On a day to day basis nothing changes, with or without Chavez at home: food scarcity, electric blackouts, crime, unemployment, infrastructure degradation, health care worker strikes, etc, keep their steady progression. This is what happens in a thugocracy, this novel variant of autocracy that is been revealed to us this June. Indeed, for all the adjectives we were applying to describe the Chavez regime the one that fitted it best was the government of thugs, by thugs, for thugs, or thugocracy.

◼ Thugocracy in crisis: mystery disease and cancelled summits for Chavez - Daniel in Venzuela

Venezuela military 'seizes ports'

◼ CARACAS (AFP) - Venezuela's military took control Saturday of all the country's major airports and maritime ports, following a recently enacted law handing management of the facilities to the central government....

◼ News
◼ BBC Venezuela military 'seizes ports'

President Hugo Chavez has pushed for the move, describing it as "reunifying the motherland, which was in pieces".
Critics of Mr Chavez says the plans are unconstitutional, but the National Assembly backed them a week ago, saying they would improve essential services. - it's for your own good, really.

Soldiers were seen moving into major sites on Saturday, among them the port at Maracaibo, Venezuela's main oil-producing city - an opposition stronghold in the state of Zulia, AFP reported.
Facilities in at least three opposition-run states were seized, according to reports.
Since the government lost a number of key seats, including the mayoralty of Caracas, in local elections last year, there have been regular clashes over jurisdiction between local mayors and the national government.

Venezuela's Chavez calls Obama 'ignoramus'...

Chavez Tells Obama To "Wash His Ass"

If you scroll to 4:05 to hear him tell Obama "Obama vaya a lavarse ese palto," which translates to "Obama go wipe your ass!" Daily KOS

Some days... it must be so confusing! But! But... but... the world is supposed to love us now!~

Venezuela voted against ceasefire in Gaza

This is interesting:
◼ Venezuela voted against ceasefire in Gaza
Venezuela voted against ceasefire in Gaza (resolution 1860) during the UN's General Assembly celebrated on 16 January. Venezuela's vote, through Ambassador to the UN Jorge Valero, contradicts policy dictated by President Chavez, who had Israel's Ambassador, and its diplomatic corp, expelled from Venezuela on 7 January.

The Wizards of Oil

Wall St. Journal... ◼ Spare a moment for a rogue trio of economic victims -- Hugo, Vladimir and Mahmoud. Their dreams of world domination and tight grips on power are eroding as the price of oil falls. If there is a silver lining to global recession . . .

h/t: Daniel in Venezuela
◼ 2008: the year Hugo Chavez lost his democratic fig leaf

Amending fascism

From Daniel in Venzuela (Venezuela News And Views):
...before I go into a quick summary of yesterday events let me offer you a brisk Washington Post Editorial that says it all about the current situation of Venezuela and Chavez, with phrases like this one: The official results, showing the margin of Mr. Chávez's loss, have not been released. "sin pelos en la lengua", as we say in Venezuela.

What can I say about yesterday performance in the National Assembly? No surprise was expected since we knew that the servile National Assembly was going to approve the orders of Chavez to allow for his eternal "reelection" (read again the editorial above, I am not the only one doubting of the quality of Venezuelan elections). And yet surprises came...

...boxes of useless signatures were carried by a human chain to the floor of the assembly. As I observed the carriers I thought about the move I was subjected too recently and let me tell you that for boxes supposedly filled up with paper they were darn easy to be carried around. The chair refused to have the boxes opened for inspection by opposition assemblymen. Imagine that!

- one box was opened by a sympathetic and exalted carrier who ruffled the leaf for the cameras. The cameras detected many blank sheets in the ream of paper! I mean, they cannot even fake it in one box!!!! Amazing!... ◼ Read the rest...

◼ The 2008 Venezuelan results: 7 - Conclusions
◼ The Chavez permanent show: 170 hours of cadena
A little note of interest: Chavez this year has already spent 170 hours in cadenas. That is, Chavez has commandeered ALL TV, and ALL Radio stations of Venezuela to transmit simultaneously his speeches for 170 hours this year. Nobody else is allowed to do, and nobody can reply to his message on the state TV network, the largest one by far in the country (1).

