One Man's Opinion

The Facebook generation should sit up and take notice of the fact that both employers and colleges are checking their pages, in search of objectionable or questionable material on which to base admissions or hiring and firing decisions. Outrageous photos or postings may be fun, but it could cost someone an opportunity for advancement in the academic world or the workplace. So, people should take a long, hard look at what they intend to "share" on these social networks, for it could come back to haunt them.

Suicide attacks are on the rise in Afghanistan. So, while the U.S. pretends that everything is more or less under control there, the headlines continue to refute it. As in the case of Iraq, day-to-day reality contradicts the optimistic assessments made about the country's security and stability. The fact of the matter is that Afghanistan is no better today than yesteryear. The American intervention has not improved the country in any significant way. Saying "mission accomplished" or words to that effect doesn't make it so. The U.S. is war-weary and indulges in wishful thinking about things getting better. Nation-building from the outside and by force never works.

I find it somewhat amusing that the U.S. government has chosen to, largely, ignore the recent upsurge of violence in Iraq and concentrates its hand-wringing over Libya and other Arab countries. I suppose they feel embarrassed, to say the least, that this shows how tentative their puppet government really is, with no real hold on the country's situation. So, they don't really talk about it, hoping that the problem will go away by itself before anyone notices. Unfortunately, the "800-pound gorilla"  is in the room, and gets more violent by the minute. Gloating over Gaddafi's troubles is fine, but Iraq is coming back to haunt the Americans big time.

I've been giving some thought to making a fuller use of Facebook , now that I've seen how powerful it is, helping to topple governments left and right. But, today, something happened that gave me some pause in my decision-making process. I received a message from the wife of a dear friend that wants to be my friend on Facebook. The trouble is that she was murdered five months ago . I had always suspected that, at least, some of these requests were phony. Now, I know it for a fact. There is something fundamentally wrong when a communication service sends out a message that is untrue. In this case, there is no way that the message can be true. So, how reliable is Facebook?

One of those small and cheap airlines had ham and bacon baguettes on board a flight from Israel to England, so some passengers - maybe all - went hungry for the 4 1/2 hour flight. Now, I would've loved to be on that flight, because, on this part of the world, airlines offer very little by way of food, and what they do serve is not very good. I've never seen the connection between religion and food. Ever since I was boy in grade school at a Catholic school, I never understood what eating had to do with what you believed or your relationship with God. At 61, I still don't understand it. Furthermore, I don't care. If you're dumb enough to restrict what you eat according to some ancient book written for reasons that may have been valid then but no longer apply, you deserve to go hungry.

Time always tells. Thanks to Wikileaks, we now have a clearer picture of what the U.S. government and some of its fronts have been up to all these years, and the fact that charges against them were almost always true. Take the case of the American Chamber of Commerce in Nicaragua, an organization that actively pursued an agenda against the Ortega government and, more than likely, was a conduit of U.S. funds for the opposition in that country. Under the guise of protecting American economic interests, it actually engaged in improper efforts to meddle in the Nicaraguan political process. Which goes to show that, when the U.S. is not invading or bombing the hell out of a country whose government it dislikes, it is subverting it through seemingly neutral or beneficial organizations that operate within that country. To the U.S., everything is fair in this war against its "enemies." "The business of America is business", at home and abroad.

We all knew that the U.S. per capita I.Q. is running low, but the news that, for the sixth straight year, a Gallup poll shows that the majority of the American people regard Ronald Reagan as their greatest President speaks volumes about the country. The man was an actor, a bad actor , at that, who delivered one-liners written by someone else, but was lost without his cue cards and teleprompter. One of his sons has recently admitted that, for some time, Reagan wasn't all there; that his Alzheimer had begun earlier than has been said. I think his son has been much too kind. There was not much there to begin with. Any somewhat keen observer would've noticed that the man had no real grasp of things of any substance. Dubbing him "The Great Communicator" was just Hollywood-style hype. In the final analysis, he was a third-rate actor in B-movies and a third-rate President.

