Priorities

Tell me again who supports the troops.

Back

Back from Boston and we had a great time. The bride was beautiful (but I knew that when she was a baby) and the groom (whom I finally had a chance to sit and talk with) is an impressive young man. Samantha made an excellent choice. I wish them all the happiness Mrs. F and I have found.

That said, I had time constraints getting home. I had to get to the vet on Long Island by 3 to pick up Shayna or I couldn't get her until Monday. Mrs. F nagged at me from Providence to New Haven for my excessive speed (95 mph straight through) but we made it to the vet by 2:50.

Also, we stayed in Braintree, MA which, for me, was very cathartic for we were only a few miles from the home of my hero, President John Adams and his wife Abigail.

A note from the road: We saw a bunch of Ned Lamont bumper stickers going through Connecticut. Not a single one for Lieberman. We caught Holy Joe's ad on WPLR 99.1, the one where he says 'experience matters' and had a good laugh. And to the city fathers of the City of New Haven, thank you very much for fucking up I-95 through the city. Good lord what a horrendous traffic pattern (thanks to construction). To the yahoo from Texas in his pickemup truck in the left lane, going 45 mph, towing a piece-of-shit ancient camper with no brake lights, I hope a Kenworth runs your moron ass over.

And lastly, I'm pretty tan on my upper body, but I wear long pants all day at work so my legs don't get as much sun. It was really sunny today (and I wore shorts driving home) and it seems my left leg was exposed to the sun for the entire trip (3 1/2 hours) home. I got a wicked sunburn:

Are you Rapture Ready?

Sadly, No! has the definitive audio-visual Rapture propaganda. I would say that this film, for 'film' it surely is, is a perfectly good waste of ten minutes except for the fact that it predicts global warming better than anything else I've seen, and it's older than I am, fer chrissake!

This is yer grandparents' Rapture, folks. There's nothing new except for the hateful attitude of today's Rapture cultists.

Get off the pot, George!

"...the powerful keep the ganja out."

Today's Joemoment

Go see this video clip. Liquid alert! Many more at The Young Turks.

About what we've come to expect from this poseur

A little break in The Madness, part deux

First, if you read posts from the top down like I do, scroll down one and read An Angry Old Broad's post. Are you back? OK, read this one.

Since AOB's kinda The Brain's adopted Mom/den mother/warden, and on the theory that "if Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!", I figured I'd go quietly and play "Better Know a Blogger" too. Then too, since Fixer's gone for the day, "when the cat's away, the mice will play".

Re Sturgis: Officially known as the Black Hills Motor Classic but commonly known as the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, it's one of the two or three biggest 'sickle get-togethers in the country, and one of the oldest. The first one was in 1938 and was sponsored by the Jackpine Gypsies Motorcycle Club. If ya like bikes, those links'll thrill ya!

I was a Harley-Davidson mechanic for half of my ongoing 30+ year career in the motorcycle biz, both at o-fish-ul dealerships and independent shops ("scab shops" to the dealers. Snooty bunch!). When it was time for a big run like, say, The Redwood Run, I'd go the other way. I worked on the damn things all week, and if I ended up at the same run as my customers, which happened a coupla times before I wised up, somebody'd always snitch me off and I'd end up working on the sleds of guys who were too cheap to bring 'em into the shop before they actually broke down. On my days off. For free. Swell. If I refused, then of course I was a money-grubbing asshole and not a true "bro" etc., etc., so I'd let myself get suckered in for the sake of my employer who depended on these guys for a living.

Anyway, I developed a technique for when someone'd hit me up to spend my weekend working on their load for free, sitting in the dirt, with whatever tools I (never them) could scrounge up, no parts or handcleaner for miles, in amongst a buncha drunks who didn't seem to mind if I didn't get to party too: I'd get ahold of a hammer, the bigger the better, swing it around in my upraised hand, pretend to be knee-walkin' drunk, and launch myself at the 'sickle kinda slurrin', "Sure! You betcha, bro, glad to! Lemme at the sumbitch! I'll fixsh it up good fer ya!". It got my message across and they thought better of it, just in case I really was that drunk. Everybody had beer on their breath, so who could tell? I only actually did that once, but it worked. I quit goin' on runs after that.

