Gunmen Kill 17, Wound 18 in Mexico Party Massacre

Gunmen stormed a party in northern Mexico on Sunday and massacred 17 people, authorities said.The assailants arrived at the gathering in the city of Torreon in several cars and opened fire without saying a word, the Coahuila state Attorney General's Office said in statement. At least 18 people were wounded.

In the worst such massacre this year, gunmen raided a drug-rehab center in the northern city of Chihuahua and killed 19 people last month.

In January, gunmen barged into a private party in the border city of Ciudad Juarez and killed 15, many of them high school or university students. Relatives say the January attack was a case of mistaken identity, while state officials claim someone at the party was targeted, although they have not said who it was.

The killings in Torreon came three days after the first successful car bombing by drug cartels, an attack that introduced a new threat to Mexico's raging drug war.

In May, gunmen killed eight people at a bar in Torreon. Later that month, a television station and the offices of a local newspaper came under fire. A pregnant woman was wounded in the attack on the offices of Noticias de El Sol de la Laguna.

If we don’t stop this invasion now, by next year the headlines will read “Gunmen Kill 17, Wound 18 in Tucson Party Massacre” or “Gunmen Kill 17, Wound 18 in Phoenix Party Massacre”. People worry about possible profiling because of 1070, wait till the shooting starts. Then it won’t be profiling, it will be war, and innocent people will be dead, not inconvenienced, because the feds didn’t do their job.

NAACP Resolution Calls on Tea Party to Repudiate 'Racist Elements' in Movement

Same ol same ol. If you can’t win an argument on its merits call names. The NAACP has been using the same line for anyone who disagrees with its politics “racists” for so long that I can’t imagine why anyone would even listen. If the person is white he is a “racist” if black he is an “Uncle Tom”. Can’t we all just agree to disagree?

Thoughts on “The Trip”

It lasted 23 days and covered over 6,000 miles in 9 states. The Nomad ran flawlessly and stayed at about 40 mpg (but much better if I kept the speeds down …. not often). The bike is comfortable but even at a 60 mph average that is still 100 hours of saddle time in those 3 weeks. Several of those days were 600 – 700 mile days that required 12 hours of seat time. Vicki wouldn’t use the word “comfortable”.

The weather was phenomenal. Last time we did an extensive road trip we were rained on in 15 states, every one we touched. This time it was windy but very little rain. Only in Glacier Park, Montana and the Omaha Zoo did it amount to anything more than a few drops. Everywhere we went people said that we had just missed horrible weather. We counted it up and found that our sweat glands were only used on 3 days of the trip, a stretch in New Mexico, cutting across Nevada/California, and entering Arizona (not leaving) at Needles (Hell), and the drop off before and after Sunset Point, 50 miles from Phoenix, at 6 – 7 pm.

Seeing the beautiful states we passed through was great. Visiting those who let us stay with them and show off their states was fun and awesome. The history and feel of Santa Fe was exceptional. I spoke with a construction superintendant working on the restoration of the oldest structure in North America, a Catholic Church. He explained that the reconstructed stucco bricks were being made from the ground around the church because that is where the remains of the originals lay. And there were way more missions and churches than we could even drive by just in the Santa Fe area.

In Denver we stayed with Troy, Megan and Reese. The most memorable outing there was a trip to a little town in the Rockies where there were maybe 50 – 100 groups competing in a barbeque cook-off. OMG, a person would have had to stay a week just to sample it all!

At Omaha we stayed with Dick and Jan (not Jane). The visit included a lot of time with Josh, Lacy, Ewan, and Liam. The trip to the Omaha Zoo was amazing. It ranks up there with the one at San Diego, it may even be better. Lacy, Ewan and I got a really good view of the rhinos on the lift that spanned the park. Lacy and Josh took us to where she works, Boy’s Town, a very impressive place.

In Montana we stayed with Jeff, a teaching and riding buddy, and his parents, John and Patsy. Jeff’s work as our tour guide through a large part of the state “forced” him to rent a top-of-the-line Harley (he left his regular bike in Glendale). We went through Glacier Park and a huge number of valleys, towns, and huge open spaces. In fact, so many that Vicki took 2 full days off of riding and missed all the scenery to supervise a construction crew. Surprisingly she didn’t complain at all.

The final few days we spent with Mel and Jerri in a beach town, Cambria, Ca. It was like being in another world. At least half the day the sun was obscured by low clouds or fog and the area was populated with deer, turkey, and other game animal that had never been hunted. It was quiet and totally restful, unless you wanted to venture out to wine tasting rooms on the sunny side of the hill (Paso Robles) that are as numerous as Baptist churches in Alabama. We drove to the town to eat, watch huge seals (5000 lbs), and even get a glimpse of the Hearst Castle. We’d go back!

Thank all of you who made it possible. What an absolutely great trip!