An odd silver lining

and an interesting perspective...The Depression — let’s call it what it is — leaves us, well, depressed. But there is very good news from around the world. Our enemies are collapsing under the strain of dropping oil and gas prices. What we had all hoped conservation and off-shore drilling would achieve, the global economic collapse is accomplishing: the defeat of OPEC, Iran, Chavez, Putin and the weakening of the financial underpinnings of Islamist terrorism. In each of these nations, the hold of the dictator is weakening as, one after the other, they face the consequences of dropping oil prices.... ◼ Dick Morris on THE IMPENDING COLLAPSE OF OUR ENEMIES

...Because of corruption and incompetence, Venezuelan oil production has dropped from over 3 million barrels per day when Chavez took over to about 1.7 million today. As long as oil prices were quadrupling, it didn’t matter, but when they crashed, a harsh wind of reality blew in the door. Chavez was losing popularity before the oil price dropped. He lost a constitutional referendum to give himself lifetime tenure and he just lost his municipal elections in the largest cities and states in the nation. After knocking out most of the major opposition candidates on phony charges of corruption, he managed to hang on to the governorships of the small, rural provinces, but he lost the cities — even the poor areas of the cities vote d against him.

Now, beset already by food shortages and galloping inflation, Venezuela has to make do with less subsidization and drastic cuts. Feeling cold times ahead, Chavez is desperately pressing ahead with a new attempt to abolish term limits in a vote set for the end of February, but, if he falls short — which we think he will — he could be out in a matter of months....

Holy Ego Trip, Batman!

Geez! ◼ This is UNREAL. the Hugo Chavez Show... 8 installments on www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/hugochavez/
...Every Sunday President Chávez talks to the people in his TV show - which lasts for hours. Chávez basically improvises as he goes along....

h/t: James

◼ From Daniel in Venzuela on Nov. 30 -
Another reason for Chavez to close Globovision
Tonight, 7 PM, on Globovision, the Spanish version of the FRONTLINE documentary "The Chavez show". DO NOT MISS IT!!! Then again Chavez might stick a cadena....
◼ Frontline on Chavez: The Hugo Chavez show
...The cooperative chapter is brilliant. They compare the textile one that is shown to "political tourists" while they are sewing bunches of red clothing! And after they show a real cooperative, of the kind not shown to visitors, left on its own, without any business training, left to a slow death. And the end of that chapter they go on to housing construction cooperatives; we see the guy that is still waiting to get paid while the "la Suiza" subsidized development lays idle, stopped on its track once Chavez monitored the inauguration of the first building and moved on to some new interest. Fabulous! With savaged tractor bonus!

The chapter on freedom of expression is excellent at illustrating how freedom of expression is still exerted at least by some within the opposition (the self censorship issue is not addressed) but showing how such freedom of expression does not exist within chavismo ranks. We get two examples of awful scolding of chavista supporters, an activist humiliated in an Alo Presidente and Eleazar Diaz Rangel who shows to us that he accepts his scolding as the abject sycophant he has become. It is amazing that Diaz Rangel would have thought that he would have fooled Frontline with such lame excuses!!! But what is better is that Teodoro Petkoff explains clearly how the terrorizing of his supporters is an effective weapon for Chavez to control them. Fascism anyone?

◼ Washington Post Hugo Chávez, Stealing His Own Show

◼ Googled links - take your pick.

A little good news

⦁ Hugo Chavez's XXI century socialist revolution on the wane

In Venezuela

The 2008 election gambles: part 1, Chavez’s angst

May first brought once again to the forefront the divided country that Venezuela has become. There were two “workers” marches convoked. One to praise Chavez, with dozens and dozens of buses coming from all around at tax payer expense, all passengers adequately uniformed in red, brandishing whatever slogan du jour. The other one was a more heteroclite affair made of actual workers, mostly from Caracas. But there was a difference this time: the opposition workers march was barred from its final outcome by an extraordinary display of police and soldiers that betrayed only one thing: chavismo is running scared.

It is clear to all that the December 2 referendum has changed the political course of the country. With Chavez aura of invincibility gone, not only his followers are less likely to put up with all of his antics, but a new type of opposition, now emboldened by its success believes that the end of the regime is not a farfetched hypothesis anymore. What the opposition is doing these days is the subject of a following post... read the rest

Chronicling Chavez

Daniel in Venezuela (link in sidebar) has been chronicling the recent events - the election - in Venezuela...

