One Man's Opinion

The cell-phone culture will be the death of us. People have come to feel that they have to answer the phone no matter what.  We see this everywhere, most noticeably and dangerously in cars. Now,  the driver of the Spanish train that derailed has admitted that he took a call from a fellow worker, while the train was traveling at 120 mph and approaching a curve . That is textbook negligence and homicide. Had he waited a couple of minutes before picking up, we wouldn't be talking about any of this. Still, he just couldn't resist the urge to answer the phone.

Here's a nice little item for those who still believe in American fair play and scrupulous adherence to the rule of law.  The U.S. Government has decided to settle for $4 million a claim by a student that was left in a cell for four days without food and water, after being detained but never charged, on account of being present at a drug bust by the Drug Enforcement Agency. The young man almost died. His name is Daniel Chong and he looks it. Which, to me, explains why he was held there and they "threw away the key." Or maybe the DEA has taken a page from the Guantánamo book to deal with this "chink." Whatever the case may be, think about it, the next time the U.S. deplores some inhumane treatment in the prison system of a foreign country.

The image of the laid-back California lifestyle as exemplified by the beach bums and surfers has taken a hit, pun intended. After a nine-day surfing competition, there has been a riot that no one seems to have an explanation for. Until now, surfing was one of the few sports that had not been marred by violence. Well, welcome to the real world of sport violence, in which fans and participants go berserk over God-knows- what silliness, and engage in the destruction of property and violence against other people who are just as insane. This just goes to show that sports are no magic wand  to make people better human beings. In fact, all it does is turn them into savages and irrational human beings.

The Chilean presidential campaign has all the makings of a soap opera or a political thriller. Two women, friends from childhood, one whose father may have been responsible for the torture and death of the other woman's father. The former president was herself the victim of torture and imprisonment by the regime supported by the other woman's father. To further complicate matters, the candidate's father is being investigated, precisely, for crimes during the Pinochet dictatorship. Could there be something more dramatic? No screenwriter could have come up with such a story. But, then again, "truth is stranger than fiction."

Where is Inspector Clouseau when you need him? The Pink Panther gang has made a mockery of the Swiss penal system, especially its prisons, which have proved to be as impregnable as...well, Swiss cheese. Not only have these jewel thieves stolen more than $400 million all around the world, but, after being sent to prison, they break out in "shoot-em'-up" fashion. It seems that the Swiss, famous for their pacifism and politeness, and used to dealing with white-collar criminals in their banking system, need to get tough with these hardened and bold criminals. The least they could do is get Cato to keep them on their toes.

Evidently, the Church of England has not been paying attention to "the Troubles" at the Catholic Church, moneywise. Embarrassing, to say the least, is its business relationship with a major payday lender, which is to say, usurer. Oh, of course, it was not a direct relationship, but that does not make it any better. In fact, what it does is prove how dangerous it is to enter into the world of finance and big money, when you have a spiritual and ethical reputation to protect. Sooner or later, you are going to find yourself involved in improper, illegal or unethical behavior by your people or the ones you are associated with. It is the nature of the Beast. The episode of Jesus at the temple with the moneylenders should have been enough warning.

Well, there you have it. After all the brouhaha about the domestic spying program, at the first opportunity to do something about it, the U.S. House of Representatives has failed to put a stop to it or, at the very least, curtail it. The message is clear: they agree with it. The country is at war, some of them they say, so, anything goes. Others delude themselves thinking that this is a very limited intrusion on citizen privacy. Yeah, sure. Anyway, for whatever reason, the  program will continue. I suppose that all the U.S. Cold-War enemies must be laughing their heads off, at the fact that the American hypocrisy is being exposed and the fact that they are giving very similar reasons for spying on their own people as the ones given by the "evil empire" way back when.

Will embarrassments for the U.S. Government never cease! It has now been reported that three weeks ago, while Obama was in Africa offering aid to stop poaching and wildlife trafficking, a former American attaché in Kenya was caught red-handed with some ivory illegally obtained, trying to smuggle it out of the country. Once again, American officials abroad are "caught with their pants down" or "their hands in the cookie jar", while preaching the rule of law and ethics in government to supposedly backward and lawless countries. Ha!

Reading about the Pope's visit to Brazil, I find that, according to The New York Times , he's "Argentine-born." That's funny; I thought he was Argentinean, born and bred. But, were we to take the prestigious paper's word for it, he just happened to be born in Argentina. Of course, we all know that, except for brief periods, the man has spent all of his life in his native land. So, it's really misleading to characterize him as the newspaper has. This is a peculiarly-American practice that is clearly wrong. Unless a person has spent a significant part of his or her life in another country and has become its citizen, there is no valid reason to refer to him or her as being "wherever-born." Nationality and citizenship are two different things, although the latter usually corresponds to the former. One can only have one nationality because it is based on where one is born. It is possible to have two or more citizenships because it's something

Lest we forget about Iraq, and think that the Americans left the country in pretty good shape after removing Saddam Hussein, the 50 people that just died and the big jailbreak is a reminder that "mission not accomplished", really. Both Afghanistan and Iraq are failures, whichever way you want to measure it. The avowed "nation-building" that was supposed to take place after the U.S. invasion and occupation has not produced anything but more death, destruction and violence in very fragmented and openly-hostile societies that should be left alone to solve their problems by themselves or muddle-through, just like the rest of the world.

