A little bit of Caracas out of their lives

Finally, the Wisconsin Supreme Court puts a sock in it;

To be clear, this conclusion ends the John Doe investigation because the special prosecutor's legal theory is unsupported in either reason or law. Consequently, the investigation is closed. ...we order that the special prosecutor and the district attorneys involved in this investigation must cease all activities related to the investigation, return all property seized in the investigation from any individual or organization, and permanently destroy all copies of information and other materials obtained through the investigation. All Unnamed Movants are relieved of any duty to cooperate further with the investigation.

This is in reference to the John Doe investigation that the losers in the Wisconsin recall election of Governor Scott Walker initiated after losing that Stalinesque battle. As we noted back in 2013; Looks like Wisconsin has decreed special powers to be used as one political faction deems fit, against its opponents.

It may be kosher in states like Venezuela, but no longer in Wisconsin.

We'd make him a full professor

He seems to understand game theory;

Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik, the gunman who killed 77 people near Oslo in 2011, was accepted to Oslo University from his prison cell to study political science.

.... “All inmates in Norwegian prisons have a right to pursue higher education in Norway if they meet the admission requirements and are successful in competition with other applicants,” wrote Ole Petter Ottersen, the university’s rector, in an online statement. “It is part of the universities’ mission to uphold democratic values, ideals and practices, also when these are challenged by heinous acts.”

Norway's ideals include mass murder?

They say, 'potato'. Maduro and Castro, 'Say what?'

Potato seeds actually, rotting in governmental hands, in Bolivarian Venezuela, while McDonalds doesn't have enough to make their French fries;

Venezuela’s National Seed Service (Senasem) has been asleep at the switch, and let 175 metric tons of potato seeds (initially reported as 175,000 tons) go rotten in state silos. When locals discovered the magnitude of waste on July 8 — in excess of all potatoes produced in 2014 — they took to social media and could hardly contain their outrage, describing it as the “official self-imposed economic war.”

.... In Venezuela, silos are the responsibility of Senasem. This state agency’s function is “to carry out all activities necessary for there to be a continuous, sufficient, and timely supply of seeds in the different areas needed by the country, so that production caters to the demand of the domestic market.”

Not the first time something like this has happened on Presidente Maduro's watch;

In February, authorities discovered 45 tons of decomposing food products in state trucks belonging to Venezuelan Food Producer and Distributor (PDVAL).

.... In April 2014, it was 1,715 metric tons of meat and chicken, and 1,000 metric tons of milk, locked in containers in Puerto Cabello, Carabobo, all valued at about 10.5 million Bs.

In June 2010, it was close to 70,000 metric tons of spoiled food, imported in 2009 by the state-owned PDVAL but never distributed to the retail network.

With a little help from thy amigos

Later that month, ABC from Spain claimed that Cuba was directly linked to this rotten food scandal in Venezuela. The Spanish newspaper said that former Cuban Minister of Commerce Barbara Castillo Cuesta was at the front of the group of Cuban advisers linked to the import of these spoiled foods.

How's this for irony;

I must reiterate our solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution and the government headed by President Nicolás Maduro, in the face of destabilization attempts and any act of external intervention. We were pleased to learn of the results of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela’s primary elections, while we are carefully following the dialogue underway between this country and the United States.

We denounce the destabilization campaigns against the government of President Rafael Correa and the Citizen’s Revolution in Ecuador, to which we confirm Cuba’s solidarity.

We notice that an imperialist and oligarchic offensive has been put into practice against Latin American revolutionary and progressive processes, which will be decisively confronted by our peoples.

That's just two days ago, from a;

Speech presented by Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee and President of the Councils of State and Ministers, during the closure of the National Assembly of People’s Power Eighth Legislature’s Fifth Period of Ordinary Sessions, in the Havana Convention Center, July 15, 2015, Year 57 of the Revolution 

Chinamen of La Mancha

They picked up Don Quixote Airport for, practically, a song;

A group of Chinese investors has bought the abandoned airport at Ciudad Real for €10,000 after submitting the only bid for the facility at a court bankruptcy auction.

