You can set your watch by it. The minute some halfway decent government in Latin America begins to reverse the usual order of things and try to give the have-nots a break from the grind of poverty and wretchedness, all the usual suspects up here in El Norte rouse themselves from the slumber of indifference and start barking furiously about democratic norms. It happened in 1973, in Chile; we saw a repeat performance in Nicaragua in the 1980s; and here's the same show on summer rerun in Venezuela, pending the vote on recall of President Hugo Chavez on August 15.

Chavez is the best thing that has happened to Venezuela's poor in a very, very long time. His government has actually delivered on some of its promises to the poor. A million new pupils are in the schools, with millions more getting school meals. Public spending on education has tripled and doubled on health care. Venezuelan poor people are living longer, and more of their babies are surviving past the first weeks and months. The government is promoting one of the most ambitious land reform programs seen in Latin America in decades.

AUSTIN, Texas -- As I.F. Stone used to say, "All governments lie," so that's no shockeroo. What's peculiar is the reaction in the media.  

        -- You may recall that when even the administration finally admitted Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction (with that adorable video of President Bush on his hands and knees searching under sofas in the Oval Office for the missing WMD -- oh, it was so amusing. Eight hundred American dead.), we were treated to the following rationales:

        1) Didn't make any difference because Saddam Hussein was a really, really bad guy anyway.

        He was, of course, and it was always the only decent rationale for getting rid of him. It was the argument made by Tony Blair but specifically rejected by the Bush administration. Paul Wolfowitz explained in Vanity Fair that human rights violations were not a sufficient consideration for invasion.

        2) It was all Saddam's fault that we thought he had WMD. The wily coot fooled us by repeatedly denying that he had any, a fiendishly clever ploy.

SUPER SIZE ME, now playing at the Drexel East, is one of the very few films that can be called a "Must-See" for all Americans.  Whether you eat at McDonald's or not.  

It's rare a piece of reportage that can cut to the very heart---or stomach---of the American way of life.  But Morgan Spurlock's solid, brilliant and cunning documentary is one for the ages.

Spurlock builds his case carefully.  In great physical condition to start, he visits three physicians and a physical therapist to document his weight, cholesterol, heart functions and more.  He starts out at six-feet-two, 185 pounds, with vital statistics that could easily get him sent to Iraq (which McDonald's would probably like to see at this point).  .

Then he embarks on a solid month of eating at McDonald's.  Starting with what must be the most graphic barf in US film history (you might do well to turn your head during this scene), we follow the downward spiral of Spurlock's body to the brink of fast food death.  

The film is alternatively hilarious and infuriating, academic and personal.  

The U.S. Senate will vote on the Federal Marriage Amendment on July 15.

The "pro-family" (read: homophobic) American Family Association (AFA) is planning a national anti-gay marriage Senate call-in day on July 12. It's important that those of us who care about freedom and equality also make calls on that day in support of gay marriage.

The AFA has convienently tabulated a list of addresses and phone numbers of Senators who support or oppose the amendment www.protectmarriagerally.com/default.asp#sj30.

Note that at this point, freedom and equality prevail, with 75% of Senators opposing the amendement. Let's keep it that way!

Make a call on July 12, and send a letter before then! Equality and liberty depend on it!

For more information about marriage equality and to sign a petiion supporting the right of homosexuals to marry, visit www.hrc.org/millionformarriage/index.shtml

George W. Bush's environmental record can be dummied down to one simple word: devastating.

Not only has President Bush gutted numerous environmental laws--including the Clean Air and Water Acts--he has also set a new precedence by disregarding the world's top scientists and the Pentagon, as their concerns about the rate of Global Warming grow graver by the day.

As Mark Townsend and Paul Harris reported for the Observer in the UK in February of 2004, '[The Pentagon report] predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents.'

Indeed one of Bush's first actions in office was to forge the dirty 'Energy Policy Act of 2003', which calls for a slash in renewable energy funding and an increase in fossil fuel consumption. The bill, authored by Vice President Cheney's Energy Task Force, met with a reported 39 oil lobbyists and executives to form the outlandish legislation. Portions of