Off or out...

Lights off or out that is...Did anyone see this black/dark Google? (I didn't as it was only in the US, Canada, UK and Ireland) Their tagline was "We've turned the lights out. Now it's your turn - Earth Hour." Started last year and promoted by the World Wildlife Fund [WWF] and Australian daily broadsheet newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald [SMH] in March 2007 2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights for one hour. Now it's getting more global support (Wiki link: click on screenshot) Google commented that:

"Given our company's commitment to environmental awareness and energy efficiency, we strongly support the Earth Hour campaign, and have darkened our homepage today to help spread awareness of what we hope will be a highly successful global event."

It was yesterday!...so I'm hoping some of you were aware of it! I've just signed up for next year [official site] although I'm very conscious of waste anyway...except for all the flights I do I might even be considered "green" . Also, by complete coincidence, at the exact time (8pm to 9pm local time) I was sat in the dark for nearly 2 hours with all the lights and appliances at home turned off...good eh?...however I was out in the cinema!

Off or out...

Lights off or out that is...Did anyone see this black/dark Google? (I didn't as it was only in the US, Canada, UK and Ireland) Their tagline was "We've turned the lights out. Now it's your turn - Earth Hour." Started last year and promoted by the World Wildlife Fund [WWF] and Australian daily broadsheet newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald [SMH] in March 2007 2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights for one hour. Now it's getting more global support (Wiki link: click on screenshot) Google commented that:

"Given our company's commitment to environmental awareness and energy efficiency, we strongly support the Earth Hour campaign, and have darkened our homepage today to help spread awareness of what we hope will be a highly successful global event."

It was yesterday!...so I'm hoping some of you were aware of it! I've just signed up for next year [official site] although I'm very conscious of waste anyway...except for all the flights I do I might even be considered "green" . Also, by complete coincidence, at the exact time (8pm to 9pm local time) I was sat in the dark for nearly 2 hours with all the lights and appliances at home turned off...good eh?...however I was out in the cinema!

"Jarre breathes again with Oxygene" [BBC] If you're interested, he has his own Blogspot blog. Oxygene Part IV (as a single) is probably amongst the best known pieces of electronic music ever; if you like/liked it or want to listen to part of it turn your speakers up and go HERE. Oxygene is considered by some to be the most important and influential electronic music album ever being more 'easy on the ear' than JMJ's contemporaries: the German bands Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream; the latter were on Virgin Records in the 70's along with Mike Oldfield who's Tubular Bells (smart boy that Branson!) probably vies for position at the top of the league with Oxygene. Jarre is currently performing in the UK as part of the Oxygene 30 year anniversary...using the same instruments as the original recording! The album cover is apt for the times too!

"Jarre breathes again with Oxygene" [BBC] If you're interested, he has his own Blogspot blog. Oxygene Part IV (as a single) is probably amongst the best known pieces of electronic music ever; if you like/liked it or want to listen to part of it turn your speakers up and go HERE. Oxygene is considered by some to be the most important and influential electronic music album ever being more 'easy on the ear' than JMJ's contemporaries: the German bands Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream; the latter were on Virgin Records in the 70's along with Mike Oldfield who's Tubular Bells (smart boy that Branson!) probably vies for position at the top of the league with Oxygene. Jarre is currently performing in the UK as part of the Oxygene 30 year anniversary...using the same instruments as the original recording! The album cover is apt for the times too!

Obedient, obeisant observance or obsequious obscurantism?...

The longest title on Owsblog and probably all from the same page of the dictionary...and - of course - I'm referring to religion...what better day for that! A constant subject of 'debate' [R5L message board] and one that will never be resolved. As I've mentioned before I'm of the opinion that nearly all religions are/were a way for the well educated and rich to subjugate hoi polloi.

