One Man's Opinion

Now, we all know that the rich and the powerful get a different kind of "justice" in the courts, but some things are really ridiculous.  Take the case of Giuliani's daughter, who was caught shoplifting.  The girl has been "sentenced" to one day of community service , and if she stays out of trouble for six months, her record will be expunged of the charge and conviction. Can you imagine what former prosecutor and tough-talking mayor Giuliani would have said if it had been a girl from the public-housing projects?  I'm not saying that the girl should have been sent to a maximum-security prison for stealing some cosmetics, but if the court chose to sentence her to community service, it should have been for a longer period, along with a fine.  As it stands now, it's a mockery of the criminal justice process and a very poor example of equal justice under the law.

Now that the U.S. is sort of pulling out of Iraq and turning over their country to the Iraqi people, the landscape is full of failed and incomplete rebuilding projects paid for by the American taxpayers.  The estimate is that $5 billion worth of projects are a complete or partial waste of money because what was built is not fit to be used.  Of course, we can imagine what happened: private contractors went over there and did botched construction work, not caring too much about the results, knowing that no one was going to hold them accountable. Aside from the oil that the Americans got their hands on, this was the other big incentive in attacking Iraq under false pretenses: you destroy a country, and then you rebuild it with private contractors that get paid with public funds, and you either get a cut of that or you end up being in their board of directors when you get out of public service.  It's so obvious and has been done so many times, that you wonder why the American people

By now, the whole world knows that the Karzai regime in Afghanistan is a corrupt one, the usual case in U.S puppet governments throughout history.  So, I find it somewhat funny that the CIA pays informants within that government to keep tabs on what goes on, which, by definition, is a corrupt practice on its own.  The U.S., supposedly, is trying to steer Afghanistan towards democracy and human rights, but then turns around and goes about it in illegal fashion.  What kind of message are the Americans sending to the Afghans and the rest of the world?  That it's okay to bribe public officials to spy on their government, as long as it's for the U.S. government?  Is there no shame; does American cynicism know no bounds? Surely not.

Not all news is bad.  Take, for instance, the end of Cristina Saralegui's TV program.  Any "wise Latino" should rejoice in that, finally, after 20 years of this embarrassing display of poor taste and sensationalism, we won't have to put up with it.  This woman, who has been called the "Latin Oprah" - I suppose, something made up by her publicist - was just a rip-off of those American daytime talk shows that specialize in the sleazy side of life.  Willing to do anything for a quick buck, she took on the role of exposing the seamier side of Latino life in the U.S., while pretending to "help" her fellow Latinos.  Instead, by focusing on these issues, and talking down to the poor souls that went to her program, she helped perpetuate the stereotype of the dumb and bad Latin American community, thus reinforcing the prejudices of the Anglo population. May we never hear from her again.

American Airlines has been fined $24 million for failing to do proper maintenance work on close to 300 planes that flew some 14,000 times in 2008. Southwest Airlines has also been fined $10 million for other maintenance issues. This is a very serious matter, that shows how corporate greed callously puts its profit margin above anything else. Once again, these American companies get away with murder in the supposedly most rigorous and safety-conscious country in the world. It's all hype and self-aggrandizing publicity. The truth is that things in the U.S. are just as bad as anywhere else.

Blackwater , the ever-present, all-powerful contractor both in Afghanistan and Iraq, has now been identified also as hired guns to carry out assassinations for the CIA.  This has been part of a strategy by the American government to circumvent the law and operate without certain restrictions applicable to public employees and officials.  Hiding behind the corporate structure, they are able to do all kinds of illegal things, with very little, if any, accountability.  Typically, former CIA personnel join the company and proceed to do what even the "Company" is unable to accomplish. In the 60's, it was the Mafia in cahoots with the CIA to kill Castro.  Now, it's corporate America, the other Mafia, doing the U.S. government dirtiest work.

