Currency Exchange Website Accused of Cyber Terrorism By Venezuelan Government (arstechnica.com)

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Currency Exchange Website Accused of Cyber Terrorism By Venezuelan Government (arstechnica.com)

Posted by samzenpus on Monday December 21, 2015 @01:14AM from the you-keep-using-that-word dept.

braindrainbahrain writes: A U.S.-based website that covers the unofficial exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Bolivar, the Venezuelan currency, has been accused of cyber terrorism in a civil complaint. Venezuela, suffering from ever increasing inflation, maintains very tight controls on currency exchange, and accuses the website operators of racketeering and conspiracy. In an earlier speech, Venezuelan President Nicola Maduro stated he would ask the President of the United States to hunt down the operators of the DT Site and extradite them to Venezuela to be tried as criminals.

104 comments

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Not about the law by RogueyWon · 2015-12-21 01:24 · Score: 5, Insightful

The coverage I've seen of this today has emphasised that the Venezuelan Government's filing has essentially no chance whatsoever of success. That's undoubtedly true, but I suspect it misses the point.
This is unlikely to be about the law, or even about an attempt to stifle the website in question. Rather, it's likely to be gesture politics aimed at a domestic audience. Maduro, like Chavez before him, keeps his political base motivated by constructing elaborate theories to show that almost the entire world (and particularly the US) is conspiring against them. The sense of victimhood and isolation this creates is a useful political tool.
When this filing is rejected (likely at the first hurdle) it becomes another piece of "evidence" that the US is seeking to destroy Venezuela.
1. Re:Not about the law by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 01:51 · Score: 0
  
  ... Maduro, like Chavez before him, keeps his political base motivated by constructing elaborate theories to show that almost the entire world (and particularly the US) is conspiring against them. ...
  REALITY is conspiring against the Chavistas.
  Of course, no true Socialist runs Venezuela.
2. Re:Not about the law by tiberus · 2015-12-21 01:53 · Score: 2
  
  The court documents reads more like the rant of a conspiracy theorist than a structured legal argument. I didn't see even on use of "Whereas".
3. Re:Not about the law by Kohath · 2015-12-21 01:54 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Why doesn't he just point out all the great things that socialism has done for the people? It should be easy to find an audience. These people waiting in line for food would have to listen.
4. Re:Not about the law by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · 2015-12-21 01:56 · Score: 1
  
  It is unlikely the domestic audience will listen much as they prefer the illegal exchange rate. Official exchange rates are to allow the government to keep the vast bulk of hard western cash value, trading it for very few units of worthless domestic paper.
  "The People" down there know this and realize what a scam it is and what a disadvantage they are at.
  Speaking of which, are all our H1b buddies from India required to convert all their dollars back to rupees on return at horrible official exchange rates? Another trick in this scam is to forbid keeping the dollars.
  
  --
  (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
5. Re:Not about the law by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 01:56 · Score: 0
  
  Well, history gives many examples of socialist/communist leaders having ample justification, at least in retrospect, for being paranoid about outside influence, particularly by the USA. Just because this isn't a case of outside political influence (sure about that?), doesn't mean they're not being plotted against.
6. Re:Not about the law by DigiShaman · 2015-12-21 01:58 · Score: 2
  
  The sense of victimhood and isolation this creates is a useful political tool.
  Well yeah, it's an old song and dance written in the "How to be an effective dictator" book used the world over. Please see N. Korea as an example.
  
  --
  Life is not for the lazy.
7. Re:Not about the law by DigiShaman · 2015-12-21 01:59 · Score: 1
  
  And Nazi Germany prior.
  
  --
  Life is not for the lazy.
8. Re:Not about the law by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 02:00 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  While it certainly true that the Chavistas are exaggerating stories of US meddling, it's not as if there isn't ample precedent. The whole continent has suffered from US-backed dictatorships for many decades, so even if the current Venezuelan reaction is much overblown, I imagine it doesn't take much to convince the populace otherwise, backed by history.
9. Re:Not about the law by PopeRatzo · 2015-12-21 02:29 · Score: 0
  
  Maduro, like Chavez before him, keeps his political base motivated by constructing elaborate theories to show that almost the entire world (and particularly the US) is conspiring against them. The sense of victimhood and isolation this creates is a useful political tool.
  Does that remind anyone of particular politicians here in the US?
  
  --
  You are welcome on my lawn.
10. Re:Not about the law by Kohath · 2015-12-21 02:46 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  He can't, because the U.S is working hard since the elections to wreck their economy. Do you think socialism is bad? Look in northern Europe where people can move boxes in a warehouse and still put the equivalent of $1000 in their savings account after all the bills are paid. Don't use a small country under economic siege as an argument that socialism or socialistic democracy doesn't work.
  Yeah, it's amazing how there's always an external bogeyman whenever socialism makes things worse.
  And always a story about northern European success. Northern European socialists do ok. Northern European capitalists do ok. Maybe northern Europeans just have a strong, resilient culture?
11. Re:Not about the law by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 02:52 · Score: 0
  
  ... Maduro, like Chavez before him, keeps his political base motivated by constructing elaborate theories to show that almost the entire world (and particularly the US) is conspiring against them. ...
  REALITY is conspiring against the Chavistas.
  Of course, no true Socialist runs Venezuela.
  No true Socialist ran Greece into the ground, too!
12. Re:Not about the law by phantomfive · 2015-12-21 03:15 · Score: 2
  
  Meanwhile, Argentina rejects Chavismo (or Peronismo, or Morales-ismo) and their economy improves. Eventually people are going to realize that price controls are really not an effective tool, as tempting as it may be.
  
