A GOOD WEEKEND...SO FAR, ANYWAY

The blogosphere is replete with hilarity today.

There's This: Dick Cheney finally gets real ("Go f**k yourself") with Sen. Patsy Leahy. You can hit about any link anywhere and find this story, but this is as good as any.

From Hugh Hewitt:
Here's the transcript of a great exchange between Neil Cavuto and the Vice President on the confrontation with Leahy:

NC: "What happened?"

"VP: "You could say we had a little floor debate in the United States Senate."

NC: "I heard it was more than a debate."

VP: "Well, it was, I expressed myself rather forcefully. Felt better after I had done it."

NC: "Alright. Did you use the "F" word?"

VP: "Ahhh, that's not the kind of language I usually use."

NC: "The reports were that you did."

VP: "That's not the kind of language that I ordinarily use."

NC: "So what did you tell him?"

VP: "I, ah, I expressed my, ah, dissatisfaction with Senator Leahy."

NC: "Over his comments about you and Halliburton?"

VP: "No. It was partly that, it was partly also it had to do with, ahh, he is the kind of individual who will make those kinds of charges and then come act as though he's your best friend, and I expressed in no uncertain terms my views of his conduct, and walked away."

NC: "Did you curse at him?"

VP: "Probably." (laughter by the VP)

NC: "Do you have any regrets?"

VP: "No. I said it. And I..."

NC: "So let me understand. He comes up and he sees you, says 'Mr. Vice President,' and he's a little nice, shakes your hand, and then what do you do, lit into him?

VP: "Ah. Expressed my unhappiness with the way he conducted himself. Part of the problem here is that instead of having this substantive debate over important policy issues, ah, he had challenged my integrity, and I didn't like that, but most of all I didn't like the fact that after he'd done so, then he wanted to act like, ah, now things are peaches and cream, and I informed him of my view of his conduct in no uncertain terms, and as I say, I felt better afterwards."

NC: "Alright. Now they say you broke decorum for normally a Senate or Congressional session. Technically, I guess, it wasn't in session."

VP: "No we weren't in session. What we were doing was waiting to take our pictures, our official Senate photos, and I go up and sit in the chair as president of the Senate and preside."

NC: "What was reaction from the crowd?"

VP: (Vice President laughing) "I think a lot of my colleagues felt that, ah, what I said badly needed to be said. That it was long overdue."

NC: "Pretty feisty guy, aren't you?"

VP: "Well, I am usually calm, cool, and collected, and ordinarily I don't express myself in strong terms, but I thought it was appropriate here."

Appropriate indeed. And long overdue. After listening to Leahy serially slander numerous judicial nominees, then John Ashcroft last week and the Vice President this week, it was to Dick Cheney's great credit that he let the small man from the small state know what most Americans think of such Uriah Heep-like conduct.

Then, there's this:

Israeli-made bullets bought by the U.S. Army to plug a shortfall should be used for training only, not to fight Muslim guerrillas in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. lawmakers told Army generals on Thursday.

from MyWay via Goldstein, et al. Hmm, now the Congress purports to tell the Armed Forces what ammo is to be used where to shoot whom. Rep. Maxine Waters was heard to comment,"What!! Using jew-bullets to maim and kill those nice little brown boys over there in Eeraq? What the F**K? What are those #@**%@#jew#@#@%**zionist#%&@|"@#protocols@##$%&**monkeys@#@#$%&**pigs@#@#%$&$*#sonofa*@#$ Eezrayleez a'gonna think of next?

As I said, hilarity rules. Oh, and per Goldstein, Michele Malkin is running a contest to see how many ways that Mr. Cheney could have used to tell Patsy Leahy to go f**k himself without using any profanity. This has spawned an orgy of insult submissions. My favorites, so far;

"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play, bring a friend - if you have one."
- George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill

"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second - if there is one."
- Winston Churchill, in reply

and

Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.
- Mark Twain

OH THIS JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER AND BETTER

I received a reply from MSN about my Passport account problems. A nice fellow named Elmer says that he understands my frustration and is here to help me solve my problems. His suggestion? Open a new Hotmail account.

I replied, "Well, that's just great, Elmer. Sure, I can open a new account, but what about my address book, unopened or unread mail, my folders and email history, etc.?"

I await his response.

In the meantime, the email links on this page will get you to me. I have received several emails from visitors to this page, including a certain lady in Wisconsin (concerning movies), a certain lady in Vassar, MI (concerning personal stuff) and a certain gentleman in New Jersey (concerning Guanajuato). I had not yet replied to your emails and now cannot because I have lost your addresses. If you see this, please contact me at

markenmexico@yahoo.com

Be careful, that is mark En mexico, not mark In mexico

Thank you for your support, your feelings, your sympathy, your blah blah blah boy am I really pissed about this!

HOTMAIL DISASTER

My Hotmail (NET Passport) account has been blocked. According to the MSN report that I received, someone has been trying, one too many times, to access my account with the wrong password. I am directed to a page to "re-set" my password. Said page doesn't work, and every other method I have tried has met with similar success. I sent an irate message to MSN and am awaiting their no doubt prompt reply.

In the meantime, last night I scrambled to open a Yahoo email account and to change the "Email Me!" and "Write Me!" links on this page from Hotmail to Yahoo. I cannot access Messenger nor my Address Book, either.

NEW INVOCATION AT OPENING SESSIONS OF CONGRESS

Ssssuuuunnnn Myuuuuuuung Mooooooonnnn
Ssssuuuunnnn Myuuuuuuung Mooooooonnnn
Ssssuuuunnnn Myuuuuuuung Mooooooonnnn

This 3-line chant must be repeated 4 times while wearing a 50cm x 50cm +/-.5cm piece of Heavy Duty Reynolds Wrap atop one's head. Barefoot. Standing on right foot only. Mouth agape. Ears atwitch. Eyes arolled. Mouth afroth. Toes acurl.

I'll bet those terrorists are ashaking now. We'll put the fear of Moon into'em.

THEY'VE FINALLY GONE COMPLETELY INSANE

A Korean immigrant and his wife (who just happen to be mega- millionaires or perhaps billionaires, who just happen to own The Washington Post and United Press International) are feted in a ceremony in which they are crowned (literally, one crown each), as Mr. and Mrs. The Messiah. Said fete takes place in Washington D.C., at the Dirksen Senate Office Building, is attended by at least a dozen members of Congress, one of whom, Rep. Danny K. Davis (D), IL, cruises around in white gloves, carrying one of the crowns on a pillow, prior to said messiahnation. The name of the senator who, by rule, must sponsor such events in the Dirksen building, remains a mystery, no one wishing at this time to reveal his/her name.

I don't believe this, you say. Well, try here, here or here, if you like.

I don't know about you, but this strikes me as more than a bit, ummm, odd, don't you think? What is not odd at all are the desperate denials and furious backpedaling from those involved. "I know nuss-iiing, I see nuss-iiing, I hear nuss-iiing", said Sargeant Schultz, no, wait, that was various members of Congress when trapped, like rats on a sinking ship, by questioning reporters.

I think they should all be locked up before they truly hurt someone, or themselves. Maybe we should all be locked up for voting them into office in the first place.

ON A ROLL
I read this guy occasionally, but today he is SMOKIN'. To wit:

On the accusation that RWR contributed to Latin American poverty;

Whatever the continent’s fate, it won’t include a return of the puffed-up bemedalled El-Presidentes-For-Life, like General Juan Velasco Alvarado of Peru, who abolished Christmas and banned Donald Duck.

(from me - banned Donald Duck? Is that guy still alive?)

On the Irish, the Canadians, RWR, et al;

But John Kerry still thought it worth passing himself off as Irish for two decades (he’s not; he’s of Jewish extraction, but for reasons best known to him buried that and played up the Oirish).

On "Americans don't get Europe";

If you think that Spanish election result is a disgrace, look down the road two or three years, to the next election cycle, in France, Belgium, the Netherlands. In the US, psephologists speculate on the impact of Ralph Nader’s two or three per cent. Think about an election where 20% of the voters are a culturally unassimilated Muslim bloc. If Washington has a hard time getting any useful contribution to the war from Europe now, you do the math five years hence. The incompatible buddy-cop routine works in Starsky & Hutch, but America and Europe have stretched the formula way beyond breaking point. It can’t be put back together.

The writer is Mark Steyn and deserves your (and my) daily attention.

And then beheading begat beheading, which begat beheading, which...

"So it goes with the Religion of Peace: An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a head for a head". OTB

This from Reuters via OTB:

Afghans Behead Taliban in Revenge for Beheadings

Afghan soldiers beheaded four Taliban fighters after guerrillas cut off the heads of an Afghan interpreter for U.S.-led forces and an Afghan soldier, a government commander said on Tuesday.
The interpreter and the soldier were beheaded after becoming separated from a patrol of Afghan and U.S.-led foreign troops in the Arghandab district of the southern province of Zabul on Monday night, Namatullah Tokhi, commander of the government’s 27th division in the province, told Reuters. He said government troops later captured and killed four Taliban guerrillas in the same way. "They cut off their heads with a knife, so when our forces arrested four Taliban, we cut off their heads too."

Zabul and adjoining southern provinces have been the scene of bloody clashes between Taliban guerrillas and U.S.-led and government forces since U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban in late 2001. Taliban fighters have beheaded government soldiers in the past, but it is the first time government forces in Zabul have admitted doing the same, marking the escalation of a brutal conflict that has claimed more than 800 lives since last August.

