Teeing Off on Everybody

     Mexico is a fascinating place.   The people are a fascinating people.   As I have said quite frequently, whenever you hear somebody say "All Mexicans are...." it is necessary to disengage the auditory system and move on.    Because, like Americans, all Mexicans are the same except for the ones who are different.

     Right now, the Old Gringo has a bone to pick with more than a few.   Soccer people, no matter how one might slice the pie, are pretty much metric, mumpy, glumpyflumps.     They can be entertained apparently by watching a bunch of effeminate boys run back and forth and back and forth for days and days and weeks at a time while avoiding the mishap of kicking a ball into a fairly large designated area.   If they would simply score the game on how many balls go to one side, or over the net, then it would be more interesting.  It would give the "boys" more opportunities to hug and smooch and roll around in the grass with each other in front of the world.    During the last two Mundiales de Futbol...the goalee (0r is it goalor?) for Mexico looked as if his "uniform" had been tailored by Liberace from the grave.    There was no rule against a goalperson defending his/her goal while in drag, so...who am I to judge?

      In any regard, the deportment of the Mexican fans in Los Angeles demonstrates a boorishness and lack of class that is stunning.   The conduction of the post-game ceremonies in Spanish, and not in English, was a particularly egregious breach of civility and respect.     The same fools who booed the American team and made obscene, threatening, and degrading chants, cheers, and other mostrations were in the basement of the same septic tanque as the Brit Hooligans....trash living off the Queen's dole.....who made themselves famous for rioting and throwing pub darts into the crowds below them.   They also made themselves famous for dispensing with the idea of going to a restroom when there were perfectly good bleachers and stands available.
      Well, the Mexican and neo-nationalist psuedo-Mexicans who made fools of themselves in Los Angeles at least did not throw darts and the like, but they did do dishonor to the concept of friendship and neighbourliness.    Perhaps I am a hopeless dreamer....but I do call attention to the famous line of President Benito Juarez Garcia....Mexico's first great progressive President and only Indian President....who said "El respeto al derecho a lo ajeno es la Paz"....."The respect to the rights of another's possession (or person) is the Peace".   Nice words....uttered as a warning to the United States....
       These people come in second place, because when a bunch of people come into my country and act like white-trash, I can consider the source.    The first place goes to upper caste, intellectual Mexicans who come into the official residence of the President and proceed to upbraid him and hold him personally responsible for their grief.....for the loss of a near relative.   "If it weren't for you we would not have lost our son"...."You have no right to do this to us"....The grief is one thing.   The loss of dignity, the irrational blaming of anyone standing around reminds me of people suing after failing in an attempt to brush their teeth with a chainsaw.
       Unlike O'bama, I do not fault the wealthy for being wealthy.   I do not hate them nor do I bear jealousy for their fortune.    But there are those, and Mexicans I will tell you are very polished in this attitude, who absolutely believe that anything bad that happens is required by natural law to happen to "someone else".    They do not wait for anyone, they do not hold doors open for the people coming behind, they expect everyone to be on time except for they themselves, they despise "los morenos" (the brown people), they are incensed if they are stopped for driving through a red light.
       Somehow, with all the peculiar violence going on....all the lives being ruined by the trafficking of drugs, by the sale of drugs, by the taking of drugs, and with all the corruption of the civilization it has brought to Mexico and the United States,  to these people it is only important when one of their's is killed or wounded.   They blame this untoward imposition upon their privilege on the same people who are trying to save their position, their wealth and property, and their favoured status as "important people", those being the Mexican Armed Forces.
      The Old Gringo speaks to the soccer bums, the rich, arrogant, socialist intellectuals who demand protection from the masses and then condemn those who provide that protection.....and advises,  Enough!   Enough of saying that America must learn to treat Mexico as an equal in the fraternity of nations.    It is time that Mexico mature to its position as the 10th most powerful economy in the world.   It is time that Mexico not lecture the United States about immigration issues, when their beam is considerably larger than the American mote.

      Oddly enough the OROGs might think that this manic-depressive episode represents a change from what many consider the Old Gringo's normally pro-Mexican positions....Allow me to repeat...repeat all over again...that the Old Gringo is not "Pro-Mexican" or "Pro-Mexico"  like a blind man searching for the exit door in the theatre at midnight.    The Old Gringo is a fair and impartial judge of things Mexican.   Sometimes a man has to tell his brother or sister...."You going to have to stop this!" and that does not make the man an enemy of his brother or sister.     Likewise, pointing out good, positive, and worthwhile things being done by, or going on in Mexico does not require that the Old Gringo check his ability to hold the scale of reason constant and accurate.

     El Gringo Viejo is not done yet....later this afternoon, once he gets the Sopwith Camel filled with high-test and loaded up for another bombing run, he will drop a few more bombs.    If a bomb falls in deep South Texas, does anybody hear the explosion?

Thanks for your time and attention.
El Gringo Viejo

Please Spare Us.

     When Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) gave her inaugural address as speaker of the House in 2007, she vowed there would be “no new deficit spending.” Since that day, the national debt has increased by $5 trillion, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

"After years of historic deficits, this 110th Congress will commit itself to a higher standard: Pay as you go, no new deficit spending,” Pelosi said in her speech from the speaker’s podium. “Our new America will provide unlimited opportunity for future generations, not burden them with mountains of debt."



HRH Nancinus Maximus, before
she parachuted from her private
B-52, openning the Fund Drive for the
Re-transgendered, Cross-dressing
Male Lesbian Native American
Cowboy Poetry Readers Home for
Wedded Mothers
She was quoted, just before her
jump,"When George Bush will not
help, good people have to hop to it."