  --
  "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
13. Re:Not about the law by phantomfive · 2015-12-21 03:18 · Score: 1
  
  It is unlikely the domestic audience will listen much as they prefer the illegal exchange rate
  Most of the domestic audience doesn't have dollars to exchange, legally or illegally (if they are trying to buy dollars, they prefer the legal exchange rate, but have trouble getting it).
  Just like most Americans don't have a steady stream of income in a foreign currency, that they're trying to change to dollars. The exchange rate mostly is noticed by tourists and importers (and exporters).
  
  Of course, the people still feel it when they try to pay for imported goods.
  
  --
  "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
14. Re:Not about the law by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 03:26 · Score: 0
  
  Their economy improves?
  How come losing 40% of your salary is an improvement? I mean for normal people not for the companies that lower their costs.
  Some food are doubling their prices due to the changes implemented by the new government.
  Where is the improvement there?
15. Re:Not about the law by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 03:34 · Score: 1
  
  He can't, because the U.S is working hard since the elections to wreck their economy.
  Compared to the Chavistas illegally appropriating the oil industry, running it into the ground, then blaming the competent oil workers who said the government was fucking up, causing the government to force them to flee to Canada and the Middle East, the rest of the world didn't need to TRY to wreck Venezuela's economy, all they had to do was WATCH the Chavistas do it.
  
  Do you think socialism is bad? Look in northern Europe where people can move boxes in a warehouse and still put the equivalent of $1000 in their savings account after all the bills are paid.
  Ever notice how northern European cultures and methods pretty much dominate the world? As another poster pretty much said: northern Europeans rule. Literally.
  
  Don't use a small country under economic siege as an argument that socialism or socialistic democracy doesn't work.
  Can we use Greece instead? After all, they did eventually run out of other people's money.
16. Re:Not about the law by fustakrakich · 2015-12-21 03:38 · Score: 1
  
  Argentina's economy is as flaky as anybody's.
  And as far as Venezuela's victimhood, the American 'big stick' policy and dollar diplomacy over the years has justified the feeling a bit.
  
  --
  “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
17. Re:Not about the law by MightyMartian · 2015-12-21 03:39 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Latin America has been a disaster since the Spaniards first set foot on it. The US may not have helped, but let us be frank much of the region would be a mess US or no.
  
  --
  The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
18. Re:Not about the law by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 03:42 · Score: 0
  
  From what I read here and other forums, I thought Venezuela could do no wrong? It seems about every gun thread here on Slashdot has someone mention about how much their crime went down after they enacted a blanket ban on private ownership of firearms, and how the US needs to do the same in order to walk into the light of civilization. Maybe we all need to go buy some Citgo gas to support such a shining beacon of liberty.
  Only oddball thing... I never see statistics bolstering those numbers... Caracas hasn't become the safest city in the hemisphere as of recently...
19. Re:Not about the law by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 04:10 · Score: 0
  
  I think you are underestimating the extent and duration of what the US has done.
20. Re:Not about the law by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 04:22 · Score: 0
  
  Maybe northern Europeans just have a strong, resilient culture?
  Maybe it's all the relative non-corruption*,*** and a society that values group harmony**,****.
  * It helps a lot to not have to waste so many resources on being resilient vs just not having all those major fuck ups.
  ** To be strong, you must help the weak. To see through the corrupt using others as scapegoats, you must seek to know the group as a whole and value all its members. Of course, this does prevent the like of Atlas Struggles, but then perhaps it's an acceptable compromise for most the people to not have such assholes in society? Hard to say, though, since as others have stated it's only the unreasonable (the assholes) who push forward progress (in more than the small, incremental ways).
  *** The US is so full of corruption, be it in corporations or in government corporate relations, that it's little wonder that the US bleeds money like a sieve. The whole idea that getting government out of the way is absurd because corporations have set themselves up to be the alternative to government and its corporate culture that's the root of the corruption--the notion that not only one should but one must seek profits at all costs. Honestly, it's about the greed of the people, not any necessary mandate. Corporate charters can trivially be written to focus on profits second or third with things like sustainability of the company and benefit to society being higher priorities.
  **** And this is where China is a clusterfuck. It has the face of group harmony and uses it as a tool to hide corruption which is so much the norm that people just presume it's a matter of bribing people. The only advantage is that unlike the US they do go after corporate CEOs from time to time in a meaningful way. But, that's for show to placate the populace and deals with less than 1% of the actual rampant corruption. Hence the actual day to day living conditions in the US are much better because even the slight penalties and fines being applied are enough that it's cheaper to, as a cost of business, use less poison, provide more protection to workers, etc.
  tl;dr - You're right that it's about culture, but you're wrong about the attributes.
21. Re:Not about the law by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 04:40 · Score: 0
  
  exactly, watch the film "missing" with Jack Lemon sometime...
  While "fiction" it isn't really:/
22. Re:Not about the law by mrclevesque · 2015-12-21 04:44 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  "Latin America has been a disaster since the Spaniards first set foot on it. The US may not have helped"
  Not *may not have helped* but *made things worse*
  "let us be frank much of the region would be a mess US or no"
  Lets be frank about what
23. Re:Not about the law by mrclevesque · 2015-12-21 04:48 · Score: 1
  