Andrew Clark and Orsolya Lelkes in their paper entitled 'Deliver us from evil: religion as insurance' are basically telling us that believers are happier. Their paper - one of dozens presented at last weeks Royal Economic Society Annual Conference [RES Home] [RES Conference]

...focuses on the insurance role of religion in buffering the well‐being impact of stressful life events, and the ensuing economic and social implications... ...we show that the religious enjoy higher levels of life satisfaction, and that religion does insure against some adverse life events.

Judging by the fact that it seems to concentrate on European data sets - I've only read the abstract - and highlights Catholic and Protestant denominations I'm guessing they refer only to Christianity - hence today's relevance.

Anyway, happy or not they've got some good tunes! (and they say it's the Devil that always has them...he may have: THIS is why.) I wrote here - the 4th comment on this post on Baldinio's blog yesterday - and now I can't stop singing! Oh happy day...

Obedient, obeisant observance or obsequious obscurantism?...

The longest title on Owsblog and probably all from the same page of the dictionary...and - of course - I'm referring to religion...what better day for that! A constant subject of 'debate' [R5L message board] and one that will never be resolved. As I've mentioned before I'm of the opinion that nearly all religions are/were a way for the well educated and rich to subjugate hoi polloi.

Andrew Clark and Orsolya Lelkes in their paper entitled 'Deliver us from evil: religion as insurance' are basically telling us that believers are happier. Their paper - one of dozens presented at last weeks Royal Economic Society Annual Conference [RES Home] [RES Conference]

...focuses on the insurance role of religion in buffering the well‐being impact of stressful life events, and the ensuing economic and social implications... ...we show that the religious enjoy higher levels of life satisfaction, and that religion does insure against some adverse life events.

Judging by the fact that it seems to concentrate on European data sets - I've only read the abstract - and highlights Catholic and Protestant denominations I'm guessing they refer only to Christianity - hence today's relevance.

Anyway, happy or not they've got some good tunes! (and they say it's the Devil that always has them...he may have: THIS is why.) I wrote here - the 4th comment on this post on Baldinio's blog yesterday - and now I can't stop singing! Oh happy day...

Only oceans...

Water: Under pressure. A Nature Special [Nature]... World Water Day is today: March 22nd 2008...to celebrate we can worry about how little there is and how we can make that go round: "more than billion [sic] people around the world still lack access to safe drinking water and two billion have little or no sanitation. As water is sucked up by demands for food and energy, and its distribution on the planet is changed by climate change, what can be done to ensure water availability for the future?"

How much water is there on the planet?... ...less than 3% of that is freshwater. Of that, nearly 70% is in ice caps, glaciers, and permanent snow, and 30% sits in ground water.

The incredible facts and figures aren't encouraging. All of the World's rivers and lakes (and including that built up in the clouds...some of which is dropping in the violent hail storm that's above me right now!) carry less than 1% of the world's freshwater. Great graphic image on the Nature webpage - with picture credit to USGS - of the global water distribution HERE.

A few examples of more facts from the article: Enough water to go around?

70 liters: water needed to create a single apple
900 liters: water needed to produce a kilogram of maize
10,850 liters: water needed to produce a pair of jeans
15,500 liters: water needed to produce a kilogram of industrial beef

Makes one wonder but will it make anyone more careful with their usage? No.

Only oceans...

Water: Under pressure. A Nature Special [Nature]... World Water Day is today: March 22nd 2008...to celebrate we can worry about how little there is and how we can make that go round: "more than billion [sic] people around the world still lack access to safe drinking water and two billion have little or no sanitation. As water is sucked up by demands for food and energy, and its distribution on the planet is changed by climate change, what can be done to ensure water availability for the future?"

How much water is there on the planet?... ...less than 3% of that is freshwater. Of that, nearly 70% is in ice caps, glaciers, and permanent snow, and 30% sits in ground water.

The incredible facts and figures aren't encouraging. All of the World's rivers and lakes (and including that built up in the clouds...some of which is dropping in the violent hail storm that's above me right now!) carry less than 1% of the world's freshwater. Great graphic image on the Nature webpage - with picture credit to USGS - of the global water distribution HERE.

