Things to Know - El Cinco de Mayo

(The Day Mexico marks the casting off of the French, and the day all the Gringo bars and U.S. Mexican restaurants make a killing at the till)

1.  It is fitting that this first entry explains the caption above.  It is a short history of what Cinco de Mayo meant to Mexico, as well as the United States:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/04/remember-remember-the-fifth-of-may/?pagemode=print

2.  Ayn Rand or Jesus Christ?   The proverbial fork in the road.   The Republicans make believe that they can take both paths.  They would like to all to believe that it is a given strategy.  It ain't going to work:

http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/155239

3.  It is probably necessary now and then to inject a link that tries to explain what the Federal Reserve does, and what is up and what is down with it.  Paul Krugman is a professor of Economics at Columbia, so consider this a preview to online education:

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/8891-the-rise-of-orwellian-economics?tmpl=component&print=1

4  This Truthout article lets you peek in on the trail of tainted money from Goldman Sachs, how it translates into political contributions, and how it supports activities that rip-off veterans trying to get an education:

http://truth-out.org/news/item/8885-goldman-sachs-political-contributions-tainted-by-money-from-swindled-veterans-and-other-misdeeds

5.   The Southern States are not winning any Blue Ribbons for Enlightenment.  The Florida governor is another embodiment of the mantra of the South -  Where Ignorance and Intolerance is an Enduring Tradition:

http://freakoutnation.com/2012/05/04/gov-rick-scott-r-tea-rejects-200-million-in-funding-throws-kids-health-care-under-the-bus/

6. This column is a letter of advice to the blind dissident, Chen Guangcheng, in China, and the one who is the focus of all the news lately.  It is from a former Chinese dissident of the Tianamen Square revolt, who suffered through the similar arrest, imprisonment, and family harassment, and who now resides in the United States:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/05/opinion/mr-chen-welcome-to-america.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

7.  Apparently Obama had a couple of girl friends in college before he met Michelle.   As expected, this has generated some interest, and apparently there are a couple of books about these friendships.  Gail Collins gives a preview:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/05/opinion/collins-obamas-wonderful-town.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

8.  Romney is not having a good show.  He hires a spokesman on foreign policy, and then tells him not to say anything about anything in an open session with the media.  He flipped and then flopped right in front of everyone:

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-kinsley-column-romney-firing-grennell-20120504,0,5542374,print.story

--
Juan

"We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run over." 
       -- Aneurin Bevan

"My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless there are three other people." 
       -- Orson Welles

"Underneath this flabby exterior is an enormous lack of character." 
       -- Oscar Levant

"Life is divided into the horrible and the miserable." 
       -- Woody Allen