     "We really were committed to 'draining the swamp' too, but all that budget balancing kept getting in the way.    Then Harry had trouble with all those peskey 'smelly tourists' so our inter-chamber communications broke down...but just a little bit....like when we had to cancel because I really, really had to get back to San Francisco for the wine-and-cheese for the Transgendered Lesbian Poodles and non-religious Santa baskets for Guantanamo Torture Victims for Ramadan....We put special bottles of brandy with little baggies of what my all my maids call "Chee Cha Rhonies"....isn't that the cutest sounding thing, like that Hispanic Dance they do during their mating festivals, I just love their grass skirts and the way they climb the coconut trees....it's fried pig fat...but those people will eat anything.....and with a cute al Qaeda flag....they have a flag don't they?.....and anyway....after all the lies from Bush we figured it was the least we could do....and everything...it was like a real 'reaching-out moment' ....we named the wine Vin de Mohammed with a nice picture of him on a sleigh with eight tiny reincamels on the label.....We're just really committed to make certain that the people who should be paying their fair share...The ones who always escape through the fruitloops, I mean loop holes....leaving the burden on the unemployed, the people spending their AFDC in the casinos and bingo parlours....the people who have to sell their Lone Star Cards for 30 cents on the dollar just to be able to put their meth and crack on the table for the family....And the Oil Companies doing the work of the snake handling Christians....and the Pope making all kinds of errors on Roman Catholic Canons and Dogma, I am SO GLAD I set him straight on that one because I really feel strongly about the things that I feel very strongly about.   And so that is why we are here to-day in .....in......Where am I?   Is this Rome....?   What?   Muskogee?   Where in the Hell is Musdogee?   What am I doing here?"

(Everyone applauds and cheers,  and then they both leave.)

       You people who read this think that I take cheap shots at the minority leader,   and maybe it is true.    But it is so easy to take cheap shots at a person who inherited and married wealth and yet rails against the "Rich" (who always seem to wind up being you and me), never did anything worthwhile except be waited on, has set records for length of time with no measurable left-brain activity, and who does the things she accuses others of doing....when the others either are not doing it or are doing it to a much lesser degree.    It takes a real pro!     Like Bill Clinton tieing up LAX for three hours to get his hair done by Frankie the HairDresser to the Stars ,
     But, just to be fair, she goes through a lot.   Data prep, fact checking, looking just right, political negotiations.....you have to work hard, do your best, and look your best.   So I'll give her that.   You just have to admire her wardrobe and accessories and everything.   How does she always manage to look ....'just so'?

Thanks for your time and attention.

The Old Gringo

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, and another thing......

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.    And another thing, this Santa Claus comes from a long tradition of Saints in the Christian Church.   He is real and he is mythical.   He is a symbol of the application of reward and charity.   He is latter day manifestation of the visiting Magi from the East, who are also real as well as mythic bearers of gifts to someone important.   Virginia, you are 9 years old now.   Life is going to come at you quickly, very soon.   You will have to learn what is mythic, what is real, what is true, what is legend.    You will have to sort it out for yourself.   I cannot tell you what to believe, only what I myself believe.   Finally, you will have to learn to detect malicious lies and deceptive reasoning disguised as truth.

     Beware, the baby polar bear, doomed on a free floating piece of ice, soon to drown or starve to death, separated from his mother.    The picture lies a thousand words.    There is no man-caused global warming.   The picture was presented as a polar bear during his/her last moments, but it was a false picture meant to colour and cloud the minds of children.    There are five times more polar bears on Earth now than in 1970.    There may well be more polar bears on Earth now than at any time in recorded history.

The teacher tells you that your parents are stupid because they use incandescent light bulbs.   In  order to save the planet you are told that you have to use a funny looking flourescent light bulb that is made in Red China.   The incandescent bulbs use too much electricity and electricity production is bad because it produces carbon dioxide which make the Earth heat up and kill children.     The new style bulbs pay for themselve by producing more light with less electricity,  your teacher tells you.

     But no, it does not quite work out that way.   Being judicious, turning of lights not in use, scaling back wattage only slightly can be effective at reducing consumption of electricity.   The incandescent bulbs are still made in the USA, Mexico, Malaysia, and Singapore.....cost less....and cast a light that can be used for seeing print in a book or newspaper.   And....when their life is done, they can go into the dump and become part of the methane production process....But!!! Not the piggy-tail bulbs....because they have mercury and mercury is not what we want in the landfills or anywhere else.   The same people who tell you we cannot have mercury in our tuna fish are the same ones who tell us that mercury in a light bulb is the best thing since the invention of political correctness.

       Then, your teacher tells you that your parents are bad because they do not have a hybrid electric automobile.  Bad parents!    You are told that autos are bad because they use fossil fuel and everybody and the baby polar bears are going to die because your parents are using fossil fuel.   Burning melted dinosaurs causes carbon dioxide emissions.    Your parents will not have evolved to the correct level of human development until they plug their automobile into the electrical outlet for free energy.    That way they don't have to used dirty old melted dinosaurs and kill polar bears like George Bush.     And since it is free, it will only cost about $140 a month extra on the home electricity bill.    And since it is cleaner it will only burn about twice as much melted dinosaurs to make the electricity out of coal.    And, you will still have to use gasoline in the Chevy Volt to drive on the highway.   So, it pollutes more, it costs more to operate, it cannot be junked because of the batteries, and it was produced by a company that had to be taken over by the government due to incompetence.    Welcome to Al Gore's Aliceinwonderland Theatre.    Al saves the Earth by having one mansion for his ex-wife, 30 rooms, 50,000 dollars a year electricity bill, and one mansion in California with a beach view for his lady friend.....utility bills unknown.