  "Maybe northern Europeans just have a strong, resilient culture?"
  Maybe that *and* the US has made messes in South America like peer reviewed research shows
24. Re:Not about the law by mrclevesque · 2015-12-21 04:53 · Score: 1
  
  "Well yeah, it's an old song and dance written in the "How to be an effective dictator" book used the world over"
  But that doesn't say a thing about what is going on in this case
25. Re:Not about the law by Nemyst · 2015-12-21 04:54 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, it's amazing how there's always an external bogeyman whenever socialism makes things worse.
  And always a story about northern European success. Northern European socialists do ok. Northern European capitalists do ok. Maybe northern Europeans just have a strong, resilient culture?
  Or maybe socialism and capitalism are both viable social models but require the correct foundations to flourish?
26. Re:Not about the law by Kohath · 2015-12-21 05:09 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah. Blaming a foreign bogeyman doesn't count as a foundation. Really, "blame" in general seems to be mostly useful to losers and failures and people who want to succeed by leading losers and failures.
27. Re:Not about the law by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 05:19 · Score: 0
  
  No, Norway has oil. Lots of it.
28. Re:Not about the law by Kjella · 2015-12-21 05:20 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  And always a story about northern European success. Northern European socialists do ok. Northern European capitalists do ok. Maybe northern Europeans just have a strong, resilient culture?
  It's a very collective culture, if you start bragging about a Norwegian he's probably going to blush and start listing all the other people he shares credit with. Or to discredit himself as special, even though he's done something few others can. Even when in fact you've worked very hard and long for it, you are supposed to undersell your accomplishments and let others talk you up. It makes for good teamwork but less competitiveness, so it's got both pros and cons. Particularly in early education and youth sports there's been a strong opposition to measuring and competition, focusing on learning and improving yourself and being part of a team.
  It also has lead to a culture of everybody's job being important, if we didn't have construction workers the brain surgeon wouldn't have a hospital to operate in. Nowhere else in the world is the burger flipper at McDonald's paid so well compared to doctors, engineers, lawyers and so on. And those relatively low differences between "ordinary" people - we still have the 1%'ers - has lead to a very non-aggressive society and good universal services like public education and healthcare, that by far most of the population use. I also think WWII had an effect there, there was an enormous sense of unity built by the occupation and rebuilding the country, even though the generation that remembered that is dying out.
  That collective culture also makes people want collective systems to work, rather than abandon it. You shouldn't have to send your kids to private school to get a good education, you shouldn't have to arm yourself because the police doesn't protect you. It's also expected that the government intervenes in the market on behalf of the consumer, like when Apple tried to exclusively bundle the iPhone to a single vendor. The government said we don't like that kind of lock-in, users must be able to terminate for a reasonable fee. So people signed up to get the iPhone, terminated immediately and signed up with their preferred vendor. And the lock-in went away.
  If there is a downside, it's that the collective culture also tends to say we know what's good for you and through prohibitions, restrictions and taxes we're creating something of a nanny state. Maybe particularly taxes, I'm paying eight times as much for a beer here in Norway as when I go to Germany. On the other hand when I look at the capitalist US there's everything from dry communities to Las Vegas, so I'm not sure it's really related to economics. Maybe we just have a puritan streak, even though in other ways we're very liberal. And sometimes odd, I think we and Israel are the only two countries with conscription for both sexes. It only took a few insinuations of females being the weaker sex and we had feminists on the barricades to get equal duties and they did.
  
  --
  Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
29. Re:Not about the law by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 05:37 · Score: 0
  
  And now Israel.
30. Re:Not about the law by Kohath · 2015-12-21 05:58 · Score: 1
  
  Does Venezuela have oil?
31. Re:Not about the law by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 06:14 · Score: 0
  
  Ah, Norway. The only successful country that isn't a gun-toting, nigger-hating fuck-you-got-mine country.
  Take for example Sweden. They're often painted as the communist bogeyman in USA. In absolute numbers, which Yanks love to use when comparing how much better USA is than every other country, USA produces one thousand one hundred and sixty four (1164) times as much oil as Sweden. Since Sweden doesn't have oil and it isn't a gun-toting, nigger-hating fuck-you-got-mine country, then clearly Sweden must be a decaying failure of a country where people have to wait in line to get their daily ration of food, right?
  PS: Just in case that there's anyone on Slashdot who cares about sanity rather than spouting Fox News talking points, if you adjust for population, USA merely produces 35 times as much oil as Sweden.
32. Re:Not about the law by lgw · 2015-12-21 06:32 · Score: 2
  
  Does Venezuela have oil?
  They used to. Then they nationalized the oil business. Then they discovered that maintaining oil fields is a complex business requiring highly skilled workers, all of which had been foreign contractors. Then they discovered the various oil companies whose oil fields they seized were, for some reason, not interested in training or contracting that work. Oil production isn't going so well these days, and prices have fallen far.
  Norway has a great model for sharing the proceeds of natural resource exports with the people (including the workers on those oil fields!), one that damn well should have been tried in Iraq. Venezuela did not follow that model.
  
  --
  Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
33. Re:Not about the law by rafpayen · 2015-12-21 07:07 · Score: 1
  
  Don't believe anything you read about Venezuela. There is food, I bet you could more easily find hungry people in Greece than in Venezuela, nowadays. I suppose it's true that there are sporadic shortages of all kinds of things (I have not suffered from any but that doesn't mean much, I arrived recently), but I think mostly what happens is that the lines are for buying at discount prices. People are really poor.
34. Re:Not about the law by rafpayen · 2015-12-21 07:09 · Score: 1
  
  Venezuelan oil production is doing ok. Not great, but ok. What you're saying is more propaganda than truth. The current selling price is a much worse problem than the amount of production.
35. Re:Not about the law by Solandri · 2015-12-21 07:24 · Score: 1
  
  The economy in Northern Europe works because it's diversified with hundreds of millions of people working for millions of different companies doing tens of thousands of doing things.
  
