France has had drama at the World Cup, just not during games. My wish for France to win the cup is gone. Matt Frei of BBC America had a French journalist on. His description was the hooligans are playing on the field instead of being the spectators. Two teams will be remembered. Whoever wins the cup and France.

La France a eu le drame à la Coupe du Monde, juste pas pendant les jeux. Mon désir de la France pour gagner la tasse est parti. Matt Frei de BBC l'Amérique avait un journaliste français sur. Sa description était les hooligans jouent sur le champ au lieu d'être les spectateurs. On se souviendra de deux équipes. Qui gagne la tasse et la France.

Today was the book signing of Thief Eyes by Janni Lee Simner. Bought the book and the signing was a lot of fun. The book has references to the Norse Sagas and is based in modern Iceland.
People who know me know my offbeat sense of humor and I couldn't keep it quiet today. It is like having a tick.
Janni felt bad about mispronouncing Icelandic names. I am sure they are accustomed to it. Janni did say there is a website where Icelanders post the ways their language is mangled.
Two silly things come to mind. The Swedish Chef in the Muppets. I fully expected The Swedish Chef to chase a chicken through the audience. Then there is John Cleese imitating Scandinavian accents. Another case of Monty Python ruining my life.
She said the volcano has been good for sales. One of the attendees said it best, what a marketing ploy. I posted before about it being like James Bond.
A fun time, glad I went.

Try multitasking with a cat who demands attention.

Now, thinking again of the World Cup, I am watching a show on the Police in South Africa and the shoot to kill policy. Ag shame!

The dark side of soccer, kids in West Africa being ripped off and sold a dream. I found it on a new documentary channel called Current.

A neighbor came by looking for a Maltese dog. It may have been taken by coyotes, who have become more prevalent and there is a hawk in the area.

Mon activité est mise, je serai à Paris du 12 juillet à 19ème. J'attends impatiemment de voir la ville et rencontrer peut-être les nouveaux gens. J'apprécierai regarder les parades le Jour Bastille.

My arrangements are set, I will be in Paris from July 12th to 19th. I look forward to seeing the city and possibly meeting new people. I will enjoy watching the parades on Bastille Day.

Vandalizing cars with Arizona license plates has been occurring because of the immigration bill. Hey, you get to know me and don't like me, fine, we can't all like each other and have the chemistry click. If you don't get to know me and hate me, that is another story. At this rate, I plan to travel with all sorts of Arizona stuff...

The story of Susi Baldwin begins for me in January, 1976, a cold January. It is the Bicentennial year and I am a college Freshman but still not really grown. I am still a wiseguy Brooklyn kid.
I board the train for the four hour ride to Washington, D.C. to go work for a program I was a high school student on called Close Up. I was what was called an Alumni Assistant. Close Up took high school students to Washington to teach them about the Federal government.
I was supposed to watch and learn...
Well my first piece of stupidity was going into the train car vestibule to smoke a cigarette. (Amtrak had many older coaches then from the railroads that owned them when they still had passenger service).
The conductor came to me and asked me to put the cigarette out. He was polite, I was not. Typical Brooklyn street punk asking, "Yeah, ya gonna make me?" The conductor was middle aged and smaller than me. Obnoxious, right?
He just looked up at me, patted his radio and said, "I can call the Delaware State Police." I decided to put the cigarette out, as telling my parents I only made it as far as the State Police barracks in Newark, Delaware would be a bad thing. I was supposed to be gone for a month, that was not supposed to be spent in jail.
I got to Washington and showed up to the Hilton Towers where I was assigned in NW DC. I had already met my first boss Karen Spencer. I now had my destiny, with my second boss, Susi Baldwin. Before I continue, to learn more about Susi before I met her, read Victor Rivas Rivers', A Private Family Matter.
There is stupid me, (I can be a slow learner), Mets cap, cigarette dangling out of my mouth and a wiseguy Brooklyn face. She just took one look at me and the look said, "I have your number."
To be continued.

From Babylon to Baghdad. This was on History International, several millenia of the Tigris Euphrates region. The common element? The Middle East equivalent of a barroom brawl. Then again, the entire Middle East is varying degrees of a barroom brawl, without the alcohol. Don't hold your breath for peace and democracy in Iraq. After all, there are millenia of bad precedent.

Poet Robert Frost said, "Good Fences Make Good Neighbors." You can have no fence, a fence you can hop over, a fence you can lean on and chat or a fence that blocks the view of your property and is secure. Would you let a trespasser just walk on your property with impunity? Time Magazine had an article about the Arizona border this week. A rancher was murdered on his border ranch in Douglas. Another rancher said his home has been broken into eighteen times. I sat down and read Arizona's immigration bill, SB 1070. I certainly understand the rationale behind it, though I see enough loopholes where police profiling can happen or a citizens group can do it. On the other hand, the border is a frontier. If this were your home, you would protect it. Well it is our home. Will the tall fence make us better neighbors? I see the Federal government doing only token things. If you think I am vacillating in some places, it is because this is not a black and white issue.

It's World Cup time. Soccer really does bring the world together and I am looking forward. Let the games begin!

Shock tonight, my niece Aimee Kibbe was on BBC America news.

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