A few examples of more facts from the article: Enough water to go around?

70 liters: water needed to create a single apple
900 liters: water needed to produce a kilogram of maize
10,850 liters: water needed to produce a pair of jeans
15,500 liters: water needed to produce a kilogram of industrial beef

Makes one wonder but will it make anyone more careful with their usage? No.

Ostara offering...

There are two or three slightly different but more than similar accounts of Ostara and Easter: all revolving round 'new' warmth of the sun, the end of winter; new birth, new growth of plants etc.

Ostara: In ancient Anglo-Saxon myth, Ostara is the personification of the rising sun. In that capacity she is associated with the spring and is considered to be a fertility goddess. She is the friend of all children and to amuse then she changed her pet bird into a rabbit. This rabbit brought forth brightly colored eggs, which the goddess gave to the children as gifts. From her name and rites the festival of Easter is derived. "Ostara." Encyclopedia Mythica from Encyclopedia Mythica Online.

"The Ostara worship was so strong in the Germanic lands that the somewhat similar Christian feast of rebirth and renewal was given the Goddess's name. Bede recounts that the Christian Paschal feast was named after the heathen Goddess Eostre, and so this celebration is still named Easter among the Christians. There is no specific date on which the Ostara feast must be held."

Equinox and Easter are always close: Christians observe "Christ's resurrection from the dead after his death on Good Friday as being synonymous with rebirth and rejuvenation: the symbolic resurrection of Christ is echoed in the awakening of the plant and animal life around us. But if we look more closely at some of these Easter customs, we will see that the origins are surprisingly, well, pagan! Eggs, bunnies, candy, Easter baskets, new clothes, all these "traditions" have their origin in practices which may have little or nothing to do with the Christian holiday." [Witchvox]

Ostara offering...

There are two or three slightly different but more than similar accounts of Ostara and Easter: all revolving round 'new' warmth of the sun, the end of winter; new birth, new growth of plants etc.

Ostara: In ancient Anglo-Saxon myth, Ostara is the personification of the rising sun. In that capacity she is associated with the spring and is considered to be a fertility goddess. She is the friend of all children and to amuse then she changed her pet bird into a rabbit. This rabbit brought forth brightly colored eggs, which the goddess gave to the children as gifts. From her name and rites the festival of Easter is derived. "Ostara." Encyclopedia Mythica from Encyclopedia Mythica Online.

"The Ostara worship was so strong in the Germanic lands that the somewhat similar Christian feast of rebirth and renewal was given the Goddess's name. Bede recounts that the Christian Paschal feast was named after the heathen Goddess Eostre, and so this celebration is still named Easter among the Christians. There is no specific date on which the Ostara feast must be held."

Equinox and Easter are always close: Christians observe "Christ's resurrection from the dead after his death on Good Friday as being synonymous with rebirth and rejuvenation: the symbolic resurrection of Christ is echoed in the awakening of the plant and animal life around us. But if we look more closely at some of these Easter customs, we will see that the origins are surprisingly, well, pagan! Eggs, bunnies, candy, Easter baskets, new clothes, all these "traditions" have their origin in practices which may have little or nothing to do with the Christian holiday." [Witchvox]

Excellent. I've just been laughing out loud (along with the metal aliens with the Dalek voices) Are these the ten greatest ads of all time? [Times Comment Central] Not in my opinon but there's some goodies: the Guinness and John Smith's are great plus I enjoyed the Necafe 'novella'...(I'm not getting out enough!!) however I think that the ads that stick in your mind are the musical ditties or mottos you remember, For Mash Get Smash is one of those; so is Beanz Meanz Heinz, a Mars a Day helps you work rest and play and Topic, a hazelnut in every bite - "yes , funny how you always remember right at the end". I'm sure more will spring to mind now I've started!

