We’ll head Down The Rabbit Hole in a few but first…Sometimes I see something so obviously absurd I can’t help but think of tennis star John McEnroe back in the day disputing a call…”You Can’t Be Serious!” Haiti Libre reports Haiti’s Minister of Public Works met with the Venezuela Ambassador to discuss ways to increase the production capacity of EDH (Electricity of Haiti). I don’t ask the homeless guy for stock tips and I wouldn’t seek dieting advice from the morbidly obese guy. A track record isn’t always right but it does at least put the odds in your favor. Advice on electric power production from the Chavistas? Are you kidding?

 Since the massive blackout of 2019 when basically the whole country went dark for over a week Venezuela has been plagued by continuing electric power shortages. Blackouts are a way of life, happening weekly, if not daily. The Guri Dam complex provides about 80% of the country’s electric power and is currently operating at around 50% capacity. Several other power grid upgrade projects, promised by Hugo Chavez have never been completed (FYI, he died in 2013). When the major blackout happened and the turbines at Guri shut down the Chavistas were faced with a dilemma. After years of neglecting maintenance and most of the more qualified people leaving the Chavistas needed help. There are only four companies in the world with the experience and technical expertise for this challenge. The Chavistas contacted none of them. One of the engineers familiar with Guri estimates it would take years to address the problem and at least $10 billion…and the Maduro regime is, for all intents and purposes, broke and has no credit having screwed basically everyone on the planet on basically every deal they have ever done. Sounds like just the people to help increase Haiti’s power generation doesn’t it?

 Then I had another ” McEnroe Moment” when I saw this…Telesur (government media) reports that the Venezuela Foreign Minister announced the first ever “International Summit Against Facism” with over 200 delegates attending from various countries spanning five continents.I wanted to get it right so I looked up the definition of “Facism” in Webster’s even though we all kinda’ know what it is. The definition, although somewhat lengthy, can be summarized as … stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition. There is no mention of it applying to right-wing authoritarians only, although left-wingers would have you believe that. Having “Facists” like the Chavistas hosting a summit against facism is about as absurd as the UN Human Rights Council having a bunch of Human Rights violators among it’s members or the UN Security Council having members that do nothing but make the world more insecure. You can’t be serious!

 Then we have RT reporting Maduro giving another speech saying “They (the West) want a war to dismember Russia, destroy it in pieces and end the hope of a multi-polar world (at least he didn’t say ‘pluri-polar again) where we can all live.” And Venezuela’s Foreign Minister says that Russia’s suspension from the UN Human Rights Council “destroys bridges…seriously threatens security,order, and global peace.” He also mentions the “Minsk Agreement” of 2014…to give breakaway regions special status WITHIN THE UKRAINIAN STATE. No mention of the “Budapest Memo” guaranteeing Ukraine’s security in return for them giving up their nuclear weapons after the Cold War. They also failed to mention that the Minsk Agreement was necessary due to Russia’s last invasion of Ukraine.

 Oh, and Fox News, when Russia was suspended from the UN Human Rights Council, had former UN Ambassador,Nikki Haley, saying “Now do Venezuela, Cuba, and China!” Makes sense to me.

 And did you hear about the Venezuela ‘punk band’ getting robbed in Oakland? fans raised $14,000 on Go Fund Me so they could continue their tour. I’m not a big ‘punk’ fan but “way to go!”

 Then we have Counter Punch reporting that Venezuela’s Communard Union held it’s first congress. Why is an ‘Association of Communes’ affiliated with the Chavistas and not the Communist Party of Venezuela?

 And we have Telesur  telling us that Venezuela’s Attorney General announced there are currently 23 corruption cases involving 2015 National Assembly President and ‘interim President of Venezuela’, Juan Guaido, There was lots of rhetoric and plenty of allegations…terrorist acts…etc. No charges yet (still).

 And on a positive (at least kinda’) note we have The Crypto Basic telling us that a Venezuela auto parts company now accepts cryptocurrency “Shiba Inu”. Venezuela has been a leading country in cryptocurrency adoption (no, not ‘el Petro) although it’s borne out of necessity. It’s good to see the trend continue.

 Then we have the Venezuela Interior Minister announcing the government deployment of 150,000 police and military officers for the Chavista’s “Safe Holy Week Plan.”  Why is this necessary?

And remember the “WiFi kills” story about the military murdering four indigenous tribe members over a WiFi pass code? Well, Amnesty International tells us that two key witnesses to the murder of the Yanomami citizens are still missing.

 Let’s head Down The Rabbit Hole for the next installment….

 Chapter 15/ Op-Ed

 There may be no right more misunderstood than the 2nd Amendment. I hear the arguments about gun control all the time,both pro and con, especially after a mass shooting.”I have a right to protect my family from intruders” or “There are more mass shootings in the US than anywhere else in the world” and so on…and on… and on. I understand where both sides are coming from, especially emotionally, but the most important issue regarding gun control is rarely mentioned …so I’ll mention it here as the situation in Venezuela is the perfect context for the discussion.

 Let me begin by saying I don’t own a gun or hunt or exhibit any of the behavior normally associated with someone that is pro 2nd Amendment. I am,however, a life-long fan of history, both in a general sense and my personal history.If I know and understand both the facts and the context I can get a grasp of what happened and why it happened, provided I maintain my objectivity, fully knowing that nobody is truly objective. Sometimes you just have to laugh at yourself…trying to prove that I’m objective about my objectivity! Anyway, the point is to try and benefit from the successes of the past and avoid repeating the mistakes, again both in a general sense and on a personal level. It’s not easy and can be quite uncomfortable but it’s necessary.

 That said, why do we have a 2nd Amendment? What were they thinking about when they came up with the idea and is it still applicable today? “The right to keep and bear arms…”. Having read quite a bit about the period leading up to the Revolutionary War, the war itself, and the period after,when the documents upon which our nation was founded were written, as well as the cast of characters involved, I think I have somewhat of an understanding. I at least know enough to know what I don’t know. I love statements like that. It’s one of those “I may not have the answers but at least I’m in touch with the questions” kinda’ deals.

 More tomorrow….