Chapter Ten: VERA CRUZ

Chapter Ten: VERA CRUZ

Malinali and Bernal returned to the camp to find all the Spaniards assembled in front of Cortez’s tent, talking loudly and arguing amongst themselves. In response to Malinali’s questioning glance, Bernal smiled. “Ah, the Captain’s trap is being sprung.”

Taking her aside, he explained. “Remember that I told you my cousin, Don Diego Velasquez, was governor of Cuba? The truth is that he is a greedy fat man who has many friends and many enemies – and our soldiers here are made up of both. Those who are friends of Velasquez want to return to their (more…)

AFGHAN POPPIES UPDATE

Two years ago, in Afghan Poppies: What The Bush White House Should Really Be Afraid Of, I told you about CIA collusion and incompetence regarding opium production in Afghanistan.

That was in 2003. Since then, Afghanistan’s poppy crop has exploded. According to Robert Charles, in his capacity as chief counternarcotics official at the State Department, the poppy crop went from 152,000 acres in 2003 to 515,000 acres in 2004 – producing $7 billion in opium and heroin money.

This money is financing Al Qaeda, Abu Musab al Zarqawi in Iraq, and international Moslem terrorism – yet the CIA is (more…)

BURIDAN’S ASS IN GERMANY

Jean Buridan (1300-1358) was a 14th century medieval French philosopher famous for his paradox known as Buridan’s Ass. If a perfectly rational ass or donkey were placed exactly equidistant between two bales of hay exactly the same, there would be no reason to choose one over the other – and given no reason to choose, the ass would be unable to do so and starve to death.

Buridan meant for his thought experiment to demonstrate the irrational barrenness of pure reason and the superiority of emotion to rationality. How medieval.

Yet it is just the position of Buridan’s Ass that (more…)

WHAT’S WRONG WITH W?

“Jack, what’s wrong with W? It seems he has a serious deficit of energy and strength. Maybe it’s just me, but he doesn’t seem right, and hasn’t for some months. I’m worried.”

This inquiry by TTPer Paul Rosenberg is typical of many I’ve been receiving. It’s obvious to Paul and lots of others that the Bush Presidency is running out of steam. The deficit in question is not, however, physical – as anyone who tries to keep up with W on a mountain bike at the Crawford Ranch can attest – it’s mental.

Which means neurochemical.

George W. Bush is (more…)

KATRINA SHOULD CAUSE LESS GOVERNMENT, NOT MORE

Assume you were a regular blood donor but had an accident in which you lost a considerable amount of blood. Do you think you should increase or decrease the size and frequency of your blood donations until you recover?

Though most politicians are smart enough to answer, “decrease the blood donations,” many seem not smart enough to understand that, when you take an economic hit, you don’t want to unnecessarily add burdens to the economy.

I refer to the call from some politicians to increase taxes or not extend President Bush’s tax cuts to “pay” for Katrina. (Note: Not making (more…)

Chapter Nine: MALINALI’S PRAYER

Chapter Nine: Malinali’s Prayer

When Malinali finished her story, Cortez spoke to her directly. She had learned enough Spanish to mostly understand him.

“Doña Marina, you know now that I am a man, and not this Mesheeka god, yes?”

She nodded.

“Yet the Mesheeka king does not think I am a man just like him – he believes instead that I could actually be one of his gods?”

She nodded again.

Cortez crossed himself. He looked at Aguilar. “These Mesheeka are stranger and more evil than I thought possible, Jeronimo. Their religion is the worship of Satan himself, the gods (more…)

BENEDICT SHOULDN’T SURPRISE YOU

This week, the Catholic World News leaked word of an “Instruction” to be issued by the Vatican next month banning the admission of homosexuals to Catholic seminaries. This will come as no surprise to you, as you learned in To The Point last April this was coming in The De-Homosexualization of the Catholic Church .

Approved by Pope Benedict XVI three weeks ago, the Instruction argues that: “homosexual men should not be admitted to seminaries even if they are celibate, because their condition suggests a serious personality disorder which detracts from their ability to serve” the Church.

The liberal (more…)

MOSLEM HATE CRIMES

This past Sunday, September 11, Palestinian mobs torched and destroyed four synagogues left behind by Israel in the evacuated Gaza strip. The Palestinian Authority (PA) police did nothing to intervene, while the PA President – Mahmoud Abbas (aka Abu Mazen) – justified the violence as the people “expressing their emotions.”

The torching of houses of worship, just like the lootings, beatings and home burnings carried out against a Christian Arab town near Ramallah at the beginning of this month by Palestinians shouting “Allahhu Akbar” (God is Great) as the PA police stood by, bode ill for peace in the Middle (more…)