Daniel also recommends Roger Cohen, Times foreign editor and owner of a blog at the International Herald Tribune. He has started to write extensively on Venezuela and is now a must read for anyone interested on this topic. His latest column on the NYT, "The Limits of 21st-Century Revolution" is clear explanation why in the end Chavez will fail but also why we will have everyday more and more Chavez like concoctions trying to rule on us (unless?).
***
From Newsweek: Attempted Theft - Hugo Chávez tried to overturn the results of Venezuela's recent vote but was rebuffed by the military.

Most of Latin America's leaders breathed a sigh of relief earlier this week, after Venezuelan voters rejected President Hugo Chávez's constitutional amendment referendum. In private they were undoubtedly relieved that Chávez lost, and in public they expressed delight that he accepted defeat and did not steal the election. But by midweek enough information had emerged to conclude that Chávez did, in fact, try to overturn the results. As reported in El Nacional, and confirmed to me by an intelligence source, the Venezuelan military high command virtually threatened him with a coup d'état if he insisted on doing so. Finally, after a late-night phone call from Raúl Isaías Baduel, a budding opposition leader and former Chávez comrade in arms, the president conceded—but with one condition: he demanded his margin of defeat be reduced to a bare minimum in official tallies, so he could save face and appear as a magnanimous democrat in the eyes of the world...
h/t: λεονιδας

Chavez is on a moral crusade

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez is on a moral crusade in Venezuela, preaching against vices from alcohol to cholesterol, vowing to curb whisky imports and ordering beer trucks off the street.

His government announced increased taxes on alcohol and tobacco on Monday, and Chavez also plans steep new taxes on luxury items such as fancy cars and artwork.

It's all part of Chavez's efforts to encourage Venezuelans to adopt the psyche of the "New Man," a socialist revolutionary with a monk-like purity of purpose...

...Chavez is also concerned that too many Venezuelans swill beer on street corners. Irked by unregulated beer sales in the slums, he has warned that beer trucks selling alcohol directly on the streets would be seized.

Anyone wanting to booze up can do so in the privacy of their own homes, he said.

"I've told the National Guard to stop and seize any truck going around selling beer in the street as if it were ice cream," he said. "This cannot be permitted."...

Wonder what he'd do to pot growers, this hero of the Shellenberger crowd.

Compare

Compare the propaganda of Sean Penn to the courage of Daniel in Venezuela. And weep.

News from Venezuela on the closing of Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV)

From Daniel in Venezuela
(KEEP CHECKING IN -HE UPDATES REGULARLY. Link is in the sidebar under blogs)

To close yet another exhausting day (and it is not over) I thought abut putting as it the Veneconomy editorial. To understand some of the reasons that push people to protest you could do worse than read this editorial (outside Globovision there are people protesting in their favor, in Valencia there were injured students and tomorrow we expect more campuses to join in, while Chavez is nowhere to be seen, his usual coward self)
--- --- --- --- --- --- ---
To the accompaniment of alarms, pot-banging and protests by the vast majority of Venezuelans, the government brought down the curtain on Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) at midnight on Sunday, so perpetrating the worst confiscation of the freedom of expression by any government ever in Venezuela and perhaps in Latin America in the last 35 years. Read the rest
More: Silent Airwaves - The End
Countdown to RCTV closing
Podcast - Venezuela: the closing of RCTV
...Takes an hour - Venezuela: the closing of RCTV - Current Events - May 26 - Chavez closes Venezuela's largest TV station


Update: 5/30/07
So it is like that: Chavez won in December 2006 with 63% of the vote and today half of the country was out of order, and the other half barely coping. The love fest that should have happened as of December 4, usually called a political honey moon, fizzled in a very few days and since late December the tensions have increased to the point that Chavez today is openly threatening Globovision with closing. And, make this very clear in your minds, he has only himself to blame. I do not know whether he means it as he claims he meant it in 2002 so he could purge the army and PDVSA, but it certainly looks like quite a mess today. One thing is certain if purges are the objective again: his targets are the media and closing freedom of expression, the last obstacle for absolute control of the country until kingdom comes (whichever kingdom comes first)

A job for the spin doctor...

Put a nice face on this...