The Taliban and their Islamic militant allies, including al Qaeda, have declared a holy war against U.S.-led forces and consider foreign and local aid workers legitimate targets as well as foreign and government soldiers and officials.

If'n yuh cain't beat'em, join'em...I guess.

Eeeeee-Hawwwww! Ride'em, cowgirl!

In the WSJ today, just posted at shortly after 11 this morning. This lady gets her spurs into Kofi, et al, and I mean really deep.

Really important reading, for everyone. After reading this speech by Anne Bayefsky, delivered to the conference on Confronting Anti-Semitism: Education for Tolerance and Understanding, I had to wonder about who the attendees might be. Anyone from any member of the Arab League? How many members of OPEC were present? Did the French representative hang his head in shame? Was he even a little uncomfortable? Was he even there?

The following comments come with the caveat that I may not know what the hell I am talking about.

She says that anti-Semitism (notice as you peruse various news media reports, blogs and commentators these days how often the first "S" in anti-Semitism is no longer capitalized) was not included in the 1965 UN treaty on racial discrimination. On the face of it, why would it be included? Judaism is not a race, it is a religion. Now, having said that, it would be interesting to see exactly what was included in this treaty as "racial discrimination".

And "...cross-amputation of right hand and left foot"?. Why do we even try to talk to these people? To paraphrase "Pulp Fiction", just get medieval on their ass.

Note To Professor Bainbridge

I can't seem to find any reference to the term "SOL" in any legal dictionary.

French Nazi hunter encourages Jews to leave France
Jerusalem Post, by ETGAR LEFKOVITS

Six decades after the end of the Holocaust, the prominent French Nazi-hunter Serge Klarsfeld said this weekend that French Jews would be best off leaving the country. "One of the lessons of the Holocaust is that even if you want to fight against a wave of anti-Semitism, the best [thing] is to leave if you can,"

Good idea. Come to the United States where you can actually fight against this type of thing. Not only that, you can don a uniform and strike back at these clowns. That is something that we do.

"Last night my heart was filled with love and prayers, but today it is filled with hatred. Last night I was not a racist, but today I feel racism toward Islamic beliefs. Last night Islamics had a chance to speak up for Paul Johnson, but today it was too late. Today Islamics better wake up and start thinking about tomorrow."

Sign in the yard of the house next door to the home of Paul M. Johnson, Little Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, according to The New York Times.

This about says it all for me.

Corrections

I made at least two errors in my Open Letter to Andrew Sullivan.
First, I referred to Sen. Frank Laufenberg as Ralph. He may make you want to raaalph, but that is not his name.
Secondly, I replaced the adjective "no" with the verb "know". Know, that's not right, it was know with no. I don't no. Know one can accuse me of knot desiring accuracy. My noledge of English sometimes approaches the level of a wiknow, high on who noes what. There are know more errors to report at this time.

I'll have a McEverything, please.
Uh, make that two.

UPDATE: Several readers note this headline from The Onion: Michael Moore Kicking Self For Not Filming Last 600 Trips To McDonald's. Heh.

via Instapundit

ANDREW SULLIVAN

Andrew Sullivan. My, my, my. What to think? What to do? What to write?

I wrote the following Open Letter To Andrew Sullivan this morning over a span of four hours in my blog, then at the exact instant that I clicked "Publish This Blog", my crummy Mexican ISP disconnected me and I lost it all. Ah, well, live and learn. I will have to write my postings now in Word and then copy and paste so that, if anything untoward happens in the future, I don’t have to rewrite the whole G** d*** thing, as I am now about to try to do. Here goes nuthin’.

OPEN LETTER TO ANDREW SULLIVAN

Dear Mr. Sullivan,
I am writing this letter to you as a posting in my blog, markinmexico.blogspot.com. I am writing it as a person who is bitterly disappointed, although not too surprised. I began visiting your blog because of your commentary on the pressing issues of the day. However, your blog has become more and more oriented toward three issues of late, and what you have done in the last 24 hours more or less follows that pattern. These three issues are; 1. Abu Ghraib 2. Big government (whatever that is in this post-9/11 age) 3. Gay Issues

I have had a chance to review the blogosphere tonight and you have certainly created a stir. I hope that it is not as fatal for you as was that of The Daily Kos. Kos tried to rationalize, then hide it, then defy all. He has now nearly disappeared. I believed that you were on a significantly higher plane than that of Kos. Now, I am not so sure. Please understand that I do not intend to join the "piling on" now occurring all over the net. I would merely like to point out some facts that I think, no, I hope, that you have missed.

Let’s take a look at your blog today as I read it at 9:00 this morning, when I first began writing this letter.
Post #1: THE INVISIBLE MAN - Abu Ghraib
Post #2: MAKE THIS KID AN AMERICAN - Feel good story
Post #3: JONAH ON BUSH (AND ME) - Big government, Gay issues, Abu Ghraib
Post #4: THE BEST RESPONSE - Big government
Post #5: THE MARRIAGE THING - Gay Issues
Post #6: WHAT IS SEXY? - Gay issues

OK, 6 posts of which 5 were dedicated to your three issues. That would be 83%. Of the five, all are anti Bush. Let’s count lines (big media claims fairness, but puts their stories on page 1 while the "other" stories go on page 44. You have only the one page, so we’ll count lines, instead).

Post #1: THE INVISIBLE MAN - 27 lines
Post #2: MAKE THIS KID AN AMERICAN - 4 lines
Post #3: JONAH ON BUSH (AND ME) - 54 lines
Post #4: THE BEST RESPONSE - 35 lines
Post #5: THE MARRIAGE THING - 51 lines
Post #6: WHAT IS SEXY? - 45 lines

That makes a total of 216 lines either written or quoted, of which 4 are unrelated to your three issues and are, therefore, not anti Bush. That is an anti Bush ratio of 98%, 49-1. I thought you were still thinking. Seems to me you made up your mind, a long time ago according to what I read from Jonah Goldberg last night.

Allow me to examine each issue and perhaps point out a few things to you.

ABU GHRAIB
Rules were broken, people should be punished, and they are getting theirs now. Lord a’mighty, drop it already. The things that went on in Abu Ghraib were minor compared to daily occurrences in prisons all over the United States and pale by comparison to what happens in prisons every day, every day, in Paris, Berlin, Cairo, Riyadh.

Try this. Find out the name of a widow of a serviceman killed in Iraq. Better yet, get off your ass and go pay her a visit. Ask her this, "Ma’am, if you had been given the choice between losing your husband and the father of your babies and humiliating a suspected terrorist/militant/fighter by making him wear a pair of panties on his head, which would you have chosen? OK, what if it was believed that physical torture, such as electric shocks to the genitals, removing fingernails forcibly, drilling teeth, etc. was required to save your husband’s life so that he could be standing here now and holding one of them (point to the babies, here) instead of you holding both of them? Uh huh, I see. Now, what if the prisoner’s death resulted from the extraction of information which would have enabled these babies’ father, (insert name of dead American citizen soldier here), to have come home to them?"

I think I know and you know what her answer would be.

BIG GOVERNMENT
You like to compare Mr. Bush with Mr. Reagan, Mr. Clinton, et al. In fact, Reagan is your hero. Well, he is my hero, too. However, his administrations committed a list of illegal, incompetent, immoral, stupid acts as long as my arm. So what? That is what governments do. History alone can judge whether all these bad things are outweighed by the good things, if any. Governments act, you write, we bitch.

Are budget deficits a good thing? No, of course not. Just what the hell was Mr. Bush supposed to do? This guy got whacked, immediately after taking office, with two of the biggest blows ever suffered by a newly elected president; the "dot com bubble" bursting and then 9/11. I know, I know, I have heard it all: he knew, he should have known, he should have acted, he should have done this and that and that over there. I’m sorry, governments don’t work that way, not from the smallest village council in upstate New York to the gargantuan government of China. When does the traffic light get installed on the corner? After the child gets killed, never before. That’s what governments do. We scream, we rant, we rave, we recriminate. That’s what citizens do (when they can do so without having their tongues cut out, ears cut off, shot, hung, burned, stoned, imprisoned).

You need to remember FDR. He entered office fully aware of the economic disaster because it occurred well before his election. He was as prepared to handle it as could be expected under the circumstances. What did he do? He turned the federal government into the gigantic bureaucracy that it is today. Why? Was it because it was his lifelong ambition? Was it because he was too stupid to have thought of a better way? Did it come to him in a dream or from some swami? He did it because it was the only way it could be done. The Germans, in the same mess, opted for Adolph Hitler. The French, in the same predicament, opted for leadership that later became the Vichy government. Forests have been sacrificed to record the critiques of FDR. I say that he got us through the worst economic disaster in history and then, only halfway through this, at best, he had to guide us through the biggest war of all time.

So Mr. Bush is faced, first with an economic disaster, and then with an attack on the mainland United States for the first time since 1812. What does he do? What would you have done? He chopped taxes to stimulate the economy, sent out the most powerful armed force on earth, the most powerful ever seen, to sally forth and deal a little justice for 3000+ innocents and try to assure that it not happen again, and designed and effected the largest reorganization of the federal government since Harry Truman. What was the ONLY way possible to have done this? He used the same tool that FDR used. The good credit standing of The United States government.

Do seniors need a Medicare drug plan? Of course they do. Is it expensive and going to become more so? Of course it is. Is it the very best plan that could have been written? Of course not. I defy you to find one single law or act or entitlement that is the very best that could have been written. Is it the best that could have been IMPLEMENTED? Probably so. This is politics, remember? Was FDR a politician? Washington? Lincoln? Jefferson? Reagan? Washington is politics. Tel Aviv is politics. Without politics, Washington, D.C. and Tel Aviv don’t exist and London is just a collection of haberdasheries. Get real. All this cost a lot of money, money the federal government did not have. Ergo, deficits. So what? We’ll clean up the mess later, like we have always done. For right now, we are a hell of a lot safer than we were on 9/10. And seniors buy drugs a little cheaper...I think.