     What brought all of this on is this morning's  early news report from a Monterrey television station we follow,  about a child bringing a live, juvenile bear to the house out on the northwest edge of the Monterrey metroplex, where San Pedro de Garza Garcia, Santa Catarina, and Monterrey more or less come together.  That report was followed by the effort to get a large adult male out of a Dempster Dumpster after he was tranquilized by Monterrey's Animal Authority.    The older Yogi was taken back out to the forests to the west of the metroplex.   The younger one is a problem because it seems that he has bonded already with the young lad who brought him home, and that might limit his ability to adapt in the wild.    Some rancher-tree hugger type told the Animal Authority people that he might be able to give the little bear a "sheltered transition" place up around Laguna de Sanchez.     We'll see.    The fact, in any regard, is that even with all the abuse wild animals have suffered in Mexico over the years....useless killing, poaching, and other bad things....there is a better social concientiousness about these matters now.   So, with that comes more bears in Monterrey.   There were over 400 "bear encounters" within the incorporated limits of the Metroplex last year.

       Virginia needs to weigh the facts instead of just listening to Captain Planet and Al Gore.   Christianity teaches stewardship of God's creation.    The dirtiest countries in the world seem to be the most socialist.    The property of everyone soon becomes  the  property of no one.

More later.

The Old Gringo

More Good News - Additional rains

The Quinta Tesoro de la Sierra Madre has received substantially beneficial rainfall.  The bulk of Central Texas and South Texas has also received anywhere from "some" to a "substantial" amount of rain.   Our place in Texas on the border had between 3 and 4 inches.    A station near Zapata, Texas had over 10 inches and the area around Harlingen, Texas had from 4 to 8 inches.   This will help.    Yahweh is greater than our problems.   He had better things to do for a while, and now he got back to us.
______________________________________________
    Now it's tomorrow, Thursday, later on in the afternoon and we have had a light to moderate rain most of the afternoon.   It seems to have been about an inch, according to the 24 hour cumulative sweep from the weather service.   The radar looks like a little depression was trying to form, but right over Brownsville, Texas.....no hope for any real development, but it is producing a goodly amount of much needed rain.    This second day of rain is slow enough that all the water will go into the subsoil.    There is a slight chance that the Highway between Matamoros and Cd. Victoria might be flooded over about 20 miles south of Matamoros.    A similar chance might occur later to-night along US 77 just north of Harlingen and then at another place just north of Raymondville.
       Who would have thought 10 days ago that we would ever see rain again?   In thanking Yahweh for getting back to us, the Old Gringo forgot to remember  the contribution Al Gore made to the issue, considering that he invented rain, while ploughing with mules on a rocky hillside not far from this father's mansion that was surrounded by tobacco barns and beautiful leafy fields of bright-leaf tobacco.
    You have to admire Al, the pride he has in his father who tried to keep him in school at Harvard and Yale....where he flunked out of the schools of divinity and law.    Al was probably proud of his dad's old Boss, Armand Hammer, whom he aided during those bonding moments with Uncle Joe Stalin.   It's enough to make a guy want to call the masseuse.
Later...and thanks for your time.   I'm out to play in the rain puddle for a bit.
El Gringo Viejo

Hooray! Hooray!! with additions (12:40 pm)

    This is a substantial piece of good news.   The nationwide dragnet by Mexican police and military,  looking for people with active warrants in Mexico and/or any other nation of the world (re: United States, France, Spain, UK Commonwealth) has resulted in the arrest and detention of 2,000 really bad actors.   There  are 250 who are destined for deportation because the pleasure of their company has been requested by the above-named countries.   This dragnet began, somewhat in co-ordination with the American effort to round up legal and illegal aliens who have wants and warrants in the United States and Mexico, and other countries around the world.

     The really big news, however is that the people in Tamaulipas State...where our little place is found....were surprized to see columns of heavy infantry coming into their communities throughout the State.   Especially in the cabeceras municipales (county seats),  folks having a barbeque at home or giving their children 'paletas' (ice creamy frozen treats) on the plaza, began to see on Sunday last, several thousand more new Army troops were being inserted.    They are building on the successes of the surge from two months ago, when President Calderon sent an additional 36,000 troops to the States of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon.

      The 36,000 was added onto a previous 40,000 and has resulted, predictably, in pitched battles between different groupings of cartels.    The disorganization among the cartel people has caused a great increase in arrests and casualties in their ranks.    It has been noted on the Texas side of the Rio Grande that the efforts to smuggle marihuana and drugs to the "otro lado" have become increasingly comedic, hysterical, and farsical in their execution.    Each week for the past two months the cartel people have lost 40,000 pounds of marijuana or more and between 25 and 300 pounds of opiate-based material...(much greater value per pound).     These are apprehensions by the Mexican Armed Forces and the Texas and US authorities.

        These last 2,300 Army troopers are extemely important.   They are "urban rangers".  They have positive-result experience in taking over cabaceras municipales, de-commissioning the local constabulary,  and subsequently evaluating that local constabulary in terms of policing skills, alcohol and drug use, veracity by polygraph, firearms capability, heroic and/or over-and-above efforts records, first-aid knowledge, physical condition, intellectual ability, and so forth.

    ALL THE POLICE ARE BEING REMOVED FROM SERVICE IN ALL 43 COUNTIES OF THE STATE.   The ones who are evaluated and considered worth salvaging are to be sent to a special military training base in the State of Coahuila (adjacent to Nuevo Leon) for three months of intensive physical, intellectual, and police training.   Those who have some issue that would preclude reasonable inclusion in this new professionalisation effort will be removed from the constabulary.    Those who are removed but who have no legal or moral disqualifications will be sent for other training, perhaps forensic collections training.

     The biggest cities are first to go, so Reynosa for instance had 300 heavy infantry essentially take over the entire policing issue for that city as of yesterday.   They will be backed up in close support by one battalion of five "welded companies" of heavy infantry  (approximately 1,200 effectives) already in place, but having had slightly different duty assignments.     Now, they are all involved in assuring the domestic tranquillity of the entire County of and City of Reynosa.    And yes, that means traffic regulation and control.

