Venezuela scraps university law

Catholic leaders warn of 'totalitarian' Venezuela
Caracas, Venezuela -- Roman Catholic leaders in Venezuela are calling for President Hugo Chavez to give up special lawmaking powers granted to him by his congressional allies. The Venezuelan Bishops' Conference condemned a package of laws approved last month by the National Assembly, including one that grants Chavez power to enact laws by decree for the next 18 months. Chavez gained those powers shortly before a new Congress took office with more opposition lawmakers. A statement from the bis...

California universities, colleges face deep cuts
Hundreds of thousands of Students are likely to be turned away from California State University and the community colleges next year, while the University of California won't rule out raising Tuition - again. "This is a sad day for California," UC President Mark Yudof said, summing up the reaction to Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal Monday to cut $500 million each from the Budgets of UC and CSU, and an additional $400 million from the state's community college system. The cuts, meant to help close ...

Venezuela missiles worried U.S., says leaked diplomatic report
WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- When Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez went on a Military shopping spree in Russia -- mostly on extended credit -- he argued in public Rhetoric he feared a joint Colombian-U.S. invasion aimed at removing his Populist regime. Leaked diplomatic papers say the United States, far from planning to invade Venezuela, fretted over the missile buying program and tried to dissuade Moscow from going ahead with the deliveries. U.S. Diplomats argued against any Russian deliveries ...

Reason.tv: Latin America Needs Free Trade and Drug Legalization Q and A with the WSJs Mary Anastasia OGrady
In the 1990s, it seemed as if individual rights, Deregulation, Free Trade, and sound currency were taking hold in Latin America, a region finally on the rise after decades of coups, repression, and violence. But in the 21st century, left-wing strongmen have made a comeback: Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, Bolivia’s Evo Morales, Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega, Ecuador’s Rafael Correa. Other countries in the region are headed in the wrong direction. Authoritarianism has been on the r...

Can Maryland afford in-state tution for illegal aliens now?
State Sen. Victor Ramirez (D-MD) says he will introduce a bill to provide immigrant Students in-state Tuition rates for Higher Education. He was the lead sponsor of the Legislation when it passed the House of Delegates in 2007. Ramirez’ office made the announcement in a Dec. 27 Press Release. A request sent that same day for details of the bill were ignored. When introduced, the proposal would grant in-state Tuition to Students that have attended and graduated from Maryland High Schools an...

Catholic leaders warn of 'totalitarian' Venezuela
The U.S. government on Wednesday said it is important to have an ambassador in Venezuela, and is considering the possible consequences after President Hugo Chavez rejected Washington's chosen Envoy. Chavez on Tuesday dared the U.S. government to expel his ambassador, saying he will not allow the U.S. diplomat Larry Palmer to be ambassador because he made what Chavez described as blatantly disrespectful remarks about Venezuela. "If the government is going to expel our ambassador there,...

Catholic leaders warn of 'totalitarian' Venezuela...
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Roman Catholic leaders in Venezuela are calling for President Hugo Chavez to give up special lawmaking powers granted to him by his congressional allies. The Venezuelan Bishops' Conference condemned a package of laws approved last month by the National Assembly, including one that grants Chavez power to enact laws by decree for the next 18 months. Chavez gained those powers shortly before a new Congress took office with more opposition lawmakers. A statement from the bish...

Venezuela to cut lights at late-paying state firms
Caracas | Mon Jan 10, 2011 10:07pm EST Caracas (Reuters) - Venezuela warned mayors, governors and the South American country's numerous state-run companies on Monday to pay overdue electricity bills or face being cut off in a drive to stop waste and balance its accounts. Electricity Minister Ali Rodriguez said the money collected by state utility Corpolec last year covered only half the company's Payroll in a year of serious power shortages. "The Debt these organizations have is close to 4 bi...

Venezuela to cut lights at late-paying state firms
Electricity Minister Ali Rodriguez said the money collected by state utility Corpolec last year covered only half the company's Payroll in a year of serious power shortages. "The Debt these organizations have is close to 4 billion bolivars ($930 million)," he told state news agency AVN. "We are toughening up charging and have ordered supplies to be cut to those institutions that don't catch up on payments." "One of the objectives is to raise collection to cover the operational costs of the nati...

Catholic leaders warn of 'totalitarian' Venezuela
Roman Catholic leaders in Venezuela are calling for President Hugo Chavez to give up special lawmaking powers granted to him by his congressional allies. The Venezuelan Bishops' Conference condemned a package of laws approved last month by the National Assembly, including one that grants Chavez power to enact laws by decree for the next 18 months. Chavez gained those powers shortly before a new Congress took office with more opposition lawmakers. A statement from the bishops released Tuesday acc...

Venezuela ups proven oil reserves, Chavez says
President Hugo Chavez says Venezuela has dramatically increased its proven Oil Reserves, saying that by his government's calculations the country is now a world leader. Chavez says officials certified vast deposits of heavy crude in the Orinoco River basin in December so that "we have reached 253 billion" barrels of oil. Last May, the government said its proven reserves stood at 172 billion barrels. However, Saudi Arabia has said in recent years that it has proven reserves of more than 260 billi...

Catholic Leaders Warn of 'Totalitarian' Venezuela
Jan. 5: Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez speaks to supporters at a square in Caracas, Venezuela. CARACAS, Venezuela - Roman Catholic leaders in Venezuela are calling for President Hugo Chavez to give up special lawmaking powers granted to him by his congressional allies. The Venezuelan Bishops' Conference condemned a package of laws approved last month by the National Assembly, including one that grants Chavez power to enact laws by decree for the next 18 months. Chavez gained those...

