Two birthdays down...Nancy, May 7, see photos. Dean, yesterday, June 23, see photos. Next month, July 20, Natalie. Dean and his twin brother, Dan, were born in the Government Hospital in Kaduna, Nigeria. Nancy and Natalie were born 14 months apart in the SIM Hospital in Jos, Nigeria. All are American citizens by virtue of being born of American citizens overseas.

We arrived in Azle, Texas, on Sunday, June 6, 2010. Shane had been born Friday, June 4. Grandmother Natalie had already arrived from Ohio and was with Alesha and Nathan at the time of the birth. Our trip to Texas--where we also visited Jerry & Doris Hall in Longview--was especially to see and hold our first great grandchild. Our course many people are much younger than we are when their first great grandchildren arrive. Shane and his parents are all doing well. In case the location of Azle is a mystery to you, find Ft. Worth on your Texas map. Look to the northwest suburbs. You'll find the metropolis of Azle. Now, go just a bit north and you'll find Pelican Bay. That actually is where the Vines family live.
Just how well the family is doing...Sunday evening we all went out for a splendid Mexican meal in Azle.

This morning while driving to the Post Office I was listening to our local talk radio program. Glenn Beck and his would be humorous sidekick were wise-cracking about something President Obama had said about Zanzibar. Neither of these guys had a clue as to where it is and their asinine conversation eventually led to a discussion about countries in Africa that simply displayed their ignorance and a totally dismissive attitude of that continent. I have increasingly tired of Glenn Beck as a serious and credible interpreter of current events and today led me to wonder if he is as ignorant of everything else as he is of Africa? Of course anyone who has seen his evening TV program cannot help but be impressed by the vast store of knowledge he seems to have mastered night by night. It is well to remember, however, that all of these political pundits have a vast and well-paid research staff and I speak of both the left and the right. The truth is very hard to discern. Truth is a fixed matter but even when we hear, and it is seldom that we do, both sides presented factually and objectively, it is still hard to come to a conclusion that "now I've got it...this is what it is." The BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is an example. Prevailing opinion--both left and right--is that BP is definitely the culprit. The US Congress and Administration is using the terrible situation (and there is universal agreement that it is a terrible situation) for political theater. Has anyone given any thought to the fact that BP operates in this instance in Federally controlled waters, that no drilling of any sort (where of the cost cutting careless kind of not) is done without the express approval of the US Government? This line of reasoning is not to exonerate BP; heaven forbid. If indeed the did cut corners, they ARE to be blamed. However, if the Federal government had been doing its job such corner cutting would have been prohibited in the first instance. What think you?