Mockus wins TV debate

Go Beard!

Last night the candidates for the Presidency of Colombia met in thier second televised debate. According to Caracol radio's survey, 66% of those asked said that Antanas Mockus won out, giving the best answers on many subjects including how to deal with the FARC, education, foreign relations (esp with Chávez) etc.

The dude is on a roll. Here's a link to Colombia Reports' article on the debate, so go find out the details there. For those wanting analysis in Spanish language, this article is pretty good.

Rush Limbaugh owns Barack Obama

The events of last weekend were monumental in significance for the Obama presidency and for the ever-rising credibility of the sane and right-thinking right wing, so we should take a closer look at what happened:

• Rush Limbaugh was attending the "Freedom First!" conference in Washington DC with a group of other non-reactionary, non-polemic right wing intellectuals (Pat Buchanan, Dick Cheney etc)

• Rush remembered that Barack Obama had decided to make this weekend's Presidential Radio Address a live version from the White House, so at the DC conference issued a challenge to Obama to make the airtime into a debate over policy and ideology.

• Obama was told about this and quickly replied: "Yes of course. The conference speakers can come over and we'll set aside the airtime for an in-depth debate between their team and our team. This is good for the democratic process".

• But Rush didn't like that idea and shot back, "No! Just you and me, Barack. Rush versus Obama in a live debate that will show the world just how wonderful I am."

• Obama refused the debate. "Look dude. Time to get real. I've offered you a platform to debate policy with my team but a one-on-one with me just ain't gonna happen. I'm the POTUS, for cryin' out loud! I'm Major League, you're in the AAAs."

• Limbaugh refuses the team debate, calls Obama a coward and claims moral victory. "How dare he refuse my offer? What he did was against all forms of free speech."

Conclusion: If all this sounds weird and confusing, dear IKN Reader, just swap the name Barack for Hugo, Rush for Mario, Washington for Caracas and that's exactly what went on last week. Mario Vargas Llosa is a dickhead. The end.

Correa speaks, Congress listens

"NOW! I SAID NOW BITCHES! I'VE STOPPED MINING IN ECUADOR FOR TWO WHOLE
YEARS AND NOW WE CANNOT WAIT UNTIL THURSDAY COS I SAY SO"

On Saturday, during his weekly radio address (this time while sitting in Cuba) Studmuffin said that he wanted the new mining law approved as soon as possible.

Thus kingy speaks and his minions listen. Word was that Congress had slated in Thursday 15th....early Saturday Congress head Fernando Cordero was quoted as saying Wednesday 14th. but now suddenly the debate for the second reading is happening Monday 12th January at 2pm.

Yep, that's tomorrow.

My thanks once again to regular reader DMMwatcher who does a far better job of noting what's going down at the Ecuador congress website than I do and is kind enough to send his discoveries over. Hat tip to you.

Ecuador 14 January 2008: The Studfather

Note down 14th of January in your bizdiary, esteemed lector of IncaKuloNews.

• January 14th the most likely date for the second debate for Ecuador's new mining new is set to happen. Got the date, invitations have been sent out, the hall has been booked. The second report was approved 4-0 this afternoon (one abstention from the arch-socialist on the Congresillo). The law project now has to wait 48 hours for any observations to be added from third parties, then it must be debated in full session within five days. That means Friday is the limit, but word is that Thursday is the day.
  

• January 14th is the deadline that Studmuffin has given FinMin Viteri to announce how Ecuador wants to run its defaulted bonds buyback. She says there are still plenty of options on the table and is now working against the clock. Here's El Comercio with the whole story in Spanish (run it thru Google translator if you're Castilianly challenged).
  

More on the miners: As for ongoing rumbles and protests, yesterday was another day of skirmishes between anti-mining protestors and The Studfather's enforcement brigade. One journalist was taken hostage by the protestors for a while but then released. Sticks and stones were thrown at 20 cops until another 50 turned up and things went quiet. There is no big, organized voice-of-the-people against mining going on, but plenty of photo opportunities for the treehug brigade to take photos and handwring themselves into a frenzy.

The most notable absentee from the protests has been CONAIE national executive. The indigenous umbrella group has made anti-mining noises from the sidelines but hasn't actively joined in the protests. This is pretty significant, as although CONAIE has the manpower to help bring down governments if it wishes (check the history books for proof), it's also a canny operator and knows how to play the realpolitik game. There are enough indigenous members of CONAIE that want mining development to go ahead (those local groups have been hanigng round a welcoming Congress all week) and so CONAIE has backed off the full commitment protest, it seems. Put simply and without beating around the bush, this means the law is going to pass next week. Period. No ifs, no buts, no stupid comebacks from people who don't know about Ecuador.

From there we'll have a period of i-dotting-and-t-crossing and it should be on the books by the end of the month. Bought DMM.to today? Looks like somebody did!