Most Recent Posts

In Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro — the president of a powerful government — should be at center stage. But as he runs in Sunday's snap presidential elections, it's his larger-than-life predecessor who is getting much of the attention.

The death of Hugo Chavez, who taunted the U.S. and empowered the poor, is triggering the special vote. And Maduro is using Chavez's voice and image to ensure that the late president's socialist system remains in power for many more years to come.

Maduro, a 50-year-old former bus driver and Chavez confidant, became interim president last month, after Chavez, who transformed this country in 14 years of rule, died following a long battle with cancer.

The sympathy vote has given Maduro a huge advantage over opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, and most polls show the interim president with a big lead.

But Maduro is taking no chances — and that means using the Chavez card.

A Little Birdie Told Me So

On state television, Maduro explained how the late president came to him from the grave in the form of a songbird.

"All of a sudden, a little bird circled three times around me, stopped on a wooden beam, and began to sing a pretty song," Madura said.

"Then I, too, began to whistle," he said, whistling like a bird as he talked. "The little bird looked at me in a strange way. He sang, circled me once and flew away. And I felt his spirit. I felt him giving us a blessing, saying now the battle begins, go to victory."

Some in Venezuela ridiculed the story as crass politicking.

Among many of Chavez's followers, though, the story had an impact.

Daniela Paz is a 33-year-old street vendor who says Chavez was like a father figure to Venezuelans.

"No, I didn't think it was funny. There are people who took this like a joke, but I didn't see anything funny," she says about the notion of Chavez coming to Maduro in the form of a bird.

What's perfectly clear, she says, is that Chavez wanted Maduro to lead the country.

More On Venezuela

Author Interviews

'Comandante' Chavez Still Revered By Some, Despite Failings

Mark Zuckerberg and other tech leaders in Silicon Valley are banding together to push for comprehensive immigration reform, the Facebook co-founder announced this week. But Zuckerberg has dabbled in politically charged matters in the past.

In September 2011, the social media company created a political action committee geared for last year's election cycle, which could help Facebook gain legislative ground on privacy and patents.

And lobbyists? Facebook has them, too.

According to The New York Times, Facebook has had a Washington, D.C., office since 2007, and employs more than a dozen workers.

Just recently, Zuckerberg hosted a fundraiser for Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in Zuckerberg's Palo Alto, Calif., home. He'd been in contact with the governor since 2010 regarding Newark schools — Zuckerberg donated $100 million to them.

Business

Facebook CEO's Gift: Philanthropy Or Image Control?

Update at 11:50 a.m. ET. Radio 1 Will Play A Snippet:

There's word from NPR's Philip Reeves in London that BBC's Radio 1 now says its weekend Official Chart show will play "a clip in a journalistic environment" of "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead," which critics of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher pushed up the British charts this week after the Iron Lady's death.

The BBC has more:

Our original post — "Thatcher Critics Make 'Ding Dong' No 1; Should BBC Play It?":

The death this week of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has provoked may words of praise — and many celebrations by those who did not admire the Iron Lady.

Among the things her critics have done is push "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead," from The Wizard of Oz, into the No. 1 spot on the U.K. singles chart. That, as The Associated Press writes, has created an issue for BBC Radio 1:

Should Radio 1 play the song this weekend on its Official Chart show, which as the name implies rounds up the hottest songs each week.

The Guardian reports that "the new BBC director general, Tony Hall, will have the final say." And it adds that:

"Hall told staff on Thursday that he personally thought the song and the accompanying social media campaign launched following Margaret Thatcher's death on Monday by people protesting against the former Conservative prime minister's 1980s policies was 'tasteless,' but stressed that the editorial independence of the BBC was sacrosanct."

Pizza Hut has always been a leader in stuffing more cheese into your pizza. First there was the famous Stuffed Crust, then the P'Sauna, which elevated your body temperature so you could achieve full cheese supersaturation. Now it's the Crazy Cheesy Crust Pizza, which replaces the crust with tiny little bowls of cheese.

Ian: Thanks, Pizza Hut! Before when I wanted to eat a bowl of cheese, I had to go through a bad breakup first!

Eva: It looks like a beautiful sunflower with a bad case of acne.

Miles: Italy just announced it's cutting off culinary ties with the United States.

Enlarge image i