One Man's Opinion

Imagine a small town that four years ago had a population of some 13,000 people and now has 16,000 permits issued to carry concealed weapons. That's Hayden, Idaho, where a two-year-old killed his mother with a gun she carried in her purse while shopping. Most likely, the kid had seen a lot of shooting on TV or video games. So, he did what comes naturally. A local policeman has characterized the town and region as strongly pro-gun. It figures. No need for condolences here.

It was bound to happen. Enterprising American chefs and cooks have begun "cooking up" recipes - whole books of them -- with marijuana. Given the increasing acceptance of pot for medicinal and recreational purposes, the next step is to cook with it. After all, if you drink beer or wine with your food, why not get another buzz or high with it? Coming soon on a menu near you...

There are people who have made their living -- a good one, at that -- speaking and writing against communism, socialism or any other "ism" contrary to the capitalist democracy model of the U.S. and its cohorts around the world. They need an "enemy" as the bogeyman, or else they become irrelevant. So, they oppose any development that might put them out of business. Naturally, these are the "naysayers" in the thawing of U.S.-Cuba relations that has just started. They will bitch, rant and rave against it to no end because its success will jeopardize their jobs as defenders of the democratic faith and prophets of doom, should "them" gain some advantage against "us." They will do anything to keep those checks coming.

Another unlucky American abroad; a babe in the woods, so to speak. An Oregon woman just happened to share a taxi with a guy who stopped to pick up some drugs in East Timor.  Naturally, the police arrested them both, and it took some time for the authorities to clear her, although she has not been given her passport back. Funny how it's always Americans who are completely innocent of any wrongdoing, victims of circumstance. Like all those who lose their way and end up on the wrong side of the border. Or Alan Gross...well, strike that, now that the truth has finally come out.

The U.S. keeps running into trouble trying to reconcile its stand on human rights with political reality and expediency. Countries which it helped or encouraged to liberate from oppressive regimes, have yet to achieve a decent track record on democratic values and freedoms. (Come to think of it, the American record on that is not all that spotless.) The Egyptian experience after the so-called "Arab Spring" is a case in point. The latest figures show that the current government -- which, by the way, came to power after a coup -- has detained 10,000 people, a figure that, in and of itself, speaks volumes about its fascist bent. So, in the end, countries do what they will, regardless of what the U.S. thinks about them, given the poor example that it sets for them anyway.

Is it too easy and obvious to say that "Uncle Sam" has "cried uncle" with regards to Cuba? Or that after 53 years of an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation, the Americans have blinked? In any event, those conservative, hawks and rednecks are up in arms about Obama's decision to begin to end the stupidity of a policy that hasn't worked and had no meaning, given the fact that the U.S. has been dealing with former enemies like Vietnam, China and Russia for decades now. The Cuban exception was irrational and pointless. It would be extremely embarrassing, to say the least, if the U.S. Congress were to thwart Obama's change in policy. Let's hope that this insanity comes to a definite end.

OK, so maybe the American who went to North Korea is a bit nuts, but he sure is saying some very sane things about what goes on in the U.S. and what the U.S. does at home and abroad. So, I wouldn't disregard everything he says as the ravings of a lunatic, which is, of course, the official line, in order to discredit him. Crazy people, as well as drunks and children, are often very truthful.

Dick Cheney and Antonin Scalia, poster boys of American fascism. Cheney, unapologetic about torture in the name of democracy, freedom and the American way of life. Scalia, finessing torture with high-tone legalese. Both mocking the very same values that they purport to defend, one as a former Vice President of the United States of America, and the other as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. In the immortal words of Joseph Welch to Senator Joe McCarthy 60 years ago: Have you no sense of decency?

The U.S. Government will sanction some Venezuelan officials " accused of rights abuses " during the street protests a while back. It's a joke, right? This is announced with a straight face just days after the Senate report on CIA tortures....