From ΛΕΟΝΙΔΑΣ (Fighting in the Shade) "... CARACAS, Venezuela, Feb. 16 — Faced with an accelerating inflation rate and shortages of basic foods like beef, chicken and milk, President Hugo Chávez has threatened to jail grocery store owners and nationalize their businesses if they violate the country’s expanding price controls..." nytimes.com

Human Rights Violations - left vs. right

One of the anons commenting on the previous post attacked the information about Michael Shellenberger working for Hugo Chavez by denigrating the source as a "rightwing conspiracy website."

In the first place - I'd hardly characterize a site dedicated to outlining human rights violations in Venezuela as a right wing conspiracy site.

In the second place, in the course of my looking into Michael Shellenberger, I found exactly what Aleksander Boyd details in his report - Shellenberger is aligned with every far far left extremist group you can think of. To point this out is to report the truth.

In my observation, Michael Shellenberger has more domain names, email addresses and websites than any spammer on the planet. He appears to routinely form up little "groups" (like the so-called "Alliance for Ethical Business" here in Humboldt County). He is always the "founder," "co-founder," "executive director" or "spokesperson" for the "group." Then he cross-pollinates the "groups" using one to endorse the other, and calling it a "growing coalition of human rights organizations."

I started looking him up after Richard Salzman had him call me - regular readers of this blog will remember the story - Richard said he "couldn't promise" he "could call these people off," but he "would try." That was March/April 2003. Richard pronounced his name ShAllenberger - with an A - and it wasn't until stories in the paper had Gallegos supposedly surfing with his "college-buddy" Michael Shellenberger - with an E - that I was able to get any information.

What I found was evidence that Michael Shellenberger had been on the ground in Humboldt County on and off for nearly a decade, working with Earth First! EPIC, Salmon Forever (one of Ken Miller's groups), and more. What emerged was a picture of a 10 year effort to "get Palco." Getting Gallegos elected was a major coup, and provided these guys with a major new weapon.

One of the many UNTOLD STORIES of the Recall was the involvement of Michael Shellenberger.

And as you come to understand that he is someone who has the power to get celebrities like Woody Harrelson to climb the Golden Gate Bridge to unfurl a banner for a Headwaters campaign, and get Bonnie Raitt to play a concert for Headwaters, to get Dr. Laura kicked off the television airwaves, someone with access to George Soros, access to left wing Think Tanks, and access to huge Foundation grant money, you begin to understand more what is going on in "Salzman's Plan" to get Gallegos to solicit, accept and use special interest money to fund the public prosecution of PL.

He specializes in what he calls "structuring the debate" - or, in other words, manipulating public opinion. He brags on some of his self-promotional websites about pressuring public officials into doing what he wants.

What that meant here in Humboldt County was convincing you that Gallegos was not soft on crime, that PL was trying to buy their way out of a lawsuit. And unfortunately, Palco played right into his hands.

The Recall was portrayed as the gallant young David against the evil Goliath, Palco.

The fact was that Gallegos had a Goliath in his own right working for him. You can see by looking at the contract with Chavez the value of Shellenberger's services. And that was for a relatively limited effort.

What did it cost Gallegos to have this man on the ground in Humboldt County on and off from at least March of 2003 until he ultimately, by his own words, moved his family up here for the final weeks of Gallegos' campaign?

Did you read anything about Shellenberger's involvement in the local press? No. yet he reportedly met with editorial boards. In the final days he attended press conferences with Gallegos.

Yet after the Recall, Shellenberger trumpeted his success and proclaimed himself Gallegos' "Lead campaign consultant." Was that ever mentioned in the local press? No. How much did Gallegos pay for the privilege? Is it detailed on his campaign disclosure forms?

What services did he provide as "Lead campaign consultant" besides garnering Gallegos national press coverage? Image consulting? Debate prep?

These are questions that, to this day, remain unanswered.

And, after the Recall, Shellenberger began promoting himself as somewhat of an expert at helping politicians survive a recall attempt. Enter Hugo Chavez who was facing a Recall in Venezuela.

You want to make this about left and right wing politics?

Most "liberals" once cared about human rights violations and would care about the plight of the people in Venezuela and would recognize Chavez for the menace that he is, but since he declared his hatred for our President, he has become the darling of the left. In that sense you may be right.

And those same "liberals" - many of them my good friends - also abandoned their historic support for protecting women and children, for victim's rights in favor of hating Palco, and they turn a blind eye to the devastation in the DA's office as a result.

