When I turned seventeen, as part of having successfully finished my end of school exam, one of my uncle took me to Tunisia for a week of R&R. That same uncle had taken me to Senegal a few years earlier, and my encounter with an elephant foot was part of a What's For Dinner diary a few weeks ago.

Tunisia made a huge impact on me with its rich history, the constant explosions of colors, the sparkling Mediterranean sea, the ruins of Carthage and beyond Tunis, its capital, the road leading to the beautiful sea-side village of Sidi Bou Said lined with olive groves, citrus orchards and endless vineyards, its remarkable architecture, beige sun baked bricks set in geometric patterns, Moorish arches and high vaulted ceilings, the throngs of shops offering locally woven carpets, Berber jewelry and ornaments...and the smells, and the food, the glorious food!

Let me tell you about my North African adventure as seen through the eyes of an excitable youth with a ravenous appetite. I hope you will enjoy this Sunday diary, a nice break from my usual grim news diaries about food & water shortages.

According to the Washington Post story, Allen says he doesn't know what the word "Macaca" means. He actually wants us to believe that as he pointed to a person of color and used the French word for monkey, twice, that he doesn't know what it means.

Reached Monday evening, Allen said that the word had no derogatory meaning for him and that he was sorry. "I would never want to demean him as an individual. I do apologize if he's offended by that. That was no way the point." ... Asked what macaca means, Allen said: "I don't know what it means."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/14/AR2006081400589.html

AP Headline: Rumsfeld Seeks Military Ties With N.Africa

Algeria is that moderate-sized nation just across the Gibraltar straits from Spain. Morocco is that little bump just in the upper left corner of Algeria, and Tunisia is the speck between Algeria.....and....Libya. And next to Libya is Egypt. And under Egypt is the Sudan and Nigeria.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....No, Mr. Rumsfeld, the danger isn't in Algeria, Morocco or Tunisia.

Until we get our troops deployed there.

More here: http://simplyleftbehind.blogspot.com/...