  The economy in Venezuela is in shambles because 40% of government revenue, 11% of GDP is based on oil exports. And oil just dropped from over $100/bbl to $35/bbl in less than 2 years. Diversification helps shield you from major fluctuations in a single economic sector, much less a single commodity. (A lot of the blame goes to the Venezuelan government though, for using those oil revenues for welfare programs instead of modernizing the country like Iran and many other OPEC nations do. Give a man a fish, feed him for a day, Teach a man to fish, feed him for life.)
  
  Ironically, most of those oil exports are to the U.S. Venezuelan crude is heavy and loaded with sulfur. Very few refineries can process it, and most of those are in the U.S. So despite the hatred between the U.S. and Venezuela, the two are tied at the hip economically.
36. Re:Not about the law by rafpayen · 2015-12-21 07:41 · Score: 1
  
  A lot of the blame goes to the Venezuelan government though, for using those oil revenues for welfare programs instead of modernizing the country like Iran and many other OPEC nations do. Give a man a fish, feed him for a day, Teach a man to fish, feed him for life.
  The chavists do try to modernize the country. The have built houses, schools, hospitals, ... They have tried and still try to "teach people to fish", they even produce some laptops locally (not sure how good they are, I suppose it's more something like OLPC). Their efforts are not enough, but the situation when they arrived wasnt great, and the "capitalists" who still own a good part of the country are indeed not very participative, it's not just paranoia and political scapegoating. "Not participative" can include things like sending sicarios to kill small-scale farmers...
37. Re:Not about the law by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 08:24 · Score: 0
  
  What makes you think US citizens give a shit about the small Nordic countries? The small Nordic countries have small and non-divers populations which make comparing their social systems to the US or China meaningless. Their social systems and governing policies simply do not scale and their significance on the global stage is miniscule. They are lucky in this respect because nobody is expecting them to actually do anything important on the global stage.
38. Re:Not about the law by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 08:50 · Score: 0
  
  But USA has niggers, and Sweden has no niggers! And we all know that you need to be a gun-toting, nigger-hating fuck-you-got-mine country to succeed unless you've got oil. Or niggers. Or something.
  Also, we all know how economies of scale actually works inversely whenever USA is proven to do something completely retarded.
  Sweden has a lot more immigrants than USA, you know. Unlike the monoculture that is USA, Sweden is extremely open to foreigners. Adjusted for population numbers, Sweden has for example accepted this year alone taken 2500 times as many Syrian refugees as USA has since 2012.
39. Re:Not about the law by Tokolosh · 2015-12-21 09:08 · Score: 1
  
  The most eloquent and persuasive explanation may be found in Niall Ferguson's book "Civilization: The West and the Rest". I highly recommend it.
  http://www.amazon.com/Civiliza...
  http://www.pbs.org/show/civili...
  
  --
  Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
40. Re:Not about the law by Locke2005 · 2015-12-21 10:42 · Score: 1
  
  Sure, but the Swedish economy gets a HUGE boost from all them IKEA-furnitur- buyin' US hipsters!
  
  --
  I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
41. Re:Not about the law by KGIII · 2015-12-21 12:31 · Score: 1
  
  It could also be that the US paid for a goodly bit of their infrastructure, after they bombed themselves into ruin, and didn't even make them pay all the money back. Well, the UK did. The US also footed their defense bill for a very long time (and still does fund quite a bit of it) so they have money to invest in other areas.
  See? There's all sorts of fun ways to look at things.
  
  --
  "So long and thanks for all the fish."
42. Re:Not about the law by alantus · 2015-12-21 13:30 · Score: 1
  
  Venezuelan oil production is doing ok. Not great, but ok. What you're saying is more propaganda than truth. The current selling price is a much worse problem than the amount of production.
  Venezuela should be producing 3.5 million barrels daily according to their own projections, yet they struggle to produce even half.
  The root reason being Chavez' firing of all managers of PDVSA (the oil company) in a national broadcast in 2012, tooting a whistle and pulling out red cards, like a football referee; and the subsequent firing of most employees. This was his short sighted reaction to their joining of a national strike that lasted a month, aimed at pressuring him into leaving office.
  These people took years of training and experience to middle eastern countries, making them rich. The new PDVSA only hires people loyal to the government, everything else is secondary, resulting in accident after accident, the biggest of all resulting in one of the biggest explosions in history.
  That is why the government is now focused on begging the other OPEC members to lower production. Oil price is their convenient excuse, the real reason is their inability to compete with well run companies.
  Add that to their strategy of managing PDVSA as their personal wallet for populist campaigns, as opposed to development and reinvestment in the oil industry.
  This is a short summary of what happened to PDVSA, the goose that laid the golden eggs, until Chavez destroyed it.
  So yeah, its not just about selling price.
43. Re:Not about the law by phantomfive · 2015-12-21 14:35 · Score: 1
  
  That article you linked to is retarded. The reality is, prices of imported goods will go down (relatively speaking), because it will be easier to import and export. It's ridiculous to pay $5USD for a notebook in Argentina, just because it was made in China.
  
