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Sen. John McCain is charging the Obama administration’s foreign policy is “delusional” and says Secretary of State John Kerry’s global diplomacy has “accomplished nothing except mileage.” In an appearance on MSNBC, the Arizona Republican also calls Russian President Vladimir Putin a “meglomaniac” and “pariah.”

In a further deterioration of diplomatic ties between Venezuela and the US, President Nicolas Maduro announced on Saturday that he will curb the number of US diplomats allowed to work in the country and will impose mandatory visas for Americans travelling to the socialist nation. Maduro also said that any meetings between US diplomats and Venezuelans would have to be “authorised” by the Venezuelan government. The president said he decided to require visas for US citizens after the capture of an American pilot of Latin American descent in the state of Táchira, in western Venezuela. He said the pilot, whom...

As if foreign policy couldn’t get any worse. The President Piece of Crap Maduro announced that they have captured an American pilot that was trying to topple his regime. Watch below:

A federal judge in Argentina has dismissed a controversial case against President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her foreign minister.

Say it! SAAAAY IT!!! ---Sam Kinison General Electric Vox published a photo essay about the crises in Venezuela. The photos of the protests were picturesque but something important was missing. It was especially noticeable when the essay by Amanda Taub, 11 stunning photos of the protest movement sweeping Venezuela, touched on the dismal economy. Therefore the most stunning thing about the essay wasn't the photos but the very noticeable failure to mention a certain word seen all over Venezuela. A certain S-word seen all over the walls and billboards of Venezuela. A word that the corrupt government in Caracas proudly...

There is a very simple answer for that: the regime needs a scapegoat that pays with its hardcore, Luddite, take no hostage, resentful base. The question would be more interesting if worded differently: why does it pay to jail a few business owners? The answer to this question is a little bit longer but not very complicated. The reason can be found in 40 years of populism light followed by 15 of populism hard. In a country that has been told that "we are rich" and that the problem is that "wealth is not redistributed as it should" you do...

In an announcement that seems certain to further inflame opinions about a proposed deal to limit Iran’s nuclear capacity, it was revealed today that Russia’s state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec has offered to sell advanced anti-aircraft missiles to Iran. Related Stories Kerry Says Iran Extension Worth It Only If Deal Almost Done Bloomberg Iran leader says no nuclear deal better than bad one AFP World powers 'united', Kerry says ahead of new Iran nuclear talks AFP 'Significant gaps' remain in Iran nuclear talks: Kerry AFP

At 7:30 am, the pharmacy opened. View galleryA woman checks food stocks on February 2, 2015 in Caracas, … A woman checks food stocks on February 2, 2015 in Caracas, Venezuela where the economic crisis is pr … There was not much on the shelves, but an employee confirmed a truck was expected. An hour later, the truck rolled up with a pair of National Guard troops who unpacked three boxes of soap bars, two of shampoo, and one very clear instruction: each person may buy up to two of each item. Not more. That is because the government is wary...

STAGE one of Saudi Arabia’s plan—or perhaps hope—to restructure the oil market is taking longer than expected. By refusing to rein in production while prices fell, the Saudis permitted a big surplus to grow and served notice on higher-cost rivals (Russia, Venezuela, American shale-oil producers) that they would not prop up other people’s profit margins at the expense of their own market share. That signal has been weakened by the growing amount of oil in storage, which is absorbing most of the glut. World oil stocks rose about 265m barrels last year and Société Générale, a French bank, reckons they...

Was the real reason for Obama’s Executive Order opening Cuba to the United States his desire to fulfill the imprimatur of the Weather Underground to establish Communism in America? A FOIA request forced the FBI to open its top secret archives on the Weather Underground movement. Founded by several urban 1960′s revolutionaries including the husband-wife team of Bill Ayres-Bernardine Dohrn, the WUO grabbed the nation’s attention with its bombings, attacks on police and police headquarters and various acts of domestic terrorism. “The example of the Cuban revolution became the guide for the emerging American student revolutionary” states this FBI vault...

