I have not written about the World Cup, but I could not resist.
Uruguayan authorities expressed their concern that President Chavez would back their country´s team before Wednesday¨. ¨Given his track record so far, we can´t help but be concerned that he will decide to back our team and say it publicly like he did with Brazil and Argentina¨. After Brazil was eliminated Chavez said that Argentina would socre all of the goals that Brazil did not. Argeintina failed to score against Germany.
Meanwhile, Mick Jagger said that Chavez can not beat his unquestionable record of backing losers at each stage of the Cup. ¨His record is not as unquestionable like mine. He was wishy washy at the beginning, it was not clear if he was backing Brazil or Maradona, pardon me, Argentina, in the first few stages of the Cup. We will see, I am not backing Uruguay, thus, we will know who is really bad luck after this stage of the Cup¨
The Devil's Excrement 
July 6, 2010 at 7:06 pm
Well, it looks like Uruguay’s concern was well-founded! http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/football/07/06/semifinal.dutch.uruguay/index.html?hpt=C1
July 6, 2010 at 4:08 pm
Man, talk about thread jacking! Back to the subject of the post.
Given that an Octopus can pick better than Chavez:
http://sudafrica2010.noticias24.com/noticia/1211/pulpo-adivino-vaticina-triunfo-de-espana-ante-alemania-en-semifinal-del-mundial/
I nominate Paul the Octopus for President of Venezuela!
July 6, 2010 at 2:32 pm
We need a parliamentary system, not the crap pseudo-parliamentarian thing Italians have but something similar to the German or Dutch system: permanent grilling of the head of state, ministers and so on, threshold of 5%, etc.
July 6, 2010 at 12:33 pm
And my point IS: We have sunk pretty low, to levels that we did never conceive of, typical of countries that we were sure Venezuela would never resemble in the slightest.
A symptom is that the so-dubbed President claims to be leading and transforming the country, meanwhile he goes free form about the World Cup on national compulsory network (cadena), and pontificates about everything but why the situation is so bad here. Another is that we Venezuelans allow him to do that and resort to commenting his moronic antics.
If anything, I have compared him to Benzino Napaloni, dictator of Bacteria. Because he does not deserve better than a farcical model in my humble opinion.
Instead of going on about the content of his rambling on national network, we should focus on the fact that we allow him to do just that.
Solutions:
Either we, in Venezuela (and Latin America) confine Presidents to soccer commenting and gossip; which does NOT seem such a bad move given all that they have done for us…
…or we demand that they use the resources and powers of the State in a serious manner, and assume their responsibilities. Like good employees and good civil servants. And we be sure to oust any that does not.
But I will not comment on the merits or demerits of his rambles on “cadena”. It’s incensing enough to have him do that.
July 6, 2010 at 10:56 am
And Yes, Africa can have some sins and problems resembling Venezuela.
But, everybody has to admit that, so far, the organization of the World Cup in South Africa is acceptable to this day. Maybe the Inauguration day there was some bad coordination of the transit to the stadium.
20 years ago nobody can tell that there will be a Soccer World Cup in Africa.
Some African countries are slowly finding some path to get a sound economy.
July 6, 2010 at 10:42 am
Speed, I am doing a little bit. This is a task for millions.
July 6, 2010 at 7:53 am
Kepler, Loro, etc….great intellectual ramblings….now do something constructive to get your country back
July 6, 2010 at 4:01 am
Well said Kepler, all countries are unique in their idiocy
as well as their glories.
July 6, 2010 at 2:03 am
I agree with you Kepler. What Venezuelas has developed into is a consequence of the state of the country in 1998. We should blame the government of the 90’s that allowed the country to disintegrate and left the bottom half of the population no other hope than to surrender to an intergalactic madman.
July 5, 2010 at 8:56 pm
If history repeated itself then there could be no progress and no free will.At least some people have the wit and wisdom to learn from their mistakes.Even if there were no wit and wisdom there is always chance and random changes.