GAY ISSUES
This is the crux of the matter, is it not? It is a sticky situation for you, I will admit. Personal issues always are. I am a Catholic who was raised a Methodist. I believed at one time that homosexuality was a sin. I still find it abhorrent and wish that it did not exist and would just go away. However, it exists, which the foul mouthed Lucianne Goldberg cannot accept. And contrary to that cretin whose email you reprinted yesterday, who seemingly cannot muster the brain waves or energy to do a little research, it did NOT originate with homosexuals. If he were to, he might discover that HIV originated in monkeys who infected African hunter-gatherers when they were killed and butchered for food. He might further discover that the infection was passed into the gay population, FROM THE HETEROSEXUAL population at some point and at some time that no one knows for sure, and exploded because no one knew what the hell it was. Bisexuals and drug addicted needle sharers then spread it into the heterosexual population on several continents. But it originated, in humans, in a heterosexual population in Africa. One could logically argue that it was only a matter of time before it spread from that heterosexual population to others, gays or no. How could it not? So much for that jerk.

My position on gay rights is, to paraphrase Dennis Miller, as follows; I could care less if two guys decide to marry each other, but if some asshole decides to blow himself up along with their wedding party, I expect my government to take action against that person, preemptively. There now, you know from where I come.

Please think about this for a moment and then answer the question as honestly as you can. What is the single biggest problem with the Democratic party? I’ll answer to save you some time. Special Interests. The Democratic party has pandered, repeat, PANDERED, to so many special interest, fringe, splinter, far out groups for so many years that no one can remember what, if anything, it truly stands for these days. Why? Why, votes, of course. All for votes. Politics...politics...politics. That is all it is, ever has been and ever will be. Do you truly think that John Kerry, Teddy Kennedy, Frank Laufenburg, et al really give two sh*ts about you and your loved one? They want your vote. They shower you with attention and loving care until after the election, then go on about their business as though you don’t exist. Has the Republican party ever engaged in such reprehensible tactics? Strom Thurmond, Dixiecrats, and we won’t talk about that anymore.

Do you seriously believe that Mr. Bush intends to pursue this half-assed, bone-headed constitutional amendment, outlaw any and all abortion and continue to restrict stem cell research? After his reelection, he, Santorum and the rest of those who really do not permit the opening of a bible to blind them to reality will allow these measures and proposed measures to die the slow death that they deserve. However, they will go through the motions because the evangelical right votes also, just like the gays. Politics. You expected that Mr. Bush would pander to you like the Democrats do, to a few million gays, and risk alienating 50 million evangelical born again Christian folk? What are you, nuts? You can’t count?

I CONCLUDE

"This comes down to a fundamental compact between a government and the people. From all the evidence we see so far, the Bush administration has violated that compact, allowed America's hard-won reputation for decency and fairness to be tarnished, and compromised the moral integrity of the war on terror. What is their explanation?"

This is the most reprehensible thing you have ever written, worthy of Ted Rall, Michael Moore and their ilk. We’ve lost the moral integrity of the war on terror? Ridiculous! Oh, OK. War’s over. We lost. Prepare to die, painfully. Don’t like that? OK, continue the fight, but now from an immoral position. It is now an immoral war. How long before we can expect an invasion from a coalition of the willing under a UN flag to save the rest of the world from our immoral war?

"All the evidence we see so far..." You must be truly blind. We have crushed and destroyed the second most brutal, repressive government on the planet (#1 North Korea is on the list), arrested and imprisoned a vile genocidal maniac, installed a representative government in a place that has NEVER had one, stopped who knows how many planned mass death dealing missions from occurring on our soil, and all the while been digging ourselves out of a horrendous economic slump. That was supposed to be accomplished cleanly, antiseptically, efficiently, without error or miscalculation or controversy or the occasional bone-headedness? Upon what planet do you normally reside? It surely is not this one.

"What is their explanation?" If I were Mr. Bush, here would be my explanation. "These actions were taken to save American lives. Such actions, as we speak, continue to be taken to save American lives, and, if I deem it necessary in the future, I will not hesitate to order that such actions be repeated to save American lives." Then I would call all my people together and tell them, "Get me some professionals to handle this, and if word of their activity becomes public, you’re ALL fired."

You do what you must do. If you choose to allow your personal issue to overshadow the huge issues that affect the other 299,999,999 American citizens, then I think that that is, at best, selfish, and, at worst, callous and irresponsible. I think it would be a real shame and the thought saddens me.

YANKEES WIN...THUH-UH-UH-UH YANKEES WIN!

The Yanks beat Arizona again last night. Their record is now 42-21 or .667 on the season. At the rate that they are winning, they'll surely finish at .700 to .750 on the year. They'll win somewhere between 113 and 122 games. WOW!

Boston lost (Schilling got shelled), so they drop 5 1/2 back. I think the rout is on.

Hall of Famer #1 - Jeter - hit HR #9, Hall of Famer #2 - Williams - hit HR #9 and Hall of Famer #3 - Rodriguez - hit HR #15.

The House That Ruth Built sits quietly happy tonight.

How Do You Feel?

This post from Not a Fish makes me angry. How about you?

"I hope Charles Johnson, Michael Totten, and 'zombie' don’t mind my borrowing this photo. I printed it out yesterday and stuck it on the wall in my office this morning, where only I could see it. Today I sat with the man holding the sign, occasionally glancing at him while I worked, trying to understand.

‘SMASH THE JEWISH STATE’, he says. Smash the Jewish State. I’ve been rolling those words on my tongue and looking at the man’s image looking back at me.

He’s wearing a nice green golf shirt with a pocket. My dad likes a pocket in his shirts too, so he can have his sunglasses and other things handy. This person also has things in his pocket, just like my dad.

He’s also wearing a nice, good quality cap. It looks green, but it could be gray. I’d like to think it’s green and that he’s matched the colors. The cap looks like it has a little red five-pointed star pinned on it. Someone on Michael Totten’s comments said that he doesn’t look like a lefty, whatever that means, but doesn’t that star mean he’s a communist? I thought communists wanted to make the world a better place.

It looks like he’s made the sign himself, and attached it to the placard with clips. I wonder if he goes to a lot of demonstrations and changes the signs according to the subject on hand? That’s a very tidy, organized thing to do.

You know, physically, he reminds me of someone else. Someone I was just thinking about this year on Remembrance Day for the fallen of Israel’s wars. Guy called Yossi. He used to be in my class. I can’t remember how he was killed, but I remember not being surprised. He was the type of guy who was always ready to help, who carried the girls’ backpacks when they were tired on school trips. He was an innocent who really believed in things. And he was the type of guy who would think nothing of volunteering for the really dangerous stuff.

The appearance of the man in the photo is probably similar to how Yossi, my old classmate, would have looked had he been fortunate enough to reach fifty. He didn’t make it to twenty-six. But maybe our green-clad friend here could have learnt something from him about kindness, about industriousness, and about trying to make the world a better place. Oh, and about smiling at the camera. Yossi would have smiled at the camera, no doubt about it.

And he would never have been holding a sign saying anything like that.

Everything about the harmless-looking gentleman in the photo, in his green or gray cap, even his serious, committed expression, is in such sharp contrast with the viciously violent, hateful sentiment expressed on his little sign.

Smash the Jewish State. Smash the Jews in it. Smash my nine-year-old daughter. Smash her little collection of Bratz dolls, lovingly collected one by one. Smash our three-month-old kitten. Smash my great grandmother’s Shabbat candlesticks. Smash Ronit’s new baby with her dark skin and bright eyes, suckling milk from her mother’s breast in the shade of the tree. Smash Doctor Assuline, who helped bring her into this world. Smash Luda, who washed the room after mother and daughter had been wheeled away, and Hameed, who built the crib her parents bought for her when they bought her home from the hospital.

Smash the memory of my dead classmate, look-alike of one hate-filled American protester.

What did we do to this tidy, organized, serious man to make him hate us so much that he wants to smash us?

I suppose he will tell you he isn’t an anti-Semite.

posted by Imshin"

Yeah, not an anti-Semite. I can say, as a Christian, a WASP, yet, "Jesus Christ!"

What kind of person is this? I can't show the photo because I am on a cheapy cheapy blog site carrier, but I wish I could. The description of this gentleman is not very accurate (tidy, organized, serious), I'm sorry. I cannot describe how utterly American, middle class, WASP-ish, non-descript, feller-next-door, fix-yer-plumbing, teach-the-clarinet-to-your-daughter, here-is-how-you-throw-the-fastball, this guy is. What the HELL is he thinking, doing?

What is "Smash the Jewish State"? First of all, what is "SMASH?" Crush it with ground troops, tanks, rockets, bombs? OK, by whom? Well, forget that. There ain't nobody handy and able.

And then, what is the Jewish State? Well, Imshin says it better than I ever could. What is "State"? It's people, persons, human beings, just like mom, dad, sis, bro', cousins, nephews, friends, neighbors, the people you just saw on the street. Crush them? Are you sure? Are you really sure that you want that done?

I realize that I speak from the high ground. The United States of America does not, at this time, sweat the "crush them" rhetoric. It is we, lo contrario, who are more likely to do the crushing. I cannot imagine what it would be like to live under the kind of every single day pressure under which must live Imshin and all of her family, friends, neighbors, children, loved ones.