In that sense - you may be right. Maybe it is about "progressive" values.

Which side do you fall on?

Hugo Chavez's PR man

Looks like Mussolini's - I mean HUGO CHAVEZ'S PR man
Michael Shellenberger
is coming to town to speak for Schatz Energy.

Now that's a brilliant PR move.

Related:
vcrisis.com
the contract

Sixty grand for 6 months

Michael Shellenberger, who after the Recall took to calling himself Gallegos' "lead campaign consultant", contracted with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez for $60,000 plus expenses for a public relations blitz. This establishes the value of Shellenberger's service.

Chavez was facing a Recall, and after his success with Gallegos, Shellenberger touted himself as an expert in saving people from Recall. Chavez apparently hired Shellenberger to get him some positive press in the US Media.

What's the point? The point is that Paul Gallegos was no David against the Goliath Palco. Shellenberger was a Goliath in his own right, and the forces allied against Palco were never revealed to you, the voting public. It's time you knew.

Exhibit B (in handwriting) - on Lumina Strategies letterhead.... spells out the kinds of services he provides...

Venezuela Communications Proposal
May 19, 2004

TO: Deborah James, Executive Director VIO
FR: Michael Shellenberger, Lumina Strategies

Summary

I am proposing to work intensively with the VIO on strategy and media relations for six months starting on June 1. In November we would review our work together and decide whether to proceed beyond that. I am proposing six months because I believe it is the minimum amount of time that will be needed to evaluate the effectiveness of our effort to referame the debate.

The services I am proposing can be divided into two categories: strategic and media relations.

1. On the strategic counsel side, I recommend you use me for regular strategy calls, coordination with lobbying, trips to Caracas, overseeing advertising, polling, specific exchanges, Internet activism and other projects.

2. On the media relation side. I recommend you use me to pitch stories proactively, gently correct wrong stories, work with Andres and the Ambassador on the U.S. tour and editorial board approach, and coordinate announcements coming out of Caracas. There is, inevitably, some ambiguity about my role that won't be clarified until we start working together and until you bring on new staff.

II ACTIVITIES and DELIVERABLES

1. Oversee media relations.
1. Respond to breaking news.
b. Develop and oversee media strategy relating to reparo and referendum process.
c. Travel to Venezuela for reparo.
d. Work with Caracas staff and others to get stories out.

2. Participate on regular strategy calls.
3. Travel to Venezuela up to once a month.
4. Write and work to place op-eds.
5. Work with Embassy and VIO to organize U.S. tour.

- Speeches. editorial board visits, and think-tank visits to New York, Chicago, Miami, Dallas, Houston, Ft. Worth, San Diego, L.A., and San Francisco in late May, before reparo
- Help arrange and attend meetings
Help prepare Ambassador

6. Internet Activism

The budget for this work would be $60,000, not including out of pocket expenses.

###
****
What is reparo?
Carl Meacham explained the basic process of the reparo (repair) process that occurred May 26-30. The process, aimed at acquiring enough signatures from registered voters to call a plebiscite on the Chavez government in the hopes of removing him from office, involved revalidating 1.2 million signatures collected by the opposition.

Shellenberger and Hugo Chavez

What does it cost to hire Michael Shellenberger?
$60.000 not including out of pocket expenses. (see below)

How much has it cost for him to be on the ground on and off here in Humbodt County since at least 1997?

To work extensively with Richard Salzman on the formation of the so-called "Alliance for Ethical Business" and throughout the Recall, working to get national publicity for Paul Gallegos, to the point of moving his family up here for the final weeks of the Recall election?

And where is all that on Gallegos' financial campaign disclosure?

Was it all run through the so-called "Alliance for Ethical Business"?

Questions that need to be answered.

***
Venezuela’s Information Office hires Michael Shellenberger
By Aleksander Boyd

London 22 June 2004 – Information about the Venezuelan Information Office (VIO) continues to arrive. Today I have received a message from the Foreign Agent Registration Unit whereby details of the latest lobbyist in the payroll of Hugo Chavez are disclosed. On May 20, 2004 Lumina Strategies filled a short-form registration on behalf of the VIO for Mr Michael Shellenberger. The budget for his work will be $60.000 not including out of pocket expenses.