  Also, it's good for tourists, too, because trading dollars on the black market was a huge pain, and you had to worry about counterfeit bills. Now you can get the black market rate, but legally from an ATM machine.
  
  --
  "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
44. Re:Not about the law by phantomfive · 2015-12-21 14:44 · Score: 1
  
  How come losing 40% of your salary is an improvement? I mean for normal people not for the companies that lower their costs.
  Some economists applaud inflation as a way to decrease the costs of production (everyone's salary) simultaneously.
  
  In the case of Argentina, the official exchange rate was a lie, and the only effect was to make it really hard to get dollars (because you couldn't get dollars very easily at the 10 to 1 rate).
  
  And in fact, importers will now be able to get dollars at ~13 to 1 rate, instead of the 15 to 1 rate (or more) that they were paying.
  
  --
  "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
45. Re:Not about the law by fustakrakich · 2015-12-21 16:42 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah they had some stuff backwards. The point is that Argentina just relaxed currency controls and the value plummeted. The locals are already feeling the inflation. And the devaluation will make the price of imported goods go up, not down. Exports will be cheaper at the other end though. And yes, tourists get more bang for the buck. The problem is not whether they are socialist or not. The economies of any corrupt regime always suck. The difference between Argentina and Venezuela is a matter of degree, not category.
  
  --
  “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
46. Re:Not about the law by phantomfive · 2015-12-21 19:20 · Score: 1
  
  The point is that Argentina just relaxed currency controls and the value plummeted. The locals are already feeling the inflation
  You would think so, but the relaxation was merely official recognition of the facts. (Some legislatures demand that pi is 3, Argentina demanded that a dollar be worth 10 pesos). The problem before being that it was impossible to buy a dollar for 10 pesos, no one would give it to you (unless you were very very good friends with the president or something).
  
  In short, people were already paying 15 pesos to the dollar, and now that it's official, it looks like they can get it for 13 to the dollar, which is actually an improvement.
  
  --
  "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
47. Re:Not about the law by rafpayen · 2015-12-22 10:10 · Score: 1
  
  Venezuela should be producing 3.5 million barrels daily according to their own projections, yet they struggle to produce even half.
  So you're saying that Venezuela struggles to produce 1.75 mbd? Do you realize it's a bit hard to give credit to anything you say after this?
  
  The new PDVSA only hires people loyal to the government, everything else is secondary, resulting in accident after accident, the biggest of all resulting in one of the biggest explosions in history.
  If you read the article you linked, Venezuelan officials say it was sabotage. Of course, maybe they lie, or they're sincere but wrong. All I can see with my own eyes is that the whole western world seems so intent on destroying them that people even post ridiculous numbers to discredit them on slashdot forums. So it could also be that they're right.
  
  That is why the government is now focused on begging the other OPEC members to lower production. Oil price is their convenient excuse, the real reason is their inability to compete with well run companies.
  Venezuela pushing to lower global production is not new, it dates from the creation of OPEC (more or less at their initiative).
  
  PS: There is a lot of investment in the oil industry in Venezuela (too much according to some), and a lot of cooperation with foreign companies.
48. Re:Not about the law by RockDoctor · 2015-12-22 12:09 · Score: 1
  
  Speaking of which, are all our H1b buddies from India required to convert all their dollars back to rupees on return at horrible official exchange rates? Another trick in this scam is to forbid keeping the dollars.
  What is the official rupee:dollar exchange rate? What is the unofficial rate?
  From what I can see, there's no significant difference between the two. Which would suggest that you don't think about things very carefully, and that colours the whole of the rest of your post.
  (I get 1 rupee = 0.015$ from Google at the moment, and the US State department thinks the unofficial rate in 2013 was 0.016.
  
  --
  Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
Re:VenalaWho? by jfdavis668 · 2015-12-21 01:26 · Score: 0

Is he related to Vanilla Ice?
Capitalism is Terrorism by jfdavis668 · 2015-12-21 01:29 · Score: 2

This is from a man who thinks capitalism is terrorism.
1. Re:Capitalism is Terrorism by Errol+backfiring · 2015-12-21 03:02 · Score: 0
  
  And? Is he right?
  
  --
  Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
2. Re:Capitalism is Terrorism by jfdavis668 · 2015-12-21 03:17 · Score: 1
  
  A particular capitalist may be considered a terrorist, but not the system.
3. Re:Capitalism is Terrorism by shentino · 2015-12-21 03:21 · Score: 1
  
  Terrorism is whatever the PTB (tm) say it is.
4. Re:Capitalism is Terrorism by Kohath · 2015-12-21 03:25 · Score: 1
  
  No. People who say "[XYZ] is terrorism" are always wrong. If they were right they wouldn't have to exaggerate.
5. Re:Capitalism is Terrorism by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 03:36 · Score: 0
  
  Actually there is very little consensus on how "terrorism" ought to be defined. The problem is mostly that any reasonable definition tends to include stuff that we, or our buddies, do. So we tack on "non-state actors" or something, a sure indicator of failure to define the term.
6. Re:Capitalism is Terrorism by mrclevesque · 2015-12-21 04:56 · Score: 1
  
  Do you mean terrorism doesn't exist
7. Re:Capitalism is Terrorism by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 05:00 · Score: 0
  
  You forgot your #FeelTheBern hashtag, bro.
8. Re:Capitalism is Terrorism by Kohath · 2015-12-21 05:05 · Score: 1
  
