Belize

The trip to Belize was everything we could have hoped for. A few days rest and plenty of time to clear our heads in an attempt to restore focus. For the Raptor Space, I debated on the type of entry to write. I'm not afforded the most time now, however, I have my doubts if I will return to writing any further expansive entries on the subject.

We landed in stunning Belize City (sarcasm) on the afternoon of Wednesday the 20th. From there, we cabbed it to a water taxi for a 30-45 minute fast boat ride to Caye Caulker. (Caye is pronounced as key.) For the first few nights, we stayed at Ignacio's beachside cabins, our proprietor Reuben Reyes. I might toss a couple of photos up, but it was nicer in description than in person. I won't waste time enumerating the problems, rather I'll allow the adjective "spartan" to describe the "rustic" lodging. That being said, accommodations weren't the justification for the trip. We wanted distance and a certain solemn tranquility, and that was precisely what Funky Reuben's Rumpus Rooms delivered. A fresh breeze almost always blew in from the ocean and the lapping tide and birds offered the majority of the ambient noise. For four days, we relaxed in the quiet, and departed Ignacio's with restorative clarity.

After Reuben's, we stayed closer to the center of town at Tina's Backpacker. It was the right move and it contributed a bit more social interactions to our lodging. Tina's is a standard hostile that is largely unremarkable outside of the palapa and vibe garden for reading and journal writing. No, I didn't fabricate the name vibe garden.

We took two day trips--snorkeling and cave tubing--and a couple of hours in San Pedro on bikes. The heat and humidity on San Pedro ended our hopes of a full day of biking on the north island. A short ride left me a sweaty, somewhat delirious mess. Nevertheless, we thoroughly enjoyed a full day of snorkeling and cave tubing.

Ragamuffin tours, like many guides on Caye Caulker, offers a three stop snorkeling trip (including the Hol Chan park) with lunch, fruit, and conch ceviche and rum punch for the ride home at a reasonable cost. Rather than waste time with hyperbolic descriptions of coral and fish, snorkeling and the rich array of marine life was stunning. Our first stop was at a location known for manatees near the reef outside of Caulker. To our delight, we swam with a manatee for a short distance. Kate and I joked about the noble sea cow on the way down, and we discovered that it was a quick and fascinating creature. Outside of seeing two sea turtles and petting a sting ray at subsequent stops, the manatee was the highlight. We sailed back into Caulker drinking rum punch and nibbling on ceviche, serenaded by various reggae artists and one of our guides. If I was in the business of extracting a representative moment from the trip, the snorkeling day was probably our best single day. Kate was burned a bit, and my scalp was tender, but we didn't hop off the boat with lobster burns. If you know my skin tone, that's no mean feat for me and required a fair amount of sun block.

Cave tubing was exactly it sounds. We floated along a river that wound through a cave. We nearly missed our ride, but the owner of the company, Yoni, drove back, speedily I may add, to pick us up and shuttle us to their large palapa. From their, our guide, Elvin, drove us into the park and walked us through a short jungle hike. The river's cool and quick waters were a tonic to an already warm day. We glided along various stalactite and stalagmite formations rendered into familiar figures by the dark or, possibly, human hands. Next to snorkeling, this was one of the enjoyable excursions from the island and of the trip at large. It was brief, and the rocks at shallow levels distracting, but still relaxing and the distraction we needed.

The remaineder of our time was allocated to reading on a hammock or hanging out at the public beach at the Split. The Split and the beach itself resulted from two hurricanes which effectively divided Caye Caulker into two islands. Nothing more than a spit of a beach, but it offered ample shade under palm trees and was conveniently located near the Lazy Lizard bar ("A sunny place for shady people"--truer words haven't been spoken) and refreshing swimming. So, for me, it was ideal: beer at hand (Belikin) and the opportunity to swim a few feet away from my sun block lathered body.

The dining was the most disappointing aspect. In fact, the best meals we ate were located off of Front Street and were affordable. Unfortunately, we didn't discover some of those until the trip was essentially completed. Besides mediocre flavor and cooking, it was overpriced and our budget grew. Our Lonely Planet Belize didn't note the price as fully as we thought it could have, and our expectations of the book's accuracy were misplaced.

As of now, I think that's the best I can offer as written summations go and this is long enough. In fact, I doubt anyone continued reading up to this point. We got a bit antsy to return on the second to last day, but I think that was representative of the positive nature of the trip. We wanted to return and get back to our lives here, no matter their unexpected and apprehensive states. Flying back to the US is always a positive experience, and I enjoy the greeting "welcome home" or "welcome back" at immigration.

One more note, the design of DFW's D Terminal and Immigration/Customs shocked us. It was clean, bright, spacious (it is Texas, after all), contained numerous dining options (ABP to Ben and Jerry's), and was a pleasant transition point.

GOP strategists fear the tone of rhetoric on the Sotomayor attacks.

Keep it up, there's nothing like insulting the fastest growing electorate. A few reasonable Republicans, especially Cornyn, are seeking distance from the rhetorical flourishes of Rush, Newt, Pat Buchanan, Wendy Long, G. Gordon Liddy, and Tom Tancredo, but Cornyn isn't the loudest voice even if all signs point to slander as a poor policy direction, as the LAT points out. I won't touch Michael Steele's "slamming and ramming" Sotomayor with the transparent sexual connotations.

My time is divided between a longer post on our Belize trip and a couple of other tasks, so this is a short one without much elaboration.

Gillette shows you how you to shave your naughty bits.

"trimming the bush to make the tree look taller." Gillette steps in with the comedy.

The Dixie Kitchen, a Hyde Park staple, to close on June 7.

The Dixie Kitchen is set to close on June 7 after the University of Chicago decided to close the quintessential Hyde Park eatery. U Chicago bought the lease last year, and has decided to replace the Dixie Kitchen and surrounding buildings with a modern retail center.

Ronald Takaki, 70, dies.

One of the fathers of ethnic studies took his life today after battling MS for almost two decades. Long a professor at Cal, Takaki's works commonly appeared in undergraduate history classes and graduate student reading lists.

Mancow Waterboarded and Declares it Worse than Drowning.

A decade or so ago, I listened to Mancow. I often forget that he's on the air. I think he's a blowhard jackass but I'm impressed with his willingness to undergo waterboarding. The video tells it all, and it's pretty good to hear his take on the process as he unequivocally declares the practice torture.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Conservatives shuffle for ways to block Sotomayor.

Today's LAT includes a small bit--"GOP Looks for Alternate Routes to Block Sotomayor's Path"--on how conservative groups are sifting through legal opinions in hopes of exploiting juicy wedge issues. At root of this dream will be a major issue that will provide the GOP with a logical core to define themselves and boost their image in prep for next year. Of course, the Bush administration's clear meddling in judicial appointment for political and ideological reasons should remove the hackneyed "activist judges" from the discourse, but it's doubtful that Republicans will abandon their traditional shibboleth.

CNN was blasting on most TVs at the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport last night, and the ticker contained the headline "Sotomayor: Racist Rush, Gingrich" attack Sotomayor. Sure, it's politically advantageous to insult the fastest growing electoral block. If that was an accurate quote from Rush--and I'm not sure it was--it further reveals the GOP's obliviousness, despite what Alex Castellanos spouts from his mouth hole.

More later on Belize and leaving the department as I catch up on other tasks.

Update, it's now clear that Newty lead the way by calling Sotomayor a racist on twitter while at Auschwitz. He's certainly ramping up his push for the 2012 presidential nominee. And, of course, Rush also called her a racist.