The French Philosopher vs. the Venezuelan Strongman

Bernard-Henri Lévy takes on Hugo Chavez and the useful idiots who are his fans.  Here's a taste of it: "to pretend that the overall record of Chavezism has been positive is an insult to the Venezuelan people."

Venezuela's Chávez Dead; Exiles Rejoice

Venezuelans in south Florida respond with cheers.

Qaddafi's Useful Idiots

Here are the top 10.  You won't be surprised, I think!  Here's a taste of it, in terms of Qaddafi and Hugo Chavez: "The greatest thug bromance since Hitler met Mussolini."

Congratulations to Peru's Mario Vargas Llosa, New Nobel Laureate for Literature

Vargas Llosa absolutely sounds like my kind of guy:

Mr. Vargas Llosa was deeply involved in politics from a young age. He was an early backer of socialist causes especially the Cuban Revolution. He parted ways with Havana in 1971 after protesting the government's persecution of Cuban poet Heberto Padilla who was forced to make a Stalinist-like recantation of his critical poetry.

The Peruvian author later became known for his defense of free market and pro-democratic policies. In particular, he became the ying to the yang of Mr. [Gabriel] García Márquez [the 1982 Colombian winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature]. Mr. Vargas Llosa has acidly referred to Mr. García Márquez, who is still a good friend of Fidel Castro, as a "Castro courtesan."

Their friendship came to a spectacular end in 1976 when at a Mexico City movie premiere, Mr. Vargas Llosa greeted Mr. García Márquez with a right hook that knocked the Colombian author on the red carpet and left him with a bloody nose and a black-eye. 

... The author [Vargas Llosa] led the fight against an eventually unsuccessful attempt by Mr. García to nationalize banks in Peru in the late 1980s.

The thought does occur to me: apparently this year, the Nobel Committee has regained a hint of common sense. It awarded the Peace Prize to someone who actually works (and suffers) for freedom and human rights in China, and it awarded the Prize for Literature to a writer who criticizes authoritarian regimes, slams Castro and Chavez, and champions free markets and democracy.  (Here is his official website.  Read this fascinating interview with him.)

Kudos, sir, and felicidades indeed!  I give you something even better than congratulations: 

"He is a reference point for all those who defend freedom in Latin America," said Carlos Alberto Montaner, an exiled Cuban writer. "And now with the Nobel, his voice will have much more weight."

OH YES.

UPDATE: An amusingly snarky observation by Kyle Smith on Vargas Llosa punching García Márquez:

Is Vargas Llosa, the freedom-and free-market-loving Nobel prize winner for literature, the first Nobelist to have the honor of having punched out another Nobel prize winner? Too bad he didn’t punch out Arafat, but he did manage to floor a chum of Fidel Castro...

The Miseries of Chavez's Venezuela: Beauty Queen Edition

I had mentioned this previously, but this time there is a bonus. Check out this lovely combination of beauty, heart, and nerve as the outgoing Venezuelan Miss Universe Stefania Fernandez holds her own protest.  Look carefully at the flag.  It has only seven stars, meaning it is a pre-Chavez configuration. I shall post the photo as (a) evidence, (b) fan service, (c) both? 

Protest babe.

Living in Venezuela Can Be Murder

Venezuela's homicide rate is worse than Iraq's.  I had no idea.

Protests in Venezuela and Che Guevara Chic

Hmmmmmmm. And this.