by S.K.B — Monday, December 1, 2024 @ 11:21 am
It seems like the fact that OU is able to run up the score matters more than anything else. I will admit it is impressive the number of points they are rolling up, especially against teams like Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. But their game against State was a lot closer up until the last 5-6 minutes, and the Sooner’s defense looked very porous.
Comment by ts — Monday, December 1, 2024 @ 11:32 am
TS,
I don’t think OU’s running up the score was the deciding factor. The human polls swung Texas’ way some, but the computers were what pushed OU ahead. And the computers have been told to not take scores into account - just wins and losses. For example, Sagarin from USA Today publishes two results - one with W/L only (used by BCS) and one that includes margin of victory.
OU went ahead of Texas because they won on the road against a top 15 opponent. Texas won at home against a cellar-dweller in the conference. Everyone predicted a week ago that OU would pull ahead in SOS because of it.
OU benefitted from playing a bit better competition than Texas this year. Playing conference champ Cincinnati, and conference runner up TCU in the non-conference schedule certainly helped. OU also played Washington, but no one would have predicted they would be down so much, likewise for the Horns and Arkansas.
OU’s defense certainly has issues. We’ve had two senior starters and one of their replacements go out, so I don’t think there’s anything certain.
The one plus side to this that is being missed is that OU is being rewarded for playing a slightly tougher schedule. Considering Tech had four cupcakes as non-conference opponents, I would hope the message would be clear - cupcakes can be hazardous to your health.
Comment by Mark L — Tuesday, December 2, 2024 @ 6:40 pm
Swiss voters have backed a change in health policy that would provide prescription heroin to addicts.
Final results from the national referendum showed 68% of voters supported the plan.
The scheme, where addicts inject the drug under medical supervision at a clinic, began in Zurich 14 years ago before spreading across the country.
But in another referendum, the Swiss appear to have rejected the decriminalisation of cannabis.
Interesting, especially since one would assume that any type of liberalization concerning heroin would be more controversial than decriminalization of marijuana.
This is an example of harm reduction policies in regards to addictive drugs-the acknowledgement that drug addicts will exist no matter what punitive policies are put into place and that it is better to treat the issue as a public health concern that is to be managed, rather than a simple question of crime and punishment.
I don’t necessarily see any inconsistency amongst Swiss voters.
I don’t know the details, but from what you posted, the heroin measure isn’t really “liberalization” but rather a support for a medical treatment for addiction.
In rejecting the cannabis measure, maybe the generally conservative Swiss don’t want to see their country turn into a Holland-style playground for annoying pot-smoking foreign tourists?
Comment by Ratoe — Sunday, November 30, 2024 @ 4:24 pm
Oh, I think it clearly rates as liberalization.
In rejecting the cannabis measure, maybe the generally conservative Swiss don’t want to see their country turn into a Holland-style playground for annoying pot-smoking foreign tourists?
I expect you are quite correct here.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Sunday, November 30, 2024 @ 4:28 pm
Back when Kathleen Parker criticized the Palin pick, I remember seeing several statements by other conservative commentators that she (and others) were only trying to get approval from the liberal media.
Now, James Dobson joins that chorus and even ousts Parker from conservatism: ‘We Won’t Be Silenced’
Whatever she once was, Ms. Parker is certainly not a conservative anymore, having apparently realized it’s a lot easier to be popular among your journalistic peers when your keyboard tilts to the left.
So, if one criticizes, one is ousted? That isn’t an especially healthy attitude for Dobson and his allies to take.
Beyond that, Dobson is actually helping make Parker’s point insofar as he is clearly calling for a rigid alliance between conservative Republicans and a particular view of evangelical Christianity which one can only deviate from at one’s peril.
This strikes me as an unhealthy recipe for revitalization of the GOP, regardless of one’s views of the role of religion in politics.
“So, if one criticizes, one is ousted? That isn’t an especially healthy attitude for Dobson and his allies to take.”
It’s very healthy - for Dobson & Co. They have an interest in making sure that they are the gatekeepers, at least unless and until they lose too many elections. And better to lose than to win, in a coalition where they don’t have gatekeeping power.
Comment by Barry — Monday, December 1, 2024 @ 4:34 pm
Via the AP: Saudi king says oil should be $75 per barrel - Yahoo! News
Saudi Arabia’s king says the price of oil should be $75 a barrel, much higher than it is now, but his oil minister indicated Saturday that no measures will likely be taken until OPEC meets again next month.