Some patterns CAN repeat themselves to some extent and under certain circumstances but it is highly unlikely for History to always actually repeat itself
This is important to remember so that we can take a good look at the present, what is similar to the past and what has changed, and see the realistic steps we need to take to reach our goasl, rather than always applying the same tactics based on past happenings, and continuing in the same old attitudes.
History repeats itself only when we don’t look closely at the present.
July 5, 2010 at 8:03 pm
Loro,
I am not quite disagreeing with you, but simply ranting isn’t constructive. You are correct only in that history repeats itself, and all cultures must go through the various stages of civilization, one at a time, and in their own order. Skipping steps is not allowed. Africa has demonstrated that rather effectively.
What would be constructive is to analyze the various similarities to other tyrants in their day, in the context of their respective cultures sociological and economic development, to determine how and when this particular aberration might come to its final and logical conclusion.
July 5, 2010 at 7:24 pm
It’s not that we are sub-saharan Africans, or Italians in 1922. It’s that we have sunk to those levels and begin to have sinister similarities to them.
Hugo Chavez is not Idi Amin Dada, that’s for sure. He just displays a comparable level of seriousness and focus. He is not Benito Mussolini either.
But we are sinking below Third World standards, into the Fourth World.
Coming back to topic: We have sunk deep, when we know that that is not a President and can never be one. But he is still in power, ranting, bullying, clowning, everything but answering for his actions.
Benzino Napaloni would be proud of Chavez. That he is not precisely either, however hard he tries to be ludicrous.
July 5, 2010 at 5:26 pm
OK, this is the thing: I don’t think we have ever become anything else but Venezuela. It has always been Venezuela. Although we can compare certain patterns, methods, tendencies across ages, we are not doing ourselves a favour by saying “we are now Germany_33/Soviet_Union_36, even Colombia_60 or anything else. Fascism was a given movement in time and space, the same as Nazism. Nothing there is in Venezuela now came from heaven or hell. It came from the set of Venezuelans we had in 1998.
July 5, 2010 at 5:13 pm
Most of Africa is not precisely known for human development or wealth, for transparent and effective government, seriousness and sobriety of it’s heads of state, or for granting rights to any kind of minorities, be them ethnic or other. That’s the truth.
I don’t think that has nothing to do with skin color or general appearance of the people living there, which vary just as widely as Europeans, from Norway to Albania. There is no such thing as race, just as there is no such thing as social class, unless you go and artificially create and enforce such fantasies. It has to do with cultures and the presence or lack of institutions and traditions of self-governance.
Ok, let’s do another angle: When did we become Italy in 1922 ? Or Argentina in 1948?
July 5, 2010 at 4:16 pm
“When did we become African?”
Racist slur, Loro?
July 5, 2010 at 4:03 pm
I would that Venezuela got a President, it’s first real one in over 11 years.
Benzino Napaloni should be proud of his Venezuelan successor. A parody of a parody with totalitarian pretensions, half bully, half comedian, a total jerk, blowing hot air on everything under the Sun. Save for his responsibilities for the disastrous situation of the country he claims to be leading, shaping or transforming.
When did we become African? When did we become Fourth World?
July 5, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Chávez is still an amateur at picking footballing losers, a bebe-de-pecho, next to me. I had Serbia winning my Quiniela!!
July 5, 2010 at 12:32 pm
It was indeed wonderful to watch Maradona get his due the other day; his temperamental resemblences to Hugo are striking, quite apart from his personal friendship. Also poetic justice that two of the Germans that he had personally insulted, Chavez-like, in the past – Schweinsteiger and Muller – were the main instruments of his team’s destruction
July 5, 2010 at 12:32 pm
It is not a surprise, after all, Chavez said in previous stage of the Cup, that the winning of South Americans teams; and the lost and the elimination of (some) Europeans teams represents the decline of European Economy and their influence.
Well, now we have 3 European teams in semifinals. What Chavez has to say about that?.
That’s why I give surety to you that we have USA, its Economy and its influence for a long time to go. Only, because Chavez bets for the contrary.
July 5, 2010 at 10:02 am
Thank you Germany.
Not really that interested anymore but beating Maradroga was beyond my fondest hopes.
Suck it up Estevan!