     This also means that a community that has risen to the level in recent years to almost, kinda-like okay....will be fairly quickly transformed into something that might look like a military base in terms of order and presentation.

      The Municipios (counties) in order of size will all have their police units replaced totally.   In six fairly small outlier municipios there never was or, has ceased to be, a local police presence;  these will be staffed as well.    The occupation will be completed within 6 days of yesterday.    It started with the largest city first, Reynosa.   Then follows Nuevo Laredo, Matamoros, Tampico, Cd. Victoria, Cd. Mante, Cd. Madero, Cd. Altamira, and Cd. Rio Bravo, in that order.    These cities represent 90% of the population of the State' 3,000,000 people,   but all the cabaceras (country seats) will be occupied in force before the end of the month, including Abasolo, Aldama, Antiguo Morelos, Burgos, Bustamante, Camargo,  Casas, Cruillas, Gomez Farias, Gonzalez, Guemez, Guerrero, Gustavo Diaz Ordaz, Hidalgo, Juamave, Llera, Mainero, Manuel, Mier, Miquel Aleman, Miquihuana, Nuevo Morelos, Ocampo, Padilla, Palmillas, San Carlos, San Nicolas,  Santander de Jimenez,  Soto la Marina, Tula,  Valle Hermoso, Villagran, and Xicotencatl.    Whew!    (The hard part is the alphabetical disorder).


     As you all know, the Old Gringo is an inveterate State's Righter and it must cause a bit of a question in the minds of the normal OROGs about my celebration of the nationalization of the local police forces of a given State.  One of the problems with all of this is that the Constitution of Mexico requires  an authorization by the State's Governor, with the approval of the State's Congress,  at each level of insertion of national military authority.    This request by the present Governor, plus an additional 2,000 pesos per month hazardous duty pay from the State to the common soldier, per month, has all been authorized by the Tamaulipas State Congress about a week ago.   Very important stuff....to them and to us.    The first authorization for the general troop deployment came about six months later than it should have, according to many observers, including your humble correspondent.
More to follow...will not sign off quite yet.     This is a great day. 


     On the above map, my county is 16 and the State Capital is 41.  One can see that this deployment by the Army will be daunting.   There are several Municipios from the State of Nuevo Leon being trained at the Army facility in Coahuila.    As those cycle out, the Tamaulipas personnel will be cycled in for the next three months.    The Army intends to stay on the ground in their new capacity for at least one year.
      It is worth repeating that the advanced infantry combat training presently undergone by Army personnel is at times joined by participation from American, British, and Israeli training sergeants.            

                     

A Long Time Ago, and Things of that Nature

Several hundred years ago....it seems....the Old Gringo and his wife owned and operated  a nice little excursion company.   We took folks to all points throughout Mexico and a few other destinations.   An old competitor, also a rightwing curmudgeon, and the Old Gringo sit around at times, in a diner over lunch and iced tea (no "foggy  drift fueled by Bohemia down memory lane) talking about the glory days when we could count on taking several thousand "winter visitors" to various destinations in Mexico and Texas during the season.    We remember when we would put together complicated excursions for convention, trade, and industrial groups during the Summer months.
      We each re-enforce each other's life experiences and prejudices.     For instance, we both had the same impression about how the market changed and how quickly.     During the 1970's through the early 1990's, the average client was a medium to almost large scale farmer or rancher, a retired Sergeant Major to General in the military, a proprietor, an educator, a professional, or a high-skill blue collar type.   About three/fourths came from Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Kansas.   Almost every other State was represented along with the majority of the Canadian provinces, and there was always a sprinkling of Brits of different types and stripes and other Europeans.    A point of particular pride is that every now and then, Mexicans from the interior would come up to take a tour to Mexico due to their having witnessed the method of our group actions.....and the comments from our clients.
      Anyway, a couple of old war horses now have nothing in particular to do in that arena because the arena was torn down, and somebody made a parking lot out of it.  They named it the Hiroshima Parking Lot.   The excursion business suffered and then died as the clients gradually became more Democrat, more union, and more anti-Mexican.   So much for the party of Kumbaya and Solidarity with Funny Looking Dark Coloured People.   The press and the recent conditions in Mexico pretty much poured cement over the grave.
     Since we are both official geezers, we figured that we would keep on doing some of the other things that were occupying our time, but the touring business is something else again.    It is chromosomal.   So now we are thinking about doing a bit of a revival....ploughing a bit deeper over what might seem to be very old ground.     We are giving consideration to setting up a few  late Winter - early Spring  trips in the southern half of Texas with a cultural, geographical, and historical theme.   As soon as we have a few ideas concreted, plastered, and painted the Old Gringo will post everything so that the OROGs will be the first to know.
More Later.   Thanks as always for your attention and time.
EL Gringo Viejo

Zetas leader 'El Lazca' killed in Matamoros | matamoros, sources, close - Brownsville Herald

Zetas leader 'El Lazca' killed in Matamoros | matamoros, sources, close - Brownsville Herald

© Copyright The Brownsville Herald 2011

Sources close to The Brownsville Herald have confirmed that Heriberto "El Lazca" Lazcano Lazcano, the leader of the Zetas, was killed today in Matamoros after a gruesome firefight with the Gulf Cartel.

Since shortly after 2 p.m., firefights broke out throughout the city as the two forces clashed. Sources claim Lazcano was killed near Avenida Del Niño and Lauro Villar.

This is the second firefight between the two cartels in as many days.

The following is commentary by El Gringo Viejo, and includes other information that has been garnered from other reliable sources.

