Have any of you guys read the Charter of the Organization of American States?

The reason I ask is that, being a glutton for punishment, I read it and saw:

Article 13

The political existence of the State is independent of recognition by other States. Even before being recognized, the State has the right to defend its integrity and independence, to provide for its preservation and prosperity, and consequently to organize itself as it sees fit, to legislate concerning its interests, to administer its services, and to determine the jurisdiction and competence of its courts. The exercise of these rights is limited only by the exercise of the rights of other States in accordance with international law.

This seems to be saying that a country gets to pass its own constitution, and have that constitution interpreted by its own courts, as long as it does not mess with other countries.

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Results from the official Tour site.

Mark Cavendish [GB] continues his winning ways with another stage win, and keeps the green jersey, but he is at 142 overall.

The overall leaders have shifted: Fabian Cancellara [CH], Tony Martin [D], Lance Armstrong [US], Alberto Contador [E], Bradley Wiggens [GB]. Cadel Evans of Australia is in 8th place.

There is nothing surprising about winning the Tour without winning a stage. The stage winners tend to be specialists, while the yellow jersey goes to the best overall cyclist.

According to The Book of Answers the only weapon that worked against the Rabbit of Caerbannog was the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch:

And the Lord spake, saying, ‘First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then, shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, nor either count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it.’

Much more effective than the Jon Boat Paddle of Plains.

Trying to figure out what was going on in Honduras has been a slog that required exercising my Baja Spanish and Google translate to strain information from the Constitución de la República de Honduras. After poring over it one thing became abundantly clear: the job of President is one term.

Trying to alter that is treason according to Article 4. Doing anything to aid or abet, directly or indirectly, any attempt to alter that costs you your civil rights according to Article 42, section 5. The term limit can not be altered by any means according to Article 374. The two Honduran lawyers stated flatly that if a President starts a process to alter the term limit he/she is instantly out of office according to Article 239.

The number of the term shall be one, no more, no less. One is the number of the terms, and the number of terms shall be one…

At the end of the slog, I got the definite impression that the constitution is really, honestly, unequivocally telling anyone who looks at it: DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, TRY TO CHANGE THE NUMBER OF TERMS FOR A PRESIDENT!!!

Of course, if you’re a wealthy ne’er-do-well playing cowboy, constitutions are just another piece of paper.