I try not to work on Harley-Davidsons these days. When folks ask me why, I tell 'em, "Oh, I hit myself in the head with a hammer and forgot everything I ever knew about 'em." They'll usually say, "Oh, that's too bad" and I'll reply, " The worst part was how many times I had to hit myself in the head before I found the right spot!"

The demographics of the riders, and the whole scene, has changed to where it just isn't fun for me anymore. F'rinstance, in my younger days, the point of a run was to ride, then party around various campfires, camp out when you'd had enough, then wave goodbye and ride home the next day or whenever. These days, there's as many guys who tow their trailer queens behind their motor homes as actually ride there. You can party uninvited at a stranger's campfire and make new friends. Try that in a stranger's $100K motor home and watch what happens. In my day the crowd were motorcyclists, first, last, and foremost. These days, they're pretty much weekenders in on a faddish trend. Kind of an exclusive trend as well. Go price a Harley-Davidson and you'll see what I mean. It's a big money deal now, and it kinda wrecked it for this dyed-in-the-wool ol' broke 'sickle tramp. Us dinosaurs just can't catch a break anymore.

By the way, I own a couple of H-Ds, but in my always-in-the-saddle younger days I always rode a Triumph. Before "electric legs" they were easier to start, and lighter and faster than Hogs. Cheaper and more reliable, too, if you knew what you were doing.

In those days, if you couldn't fix it, don't travel on it. We would take off on a weekend ride with ten bucks, maybe less, in our pocket. Nobody had a credit card, and if the damn thing broke, we'd fix it on the spot if we could, or throw it in the run truck if there was one, or whatever it took as a group effort. Today, the bikes don't break near as much, and when -no, if- they do, the riders whip out their cell phones and call their tow service and then cuss, or maybe sue, their mechanic for not anticipating the problem with their $30K machines. Like I say, things have changed.

Enough snivelling. That was fun!

I hope Mr. AOB has a good time. I just know he'll be so sick of seein' scantily-clad tattooed big-titted blonde gals that he'll be glad to get home.

Husband,meet thin ice

Now, where was I? Oh, yeah...

1)What's your favorite childhood book or story?

I used to really like the WWII potboilers for kids. The war hadn't been over all that long then, and there were a lot of them left over. The ones I remember usually featured an RAF Spitfire (never a Hurricane, perish the thought!) pilot with a name like Rex Upright-Studley or some such, who was always in the process of giving it all for King and Country, dogfighting the Hun, always outnumbered, canopy, landing gear, control surfaces, radiator, parachute, ten cylinders and a third of his prop all shot away, low on ammo ("I gave the FW-190 a two-second burst from my dwindling supply..."). He always won, nursed his ship home to a pancake landing, ran to a new plane and went at it again. No wonder we won!

I was a good reader early on, and read a lot of stuff that was above my age level. I like Westerns, detective stories, Sci-Fi, history and historical novels, almost anything, but these days there's so much non-fiction that I feel I have to read just in order to keep up that I don't read anywhere near as much fiction as I'd like to. Someday, when The Madness has abated...

Having said that, I never miss a new Harry Potter!

2)What's your favorite thing to eat in the summertime?

Ice cream. I loved Oregon Blackberry but Baskin-Robbins quit making it after about fifty years, the bastards! Chocolate, French Vanilla, Coffee, all OK. With caramel topping.

3)Favorite black and white movie?

Grapes of Wrath without a second's hesitation, followed by Sands of Iwo Jima (I liked the colorized version too) and Dr. Strangelove. I like b-westerns as well.

4)Whatcha Readin'?

Leatherneck Legends by Dick Camp. Follows the careers of several famous Marine Generals from WWI up through Vietnam. Some of those old boys were still in the Corps when I was. They should be proud!

Water and the California Dream by David Carle. Fascinating to this native Californian. Traces the history and greed/growth of my state from Spanish days 'til the present. If you only read one book about California in your life, read this one. As Mark Twain said, "Whisky's fer drinkin'. Water's fer fightin' over!"

One book I should have read and haven't is Special Operations by Richard H. Wood, which I got as a Christmas present from the author. It's quite the weighty tome and I haven't read it because I'm afraid the damn door will slam shut!

5)If failure was off the table,and impossible,what would you do with your life that you aren't doing now?

Run for President or Vice-President on a ticket with Fixer. Not everybody'd like us, but everybody else would. We'd tell some uncomfortable truths, right a lot of wrongs, hang a lot of people who deserve it, comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, boy would we ever!

