[longtermmemmory]

I am giving a pretty good fig. (should be in prime season for figs at that time in august)

I am also super grateful George W. Bush is president of the USA at this time. The USA has given significant help.

I am also very aware that Nato is helping and the French have not given troops to Nato for YEARS. I am VERY grateful for that.

I guarantee when I am there I am sufficiently experinced with street debates or dealing with cafe smart *sses to offer no quarter.

Hopefully I will be able to post when I am there.

[small voice in the wilderness]

You're going to the Olympics? That's great! Hopefully you'll be our eyes and ears to what's going on and what's being said on the streets. If you find a way to be able to post, I would like to be on a *ping* list!

[section9]

What really ticks me off are, as usual, the French. Chirac, in French politics, is actually a man of the right. At bottom he is an opportunist, like most guys who get to his level in France. Chirac has neither the grace nor the politesse to attend the funeral.

Trust me; the time will come when the French will need us. We will not be there. His conduct now, and over the past year, has been a disgrace. He actively tried to protect his client in Baghdad, and now that that's gone sour, he's decided to make a show of not attending (sending washed up old Giscard d'Estaing instead...).

Payback will come. The French will need us. That is when we will deliver their payment in kind.

Be Seeing You,

Chris