This Cardinal has been flying into my windows repeatedly for four days now. I’m not sure why. Every few minutes. SMACK-SMACK-SMACK.
I’m tempted to catch him and take him for a ride somewhere so he’ll give me some peace.
The New York Times wrote about this today as well. ]]>
Random photos of Berlin and Potsdam
Originally uploaded by penguinsix
Oh boy. Just what we need in that region. Let’s throw gasoline on stirred up bees and push them out of the frying pan and into the fire. (Yeah, it takes that many metaphors to summarize this one)
If true, that’s just a level of ‘not thinking’ that goes beyond any level of stupidity every seen.
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Time to look in your drawers for leftover Korunas as the Euro is coming to Slovakia. Effect next January you’ll no longer be dealing in Korunas but Euros.
Ever wonder what currencies are no longer used? See if you can match up these to the country they are from.
Schilling
Franc
Mark
Franc
Mark
Drachma
Pound
Lira
Franc
Guilder
Escudo
Koruna
Tolar
Peseta
(hint: countries were alphabetical)
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Some people have such a need for attention it is scary. Scarier than being Jack Kevorkian, Mr. Assisted Suicide? How about Dr. Death as a Congressman?
As the homicide cop once said–’you have two kinds of killers, the heat of passion type, and those who just really like it.’ I’ll let you guess which one applies here.
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That’s what it looks like now. Hurricane Bertha is taking a hard NE turn and looks like it will bypass not only the US but Bermuda as well.
Obama speaking to a mega-crowd to accept the Democratic nomination has shades of a ‘Promise Keepers’ meeting combined with something Albert Speer could arrange. It actually gives me kind of a chill. I’m not fan of the ‘Cult of Obama’ and having a mass rally of folks is actually kind of scary. If I see anyone marching with torches I’m going to hide in the basement for the next few years.]]>
The Swiss public broadcasting network is running a story about the ransom and/or rescue mission of Colombian hostages and you can start to hear some faint whispers of annoyance. French, Spanish and Swiss official have for years attempted to negotiate for the release of captives in Colombia under the auspices of a ‘humanitarian mission’. Colombian officials have been more than annoyed at this over the years, especially in that the European powers have basically opted to treat FARC at the same level of a legitimately elected government. The rescue mission, a quasi-military operation, has set back the role of negotiations for some time to come.
Today’s broadside against Jean Pierre Gontard is likely a strong message to the European powers that they should no longer meddle in Colombia’s dealings with the FARC. I suspect we’re going to see a little more ‘let Colombia deal with Colombia problems’ in the next few months. I think Jean Pierre Gontard is history. One wonders if he would even be allowed back in the country after today’s comments.
I also love the lack of realization on the part of some European commentators. It reminds me of a statement I learned back during the Cold War. ”We judge our enemies by their actions. We judge ourselves by our intentions.” Europe’s intentions are good, but one wonders what effect their actions have, long term, to the stability of Colombia. By dealing with the FARC, in effect legitimizing the FARC (as Chavez has tried to do), the big powers of Europe are giving it desperately needed credibility (credibility they no longer have with the rank and file Colombians). One must wonder if the longer ‘big uncle Europe’ is watching over the FARC, the longer it may be in the business of drugs, kidnapping, and terror.
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