When the country was back on the right track, I'd get me a Civil War surplus forty acres and a mule and grow hemp and pot, which would be legal to do by then. I'd style around in a screamin'-motherfuckin'-yellow, or maybe red, '59 El Camino that I imported from Free Cuba. I might wear out, but I'd never rust.

Thanks for comin' up with this deal, AOB. It was fun. We won't miss a thing - The Madness will still be there when we get back to it.

Happy Anniversary, too.

Since it's Friday,A little break in the madness

What a week,what a mess,eh? Since I don't have an Ipod,I can't do the bloggy Friday shuffle thingy.My digital camera is with the husband on the road to Sturgis(he SO owes me.He forgot our 13th Anniversary and left here without so much as a mention of it.His ass is mine when he gets home,heh,heh.He won't do that again,trust me.The Electra Glide is getting deocrated with Hello Kitty and sparkly rainbow and unicorn stickers if he so much as looks at me sideways.Husband,meet thin ice),so no new pics of kitties or gardens today.

Sooo,instead of the ususal Friday bloggy things people do,I thought maybe we could play Better Know A Blogger(or blog commenter for those of you who are blog free).

1)What's your favorite childhood book or story?
Mine are:
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak(I have a "wild rumpus"t-shirt,and all the Todd McFarlane Wild Things figurines,I love that book)

Heidi by Johanna Spyri (I think I read that book at least 20 times when I was around 10 yrs old.I wanted to move to the Alps something awful when I was a kid because of that book)

Almost any Dr Seuss book(except the Cat in the Hat,I think I read it to my son every day for 3 yrs,yikes)

I was such a nerdy little kid that I spent many an hour reading the Encyclopedia Brittanica set my grandma had at her house too.

2)What's your favorite thing to eat in the summertime?
I gotta go for ice cream,an obvious choice.Almost any flavor will do.
But I LOVE pasta primavera with fresh veggies from the garden.I make a mean white cheese sauce with lots of parmesan and romano,olive oil and fresh,organic whipping cream.Yummy.Oh,and roasted red peppers,man,I could eat those every day.

3)Favorite black and white movie?

I'd go with the old Hitchcock movies,Rear Window is high on my list.And then there's To Kill A Mockingbird,Mr Smith Goes to Washington,and the original Manchurian Candidate.

4)Whatcha Readin'?

I've got two books I'm working on now.
The Tao of Willie for right before bedtime. I love Wille Nelson,he's just so cool.

Endgame,Vol 1,The Problem of Civilization by Derrick Jensen.Jensen is not easy to read at ALL.He's an amazing writer,but the atrocities he delves into make his books tough going.
Here's a little excerpt from the book's intro,which I know all you vets will appreciate:

"I just got home from talking to a new friend,another long time activist. She told me of a campaign she participated in a few years ago to try to stop the government and transnational timber corporations from spraying Agent Orange,a potent defoliant and teratogen,in the forests in Oregon. Whenever activists learned a hillside was going to be sprayed,they assembled there,hoping their presence would stop the poisoning. But each time,like clockwork,helicopters appeared,and each time,like clockwork,helicopters dumped loads of Agent Orange onto the hillside and onto protesting activists*.The activist's campaign did not succeed.

"But",she said to me,"I'll tell you what did".A bunch of Vietnam vets lived in those hills and they sent messages to the Bureau of Land Management and to Weyerhauser,Boise Cascade, and other timber companies saying,"We know the names of your helicopter pilots and we know their addresses".

I waited for her to finish.
"You know what happened next?",she asked.
"I think I do",I responded.
"Exactly",she said."The spraying stopped".

(*For those of you who don't know,timber companies,almost without exception,ALWAYS spray crap all over the ground before and after they clearcut a forest.Why?So nothing else will grow there naturally.Oh,they'll sometimes come back and plant trees so they can say they have some sort of environmental concern,but what they plant is most often one or two single kinds of poison resistant trees.This practice is called monoplanting.This is not replanting a forest,forests are not neatly monoplanted and then they recover.I've walked massive clearcuts before,it's one of the saddest experiences I've ever had.)

5)If failure was off the table,and impossible,what would you do with your life that you aren't doing now?