      This is something of a bulletin and a matter with direct impact on the Gringo Viejo. This particular individual, Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, has been associated with the turn to the macabre by the Zeta cartel.    He is, or was, noted to purposefully choose incompetent foot soldiers because of the enjoyment he received in learning about their deaths. It made him think of himself as someone very important because so many people would willingly die for him. He is, or was, associated with the leadership of the San Fernando cell of the ZETA group. The Army chased down El Lazca's immediate lieutenant, Raul Edwardo Martinez Lugo in Escobedo, Nuevo Leon yesterday....along with two 14 year old "boyfriends" and another ZETA veteran in a motel, The Sunset (actually a nice place) on the old Laredo Highway, but still well within the metropolitan area adjacent to the northern sections of Monterrey. Those four were taken alive. The lieutenant was the fellow in charge of warehousing and other initiatives of violence in the county where our little adobe house is located. He and his boss, La Lazca, are implicated with certainty in the assassination of the gubernatorial candidate of the PRI party last year....just days before the election which would have resulted, beyond any doubt, in the candidate's election. His brother served as a stand-in candidate, for instance, and won with 70% of the vote in a three-way race.

The lieutenant is also implicated in the assassination of the Presidente Municipal of the county where our place is.....and many other very serious crimes, both in Mexico and in Texas. La Lazca himself is, or was, wanted for questioning in various matters that have taken place in Texas over the past few months. These developments started with a tectonic rumble about five months ago, and with each passing day, the people have taken up the challenge and have begun to make more and more "anonymous denunciations" on the military's equivilant of the 911 emergency line.

Two weeks ago, the two cartels of interest began a firefight in Matamoros which proceeded up the Rio Grande to a place called Lucio Blanco. There the Gulf Cartel gunmen shredded up the bulk of a group of about 40 Zetas, while taking significant casualties at the same time.
     The Mexican Army had taken up positions near where they figured the two cartels would shoot it out, and towards the end of the engagement, the military came in and assaulted both bands of delinquents. According to the locals the number of dead and seriously wounded among the cartel people was "staggering"....perhaps as many as 60 dead with all engagements included. Most of the damage was inflicted by the Army.

Remnants re-initiated hostilities inside of Matamoros again yesterday, and the Army duplicated their tactic of moving in to engage both sets of gunmen and hit the jackpot with the killing of La Lazca and several of his closest buddies.

All of this has pretty much followed the time-line that the Old Gringo was anticipating. The effort is far from over, but the battle is well joined and the Mexican Armed Forces are excelling at every stage.


Thanks for your attention!   This story will be up-dated during the night as additional details become available.
El Gringo Viejo

Forwarded from a Combat Veteran/ Viet Nam to a non-combat Veteran/ Viet Nam Era

The Old Gringo's best friend, then as now, sent this screed from a soldier who must be some kind of grandson of Marquis de LaFayette.....a symbol of everything fine about French People.....who is serving and actually exposed to front-line combat situations in Afghanistan.    The Froggy watches the Yank and writes down his observations.    It becomes clear that Froggy is not Kermit, nor is he arrogant nor is he predictable in his views.    He is blunt.    For those with combat and/or close support experience, you will all know that Froggy is a true, professional soldier.   He is also a good and fair man.   See his words and share them....

       The Old Gringo runs this so that OROGs can show family members with frontliners and forward support people in Iraq and Afghanistan.

French view of American Military 
by Jean-Marc Liotier 
 
American troops in Afghanistan through the eyes of a French OMLT infantryman 
 
The US often hears echoes of worldwide hostility against the application of its foreign policy, but seldom are they reached by the voices of  people who experience first hand how close we are to the USA. 
 
In spite of contextual political differences and conflicting interests that generate friction, we do share the same fundamental values - and  when push comes to shove that is what really counts. 
 
Through the eyes of that French OMLT (Operational Mentoring Liaison Teams) infantryman you can see how strong the bond is on the ground. In contrast with the Americans, the French soldiers don't seem to write much online - or maybe the proportion is the same but we just have fewer people deployed. Whatever the reason, this is a rare and moving testimony which is why I decided to translate it into English, so that American people can catch a glimpse of the way European soldiers see them. Not much high philosophy here, just the first hand impressions of a soldier in contact - but that only makes it more authentic. 
 
Here is link to the original French if you want to double check. Article,http://omlt3-kdk3.over-blog.com/article-22935665.html_ <http://omlt3-kdk3.over-blog.com/article-22935665.html_> 
(http://omlt3-kdk3.over-blog.com/article-22935665.html <http://omlt3-kdk3.over-blog.com/article-22935665.html> ) and here is English translation : 
 
"We have shared our daily life with two US units for quite a while - they are the first and fourth companies of a prestigious infantry battalion whose name I will withhold for the sake of military secrecy. 
 
To the common man it is a unit just like any other. But we live with them and got to know them, and we henceforth know that we have the honor to live with one of the most renowned units of the US Army - one that the movies brought to the public as series showing "ordinary soldiers thrust into extraordinary events". Who are they, those soldiers from abroad, how is their daily life, and what support do they bring to the men of our OMLT every day? Few of them belong to the Easy Company, the one the TV series focuses on. This one nowadays is named Echo Company, and it has become the support company. 
 
They have a very strong American accent - the language they speak seems to be not even English. How many times did I have to write down what I wanted to say rather than waste precious minutes trying various pronunciations of a seemingly common word? Whatever state they are from, no two accents are alike and they themselves admit that in some crisis situations they have difficulties understanding each other. 
 
Heavily built, fed at the earliest age with Gatorade, proteins at places like Waffle House and McDonalds - they are all heads and shoulders taller than us and their muscles remind us of Rambo. Our frames are amusingly skinny to them - even the strongest of us - and because of that they often mistake us for Afghans. 
 
Here we discover America as it is often depicted: their values are taken to their paroxysm, often amplified by the loneliness of this outpost in the middle of that Afghan valley. Honor, motherland - everything here reminds of that: the American flag floating in the wind above the outpost, just like the one on the postage parcels. Even if recruits often originate from the heart of American cities and gang territory, no one here has any goal other than to hold high and proud the star spangled banner. 
 