If indeed all these allegations are true, then Bill Cosby is a master rapist, having done it for so many years to so many women that kept quiet for so long. You almost have to ask: Is there any woman that he met and did not rape or attempt to? The more women who come forward the more bizarre and unbelievable the story gets. Granted that he was and is rich and famous, and that there are psychological barriers to admit being raped, but, frankly, one would have expected someone to have had the courage to complain at the time the rape happened. As it stands now, the statute of limitations has run out on most, if not all, of these crimes, and we're left with these allegations that will remain unpunished, except in the court of public opinion. On second thought, maybe that may turn out to be the worst of all punishments for the beloved public figure.

People who are committed to a good cause, frequently, become obsessed about it to the point of fanaticism. Then, they do outrageous or stupid things that go against the values that they hold. I have no doubt that the Greenpeace guys and gals have their hearts in the right place on the environmental issues, but, sometimes, go overboard in their struggle to save the planet. Their recent "stunt" in Perú is a case in point. Trying to draw the attention of the participants in the U.N. climate talks in Lima, they trampled on the Nazca-lines site to place a sign there. Now, they've had to apologize for such a thoughtless act. Being in the right on an issue is not a blank check to do as one pleases.

Should anybody be surprised by the U.S. Senate report on the CIA-led activities in the so-called "war on terrorism"? Does anyone really believe what the CIA, FBI or Homeland Security have to say about what they do? Haven't we all had enough proof that we should believe the worst about them?

What were they thinking? A German political party called Christian Social Union has proposed that immigrants be required to speak German even among themselves and at home. The proposal has since been changed to a much milder version, but it shows how much of a misnomer the party name is. There is nothing "Christian" or "social" about it, and it sure does not contribute to a feeling of "union" between people in Germany. Although it's perfectly understandable that there is an official language -- or two -- in any given country, the State should not interfere in any way with the right of people to speak whatever language they want at home or among friends of the same culture in private or unofficial venues.

Really? The New York Police Department Chief has said with the straightest of faces: "Actually, a black man in New York City has nothing to fear from us." The man is either a cynic or completely delusional. The fact of the matter is that no black man is safe, not only in New York City, but also anywhere else in the U.S. Pretending that cases such as the Eric Garner one do not evidence a systemic racial problem is totally irresponsible, and the reason why these things keep on happening. Denial will not solve the problem.

"Cruel and unusual punishment" is what I would say has been the British prison policy of not allowing inmates to receive books from outside. Up until now, prisoners could only read books from the prison library or buy them from the Prison Service, but, thanks to a High Court decision, they will be allowed to receive them as gifts from their family, friends or whomever. The change in policy is based on accepting the notion that reading books is a right, rather than a"privilege", a position put forward by a number of English writers who lobbied for it. I can sympathize with the inmates. For me, life would be unbearable, if I could not read freely and frequently, without any conditions or censorship. My body would be free, but my mind would be in a "prison."

Ira Levin was right. His 1976 novel The Boys from Brazil shone a light on Nazi war criminals in that South American country. All fiction aside, the novel and movie based on it reminded us of how the Third Reich relocated many of its top people on this side of the Atlantic. Almost 40 years later, the picture of a swastika at the bottom of a pool in Brazil reminds us again, in a non-fiction way, that that evil empire still lives and breathes comfortably in the American continent.

That's two for two. First, Darren Wilson in the Michael Brown case, and now, Daniel Pantaleo in the Eric Garner one. Both white cops who killed black men in their custody. In the Pantaleo case, the medical examiner ruled putting a choke on the victim was a homicide . To no avail, in both cases, the grand jury voted to not indict the police officers. Obviously, those members of the community who make up the grand jury chose to believe them over any other evidence. Of course, both cops are sorry for what happened, but they were just doing their job. In theory, the grand jury is a mechanism to rein in overzealous prosecutors. In fact, in a racist society, it is an ally of racist law enforcement.