Anyone who knows me or has read anything I've written knows my answer.I wanna be a farmer.I want a totally self sufficient and sustainable farm I can leave to my kids when I die so I know they have something to eat and a roof over their heads even when times get tough.Give me 20 or so acres,a horse or two and some tools and a little tractor,and a nice little farmhouse,and I'd be deliriously happy.

Happy Weekend everyone.Stay cool,stay safe, and if you can't behave,try not to get caught.

World War III

About to leave for Boston so I thought I'd leave you something to chew on. According to Billmon, it's inevitable:

...

What's become clear to me is that the Democratic Party (even it's allegedly anti-war wing) will not try to stop this insanity, and in fact will probably be led as meekly to the slaughter as it was during the runup to the Iraq invasion. Watching the Dems line up to salute the Israeli war machine, hearing the uncomfortable and awkward silence descend on most of Left Blogistan once the bombs started falling in Lebanon, seeing how easily the same Orwellian propaganda tricks worked their magic on the pseudoliberals -- all this doesn't leave too much room for doubt. As long as World War III can be sold as protecting the security and survival of the Jewish state, I suspect the overwhelming majority of Democratics will support it. [my em]

...

It's time for a little awakening in this country. It's time to separate calling a spade a spade, with regard to Israel, from the cries of anti-Semitism. As long as we take the position that Israel can do nothing wrong, and support every action she takes in the region, the chance of an all out world war will exist with a high probability.

This crap they are engaged in now is as fruitless an endeavor as our occupation of Iraq. If, after three weeks (more) of constant bombardment, Hezbollah is able to launch 200 rockets into Israel, something is extremely wrong. The 'war plan' has failed and continuing this folly will only galvanize Iran's hold over the hopeless and disenfranchised in the region.

With our nation's reputation unbreakably tied to Israeli policy, we can no way distance ourselves from the hate people of the region feel for Israel. Personally, I'm perfectly willing to pay for my own sins (and the sins of my nation) when the day of reckoning comes, but until Israel becomes the 51st State, I refuse to take responsibility for theirs.

I'm tired of the Israelis shitting all over the region in the name of self defense and our elected leaders coming out four square behind them. Don't tell me this is a fight that began thousands of years ago. Hezbollah and Hamas are the children born of Israel's policy (and ours by proxy) toward the Palestinians over the past forty years.

It's time in this country for us to dispel the conventional wisdom that criticism of Israel is somehow a slight of the Jewish religion. I happen to be very happily married to a Jewish woman, (the granddaughter of Russian immigrants escaping that tyranny) and have the utmost respect for her beliefs, but her loyalty is to the United States, not Israel.

We've fought for a long time to dispel the meme that we, because we criticize the Bush administration's policies, are anti-American or traitors, I will certainly not stand for being called an anti-Semite because I criticize Israel. I certainly will not stand for Israel leading us into a war that will eventually cost more American lives. We've lost enough thanks to the failed policy in Iraq, it would be a crime to lose more thanks to Israel's failed policy toward its neighbors.

As I've said many times before, Israel has every right to live in peace and retain its sovereignty, but they created Hamas and Hezbollah (as we created Osama bin-Laden) and I do not see our obligation to bail them out when every policy they've impelemented over the past forty years in the name of 'self defense' has been a colossal failure. I mean, if they were successful, Hamas and Hezbollah should be nothing more than a bad memory by now, right?

It's time for us to rethink our policy of appeasement for Israel and come up with some serious, new diplomatic initiatives for the region. If we continue on this course, not only will we plunge the entire region into war but make us less safe at home. As we've seen on 9/11, they can get us here. If we don't change the way we deal with the region, it will come back to bite us eventually. It's time for us to realize we are Americans first. If your first loyalty is to Israel, maybe it's time for you to move there.

Link thanks to Attaturk.

"He started it! He hit me back!"

Pissed-off Patricia nails Israel/Lebanon and our non-response:

Let's say you have a nine year old son and I have one too. We are neighbors. We look outside and see our kids fighting. They are hitting one another with big pieces of lumber and both are bleeding. Which do we do first? Do we try to figure out a way to keep them from fighting in the future, as they continue to beat the hell out of one another? Or do we stop the fight, get the kids cleaned up, see to their wounds, and then work on a way to stop them from fighting in the future?

Too right-thinking and logical for overcompensating pencil-dicked power-mad imperialists and fundies to deal with.