Imshin, I love you and yours and, Democrat or Republican, I don't believe that you will ever be abandoned by the most powerful state that has ever inhabited this earth. Hang in there!

Christ, that sounded hollow, but what else could I say?

Ann Althouse Is Right

I consider "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" to be one of the top five "blackest" movies of all time. The other four, which you might wish to view, are; "The Ox-Bow Incident", with a very young Henry Fonda in a supporting role, "Touch of Evil", with Orson Welles at his darkest and a young Charlton Heston playing a Mexican police officer, "Apocolypse Now, Redux" (which I am sure you have seen), and the blackest movie ever made (and one I am also sure you have seen), "Taxi Driver". I am not a lawyer, but the mistrust in lawyers and the law in general are pervasive throughout these films. Not disrespect, but mistrust.

In "Liberty Valance", one good guy accompanies the other good guy's body to his burial, while the bad guy has been dispatched years before. (I always have wondered what Tom did with his life after shooting Liberty Valance, contrary to his beloved "code of the West", and losing the girl.)

In "Ox-Bow", the only good guy gets murdered by vigilantes and the really bad guy self-administers justice, while the rest live with their guilt for the rest of their lives.

In "Touch of Evil", a former good guy has become a bad guy, a really bad guy, while his long sufering love and longer suffering partner recreate themselves as inherently good, right at the end.

In "Apocolypse", the good guy (or is he the bad guy) gets chopped up, while the other good guy (or is he really the bad guy) does the chopping.

In "Taxi Driver", the good guy is the bad guy, or vice versa, whichever comes first. This movie had a shock ending that I could not believe, to the point that I laughed out loud in the theater when I first saw it. When the tape became available (this was before DVD), I bought it immediately to watch it again to see if it truly ended the way I remembered it. Yep, the deranged maniac is considered the hero.

I would guess that, of all the movies listed above, you have seen neither "The Ox-Bow Incident" nor "Touch of Evil". Make it a point to see them.

NO PORN? SAY IT AIN'T SO.

This is a day that I never thought I would see. I just checked my Hotmail "Junk Mail" box for the third time today and found that it contained ten messages, not one of which, repeat, NOT ONE OF WHICH, was pornographic in nature. What a disapoin... er... I mean, what a pleasant surprise. This is the first time in my lifetime (and all previous lifetimes)that I have emptied the "Junk Mail" box and not dumped at least 75% porn.

I would like to hear from anyone out there who has experienced the same aberration, but I won't stay up late waiting.

REALLY?

End discrimination, say Muslims

Herald Sun (AU), by Mark Dunn (via News Forum Home Page)

"ISLAMIC groups say anti-terrorism laws discriminate against Muslims and should be scrapped. 'It is clear that the anti-terrorism legislation based in this country . . . has (focused on) one section of the community only -- Muslims,' says an open letter signed by 25 Australian Muslim organisations and sent to all federal MPs. 'It is concerning that only Muslims have been arrested and only organisations linked to Muslims have been proscribed.'"

The Herald Sun in Australia thoughtfully provides an email window for comments by readers. I have rewarded the Herald Sun by taking advantage of their kind invitation, to wit;

"You folks seem to be pretty good at taking care of your own problems, but please allow an American to suggest a possible answer to the Muslim organizations mentioned in your article.

NO SHIT!
When did a Jew last blow up a nightclub full of tourists?
When did a Catholic last blow up an embassy and kill over 200 Muslims?
When did an Eastern Orthodox Christian last pilot a boatload of explosives against the side of a ship?
When did a Buddhist last shoot a pregnant mother and then execute her four little girls at point-blank range?
When did a Hindu last blow himself up along with a busload of school children?
When did an Aborigine last fly an airplane into a crowded office tower?

Whom do you think we should be watching?"

Nice response, don't you think? I shall await my Pulitzer.

GREAT DAY!

A dear old friend of mine sent me an email, out of the blue. I haven't spoken to her since Christmas past, and haven't seen her or her husband for a couple of years. Their story is one of those that you read about or hear about, but it never happens to you. Their names are Mike and Donna Davis.

After they had been married for awhile and had decided to have a baby, they discovered that they could not. She began fertility treatments of various kinds with various doctors, clinics, experts, etc., but nothing worked. I know they went through this for at least 2 years, maybe more, before they gave up began discussing adoption.

Guess what? Boom! Pregnant. (Perhaps I should say, Bang! Pregnant.) They now have 2 sons, named Michael, named after I don't know whom, and a 4 month old named Anthony, named, of course, in honor of yours truly. How could anyone be happier for them than me?

They live in Vassar, MI (where?) in a beautiful home on 7 acres in the country. They are having their anual pig-roast the last week in July and have asked me to announce that the entire world is welcome. (first come, first served, BYOB) I asked her today how the pig feels about all this and she replied that he had not been consulted and was not likely to be.

Great hearing from you, Donna, and we'll keep in touch. I am sure that she will now be a frequent visitor to Mark in Mexico (hint, hint) and will be a frequent commenter, also.


UPDATE: Mike and Donna issue a special invitation to the 1.5 billion Chinese citizens who, as always, are especially welcome to the pig-roast (first come, first served, BYOB).

UPDATE II: Mike and Donna asked me to be sure and announce that Taliban and Sadr terrorists may attend only if they are dead, but not yet buried (first come, first served, BYOB).

RONALD REAGAN - RIP

There will be millions of words written about this man in the next few days by writers far more skilled than I. However, this being my blog, I guess that I can write whatever I want, no?

I voted for RR with some trepidation. An ex-actor? Even though he had been president of the Screen Actors Guild (can you imagine that liberal leftist bastion electing someone like him today?) as well as governor of California. I must admit that when the Ayatollah Khomeini released the hostages 24 hours before RR was sworn in, I breathed a sigh of relief. I failed to understand why Carter was allowed to be the one who welcomed them back in Germany, when it had to be obvious to all why they had been released. Fear. I had failed as yet to understand for whom I had voted. A gentleman. A real gentleman. A gentleman of the type that we had not had in the White House since, perhaps, General Eisenhower (and his actions toward President Truman on inauguration day were less than generous). A gentleman who would grant the defeated incumbent a little grace as he left office, without that first hint, ever, of I-told-you-so, or, look-what-I-did.

Grace. I like that word associated with RR. I like the sound and feel of it with regards to his demeanor, his actions, his beliefs, his legacy. Grace. Graceful. Full of grace. Amazing grace. Gracious. Graciously. With grace.

I read an poignant story some years ago. While he was still able, he took long walks away from his little ranch with his Secret Service escort. He passed by an outdoor basketball court each day, and liked to stop and shoot a few hoops with some kids that he always found there. He did not remember that he had been there the day before with those same kids, even when gently reminded of it by a Secret Service agent. For some reason, the kids never questioned why this old guy wanted to introduce himself and learn ther names, every day, again and again. The reporter, or whomever recounted this story, I can't remember now, said that the kids seemed to realize that he was someone special, and treated him with great deference and patience. Unusual for kids. Grace.

I will forever believe, perhaps because I want to believe, that it was principally he who brought the Soviet Union to its knees. I like to tell my friends and acquaintances, despite an occasional answering guffaw, that RR simply began using our most powerful weapon against the Soviets. He started writing checks. Strategic Defense Initiative needs a few billion? OK, here you go. I like to imagine the virtual round-the-clock meetings inside the Kremlin, struggling to respond. Well, we can take a little from here and a little from there, and, after weeks of agonizing toil, they matched it. RR just wrote a check, then went to lunch. When he was told that, well, it may require a few more billion, Hey, OK, here it is. Need any more, just let me know, I'll be at lunch. More agonizing hours, days, weeks of sweat and worry inside the Kremlin, until they had again scratched out enough to match him. Then he is informed, well, maybe its more of a challenge than we thought and will require even more billions than our last estimation. Oh? Hmm. Well, alright, here is another check for whatever you need, and keep up the good work. After the usual round of non-stop, round the clock agony in the Kremlin, they realized that they had no more with which to match him. Bottom of the ninth, two outs, full count. Strike three.

I suppose that the scenario that I like to think happened, did not, in fact, really happen. But who knows for sure? I imagine him pondering at great length as to what we might have to use against the evil empire that they didn't have and to which they could not respond. Nukes? No, they've got them, and more. Tanks?. Likewise. Planes and ships and rockets and guns and bombs and men? Nope, they've gottem all, twofold. How about money? Ah, there we go. Money they don't have. OK, We'll just spend them into obscurity. And he did.

In the millions of words that are being written now and will be written about him in the future there will be, no doubt, many that are less than generous. To those who write such words I say this. In 100 years, school children will be studying Ronald Reagan's life, times and deeds. Will anyone even remember your names?

IQ TEST

Please take the following IQ test to determine whether you are generally cognizant, more or less aware, at least half awake, playing with a full deck, no bricks shy of a load, in like Flynn, right way Corrigan and in the right camp, or, unfortunately, no longer living.

Please be advised that this is a single elimination exam. If you fail to successfully answer all questions correctly, you are either; A) a total moron, or B) a left leaning - commy pinko - weak kneed - lilly livered - slack jawed - knee jerk - Massachusetts based - overly nuanced - flag sneering - trollodite Dodger fan, or C) unfortunately, no longer living.