Getting rid of dictators is all well and good, but, in the rush to do so, many countries find that they don't have a viable alternative to put in place, so anarchy and chaos ensue. Although it's difficult to contain the anger over, often, decades of repressive government, from the practical standpoint, a little patience would go a long way to ensure that some sort of reasonable transition is set in motion. What we're seeing now in the Arab world is a euphoria about freedom that has led to reckless and even irrational behavior by people on the streets who want immediate solutions to old problems and won't let themselves be governed by anyone. What they haven't realized yet is that democracy and freedom won't work unless they are allowed to function for a reasonable period of time. Interrupting public processes with constant demonstrations and challenges to law and order will only force whatever government there is to take extraordinary measures to restore some

It's been said - I've said so myself - that the real reason behind the U.S. persecution of Julian Assange is wanting to punish him for the monumental embarrassment the Wikileaks revelations have caused. Now comes along another case that is extremely embarrassing to the American government because it shows just how stupid and careless it can be. The subject in question is a computer programmer called Dennis Montgomery, who eight years ago claimed to have developed a system to decode supposed secret messages from terrorists around the world and sold it to the U.S. government. Now, $20 million later, it's all a hoax. Worse than that is the fact that there are serious indications that somewhere along the line there were plenty of signs from within the government itself and from outside sources that should've triggered a thorough investigation of his claims, but went unheeded. As in the Assange case, the U.S. government is trying its worst to keep everything under wraps, c

You all know that I keep tabs on the shenanigans in the Catholic Church, in case you might miss some of them. The Church, trying to save some face, has found a Chilean priest guilty of abusing minors. Of course, as it usually happens, the priest is 80 years old, so he has been put out to pasture, "sentenced" to a life of prayer, "far from the madding crowd", but not even defrocked. This is of some significance, given the fact that, recently, a judge had ruled that there was insufficient evidence to try him for those very same crimes. Still, you can see how the Church, while seeming to take a tough approach on this issue, is really reluctant to punish its own severely, and looks for ways to, actually, do very little. I suppose that this is what happens when the organization as a whole has been involved in a massive cover-up all this time.Getting too tough on the priests could get them talking about the higher-ups...

The German Defense Minister has been accused of plagiarism in his dissertation for a PhD. in law. As a legal editor with close to 30 years' experience, I've come across texts that could qualify as, at least, borderline plagiarism. In reading them, especially when one knows the author, one often gets the sense that a particular passage is written in a different style, with a different vocabulary, elements that are not wholly compatible with the rest of the work and the author's intellectual capacity and output. I've read quite a few theses and other scholarly works that reek of plagiarism. So, if it turns out to be true, Herr Guttenberg joins the swelling ranks of the intellectually dishonest.

The fact that Belgium hasn't had a proper government formed for 249 days after the last election is both fascinating and instructive. Deep cultural divisions, at bottom, have kept Belgians from coming together in a compromise to govern themselves. And yet, for all its trouble and possible division into two countries, surprisingly little has happened by way of disruption of daily life. It seems that Belgians have taken all of this in stride, sort of bemused by their country's predicament. In other parts of the world, such a situation would've exploded into violence in the streets or the military taking over, but Belgium has handled it with the delicate touch with which one would handle its beautiful lace after eating its wonderful chocolate.

Bernard Madoff, the biggest swindler in financial history, has said that he believes that the banks who made business with him had to know that something was off, but chose to ignore it, as long as they were making a profit. Of course the man is a liar and a cheat, but I have a feeling that there is much truth in what he says. Banks, other financial institutions and insurance companies usually keep quiet when one of their employees does something wrong, for fear that they appear vulnerable from within. Often, the person is allowed to resign or retire, is never prosecuted and everything is hush-hush. So, I would't put it past them, if banks had a reasonable suspicion that all wasn't kosher with Madoff, but, in the interest of deniability, they didn't look hard enough at his financial dealings.

As usual, the U.S. has adopted a very self-serving position on this Internet freedom issue. As "explained" by Hillary Clinton, it's all well and good when it's aimed at repressive governments, but an entirely different story in a case such as Wikileaks. Of course, the U.S. and its allies are, unquestionably, pure of heart, so nothing that they deem "secret" should be revealed to the world. But, try as she might, the double standard is plain to see, and people all over the world increasingly realize the hypocrisy and the underhandedness of the American government, as it deals with the rest of the world, while keeping its own citizens in the dark about its nefarious doings.