Bush walks right into Castro's trap

Fixer touched on this in his post yesterday:

A word of warning to the Chimp and the neocons. Don't think, because Fidel is ailing, you can dick around in Cuba. You don't need an Iraq 90 miles off our coast.

David Sirota, obviously a daily reader of The Brain, follows up:

Open today's New York Times, and you will see that the Bush administration is now publicly bragging that once Castro dies, America is planning for a full-on take over of Cuba. In one story, we find out that "Sean McCormack, a State Department spokesman, made it clear on Tuesday that the United States would take an active role in shaping events on the island if the Cuban leader dies." That is the kind of declaration easily interpreted/spun by anti-democratic forces in Cuba as no-holds-barred diplomat-ese for the very imperialism Castro has been warning his people about for the last half century.

In another story, we discover that the administration is now announcing that if Castro dies, "the United States would also send special monitors and advisers to Cuba in the weeks after a full transition began." In the wake of the Vietnam War, which infamously started out with U.S. military "advisers," again - this is clearly fodder that could be easily spun to confirm Castro's own message. And it is especially stupid and destructive to our long-term goals/credibitlity when, at the same time our government is haughtily strutting around making these proclamations, the White House is also saying "it viewed attempts by Venezuela or other countries to influence the transition in Cuba as unwarranted intervention."

The same thing goes in the situation with Cuba. The stupidest thing American officials can do is publicly walk into Castro's portrayal of our ambitions. By doing that, we are confirming the negative suspicions that many Cubans must have, considering they've been hearing about it over and over and over again for the last 50 years.

I think I can safely say that whatever Bush does will be wrong, and that we and the Cubans will pay for it for years.

If it was up to me, I'd drop the embargo, permit and encourage travel and trade, help 'em out with a little humanitarian aid should they require such a thing in a workers' paradise (rolls eyes), and let Cuba decide its own future for itself without foisting any Chalabi-type exiles off on 'em for his own gain at our expense. Fuck a buncha Republican votes in Florida.

No-fucking-shit.

...

Since the Vietnam War era, it has been common to say that wars are begun by powerful men whose sons stay home, while the sons of men and women with calluses on their hands and dirt under their nails cross oceans to fight, and perhaps to die.

...

A White House aide, who requested anonymity because his information was preliminary, said Wednesday that he knew of no top Bush administration official who had a relative who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

...

This didn't surprise anyone, did it? Off to get the Mrs. from the train.

NYT via Dave Johnson.

Interesting statistic ...

More than a third of the American public suspects that federal officials assisted in the 9/11 terrorist attacks or took no action to stop them so the United States could go to war in the Middle East, according to a new Scripps Howard/Ohio University poll. [my em]

...

I could believe they looked the other way.

Link via George.

And just a note: The Mrs. and I are heading up to Boston early tomorrow morning for a wedding tomorrow afternoon. I seriously doubt I'm taking a laptop because we're heading home early Saturday. So if I don't post over the next 14 hours, I'll see you sometime Saturday evening. Gord's in charge. Listen to the old man.

The Indian and the White Guy made me do it

I got this joke from Williams and Ree years ago. For some reason, it's runnin' around in my head, and my demons tell me I'll never get it to go back in its hole if I don't tell it, so here goes:

Q: Whaddya call an old English drummer and Daniel Boone's friend playin' a word game in an obscure African dialect?

A: Ringo and Mingo play Mandingo lingo Bingo.

Thanks. I feel better now.

The Sins of Condibel

I hate to admit it, but this picture of Condi got me hot! Those lips! That scowl!

Rummy UA*

Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said he essentially was too busy to testify at a public hearing on the Iraq war, raising a new furor on Capitol Hill over the three-year-old conflict.

Speaking to Pentagon reporters Wednesday, Rumsfeld said he thought it was enough for him to attend a private briefing with the entire Senate on Thursday. Citing his crowded calendar, he declined the Senate Armed Services Committee's request to testify publicly on Thursday morning.

Come November, they won't be requests and I'd like to see him try anddecline a subpœna, the arrogant prick. A bench warrant, a ride in the back seat of a Crown Vic sittin' on his hands, and a coupla nights in the stony lonesome won't hurt him, but it'll make me feel good.

