CNN news 2013-03-11 加文本

cnn news 2013-03-11

A warm welcome on this Thursday, March 7, especially for anyone who’s dealing with this frosty reception. A winter storm? Yes, another one hammered parts of the Midwestern and Northeastern United States this week. Power outages, schools and businesses closed, flights canceled. Chicago had a record one-day snowfall on Tuesday. cnn’s Ted Rowlands was there.

And this is not only in Chicago. Of course, it’s hitting the Midwest, Minneapolis, North Dakota, getting in excess of(超过) a foot of snow, and the system is heading east.

We’ve gotten our yardstick out, and at least where I am, I’ve measured from place to place where it looked like the snow was untouched, about six inches of snow so far. Right here in downtown Winchester, although that’s by no means a scientific reading.

Many airlines canceled. A number of flights, hundreds, in facts, and where I’m at Dulles is a big hub for United Airlines as is Chicago’s O’Hare airports. So, United is taking a big hit. They canceled about 700 flights.

The highest waves during Sandy were maybe 40 miles an hour, but this time we are talking about 12 to 15 foot seas. Now, you can see the damage that is still pretty clear about what happened during Hurricane Sandy. Look, so many houses still have been destroyed or are heavily damaged.

Is this legit? Members of OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, are all Middle Eastern nations.

Not true. OPEC includes countries from Africa and South America, too.

Like Venezuela, a country of more than 28 million people that’s in the northern part of South America. Oil is huge part of Venezuela’s economy. It’s one of the biggest industries in the country, that’s responsible for roughly 95 percent of all the money that Venezuela earns by selling products to other nations. Venezuela’s in the middle of seven days of mourning. The country’s long time leader, Hugo Chavez, died this week. His casket was moved to a military academy yesterday. That’s where his state funeral is scheduled to happen tomorrow. Venezuela will set a date to elect a new leader in the next 30 days. During this time, as President Hugo Chavez’s supporters argue that he gave Venezuelans the sense of national pride. His critics argue that Chavez ruined this country’s economy and restricted people’s liberties.

Controversy plays a large role in Chavez’s legacy.

Victoria! Victoria!

He relished being at the center of controversy. So, it’s no wonder his friends and foes had very different takes on the Chavez legacy.

He’s made Venezuelans feel proud to be Venezuelan again. And that is something, I think that really no other leader has ever done in that country before. In fact, they were doing the opposite.

He’s destroyed the economy and centralized all power in his hands, decimated the democratic institutions in the country and left Venezuelan democracy in even worse shape. So it’s a pretty negative legacy.

Chavez’s rhetoric often aimed at the United States or at multinational corporations. It invoked the promise of a socialist utopia, but Hugo Chavez had what most other Latin American leftists did not - oil. Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world, along with Saudi Arabia. That oil wealth enabled Chavez to offer up free education and healthcare in his own country. The price of his socialist agenda - Hugo Chavez himself, presidential term limits were abolished. Even his critics admit, he could have gone on winning elections indefinitely. His biggest failure maybe his success, a legacy of one. Friends and foes, the Chavez legacy is filled with both.