One Man's Opinion

The worst of times brings out the best in people. Take the case of a very small community in Spain, where, finding itself with almost no public funds to provide basic services, citizens are pitching in to do the chores themselves. Be it cleaning up the town or keeping the library or sports facility open, volunteers donate their time to help themselves. As is the case elsewhere, they were the victims of overspending in projects that weren't all that necessary, some of which were never completed or cannot be maintained, due to lack of funds. Now, that they don't have enough money for the bare necessities, they realize their foolishness and are on the road to fiscal responsibility. In the process, they are becoming better citizens and neighbors, which are no small gains.

Predictably, -- at least for those of us who have some notion of the Law -- the French Supreme Court has ruled that the law that  made it a crime to deny that the 1915 mass killing of Armenians was a genocide is unconstitutional, on free speech grounds. There is just no way that you can, lawfully, punish someone for expressing his or her views, no matter how controversial or distasteful they may be. In this case, it's a matter of interpretation of a historical event that, granted, was repugnant to any civilized person. If someone wants to call it by some other name, they should not be punished for it. This would be a subject for analysis or discussion, so that people who think differently can show why it was a genocide, without the threat of the coercive power of the State on their side.

The New York Attorney General's refusal to investigate the NYPD's surveillance of Muslims is a clear indication of how far and deep is the prejudice against them. This wasn't just a surveillance based on credible information of possible illegal activity, but a widespread "fishing expedition" against a whole community, based on ethnic and religious profiling. For the Attorney General to abstain from even taking a look at this practice is, frankly, outrageous and condones whatever illegality that may have occurred. The least he should have done is examine it and then render an opinion on its lawfulness. To dismiss it out of hand, shows that it's open season on Muslims, and that they should not expect any recourse under New York law.

While Hillary Clinton goes around the world lecturing other countries on democracy, freedom and human rights, she should check on what is going on at the U.S. Guantánamo detention center. According to a formal complaint filed by defense attorneys for six important detainees, the conditions in which their clients are maintained have worsened during the last year. Mind you, these are no leftist sympathizers with their clients' cause, but  military lawyers appointed to represent them. One has to suppose that conditions have to be very bad, for military personnel to assume this position. There are people of good conscience who will not stand for abuses of any kind, no matter how distasteful or hateful someone can be. People who take ideals and principles seriously, and are unwilling to go along with what their country does in the name of patriotism or political expediency. People who believe that "...and justice for all" is not just for Americans.

Hillary Clinton has gone to Tunisia to reassure the Muslim world that all that hate-filled speech from the Republicans has nothing to do with how the American people truly feel. I suppose she said this with as straight a face as she could muster, but it's really impossible to take her seriously because the news headlines contradict her almost on a daily basis. It's not just the Republican candidates, but people in general and soldiers in particular who express, one way or the other, how they really feel about Arabs and Muslims. All the diplomacy in the world means very little when your soldiers piss on corpses and burn your sacred scripture, to say nothing of the wanton killing of civilians and the torture of detainees. Actions always speak louder than words, and Americans continue to speak loud and clear to the Arab world.

The meeting between a group of American Senators and Cuban President Raúl Castro shows that the U. S. still thinks that it can boss people around in their own country. Showing a complete disregard for Cuban law and procedures, the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman boldly offered to take an American prisoner back to the U.S. on their plane, just like that. They just don't get that Cuba ceased to do the U.S. bidding a long time ago, at about the same time that it stopped being a big casino and whorehouse run by the American Mafia. The Americans have been whining about this guy who went to Cuba to meddle in its affairs, while they have kept the "Cuban Five" in jail as a result of highly-irregular proceedings. If they want their agent back so badly, Senator Leahy could have brought the five Cubans with him.

These days, it's become commonplace for heads of state to apologize for very serious crimes or transgressions committed by their people, at home or abroad. Obama has had to ask forgiveness, more than once, for the outrageous behavior of American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now, it's Angela Merkel's turn to acknowledge that German authorities did not do enough in investigating the killing of ten Turkish immigrants by neo-Nazis, Turks being a sizable part of the German population. Lack of interest has been pointed out as the reason for those crimes having gone unsolved for a long time. This is another example of something that I have pointed out before: when people are considered inferior, what happens to them is not taken seriously, even in a case that shows that the far right is gaining strength and becoming bolder in striking at groups that they hate. Turning a blind eye or downplaying these activities further encourages criminal behavior. Germany, of all places, s

As if the Catholic Church didn't have enough problems, now an old priest in Illinois has been disciplined because he took some liberties with the prayers during mass, improvising some of the text. I suppose that the priest was bored to death saying the same things over and over again. (I know I was, and I only attended mass once a week.) Elsewhere, a much- younger priest resigned his position, in solidarity with the older priest. Both of them should have known better. The Church does not look kindly on any kind of liberty or freedom. You are not allowed any deviation from orthodoxy. If you are a freethinker or free spirit, you don't belong in the Catholic Church. Either you do as you are told or you can go to hell, literally and figuratively.

