Sunday, November 09, 2008

Let's go to Palau

If votes in the United Nations serve as a gauge of global opinion, 98.9 percent of the world opposes the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba, a measure imposed 46 years ago to isolate the communist-ruled island and bring down its leaders.

It failed on both counts. As far as international opinion is concerned, the country that is isolated is the United States, not Cuba. In the latest of 17 successive U.N. General Assembly resolutions on lifting the embargo, Washington mustered only two allies — Israel and Palau, a Pacific island nation difficult to find on a map. It has a population of 21,000.

Sounds good to me. They even have a Community College there.

10 comments:

Arelcao Akleos said...

Hmmmm... it does sound far better than Pitcairn. Even if Pitcairn's Famous One Room University is probably more immune to faculty takeover by Pepe Planeteers.
Bet the women are of rather higher grade, also.
Now, what sort of need for gardeners do they have there?

Tecumseh said...

Note that Palau was discovered by Ruy López de Villalobos (no connection with the chess opening, I guess). After all his efforts, the poor man was done in by the dastardly Portuguese:

He and his crew members then made their way to the islands of Samar and Leyte, where he named them Las Islas Felipinas (The Philippine Islands) in honour of Philip II. Driven away by hostile natives, hunger and a shipwreck, López de Villalobos was forced to abandon his settlements in the islands, and the expedition. He and his crewmembers sought refuge in the Moluccas, where they quarrelled with the Portuguese, who imprisoned them. Ruy López de Villalobos died on April 4 in his prison cell on the island of Amboyna.

Gotta atone for that. As for gardening, you can try planting mustard seeds with Cita Morei.

Arelcao Akleos said...

Villalobos, that Spanish Dog? The cur deserved his end. This is definitely a strike against Palau. What does it offer besides a community college and mustard seeds?

Tecumseh said...

The fond memories of Ruy Lopez. And the balmy skies and warm waters of the mid-Pacific. Hey, man, what else do you want? We can try starting a competing mini-Harvard, eh? If that doesn't work, at least an Au Bon Pain.

Arelcao Akleos said...

You sold me at "Au Bon Pain'. As for a "mini-Harvard', can we try a "mini-CalTech" instead?

Arelcao Akleos said...

Balmy skies and warm waters do sound good. Might even be able to be reconciled to the occasional glimpse of the statues honoring that Spanish Dog, Villalobos.

Tecumseh said...

Here is more on Villalobos, and his dealings with the devious português.

Arelcao Akleos said...

Hey, thanks for the article AI. My ancestors, most unfortunately, were not sufficiently devious with the Dogs of Spain. Just look at the divvying up of A Terra Nova which left the Spaniards in command of all the heights in the Americas. Papal Bull alright.
Why, if but for that it could be portuguese speaking illegals now voting for Obama--instead of spanish speaking curs voting for Obama.
Woulda changed history, I tell ya.

Tecumseh said...

Portugal is smaller than Spain, so it stands to reason that the Portuguese would have grabbed a smaller chunck of the Americas than the Spaniards. The proportionality principle, eh?

Mr roT said...

Portuguese can't cook. It's a good thing the Pope bullied them out of the good stuff and left them only with the Brazil they turned into a commie AIDSocracy.

He should have given them just the goddam Azores, IMO.

You put the chouric,o in the wrong dish and that's what you get. Salt cod in the back of lhao, indeed.