Racism dies hard. The proposal to honor a Confederate general who was part of the Ku Klux Klan by issuing a license plate in Mississippi shows that there are still people in the so-called Deep South who, given the chance, would bring back slavery, lynching and burning crosses. Under the guise of rendering tribute to their war heroes and historical figures, they insist on displaying the Confederate flag and any other symbol of that shameful past. Those who are behind this effort act disingenuously, claiming other reasons for trying to keep the past alive, but we all know that their purpose is to insult the memory of the black people that suffered that indignity and remind their descendants that they still consider them inferior and do not accept them as equals.

The news that an arrest warrant has been issued against former Pakistani Prime Minister Musharraf for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in 2007 is a welcome development in the ongoing worldwide struggle for the accountability of heads of state. There is a consensus that the government was behind Bhutto's murder, either actively or passively. In the "best-case" scenario, it did very little to stop the forces that did the foul deed and was reluctant in investigating it. That Bhutto had come back to the country to challenge the Musharraf regime is a dead giveaway of the government's interest in doing away with her. Let's see how diligently this matter is pursued by the foreign governments that are calling for Julian Assange's extradition to Sweden for alleged sex crimes that took no one's life.

While Egypt took center stage during the last three weeks, the sideshows of death and general instability in Afghanistan and Iraq kept on going. The jubilation over Egypt's new possibility for democracy to take root is certainly understandable, but the ongoing failure in both those countries is a sobering reminder of how wrong were the military interventions and are the efforts at nation-building. The insurgency - as the U.S. likes to call it - is alive and well, and continues to kill and maim on a daily basis. Neither country has really been secured by the so-called "coalition." Life is still cheap, and daily life is constantly interrupted by bombs and explosions from the bad guys and the supposedly "good guys", who barely apologize when they kill innocent civilians, deeming it "collateral damage." So, sure, let's toast the Egyptian revolution, but let's also remind ourselves of the egregious mistakes in that part of the world that remain un

Let's hope for the best in Egypt. When the military take over, it's always a risky and uncertain proposition. One is never sure if they'll just have a caretaker role or will want to stay in power for a while. Another thing to watch for is how patient will the people now be with the next President. Having succeeded in toppling Mubarak in 18 days, they could have unreasonable expectations for reforms. They'll soon discover that democracy isn't all that efficient in getting things done well and quickly. That equal protection, due process and the rule of law, in general, can be frustrating. That, "having tasted blood", they don't make a habit of it.

Just so my Catholic friends don't get too comfortable, and start to claim that the pedophile issue is going to go away, word comes form Holland that none other than the former Archbishop from Utrecht has been involved in a cover up of the case of a priest some time ago. There are now close to 2,000 formal complaints against priests in the Netherlands. Adding insult to injury, when the now Cardinal was questioned about this, he answered in German using the very same words that Nazis used when denying their involvement in the Holocaust and other war crimes. Lest we forget, the Pope is German and was part of Hitler's Youth...

I recently commented on the fact that the Chinese and other Asians, as well as some European students, were far more proficient in math and science than the Americans. In what has been called the "dumbing down of America", it's now been reported that a great number of high school biology teachers all across the United States teach "creationism" as a valid scientific alternative to evolution, don't teach evolution at all or leave it up to the students' personal beliefs. No wonder American education is going to hell in a hand basket! No wonder there are so many people who vote for morons such as George Bush and consider Sarah Palin a credible presidential candidate. This is what happens when you teach fantasy, folklore and myths as truths. Pretty soon they'll be teaching naval engineering and meteorology based on the Flood and Noah's ark and other nonsense like that. Democracy depends on a well-informed citizenry. The Bible is for Sunday school,

Needless to say, nothing's going to come of it, but, the mere fact that several human rights organizations are calling for the indictment of George Bush for torture and other crimes against humanity is significant. I believe it's important to be on record with regard to such things. Bush, which is, clearly, the dumbest President of the United States in our lifetime, is also quite cynical, and has admitted in his memoirs to having known and authorized waterboarding and other "enhanced-interrogation techniques." So, it's clear that the 147 countries, including the U.S., that have signed the international convention that prohibits torture have the legal obligation to prosecute Mr. Bush, if they can get a hold of him. At the same time, France, Germany and Spain have all opened inquests on this matter, under the universal jurisdiction principle. Wouldn't it be supremely ironic if Bush turns out to be more wanted internationally than Osama bin Laden?

