DON'T CRY FOR ME, ARKANTINA

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DON'T CRY FOR ME,
ARKANTINA
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WIERD....AND IT IS BEING ESTIMATED THAT 40% OF THE TELE-AUDIENCE VIEWERSHIP WERE REPUBLICANS WHO TUNED OUT AROUND MID-WAY

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SANDERS  54.38%  (163,559 votes)

WEBB  25.31%  (76,137 votes) 

CLINTON  8.76%  (26,355 votes) 

O'MALLEY  7.18%  (21,591 votes) 

CHAFEE  4.37%  (13,156 votes) 

Total Votes: 300,798_________

THIS IS A DRUDGE POLL, BE AWARE OF THE FILTER ON THE COHORT OF THE UNIVERSE OF POSSIBLE RESPONDENTS.

BUT!!!

  SO MUCH FOR THE  IDEA THAT (SIR EDMUND) HILLARY CARRIED THE DAY.  FACT IS, HOWEVER, THAT (SIR EDMUND) HILLARY FINISHED A DISTANT 3rd.

 A CONFIRMED CRYPTO-BOLSHI, AND THE MOST CONSERVATIVE DEMOCRAT LEFT STANDING IN THE DEMOCRAT PARTY ESSENTIALLY HAD 80% OF ALL THE APPROVAL. 

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Repairs around the Adobe Hut

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The Culprit after having body and soul restored
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   One can imagine a voice calling out at 23:00 hours, "Deivy, don Deivy", and at least taking some comfort in knowing that it is the "backdoor neighbour".    I stumbled to the door, knowing that the voice was Anastacio's and quickly inquired as to what I might offer to be of assistance....(that is the way things are phrased in this 'behind the times' locale).

     Anastacio then suggested that I might need to go check on the water heater in back of our place, because it was on fire.   Instantly, of course, I went through the house, and to the water heater, and sure enough, it was not totally engulfed in flames, but it did had a significant leak fire in the area of the thermostatic control.   The fire was coming out from the bottom of that apparatus, obviously from a small leak that had just occurred.   The flame was yellow, and not at all spewing like a flamethrower....but it did need attention.

     Our water heater has served relatively faithfully during the past 14 years....never failing during the times of client visitation, and only needing, on a couple of occasions, a change-out of ignitors.   El Gringo Viejo took advantage during his last couple of days of his stay down at our little hideaway of the slightly warm water in order to shower. This was done while he contemplated from whence to scrape up the money to buy a new water heater and just get it all over with.

     Alvaro returned a little earlier than was programmed a couple of days after the "Great Conflagration" and said that there was nothing serious.   I, of course, suggested that having an indisciplined fire fed by propane under pressure was, in fact, something most people would consider serious.   Later that same day, our neighbour, Rafael, came and Alvaro showed him the problem.   Anastasio came over to kibbitz a bit, as men often do, and they all seemed to agree that "....there is no problem."

     The next thing is that I receive a photograph sent from Rafael's I-pod, showing the newly renovated thermostatic control with its new ignitors, etc.    The "maestro" replaced the plastic face with a forged aluminum face,  replaced the priming thumb-plunger, replaced the temperature control dial, cleaned all the innards (removing several preserved moths that I had been keeping, just in case), tested it out, pronounced it whole, and then charged Rafael and Alvaro, apparently as best I can determine, three hundred (300) pesos.  That is right at sixteen - forty(16.40) Yankee dollars installed!

     So, of course, we are searching for a small claims attorney to see if we can arbitrate a better deal.  Just joshing, folks.

Thanks for all attention and time diverted in this direction.  More will follow later to-day.
El Gringo Viejo

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Something to Ponder from the Outpost in Extreme Central Texas - Internet Server Integrity?

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My Internet browser has a gizmo that shows the flag of the country hosting the website I’m currently viewing. Lately, many of the U.S. websites I visit display the tricolor flag of the Republic of Ireland. That means the servers that host the information I’m viewing — and the information those servers are gathering about me — are located on the Emerald Isle.

That’s very much by design. Ireland is in the European Union, where privacy rules are much stronger than in the so-called Land of the Free. Ever since Edward Snowden’s bombshell revelations about U.S. government spying on Internet users, big U.S. data companies such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Apple have transferred server capacity to places such as Ireland and Norway, out of reach of U.S. courts. That’s because they knew that both European and U.S. users would eventually realize that U.S. servers aren’t safe, and would stop doing business with them.

But the U.S. government seems to think its laws apply to everyone on the planet. For the last year, it’s sought a court order to force Microsoft to hand over private emails from a European customer accused of drug trafficking in the U.S. Microsoft has so far refused, arguing that the servers containing the emails are subject to Irish law. But Obama’s Department of Justice hasn’t backed down. It says that since Microsoft has control over the servers, it’s subject to U.S. law.