Now, it's some of those deli-style sandwiches sold at Wal-Mart.  They are contaminated with a potentially-lethal bacteria.  Americans are fond of quick-fixes, and these sandwiches are marketed as " Grab and Go ", which gives one the idea of the kind of product in question.  The whole notion of "fast food" is a uniquely American concept; so were TV dinners and all kinds of mass-produced, short-cut food products of dubious nutritional value. The richest nation in the world is the "cheapest" in the things that count the most.

Johnson & Johnson has issued its ninth product recall in the last year, this time, of hundreds of thousands of  contact lenses.  Apparently, the lenses were not properly cleaned, so putting them on causes a stinging sensation.  Most of the lenses have been sold in Japan and in other countries around the world.  None were sold in the U.S., so the company didn't see fit to publicly acknowledge the problem there. Once again, American quality control is very much suspect, debunking the myth of its superiority.  Or maybe this is a deliberate attempt to blind the Japanese, so that the U.S has a better chance of recapturing its long-lost status as a major industrial nation with good-quality products.

As expected - and foretold here - the first American soldier has been killed, after the much ballyhooed withdrawal of combat troops.  You can't have 50,000 soldiers of an invading army, and not be a target, just because you call them "non-combatants."  This is just a stupid move by a bright man who should know better.  Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, four U.S. soldiers are the latest - but, not the last - casualties of the war. So, while Uncle Sam tries desperately to save face by phasing out its involvement in Iraq and "turning over" Afghanistan to its people, Americans continue to die in both places, without having accomplished anything worth fighting for...except making people like Dick Cheney richer.

You have to wonder why, if he knew that he wasn't eligible to be a candidate for Haiti's presidency, Wyclef Jean went ahead and declared his candidacy. Maybe he thought that Haiti was so desperate to have him as President, that they would put aside the Constitution, and elect him anyway.  In any case, trying to be a candidate, disregarding the residency requirement, is setting a bad example from someone who, purportedly, wants to help his country rebuild itself, not just physically, but, more importantly, institutionally.  In this regard, the first thing is to respect the rule of law, and not try to bend it or find ways around it to satisfy personal ambitions or ego.

Not that we really needed confirmation, but, anyway, a scientific study has shown that even secondhand smoke alters the genes in the human airways, causing damage that may very well be irreversible.  I've always been extremely sensitive to cigarette smoke, so I've tried to stay away from people who smoke. This study and others that will continue to come out on this subject show that those who claim some sort of a constitutional right to smoke in public places as a personal choice of theirs are wrong because they are engaging in an activity that is a public health hazard.

Time Magazine has, currently, on its webpage a feature titled A Brief History of Intolerance in America , which is really a misnomer because there is nothing brief about intolerance in the United States.  Anyway, it consists of 14  photos or illustrations that depict major incidents of religious, racial or ethnic discrimination, from colonial times to the 20th century in the U.S.  It's only a handful, but you get the picture.  I recommend that people who admire the U.S as the greatest country the world has ever known should check it out.

The Catholic Church is in hot water, once again.  A Cardinal in Mexico has publicly accused the Federal District government of bribing the Supreme Court to obtain a favorable ruling on homosexual marriage.  The prelate has called homosexuals " faggots", and resorted to a campaign to ridicule them.  So, the Federal District government, along with groups that represent homosexuals, have sued the Church official, something that, ultimately,may cost the Cardinal his post. This is another example of the mindset in most churches, and the best reason why there has to be separation of Church and State. The Catholic Church will always yearn for the "good old days", when they not only ruled in the name of the "kingdom not of this world", but also on the earthly one. Good riddance!

Retired Gen. McChrystal - he of the infamous magazine interview - will be lecturing at Yale and hitting the public-speaking circuit to the tune of $30,000 to $60,000 per engagement.  What strikes me as funny is the fact that he' ll be speaking about "international relations", a man that couldn't even have a decent relationship with his Commander-in-Chief. I wouldn't "pay" him the courtesy of listening to him, let alone pay for it.