Below, we demonstrate that the U.S. keeps “losing” war after war. There are 3 potential reasons this might be happening: •Is this chaos an intentional way to implement regime change and grab resources? •Or is this a sign of the decline of the American empire … and we just can’t win a war anymore? •Or do those in charge just not really give a damn about winning … and are they just focusing on one short-term goal after another?

Arrest of the mayor of Venezuela's largest city on charges of treason should, but probably will not, end the dictatorial reign of Chavista el Presidente Maduro.My wife, Jeanie, and I spent periods totaling more than two years, and ranging in length from six months to a few days, in Venezuela between 1997 and 2002. During those periods, we saw much of Venezuela, from the cities to the rural mountain areas. It was a beautiful and comparatively prosperous country then. Food, most of it locally grown or raised, was plentiful, good and inexpensive. We both received excellent but inexpensive medical care. I felt safer in...

The regime tonight has crossed one of those big, sloppy, obvious, dangerous red lines tonight. The kind of crossing from where there might not be a return point. Not that I am picky on that, as far as I am concerned that red line was crossed when RCTV was closed. But I digress. Yet, arresting the mayor of Caracas, the highest recipient of votes in the country after the presidential vote, a reelected mayor, and well reelected at that in spite of all the bias in favor of the regime's candidate who was then named as a sabotaging shadow mayor...

Russia agreed to provide military training for three leftist regimes in Latin America and increase military visits and exercises following a visit last week to the region by Moscow’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu, Pentagon officials said. Shoygu met with defense and military leaders in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua and signed several agreements on warship visits and military training during the visit, which ran from Feb. 11 to 14. It is not clear whether any new arms deals were completed during the visit. Defense officials said the Russian leader is seeking bases in the region for strategic bomber flights that Shoygu...

Calling the twice-elected Ledezma "a vampire," Maduro vowed an "iron fist" response to the alleged coup plot.

The mayor of Venezuela's capital, Antonio Ledezma, has been arrested amid accusations of a coup attempt. President Nicolas Maduro said the opposition leader must answer "for all the crimes committed against the country's peace and security." Camouflaged police smashed into the mayor's office and carried him away...... Hundreds of people gathered at the intelligence agency's HQ in Caracas to protest at the arrest..... Mr. Ledezma was on a list of people and foreign powers named by Mr. Maduro last week as attempting to bring down his administration. Mr. Ledezma, Caracas mayor since 2008, replied that it was government corruption that...

China's Real Estate Market Crashing... Real Estate is the single biggest domestic lending segment in China. Combined with deflation in Iron Ore, Steel, Copper, and other industrial metals China's collateral quality is looking very very shaky compared to loan volume... SNIP While the world's attention is glued to events in Greece, the real action continues to evolve quietly thousands of kilometers east, in China, where the near record surge in new loans remains unable to offset the dramatic slowdown in shadow banking issuance. And while China's bubble-chasing, animal spirits have recently reoriented themselves from real estate to the stock market,...

At about $50 a barrel, crude oil prices are down by more than half from their June 2014 peak of $107. They may fall more, perhaps even as low as $10 to $20. Here’s why.

http://www.portfolio.com/views/columns/economics/2007/12/17/Why-Oil-Prices-Will-Drop

It’s a tweet that ultimately fell on deaf ears: “#ServicioPublico Infalgan solution of 10 Mg for injection is needed for Vanessa Chacón.” S ent from San Rafael del Piñal, a small town in Venezuela near the border with Colombia, the tweet was sent on behalf of Chacón, 22, who needed the medicine to survive a severe coronary condition. Unfortunately, it’s simply not available there — and isn’t likely to be anytime soon. “My niece is very sick. We haven’t been able to locate the drug in pharmacies or in hospitals,” says Nelson Jaimes, who’s Chacón’s uncle and, coincidentally, a pharmacist....