Each man knows he can count on the support of their whole people who provide them through the mail all the things that an American could miss in such a remote front-line location: books, chewing gums, razorblades, Gatorade, toothpaste etc. 
 
Every man is aware of how much the American people backs him in his difficult mission. And that is a first shock to our preconceptions: the American soldier is no individualist. The team, the group, the combat team are the focus of all his attention. 
 
And they are impressive warriors! We have not come across bad ones, as strange at it may seem to you when you know how critical French people can be. Even if some of them are a bit on the heavy side, all of them provide us everyday with lessons in infantry know-how. Beyond the wearing of a combat kit that never seems to discomfort them (helmet strap, helmet, combat goggles, rifles etc.) the long hours of watch at the outpost never seem to annoy them in the slightest. 
 
On the one square meter tower above the perimeter wall they stand the five consecutive hours in full battle rattle and night vision goggles on top, their sight focused in the directions of likely danger. No distractions, no pauses, they are like statues nights and days. At night, all movements are performed in the dark - only a handful of subdued red lights indicate the occasional presence of a soldier on the move. Same with the vehicles whose lights are covered - everything happens in pitch dark even filling the fuel tanks with the Japy pump. 
 
And combat? If you have seen Rambo you have seen it all - always coming to the rescue when one of our teams gets in trouble, and always in the shortest delay. That is one of their tricks: they switch from T-shirt and sandals to combat ready in three minutes. Arriving in contact with the enemy, the way they fight is simple and disconcerting: they just charge! They disembark and assault in stride, they bomb first and ask questions later - which cuts any pussyfooting short. 
 
(This is the main area where I'd like to comment. Anyone with a passing knowledge of Kipling knows the lines from Chant Pagan: 'If your officer's dead and the sergeants look white/remember its ruin to run from a fight.  /So take open order, lie down, sit tight/And wait for supports like a soldier./ This, in fact, is the basic philosophy of both British and Continental soldiers. 'In the absence of orders, take a defensive position.' Indeed, virtually every army in the world. 
 
The American soldier and Marine, however, are imbued from early in their training with the ethos: In the Absence of Orders: Attack! Where other forces, for good or ill, will wait for precise orders and plans to respond to an attack or any other 'incident', the American force will simply go counting on firepower and SOP to carry the day. 
 
This is one of the great strengths of the American force in combat and it is something that even our closest allies, such as the Brits and Aussies (that latter being closer by the way) find repeatedly surprising. No wonder it surprises the hell out of our enemies!) 
 
We seldom hear any harsh word, and from 5 AM onwards the camp chores are performed in beautiful order and always with excellent spirit. A passing American helicopter stops near a stranded vehicle just to check that everything is alright; an American combat team will rush to support ours before even knowing how dangerous the mission is - from what we have been given to witness, the American soldier is a beautiful and worthy heir to those who liberated France and Europe. 
 To those who bestow us with the honor of sharing their combat outposts and who everyday give proof of their military excellence, to those who pay the daily tribute of America's army's deployment on Afghan soil, to those we owed this article, ourselves hoping that we will always remain worthy of them and to always continue hearing them say that we are all the same band of brothers". 
 

      We have to remember that, when the Old Timers would go back to Normandy and travel through the countryside and small towns of the province of Brittany it was difficult for them to receive and accept all the free beer, food, back-slapping, tears of gratitude, kisses, hugs, wine, stories about interaction between the French people of that area and the GI's, etc.      The response of those people to the American presence and contribution seems to be genetically imprinted in perpetuity.

      It's a good day to be the Old Gringo, honorably discharged, USArmy  (even if the Yankees think they won the war).
 Thank everyone for their time and attention.

Observations from OROGs

Every now and then we review comments, emails, and other communications from OROGs and others.   It helps keep the lid screwed on.   This time we ran across the letter of a left-handed, right-brained Ph.D. who is one of the "reasonable" people.  This individual was involved with the Old Gringo and with his family back in the days when he was a juvenile deliquent in training, mixed with a bit of a know-it-all preppy and all around "cool guy"  (read: arrogant, self-centered, spoiled, conceited narcissist).   The Old Gringo was...after all...the only "cool guy" in McAllen with a new Kharmann Ghia Volkswagen, and even Playboy Magazine declared that automobile to be the quintessential "Cool Guy" ride.

     In any regard, the comments sent by this individual, who is a tenured professor at Texas's premier public university....the one in College Station - Bryan.....confided some opinions about my political orientation.    The same individual also revealed (confessed) "extreme moderate" views guided that contributor's political leanings.     My response  (once again...everything is about the Old Gringo still) was telling and worth sharing with other OROGs so that you all will know how I try to divy-up the servings on this blog.   We try to keep it interesting and pointed without over-dosing on Lite-mayonaise and low cholesterol rice-cakes.    We recognize that many folks....some of our "followers"....review this screed to gain a bit of insight into a slightly pro-Mexican rightwing vintage.     So, the entry below is an only slightly redacted response to the OROG from the prestigious University.

