Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Present Day Watergate

It was 44 years ago tonight, January 30, that Richard M. Nixon delivered a State of the Union address and said, referring to investigations into possible political wrongdoing..

"I believe the time has come to bring that investigation and the other investigations of this matter to an end.  One year of Watergate is enough!"

Does that sound familiar?  It should!

Replace "Watergate" with the word "Russia" and what do you have?

Mr. Nixon also famously said, "I am not a crook!"


Thursday, January 18, 2018

Throwback

This is kind of a throwback.   A week ago some of us were in Havana, Cuba - going for a ride in vehicles we remembered from our growing-up days, and visiting the island 90 miles from our mainland - than few Americans visit these days (and there will be fewer if that man with the yellow hair has his way).

This photograph was taken at Revolution Square, the same spot where Fidel Castro was known to make 10 hour speeches - sometimes in the heat of the day - and the plaza would be filled with the faithful.

On the day we were there, the day this photo was taken, there were lots of vehicles that we remembered, and lots of new Chinese tour busses - all bringing tourists.

What a blast from the past!



I'm behind the wheel, and the other co-conspirators on the trip, left to right, Jim Baca, Connie Beimer, yours truly, Ed Mahr, Joline Mahr and Bobbi Baca.

(I didn't get to drive the car, just pose for the picture!)

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Havana

Asi es Cuba!   So is Cuba!

That was the phrase that resonated during a recent visit to that island nation.  In the coming days I'll post a few pictures and tell a few stories about the visit.

For today, 2 pictures taken from the deck of our cruise ship.

This first shot is of the skyline.  Notice there are 4 large construction cranes in operation over that part of the city that is called New Havana.

How many cranes in operation have you counted around Albuquerque, lately?

Perhaps more telling of what can be seen, this is the opposite side of the ship.  The water in the bay was shimmering from oil, grease and gasoline.  The roof of the terminal (uh, the former roof of the terminal) was indicative of many sights.
And, notice in the background, golden domes atop a relatively newly constructed Russian Orthodox Church.


Oh, the tour busses we traveled in were not even a year old, made in China.  I don't know if it's the same company that's making the ART busses for Albuquerque.









Monday, January 15, 2018

MLK Standing Watch

Our employee at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue should be forced to go stand in front of this for a while.  Awesome, even on a cool day in November when we visited.