This is precisely why a courageous Austrian lad by the name of Max Schrems sued Facebook in the European Union Court of Justice, rightly claiming that the company’s inability to guarantee the privacy of his data from U.S. spies violated EU law. Even though Facebook’s servers were in Ireland, he argued, it was clear that the company was vulnerable to U.S. legal demands. Essentially, he argued that the “Safe Harbor” agreement between the U.S. and Europe was worthless, and now he has been proven right. 

The decision to invalidate Safe Harbor was long overdue. Everyone on both sides of the Atlantic knows that American companies can’t guarantee the safety of anyone’s data from U.S. government eavesdropping. Even worse, those companies aren’t allowed to tell customers when their information is accessed by U.S. law enforcement or spy agencies. In some cases, they aren’t even aware that Uncle Sam is doing so.

The ruling will be devastating for American data companies with operations in Europe. Absent a change in U.S. practices, their only hope is to set up legally separate companies with completely separate infrastructure in Europe — a highly expensive and complex proposition. Even then, it’s quite likely that European courts will hold that any connection at all between U.S. and European companies — say, common shareholding and boards of directors — will render them noncompliant with EU law. French courts have already made such rulings.

Congratulations, Uncle Sam. You’re destroying one of the central pillars of what’s left of the U.S. economy. 

Clearly, there are still countries that understand privacy is an essential right to be protected, not violated whenever it’s easier to do so — an idea that seems increasingly alien to the U.S.

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Please read Ed Klein's article to the end....very interesting about Hillary's emotional state....

Be First to Know. Hillary: The Comeback Kid? If you’ve been paying attention to the wall-to-wall media coverage of Hillary Clinton, you’d be excused for thinking she’s heading into next week’s Democratic debate as a badly wounded candidate whose quest for the presidency is doomed by her sinking polls numbers, e-mail scandal and upcoming grilling by the Benghazi committee. Think again. According to my sources, Hillary’s advisers are confident that next Tuesday’s debate will turn out to be her big night. They predict that the media will declare her the winner of the debate and portray her as the comeback kid. What’s more, they tell me that Hillary’s performance in the debate could very well mark the beginning of her unstoppable march to the Democratic nomination. In short, Hillary may be unlikeable (as I call her in my new book), but she is not unelectable. Is this just a lot of political spin on the part of Hillary’s handlers? Or are they justified in being optimistic? I think they may be on to something. To begin with, Hillary’s recent appearance on Saturday Night Live may be her last stab at trying to appear charming and likeable—a persona that has never fit her pugnacious personality. Since then, she has reverted to form and taken off the gloves. Over the past two weeks, she has slammed the Benghazi hearings as nothing more than a Republican instigated political witch-hunt aimed at suppressing her poll numbers. She’s bashed the Supreme Court and the National Rifle Association over the Second Amendment. She’s thumbed her nose at Barack Obama by coming out against one of the president’s major foreign-policy goals—the Trans-Pacific Partnership. And with her approval, her opposition research team has been collecting dirt on Vice President Joe Biden, which Hillary’s camp is prepared to release to the media if Biden enters the nominating race. “Hillary’s always at her most effective when her back is to the wall,” says one of her longtime political advisers. “After weeks of pounding and pummeling by the press, she’s mad as hell and isn’t going to take it any more.” Hillary rage has been on full display behind the scenes of her campaign. “Hillary’s been having screaming, child-like tantrums that have left staff members in tears and unable to work,” says a campaign aide. “She thought the nomination was hers for the asking, but her mounting problems have been getting to her and she’s become shrill and, at times, even violent.” In one incident, Hillary berated a low-level campaign worker for making a scheduling mistake. When the girl had the nerve to turn her back on Hillary and walk away, Hillary grabbed her arm and twisted it. Bill Clinton and Hillary’s campaign team are concerned that her anger may spin out of control in public. They have been trying to calm her down. They are concerned that she could have a serious meltdown in front of TV cameras, which would make her look so out of control that voters would decide she doesn’t have the temperament to be commander in chief. They also fear that she could work herself into a tizzy and have another fainting spell, which would instantly doom her candidacy. Their goal is to channel her anger and make her focus on Republicans, not on her campaign aides and fellow Democrats. “We’re having some success in giving her some chill pills,” says a campaign adviser. “She’s beginning to understand that she can use her righteous anger and indignation to good effect. After all, her anger is in keeping with the mood of the American electorate.” Sincerely, ED KLEIN   Edward Klein is one of America's most celebrated journalists and the author of several New York Times bestsellers including Blood Feud: The Clintons vs. The Obamas and The Amateur: Barack Obama in the White House. He previously served as Foreign Editor of Newsweek and Editor-in-Chief of The New York Times Magazine.

El Zorro speaks with more wisdom than: Obama, Democrats, United Nations, Euro-appeasers, (Sir Edmund) Hillary....choose one and all and/or many more.

