Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter & Associates called out

Back on Monday IKN ran this post about how a bunch of Washingston DC lobbyist shysters called Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter & Associates (crazy names, crazy guys) were about to be given the "we're not afraid of shouting at your walls" treatment by a bunch of protestors. CLS&A (I'm sure they won't mind me abbreviating) has been found taking the 30 pieces of silver from the coupmonger turds in Honduras and have been paid the neat'n'cool sum of U$350,000 to lobby the politicos and tell them "look, fascism isn't That bad..really".

The good news is that Revolter, the loyal sidekick of da boooorev, was there at the scene and has just posted this report on how the whole thing went down. Go check it out, good job Revolter and down with moneygrabbing DC scum forevahs.

Here's the link to the borev on-the-scene report again, just in case. You now have no excuse. Go now and leave a snarky message.

Joyous News!

We don't know why he left (probly sick of his readers)

We don't know where he went (probly a beach)

We don't know what he did (probly a truckload of beer)

We do know that amiable sidekick 'Revolter' kept things ticking over in fine style while he was away, but the wonderous news is that DA BOREV IS BACK and hitting top form already with posts this week. So go! go! go! to borev NOW and get a better headcheck on Venezuela than Oliver Stone could ever manage. Meanwhile to celebrate the return, rather than killing a fatted calf here's a musical tribute to the blogger Otto wants to be when he be all growed up one day. Take it away, Chipettes:

The Borev Peeps Campaign: Time for that final push over the cliff

There are just two days to go before The Washington Post hits us with the finalists in their Peeps™ diorama competition and we need......nay we BEG you to get on board the Borev diorama promo campaign.

Here's the info-packed post with all the details, above is the magic work of art, and this is the link to the all-important petition campaign. Borev is aiming for 10,000 signatures, so when you go over take a look at just how close he is to making that magic number.....AND JOIN IN AND SIGN ON THE LINE, DUDETTES AND DUDES. It only takes a minute and the love you will spread will be karmically returned to you in the course of your life, of that you can be sure.

Make this an Easter to remember for Borev and everyone that sails with him. Thank you in advance.

Alert! Borev needs your help, NOW

Remember that laudable and superlative diorama (above) that Borev put together for the Washington Post Peeps Easter competition thingy? Well he now needs our help to lobby (read 'bully') the WaPo into recognizing true democratic spirit and putting his wunderbar entry into the next round.

Go here, read the reading thing and sign the piece of e-paper. Do it! Now!

peep show

For the last three years, the WaPo has run a bizarro Peeps™ diorama competition. In the words of the venerable newspaper:

We want you to make a diorama of a famous occurrence or scene or concept. It can be a historic, current or future event. It can be a nod to pop culture. It can be an evocation of an idea or abstraction. The one rule is that all the characters in the diorama must be played by Peeps, those marshmallowy chicks and rabbits plaguing checkout lines in every convenience store this season.

Well, Borev has taken up the challenge and has his entry in, just before the March 15th 11:59pm deadline. Quite frankly I think he's cracked. Here's the link to all the details explaining just why he chose to display a WaPo editor's meeting. Here below the photo of his diorama. There's a $100 prize up for grabs, so wish the laddie good luck.

Regarding Cocaine, The USA and Latin America

Stolen with no shame from The UK Guardian

After reading yesterday's Borev shredding of that Guardian fool Rory Carroll and his half-baked note on the cocaine trade, my thoughts returned to how the USA doesn't seem to be able to come to terms with the fact that it is a major, if not the major, piece in this whole puzzle (as that above map lifted from the Guardian report illustrates). Let's see now..... hmmmmm....U$1,700 a kilo in Colombia....hmmmm....U$30,000 a kilo in the States.... hmmmm...tellya something dudes, I'll wager you a full dollar that if Adam Smith were alive he'd be able to spot the demand motor straight away.

That the USA doesn't like hearing how it is the problem from Evo Morales is pretty obvious and even understandable (to a point). It certainly doesn't like hearing about it from Venezuela, even in the fine style that Coronel Reverol of the Venezuelan National Anti-Drugs Office quoted to the Washington Post last April:

"We're between the biggest producer of cocaine and the biggest consumer of cocaine, and we're the problem?"

But watch out, people! Nowadays there are "friendlier" voices calling the same tune, ones that will be more difficult to ignore in the weeks and months ahead. For example The Mex Files this week noted how President Felipe Calderon is quickly losing patience with his northern neighbour, along with normally conservative and establishment-loving bodies in Mexico such as the Catholic church (that packs serious political clout as well). In the words of Calderon:

"The main cause of the problems associated with organized crime is having the world's biggest (cocaine) consumer next to us"

So why can't the USA seem to see that which is blazingly obvious to the rest of us? That is to say, once the world's largest consumer of cocaine admits that it is part of the problem it can start to become part of a meaningful solution, not just some outside observer that thinks it can throw money at the problem and make it go away.

Then, bad scholar and slow on the uptake as I am, something occurred to me that must have occurred to thousands of people previously. The USA, being a cocaine addicted entity, is displaying the classic psychological symptoms of the addicted person. So to shed some light, here's a link to a nice, brief article called "Obstacles to Recovery From Addiction" by Dr. Floyd P. Garrett that seems to hit the nail on the head when it comes to the United States of America and its addiction to Colombian marching powder. Extracts here:

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The principal obstacles to recovery from any addiction are ignorance, shame, dishonesty, and personal exceptionalism..........

..........Simple ignorance of addiction and recovery, for example, is in theory easily remediable by exposure to accurate medical information on the topics – but the adjoining and interlinked "forts" of shame and dishonesty serve to limit the amount of understanding the addicted individual can acquire about his real condition. Similarly, the rectification of the dishonesty and evasiveness that is a central and necessary part of the psychology of addiction is rendered far more difficult by the co-existence of the addict's ignorance of addiction and his resulting shame about his addictive behavior........

...Personal exceptionalism makes it difficult for the addict to seek or accept help for his problems. Other people, people unlike himself, can and should receive help in overcoming their addictions – but he, precisely because of who he is, should neither need nor obtain such help. To do so would be a serious threat to his entire system of uniqueness.

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For me at least, that sums it up. We down here talk can logic and sense on the issue until blue in the face, but the US defence of ignorance will be held in place by shame (the USA knows what nationality owns the noses of the cocaine end-users) and will dishonestly evade facing up to its responsibility. As for that "personal exceptionalism", does that fit or does that fit?

So, ready to get mature on the subject?


UPDATE: The Mex Files has carried this baton further tonight. As you'd expect from RG, it's smart and insightful stuff. Here's the link.
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Special Borev delivery service

From here.

And more specifically, here.

Look, I know I'm prone to a typo or two here and there (usually a bit of keyboard dyslexia while tapping away quickstyle), but not when doing charts. You been taking spelling lessons from Alek Boyd, dumbass?

Interblog humour

YAY! Borev is back from his hols, and puts up a cheeky photo of his fanbase to celebrate the return.

However your observant Otto notes that El Duderino over at Abiding In Bolivia has had an attack of jealousy over the loyal followers of da borev, leaving the comment....

"If only my blog had such a fan base..."

....under the borev post. Therefore IKN to the rescue with this one, duderino.


Fighting Cholitas whup Venezuelan tushes every time.