?Ay, caramba! Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa was just given an in-public full-on smack-down by some pissed off policemen?and it was feared the entire country would collapse into chaos! Who is heck is this Correa, what happened to him, and what in the living hell would have caused Ecuador?s police force to go postal on their own President? The Avenger did a quick trip to Quito to unravel this mess, and even found some positive repercussions to this presidential pummeling?.namely: democracy triumphed!
Sufferin Swedish succotash! European government after European government has been shifting to center-right conservative leadership, and the Swedes are the latest to go! Most stories coming out of Europe high-lite the social components of this conservative swing?like anti-immigration (possible anti-Islamic) attitudes that are prevailing. The Avenger wants you to consider the more important economic aspects of this swing, which will have much more lasting implications. Bottom line: The economic shift to center-right across Europe?and now even in socialist Sweden? is indicative of a major move across all the western world towards smaller government and conservative economic/fiscal policy. A shift that even the mighty Americans are likely to embrace very soon?.
Holy hookah my friends! A $60 billion arms deal is in the works between the US and Saudi Arabia, the largest such deal in all of US history….and an arms deal that the Avenger believes is the official kick-off for a full-scale arms race across the entire Middle East region. How does the US stand to gain significantly from this deal? More importantly, how will the deal affect the
current power struggle within the region, and why is it happening at all? The Avenger points out the cultural frictions and fallacies behind this volatile mix of Arab arms and angst!
French President Nicolas Sarkozy is facing adamant opposition to his plans to raise the retirement age in his country from 60 to 62?and the Frenchies are furious and taking to the streets! However, this move is symptomatic of a much larger trend going on all across Europe (and perhaps all of the ?rich? Western counties): that trend is towards austerity! With record budget deficits, bloated bureaucracies, and over-extended social benefit programs, there is a seismic shift towards changing the size and role of government in the western capitalist democracies of France, Germany, the UK aa well as the PIGS?.and this shift will even be affecting future politics and policies in the good ol? U S of A! Get awakened to the age of austerity my plaid friends!
Holy hot tamales my amigos! Mexico is on fire, and I’m not talking about jalape?os either! President Felipe Calder?n and the Mexican government’s war against drug cartels has ramped up in violence and death count in a very big way in the last 4 years, impacting all levels of society both within Mexico but also neighboring countries/regions. Instead of delving in the dirty details of the daily violence, the Plaid Avenger explains the “Why here?” and “Why now?” behind the rise of these cartels in northern Mexico here in the 21st century.
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