What Caught My Eye Today

Venezuela - A Spanish judge has accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of aiding in a plot to assassinate Colombian President Alvar Uribe and other Colombian officials when they traveled to Spain in 2003. The allegations are based on information obtained from the laptop computer of a FARC commander killed by Colombian armed forces in 2008, detailing links between the Colombian guerrilla group and the Venezuelan government. Venezuela's Foreign Ministry called the charges "biased and unfounded" and alleged that the Colombian government had planted the data on the laptop. Surprisingly, I find myself agreeing with Venezuela on one count, the data easily could have been planted. Though, I tend to think this smacks much more of the CIA than the Colombian government.

Zimbabwe - The Zimbabwe government has outlawed foreign businesses. Can you do that? Under the new law, foreign-owned companies must transfer at least 51% of their shares to black Zimbabweans within five years. Economists, business leader, and labor leaders all oppose the law, saying the law will strangle what little foreign investment Zimbabwe attracts. Really? I was under the impression that Zimbabwe attract no foreign investment at all. Critics fear that the shares will be given to Mugabe cronies, just as white-owned farms were seized and given to Mugabe's friends during the "land reform" program a few years ago. Tut, tut. I'm sure Mr. Mugabe has learned from his past transgressions, I don't see what could possibly go wrong with this plan. Zimbabwe suffers from runaway inflation and an unemployment rate above 90%. Seriously, with things as bad as they are now, will anyone really notice if inflation jumps a few ticks from the current annual rate of 6.5 quindecillion novemdecillion percent (65 followed by 107 zeros; I looked it up) or if the unemployment rate surges for 90% to 95%? I think not.

Brazil - A Devassa beer commercial featuring socialite Paris Hilton has been pulled from Brazialian television after complaints that it was too sexy. This is Brazil we're talking about right? After receiving complaints from viewers, the government, and at least on rival brewer, Brazil's advertising industry group asked Devassa to pull the ad, saying it violated a regulation that commercials can't treat women as sex objects. That's right. Only men can do that.. Devassa's logo is a woman in a bikini. Kind of ironic, don't you think? At any rate, you can judge for yourselves (click here). Bear in mind that this is the same country famous (or infamous) for Carnaval, which we all know has it's fair share of scantily clothed individuals of the female persuasion.

Uzbekistan - I guess you could call this "extreme population control". Under a recent Health Ministry directive, Uzbek gynecologists have been ordered to "persuade' at least two women per month to have hysterectomies a month each in order to keep the population down. In fairness to the people, I don't imagine there is a lot to do in Uzbekistan, so you cannot fault them too much for finding creative ways to pass the time. And get this. Apparently, this isn't the first time, Uzbekistan has done this sort of thing. The former Soviet republic began forced sterilizations in 1999, when it had a birth rate of more than 4 children per woman. The practice was stopped in 2003, after it was exposed but apparently has been restarted. I'm no expert, but rather than resorting to such extreme and irreversible surgical procedures, has anyone in the Uzbek government given any thought to a slightly less invasive solution. They are called CONDOMS, people! And they are 98% effective, when those horny little buggers put them on correctly.