I have to appreciate the feedback, and the mostly passionate responses to my Absolute posting. But por favor, dear readers, before you go on a Lou Dobbs-type of boycott against Absolut vodka, consider History for a second. This is actually what Mexico looked like before the infamous Treaty of Guadalupe, which marked the end of the Mexican-American war in 1848. The land you know now as Upper California and New Mexico were indeed part of Mexico before such a war.

It doesn’t really matter if we like it or not. Unfortunately, it is wars and invasions that make up our ever-changing world Geography. Consider the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Do we know what Iraq will look like in a few years?

As an absolute lover of Absolute, all I can say is: Keep on sipping!