I've said it before: Afghans and Iraqis have learned their lesson well from the Americans. Iraqis, for example, have taken to heart the U.S. example on graft and wholesale corruption. Now, we find out that they have been paying for 50,000 "ghost soldiers" , that is to say, soldiers that never existed or once did but not anymore. It's a scam "Made in USA", perfect for the Iraq situation, which, by the way, is all the U.S. doing. Coming on to eight years after getting rid of Saddam Hussein, this is what American intervention has wrought.

Oh, oh! On "Black Friday", Americans went crazy buying guns, so we can expect more shootings in schools, colleges and elsewhere. The 144,000 background checks that supposedly will weed-out undesirable gun owners are really a joke. Imagine what 3 background checks per second means for any kind of security. The fact of the matter is that, even under normal circumstances, about 98% of those checks are cleared, so it doesn't make that much of a difference, anyway. Undoubtedly, we'll continue to read about the "American way of killing" for years to come.

Did anybody really believe that the Ferguson, Missouri grand jury was going to indict a white policeman for killing a black man? Blacks in the U.S., especially in the South, should know that they don't have a chance on the street when faced with white people, with or without uniforms.

By all accounts, U.S. college campuses are among the most dangerous places in a most dangerous country. If you study or work there, you are bound to be either killed -- at least shot at -- or raped. All sorts of wackos with weapons are on the loose, and classmates, especially those who belong to fraternities, go on raping binges, for the hell of it. In the rape issue, what is more troubling is the fact that universities have a done a dismal job -- if indeed they have done one at all -- in addressing it. They have talked a good game, but failed to execute it. So, higher education has come to mean a high tolerance for criminal behavior on campus, with all sorts of excuses and rationalizations. If I were Malala, if offered one, I would turn down any scholarship in the U.S.

Okinawans have spoken. By electing as governor an opponent of the building of a new U.S. base there or the relocation of the present one, they have stated unequivocally their position against the continued presence of American troops on their soil. Decades of abuse by U.S. servicemen have pushed Okinawans to the limit, and both Japan and the U.S. can no longer ignore their wishes, if voting for or against something really counts, as the Americans so loudly proclaim.

The U.S. Postmaster General has retired -- resigned, really -- out of frustration with the inevitable decline of the postal service. The latest figures point to a $5 billion loss . Frankly, it's incomprehensible that the U.S. government continues to fund what has been a bad business deal for a long time. The fact of the matter is that the traditional mail is no longer relevant for most people and business. There is no going back to the way it was. Americans, who champion the free-market system of demand and supply, shouldn't keep artificially alive a service that is increasingly marginal. If the postal service is unable to maintain itself economically, it should disappear.

New Orleans is known as "The Big Easy", a name of uncertain origin and meaning. But, it may have a definite new meaning, now that we know that, from 2011 to 2013, over one thousand sex crimes -- some of them against very small children -- were not investigated at all or were only given a cursory treatment. This was the "job" of five police detectives who are still unnamed. The New Orleans Police Department has been under the Federal Government's supervision for the past two years. Rightfully so.

No matter how you frame it, 80% of Catalonians voted for independence from Spain. That's a number that can't be ignored, no matter that the vote wasn't legally binding. This is not a legal question, but a political one. No country that calls itself a democracy can justify ignoring such an overwhelming vote for whatever issue. You cannot play the democratic game and not abide by its rules always, especially when you lose. Sooner rather than later, the Spanish government will have to respond to such a cry for freedom, or risk losing a great deal of its legitimacy, both domestically and internationally.

It is most unfortunate that the Spanish Constitutional Court has, once again, ruled that Catalonia has no right to hold a vote on whether it wants to remain a part of Spain. First, it forbid that a formal and official voting take place. Now, it has even ruled that a symbolic vote -- a sort of poll -- cannot be held. A curious reading of the basic rights of freedom of expression and to petition government in a democracy. What is the Spanish government so afraid of? ¿Having a significant turnout in favor of independence?