You would think that, by now, American troops would have learned their lesson about dealing with the Arab world, especially in matters pertaining to religion. There have been enough nasty episodes to last a lifetime in this regard. But, then something comes up, and you have to convince yourself that, on the part of the Americans, there really isn't any inclination to respect the Arab or Muslim world. This is why it's so easy for them to make "mistakes" or do something "unintentionally" or some such excuse. The latest incident is one in Afghanistan, where some 60 or 70 Korans, that were in the trash were burned , as part of cleaning up in an American air base. The first and obvious question is: what were those books doing in the trash in the first place? Now, you could argue that one or two books of any kind can slip through the cracks in any situation, but 60 or 70 is a pretty big number and impossible to miss. That is, if you really care enough to pay att

I find all this talk about human rights in the context of doing business between countries very hypocritical. The North and the West invariably assume the holier-than-thou position with regard to the South and the East, the conventional wisdom being that the former is morally superior to the latter, and that this gives them the right to lecture the "sinners" and lead them on the path to righteousness. But, on very close inspection, which countries would really pass a strict test on its human rights record? Are there any countries who treat its minorities -- cultural, ethnic, racial or religious -- fairly and squarely? Is there no discrimination whatsoever? Surely not. Then, why should a country that has its own issues in the human rights field feel entitled to dictate terms to another in this regard? This is not to say that human rights issues should not be discussed as part of international relations. But, a country should be really sure  about its own situation before a

The trouble between the U.S. and Egypt, on account of the Americans that are going on trial, is the direct consequence of the U.S. long-standing practice of meddling in other countries' affairs.With the sorry excuse of promoting democracy, these people went to Egypt under the cover of supposedly non-governmental organizations. Now, everybody knows that this is not true. It's a standard operating procedure for the Americans to cover up their political maneuvers by pretending that these things are private efforts. Of course, no one asks the simple question: Why do Americans think that they have the right to go to other countries and intervene in its political process? Would Americans tolerate foreign citizens who would do the same in the U.S.? Of course not. This is a problem that the Americans have brought on themselves. Evidently, they thought that the new Egyptian government was a pushover. Now that they have found otherwise, the only thing they can think of is threatening  

Once again, a performer whose career was, essentially, "dead" is revived by death. A few days ago, no one talked about Whitney Houston, let alone bought an album of hers or went to a concert because, quite frankly, there was nothing to talk about, she had no album or tour. In fact, she had no career at all. She had lost her main asset: her voice, a long time ago. She had lost her way to alcohol and drugs, long before that. Even aside from that, I think that she did herself a disservice by singing the way she did. The strain on her vocal chords would, sooner rather than later, prove to be too much and give out. Whatever the cause, as a performer, she did not have anything else to fall back on, once her voice was gone. Even her looks were gone prematurely due to her lifestyle of the rich and famous addicts. In her case, it turned into the lifestyle of the bankrupt and "has been." I think that she realized this, and that sank her even more into a depression from which

Ceremonial post or not, the fact that the last two Presidents of Germany, involved in scandals, have had to resign after more or less a year in office is a scandal in and of itself. They may have had very little or no political  power, but it's embarrassing, to say the least.The next-to-last one had to go because he suggested that war was good for business...which, of course is true, but is not something you say in polite company, and shows a monumental lack of discretion. The one that has just resigned has done so because he accepted a sweet deal on a personal loan for $500,000, another thing that is verboten  in government and politics. In both cases, these men, being in public office, made very poor choices, disregarding what any presidency has to stand for, and they have paid the price.

First, it was Doctors Without Borders. Then, it was Human Rights Watch. Now, it's Amnesty International. They all say the same thing: Libya is out of control. The militias who helped bring down Gadhafi are just as bad or worse than him and his people. The new government governs not, when it comes to controlling those "freedom fighters", as the U.S. likes to call those who help it achieve its goals, regardless of how bad they really are. As in the case of Iraq, the Americans say nothing because they were the ones who created the conditions for the current state of affairs. So much for "nation-building", democracy and freedom, as a legacy of American intervention. So far, the Arab Spring doesn't look like much of a success.

