Sweet Ol' Uncle Mahmoud...

What a nice man! He let the British sailors and Marines go home. Group hugs for Uncle Mahmoud!

You know, anybody who tells you that how the release happened doesn't matter - it's the fact that the Brits are home which counts - they're wrong.

It's the difference between your dog pissing on the rug and stopping because he doesn't have to piss anymore (for a while), and stopping because you caught him, hollered at him, and tossed him outside to piss.

One course of action taught your dog a valuable lesson that, if repeated as necessary, will lead to a good dog, piss-free rugs and general peace and harmony. The other course of action will lead to damp, pee-smelling rugs for the life of the dog.

Or until you decide to live without rugs.

I lack the energy to go on about this today, but people - the Iranians learned a lesson from this, and it's not a good one.

To return to the dog analogy...when I was a kid, we'd put our pets through an obediance class taught by a very smart lady who always opened each session by reminding us that "you can't teach nothing."

That's true - your actions or lack thereof always carry a message and provide guidance to your pet. You have to be aware of this, and remain mindful to send only the messages you want received.

The rhetorical, diplomatic and military actions of a nation or group of nations also are always communicating something. I do not care for what we are teaching Iran and its filthy little co-conspirators these days.