Excellent. I've just been laughing out loud (along with the metal aliens with the Dalek voices) Are these the ten greatest ads of all time? [Times Comment Central] Not in my opinon but there's some goodies: the Guinness and John Smith's are great plus I enjoyed the Necafe 'novella'...(I'm not getting out enough!!) however I think that the ads that stick in your mind are the musical ditties or mottos you remember, For Mash Get Smash is one of those; so is Beanz Meanz Heinz, a Mars a Day helps you work rest and play and Topic, a hazelnut in every bite - "yes , funny how you always remember right at the end". I'm sure more will spring to mind now I've started!

Out of office (2)...

No, I'm not talking about my hopes for the current corrupt government on the back of the worst poll results in a quarter century for the Labour party [Times] but reported in the same paper today, an ex New Labour stalwart has some fine things to say; why do they never say such things in office? (btw, that's a rhetorical question). In fact it appears in this case, even out of office Alan Milburn doesn't say too much [They Work For You] ; however, those fine words I mentioned, despite them being a rallying cry to poor Gordon's flagging party and popularity, are interesting to say the least:

"Victory went to the winner in the battle of ideas... [in the 1945, 1979 and 1997 General Elections] ...a body of new ideas replaced the prevailing orthodoxy. Today politics is struggling to come to terms with even greater changes: more assertive citizens, more diverse societies and more globalised economies. Together they call for new ideas, particularly a new relationship between the state and the citizen. As yet that call goes unheeded."

Currently there are no ideas, just changes to the colour of the icing on the cake. Clegg is a Cameron clone and Cameron is a Blair clone and on current 'performance' it would seem that any interchanging between the two major parties would only mean New Labour becomes Blue Labour - better but not good enough. I can understand the hanging on the sidelines whilst Brown gets a good kick-in - my God he deserves it - but the Conservatives need to do a lot more to be convincing, especially if they wish to attract the crucial 'swing to the right'...not the most appropriate phrase for today's UK politics but you know what I mean! More from AM:

"The modern state should not just enable. It should empower so that more people can realise their own individual aspirations to progress. The right wrongly rejects the state. The trick is to transform it so that the state controls less and empowers more. It is time to complete the post-war journey - from Attleeism through Thatcherism to Blairism – from the state being in charge to the state empowering the citizen to be in charge – from 'they control' to 'we control".

How I agree with Arlene from Liverpool as she comments "Fine words, Alan Milburn. You even sound as if you mean them. However, I do wonder if your piece is a placatory measure - a Trojan Horse. Time will tell, I guess. I hope that all readers will remain objective and suitably wary in the coming months and years." Objective indeed and very wary, especially of those that appear to have been poacher turned gamekeeper and now poacher once more.

Out of office (2)...

No, I'm not talking about my hopes for the current corrupt government on the back of the worst poll results in a quarter century for the Labour party [Times] but reported in the same paper today, an ex New Labour stalwart has some fine things to say; why do they never say such things in office? (btw, that's a rhetorical question). In fact it appears in this case, even out of office Alan Milburn doesn't say too much [They Work For You] ; however, those fine words I mentioned, despite them being a rallying cry to poor Gordon's flagging party and popularity, are interesting to say the least:

"Victory went to the winner in the battle of ideas... [in the 1945, 1979 and 1997 General Elections] ...a body of new ideas replaced the prevailing orthodoxy. Today politics is struggling to come to terms with even greater changes: more assertive citizens, more diverse societies and more globalised economies. Together they call for new ideas, particularly a new relationship between the state and the citizen. As yet that call goes unheeded."

