Puerto Ricans served with distinction and in large numbers in Vietnam. My first two "unofficial" military teachers in NYC were two such veterans. One was a US Army Ranger who served back-to-back tours and the other was his older brother who was a US Army medic.

They told me lots of stories and provided me with lots of tips. Many of their tales I found hard to believe until I saw similar things when I deployed overseas many years later.

From Wiki:

"More Puerto Rican soldiers died in the Vietnam War than soldiers from any single US state, highlighting the significant contribution and sacrifice of Puerto Ricans in the conflict. This means that among all states, Puerto Rican soldiers had the highest casualty count in Vietnam."

And a four-star USN Admiral served during Vietnam:

"Admiral Horacio Rivero, Jr., the first Puerto Rican four-star Admiral in the United States Navy, oversaw the day-to-day work of the Navy as the Vice Chief of Naval Operations. He was a strong supporter of a "brown-water navy," or riverine force, on the rivers of South Vietnam."

**** Iowa Legislator Proposed "Don't Say Gay" Bill ***

"An Iowa House bill that would further prohibit discussion of LGBTQ topics in schools is advancing through the Legislature.

In 2023, a new Iowa law prohibited educators from teaching about gender identity and sexual orientations to kindergarten through sixth grade students. This new bill would do the same for seventh through 12th grade students."

~snip~

This awful bill was proposed by an awful person. Jesus-freak Rep. Skyler Wheeler also sought to criminalize IVF and he wants public school students to stand and sing the national anthem "at least once a day."

This gun-loving hatemonger sponsored a bill that would amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage "in accordance with the laws of nature and nature's God."

Phony Christians are destroying America and completely ignoring "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness."

**** House GOP Fast-Tracks Citizenship Proof To Vote Bill ****

"Republicans are moving quickly to pass a bill requiring voters to show proof of citizenship both to register and at the polls ahead of the 2026 midterm elections " a move that experts warn could disenfranchise millions of Americans.

Reactionary Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), the racist sponsor of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, bleated that House leadership would bring the proposal up for a vote next week.

The bill would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote, as well as requiring photographic identification that proves citizenship to cast a ballot. In most states, that means voters, even those who are already on the rolls, would need to bring a passport or original birth certificate to the polls. Only states with enhanced' driver licenses " Michigan, New York, Vermont, Minnesota and Washington " satisfy the SAVE America Act's heightened requirements " a REAL ID (used in most states) won't cut it."

~snip~

Good-for-no-one Chip Roy is running to succeed useless Texas AG Ken Paxton. This white supremacist called for a moratorium on all legal immigration to the US and he urged Dummkopf Trump to simply defy rulings by federal judges.

This is perfect. Indian-Americans in the Trumpf junta are called the "Samosa Caucus," (not including Kashyap Pramod Vinod Patel and Usha Bala Chilukuri Vance), and their ethnic rivals, the Sikhs, have formed an OMG in California. And last year Pakistan and India came to serious blows.

I'm going to enjoy a Vindaloo dish with Chana Masala and Biryani rice this weekend.

Why hasn't ICE deported this Canadian-Cuban migrant to El Salvador yet?

*** Howard Lutnick and Jeffrey Epstein Were in Business Together ***

"Good-for-nothing oligarch US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick lied when he said he had "limited interactions" with Jeffrey Epstein, but documents show they were in business together as recently as 2014.

Lutnick and Epstein each signed on behalf of limited liability companies that agreed on 28 Dec 2012 to acquire stakes in a now-shuttered advertising technology company called Adfin, documents released among the so-called Epstein files show.

Epstein and Lutnick's signatures appear on neighboring pages in the contract, with Epstein signing for his Southern Trust Company, Inc. and Lutnick for a limited liability company called CVAFH I. The documents list nine shareholders in total."

~snip~

Years ago some of my friends attended a synagogue on the Upper East Side, there are some large ones in that neighborhood, and now I'm wondering if Jeffrey Epstein made a lot of his connections through these congregants.

Virginia Giuffre doesn't mention any of the religions of the men who abused her, but the released files show that the vast majority (not all) of Epstein's clients were wealthy Jews.

Similarly, years ago arch goniff Bernie Madoff primarily victimized wealthy Jews in Manhattan and the "Gold Coast" (Great Neck, LI). I was acquainted with the AUSA who prosecuted him. And a PI friend of mine was asked by one of Bernie Madoff's sons to bodyguard him while he was on bond. My PI friend turned down that lucrative job, but was immediately hired by a Madoff victim to somehow find and recover her money.

Like Jeffrey Epstein, Bernie Madoff also lived on the Upper East Side, but I don't know which synagogue he frequented