[...]
“We believe the fair price for oil is $75 a barrel,” he said, without saying how the price could be raised.
Or, presumably, without explaining why the arbitrary figure of $75 per would be the “fair price.” Although the Qatari Oil Miniaster claims that such a prices is needed to encourage investment:
“The price between 70 to 80 (dollars a barrel) is the one encouraging in investment and developing new or current oil fields,” he said. “It falls below 70 (dollars), the investment would freeze, which will lead to a crisis in supply in the future.”
Nigerian Oil Minister Odein Ajumogobia also said they would be “very happy” with oil at $75.
Less investment in long-term supply, it is pretty obvious that the issue has far more to do with short-to-medium term politics:
The recent price drop has left OPEC price hawks Venezuela and Iran clamoring for further reductions of at least 1 million barrels a day. Both countries need crude at about $90 per barrel to meet spending needs aimed in part at propping up domestically unpopular regimes.
The likelihood that OPEC will be able to drastically affect price itself is quite small. They have already met twice in recent months to try and curtail supply and yet the price has continued to plummet. More likely than not these regimes are simply going to have to face the fact that in the current global economic climate that they will not have the cash that they planned on having going forward.
Indeed, as the story notes:
A Nov. 24 New York-based Oppenheimer & Co. research report says that for oil to rebound to $65 a barrel, OPEC would need to cut crude production by more than 3 million barrels per day from its September levels — a move it called highly unlikely.
That’s a pretty drastic cutback, and even then they won’t reach their %75 mark. Further, the incentive for cheating will be high, as each of the states in question would love for overall supply to be decreased, just not their part of supply.
If $75 is a “fair price for oil” then why weren’t they charging it six months ago? Presumably, either they were being unfair or that’s just what the market price of oil was. Now it’s $54.
I’d be curious to know if they’d have been satisfied with an average price of $75 over the past year or so.
Comment by Dave Schuler — Saturday, November 29, 2024 @ 2:26 pm
While several of the hotels that had been attacked over the past several days have been secured, there are still three terrorists in the Taj hotel who are currently being engaged by Indian security forces.
Via IBN: THREE MEN HOLD TAJ TO RANSOM
On Friday night – 51 hours into the war-like operation on terror – the National Security Guard said there are at least three terrorists still holed up inside the hotel.
The NSG are in a close combat with the dogged terrorists at the iconic hotel after securing two other centres taken over by gunmen two nights ago.
While an all-clear was sounded at Hotel Oberoi-Trident and Nariman House – the other two flashpoints – NSG DG told CNN-IBN the operation at Taj would continue over night.
IBN is also reporting that some of the attackers were Pakistanis.
I had seen, in passing, a ref to Matthews possibly running for the Senate in PA in 2024, but I thought that it was a joke (and I forget where I saw it in any event). However, according to Nate Silver, it isn’t a joke: Chris Matthews Staffing Up for Probable Senate Run in 2024.
The seat in question currently belongs to Arlen Specter.
It would be an interesting move, in any event. Perhaps the Franken campaign inspired him.
As Thanksgiving Day 2024 comes to a close, I have to say it has been, in my little corner of the world, a lovely day. I have largely avoided my normal daily does of news, instead having had a day of the four F’s: family, food, football and fotografías.1 I certainly have much to be thankful for in regards to my wonderful family pictured below and the food was delicious and plentiful. On a lesser quantum of significance, I can’t argue with the football outcomes and messing with the fotos was quite relaxing…
I am also thankful for the magic of the internet and blogging (not to mention e-mail), which, amongst other things, allows me to have far more contact with distant friends (another “F”!) in ways that otherwise would not be possible (I hope you all had a fine day).2
I will say, that as we all have so much to be thankful for, and even with my own self-imposed news avoidance (mostly), I have to admit that my mind has often gone to the the horrible events in Mumbai. On that subject, I recommend this post on that topic from one of the aforementioned distant friends.
I am especially reminded of this, as not only do I frequent their blogs, I have had direct communication from several of them today-truly a marvel of modern tech. [↩]
Well, Chavez has been having a problem getting things through the voters (odd, for an alleged dictator). And with the 50% reduction in oil prices, I imagine that his stock hasn’t gone up with them, either.
Comment by Barry — Monday, December 1, 2024 @ 4:30 pm