Saddam Goes on Trial. U. S. Complicit in His War Crimes.

With Saddam Hussein’s trial to being tomorrow, with the main charge against him being that he ordered the murder of 143 men from the village of Dujail after an attempt to assassination him in 1982, I think a history review will be useful. So, because my friend Hemingway (he actually just looks like Hemingway) advised [...]

Has Someone Flipped Cheney in the Plame Name Game?

New York Daily News – http://www.nydailynews.comCheney may be target of probe BY JAMES GORDON MEEK, THOMAS M. DeFRANK and KENNETH R. BAZINETDAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU Tuesday, October 18th, 2005 WASHINGTON – A special prosecutor’s intensifying focus into who outed a CIA spy has raised questions whether Vice President Cheney himself is involved, knowledgeable sources confirmed [...]

Horse Drawn Carriages

These carriages cart tourists around town to see the sites.

Cathedral at la Plaza de la Independencia

This is the cathedral adjacent to the Plaza de la Independencia, looking across the plaza.
All of those dark spots in the sky are pigeons.

Sunday in Downtown Merida

On Sundays many of the streets surrounding la Plaza de la Independencia are closed to traffic, food and craft vendors set up their booths, and music groups perform. It’s like a fair every week, with folks hanging out eating and dancing.
I don’t know what kind of instrument this is, but I think it is [...]

Paseo Montejo Monument

This monument, inhabits the center of one of the treacherous traffic circles along the Paseo Montejo.

Paseo Montejo Casa

This building is representative of those lining the Paseo Montejo, a beautiful, tree lined four lane boulevard that is one of the most famous in Merida.
The periodic traffic circles along the boulevard are scary to navigate on a bicycle, at least for me. I tried to fall in behind local bicylists and follow their lead.

Wagging the Dog with Terror Alerts

Keith Olbermann does a bit of creative journalism, a rarity these days, in documenting 13 instances of the Bush administration issuing terror alerts or warnings in the immediate wake of bad news for the administration. As Olbermann observes, it all may just be coincidence.
Read the story here.

To: UR So Right

Thank you for your intelligent commentary and the information relative to Vicente Fox Quesada, of which I was unaware. I promise that in no way was I putting you on when I asked what you have against Fox, as I am almost completely ignorant of Mexican politics. Now that you have piqued [...]

Will Miller and/or Libby Flip Dick Cheney

With both NYT media whore Judith Miller and Cheney’s chief of staff Scooter Libby facing conspiracy, perjury, and/or obstruction of justice charges for repeatedly failing to inform federal investigators and the Fitzgerald grand jury about their June, 2003 conversation about Valerie Plame, I’m wondering if either will start singing. If one, or both, do, my [...]

A Nice Thing About Living Here

One of the very nice things about living here is that just up the street, and a number of other places around the city, is a market where one may buy a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, frequently from those who grew them.
There are piles of these large avocados, this one of which [...]

Another Nice Building

This shot is looking North down Calle 60. On the right is the Gran Plaza.
At every plaza, it seems, there is a cathedral which dates from colonial days when the Spanish monarchy and Catholic church were, essentially, one entity.
I’ll try to stick to pictures for a while, for those of you who tire of [...]

My Wheels

I now have transportation other than my feet, and my feet are now rejoicing.
The bike has a shock absorbing front end, which is handy on the cobblestones; and 18 speeds, tough given that Merida is essentially flat they’re are not all necessary. It seems that bikes with aluminum frames are not readily available here [...]

Parque Santa Ana

I pause in my normal rantings to post another picture.
Here’s the church at the edge of the Parque Santa Ana where the opening ceremonies of the Festival Gastronomico will occur tomorrow evening.
The church and park, lying to the right of the church in the picture, are just a few blocks from my apartment and just [...]

As a Corrupt Group a Group as There Has Been

Bush’s top procurement officer has been frog marched out of the White House by FBI agents and been charged with four counts of lying to federal and congressional investigators; DeLay has been indicted for violations of Texas campaign contribution statutes; Frist is under investigation by the SEC for insider trading related to the fortuitous timing [...]

My Favorite Merida Restaurant

Here’s a picture of the Terra Mestiza, cafe arte objecto, which is a cross between a restaurant and art gallery.
The proprietor, Barbara, speaks to me in English and insists that I speak to her in Spanish; and she is always ready with a smile. A fine breakfast of fruit, yogurt, and granola; juice; and [...]

Judith Miller – Media Whore. And, War Profiteer?

We know now that New York Times “reporter” Judith Miller dutifully prostrated herself, and the once proud New York Times, to Vice-president Cheney, his chief of staff Scooter Libby, John Bolton and other administration lying ideologues by pushing their “anonymous” reports relating to Iraqi attempts to obtain aluminum tubes for nuclear centrifuges, Niger uranium, [...]

My Apartment

More Cost of Living Info

Wednesday afternoon I arranged for cable TV and 192 Kbps internet service. I had to take the TV service to get the internet service so I selected the least expensive TV package, which consists of 5 music channels and 21 TV channels at $9.25 per month (as a matter of principle, and jokingly, I [...]

Living in the City

Moving into the center of a large City after spending over 28 years living in the quiet and solitude of the Upper Satsop Valley has its distinct advantages, among which readily come to mind are no need to incur the expense or hassle of a car, supplies and services are available nearby, and the [...]