PART I
Fill in the Blanks, using the clues provided to help you appear less than totally hopeless:

Still searching for their first win in the month of June, the ____________(famous for baked beans) _________(color) __________(smelly footwear) play the middle game of a three-game set this evening against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

With the ______(ain't old) _______(Duke of, had 10,000 men) _____________(Mason-Dixon, north of) catching fire in recent weeks, the _____(color) ______(smelly footwear) have picked a bad time to cool off, losing four in a row and six of their last eight.

On Friday night the _____(smelly footwear), now a season-high 3 1/2 games behind the ________(Car 54) __________(B-29's) for first place in the American League East, came up on the short end of a 5-2 decision in the series opener.

Part II
Multiple guess, using clues thoughtfully not provided:

This team has won 4 straight and is in first place by 3 1/2 games and has the best record in baseball.
New York Knicks
New York Rangers
Confederate States of America
New York Cosmos
New York Yankees
New York Titans

This team has lost 4 straight, 6 of their last 8, and trail by 3 1/2 games.
Boston Bruins
Boston Braves
Democratic National Committee
Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Soxx
Boston Marathon

Please submit all completed exams upon completion after you have completed them to Michelle at A Small Victory. For your convenience, no link is provided, but you might just find one over there on the left. No, your other left.

Good Luck!

No Volume Discount?

Finally, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer prints something worth reading. This is the story of some moron from Bangladesh, the husband of a Bangladeshi U.N. consular official, who ran up a $129,626.00 (U.S. dollars, coin of the realm, Eagles, Washingtons, greenbacks, smackers, bucks, whacks, smackeroos, shekels) at the New York topless club Scores. And now, demonstrating his rapid assimilation into American culture, has sued to get his money back.

The story states, "Chaudhury claims even after he became "obviously intoxicated" at the club on Oct. 23, 2003, staffers continued plying him with drinks and "took advantage of his intoxicated state.""

However, not everyone in his party was that stupid. "Three people who went to the club with Chaudhury left after a couple of hours. Chaudhury kept partying for another five hours, the suit said - thanks to employees who kept serving him drinks and admitted him to a private room."

Uh, let's see. I go into a topless club, order drinks and ask for a private lap dancing room. What do they say to me? "Sorry, sir. We only sell shoes here."?

To help put this into some perspective for you, "His bill for the night came to $129,626, which Scores charged on four of Chaudhury's credit cards, according to his lawsuit in Manhattan's state Supreme Court. That's enough to buy 6,500 5-minute lap dances, without tip."

6500 5-minute lap dances, without tip. After 32,500 minutes of lap dancing, I'd be without more than just the tip.

To be perfectly fair to the Bangladeshi marathoner, this is the second time in two weeks that there have been Scores to settle (heh heh). A stud-puppy from Switzerland has also sued Scores for the return of $28,000.00 that he blew (what?) at Scores, while "spending 'like a rock star'", according to a club spokesperson.

One has to wonder, does our government send idiots like this to other countries (at least since Joseph Kennedy was recalled)

Who's our ambassador to Fiji?
What did he know and when did he know it?
The people demand answers.

NO RELATION!! NO RELATION!!

Roger Simon (link at right) gives me a hat tip, then supposes if I am related to Michael (3 scoops, please) Moore. Phtooey!

No relation. And not related to that true right wing warhawk, ace radioman and marathon commenteer, John Moore, either.

When I saw the info (in the posting below) this morning, then read Andrew Sullivan, and keeping fairly current with Roger and the folks that visit his blog, Belmont, Lileks, Kaus, et al, I began to wonder. What will it take for the truth of what we have really accomplished in the Middle East to come out and be available to all of the people, all of the time?

I sometimes feel like we are part of a priveleged few who manage to see and discuss the truth amongst ourselves, but that the average Joe, you know, the guy that votes, doesn't have that advantage. He gets ABC-NBC-CBS-PBS-NYT-LAT-WaPo. The various blog polls that are floating around tell us of 100,000 visits here and 200,000 visits there, but what about the 100,000,000 or so other people?

I guess we just keep digging, reporting, blogging, commenting and maybe screaming a little, too. Especially when somebody like Joseph (see Roger Simon's comments)shows up with a silly question about a position (anti-terrorist czar?) that does not exist.

It does seem to be a bit discouraging, though. Am I too much gloom and doom? As was asked by someone last week, "Are they really that smart?" Has the Bush reelection team truly laid a cunning, devious, Machiavellian (sp.?) trap for the Demos and the mainstram media?

I hope so.

Ouch! I stepped on my d**k. No! You stepped on my d**k!

The vast right wing conspiracy theorists, already cracked, are beginning to fall completely apart. Do I hear "Humpty Dumpty"?

When Bush-Bashers Collide

First, from Michael (where's my pork chop?) Moore;

"According to a movie review by the BBC, one of the film's "chief accusations is Bush allowed planes to pick up 24 members of the bin Laden family and fly them out of the U.S. in the days following the attacks - when all other aircraft were grounded."

"So here is Bush trying to deal with everything on Sept. 11, 12 13th, you know. You remember, everybody remembers the total state of chaos and people, just everyone, all of us, discombobulated by the whole thing, and he had the time to be thinking -- what can I do to help the bin Ladens right now," Moore told Pacifica radio last October.

"And all of these elaborate plans were made, because [the Saudis] were spread out throughout the country, to be able to pick them up, get them to Boston and then get them to Paris," Moore said.

"While we are being told that the hunt is on for Osama bin Laden, what is really going on is when you got 24 bin Ladens here, (a disputed number) you know, none of them are asked for any kind of help. None of them are interrogated, and they are given the royal red carpet treatment in the days after September 11th. My question is why? What is really going on here?" Moore asked.

But Moore's film relies in part on Clarke's original comments, the ones he has now contradicted."


Then from Richard (just kidding) Clarke;

"Clarke's sworn testimony before the 9/11 Commission in March, describing how the FBI approved the flights for the bin Ladens and other Saudis to leave the U.S., may have strengthened that premise. But Clarke's interview with The Hill newspaper, published on May 26, contradicted that previous testimony.

The decision to approve the flights, Clarke admitted last week, had been his own. The request "didn't get any higher than me," he told The Hill .

"On 9-11, 9-12 and 9-13, many things didn't get any higher than me. I decided it in consultation with the FBI," Clarke said of the plane flight carrying bin Laden's relatives.

"I take responsibility for it. I don't think it was a mistake, and I'd do it again," he added."

What are Barbara Boxer and Charles Schumer saying now?

To busy having fun over at Roger Simon's to post today. Sorry

The Bitter Education of Micki Weinberg

I am not Jewish, and after reading this, I'm not sure whether I'm glad I'm not, or I want to convert and grab a soon-to-be-legal-again assault rifle.

The link above is to the front page of The East Bay Express's .com edition. Just click on Micki Weinberg's face and read the article. Incredible. You know what makes me angriest? The absolute and total cowardice of the administration of that "school". A question might be, "Have any of these Jewish students or their parents ever heard of lawyers?"

Let's see now;
Failure to provide for the physical safety of students on its campus. Compensatory and punitive damages.

Failure to provide an atmosphere conducive to learning. Compensatory and punitive damages.

Failure to protect visitors attending lawful, school-sponsored events from threats to their persons and property. Compensatory and punitive damages.

Failure to apply and enforce its own ethics code on staff and faculty. Compensatory and punitive damages.

Failure to apply and enforce ethics and speech codes on students. Compensatory and punitive damages.

A smart lawyer could probably go on for days. Hit them where it hurts. In the wallet. Believe me, unless the Saudis take up the slack, the chancellor will crack down. A steady stream of lawsuits. Jew-beam'em.

The thought of the collectible damages is breathtaking. A prospective Jewish scholar has his/her higher education interferred with/interrupted at the University of California-Berkeley causing him/her to to forsake the awaiting career as a member of the international Zionist cabal controlling international banking and finance, U.S. foreign policy, the U.S. Senate, the U.S. military-industrial complex, the entire European Union, big oil, the international diamond trade, implementation of The Protocols, as well as pork belly futures and the Israeli tank ammo industry. WOW!

I'm all the way down here in Mexico, but can't anyone up there do anything about this?

ANOTHER GOLDSTEIN CLASSIC

French "achitectural showpiece" collapses, killing 4 foreign nationals; UN moves quickly to condemn Israel for the catastrophe because why not?

READ THIS NOW!

Before you visit this site, get all of your blogging out of the way. Once you stop here, you will be done for the day. Some teasers;

"We have seen two months of what looks like non-stop catastrophe, and we will see more, and maybe worse, before we are through. Here is my well-reasoned, historically researched, deeply nuanced opinion: Tough shit. This war will be over when we say it is over, and not a second before."

and

"We ran from Fallujah, we hear; those murdering bastards are laughing at us. We’re not tough enough to win. Uh, not quite. Hundreds of those murdering bastards are dead. They are not laughing at anything."

and

"Catastrophes are only catastrophes; disasters are only disasters: they are not the end unless we decide they are."

Go Now! William Whittle

More of my favorite Links at right

I have managed to get more of my favorite links posted at the right. After the first 2 or three bloggers, they are in no particular order. I will get around to that as soon as possible. I also need to organize them into categories. This blogging is a lot of damned work.

Big Media Maintains Its Grip

The following post appears today at AndrewSullivan.com;

Finally, a description (ed. - from the Washington Post) of what the administration itself believes has been the goal in Falluja:
"What we're trying to do is extricate ourselves from Fallujah," said a senior U.S. official familiar with U.S. strategy who would speak only on the condition of anonymity. "There's overwhelming pressure with the Coalition Provisional Authority and the White House to deliver a successful Iraq transition, and Iraq is proving uncooperative."
So the initial goal of removing the insurgents has been abandoned. Meanwhile, the president says: "My resolve is firm. This is an historic moment. The world watches for weakness in our resolve. They will see no weakness. We will answer every challenge." So is the president telling the truth or is the anonymous "senior administration official"? Or has the administration official declined to inform the president?