Tzaneen Interenational by name, about whom little is known.

...the group listed €4,000 in capital from China but stated that members of the consortium include Chinese as well as European investors. It also explained that “various Chinese companies” are interested in using the airport as “a gateway to Europe” for their importing businesses.

After the invest another 100 million, or so, euros to make it useable, that is.

Qualitative easing?

No soulless central bankers, these guys;

Hungary’s central bank has bought a painting by 16th century Italian artist Titian for 4.5 billion forints ($15.8 million), the highest amount it has spent on a work of art under its art-collection program.

.... The National Bank of Hungary, headed by Gyorgy Matolcsy since 2013, launched a program in January 2014 to spend €100 million ($109 million) on art until the end of 2018. The program aims to repatriate art that was once in Hungarian ownership and to keep major works of art in Hungary when their Hungarian owner dies.

Well, maybe Greece should have been doing it.

Mañana is soon enough for Raúl

The window she is broken and the rain is comin' in
If someone doesn't fix it I'll be soaking to my skin
But if we wait a day or two the rain may go away
And we don't need a window on such a sunny day

More than a half century of tomorrows since 1959, but that hasn't dampened the enthusiasm for socialism for the Castros (who themselves have several mansions in which to live);

We will continue the process of transformations in Cuban society at our own pace

That is the headline in the English language version of Granma. From the latest of their fearless leader;

Speech presented by Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee and President of the Councils of State and Ministers, during the closure of the National Assembly of People’s Power Eighth Legislature’s Fifth Period of Ordinary Sessions, in the Havana Convention Center, July 15, 2015, Year 57 of the Revolution 

In which it is necessary for the General to make a few excuses. Per usual;

One of the most disappointing aspects of the [official economic] plan’s implementation is to be found in the transportation sector, which led to difficulties in the economy’s performance, a result of organizational shortcomings and the low level of technical availability in the railroad and automotive systems, associated with the lack of replacement parts and problems in maintenance and repair. This situation was aggravated by delays in the arrival to the country of equipment projected for last year and this year, the majority of which should arrive in 2015.

In short, 'We blame Norte America';

During the first half of the year we have faced severe external financial constraints. Nevertheless, the country has continued rigorously fulfilling its payment obligations to foreign creditors and providers, a practice which favors the gradual re-establishment of the national economy’s credibility, despite the U.S. blockade which remains in full force.

Hmm. Is that the policy that Barack Obama adamantly says isn't working?

Most unkindest cut of all

The former ambassador from Saudi Arabia remembers what happened the last time we listened to a naive Democrat POTUS;

Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi ambassador to the United States between 1981 and 2005, has written a damning column in which he compares the Iran nuclear deal to the failed nuclear deal with North Korea – and concludes it will have even worse consequences.

That deal was from the Clinton Administration in the early 1990s, and it was midwifed by former President Jimmy Carter, who traveled to North Korea himself.

Bandar says, "it turned out that the strategic foreign policy analysis was wrong and there was a major intelligence failure." He added that if Clinton had known the full picture, "I am absolutely confident he would not have made that decision."

That's a diplomatic sop thrown in, in case Hillary gets nominated and elected in 2016.

The Saudi royal then contrasts this with the present situation with Iran, "where the strategic foreign policy analysis, the national intelligence information, and America’s allies in the region's intelligence all predict not only the same outcome of the North Korean nuclear deal but worse – with the billions of dollars that Iran will have access to."

He could have said that he agrees with Israel.

Bandar says that Obama is smart enough to understand this, but that he is ideologically willing to accept collateral damage because he believes he is right.

And Obama believes that America is wrong, and always has been, before his enlightened presidency. As Jeanne Kirkpatrick put it in 1984, Democrats always blame America first. Now that Obama has put the future existence of Saudi Arabia into question with this deal with Iran, Bandar is saying it too.