Boeing's 787 Dreamliner aircraft has been a real nightmare for the company. It seems as if every week there is something wrong with the plane. Pretty soon people are not going to board them, out of concern for their safety, and all those millions are going to go down the drain. This was supposed to be the aircraft of the future, but its present is very much in question. Another example of American shoddy workmanship and general decline?

Either Angela Merkel is extremely naive -- which I very much doubt -- or she's just buying time until she's reelected as Chancellor. She's asking Germans to be patient, until the U.S. comes around to answering the questions and concerns posed by its spying on them, as well as on other European nations. Does she really believe that the Americans are going to give a satisfactory explanation of their actions? Is there one? The only explanation is that the U.S does it because it can. American imperialism knows no bounds, least of all the ones of decency. It has betrayed the confidence of its own allies. All protestations aside, it will continue to do so. Merkel knows this. Hers is a subordinate role on the world's stage. She's just playing her part. She knows who's boss.

There are studies about serious things that come up with almost laughable conclusions. Take the one that "reveals" that black men in the U.S. live less than white ones because of homicides and heart attacks . Of course! Not only do blacks kill each other, but also whites and not-so-whites have "open season" on them. Ask Trayvon Martin's parents and so many others who have seen their relatives killed for being "suspiciously" black. As to their high death rate due to heart disease, who wouldn't be in mortal fear to live in a society in which people will hunt you down just because you're black?

I can see them now. The sleazy British tabloid headlines: "The Queen Goes Queer!" Can you imagine the Queen of England approving the law that allows same-sex marriages? Who's next, the Pope? As I've said before, equality for the sexes and sexual orientations will not be denied. It is just too strong a movement to be held back. Sooner, rather than later, every country and institution in the world will recognize the right of human beings to marry the person that they love, regardless of their sex or gender. In the end, love will conquer all, indeed.

George Zimmerman is one lucky guy. He got away with murder or, at least, homicide. This was a case in which he could not have the benefit of the doubt. As has been pointed out, he started the whole thing by going after Trayvor Martin, just because he thought him suspicious. Then, he disregarded the instructions received, that he not pursue Martin. He wanted to be a «hero.» Of course Martin reacted. He was being stalked by a stranger at night. A stranger that had no legitimate reason nor any authority for doing so. The women in the jury did not understand the "stand your ground" rule, as wrong as it is. Zimmerman provoked the situation; therefore, he had no grounds to stand on.

Just when you thought that you had heard just about everything, there come along these racist remarks by an Italian politician, about a black woman Cabinet minister, originally from the Congo. The man had the gall to compare her to an "orangutan." This is not the first time that she has been called very nasty names in Italian politics. Obviously, there is a mean streak of racism in the country, that targets foreigners, especially if they are black or brown. The good news is that there has been an overwhelming condemnation of this statement. But, still, racism of this sort must never be taken lightly, and must be dealt with in the strongest way possible. Racism goes hand in hand with fascism, and Italians know the consequences of that, firsthand.

Now we know why Tyson Gay clocked 9.75 seconds in the 100 meters, the fastest time this year, and why he beat Usain Bolt recently. He was cheating, using banned substances. Just like Justin Gatlin, a while back. Desperate to unseat Bolt as the fastest man in history, American sprinters are racing to the "drugstore" to get much-needed help. Bolt will teach them a lesson, by beating them fair and square. Meanwhile, Gay and Gatlin continue to disgrace themselves trying to win by any means necessary.

Little by little, the U.S. is creeping back into the Philippines, taking advantage of Filipino concerns over China. After 20 years of having been kicked out, the Americans welcome the opportunity to "help" their former colony, playing up its fears of Chinese aggression. So, in come the "advisers" and "consultants", to assist poor, little Philippines against the giant and powerful Chinese monster. What the U.S. really wants is to expand its presence there, sensing that China is taking over the role of major player in the region, something that American imperialism cannot countenance. The U.S. sees its place in the world being eroded by China on all fronts, and desperately tries to hold on. But, the writing is on the wall...the Great Wall of China, that is.

The news that the Pope is changing Vatican laws about certain crimes such as child pornography, prostitution and sexual violence is certainly welcome. Better late than never. But, questions must be asked. Why is this necessary? Weren't these things crimes all along? Didn't the punishment fit the crime? Apparently not. One other thing. Along with these much-needed reforms, the Pope has also made it a crime to leak Vatican information . In other words, cover your holy ass.