  No one makes a point of saying "suicide bombing is terrorism" because it's obvious. Terrorist acts are terrorism. XYZ other bullshit (capitalism, Santa Claus, eating meat, not bowing to statues of political leaders, whatever else some fool says) is not terrorism. People who say "[XYZ] is terrorism" are wrong. If they weren't wrong, they wouldn't need silly exaggerations.
9. Re:Capitalism is Terrorism by mrclevesque · 2015-12-21 06:27 · Score: 1
  
  "No one makes a point of saying "suicide bombing is terrorism""
  Of course they do. In other words your heuristic "people who say ..." is not useful
Enjoy the drama, folks by jtrainor · 2015-12-21 01:32 · Score: 2

Nicolas Maduro is insanely angry that his political party got heaved out of office in the recent elections, and he's going to be heaved out too, as soon as it's legally possible. Venezuela's shitty governance isn't quite fixed yet, but it's well on the way... and Maduro's already begun his transformation into a salt golem.
1. Re:Enjoy the drama, folks by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 01:48 · Score: 0
  
  He has the power to rule by decree for another 10 days, so ya I guess there will be drama....
2. Re:Enjoy the drama, folks by DigiShaman · 2015-12-21 02:05 · Score: 1
  
  It's legally possible when he says it's legally possible. I'm sorry, but if past history teaches us anything, I'm of the opinion that nothing short of an armed uprising (revolution) will curb his sorry ass. But hey, that's not my problem, that's up the people of Venezuela.
  
  --
  Life is not for the lazy.
3. Re:Enjoy the drama, folks by Jesrad · 2015-12-21 02:43 · Score: 2
  
  Maduro is trying to create a whole new parliament from scratch to suit his needs and deny his people any semblance of democracy: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new...
  That's a new one, AFAIK not even african dictators had pulled that off before. Your people have voted you out of their assembly ? Decree yourself a brand new "people's assembly" in its place !
  
  --
  Maybe we deserve this world ?
4. Re:Enjoy the drama, folks by jtrainor · 2015-12-21 03:10 · Score: 1
  
  Unfortunately for him, Maduro doesn't have control of the military. In fact, they're the ones that forced him to abide by the results of the election.
5. Re:Enjoy the drama, folks by rafpayen · 2015-12-21 07:16 · Score: 1
  
  [...]Maduro doesn't have control of the military. [...]
  Source? (btw, I don't believe any military uprising would be necessary to oust Chavez. If he loses the presidential election, he will leave.)
6. Re:Enjoy the drama, folks by alantus · 2015-12-21 13:33 · Score: 1
  
  [...]Maduro doesn't have control of the military. [...]
  Source?
  (btw, I don't believe any military uprising would be necessary to oust Chavez. If he loses the presidential election, he will leave.)
  Well, yes, ever since he died from cancer, he doesn't care so much about staying in office...
7. Re:Enjoy the drama, folks by alantus · 2015-12-21 13:38 · Score: 1
  
  Source?
  (btw, I don't believe any military uprising would be necessary to oust Chavez. If he loses the presidential election, he will leave.)
  Well, yes, ever since he died from cancer, he doesn't care so much about staying in office...
  Oh I just realized that you were talking about Maduro, not Chavez.
  It is an understandable mistake, since they often speak through birds.
8. Re:Enjoy the drama, folks by rafpayen · 2015-12-21 16:45 · Score: 1
  
  Lol, sorry for the mistake. So, I assume you have no source then? You know, whatever you think of the Venezuelan government, it's undeniable that the "western" medias are heavily biased against it. So when you read this kind of insinuations without proof, you can just discard it, it's worth nothing. Even when there are proofs, you should doubt them, actually.
Government terrorism by roman_mir · 2015-12-21 01:35 · Score: 0, Troll

Of course. In this world nothing is a bigger crime than honesty and nobody is a bigger terrorist than somebody telling the truth to power. Snowden is a terrorist to the USA government, same as Assange.
Of course. It is a currency exchange informational site that is the terrorist, not a collectivist government driven by Keynesian ideas of 'creating prosperity by printing paper money'.
Of course. The Federal reserve bank chair woman is the bellweather of the economy, she and her institution are not driven by politics and are not manipulating the markets by insane economic policy of money printing and non existing interest rates.
Of course. The USA economy is doing just fine under the corporate collectivism and will be even better once the collectivists take over and turn it into a democratic collectivism. Collectivism is what drives the economy and makes it all better, not free market and private property (capitalism).
Obviously the economy can be ran by the collectivist ideology, simply issue new rules and regulations, that is what makes a nation productive - rules and regulations, not private initiative and free market entrepreneurship. Anybody who disagrees is a millionaire / billionaire and / or the enemy of the middle class, likely a terrorist.
( for the sarcastically challenged: the above are not a recipe for creating a sound economy, just so that we are clear)
A 'real terrorist' today: a person who does not follow and/or agree with the main stream and the party line. Not to be confused with the irrelevant and 'useful terrorist', somebody simply shooting and/or blowing up some irrelevant proles.

