Rebel yell?

The scene: Friendly's in Gettysburg, PA
The perp: dude in a baseball cap decorated with a Confederate flag and the word 'Rebel' across the front
The crime: he probably gets to vote, despite his manifest disdain for the national flag, and for the republic and constitution for which it stands

In Gettysburg, of all places. The re-enactors and fans in Confederate grey (or their Union blue) don't bother me at all. Perhaps they should, but it seems, well, historical. Ugly dude in the diner, though, not so much. I don't get to vote, since I'm a non-citizen. Fair enough. But I probably have more respect for the United States as a polity and an idea than he does. So if he wants to be a rebel, strip him of his rights as a citizen, and let him be a noisy bystander like me.

By the way, the chocolate mudslide ice cream is back, and it's tasty - particularly with hot fudge sauce.

Farewell, Mama Afrika

Miriam Makeba has left us, after an extraordinary life in music and politics. A rare soul.

At last

A president we can respect, and whom the world will respect. It's a new era.

Let's just hope the outgoing administration manages to keep its fly zipped until January - no war with Iran or Pakistan, no environmental rape, no extra corporate welfare.

Hope is now back in fashion.