It should come as no surprise that corruption is a major problem all around the globe. Very few societies have very little of it; most have some or a lot. It's part of the human condition, made worse by the undue emphasis on material things that affects people increasingly in the modern era. According to Transparency International, the biggest problems are in Africa, but even in the U.S., where only 5% to 10% of its citizens admit having bribed a government official, that's 15 to 30 million people . Nothing to be unconcerned about. Let's all take note.

The use of electric buses in Vienna and other European cities is a step in the right direction. While it may not be cost-effective right now, in the long run, it makes sense, if we want a cleaner and quieter environment. We all have to realize that bigger and faster may not be better always, especially when it means that precious resources are needed to support such services. We need to appreciate that less is more and "small is beautiful" as economist E.F. Schumacher posited a long time ago. Technology has to come down to human size. The world has turned the corner. There is no going back to wasteful spending. Let's all get on this bus, before it passes us by.

When the so-called "Arab Spring" started, it seemed to me that there was a very real danger of it turning into mob rule. So it has come to pass. Egypt may be the biggest and clearest example of a society gone wild, insanely impatient, wanting to govern from a public square. Having "tasted blood" in removing one government, they have brought down a second one, with the help of the military. But, the mob mentality is not easily appeased. People on both sides of the question of who should govern have taken to the streets, to defend their particular vision of the country's future. With no end in sight of the current situation, those who applauded Mubarak's overthrow must be appalled at what has come after.

As a supporter of independence for Puerto Rico from the United States, I sympathize with all independence movements around the world, for the very same basic reason that Okinawans are beginning to realize: the difference between the interests of the colony or territory and those of the dominant nation. In Okinawa's case it's the fact that Japan doesn't seem able or willing to stand up for them against the American abuses related to their presence in military bases on Okinawan soil. Okinawans have begun to "discover" that, in spite of being under Japanese rule since 1879, they are not Japanese, and that they must fend for themselves against U.S. aggression and disrespect. In Puerto Rico, we know the feeling.

Although there is some question as to its true meaning and application, a new law in Costa Rica that grants equal rights to civil unions signals a willingness to recognize homosexual marriages. It's a first step towards the inevitable, and part of a fast-growing world-wide trend in favor of equality for homosexuals in all basic areas of employment, health care, housing and marriage. Homosexuals won't stand for discrimination any more, and governments have begun to realize this, not just because it's the right thing to do, but also because it's the smart political thing to do. If the 15% of the population being homosexual is accurate, that is a lot of votes for a politician to alienate himself from, especially in close races. The tide of History has turned, and standing in its way is at one's peril.

First of all, he's an indian. Second, he's the President of a third-world country. Third, he is not a lackey of the U.S. Those three things account for his treatment by the European authorities, surely kowtowing to the Americans in the Snowden affair. What has happened to Evo Morales is outrageous and unthinkable with regard to any other political leader. The European subservience to the Americans in this matter has reached a new low. Can you imagine if some South American countries were to do something similar to a European leader? All diplomatic bullshit aside, this is what we Latin Americans are to the people of the so-called First World. They still see themselves as conquerors, and see us as the vanquished, deserving no respect, no matter our personal achievements or worth.

On the one hand, it shows that capitalism and other Western "values" have been making inroads in Chinese culture. On the other hand, although somewhat awkward, it speaks well of the regard that the Chinese have for their elders. I'm referring to a new law in China that requires descendants to visit and engage with their parents and grandparents, not just to support them financially. Apparently, in the "new" China, people have fallen into the "rat race", and have less time to share with their elders. Given our legal culture, it would be quite difficult and impractical to pass a law like this one, but, still, it should make us think about what we as a society do with our old people. We still have trouble getting people to support their old relatives financially, let alone spend quality time with them. As the old song goes, we should "try a little tenderness."

Did Joe Biden really say "please" to Rafael Correa? If he did, this must be the biggest news in the history of diplomacy or international politics. Can you imagine an American whatever asking a foreign whatever politely for anything? I assume it's true, and that explains why the Ecuadorean President has said that he will consider that request, if and when the asylum petition by Snowden takes place. The man is obviously in shock, and has not recovered his senses enough to reject the U.S'. imperialistic maneuver.

Embarrassing --to say the least -- are the revelations that important museums in the United States have in their collections works of art that were stolen by the Nazis. That, in and of itself, is bad enough because it shows, at the very least, questionable or sloppy practices in acquiring them. But, what's worse is the fact that these prestigious institutions have dragged their feet, including going to court or avoiding it on technicalities, in order to keep those ill-gotten artifacts or objects from, very often, their rightful owners as heirs. As painful as it might be to part with these works of art, truth must be served and justice must be done.