--
You can't handle the truth.
1. Re:Government terrorism by hlavac · 2015-12-21 01:43 · Score: 1
  
  ( for the sarcastically challenged: the above are not a recipe for creating a sound economy, just so that we are clear)
  So is 1985 not a recipe for fuctioning happy society, and it was used verbatim, just look around ;)
2. Re: Government terrorism by MenThal · 2015-12-21 01:51 · Score: 2
  
  1985? Check your code for an off-by-one error. Or is it like a new version; 1984++ or something?
3. Re:Government terrorism by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 01:56 · Score: 0
  
  You shouldn't really preach about economics when you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. I switched from computer science to finance and economics when I went to graduate school. They are about four times harder than computer science. Most people don't have the IQ points to ever master the math and statistics involved.
4. Re:Government terrorism by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 02:07 · Score: 0
  
  You shouldn't really preach about economics when you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. I switched from computer science to finance and economics when I went to graduate school. They are about four times harder than computer science. Most people don't have the IQ points to ever master the math and statistics involved.
  Math is not reality, math is a representation of reality. Economics lives in the real world, not on the chalkboard.
5. Re:Government terrorism by roman_mir · 2015-12-21 02:12 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  To win a Nobel prize in economics today a person needs to have no idea about real economics and instead he needs to support the idiotic Keynesian ideas that let the governments do what they want to do anyway: print paper money and pretend that central planning is what builds the economy. In the beginning of 20th century USA had under 20 formal economists and a sound economy. Today USA has tens of thousands of 'economists' and a shadow of its former economic power.
  
  --
  You can't handle the truth.
6. Re:Government terrorism by jedidiah · 2015-12-21 02:19 · Score: 1
  
  That's the reason that economics is a sham.
  Economics is ultimately about the study of people and they are a difficult thing to study and understand. Computer science has unsuccessfully being trying to mathematically recreate them for a long time.
  Economics also suffers a lot from politics and wishful thinking.
  "High finance" is at best fraud obscured by math.
  
  --
  A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
7. Re: Government terrorism by JaredOfEuropa · 2015-12-21 02:28 · Score: 1
  
  It's 1984 2:1985, Attack of the Proles.
  
  --
  If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
8. Re:Government terrorism by XXongo · 2015-12-21 02:37 · Score: 1
  
  ( for the sarcastically challenged: the above are not a recipe for creating a sound economy, just so that we are clear)
  I wish people would stop attempting sarcasm on the web. Sarcasm becomes completely invisible against the background noise, and it's impossible to tell a troll from somebody trying to be ironic (usually unsuccessfully).
  Poe's law doesn't just apply to fundamentalism any more.
9. Re:Government terrorism by PopeRatzo · 2015-12-21 02:43 · Score: 2
  
  To win a Nobel prize in economics today a person needs to have no idea about real economics and instead he needs to support the idiotic Keynesian ideas that let the governments do what they want to do anyway
  Fantasy and wish-fulfillment have always been a hallmark of the science of Economics. And bad math. Some of the biggest names in Economics (Milton Friedman, Keynes, etc) are basically just self-justifying cheerleaders.
  Economics is a softer science than parapsychology. I'm not exaggerating, either. If you find the few people who are doing parapsychology research at major institutions, you'll find that they're much more rigorous than they have to be, because of their bad reputation. Economists, on the other hand, especially the ones who sit in named chairs, mainly exist to advocate for their pet systems. And their math is pretty unimpressive when you dig down.
  
  --
  You are welcome on my lawn.
10. Re:Government terrorism by hey! · 2015-12-21 02:45 · Score: 1
  
  Well, while I agree with you that finance is harder than people who are totally ignorant of it are likely to realize, it's unlikely to be 4x harder than the theory of computation or advanced algorithms courses I had to take to get my BSCS, otherwise (a) a lot fewer people would be able to do finance, or (b) a lot more people would be able to do stuff like amortized analysis of algorithm complexity. It seems more likely that the CS program you attended was weak.
  
  --
  Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
11. Re:Government terrorism by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 03:01 · Score: 0
  
  Yea, and people often mock and criticize big pharma and western medicine. Some credit god and others favor alternative treatments, but when they get seriously sick or injured all that shit goes out the window and they go to the experts for help.
  The same thing with economics. The crazies rant about the gold standard or laissez fare capitalism, but when the economy gets seriously sick all that shit goes out the window and they go to the experts for help.
12. Re:Government terrorism by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 03:16 · Score: 0
  
  People mock because they're assholes. Some low IQ people are respectful.
13. Re:Government terrorism by Vitriol+Angst · 2015-12-21 03:18 · Score: 1
  
  Of course you can group things together with the same preface and have a rhetorical argument.
  Snowden is not a terrorist, because we know from WikiLeaks that most of this information is available for purchase via third parties who get databases full of information about Americans. Other intelligence agencies likely know all about the internal spying, but he spooked the public and corporations not in the know. Plus, he isn't spreading fear for an agenda: we have news agencies who do far more of that.
  Keynesian theory is really sound, and has been maligned by Globalists and Fascists, and people who tank economies. Printing more money is about the Fed, which arguable could be called "collectivist banking organization". Print no money or too much? More bad?
  The next sentence makes no sense, "corporate collectivism"? Just throwing that word in doesn't help all the self contradictions, of course. Democratic collectivism might be a term for Socialism. When we had more of that, our economy was booming, so you'll have to site some examples of any time in history when we had MORE of a free market and the economy wasn't tanking. The banks had a free market in 2008 and just before the prior great depression. And the collapse of the dollar before that -- we've had to reissue the currency a few times BTW. And the history of the awesome free market in the USA being awesome is between 1940 and 1980, so, this is like a global warming chart where you use two points to make a trend line.
  The Federal Reserve Bank is not part of the government like the US Mint. They DO manipulate the economy, and by extension the market. Not sure if they are printing a lot or a little money right now but the interest rate being low is due to deleveraging of the economic catastrophe in 2008 -- when the free market tanked banking.
  Why would corporate collectivists (fascists?) hand the economy over to Democratic Socialists (the only example of democratic collectivism I've ever seen is on Star Trek, so I'm taking a guess here)? Total free markets and private property ALWAYS tank an economy -- see; history. We are far too close to "free market" right now, which is why wages have been stagnant. I'm sure too collectivist and it would tank -- but we've never been there.
  New rules and regulations, that is what makes a nation productive. This is usually a sign of a Libertarian child. All rules and regulations are not bad nor good. The correct rules and regulations are awesome. If you have no rules and regulations, you can't have a marketplace, nor an infrastructure. Not having building codes in Haiti means a level 4 earthquake can level a city. Too many and you have expensive buildings like California. Like Socialism, and salt, you need a little but not too much.
  Of course, you could be sarcastically using double negatives. I agree with you that terrorism is blowing things up to scare people, but that also describes our military,
  It's just asymmetric warfare.
  