The American media 's obsession with Hugo Chávez is two-fold: there is a deathwatch over his cancer and a countdown to the end of his presidency in the coming elections. Every few days, there are reports -- some by doctors -- that he is at death's door. The latest one gives him nine months to live, at most. Now that the opposition has chosen a single candidate to run against Chávez, the media has begun to talk about Venezuela after him, as if it were a given that he will lose the election. Well, we'll soon find out if that reporting -- which appears to be more wishful thinking than serious journalism -- ends up being true. I wouldn't bet on it.

Sean Penn is a great actor, with a social conscience, as his work in Haiti shows. He is also an outspoken critic of American domestic and foreign policy. While visiting Argentina, he has spoken out against British claims over the Falkland Islands or the Malvinas , as we in Latin America refer to them. In terms that we as Puerto Ricans can totally relate to, Penn has said that the world cannot stand for any colonial claim like the one the U.K. pretends to have over these islands. I would invite him to come to Puerto Rico and see for himself how the U.S. keeps a colony in the Caribbean, much closer to home. I'm sure that, should he read up a bit on our history and talk to some of us, he will conclude that his country has disgraced itself by betraying its principles and those of international law. And he will feel ashamed of how unfair the U.S. has been for over a century, denying us the freedom it so loudly proclaims all over the world.

The FBI keeps messing up big time. In a series of recent cases based on a sting operation that targeted individuals involved in the bribery of foreign companies, FBI agents undermined their own case by having posted quite a few text messages between them and an informant full of lewd and vulgar language, racist and anti-gay references and other inappropriate comments. As a result, the prosecution has failed to get a conviction or cases have been dropped altogether. Obviously, this bantering presents a very poor picture of the FBI agents, and weakens their credibility and seriousness as law-enforcement agents. As I've said on previous occasions, all that movie and TV squeaky-clean image is just that...an image...a tarnished one.

Time was when it was taken as an article of faith that American education was the best in the world, envied by everyone else. A degree by any U.S. college or university was something akin to the " Good Housekeeping  Seal of Approval" or imprimatur  in the intellectual world. This was based not only on the supposed superiority of the learning experience there, but also on the high ethical standards to which they adhered to. While degrees from numerous other countries were never held in such high regard and were always suspect because they could be bought, the ones awarded in the USA were above suspicion. Well, not really. Take the recent case of a university in North Dakota, where they have found out that it awarded hundreds of degrees to Chinese and Russian students without them having completed their studies in one of those international programs. Apparently, the university had quite a few of those programs with different countries and was making a lot of money off them,

The "Anonymous" hackers have certainly embarrassed, to say the least, the U.S. government, by wreaking havoc in the CIA, the FBI, and the Justice Department communications systems. Granted that this is illegal, but the bigger issue seems to me is how fragile these supposedly top-secret law-enforcement organizations really are. A big part of the American myth is the self-proclaimed close-to-perfection functioning of their institutions. Now we know that they are just as vulnerable as those of other countries. With all its expertise and know-how, the American government has been crippled or greatly inconvenienced in the very sensitive area of law enforcement by pranksters. So much for all that Hollywood and TV portrayal of "super agents."

The U.S. State Department has made a fool of itself by, first, immediately recognizing the new government in Maldives and, the very next day, saying it didn't mean it. Failing to ascertain the truth in the sudden "resignation" of the former president and the subsequent coming to power of the vice president, Hillary's people acted too quickly, and now the president claims that he was forced to resign at gunpoint. Had the U.S. waited a few days, it would've saved itself this enormous embarrassment. Now, the Americans are calling for an independent body to find out what really happened. This comes at the same time when Obama has also backtracked on the contraception issue from one day to the next. This erratic behavior on the part of the U.S. government begs the question: "What the hell is going on in Washington?"

The U.S. military deployed in Afghanistan or Iraq keeps getting into trouble, be it by killing and torturing indiscriminately or by their otherwise outrageous behavior. Just a few weeks ago, some Marines were caught urinating on corpses and joking about it, and now, a photo that shows a group of Marine snipers in front of a flag with a logo that looks like the SS one has surfaced. Needless to say, this isn't a question of charging them with being neo-Nazis, but of the attitude that something like this reveals. Do these guys think this is funny? After all that has happened, and being aware of the consequences of getting their picture taken in something like this, they have the arrogance of posing in front of such a hateful symbol, just having a good time. Once again, nothing will come of this. Americans are extremely reluctant to act against their military. They have already been transferred, and that's about it. Business as usual...until the next time those boy-next-door ty

According to a study made in the U.S. on the actual threat posed by Muslim terrorists, contrary to public perception -- and government propaganda, I might add -- it is rather slight. Compared to the general and extreme violence in American society, the real harm caused by Muslim or Islamic elements is small. Nevertheless, the media continues to play up any news that deals with Muslims in a negative light, and portrays them as fictional villains in movies and television shows. Obviously, this has an important effect on the American psyche, predisposing people to believe the images that they are constantly being shown. So, data and reports such as this one will accomplish very little in clearing up misconceptions. People will continue to believe that they are under a constant and significant Muslim threat to their safety, no matter what the facts are. Muslims are the current people Americans love to hate, and that is not going to change for the foreseeable future.

