Thoughts on Bush's Lame-Ass Speeches of Late...

Funny how President Sock Puppet can only speak in front of carefully staged troops. He knows he'll get a round of applause for his tag lines. Too bad the soldiers (who in my view are good and pure of purpose generally) are being played. Who was it who said of politicians that wrapping themselves in the flag is the last refuge of the scoundrel?

Also funny is how this guy wasn't all that comfortable being in uniform when it was HIS turn. That skittishness of service seems to be part and parcel of being a hawkish neo-con.

I don't want to get into the "substance" of his speeches. It's all the same old warmed -over crapola dished out by Bush's speechwriters.

Off to the Land of the Incas

Friday I'm flying down to Peru. Signed onto a G.A.P. Tours trip (Toronto) for a four day hike (it's really only about 25 miles) of the Inca Trail to the ancient city of Machu Picchu. Also a couple days in the Amazon Rainforest. All I'm taking I'm carrying on my back. So far, about 14 pounds not counting toothbrush and razor. Sure easier than my army days. Of course no parachute and reserve required. Luckily I don't have to hump food or shelter. The travel group handles that.

So I should be able to traverse the 14,000 foot elevations. The photo ops should be pretty good. Look out Jason!

Hey Roger.

Look Down this Page and to Your Right...

I've added a new toy. Altavista's Babelfish. Free translations. Now, if you can't read German, you can figure out my obscure posting of 10/8/05.

It's been awhile since I've posted anything, so I was getting itchy. Heading down to Peru in a couple weeks. Should have some pretty cool pix then. Machu Picchu and Amazon Rain Forest. Also Llamas.

Meanwhile Thanksgiving week. Driving the 'rents to Tennessee. Family reunion type deal. Semi-home cooked meal.

Des(olate) Moines, Iowa

Went out to Des Moines this week. It was closed. It's so dead there they roll in the sidewalks at night. The main street was as deserted as though there was going to be a gunfight.

Iowa is the nation's largest producer of hogs and corn. So far as I could see not much of it was leaving the state. Now I know where the term "corn-fed" came from.

But, at least I had some quality time with a few of my tribe.

Virgin Island Pictorial

Cinnamon Bay. Where I camped during my stay in the Virgin Islands.

Ruins of the Annaberg Sugar Plantation. Operated in the early 1700s.

View from atop Mt. Sage, Tortola, British Virgin Islands, highest elevation in the Virgin Islands.

Mick (right) and James share a cold one after a hot day of work. Cruz Bay, St. Johns, US Virgin Islands

Cabbies waiting for the Red Hook Ferry. Cruz Bay.

Mangrove Swamp. St. John Island, USVI.

I Have Deja Vu and Amnesia.

Saddam Hussein and Me: Separated at Birth?

Haven't shaved in two weeks. It's driving me crazy. Worse is that I'm running the chance of being tried for Saddam's crimes.

I Need New Material....

I'm running low on inspiration.

Went to St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands to see Mick last week. Beautiful place. He's working as a paid intern for the US Park Service doing archeological stuff. Pretty cool. While snorkeling at Cinnamon Bay on St. John island I found an ulna (arm bone).

It probably belonged to a slave who once worked on a Danish sugar plantation in the 1700's.

There are also pre-Columbian indian (Taino) sites around. We hiked to some petroglyphs they left behind.

The Taino Indians were the ones who met Columbus when he stumbled upon the New World. Within 25 years they were essentially wiped out. Lucky they didn't have access to lots of gold. They wouldn't have lasted ten years! Ol' Cristobal may be honored as a great explorer by us, but he was basically just looking to make a killing for himself.

Well, that much he did.