Tony Blair has announced that he will donate all the proceeds from his forthcoming memoir to an organization that takes care of British soldiers who come back from the war wounded physically and mentally.  That's a nice gesture, but wouldn't it have been better if he hadn't gone along with Bush's plans to invade Iraq, in the first place?  Then, there wouldn't be so much need for organizations such as the one he has chosen to support so generously. Has his conscience finally caught up with him?  Charity is all well and good, but we should strive to live in a way in which there's less need for it, by doing the right things at the right time, especially refraining from endangering people's lives needlessly, in pursuit of selfish ends.

Woody Allen was right: 90% of life is just showing up.  People in the private sector all over the world talk incessantly about productivity, but the fundamental problem is that employees are just not there. You go to the bank and, though they have eight teller stations, you're lucky if there are four of them in service.  Go to the post office and, if there are more than two employees, you are really lucky.  Go shopping, and most stores are almost on a self-service mode.  There's no one to answer any questions, and paying for what you bought is a chore because there are very few cashiers.  The supermarket where I buy groceries has six cashier stations, all equipped with computers.  More often than not, there are just two operating. So, who are we kidding with all this talk of "productivity"?

Here we go again.  A new study shows conclusively that teenagers - and, probably, adults too - who take acetaminophen, as in Tylenol , for instance, tend to have asthma significantly more that those who don't.  Although why this is so remains unclear at this point, the relation between the two appears to be solid. As I've said time and time again, the more drugs and chemical substances you put into your body, the worse it's going to be for you, down the road and, sometimes, not so far into the future. We all feel certain aches, discomfort or pain, from time to time, but, unless it's really unbearable, often, it's best to tolerate it and wait for it to pass, than to run to the medicine cabinet for instant relief. You'll breathe easier and longer.

Here's an idea to solve the immigration problem in the U.S.  Limit entry to white people who speak English, have  money in the bank and are Christian.  That should take care of all those undesirables who make a mess of things for decent people.  Then, shoot on sight any other foreigner who dares to enter the U.S. See, the simple solutions are always the best ones.

The good news is that the Pentagon has decided to cut back on some of the top brass, close one of those huge command centers and reduce its enormous size somewhat. To the rest of the world, what is positive is not so much the economics of the thing - which is purely a domestic matter - but anything that shrinks, in any way, the U.S. military establishment. The bad news is that the budget for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq hasn't been reduced at all.  So, troop pullout notwithstanding, American intervention in the rest of the world is alive and well...funded.

This is so obvious that I'm almost ashamed to comment.  Ben Quayle, Dan Quayle's son, who is running for office in Arizona, of all places, has a TV ad in which he calls Obama "the worst President in history."  Now, anyone who remembers Dan Quayle knows that he was "the dumbest Vice President of all time."  This was the guy that, once, on a visit to a school, wrote " potatoe " on the blackboard.  So, we could all say that, if Obama is the worst President ever, it's only because Quayle's dad never got to be President.

Let's hope that, this time around, Colombia and Venezuela can live in peace side by side, as good neighbors.  Colombia is seen as a U.S. lackey of sorts, having allowed a number of U.S. bases on its territory, with the excuse of fighting the drug cartels and terrorism.  But, we all know what that's really about.  Portraying Venezuela as a promoter of armed revolt does nothing to maintain good relations between these countries. We'll see how long the honeymoon lasts...

The death of the contestant at the sauna competition in Finland is just the latest in a long list of tragedies in contests of human folly. To test physical endurance or capability - as in those eating contests -  in extreme circumstances, without any redeeming value of significant athletic prowess, is simply suicidal.  The time has come for sponsors to stop their patronage of these grotesque and inhuman competitions and for governments to ban such activities, which only serve to endanger participants' lives and encourage young or impressionable people to engage in foolhardy behavior.