I sent this email to Andrew Sullivan;

Finally, a description of what the homosexuals themselves believe has been the goal in Massachusetts. "What we're trying to do is extricate ourselves from this whole gay marriage thing" said a prominent gay activist familiar with the gay marriage strategy who would speak only on the condition of
anonymity. "There's overwhelming pressure among the gay marriage activists and the State House to deliver a successful marriage-civil union transition, and some gays are proving uncooperative."
So the initial goal of marriage for homosexuals has been abandoned. Meanwhile, Andrew Sullivan says: "It was fascinating to observe the impact of Monday's marriage moment. For the most part, it was celebratory. Polls are showing increasing support for equal marriage rights and sliding approval for governor Mitt Romney." So is Sullivan telling the truth or is the anonymous "prominent gay activist"? Or has the gay activist declined to inform Mr. Sullivan?

Andrew, the above makes about as much sense and is as accurate as your quoting of WaPo on any subject concerning the war on terror, the 9/11 Commission, the approaching general election, the ongoing campaigns for the latter, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Israel, Europe or the kitchen sink. You are smarter than that.


I wonder if he will respond or print it? Probably not. I take everything I read with a grain of salt, and anything produced by "big media" with two grains.

My Links

I have a lot more links to add to the list at the right. I have just been too busy to sit down and do it. It is drudge work but I know that I need to do it and I promise that I will soon. My Favorites list of blogs is four times longer than the list at the right.

Thanks to Hugh Hewitt for the link to Marine Corps Moms. A good place to send an Armed Forces Day message (hint, hint).

To the Armed Forces: Congratulations on Armed Forces Day
To the people of The United States: Happy Armed Forces Day

Congratulations to the men and women in uniform for your service and sacrifice to keep us safe. You are the front line defense against those who are envious of our way of life and would destroy it if they could.

To the people of The United States, be happy that we can rely on those in uniform and their families and friends at home who worry and pray for them every day.

Marine Corps Hymn

At my 4:00 class yesterday, two of the students arrived with recorders (the little flutes that kids are taught to play in school). One began playing The Hymn. I was surprised that Mexican school students would be taught a U.S. military hymn in school, especially one that features the words, "from the halls of Montezuma" in the first verse. They did not know why they were being taught this hymn, but I will ask around to see if any Mexican teachers or administrators know why. They knew the name of The Hymn (Himno de los Marinos) in Spanish, but did not know any of the words. They do now. I had to look up The Hymn on the net because I could not remember verses 2 and 3. I wrote the 3 verses on the white board and had the class copy the words into their notebooks. I explained the first verse only because we ran out of time. We'll read, practice pronunciation and add vocabulary words from The Hymn on Monday.

I Don't Think Daniel Drezner Gets It

Daniel Drezner writes in "Should Rummy Resign Redux" (and see yesterdays posts, as well), that Rumsfeld should resign. He states, "I don't think Iraq is hopeless -- but I also don't think that Rumsfeld has made much of a positive contribution since the end of the "major combat." It's precisely because I want to see the U.S. succeed in Iraq that I think it's worth it to replace Rummy ASAP."

Man, I don't understand this from a normally clear thinking individual like Mr. Drezner. The United States is trying to accomplish something that has never been attempted in RECORDED HISTORY. Fight our way into a snakepit of a country (three weeks, remember?), track down, then imprison or kill a desperate and diverse group of thugs, murderers, maniacal and bloodthirsty religious zealots, impose law and order (NOT restore, for they have not existed in the Iraqi people's memory), rebuild an utterly decayed infrastructure which was sabotaged by the defeated enemy, and design, build and impose some form of democratic (or republican) government ("impose" because the people with dreams of power don't really want it - that would be the various mullahs, imams, and other odd and sundry sleazeballs like Chalabi).

Anyone who thought that this was something less than a gigantic undertaking, or that it would go smoothly and would not be fraught with difficulties and occasional failures, is a moron. Mr. Drezner is decidedly not a moron. So, what gives?

No, Mr. Rumsfeld is not the most brilliant of nation-builders. What he is, however, is a competent, maybe brilliant, wartime Secretary of Defense. And we have a minimum of two wars yet to fight. Iran must not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. I see no way that we can sit back and wait for a dubious popular uprising to unseat the mullahs currently in power. And if this should occur, in the nick of time, what guarantee do we have that the new government would halt the development of nukes? No, Iran must be dealt with swiftly and decisively. No invasion and nation-building, just pound their nuclear capability and armed forces into dust. If Bush is reelected, this is what he will do. And then, North Korea. This is a tough one. If Bush is reelected, he must cross this bridge. The problem here is Seoul and maybe Tokyo. The deranged and self-deluded ultimate leader, or whatever his bad-hairness is being called these days, would try to launch a nuclear strike against one or both of those two cities. A human catastrophe would ensue. But it is probably going to ensue anyway. Are we to wait until he develops a long range ballistic missile? Seoul and Tokyo will be the least of our worries. How about L.A.? My friend Roger Simon lives there with his wife and six year-old daughter. Sorry about your luck, Seoul and Tokyo. You should have taken care of this yourselves long before now.

And besides, we have already told the half-human chiapet that a nuclear strike against anyone will result in his country's immediate erasure. So, we ask for a face-to-face, no Chinese, no French, no English, no U.N., just us two. And we tell them. We are coming. We are going to destroy your nuclear capabilities. We are going to destroy your army which is lined up along the DMZ. We are going to destroy your ability to wage war, threaten our people, threaten your neighbors (our friends), and, if you strike with a nuclear weapon, against anyone, anywhere, at any time during our surgical operation, you will be erased. You have 36 hours.

George Bush has the sworn duty to protect the citizens of the United States of America from harm. He will need Donald Rumsfeld to help accomplish that immense task.

So, Rummy stays, period.

Get it?

Bush Is To Blame

The students at Berkeley have spoken. It is all Bush's fault. His rhetoric has caused it all. He has divided the world into good and bad, not nuanced enough for the scholars at Berkeley. He "is preying on the innocence of our young people who take oppressive rhetoric at face value" and we live in a "country that barely distinguishes Iraq from Afghanistan, an Arab from a Sikh or an enemy from a terrorist".

I am shocked to discover that we are such stupid cattle, and have raised our children to be just as stupid.

I am not shocked to discover that Loseweek would publish this. There was a time when I received Newsweek and Time weekly and devoured every page. No longer. I will never buy another copy of either. Why should I when I can find this crap free of charge?

Let's see if I have this correct, now. Zarqawi, bin Laden - terrorists, not enemies. France, Russia, Germany, Saudi Arabia - enemies, not terrorists. Is that about right?

CANADA - again!

Canadian PM Paul Martin states that he believes that Hussein had the WMD's and they are now in the hands of terrorists. I think this guy has a political deathwish. Any international figure who is seen to be supporting the US in its efforts in Iraq at this particular point in time is bound for trouble. Maybe that is why his support is somewhat oblique. If his support is too overt, he risks political suicide. I think a big reason for his seeming support is that he wants to distance himself as far as possible from the policies of Chretien. Also, open support begs the question, "Why are you not helping us?" A question that he does not want to answer.

Good Morning

Happy Mother's Day from Mexico (it is Mexico's Mother's Day today).

La Voz de Aztlan vs. JDL and The SWC.

I have yet to receive any replies to my queries to The Jewish Defense League or The Simon Weisenthal Center concerning the "threats" that Ernie 100Flickers at La Voz claims to have received. I will keep you posted.

Hand Wringing

Take a look at Andrew Sullivan and WSJ Opinion Journal, The Wages of Appeasement by Victor Davis Hanson. You will get an excellent example of 20/20 hindsight applied to the long-term (Mr. Hanson) and to the short-term (Mr. Sullivan). Both of them have very valid points.

Relative to Mr. Hanson, I really don't see how, having lived through that time myself, anything could have been done differently. Our overwhelming priority at that time was the USSR. Our military was a disasterous mess in the wake of Viet Nam, inflation was running rampant, we had had a president resign in disgrace, we knew we were complicit in the Shah's dirty war against the mullahs and we were dreaming of a multicultural-peace-in-our-time-lets-all-get-together utopia which would not, does not and never will exist. So, Mr. Hanson's views of the occurrences, in my opinion, while factually correct in view of history over the past 25 or so years, are helpful only insofar as showing us a path or paths that we should avoid. Does his treatise show us the correct path? I think not. Only history over the long-term has ever proven that a strategy was correct. Only history over the short-term has ever proven that the tactics employed to achieve a strategy were correct.

Which brings us to Mr. Sullivan and the short-term hand-wringing. I would ask this. What narrative? Have the events at Abu Ghraib caused a change in the actions, attitudes, policies and statements of the thugs, terrorists, Muslim "press", the Arab "street" or the politicians (I include the mullahs, imams and clerics in this group because they belong here)? Not that I can see. Were they trying to kill as many of us as possible BEFORE Abu Ghraib? Yes, of course. Were we vilified daily on the airways, in the press, in mosques and on street corners? Yes, of course. Do the events at Abu Ghraib give them more ammunition to use against us? Yes, unfortunately. Do the events at Abu Grhraib cause us the loss of the moral high ground and should we now cut and run? No, of course not. Nothing has occurred to derail our strategy that a heavy dose of military justice will not correct. In other words, a tactical failure must be addressed so as not to cause a strategic failure.