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ISIS or ISIL?:

El Zorro contributes this excellent analysis:

Most of us have been wondering, or not, the reason Obama keeps referring to the current Islamic State to ISIL as opposed to the original Acronym ISIS which stands for “Islamic State of Iraq and Syria”.

ISIS, the acronym, stands for :Islamic State of Iraq and Syria”.  That is what the Al Qaeda in Iraq successors called themselves as they planted their black flag in Syria.

ISIL, the acronym, stands for Islamic “State of Iraq and Levant”.  Obama and his administration members carefully and consistently refer to this Islamic terrorist organization as ISIL.

The difference is between the last letter in the acronym, “Syria” and “Levant”.  We know where and what Syria is but most do not know of the Levant.  The Levant consists of a geographic area that includes states and area on the north from Jordan extending south to Egypt.  

The significance, as far as Obama is concerned, is that he does not want the U.S. to be involved in Syria specifically.  For that reason he is opposed to using ISIS.  Further, he has no love for Israel.  In that regard, Israel is approximately the geographic center of the Levant.  Obama is determined that the U.S. will be out of the region during his presidency and does not care at what cost politically, financially or at the expense of our stature in the World.  He will drag his feet all through the remainder of his occupation of the White House which will allow ISIS to grow to the boundaries of the Levant.   

The liberal media has mindlessly fallen for Obama’s devious conversion (ISIS to ISIL) with seemingly no understanding of his strategy.  Islam will ultimately succeed in crushing Israel if Obama is not exposed for this and all his other carefully chosen verbiage not to mention his lack of support for our Middle Eastern Allies, Jordan Israel Egypt, etc.  

Considering the fact that Vladimir Putin is supporting Syria’s government and apparently avoiding damage to ISIS/ISIL all of the European continent and Africa are at risk of becoming victims to a Russian Islamic coalition in the near future.  If that happens, the World will find out firsthand about Shar’ia.  That might sound far-fetched; however, look how far Islam has come, just since Obama was elected, and how far U.S. influence in the world has fallen.  We have almost lost our standing as a world power.  Our military has been substantially diminished by downsizing and its leadership has been compromised by Obama appointments.  Our allies no longer have confidence in us and are turning to Russia and China for financial and military support.  Americans are demoralized as Congress will not stop the president and the Courts support him.  The Constitution is being subverted by all three branches of government.

Islam will not stop at the Levant.  They want a world caliphate.  Whether intentionally or through ideology, Obama is complicit.  If his party and sympathizers are re-elected there will be little hope for our society.  If he cannot be neutralized for the rest of his term, the damage may not be repairable.  In any event, short term the U.S. needs conservative electoral success in 2016.  Long term, the Constitution has to be strengthened (Article V Convention of States) to prevent the kind of lawless destruction that has been wrought the last seven plus years.

J.R.Hathorn, Sergeant, USAF, Vietnam/ retired.......

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Why ''Levant"?

     Drawn from the latinate-based words in French and Spanish, levantar for example in Spanish, or "to lift, or to raise up"....it is somewhat related to the name "Lucifer".  That name means everything from Satan, Satan's son, to lamp-lighter....and it associated with the rising of the sun.   Levant came to mean 'the eastern lands' and to much of the known world well into the Christian era, the east of the Mediterranean Sea merited being known at "The East".   Marco Polo  and others ruined that concept, but the name continued.

    The French, British, Spanish, and others during the colonial times used the term to displace the names of the various tribes, nations, kingdoms, and assorted ethnic and racial groups in the area.   Why?  For the same reason people say, "....they were a bunch of Spanish people..." when in fact the people were Mexican.   Mexican was a dirty word to some, especially in the lower and uneducated classes. so they would subsitute Spanish for Mexican, in order, in their mind, not to offend.

     So, in order to follow diplomatic niceties, it was thought better to use the ancient trade word....Levant...for the people....by calling them Levantine.   So what the Arabs and Jews called the Mashrig (east lands) the rest of the world called Levant.   West in the Mediterranean scope in Arabic is Maghreb....and in Latin...Hispania (west lands).

     The "dirty name" frequently used for people from that area, even into the last century as Assyrian or even Syrian and frequently Jews were referred to, mistakenly, as Assyrians because it seemed to sound better to the speaker or writer than Jew, Hebrew, or Hebe.

     And speaking of Hebes, we have a President who hates Hebes, and will celebrate the day the ghouls of ISIS storm the tiny nation and invoke the wrath of Herod upon the babies, then the women and children, and then every non-compliant Ishmaelite, every Jew, every Christian, every agnostic, atheist, or other faith person....and then spread through the world until the sun will never set upon the beautiful call to worship song sung from the minaret by Obama's imam.  (his words, not mine)

El Gringo Viejo

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