The U.S. has just issued its "report card" on international human rights, and, as usual, Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia are either "sponsors" of terrorist activities or "don't do enough" to fight it.  Oh, yeah, says who?  Who appointed the U.S. as headmaster, with its own grading system to judge other countries' performance on anything?  Imagine those other countries grading the U.S. on its treatment of Native Americans and Blacks, for instance, not just recently, but through the years.  Add the treatment of Latinos, and it's not a pretty picture. So, let's all ignore the U.S. impertinence in trying to impose its value system on the rest of the world.  It doesn't have the moral standing to judge others at all.

Fidel is back!  In spite of all that ill will from the Cuban exiles and those who are part of the anti-Castro cottage industry all over the world, he has improved tremendously from the frail condition of just a few years.  He's still the inspirational leader of the revolution and of those who want to be free from the overbearing presence of the American empire.  Deep down, we in Latin America admire his guts in standing up to the U.S. for half a century, and going his own way to a more just society.  Under the most difficult conditions, Fidel has stayed the course, resisting all kinds of pressures and attempts to do away with Cuban socialism.  Those who point to his "failures" fail to consider what Cuban society would be like, if the rest of the world would have respected its sovereign right to conduct its affairs as it deemed appropriate. One last thing.  I find it significant that, in Latin America, even those who hate him to death call him by his first name, while th

I don't mean to be insensitive, but soldiers who come back from combat situations with all sorts of physical or mental problems assumed those risks.  Or are people of countries that have been bombed and invaded to Uncle Sam's content supposed to roll over and die?  They have every right to shoot back and do whatever it takes to repel the invaders.  U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq - including my fellow Puerto Ricans -  have gone there to kill those human beings.  If they come back and can't sleep or have trouble adjusting to civilian life, that is what they deserve for not having the courage to say no to wars of aggression.  Now that there's going to be some sort of troop pullout, some soldiers are saying that they were fooled; that the war was declared under false pretenses, and so forth. It's too late.  The time to take a stand was before going over there.  Now that they are hurt, they "realize" that they were in the wrong.  Why didn't they th

Should same-sex marriage be an issue?  In which concrete and specific ways does allowing homosexuals to marry harm the rest of society?  Those people who call for a ban of such unions, claiming that they are doing so to "protect the family", have yet to offer a convincing argument in support of such a contention.  The fact is that heterosexuals will continue to marry and have children, regardless of their next-door neighbors' sexual preferences and marital status.  People do what comes naturally. This is not one of those things in which you try to "keep up with the Joneses."

A study recently conducted in the U.S. concludes that foreign-trained doctors are just as good as, oftentimes better than, American doctors.  The very fact that this has been the subject of a formal study reveals the prejudice against foreigners that permeates American society.  Why would anyone think that doctors in other countries are less competent or skilled than their American counterparts?  The answer is that Americans are so convinced of their inherent superiority in all walks of life, that they are truly surprised when they find that there are intelligent and capable human beings elsewhere on the planet.  They automatically assume that their schools, universities or training in everything are vastly superior to any other country's. Ironically, only very ignorant and stupid people can believe such a thing.

Barack Obama seems to have taken a page from George Bush's book, by crafting his own version of the "Mission accomplished!" war cry.  Not wanting to appear defeated in a war that, quite frankly, has been thrust upon him, he has come up with "Mission changed", claiming that Iraq is, essentially, pacified and ready to be turned over to the Iraquis.  But, the truth is that the country is anything but peaceful, as anyone who can read or watch TV knows, and it's extremely doubtful that the Iraquis will do any better. On the other hand, leaving 50,000 soldiers in Iraq is hardly a pullout worth its name.  What will happen when they keep dying on a regular basis?  Just saying that they won't be there for combat duty isn't going to change anything.  They will still be targets for the forces that they have been fighting until now.  The only real solution is to accept defeat and leave altogether. But, that would take the audacity of moral courage.

While most doctors in Puerto Rico are fighting tooth and nail against a regulation that mandates that they schedule appointments by the hour and stick to it , so that patients are not subject to outrageous waiting periods, 33 Chilean eye doctors in Valparaíso have just held a free clinic for 280 patients, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m, in order to reduce the waiting time for them. Now, that's being "heart specialists"!