Endorsement for the Latvian Parliamentary Election

On Saturday 2 October, Juche 99, the Republic of Latvia will be holding parliamentary elections. In these elections I will be endorsing the Latvian Farmer’s Union. The Latvian Farmer’s Union is in a coalition with the Latvian Green Party. I admit it is odd that a climateskeptic like myself would voluntarily support a Green Party, however after reading the goals and the agenda of both parties, I believe that the Latvian Farmer’s Union does represent the best course for Latvia.

What interested me most in the Latvian Farmer’s Union is the history behind the party. I had heard of the party before, but was warded off by their coalition with the Greens. The Latvian Farmer’s Union is the oldest political party in Latvia, next to the Latvian Social Democratic Worker’s Party. The Party became the most active political movement during Latvia’s first period of independence and was subsequently banned by the Latvian dictator Karlis Ulmanis, in 1934 and the ban continued throughout the Soviet period. The party reformed in 1990, following Latvia’s unfortunate independence from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

The Latvian Farmer’s Union considers itself a centrist political party, in the tradition of Nordic centrist parties. The Nordic centrist parties favour social conservatism and vary on economic issues, some supporting more leftist policies while others are more free market in approach. The Latvian Farmer’s Union has developed policies at maintaining a traditional Latvian way of life along with support for small scale farmers and criticising large scale industrial farmers. The Latvian people, apparently, believe that the small scale farmers are more environmentally sound than the large scale industrial farms, which is why the Latvian Farmer’s Union and the Latvian Green Party can enter a coalition with each other. When it comes to the Latvian Farmer’s Union, I will support politicians who are geared economically to the left, and remain skeptical about the European Union, or those politicians who in fact oppose it.

I am disappointed with the other two parties that I may have supported. They are the Latvian Socialist Party and For Fatherland and Freedom. The Latvian Socialist Party has merged with the Social Democratic and Human Rights Party , which I believe is a step away from Marxism-Leninism and towards neoliberalism, a dangerous trend many left-wing European Political Parties are making. I also oppose For Fatherland and Freedom’s promotion of free market capitalism. I have also read that For Fatherland and Freedom has made and continuously makes efforst to criminalise actions made by Soviet authorities from 1940-1991, which I believe is a major crime.

Endorsement for the Swiss Constitutional Referendum

On Sunday 26 September, Juche 99, the Swiss Confederation will be holding a Constitutional Referendum. This referendum will decide whether or not to increase benefits for unemployment insurance. Unfortunately I do not have enough information to completely endorse a particular camp in this election, however I will support the camp which is supporting increased benefits. It appears as though the right wing parties are supporting the referendum, while the left wing parties are against it. One can assume that the right wing parties wish to limit unemployment benefits while the left would want to increase them. Although this may not be the case, as in Canada, the Conservative Party recently increased EI spending with the support of the social democratic, NDP. The political landscape in Europe is changing, with far right wing parties, gradually moving towards the left, and left wing parties adopting pro-neoliberal policies. I will endorse whatever camp supports the Swiss worker’s.

Endorsement for the Venezuelan Parliamentary Elections

On Sunday 26 September, Juche 99, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela will be holding their parliamentary elections. In this election I will be endorsing the United Socialist Party of Venezuela. The United Socialist Party of Venezuela, or PSUV, is a coalition of political parties of the left which include the Communist Party of Venezuela, the Socialist Party of Venezuela and other socialist, communist and Marxist political parties. All of these parties are supporters of current president, Hugo Chavez. I am and always have been a strong supporter of President Chavez.
I support the moves that Chavez has done to nationalise the Venezuelan media and also its natural resources. I have been very pleased to read that he has cut out American imperialist influence in his country and has been able to provide a better quality of living for his people. The Venezuelan people for almost the first time in its history have been able to benefit from profits received from the nationalisation of the oil industry.
In the realm of foreign affairs, the Venezuelan government has boosted ties in a positive way with its neighbours. The exception to this is Venezuelan relations with Colombia. Almost two wars have broken out between the two nations over the past two years. Of course both nations share a roll in the possible outbreak of war, but I believe Colombia shares the most responsibility. The Republic of Colombia allows American troops to continually invade its own nation and carry out terrorist actions on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The most vicious attack was the failed military coup that took place in 2002, but thankfully, Chavez supporters within the military overthrew the American led coup.
I hope that the PSUV will maintain their majority in the Venezuelan parliament so that they can continue the Bolivarian revolution. The Bolivairan Revolution is bringing prosperity to Venezuela and it is continuing on the path that Marx has predicted. A spectre is haunting Latin America, the spectre of Bolivarianism.