Currently there are no ideas, just changes to the colour of the icing on the cake. Clegg is a Cameron clone and Cameron is a Blair clone and on current 'performance' it would seem that any interchanging between the two major parties would only mean New Labour becomes Blue Labour - better but not good enough. I can understand the hanging on the sidelines whilst Brown gets a good kick-in - my God he deserves it - but the Conservatives need to do a lot more to be convincing, especially if they wish to attract the crucial 'swing to the right'...not the most appropriate phrase for today's UK politics but you know what I mean! More from AM:

"The modern state should not just enable. It should empower so that more people can realise their own individual aspirations to progress. The right wrongly rejects the state. The trick is to transform it so that the state controls less and empowers more. It is time to complete the post-war journey - from Attleeism through Thatcherism to Blairism – from the state being in charge to the state empowering the citizen to be in charge – from 'they control' to 'we control".

How I agree with Arlene from Liverpool as she comments "Fine words, Alan Milburn. You even sound as if you mean them. However, I do wonder if your piece is a placatory measure - a Trojan Horse. Time will tell, I guess. I hope that all readers will remain objective and suitably wary in the coming months and years." Objective indeed and very wary, especially of those that appear to have been poacher turned gamekeeper and now poacher once more.

Oro: only one...

Further to my comment to my post below this one re needing a gold, Phillips Idowu duely delivered and helped our standing with the only gold won in the 12th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Valencia making the GREAT BRITAIN & N.I. (GBR) finishing position of 4th in the medal table far more respectable; by this in no way do I mean to belittle the performance of the team to get four silvers. Phillips' triple jump was 'no less than 11cm further than the mark set by Jonathan Edwards in 1998' and to put that in perspective:

"Idowu made the fifth longest indoor jump of all time and set a new British indoor record to win with 17.75m"

"Oh my goodness"...and the ease of the style and his landing makes it look like he could go much further! Watch it from the video link HERE on the BBC.

Oro: only one...

Further to my comment to my post below this one re needing a gold, Phillips Idowu duely delivered and helped our standing with the only gold won in the 12th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Valencia making the GREAT BRITAIN & N.I. (GBR) finishing position of 4th in the medal table far more respectable; by this in no way do I mean to belittle the performance of the team to get four silvers. Phillips' triple jump was 'no less than 11cm further than the mark set by Jonathan Edwards in 1998' and to put that in perspective:

"Idowu made the fifth longest indoor jump of all time and set a new British indoor record to win with 17.75m"

"Oh my goodness"...and the ease of the style and his landing makes it look like he could go much further! Watch it from the video link HERE on the BBC.

Oakwell's outstanding Odejayi...

Well, outstanding whole team really [Barnsley FC] Unbelievable...truly. Not since 1912 have Barnsley reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup - they went on to win it that year. Having beaten Liverpool to reach the quarter finals I don't think anyone gave them much hope...I was moaning that Chelsea have got any easy ride to a piece of silverware this year...how I laughed (sorry Sarnia)!!

"A second-half header from Kayode Odejayi was enough to dump Chelsea out of the FA Cup and take Championship Barnsley into the semi-finals."

Of course I mention all this because I'm trying to forget other 'worse news': "England pay price for lack of ambition" [Times]. I'll be perfectly honest: the only things I have to say are well done Scotland and well done JW for at least gaining something today. Other than that you were all fucking crap.

"Jonny Wilkinson today stands alone as the leading scorer in Test rugby after kicking a penalty in England's RBS 6 Nations match in Scotland."

That's the good bit; if I were the coach all XV would be dropped for the Ireland game.

Oakwell's outstanding Odejayi...

Well, outstanding whole team really [Barnsley FC] Unbelievable...truly. Not since 1912 have Barnsley reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup - they went on to win it that year. Having beaten Liverpool to reach the quarter finals I don't think anyone gave them much hope...I was moaning that Chelsea have got any easy ride to a piece of silverware this year...how I laughed (sorry Sarnia)!!

"A second-half header from Kayode Odejayi was enough to dump Chelsea out of the FA Cup and take Championship Barnsley into the semi-finals."

Of course I mention all this because I'm trying to forget other 'worse news': "England pay price for lack of ambition" [Times]. I'll be perfectly honest: the only things I have to say are well done Scotland and well done JW for at least gaining something today. Other than that you were all fucking crap.

