When flying to Vietnam - can you find it? - you must have a visa issued by Vietnam via an approved travel agency or the Vietnamese consulate in San Francisco. The max stay is 3 months @ $180. Of course you can get a 1-month visa for $90.  Naturally, Vietnam is very keen on tourism and the prices are going up. A very good hotel room 2 years ago was @ $40 per night. Now it's about $60, or 1,200,000 VND (Vietnam dong) per night. Some luxury hotels start at about $180 per night.
With so many people flying to Vietnam, air fares are competitive in a broad gamut depending upon when you fly, how much advance, etc. Coach anywhere from $800 to $2500 round trip and business class $2500 to $5000 one way or double for round trips. More later. Seeya.

Ran into a fellow veteran at the supermarket who was drafted out of college in 1970. We chatted about our experiences in the Nam. He later sent me a few pictures via email, one of which was LBJ, no, not the president but of the Long Binh Jail better known as LBJ. It was a stockade in the Long Binh army post, the largest US Army post in the world at the time. You didn't want to be incarcerated there. It was full of hardened druggies and criminals and it went on your dreaded "permanent record."

Those GIs in the Central Highlands of Vietnam during the American war, who might have been hospitalized in the military hospital in Quy Nhon or went to the PX, may recognize the spur on the slope leading to the peak of Vung Chua. Now at its base is a shopping center  of small stores, a supermarket, and food stalls created by a UK investment firm. It's a step tnto modernization, but the downtown had some stores close because of it.

Through September into November, Mount Mercy University sponsored a study series about the American war in Vietnam.  This one involved a panel discussion of American and Vietnamese veterans. The naval officer in the white uniform related how he and his family (his American-born son on extreme left  is an MMU chemistry professor) endured a harrowing escape on an over-crowded boat and were picked up by Americans in the South China Sea. The gentleman on the right told a fascinating story of how he was forced into a re-education camp by the North Vietnamese after the South's defeat in April 1975. They built barracks a did hard labor. His name is Phong Nguyen and he was held for eight years after his captors told him it would be a few weeks. According to Mr. Nguyen, there was no rhyme or reason as to the lengths of time he and others were held, but one day in his eighth year he was told he could return to his village for two years probation. During that time, he was spied on by his neighbors. He applied for a visa later and was able to leave Vietnam for the United States, of which he is now a US citizen.

Balmy night, big crowd of 2000. Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) waxed eloquent for an hour, mostly extemporaneously, on sundry topics, including oligarchy of wealthy few who practice the golden rule: THOSE WHO HAVE THE GOLD MAKE THE RULES. But seriously, he is for unions to protect rights of workers. Bring the jobs back from China,  Mexico, etc. Against propensity of right wingers who like to go to war with other peoples' children. We have more people in prison than any country in the world, yet criminals of Wall Street are not charged, although the US Department of Justice announced a division to monitor under-the-table brokers for possible criminal activity. Also, today, Sanders passed up H. Clinton in the Iowa polls for the first time. Strive!

We must get a handle on gun control. Ninety percent of Americans are in favor of some degree of limitations on the unbridled access to equipment associated with gun violence, such as large-capacity magazines and assault rifles. Without it, many children at Sandy Hook would still be alive after that mentally imbalanced youth committed his heinous act. Speaking of  mental health, that is the stock answer of the National Rifle Association whenever one of these many incidents of gun-toting mass murderers hits the news. They focus on treating mental illness and identifying  violence-prone people before they have a meltdown. They indict American society for failing to do so.. It's a distraction. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Is providing weapons to psychologically troubled people a crazy idea? That's the NRA.

Is this a great country, or what? The Supreme Court has ruled foolishly, as time will prove, that the concept of free speech is the basis for allowing money of corporations and wealthy individuals to corrupt elections. This should be a no-brainer. Corporations by definition are not individuals, the Supreme Court's decision notwithstanding. That law of the land allows management to speak for all of its employees in making political decisions by supporting candidates it chooses to support. Now the McCutcheon case allows deep-pocket individuals the right to influence elections that are not in the their jurisdiction. In other words a Georgia resident can influence elections in Iowa which he or she has no business doing in a true democracy. Strive!