  --
  >>"ad space available -- low rates!!!"
14. Re:Government terrorism by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 03:48 · Score: 0
  
  When you get a chance you should thumb through a book on introductory financial economic theory. The one I have is by Pleska (bad spelling). It's nothing but an exercise in linear algebra. If you still haven't had enough try Stochastic Calculus for Finance by Shreve.
15. Re: Government terrorism by erikkemperman · 2015-12-21 03:57 · Score: 1
  
  1985? Check your code for an off-by-one error. Or is it like a new version; 1984++ or something?
  I doubt GP meant this... But there is a novel called 1985. Not all that impressive, I thought, certainly not nearly as good as Clockwork Orange.
  
  --
  Gosh, thanks. That must be why the other ships call me Meatfucker -- GCU Grey Area (Eccentric)
16. Re:Government terrorism by hey! · 2015-12-21 03:58 · Score: 1
  
  I'm not saying finance isn't hard. That said, linear algebra isn't hard, either. What I'm saying is that computation theory is as hard as any subject gets before only a tiny fraction of the population can do it.
  
  --
  Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
17. Re:Government terrorism by Coren22 · 2015-12-21 05:23 · Score: 1
  
  Snowden has never been accused of terrorism. If you are going to make claims like that, back your shit up with citations.
  Same goes for Assange.
  Making shit up to attack is silly when there is so much to point out that doesn't need to be made up.
  
  --
  APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
18. Re:Government terrorism by rafpayen · 2015-12-21 07:18 · Score: 1
  
  Of course. In this world nothing is a bigger crime than honesty and nobody is a bigger terrorist than somebody telling the truth to power. Snowden is a terrorist to the USA government, same as Assange.
  But dolartoday doesnt tell the truth. Ask any Venezuelan, nobody changes at this rate. (not much lower, though)
19. Re: Government terrorism by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 07:33 · Score: 0
  
  Or we get as far away from them as possible because most of the time it's the "experts" that cause the problems.
Neither was TPP, TRIPS, DMCA, PATRIOT... by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 02:00 · Score: 0

Neither was Snowden, Wikileaks. Neither was the arrest of the internet gambling site owners.
Face it, the reason why this isn't going to work has fuck all to do with what's legal or illegal, but that this isn't the USA doing it, therefore it's not going to work.
Don't bother by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 02:15 · Score: 0

The U.S wanted to install your U.S-friendly and U.S-backed opponent, and now that they failed they will instead wreck your economy and country and see if they can get a crony in when the next elections occur. You need to look to other south-American countries and unite and stand against the U.S, not send futile complaints to their legal departements.
Re:VenalaWho? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 02:27 · Score: 0

Venezuela is "Little Venice"
Typical statist fantasy by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 02:53 · Score: 0

The other story out of Venezuela today was about how they finally released Pepsi workers they had imprisoned because they didn't magically make Pepsi without sugar or cans.
1. Re:Typical statist fantasy by jfdavis668 · 2015-12-21 05:45 · Score: 1
  
  Let them drink Coke!
Re:VenalaWho? by FatdogHaiku · 2015-12-21 05:28 · Score: 1

Venezuela is "Little Venice"
Why do I suddenly have a sinking feeling...

--
You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
How could this possibly be racketeering? by timrod · 2015-12-21 06:12 · Score: 2

While I understand the charges are likely based on political paranoia within Venezuela's government and a desire to find a scapegoat for their financial issues, how could a website that merely reports an exchange rate (the site in question appears to be a news site and not an actual currency exchange) be guilty of racketeering? If the exchange rate was wrong, no one would use them as a reliable source of information in the first place. This would be like trying to charge the New York Times with securities fraud because they report stock prices.
1. Re:How could this possibly be racketeering? by rafpayen · 2015-12-21 10:46 · Score: 2
  
  The claim is that they both report false rates and do actual currency exchange.
Really? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 09:16 · Score: 0

... extradite them to Venezuela to be tried as criminals ...

Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha.
Forget the basic rule of extradition: It must be a crime in the USA, or both countries for US-unfriendly countries. Where is this assumption the USA cares about justice for other countries, coming from?
I'd say it's more about resources than culture by Anonymous Coward · 2015-12-21 09:38 · Score: 0

In Northern Europe, they have a lot more money. So they're rich enough to afford a decent standard of living for everyone.
Not everywhere is that rich. In other places, when they flatten incomes, everyone ends up poor and the whole thing doesn't work out so well.
Well, except for party leaders. No matter where you look, they always seem to live well. Of course it's exactly the same in capitalist countries, it's just a bit more ironic in the Socialist and Communist countries.