Rumsfeld also offered an explanation for why as many as two-thirds of the Army's brigades and many National Guard units are rated not ready for combat. He said the Pentagon is wrestling with standards that would best describe the condition of the units. And he noted that highly experienced units coming home from Iraq leave a lot of equipment behind, and as a result are considered not combat ready.

"The Army today is vastly better than it was two, four, six or eight years ago," he said. "It has much more equipment, much better equipment, and it's better trained and more experienced."

I don't know whether he's senile, in denial, living in a parallel universe, scared of spending the rest of his life in jail, or E) all of the above, but he's definitely as wrong as he possibly can be. All the spin in the world can't cover up his failures.

If he actually believes any of his own bullshit, he's off his rocker. Maybe he's a sociopath for whom lying is just the normal means to an end. It's everybody else's fault for not believing him.

He needs to be removed from office NOW and held accountable for his egregious mishandling and subsequent destruction of the military, his roles in the bungled occupation of Iraq as well as in the decision to criminally invade and occupy Iraq in the first place. He's not the only culpable one by a long shot, but he's one of the big ones.

*UA = Unauthorized Absence. The Marine Corps equivalent of AWOL, for which you go to the brig.

Update:

I guess Rummy showed up anyway. Wonkette:

Defense Secretary's Senate Testimony Equal Parts Smug, Delusional

Developing.

Update II:

Here's a 9:53 video of Sen. Clinton laying out Rumsfeld's pathetic record and his responses.

Nowhere did I hear him answer her actual question, which was, "Why should we believe your assurances now?"

Mel's dual diagnosis

I'm sorry about this. I know I told you I'd keep the Mel Gibson shit to a minimum but this was too good not to share. From Bill Maher, whom I don't like a lot of the time either.

[...] Yes, liquor releases demons, but I want to know why the demon in Mel Gibson is hatred of the Jews to begin with (I know, the father). Why, when Mels's id is released, its about the Jews fucking everything up, just like it was with Hitler. Except Mel Gibson, when his id is in check, I believe, really knows how wrong that is, and how stupid. He, I believe, at least fights with himself about this.

But he'll never win as long as he's so religious, because, I hate to tell you, the disease isn't alcoholism, the disease is religion.

Alcohol and religion have their place, but abuse of either one can fuck you up. What the results of an abusive amount of both of them might be staggers the imagination, but it can't be good, as Gibson seems to be proving.

As a heroin addict I once knew said when comparing alcohol and heroin, and which I think applies to the misuse of religion as well: "Same soup, different bowl." I take that to mean that the "disease" is addiction whatever the substance: you know it's wrong to use it the way you do, but you do it anyway.

Perhaps we need to come up with a word that describes religious extremists in socially negative terms, along the lines of 'wino' or 'junkie', and then get them off the street and into treatment. For their own protection and, more importantly, ours. It's too bad they don't stagger and piss themselves and pass out in public, or commit burglaries and stickups for money to support their hatred and intolerance, so we could identify them easier.

Maher concludes:

And Mel, let me remind you: The Jews have not started all the wars in the world. But they have greenlit all the movies.

Heh.

Yellow Elephants in CT

From Kos hisself.

Look who's getting organized on behalf of Joe Lieberman:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 01 Aug 2006 18:52:09 -0400
From: "[windows-1252] College Republicans"
Reply-To: College Republicans
To: collegerepublicans@PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: Unconventional Primary Campaign Opportunity (LIEBERMAN)

People interested in campaigning for Lieberman in the Democratic Primary will have lodging accommodations paid for (by his campaign), as well as food and transportation.

Lieberman's campaign will be offerind lodging accommodations and food for College Republicans.

If that ain't the last nail in his coffin, there ain't one! Ooops! Bad analogy, but I'm right again: persons of the Hebrew persuasion don't have nails in their coffins. So sue me! He's toast.

Say what you will ...

I know I'm supposed to be a tough guy and all, but one of my favorite websites is Cute Overload. I have to stop there at least once a day and smile.

AOB's Rule # 5.

Get well soon

Regardless of his politics, ya gotta respect Fidel for giving the finger to 8 or 9 U.S. Presidents and living to tell about it. I hope he lives long enough to give the Chimp the finger once more.

A word of warning to the Chimp and the neocons. Don't think, because Fidel is ailing, you can dick around in Cuba. You don't need an Iraq 90 miles off our coast.