The news that Austrian authorities are willing to compensate former wards of foster care for having being injected with malaria in the 1960s is quite disturbing. Although, at the time, there was some scientific basis that this was an acceptable medical treatment, it's also true that this inoculation was used as experimental therapy for people with psychological problems. The two cases -- pending others that may come forward -- that have been revealed are precisely of that kind: unruly boys in foster care. This points to a bigger problem: taking advantage of vulnerable people who are unaware of what's being done to them and have no recourse to stop it. The U.S., for example, has a dismal record of experimenting on its own citizens, as well as on people overseas, like us Puerto Ricans or Guatemalans. In a very real way, these are Nazi-type practices, based on the notion that the State has the right to play around with the life of those it deems inferior due to race or some birt

When it rains, it pours. The Vatican, which has its hands full with the child-abuse scandal, now finds itself embarrassed over the high-level corruption charges made by none other than the official that has been just appointed Ambassador to the United States. The thing is that his previous assignment within the Vatican gave him a privileged knowledge of the inner workings there, about which he wrote to the Pope twice. It seems that his appointment to the U.S. was meant to be the classic "kick upstairs", in order to get rid of him, but Italian media obtained copies of those two letters, and, now, the Vatican is denouncing him. Which begs the question: Why is this "untrustworthy" man worthy of being appointed Ambassador to the United States? Or, is it precisely because he knows so much about corruption that he is the perfect candidate for the post?

The deployment of Prince William to the Falkland Islands, at this time , is, to say the least, in bad taste or, worse, poor judgment on the part of the British Crown and government. There is no way that anyone will believe that this is just a coincidence. The presence there of the future King of England sends a message of British sovereignty and imperial domination. Putting aside whether the islands really belong to Argentina or England, this maneuver is ill-conceived and ill-timed. It adds insult to injury, by rubbing-in British possession of the disputed territory. This is what happens to has-been empires: they continue to regard the rest of the world as inferior and subordinate, to be mocked and taken advantage of, existing only for their convenience. As if by the "divine right of kings" they can do whatever they please.

At some point, the effort to right a past wrong has to stop. Almost 70 years later, there are still people who insist on being compensated for their suffering at the hands of the Nazis during WWII. The fact of the matter is that Germany has paid handsomely on reparations for victims. But, there are still those who are not satisfied. So, the International Court of Justice has put a stop to this, by refusing to allow a lawsuit against Germany by an Italian who was forcibly deported in 1944. In almost all of the law, there are time limits to seek a remedy. There are good and sensible reasons for this.Though murder and other heinous crimes are always open for prosecution, on the civil side, there is no such thing. People who have been wronged have the obligation to act promptly in demanding that their grievance be addressed. It's only fair for all the parties involved.

I must admit that I've never been a true fan because it implies a degree of irrationality that I can't understand and subscribe to. This is why I find it so hard to fathom how is it that something like the soccer riot in Egypt is possible.This is the kind of frightening thing that happens all over the world with some regularity, but, in this case, seems to also have a political basis. Aside from the extreme rivalry between the teams that were playing, there appears to be an element of political unrest stemming from a group that has had a very leading role in the mass demonstrations that led to Mubarak's downfall. Though it accomplished a positive result, the group as such functions as a wild bunch of hooligans and troublemakers intent on mob rule. Granted that the military junta in Egypt has not lived to expectations, these anarchistic and chaotic actions will only justify a tighter hold on its part, and a delay in the transition to a full-fledged democracy with authent

On the eve of Darwin's birthday, scientific stupidity is on the rise in the U.S., where several states have passed or are in the process of passing legislation that interferes significantly with the teaching of evolution. Some laws would require that teachers accord equal time to creationism, intelligent design or whatever religious belief they choose. One law would mandate that teachers go into the religious beliefs of the scientists that espouse the different theories. Another one would give students the right not to be taught any scientific theory that is at odds with their faith. Jesus Christ! The dumbing-down of America is right. No wonder the U.S. is going downhill in education, if people can pick and choose the content of the science they are supposed to learn. This is the Middles Ages all over again. Religious fanatics telling everybody else what to believe, and making it illegal to think differently.