• Thanks for your message,  You are a Trojan for putting up with my rightwing rants....I think you can see my softer edges even in the sputtering and spluttering ..but I appreciate your not jumping on what is left of my bones.   Your environment is a bit different and your point view is certainly filtered by great intelligence, so it is best that we leave political sleeping dogs lie between us as we drift on to the horizon.
• I normally try to do 1/3 rightwing meltdown, 1/3 Mexico geography, good, bad, history, politics, archeology, anthropology, sociology, demographics, weather & climate, business and commerce, and 1/3 personal history, activities, and life in a rural area in a homemade, handmade adobe home on a beautiful River in front of the beautiful mountains.
• Later
• Thanks for making the coffee
• The Old Gringo

       You all will notice my guiding formula.....rather much like mixing up the pitches in baseball.   Hope you all enjoy this "kinder and gentler" look at the Old Gringo.  Now, back to the Wars.....
El Viejo Gringo Vengador

El Gringo Viejo Plays the Role of Grandfather

We try to avoid showing ourselves around too much during these times , but all Anglos look pretty much alike, I presume.  The little one in the pink gown (made up by her "Grammy" as a special gift) on the left is part English/Welsh mongrel, Prussian/Saxon mongrel, and Spanish colonial mongrel.    I guess that makes her a pure-bred Texan.....and an American to boot.   She really is a little beauty, even judging without a curve.    She is also sharp as a tack and very adept at controlling "big people".
      Her "big sister", equally a knock-out and "quick as a whip" as my mother used to say,  is over on the right with a purple and green "Mermaid Dress" made up for special events by her "Grammy".  Her ancestry is exactly the same, of course.   We have difficulty telling which is whom in solo shots when they are at the same age....remember to label such photographs before memories dim.

      This is a picture taken somewhere,  designed to convince the OROG community that my succeeding generations will vindicate my worth.     My daughter and son-in-law have done wonders with both their girls.  It is amazing what selfless investment by simultaneous paternal and maternal influences, guided by a proven catechism, can accomplish.

Thanks for your time and attention.

El Gringo Viejo

Where? Oh! Where? Fast and Furious?? Really??

     These were the days that tired men's souls.
    It is very difficult to engineer a computer application when one understands naught about any of it.   In any regard, our problem is that the URL used in the reformation of our website could not be adapted to the page.   Another URL appeared during the final reconstruction.   The old URL would only access the old webpage that looked like  Fred and Barney  had done it in the garage.    Now the Old Gringo has one that is modernized to the point that it looks like Mrs. Cleaver did it while cooking her famous casserole.    But, it cannot be accessed by the old URL.   So....welcome to North Conundrum.

        After considerable pursuit by Pharaoh's chariots and cavalry, and repeated assaults by Pickett's delayed Brigade, the Old Gringo finally developed a way to essentially hand-change the URL everywhere the webpage is normally accessed.  This will delay the time that new business cards have to be ordered and paid for.    At this time we are requesting that OROGs advise their friends and families to log onto the webpage through the blogsite.  We have three radioactive links placed in the first two paragraphs welcoming the world to  ''A Gringo in Rural Mexico".

               So, after great, nearly incomprehensible effort El Gringo Viejo finally managed to do something that might appear to be miraculous.   But, it might actually have been all luck.   At least there is a predictable channel for OROGs to find the website and the new little tweaking and attachments that have been placed there.    And just imagine, you all don't even have to get your feet wet.   You all enjoy the cyber scenery and the Old Gringo will take care of Pharaoh's men.


FAST AND FURIOUS??
       With special reference to the "Fast and Furious" program conducted by the ATF.....inserting automatic weapons into Mexico in order to trace the path those weapons take into the hands of demonic sacks of garbage born with no souls.....this is another reason  why this Old Gringo has always been suspicious of the FBI, and especially the ATF.   This might make me sound like one of the anti-government nut-cases, but the ATF has a record replete with disastrous outcomes.   The FBI, with the approval and prodding of Hillary Clinton and Janet Reno and the Hero of the Battle of Mount Carmel, Gen. Wesley Clark, did manage to kill 42 children because their parents happened to have fewer guns per adult-in-residence than the average Texas household.  It was deemed to be permissible because Hillary Clinton had to be the most intelligent woman on the Planet....nay! the most intelligent human....She took care of her part in the matter later by saying she had nothing to do with it.
         It would have behooved the ATF et. al. to have read the Old Gringo's blog and learned that 90% of the arms and ammunition used by the cartel people come from sources including but not limited to Red China, Viet Nam, Russia, Cuba, Serbia, and Venezuela.  Those are the ones who are deep into the illegal and extra-legal armaments trade.  
         It is lamentable to report that there have been more than a few AR-16 .223 automatic assault rifles (redundant?) that have been purloined by civilian and military personnel on American military installations.  Various National Guard facilities have lost such weapons and ammunition over the years, as well.  some of the losses have been "considerable", although the total number of weapons is very small compared to those imported from the off-shore providers.
         One of the reasons there is so much armament going into Mexico is because the cartel people do not care for their weapons, or care for them correctly.   The Chinese ones, in particular, are knock-offs of the AK-47 and AR-16.    The generally last for about 40 to 50 rounds before becoming useless.
Much is captured by the Mexican armed forces.   There is always a need to be re-supplied and the off-shore dealers do their best to address the demand.    
         The Old Gringo will guard his words.   Oddly, it is for fear of retaliation by the police agencies of the United States of America.    The Old Gringo has to go back and forth across the bridges as a matter of the course of his life.   It is urged however that all readers who might care search the web for the daily stories about what is actually going on within the ranks of those sworn to defend the Nation and its Constitution.    As you all go through the website listings on your various search engines, throw out the Timothy McVeigh anti-government nuts, the anti-Negro nuts, the "nobody is illegal just because he is here" nuts, and the anti-America, communist and national socialist hate America first, push the Jews into the sea nuts........There are various places where reasonable, sworn testimony before Congress and other forums can be retrieved that will curl everyone's hair.  Look it up yourselves, please.


      These things are remembered.     Poor, chubby, Security Guard Richard Jewell who was the hero of the Atlanta Olypics plaza explosion.   His running towards a suspicious package and shouting for people to "Move away!  Get Back!" probably saved 30 or 40 people.   Three were killed or seriously wounded.   His compensation for this was to be hounded by the FBI for the next 20 months as a suspect until the stress finally indirectly, but certainly, caused his premature death.   His attorney indicated that the FBI would repeatedly ransack his mother's home and garage....always waiting until they knew everything had been put back in place, beds remade, drawers re-filled, kitchen and table ware picked up off the floor, nails and tools collected from the garage floor.....as many as 2o times in 20 months.    Jewell was admonished that the "on-site investigations" by the FBI and ATF agents would stop when Jewell "would finally come clean".     Later, of course, the real bomber was found, primarily by police work done by local Jethros and Bubbas working for Red Neck County Constable's Office in Rebel Yell, Georgia.