Va higher ed gets proposed funding infusion
Virginia's public colleges and universities will be eligible to apply for $50 million to enhance Student enrollment and retention, increase the number of students pursuing science and health-care fields, and boost undergraduate Financial Aid. Dan Ix, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia's finance policy director, said Tuesday that institutions must apply for the funding by submitting proposals to Secretary of Education Gerard Robinson. The grants would go to institutions who propos...

Hugo Chavez urges stepped up land seizures
CARACAS, Venezuela, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez urged his followers to ramp up the seizure of land in Caracas so it can be used for low-income housing. In a nationally broadcast address, Chavez said the nation's poor were being forced to live on landslide-prone hillsides in west Caracas rather than on more appropriate Real Estate on the affluent east side. "A commission should be established soon and the Militia must occupy abandoned plots of land," said Chavez. El Universa...

Jeremy Hunt resigned to judicial challenge over BSkyB bid
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 12 January 2011 22.08 GMT Jeremy Hunt was taking part in a debate at the London School of Economics when Student Protesters disrupted it. Photograph: David Jones/PA The culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said today he expects his decision on whether to allow the proposed takeover of BSkyB by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation to be judicially challenged whatever decision he comes to. He made the comments during a debate on the future of the media at the London School o...

The Legislatures Fighting Sioux Nickname Bills Are Unconstitutional
Yesterday Legislation introduced by House Majority Leader Al Carlson, which according to an interview yesterday with Scott Hennen is similar to some other bills as well, would require that the University of North Dakota keep its “Fighting Sioux” nickname. You can read Carlson’s Legislation here. Carlson told Hennen that he could have had “half of the legislators” in the State’s House chamber co-sponsor the bill, and indeed I have no problem believing that the ...

GOP Senators vow to continue push for judicial impeachment
DES MOINES — A few Republican lawmakers were not impressed with Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Cady’s State of the Judiciary address Wednesday, saying a push for Impeachment of the remaining four justices would continue. Cady received a standing ovation when he said courts “serve the law, not the interest of constituents, not the demand of special interest groups, and not the electorate’s reaction to a particular court decision.” Those standing were largely D...

Christopher Sabatini: As Latin America Changes Will the U.S. Policy Debate?
Latin America is changing. Do we have the intellectual tools and framework to deal with it? From Brazil to Mexico, Latin America has found a new diplomatic muscle, asserting itself into international issues and all the while deepening ties with new trade partners from China to Russia. At the same time, despite increased Rhetoric of regional solidarity and independence from the U.S., the region is at its most divided, ideologically and in its economic trajectories. All this presents a challen...

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Cleggmania has inexorably given way to a process one might be tempted to call Cleggradation that has seen Clegg serially mocked by comics, targeted by Student Protesters and rejected by onetime celebrity supporters like Colin Firth. ...

California Reintroduces Its Own Dream Act
The DREAM Act is back, in California at least. Today Assemblyman Gil Cedillo re-introduced the DREAM Act which would allow undocumented youth who are accepted to college the ability to apply for institutional Financial Aid and state grants from the state’s public universities, state and community colleges. Cedillo’s new strategy is to split the bill in two. The San Jose Mercury News reports that one bill would allow undocumented immigrant Students who are California residents to appl...

More Guns, More Shooting
As best I can tell, stringent restrictions on Firearms ownership are neither necessary nor sufficient to achieve drastic reductions in the incidence of Violent Crime in the United States. So given that many people feel very strongly about Gun Ownership, I’m inclined to say that law-abiding citizens should be able to buy guns with ease. But the occurrence of spree killings in one of the states with the most liberal Gun Laws in the union ought, at least, to undercut the theory that such la...

NewsBusters Publisher Bozell Condemns Death Wishes Against Conservatives from Liberals in the Media
The so-called ‘news’ media have zero currency in this debate because we have documented the Left using hateful, vicious language far worse than any conservative. Their attacks on Conservatives are untrue and utterly hypocritical. If they really cared about the effects of political Rhetoric, they would have gone after any number of those left-wingers who have directly incited violence – starting with the man with the world’s biggest audience: President Obama . After all, h...

Doug Bandow: Defusing Venezuela's Nuclear Threat?
Venezuela's close relationship with Iran and plans to build nuclear facilities with Russian help are raising fears in Washington of another nuclear crisis. The incoming Republican House majority may place increased pressure on the Obama Administration to confront Caracas. Washington need not panic. A 'Chávez bomb" is but a distant possibility and much will happen in Venezuela in the meantime. The U.S. should work with other interested states to discourage Caracas from pursuing Nuclear Weapons...

The Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean
Latin America Al-Qaeda Links to South American Drug Lords Threaten U.S. Via Theo Spark, Argentina Despite Argentina’s efforts, artifacts of Juan Peron, Evita in private hands Argentine opposition calls for investigation into government ad spending Politics in Argentina Down among the underclass A prelude to a dirty campaign Bolivia Protests in Bolivia Fuel on the fire Evo Morales is hoist with his own petard Brazil Go south, young scientist An emerging power in research The 2016 O...

Jury selection continues at Cuban militant's trial
In this photo taken Nov. 8, 2010, Luis Posada Carriles talks to a reporter in Miami. As he prepares for trial Monday, Jan. 10, 2011 in El Paso, Texas, on federal charges connected to the decade-old bombings that killed an Italian tourist, Posada's art says much about the cagey former CIA asset who remains a Lightning Rod in much of Latin America. Attorneys are weeding through dozens of potential jurors at the Texas trial of Cuba's Public Enemy No. 1, anti-Castro Militant Luis Posada Carriles. L...