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On Columbus Day 2007, we chatted with Claudia about her blog and thoughts on Cuba. As you can see in her blog profile, Claudia is Italian-American, teaches Spanish and has developed a genuine interest in Cuba.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." - President Ronald Reagan
"Yesterday the American people won a tremendous victory as a majority of the House of Representatives joined me in adopting our plan to revitalize America's economic future.
Today Members of Congress have joined me to announce a new chapter in United States policy toward China.
China occupies an important place in our Nation's foreign policy. It is the world's most populous state, its fastest growing major economy, and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Its future will do much to shape the future…”
"As al Qaeda suffered greater and greater losses in Iraq, recruiting became a serious problem.
In desperation, leaders were ordered to recruit whoever they could. This meant more women and more teenage males.
Normally, al Qaeda does not like to employ adolescents.
They are too inexperienced and unreliable.
That combination gets everyone in trouble, and adult al Qaeda do not like to work with kids.
But earlier this year, al Qaeda found that fewer and fewer adults were willing to join up.
This was largely due to U.S. troops capturing several key al Qaeda leaders, and lots of membership records.
Too many al Qaeda members were being arrested or killed, and recruiting became very difficult.
So kids were hired for a lot of simple jobs, like placing roadside bombs, or guard duty.
Turned out that these kids were more likely to run away, or just surrender, if confronted with Iraqi or American troops.
As a result of that, nearly half the al Qaeda under arrest (950 of 2,000) are under 18. Only about eight percent of the terrorists held by U.S. forces are al Qaeda.
The rest belong to various Iraqi militias or terror groups (most of them Sunni Arab.) Al Qaeda is the most hated terror group, because of the heavy use of large suicide bombs against civilians. And with this recruitment of children, who are easy to interrogate, and convert to government supporters, the government now knows more about what the terrorist organization is up to."
"The Giants slugger has won 7 MVP awards, a major league record. He has the 5th highest career slugging percentage in baseball history, and the 6th highest career on base percentage. For the combination of the two, the SLOB or OPS, Bonds rank 4th for his career. Bonds has the 3rd lowest number of at bats per home run in baseball history." (Is Barry Bonds Baseball's Greatest Slugger? by Richard Baehr)
"In just the past year alone, the Dow has gained a remarkable 30 percent. Meanwhile, Europe and Asia are up about 30 percent, Japan 23 percent, and emerging markets more than 60 percent. Clearly, the world is voting -- with real money -- for the American system of free-market capitalism. And it's my strong suspicion that the majority of the global investing community supports the Iraq War and a steadfast U.S. commitment to stop terrorism. They seem to know that if the United States doesn't do it, no one else will." (A Stock Market Vote of Confidence for BushBy Lawrence Kudlow)So cheer up. The economy is doing well.
"Here is the most important thing Americans need to understand: We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms.
As two analysts who have harshly criticized the Bush administration’s miserable handling of Iraq, we were surprised by the gains we saw and the potential to produce not necessarily “victory” but a sustainable stability that both we and the Iraqis could live with."
""It's very hard for Mexico to preach to the north what it does not do to the south," Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan said in a meeting with editors and reporters at The Washington Times, referring to Mexico's felony penalties for, and sometimes cruel treatment of, those caught crossing its southern border.
"Unless we correct the fundamental challenge of the violation of human rights of Latin American or Central American migrants crossing the border into Mexico, it's very hard for me to come up and wag a finger and say you guys should protect the rights of my citizens in this country," he said, adding that changes to the Mexican law are now pending.
Mr. Sarukhan, who presented his credentials as ambassador to President Bush in February, said his government is taking a new tack since the December inauguration of President Felipe Calderon, who has toned down the public relations push for an immigration bill in the United States and is instead trying to build infrastructure, combat corruption and create jobs to keep workers at home." (Mexican envoy hits own policies)
"In a global struggle against Islamic extremism, it is an incontestably welcome development that ordinary Sunnis in the Arab heartland are spurning al-Qaida. The extremist group has been on a campaign of savagery in Iraq that has discredited its own cause. The grassroots revolt against it means that it is within our reach to deny al-Qaida its most important current geopolitical objective, which is plunging Iraq into a bloody chaos in which it can thrive." (The Fight Against al-Qaida in Iraq By Rich Lowry)
"He is 84 now, is as opposed to the Iraq war as he was to the one in Vietnam -- and is paying close attention to the race for president.
"I'm not sure that an anti-war Democrat can win," McGovern said in an interview. "We haven't proved that yet."
"Some people point to the fact that the war in Vietnam was dreadfully unpopular," he said, "but that when I came out for an immediate withdrawal, it helped me win the nomination but not the general election. And there may be some truth about that." (McGovern: Not sure anti-war Dem can win)
"John Adams"... https://t.co/QU3J9Lyg0i via @amazon— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) May 28, 2018
P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk). If you like our posts, drop a dime here.Another anniversary of The Battle of Waterloo with Barry Jacobsen..........https://t.co/E2RLEozC54— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) April 11, 2016
"By 1956, Robinson's last season, he had lost his second-base position to Jim Gilliam, a black man. Robinson died of diabetes-related illnesses in 1972, at 53, the same age Babe Ruth was when he died. Ruth reshaped baseball; Robinson's life still reverberates through all of American life. As Martin Luther King Jr., who was 18 in 1947, was to say, Robinson was "a sit-inner before sit-ins, a freedom rider before freedom rides."
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