It's been said that baseball is "America's pastime", a big part of U.S. popular culture. That being the case, baseball's scandals -- of which the Alex Rodríguez one is the latest -- is a perfect reflection of American society: you do what you have to, to get ahead, cheating included. When there is a lot of money involved, anything goes. Earning a living the old-fashioned way is not enough; the more money is on the line, the more extreme the lengths people are wont to go to, to achieve their goal of getting rich, the so-called "American dream." In baseball, as in life in general, that dream usually turns into a nightmare like the one Alex Rodríguez finds himself in.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has made a very serious accusation against the drug industry, claiming that it has delayed finding the cure for the Ebola virus because it wasn't profitable. WHO has reminded everybody that Ebola has been around since 1976 , but, since it only affected some of the poorest of the poor in Africa, there was no economic incentive to develop medicines for it. WHO pointed out this a long time ago, but no attention was paid to it. Now, all hell has broken loose, and  the infection is spreading well beyond the borders of those God-forsaken African countries. Now , everybody is paying attention, and the race is on to find a cure. Meanwhile, thousands of people will die, perhaps needlessly, because nothing was done for such a long time. Greed is indeed a mortal sin.

The writing has been on the wall for quite some time now. Be it called global warming or climate change, we've been warned repeatedly. Unless drastic measures are taken now, the damage to the planet will be dramatic and, possibly, irreversible. We are all committing suicide, if we continue to behave irresponsibly towards the environment. We may live to regret it. Our children and grandchildren will certainly do.

The tough-talking Israeli Defense Minister has put a strain in his country's relationship with the U.S., its "last good friend in the world", according to an American official. Probably, the only good friend in a world that has come more and more to repudiate Israel's abusive and outrageous actions against the Palestinians. The man has publicly and repeatedly insulted and made fun of the American Secretary of State. His later apologies ring hollow. The U.S. support of Israel has been so extreme for so long, that Israel feels that it can get away with anything and everything. Even when the Americans publicly call on them to change their ways in some fashion, the Israelis do what they please, knowing that there won't be any consequences. The U.S. frequently applies sanctions of some sort to other countries, but never to Israel. Thus Israel's disregard for American policy entreaties. It feels that it has the U.S. in its pocket, regardless. Had the U.S. had a

I thought about writing about the shooting outside the North Carolina courthouse, but it becomes tiresome to comment on the weekly gunplay in the U.S. When something like this is as commonplace as traffic accidents, it hardly bears repeating what one has said before. This is just a fact of life in that country, and there is nothing more to say about it.

Twelve Nobel Peace Prize-winners have written an open letter to a 13th, to ask him to come clean about the use of torture by his country. In essence, they are shaming Barack Obama publicly, to do the right thing by telling the whole truth about what the U.S. has done or has had done for it by others in its handling of detainees in the name of "the war on terror." There is a Congressional report on this issue that has been kept under wraps while the American government decides to release it and in which way, meaning, how complete and truthful it's going to be. In a way, what these Nobel laureates are asking is that the U.S. finally "handles the truth" about Guantánamo and elsewhere.

With this latest shooting at a U.S. school, I wonder if there should be, along with fire and other disaster drills, a "student-shoots-his-classmates" drill. The fact is that it's much more likely that high-school or college students get shot at than a fire breaks out or an earthquake takes place. Talk about making education relevant for today's students! A course on how to survive the armed- wacko-of-the-week would be just the thing.

It's hardly news, but, still, it's worth mentioning it to drive the point home. The history of college education in the U.S. has been tarnished over and over again by cheating scandals, especially as it pertains to student athletes. Given the fact that there's big money in college sports, both for the athlete and the university, there is a big incentive to accommodate the players academically, in order to keep them on the playing field. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a case in point. In this latest violation, academic counselors directed student athletes to take courses in which they would be graded satisfactorily, regardless of their achievement. This in an institution which has been found guilty of other violations in the past, including this one who dates from the 1990s. So much for the quality of American higher education.