This is what I found about Lumina Strategies; “is a consulting and communication firm working in the public interest. We seek to harness the immense power of the marketplace to advance human equality and protect the environment.” Its mission is cited “to help foundations, NGOs and corporations save the environment, grow the economy, and improve the quality of life for people worldwide through campaigns that change policies, transform attitudes, and shift markets.” It does not strike me as the kind of venture that would get dirty defending the indefensible, pardon me, Hugo Chavez’ revolution that is.

According to Lumina’s web site “Michael Shellenberger is a media and communications consultant to nonprofits, foundations and businesses. Michael was the co-founder and Executive Director of Communication Works, the largest public interest PR firm in California. In 2001 Communication Works merged with Fenton Communications where Michael served as Western Division Director and Chief Operating Officer. His recent clients include the National Mental Health Foundation, the Ford Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Urban Health Initiative, and the Goldman Fund.” Schellenberger is also Executive Director of The Breakthrough Institute, an organization advancing bold solutions that strengthen progressive values.” He is quoted as consultant for the Business Ethics Network “a think tank focused on business and economic issues.” And the icing on the cake is Schellenberger’s advocacy for a foreign-oil independent America, as founder of the Apollo Alliance. I would like to encourage readers to visit the Ten Point Plan proposed by the said alliance. In September 2003 he penned, in collaboration with Ross Gelbspan, an article titled “Getting Tough On Oil.” One of his concerns is:

“how do we move toward oil independence without increasing unemployment in the Middle East -- and exacerbating the conditions that breed terrorism? To answer this question the president's critics must go beyond the rhetoric of energy patriotism and independence. They should explain that the oil economy never has been good for ordinary people in the Middle East because it concentrates wealth and power in the hands of a few ultra-rich families while fueling religious extremism and violence.”

I’m I getting paranoiac here? So the oil economy has never been good for ordinary people in the Middle East, nor has it been for ordinary Venezuelans whose oil wealth has been concentrated in the hands of few, yet new comer, mega-rich Hugo Chavez fuels his extremism and violence with oil money that belongs to all of us and that’s fine? What is the source of Shellenberger’s salary if not oil money that could have been used to benefit ordinary people?

The article continues:

What's needed is not energy isolationism but rather a Clean Energy Partnership, one that brings together the United States and Europe to help the oil producing nations of the Middle East make the transition to hydrogen, solar and wind. This Clean Energy Partnership would, like the post-World War II Marshall Plan in Europe and Japan, promote both political democracy and economic development.

The United States and Europe helping oil producing nations to make the transition to hydrogen, solar and wind? Who has an energy deficit here? Is it Saudi Arabia, or Venezuela? Nigeria perhaps? That paragraph encapsulates, rather grossly, an evident and condescending imperialist message. How are developing nations to become industrialised with hydrogen, solar and wind solutions? Will we power our industries with methane coming out from Shellenberger’s mouth? Is there not an obvious conflict of interests in the case of the new recruit, taking into consideration that the person he advocates for is: 1) responsible for the dismissal of technical personnel from PDVSA which has translated in unnecessary unemployment, numerous and to date unseen ecological disasters in Maracaibo Lake and excessive and polluting burn off of toxic gases in Venezuelan refineries; 2) head of the country that provides 15% of the foreign gasoline to the US --free America from foreign oil...-- and; 3) embodies the criticised oil wealth, that centred in an individual allows for the latter to fund all sorts of demoniac adventures in detriment of the people? How does Schellenberger’s goal to “re-establish America’s global economic leadership” marry with the vitriolic and antagonistic hate campaign of Hugo Chavez against the US? The convincing power of $60.000 petrodollars ought never be underestimated.

One of the successful case studies cited by Lumina Strategies has to do with Global Exchange, isn’t that the joint where VIO's alter-defender Deborah James works? It makes for interesting reading for it lays the bases of the campaign that will surely ensue to prep up the image of that uncomprehended messiah called Hugo Chavez.

So the VIO’s staff is composed of human rights defenders, environmentalists, missionaries, professional lobbyists, media analysts, feminists, policy researchers, real state agents, high military officers… One must wonder what will come next would it be a hit rap song of Eminem featuring Jay Z and the Fugees?

source: http://www.vcrisis.com/index.php?content=letters/200406221843