"Jonny Wilkinson today stands alone as the leading scorer in Test rugby after kicking a penalty in England's RBS 6 Nations match in Scotland."

That's the good bit; if I were the coach all XV would be dropped for the Ireland game.

Interesting news stories on International Women's Day. Seems that in some matters they're increasingly getting on top: certainly in France ("Are women just like men?") and Italy where...

"In a victory for Italian adulterers, the country's Supreme Court has ruled that it is acceptable for wives to lie in order to cover up an affair."

Sorry for such frivolity; there is of course a very serious message and something that get's my blood boiling more than anything else. Last year's UN message, "Ending Impunity for Violence against Women and Girls" [2008 link HERE has the message " Investing in Women and Girls"]

**Violence against women is the most common but least punished crime in the world.

**It is estimated that between 113 million and 200 million women are demographically "missing." They have been the victims of infanticide (boys are preferred to girls) or have not received the same amount of food and medical attention as their brothers and fathers.

**The number of women forced or sold into prostitution is estimated worldwide at anywhere between 700,000 and 4,000,000 per year. Profits from sex slavery are estimated at seven to twelve billion US dollars per year.

**Globally, women between the age of fifteen and forty-four are more likely to be maimed or die as a result of male violence than through cancer, malaria, traffic accidents or war combined.

**At least one out of every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Usually, the abuser is a member of her own family or someone known to her. Domestic violence is the largest form of abuse of women worldwide, irrespective of region, culture, ethnicity, education, class and religion.

**It is estimated that more than two million girls are genitally mutilated per year, a rate of one girl every fifteen seconds.

**Systematic rape is used as a weapon of terror in many of the world's conflicts. It is estimated that between 250,000 and 500,000 women in Rwanda were raped during the 1994 genocide.

Figures taken from: Secretary-General's in-depth study on violence against women (2006) (A/61/122/Add.1) [click on globe image]

Interesting news stories on International Women's Day. Seems that in some matters they're increasingly getting on top: certainly in France ("Are women just like men?") and Italy where...

"In a victory for Italian adulterers, the country's Supreme Court has ruled that it is acceptable for wives to lie in order to cover up an affair."

Sorry for such frivolity; there is of course a very serious message and something that get's my blood boiling more than anything else. Last year's UN message, "Ending Impunity for Violence against Women and Girls" [2008 link HERE has the message " Investing in Women and Girls"]

**Violence against women is the most common but least punished crime in the world.

**It is estimated that between 113 million and 200 million women are demographically "missing." They have been the victims of infanticide (boys are preferred to girls) or have not received the same amount of food and medical attention as their brothers and fathers.

**The number of women forced or sold into prostitution is estimated worldwide at anywhere between 700,000 and 4,000,000 per year. Profits from sex slavery are estimated at seven to twelve billion US dollars per year.

**Globally, women between the age of fifteen and forty-four are more likely to be maimed or die as a result of male violence than through cancer, malaria, traffic accidents or war combined.

**At least one out of every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Usually, the abuser is a member of her own family or someone known to her. Domestic violence is the largest form of abuse of women worldwide, irrespective of region, culture, ethnicity, education, class and religion.

**It is estimated that more than two million girls are genitally mutilated per year, a rate of one girl every fifteen seconds.

**Systematic rape is used as a weapon of terror in many of the world's conflicts. It is estimated that between 250,000 and 500,000 women in Rwanda were raped during the 1994 genocide.

Figures taken from: Secretary-General's in-depth study on violence against women (2006) (A/61/122/Add.1) [click on globe image]

Ominous overreation...

