Enriche', Heidi, and Tatiana

Remember? Anyone? Yep, they were our neighbors in Huntsville, Texas. I remember them because Heidi would always let us just come in her house and give us drinks and stuff. They would let us cross thru their yard on the way to Kevin Hanselman's house. More importantly, that is where Nicholas came from! I KNOW everyone remembers our dog Nicholas. They moved back to Venezuala and gave him to us. At least that's how I remember it. I am not sure if they were legal or not. I think they were.

Anyway, I was at O'Donavan's Irish Pub last night watching my boss play in his band. They had their neighbor come too and she had a guest. He seemed like a pretty cool guy and had an accent. I asked him where he was from and he said Venezuela. He was a beer maker at a local brewery and had been living here for 7 years. He was friendly.

My point is these people are the only people I have ever met in my life that are from Venezuela. They are all very nice. But why is Venezuela so mean? I'll tell you.

Hugo Chavez!

For those that don't know why Venezuela is so important to the US, let me enlighten you. We import about 10% of our oil from there. Yep, 10%!

So what?

Well, Hugo Chavez (Venezuelan President) literally hates the United States. Not only that, but he likes and is allies with every other country that hates the United States. Communist countries. Top allies are Cuba, Iran, and China. Lately, he has been letting Chinese oil companies have more and more ground there. He is contemplating shortening the amount of exported oil to the US. He is rallying many South American countries to limit the amount of all kinds of products traded to the US. He supports Iran's nuclear program and many other anti-US programs.

See article: http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20060227419472.html

I guess sometimes in this international world, some of the nicest people you meet are from some parts of the world that are your worst enemies. Something to think about.