    It is truly remarkable when an American has to guard his words in America, except for those whose speech is intended only to destroy this great Nation.


More later....
El Gringo Viejo 

About Things in General

     Days continue to pass at our little place and yet nothing really happens.   No bad things anyway.   That life continues, the cats and dogs come round and by for their feedings and attention....seeking their favourite cool spots to hide from the effusions of gamma and beta soakings sent down from an angry Tropical Sun.   The bigger trees continue to do well, in spite of the lack of rain, because they are still soaked  at the roots due to last wet season's heavy soakings and inundations.

       The main problem we are all watching out for is the fire issue.   There is just so much Johnson grass and other low growing "yerba" (green undergrowth, among the various interpretations....everything depends upon context with the word.    It can even mean marijuana or mint).    At the moment all the previous fires have run their course.    Real damage anywhere around us is minimal, because the fires have been incidental, like roadside situations.   Strategically, a case could be made that we might be in an advantageous situation because so much has been burned we are found in a doughnut hole of green, surrounded by already blackened areas.     These blackened areas are important because they are the ones with the dense grass that is most likely to flare up and invade the really thick tropical forests at the foot of the mountains' skirts.


      We simply wait for rain.   The hurricane season is upon us, and we are willing.....very willing.....to trade a medium hurricane for what we have now. 


          While the normal OROG is tired of me responding to this question, it continues to be asked.  I shall be brief.   To this point I still have not seen or been involved in any "situation of risk" in terms of the on-going wars between the traffickers and the efforts by the military and police to eliminate the plague that besets almost every country in the New World at this time.     It should be pointed out that every time the President has declared increased troop commitment into this State, he has complied.    The military has complied, and their efforts have paid off with steadily improving social climate here and elsewhere in the State.
            The war is assymetrical, so it takes a thousand well-trained military people to eliminate 10 cockroaches per week.  We have 60,000 naval infantry and soldiers in the two adjacent States of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon now.    It is expensive.   It is necessary.  The alternative is to have Detroit or any other such  major American city's central urban situation  as the new norm and constant.


       That is my brief up-date and response to a few questions recently posed by reasonable people who are asking reasonable questions based upon what information is available to them.


More Later,
El Gringo Viejo  

So, we are now at the fiftieth day after the Feast of the Resurrection.    This is essentially the day of the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ.....a rabbi who was known to be the Son of Yahweh by those closest to Him.....a Jew from an upper-class family of privilege, with a strong religious background.    So, let us celebrate the Pentecost with wine, greenery, roses, and other blooming things.   As of yet there is no ruling from the bench declaring that there is a Constitutional admonition separating Computer from religion.

Sometimes a Girl has to do what a Girl has to do.....

Sometimes you just have to drain the swamp when you're standing in the wind tunnel, Nancy.    The Old Gringo likes  Wilma's white stone necklace a lot better.

It All Began To-day for King George III

This is the day that the Continental Congress appointed the necessary committee and authorised the development of a legal document defining the act and cause for separation from the  Rule of the Crown.
In less than three weeks, Thomas Jefferson presented the finished document to the Congress assembled.   Benjamin Franklin made his famous observation that "We must, indeed, all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately "  after the approval of the Document on the 4th of July 1776  








(click on the Document to enlarge)

Private Letter to Newt and Mitt

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   The news yesterday about Newt Gingrich was not pleasant.   It affected the Old Gringo naught, however, because he will never forget that the Speaker invited Jesse Jackson to a joint session address by somebody or another back in 1990's.   The specific event is not remembered.    The right-wingers in the GOP were stunned, because if he were going to invite a person of colour, there was the number 3 guy in the GOP caucus, J.C. Watts, who is and was an accomplished person, also an ordained preacher, but also a normal person, a member of the GOP, a member of the GOP leadership, a noted athlete, an eloquent and forceful thinker among conservatives, etc........and NEWT invites Jesse Jackson, a slug of an extortionist, poverty pimp, philandering hefty bag full of  %^#&;%%^ and camel guts as a guest of honor.    Good-bye Newt, since 1995, I think it was.    One must remember that Newt is not from Georgia, which is neither here nor there, but rather from the more enlightened Northeast.    Newt is also from the Rockefeller wing of the GOP and quite closely associated with the "reasonable" people who call themselves Republicans and are generally found at the Country Club, dreading the arrival of Jed Clampett and me to their meeting.

       However, the Old Gringo will abide by Reynaldus Magnus's instruction that one Elephant shall not speak ill of another Elephant.....so there.

       Nor shall the Old Gringo raise his voice against Mitt Romney, whom he regards as the perfect candidate for President.....until he says that he believes Al Gore and a hoard of Bolshevik scientists .     Mr. Mitt, one medium volcano spews more pollutants....serious, toxic stuff....in one day into the atmosphere than what has been spewed into the atmosphere by all humankind since the beginning of Creation.   Mr. Mitt, please remember that in the 1970's Jane Fonda told me we were all going to die....because of NUCLEAR WINTER...Global Cooling!!!!    Mr. Mitt, what are you going to say when the next crowd comes out of the St. Frida Kahlo's Chapel of the Church of Karl Marx of the Latter Day Bolsheviks and declares that all cats have to be burned because they have a parasite that endangers left-handed lesbian Eskimos?

Forgive my ire as I crawl back into my darkened cave.

El Gringo Viejo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~