The gob-smacking news announced today by Colombian Vice-President Francisco Santos has had the effect of tossing a stun grenade into the Andean regional crisis: Colombia on the one hand and Venezuela and Ecuador on the other. "Bogota has already accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of funding the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas, after Colombian forces crossed into Ecuador and killed a senior rebel commander on Saturday, sparking troop movements and warnings of war." (Reuters) VP Santos said:

"Just yesterday (Monday) our national police submitted an initial report regarding the content of two computers found with Raul Reyes, second in command of FARC, who was killed last Saturday"...They contained ..."information from one commander to another indicating that FARC was apparently negotiating for radioactive material"

Chavez's major overreaction - IMHO - to the Colombian incursion, as good an admission as any of FARC acitivity in Venezuela, could also be the pin that bursts the bubble of his glory-basking role in the release of hostages having been in direct negotiation with FARC...[worryingly my doppelgänger is in that AP photo on the BBC link; that should make my next visit interesting!]...sorry to be a cynic but I believe his efforts have been for one reason only: to paint a picture of the narco-terrorists as the good guys, being victimised by a stooge of the Empire: he and Venezuela do not recognise FARC as a terrorist group...they're only good ol' Marxist revolutionaries. Chavez has been key in their ploy.

"The guerrillas are trying to use the international community to force the president [Uribe] to give them what they want."

...said Maria Victoria Llorente from Ideas Para La Paz (Ideas for Peace). The other part of the rebel strategy is President Chavez. My opinion is that that has now been revealed for what it really is - a cover and a sham. Rumours/stories, now becoming confirmed, that documents on the lap-tops implicate Ecuador and Venezuela in funding FARC have no doubt have hardened Chavez to prevent at all costs a similar 'coup' against FARC camps in Venezuela - already under Venezuelan Army 'protection' and involved in the flow (Owsblog) of cocaine to Europe. HERE similar from Associated Press.
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STOP PRESS...as I write there are new developments: "Colombian President Alvaro Uribe says he will ask the International Criminal Court to bring charges against President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela" [BBC Online]

Ominous overreation...

The gob-smacking news announced today by Colombian Vice-President Francisco Santos has had the effect of tossing a stun grenade into the Andean regional crisis: Colombia on the one hand and Venezuela and Ecuador on the other. "Bogota has already accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of funding the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas, after Colombian forces crossed into Ecuador and killed a senior rebel commander on Saturday, sparking troop movements and warnings of war." (Reuters) VP Santos said:

"Just yesterday (Monday) our national police submitted an initial report regarding the content of two computers found with Raul Reyes, second in command of FARC, who was killed last Saturday"...They contained ..."information from one commander to another indicating that FARC was apparently negotiating for radioactive material"

Chavez's major overreaction - IMHO - to the Colombian incursion, as good an admission as any of FARC acitivity in Venezuela, could also be the pin that bursts the bubble of his glory-basking role in the release of hostages having been in direct negotiation with FARC...[worryingly my doppelgänger is in that AP photo on the BBC link; that should make my next visit interesting!]...sorry to be a cynic but I believe his efforts have been for one reason only: to paint a picture of the narco-terrorists as the good guys, being victimised by a stooge of the Empire: he and Venezuela do not recognise FARC as a terrorist group...they're only good ol' Marxist revolutionaries. Chavez has been key in their ploy.

"The guerrillas are trying to use the international community to force the president [Uribe] to give them what they want."

...said Maria Victoria Llorente from Ideas Para La Paz (Ideas for Peace). The other part of the rebel strategy is President Chavez. My opinion is that that has now been revealed for what it really is - a cover and a sham. Rumours/stories, now becoming confirmed, that documents on the lap-tops implicate Ecuador and Venezuela in funding FARC have no doubt have hardened Chavez to prevent at all costs a similar 'coup' against FARC camps in Venezuela - already under Venezuelan Army 'protection' and involved in the flow (Owsblog) of cocaine to Europe. HERE similar from Associated Press.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STOP PRESS...as I write there are new developments: "Colombian President Alvaro Uribe says he will ask the International Criminal Court to bring charges against President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela" [BBC Online]