I would hate to think, in the case of Mr. Sullivan, that the "fair weather fans" syndrome has begun to set in.

Did we fail to plan adequately for the occupation? No, but President Bush did not think we had five years to prepare.

Did we overestimate the reception of the Iraqis and the resistence of the Baathists/terrorists/ criminals/thugs? Yes, we did; a TACTICAL error. Is it correctable? Yes, it is.

MEChA Takes A Hit

According to a report from The Washington Times, Stanford University STUDENTS voted to deny the racist student organization its funding for the next year.

"In what is believed to be the first such vote on any college campus, Stanford students voted 1,357 to 1,329 to withhold MEChA's special fees, which amount to more than $40,000."

"...the first such vote on any college campus." One would hope that this is not an aberration, but will start a trend.

Make no mistake, I have nothing against organizations that preach ethnic pride, nor those who step in to help when civil rights are perceived to be violated. But I do have a problem with any organization or person or persons who preach "ethnic purity". That would include MEChA, KKK, Aryan Nation, Serbia, The Palestinian Authority, The IRA. More on this later.

Aztlan Update

Time to visit La Voz de Aztlan and see what we have missed in the last couple of days of continued colonialist and Jewish persecution/subjugation of Mexico/Mexican-Americans. If you aren't familiar with Aztlan, go here. The website is actually a description of MEChA, the Aztlan student group active on many campuses in the US, but has a great map of the "Aztlan" that is the historical domain of , uh, Aztecs? Mexicans? Indigenas? I'm not sure yet, but we will get into that later.

News Bulletin #1 - May 7, 2004 - Jewish Terrorists Threaten La Voz de Aztlan Again

OK, I'll bite.

Well, if what La Voz has reproduced here is, in fact, true and accurate, I must say that the JDL is being pretty stupid. Answering these people in kind plays right into their hands (I do not, of course, include the protection of life and property). "Zionist Threats", "Suppression of Free Speech" all can be seen and heard as a result of threats such as that reproduced in this bulletin, again with the caveat that it is accurate.

I will contact the JDL (not outlawed, to the best of my knowledge, as is stated in the story) for confirmation. I assume that they will respond to a goyim.



News Bulletin #2 - USA rape and sodomization of Iraqis worst than imagined
Collusion with US based Jewish pornographers seen
by Ernesto Cienfuegos

I didn't link to this story. You can go there if you wish, but I won't help. It is too noxious. If you do visit, please note that in neither the "eyewitness" account nor in the "victim's" account appear the terms "uniform", "U.S. soldiers", "U.S. mercenaries" or "military vehicles". Only "armed men". Well, if the only armed men in Iraq were U.S. troops, then I can understand the inference. However....

And "Jewish pornographers"? I shall query the JDL about this, also.

Question to Ernesto Cienfuegos, affectionately known by all his many tens of friends as Ernie 100Flickers: So, do you really think that this serves the interests of your chicano brethren?

That's all for now, I'm on my way to pursue the JDL line.

SPORTS Today - The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The Good
Tiger leads by 2 at end of second round. Bad from the tee, short game and putting sensational. Drive for show, putt for dough.

The Bad

Yankees lose to Seattle 6 - 2, second straight loss, Last 10 = 8 and 2.


The Ugly

Athletes to be under heightened security at Olympics - Calgary Sun - (You Think?)

Little time to post today. Hmmm... Yankees lose, again...well, for the first time in May (heh heh). 8 of 9 isn't too bad. Maybe their feet are on the ground and they are running. If he can hold together, Kevin Brown looks like the real deal of old. It is, however, a long season.

Gotcha!

Too much good info and comment on everyone elses blogs today. No time to do my own. But I did find this. Michael Moore admits laying big cowpie, but too late! Sen. Laughingberg has already stepped in it.

Acording to The Independent (UK), Moore admits what almost everyone already knew. Disney/Miramax never had any intention of distributing his anti-Bush schlock. Too late, however, for Senator Laufenberg, who has already sent a weepy letter to Sen. John McCain asking for committee hearings on big media censorship.

Oops.

I think everyone should turn up the heat on Moore. I think he might go off the deep end a la Micah and Ted.

La Voz de Aztlan

Since my shocking discovery this Sunday past that all of Mexico's and American chicano's problems are the fault of the Jews, I am wandering around in search of Aztlan and La Raza. The first thing that I find is a story by Carlos Cienfuegos, of La Voz de Aztlan, published at Conspiracy Planet, about the photographed rape of 2 (only one pictured) "Iraqi women" by "U. S. troops". The story is dated today, Wednesday, May 5, and , I quote,

"New photographs were sent to La Voz de Aztlan from confidential sources depicting the shocking rapes of two Iraqi women by what are purported to be US Military Intelligence personnel and private US mercenaries in military fatigues. It is now known that hundreds of these photographs had been in circulation among the troops in Iraq."

Sorry, Mr. 100fires, but yours seem to be burning a bit dimly. These already discredited photos have been on the net where you picked them up over the weekend. Now let's be frank with one another. You have no confidential sources who sent you anything, isn't that right? Are you sure that the rapists aren't Jews in diguise?

To Lee Salem, vice-president for Print Syndication, Universal Press Syndicate,


To: lsalem@amuniversal.com

Subject: Pat Tillman


Sir,
Please note in the Subject header above that the subject of this email is the late Pat Tillman, not Ted Rall. Mr. Tillman, if nothing else, was a loyal member of the Armed Forces of the United States of America, killed in action, returned to the United States and buried by his family. Neither he or any member of his family had ever done anything that could be remotely considered as deserving of the treatment he received at the hands of your syndicated cartoonist, Mr. Rall.

I must assume that, knowing well in advance of Mr. Rall's political leanings and shrill anti-Americanism, you and the company that you represent support and encourage his viewpoint that Mr. Tillman was a racist and joined the Rangers to "kill Arabs". You may rest assured that I will seek out any media outlets that subscribe to your service and email to them a demand that they replace your company with another, as well as refuse to buy their products until such time as they do.

Mark A. Moore

The above is a copy of the my first email sent to Mr. Salem at the suggestion of Andrew Sullivan. The second will be to identify Mr. Sullivan as the instigator of my email and I shall add the comment, "I'll bet we are bigger than you are. What do you think?"

I'm still alive

I have not had the heart to do much writing since Sunday. First, the prisoner mistreatment (I think torture is too strong a word here) making us look pretty stoooopid, as well as being contrary to our laws. Then, a 38 year-old mother of four, 8 months pregnant, gets put to death along with ALL FOUR of her little girls in Israel by heroic freedom fighters. Then, during an exchange of email correspondence with John Moore, I do some research on La Raza and a fringe group called Aztlan and find out that all of Mexico's problems and those of chicanos living in the United States are the fault of the Jews. Then, family photos of the Israeli mother and her daughters hit the net. Then, Ted Rall, a truly reprehensible and useless human being, publishes his worse than libelous scribble. Confusion in Fallujah, making us look more stooopid. A new book coming out, referenced by Roger Simon yesterday, with a truly horrific, digusting and revolting description of the kinds of Muslim societies that wish to "spread" their poisonous religion to all corners. A moderate, patriotic American Muslim organizes an anti-violence and pro American rally in Arizona and it turns into a bust. If I had kept surfing it could only have gotten worse.

Godawmighty! Wish I had stayed in bed Sunday, and yesterday , too
(the Redwings are finished, again).

(Sigh) Can't do that. As bad as it is, what would the world be like without yours truly fighting for truth, justice and the American way? The only good news: Lakers lose (sorry Roger), the Yankees string 3 straight and Michelle is looking for Ted Rall.

I'm not too clever with the linking, yet. I keep linking to the blogsite and not to the actual subject post. I'll get better. At least I can get you there, even if not to exactly the right spot.

Good Luck!

Good luck to my friend and former student Eric Alan Morales. He just launched an Internet Cafe in the state of Tlaxcala. Good luck Alan 2.0.

The Demise of Militant Islam?

From Daniel Pipes. I hope that it is true, but, in Mr. Pipes words, "color me interested but skeptical".

More Cuts in Spending to Lower Our Taxes

I just saw this on News Forum Home Page;
Germany To Shorten Missions Abroad, Stop Guarding U.S. Bases. I think that this is a marvelous idea, and one that deserves some study, as is pointed out later in the article. We should study the base-closure idea right up to and including the closing of all of them in Germany, France, Belgium, Spain and Turkey. Think how much money we'll save. Are they thinking of how much money they will truly save? I think not.

My Links

I said a couple of days ago that I would have some explanations as to the why of and the order of my links that appear in the sidebar. Well, here they are.

1. Email me! I am still not sure that my email links work, so I placed them in a couple of different locations. I have recieved several emails, but I don't know, and keep forgetting to ask, if the senders are using my links, or someone elses.

2. Google News. This link was here when I initiated the blog. Blogspot provides this service free of charge, therefore the least I can do is respect them enough to leave it in place. Besides, Google News is my home page.

3. News Forum Home Page. This is a good source for news. They show 25 articles per page and one can buzz through a lot of news stories in a very short period of time. I usually ignore Lucianne's little snide comments, but they can sometimes be amusing. And one does not have to wade through the fluff of Survivor, You're Fired, etc., etc.

