In Memoriam

[mmmm8]

Why would the US gov had wanted Chavez to remain in power?

I don't know enough about the "in-the-moment" messaging at that moment in time, but they could have been hedging bets and this was an unofficial message that they're open to working with him. Could be that heating oil program for the US.I think there are just a lot of behind the scenes things happening at any time that may cause something like this. Obviously, maybe Carter was misled by Chavez' politics, but as a former President, I just can't imagine he was at liberty to be fully independent in a situation like this.

[ti-amie]

I read that he had also bucked the CIA re South Africa so he may have used up all his capital in that fight and had no hand to play when it came to Venezuela.
Geopolitics is a b**ch.

[dryrunguy]

About Carter and Venezuela... At the time, there was also this thing called oil... If I remember correctly. I was just a kid, so I could be wrong.

[ponchi101]

Yes. But the democratic administrations of Venezuela never had any issues with selling oil to the USA, and doing business with them. Venezuela was, together with Colombia, the most Pro-USA country in the region, with no frictions and a long-term working relation with all the oil companies in the USA. At the time, the Venezuelan oil sector had opened thanks to the previous two admins (non-Chavez, of course) and all major oil companies had been working easily until Chavez came to power.
If oil had been a driving factor, getting rid of Chavez was the smart move.

[Owendonovan]

I recall Linda Lavin"s character Alice being an inspiration to me, as a boy, as the kind of person one would hope you could become. Women on television back in the 70's were more an inspiration to me than the men were.

[dryrunguy]

It's not Linda, but I can't let this go by without noting...

[dryrunguy]

Anita Bryant died. She was 84. Apparently it happened last month. But I didn't see it mentioned here.

Bye, Felicia...

[Fastbackss]

The usage of the small font on here is...understated but powerful

[ponchi101]

And if Dry had chosen to use font 90, it would have been fine too.

[JTContinental]

David Lynch, director of Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, and Mulholland Drive, has died at age 78. No cause of death was given, but he was suffering from emphysema after a lifetime of smoking.

[JTContinental]

Legendary sports announcer Bob Uecker has also died. He was 90 and suffering from lung cancer. I don't know him as a baseball announcer except by reputation, but I do remember him playing the dad in 80's sitcom Mr. Belvedere

[Owendonovan]

Anita Bryant died. She was 84. Apparently it happened last month. But I didn't see it mentioned here.

Bye, Felicia...

Not soon enough!!!

[ponchi101]

David Lynch, director of Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, and Mulholland Drive, has died at age 78. No cause of death was given, but he was suffering from emphysema after a lifetime of smoking.

Plus The Elephant Man and Eraserhead.
A truly complex cinematography.