Reminices of the Philippines

I have just returned from a trip to Manila, Republic of the Philippines. This trip was certainly an interesting one. I was very pleased by the experiences I had with the people in the Philippines. I flew on a Delta flight from New York-John F. Kennedy Airport to Tokyo-Narita Airport, where I connected on another Delta flight from Tokyo-Narita to Manila-Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

I arrived in Manila at about 3:00 am on Monday the 20th of September. I stayed at the Trader’s Hotel in Manila, which had a view of Manila Bay. After arriving, I briefly slept and then went out to visit the city. I visited the Intramuros Area of the city of Manila, which is the old Spanish neighbourhood. I walked around the baryo, which was very beautiful. I enjoyed walking around visiting Fort Santiago, The Manila Cathedral and Saint Augustine Cathedral. After Intramuros, I walked around Manila visiting the city hall and the Malacanang Palace, where current president Ninoy Aquino lives. After traveling around this area, I visited the American Cemetery which contains the graves of the American and Filipino Servicemen who gave their lives during the Great Patriotic War. I thought the cemetery along with the monument to the deceased soldiers was very moving. I actually think the American Cemetery was my favourite part of the trip. After this I went to Makati City, the major financial district of Manila, where former first lady Imelda Marcos lives and serves as a Congresswoman. I enjoyed a few bars and samples some local food. I really enjoyed, balut, which is one of the Philippines’ most popular dishes. Balut is a steamed fertilised duck egg. I thought the taste was similar to that of a fried egg.

Over all, I enjoyed my visit to the Philippines. I would certainly visit the archipelago again, as much of the history of the islands that I am familiar with is not located in Manila. I would like to visit northern Luzon along with the island of Leyte. I’d like to visit Northern Luzon to see Baguio, which is where former U.S. Governor William Howard Taft Lived along with the Northern most section, which is where Ferdinand Marcos is from. As for Leyte, I’d like to see the battle field of the Battle of Leyte Gulf along with the site of the death of Ferdinand Magellen, who is incorrectly credited with the first complete circumnavigation of the globe.

The Tuvaluan and Afghani Parliamentary elections

Today 16 September, Juche 99, the Pacific archipelago of Tuvalu will be holding their parliamentary elections. There are no political parties in Tuvalu, all members of the Tuvaluan parliament are independents and/or non-partisans. In these elections, I will endorse the “best man” . I hope whoever wins these elections will be the best possible candidates to lead Tuvalu.

On Saturday 18 September, Juche 99, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan will hold their parliamentary elections. In these elections I will not be endorsing any specific party. Since by writing about the elections, I will be forced to endorse Shalha Atta and her allies in the Loya Jirga. I supported Shalha Atta in the last presidential elections, which were rigged by current president Hamid Karzai. I am not actively supporting any political party as the majority of the parties in the Loya Jirga are corrupt imperialist stooges or allies to the corrupt dictator, Karzai.

I am also not supporting any of the official political parties of Afghanistan because the parties I support are illegal. The party in Afghanistan of which I consider myself a member of is the Communist Party of Afghanistan (Maoist). The Communist (Maoist) Party of Afghanistan is not currently engaged in the liberation struggle from U.S. and N.A.T.O. imperialist forces, but they staunchly oppose it. The Communist (Maoist) Party of Afghanistan did try to organise a resistance movement with other communist parties and former members of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan, which ruled from 1978-1992.

I will sympathise with the Taliban’s efforts to destabilize Saturday’s elections. I do hope these elections fail, which will be a major blow to American dictator, Barak Obama’s already failing war policies in Afghanistan . The war, which has lasted over nine years at this point, has already become a major failure by the western imperialist powers. If this election fails, this will be the second failed attempt of the western powers imposing democracy on a nation which has no experience of it.

Endorsement for the Swedish Parliamentary Elections

On Sunday 19 September, Juche 99, the Kingdom of Sweden will be holding their parliamentary elections. These elections will determine whether current Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt will stay on as Prime Minister, or if Sweden will move to the centre-left under the leadership of the Socialist Worker’s Party. Thus far, the campaigning for this election has been slightly scandalous.

In this election I will be endorsing the Democratic Party of Sweden. This political party is on the extreme far right of the political spectrum. The Democratic Party recently had a scandal over their campaign commercial, which was banned almost immediately. The commercial was in regards to options that the Swedish voter has, which would be to increase the budget for pension reform or increase the budget for the immigration department. The Democratic Party used an image of a disabled pensioner attempting to vote, but was run down by a throng of women in burqas. Since the advertisement was banned, Danish politicians have called for election monitors to monitor the election on Sunday. The advertisement won me over, and because of this the Democratic Party received my endorsement. I thought the advertisement was powerful and notes a dangerous trend of unlimited immigration into the European Union.

The Democratic Party of Sweden is a staunch Swedish Nationalist Party and they support limited or even an end to immigration into the Kingdom of Sweden. They also wish to end Sweden’s participation in the European Union, another position which I strongly support.

Reflections on today's election

Today 14 September, Juche 99, I participated in the New York State Republican Primaries. I maintained my endorsements and I voted exactly for the candidates who I endorsed in my writing yesterday. This year New York State had a new voting system. This year, the ballot was a paper ballot that would be scanned into a machine. I certainly preferred this system as opposed to last year’s method. Last year the Board of Elections used the traditional ballot machine, where you would pull a lever and a curtain would draw and you can place your vote. The voter would then select their vote by pulling a small tab on the metallic ballot.

I enjoyed voting in this primary. In the presidential election 2 years ago, I felt rushed as I voted for several write-in candidates as none of the candidates on the ballot were worthy of public office, and current events prove this. I look forward to voting using the new ballot system this November in the general election.