October 2007: A chat with Claudia about Cuba

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.

Please add Claudia's blog to your reading list and enjoy her comments. Click here for the show!

December 2007: Free trade and the Democrats

A post from December 2007

Have you seen a Democrats' 2008 debate lately? It's all NAFTA and free trade bashing.

Wasn't it President Clinton who signed NAFTA?  And about China?

The Democrats have apparently forgotten that it was Pres. Clinton who signed the executive order giving China the preferred nation status:

"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…”

I am a free trade guy. I supported Pres. Clinton on free trade. It was one of the better things that came out of his inconsequential presidency. 

 However, today's Democrats are engaging in pathetic demagoguery bashing NAFTA and free trade in general. 

PS: Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos.

December 2007: Whatever happened to the war in Iraq?

A post from December 2007:

Yesterday, the debate moderator at the Republican debate did not ask a single question about Iraq, the surge or anything directly related. In fact, Iraq came into the conversation indirectly when candidates where talking about future threats to the US.

Whatever happened to Iraq? Why aren't we getting, at least, the same number of stories about Abu Garib as we are US soldiers destroying Al Qaeda?

The answer is that too many in the media, and specially Democrats, bet on the wrong horse in Iraq.

Check this out from Strategy Page:

"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."

Wow! So much for the theory that the invasion of Iraq was a gift to Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda! It'd be nice to do a poll in the region and check out Obama's approval ratings! Wonder if he has better ratings than the Pelosi-Reid Congress?

Again, we congratulate US troops for the incredible work in Iraq. We salute Gen. Petraeus for his leadership. 

Of course, we recognize President Bush for doing the right thing rather than reading polls!

PS: Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos.

Let's chat with Alina Garcia-Lapuerta, author of "La Belle Creole"

Guest:   Fausta Rodriguez-Wertz, editor of Fausta's Blog, joins me for a chat with Alina Garcia-Lapuerta, author of "La Belle Creole".

Click to listen:

2007: Congratulations to Rusty Greer!

Ten years ago, the Rangers remembered Rusty Greer, one of my all time favorite baseball players! 

Between 1996 and 2000, Rusty was one of the key parts of the Rangers' division winners. It's true that Juan Gonzalez and Ivan Rodriguez won 3 MVP's but Greer was a key component of those title teams.

It's great to see a great guy (and player) get so much attention.  We love Rusty Greer!

 P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

August 2007: Bonds passed Aaron but did the fans accept it?

Back in August 2007, baseball fans saw a lot of history.

Barry Bonds tied hank Aaron.  He passed Aaron the next night. 

Will the fans accept the new record?   Probably not. 

Yet, you can not dispute what Bonds has done:

"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)

It's a shame about the steroids controversy. 

It's a bigger shame that Hank Aaron's record was broken by someone with such a controversial story.   

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

2007: Cal Ripken, Hall of Fame

Back in 2007, we watched Cal Ripken get officially inducted into The Hall Of Fame.

My first memory of Cal Ripken goes back to 1981.    It was the crazy strike season and I caught a game on TV with Ripken at shortstop.   

In 1982, he was the regular third baseman and hit a home run on opening day.  By mid-season, Cal was playing shortstop and the rest is history:  MVP in '83 and the O's won the World Series.  Then came the another MVP in '91 and the "streak" that went on until 1998.

Unfortunately, Ripken played in bad Oriole teams.  Yet, he was out there every day playing and putting some good numbers, such as 431 Hrs and over 3100 hits.

We remember a great guy who clearly belongs in the Hall of Fame.

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

July 2007: The investors loved President Bush!

A post from July 2007:

Yesterday, the stock market hit 14,000! It is a new record high! Obviously, someone likes what President Bush is doing:

"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.

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.

July 2007: A word about the young people who are wearing the uniform

A post from July 2007:

In past blogs, I have written about the courage, commitment and sacrifice of US troops. For a long time, US troops have freed more people than any author, writer, poet, singer, "Hollywoodie", journalist, college professor or pacifist.

From France '44 to Iraq, US troops have liberated more people than any other military force in history.

Bottom line: US troops are liberators!

I see this in my neighborhood. I know two young men who went into the military because they wanted to serve their country. They had other options but they chose to serve their country during war. Our own #3 son is considering a military career.

Let's salute the troops!

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.

July 2007: The majority that can't do anything!

A post from July 2007:

Have you ever seen anything like this? The Democrats won the mid-term elections and declared a mandate to change everything.

Today, they are facing a huge backlash from the country.

Why? Because they have not done anything.

Back in '95, the new Republican majority passed a bunch of new laws and made a difference. The current Dems have not done that!

Divided government is actually good. It forces compromise. It usually results in better government.

In this case, divided government has not worked. My guess is that the Democrats have another 6 months to change the public perception. Otherwise, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid will be electoral liabilities to the party's nominee in 2008!

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.