``Do you know of any businessman, politician, unionist, or church leader who has an ongoing dialogue with Chavez?'' analyst Anibal Romero asked in a televised interview Wednesday. ``He has no idea of what the concept of a loyal opposition is about.''

Others noted those against Chavez have yet to organize.

``It's an opposition without parties, only of people who despise Chavez. It's an immature group, with no parties to follow,'' said Luis Vicente Leon, director of the Datanalisis polling firm. In the PDVSA dispute, ``the opposition saw a big chance to draw a last breath. It was the moment to revive itself,'' he said.

Still, Leon added, ``Chavez, in a very clumsy way, thought he was strong enough to control the situation, and obviously it got out of control.''

An army general -- the fifth officer in recent months -- accused Chavez of politicizing the armed forces and lying to Venezuelans about the presence of Colombian guerrillas along Venezuela's western frontier.

``Mr. President, you have betrayed the country,'' Brig. Gen. Nestor Gonzalez Gonzalez told a news conference. ``Respect the national armed forces.''

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The predominant theory about suicide bombing is the "cycle of violence": The more aggressive Israel acts, the more Palestinians will blow themselves up in retaliation. This theory, as many pro-Israel commentators have pointed out, has always contained a flaw. Palestinian violence against Israel predates the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and the current suicide campaign began after Israel offered generous territorial concessions at Camp David. But recent events have confounded the cycle-of-violence explanation even further. After all, if suicide bombings are a response to Israeli intransigence, then they should have increased this last week. Instead they've come to a temporary halt.

Why is this? Almost certainly it's not because Palestinians have decided to take a break from suicide bombing; indeed, they're probably trying as hard as ever. The answer must be that something is stopping them. And that something must be the Israeli military, which is breaking up terror cells, seizing militants and their weaponry, and blockading Palestinians from entering Israel. While this can't stop all suicide bombings forever, it seems likely to curtail them substantially.

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There is a die-hard camp that holds that drinking bottled Cokes, from glass bottles, is the only authentic way to have a Coke for breakfast. But after nearly 15 years of experimentation, Carolyn and I have determined that pouring a Coke from a cold two-quart bottle over cracked store-bought ice is the absolute best way to serve a breakfast Coke. "There's something about the store-bought ice having more edges and actual ice surfaces," Carolyn explained. "It gets the Coke ice cold faster and makes it taste better."

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