For over a year now, the U.S. has been whining about the arrest and imprisonment in Cuba of a sub-contractor to the USAID, a well-known front for the CIA and other intelligence agencies. Ironically, the American government cries foul over what it claims are violations to human rights and due process of law. All this is said with a straight face while, at the same time, the Guantánamo prison camp keeps holding people whose human rights have been systematically violated by the U.S. This is typical of the American double standard by which they judge the rest of the world and make allowances for themselves. But, in this case, they have really shown just how cynical they can be when it suits them.

Now, there's an idea! From Egypt through Iraq and Yemen, political leaders of all sorts in the Arab world are promising not to run again for public office, hounded by angry crowds on the streets. Others are quickly improvising reforms, in order to contain the groundswell of protests aimed at their decades-old insensitivity to human aspirations to a better life. Government officials are resigning, to make way for people who can be more responsive to the demands and expectations of long-oppressed populations. Now, if we could only get the Governor of Puerto Rico and his cohorts to follow suit, it would do us a world of good. We need the courage to go out in full force and bring everything to a standstill until the government stops destroying what's left of our democracy and our economy. History, past and present, shows that it can be done. Time is running out on us.

In one of those strange coincidences that life is full of, Maria Schneider and Lena Nyman have died within hours of each other. Nyman was the Swedish actress that made worldwide headlines in 1966 by starring in "I Am Curious (Yellow)", a sexually explicit film that today would seem very tame, but back then caused quite a stir. Seven years later, a 19-year old Schneider was Marlon Brando's sex partner in "Last Tango in Paris", another "scandalous" film for its time. I remember seeing the first one at age 16 in my hometown. Frankly, it was a totally forgettable film; not much there except the prurient interest. "Last Tango" was another matter. Brando was superb, as always, in the Bertolucci film, and the score by "Gato" Barbieri was and still is erotic and sensuous non pareil.  Movies would never be the same after these two films. Neither would we all.

You can't make something like this up! A Texas U.S. Congressman by the name of Rubén Hinojosa - of obvious Mexican descent -  while a member of the House Finance Committee, which oversees banks and other lending institutions, has filed for bankruptcy, given that his liabilities double the amount of his assets. The trouble seems to be that he either took or guaranteed a bank loan to help a family business that went bankrupt. Now, as any Spanish-speaking person knows, «estar de hinojos » means "to be on your knees", which pretty much describes don Rubén's position right now.

A U.S. Congress report blames both the FBI and the Pentagon for not doing their job properly in detecting the threat posed by the officer who went on a terrorist-inspired killing rampage at Fort Hood. It seems that there had been significant warning signs along the way that were either missed or disregarded by both the military and the federal police. All this, in the post - September 11 world, in which, supposedly, national security and terrorism are uppermost in the minds of law enforcement agencies and the military. So much for American preparedness and security being a model for the rest of the world...

The Top Gear outrageous   tirade against Mexico and Mexicans, in the name of humor, is unfunny and incredibly insensitive. In a world full of hate and violence based on bigotry, the venerable BBC has shown a very poor sense of judgment and taste by allowing the episode to air. It was just too much and too mean. Even if one can have the sense that they were purposely satirizing the stereotypes about the Mexican people, it was an occasion to rehash it all to an audience that might not have been aware of some of these extremely prejudicial views.

Although it's understandable that other countries - especially those which have close ties to one that is in deep political trouble - express their concern for that country's future, it seems to me that calling publicly for a foreign leader to step down or not run for office again is presumptuous and a violation of that country's sovereignty. The Egyptians don't need anyone meddling in their affairs; it's now quite clear what their wishes are, and they seem capable of resolving their internal difficulties by themselves. It isn't as if Mubarak has no idea about what he must do, and needs Obama, for example, to point him in the right direction. It's a matter of time and time is running out on him. But, the principle of the thing is important. How would Obama feel if some foreign leader were to publicly call on him to, say, give Puerto Rico its independence? As a matter of fact, the United Nations as a whole has pretty much done that several times in recent y