4. Andrew Sullivan. For the uninitiated, the rookies, and those who just awoke from a 20 year nap, Mr. Sullivan is gay. Not my cup-o-tea, but then it's not my blog. He is also British. Well, that's not so bad. He could be from Massachusetts. What I like about this blog is that Mr. Sullivan is not a drum-beater. He actually asks questions. He has doubts. He occasionally becomes confused. While we all suffer from the same afflictions, Mr. Sullivan puts them in writing, unlike, say, Den Beste. He allows the visitor to witness him wavering from side to side on an issue as he researches it, learns about it, and begins formulating a strong opinion. Many if not most bloggers seemingly can formulate, almost instantly, an opinion carved-in-stone and set-in-cocrete and nonnegotiable and all-to-the-contrary are trolls. Perhaps Mr. Sullivan is just a little on the slow side, like, er, yours truly. For me, he spends an inordinate amount of time and space on gay-rights issues, but, again, it's his blog, not mine. If I visited NRA member blogs, I would probably see guns mentioned with some frequency, whether I liked it or not. In light of the aforementioned, Mr. Sullivan occupies blog position #1.

5. Mystery Novelist and Screenwriter. This is, of course, Roger L. Simon. Mr. Simon is a fellow who truly has his head screwed on straight. I don't think that that was always the case. I think he spent some time in his youth affiliated with some , er, strange people with whom he now strongly disagrees. And he is not hesitant to say so. He is deeply involved with the literatii, and frequently points the visitor towards one profound publication or another, which we might not know about with such alacrity, if at all. He also commands respect for being able to live and work in the Southern California/Hollywood/left coast environment while keeping the aforementioned head in the aforementioned correct position. And finally, he is an old fart with a young child, like yours truly (with 2 of the little creatures). To be truly humbled, sit down in front of a Nintendo Star Wars some-kind-of vehicle race across from an experieced, hardbitten, steely-eyed, merciless 6 year-old. The pain! The embarrassment! The agony of da feet! He therefore occupies blog link position #2.

I'll do the rest later.

Comments and Trackback added!

It is almost midnight here and I think I have successfully added Comments and Trackback to my blog, thanks to Haloscan.com. If this really works, and I have no doubts, a million thanks to the folks at Haloscan. I put in a link in the above line, but you'll see their link button in the sidebar. Their instructions were so simple and direct, their web page should be titled, "Comments for Dummies."

Please visit Roger L. Simon and follow his links in the post concerning anti-Semitism. I would like to take a moment to tell a little story about my own experience with this which, for me, was too close to home. I'll title it ALL IN THE FAMILY.

I am married to a Mexican lady, whose father is a semi-retired attorney here in Puebla, Mexico. He is a local attorney of some note, having once been the Dean of the Law School of the Autonomous University of Puebla. When sitting with him in a local coffee shop or walking around the city or the UAP campus, most everyone who stops to shake hands and chat refers to him as "Doctor", "maestro", or "profesor".

We have enjoyed some long discussions about many various subjects, but I have learned the hard way to limit our conversations to history or art, and here is why. He has no experience whatsoever with the net and I doubt he has ever personally viewed a web page, which is why I feel safe in publishing this anecdote. As an example, one day the subject of el Cid came up. You know, the legend upon which the Charlton Heston movie, "El Cid", was based. He said that he knew little of the history of Castilla (Castille in English), but he believed that the legend was more or less true. Of course, yours truly went right to the net to research el Cid. It turns out that, yes, the man existed, and was referred to as "El Cid". While he was indeed a mighty warrior, he was certainly no hero. More of a shrewd political operator who eventually got his. I dutifully reported back to my suegro (father-in-law) with my newfound knowledge and a printed download to boot. He was more than impressed with the speed with which I was able to answer but less than impressed, more like disappointed, with the results. I should have taken that reaction as a warning. I relate that story as an introduction to the next one.

Another day in the same coffee shop, we were discussing the latest atrocity in Israel. You know, the same boring story; suicide bomber, a dozen killed, half being school children, etc., etc.. He then, out of the clear blue sky, stated that he could understand the Palestinian actions in light of the fact that the Jews had maintained a vast conspiracy to dominate the world for several hundred years, and that this had been known to the rest of the world ever since the discovery, quite by accident, of their manifesto, known as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

I was so astonished that I began laughing. "What?" I gasped. "You don't mean that old, thoroughly discredited forgery, or do you?" He said, "Yes", and stated further that it was NOT a forgery, only declared so by the Jews. End of koffee klatch. I said that I had to go, and then got. Right to the net to do some research on this tome about which I really knew very little. Three or four hours later, I felt that I was sufficiently armed to the teeth, and awaited the following day's now ominous-appearing capuccino.

I presented to him what I considered to be irrefutable documentation to the effect that The Protocols was not, in fact, a forgery. It was a forgery of a plagiarism. What started out as a legitimate stage play about a group of royals hatching a plot to take over some European city-state was plagiarized by a ne'er-do-well German ex con who replaced every mention of the various royals with "Jews", and the city-state with "the world". Then it gets stolen from him and published as the "miraculously discovered" Protocols. I presented names, dates and a list of sources in the U. S. and Great Britain as well as in Spain (in Spanish).

He listened with great patience, accepted the documentation with a gracias, and then, as we stood up to go our separate ways, stated, and I quote, "It is still all the Jews' fault." (Todaví­a todo es la culpa de los judíos).

Whadaya gonna do? This highly educated, experienced, well-traveled, well respected professional is, I discovered, a raging anti-Semitic bigot and probably a racist too.

I spent a couple of days in a funk, like one might experience upon learning that Superman was a petty shoplifter at Wal-mart. The only thing to be cheerful about was my newfound knowledge about the Protocols. I had learned a great deal and for that was thankful. But how to change the thinking of that old bigot? Impossible, I wisely decided. Better to just forget it and avoid the subject in the future. He is of such an advanced age that, by the time my boys are old enough to have discussions about subjects of this import, he won't be around to talk to them.

It would be my hope that there is a significant number of people who have open minds to the extent that they can accept irrefutable evidence as such, and not dispute it, or worse, simply ignore it, because of some deeply engraved beliefs stamped in their psyches by who-knows-who, who-knows-when. I personally abhor the thought of forever being at the mercy of some who-knows-who, who-knows-when.

New Law Enforcement Strategy In Palestine - a bit harsh by U. S. standards, but nonetheless effective. This incident has been circulating for several days, but I like Daniel Pipes' take on it, Palestinian Terrorism Bests Palestinian Anarchy, so I pass it along.

Scroll down to other interesting comments that Daniel has found, especially the one from Megan K. Stack in the LAT, which I might title, "Drat, missed them again."

Email me!

Happy Día del Niño (Children's Day).
Schools all have special plans for today. My 4 year-old is accompanying his classmates to a wild animal park. My 6 year-old is participating in the festivities at his school. The typical festivities include:
No-uniform day. Street clothes only, because;
They have spent hours decorating eggshells and filling them with flour to;
Splatter all over one another. They will arrive home looking like ghosts, and;
Filling water ballons to splatter all over one another. Make that wet ghosts.

In light of the above, I visited a private school this morning where I serve as a consejero, or advisor, spent an hour and a half with the seventh grade class, then got the heck out of there.

I have no special plans for my school, but I imagine that absenteeism rates will run high this afternoon.

This begins a run of festivals for the next two weeks which will include Día del Niño (today), Labor Day (May 1), Cinco del Mayo (May 5), and culminating in Mother's Day.

Cinco del Mayo is an official government holiday only in Puebla, because it was here that Gen. Zaragoza defeated the French army and stopped it's march to Mexico City. The French army returned the following year (a year during which Gen. Zaragoza died of illness) and the defense this time was not successful. The French marched on to Mexico City, took control of the country and put Emporer Maximiliano in power, where he remained until his reign, and his life, was ended by Benito Juarez.

The Cinco del Mayo parade here is one of the country's largest and is usually visited by the president. I have not heard whether President Fox will be here this year, but he probably will.

Email problems
I still can't get my email link to work, but I can be reached at markmoorefarmer@hotmail.com

OK, I managed to get some links up on the sidebar. Tomorrow I will explain why they are there and I will have a couple of comments about some specific ones. However, the Email me! link does not appear to be working. I do not know why. Is it not possible to email oneself? It is late and I will work on it for awhile in the morning.

Read this:

I guess Rene has never met anyone who actually joined the armed forces to serve their country. In the world that Rene inhabits, no such thing exists. For Gonzales and most of his ilk, when a person says they joined the army out of duty to country and freedom, they just assume the person has been brainwashed by commercials or recruitment officers. Ramon and Tyrone are poor and stupid.

Michelle told us she was foregoing the war/political blogging for awhile. I'm glad it was for only a little while.

I have pointed out to my students that our ground commander in Iraq is Lt. General Ricardo Sanchez from Rio Grande City, Texas. I told my students that he was a "Mexicano sangriento" (bloodthirsty Mexican). They all got a kick out of it.

Oops, looks like I re-posted the same post from two posts ago. Am I posted out already? And how the hell does one provide an email link to oneself? Not to mention comments. I'm still working.

For a few good yucks, visit often and watch as I struggle to build and develop this blog over the next few days, weeks, months, decades.

For a few good yucks, visit often and watch as I struggle to build and develop this blog over the next few days, weeks, months, decades.

Good morning. This is the first posting for my new blog. I will be offering the latest news concerning Los Bosques English Language School in Puebla, Puebla, Mexico, as well as my thoughts and opinions on the issues of the day. I will offer links to the articles, comments and posts of many other bloggers around the world which I have found to be of interest and worth passing on. So, I am pleased to join the blogosphere and hope that, at least occasionally, I can contribute something of value or interest.

Mark in Mexico