Canada has always been a positive reference in health care, security and other social indicators of quality of life, especially, in contrast to its neighbor to the south. Well, it seems that random violence and terror has crossed that border. In an episode that one associates with the U.S. mostly, there has been lethal gunfire at the Canadian Parliament and its surroundings. Deadlier than ebola, wanton violence spreads from country to country, even to those who have been relatively peaceful until now.

Sister Cristina, the Italian singing nun, will leave her convent, sooner rather than later. Talk about a "crossover"! The woman has embarked on a show business career that, ultimately, will "lead her astray." She seems to be more interested in making a name for herself than to pray "In the name of the Father..." Having tasted success in this world, she's not that interested in the next one. The signs have been there from the start: her repertoire has nothing to do with spirituality. Now, to cap it all off, she has recorded "Like a Virgin", the old Madonna hit, a choice that speaks volumes about the nun and her true nature. She has found her calling, and the religious vocation it is not.

Now we find out that, not only is the Social Security System slow, especially in its appeals process, but also has been coddling Nazi war criminals, paying them benefits, even after they have left the U.S. under the threat of deportation. As a result, those people have gone abroad to Europe and elsewhere, and have continued receiving their monthly check. This is worse than it looks. A handful of these war criminals -- especially the scientists -- were brought to the U.S. knowingly, in order to take advantage of their expertise, for example in rocket science. True, most of the others got in under false pretenses, but their true identities have been known for decades. Faced with the slowness and uncertainty of the American legal system, the government devised a scheme whereby these people were "encouraged" to leave the country "voluntarily", by agreeing to keep paying them their Social Security benefits. Nice, huh?

There goes another one of those myths about American efficiency in government and elsewhere. The administrative judges in the Social Security System have a backlog of 990, 399 cases. Mind you: these are cases in which people are waiting for their disability benefits, but have been turned down and are appealing that decision. This mess has been almost 40 years in-the-making, and there is no solution in sight. People die waiting for their appeals to be heard, let alone decided. Another example -- maybe its worst -- that the U.S. Federal bureaucracy is no model for any other country to follow.

We all have known for some time now that the U.S. economy is in trouble. What we didn't know was just how bad things really are. Until now that Obama's credit card has sort of "bounced" at a New York City restaurant. The man is obviously short on cash -- as this is the second time that he has had the same experience -- and he wants to pay with a credit card, even at places that are not that expensive. Maybe he needs to rack up those points, to exchange them for airline miles or some such stuff. Anyway, he needs to check his credit or give himself a raise, so that he doesn't have to depend on his wife's credit card anymore when he takes her out to dinner.

Joe Biden has had a troubled life, both personally and professionally. His success as a politician -- he was a prominent U.S. Senator and prospective presidential candidate, and is currently Vice President -- has been tainted by plagiarism and frequent faux pas  that embarrass him and his country to no end. Now, his youngest son, an attorney and executive, has been kicked out by the Navy for having failed a doping check that registered his use of cocaine. This is no young kid, but a 44-year-old man who was clearly appointed to a cushy job as a "public affairs officer", whatever that means. It should be noted that he was commissioned as an ensign in May 2013 . Just a month later , he failed the drug test, but it wasn't until February 2014 that he was discharged, and now, in October 2014  is that we get to know about it. This chronology of events speaks volumes...

John Grisham is a best-selling author of legal thrillers, mostly. But, before that, he was a lawyer, and still is. Apparently, his legal training got the better of him a couple of days ago, when, in an interview, he said that some people who watch child pornography are being punished too severely, compared to other criminals. He suggested that there are people who fall into watching child pornography somewhat casually or as a result of being "under the influence." He has subsequently apologized for his remarks. Grisham was obviously thinking as a defense attorney, pleading for a client. His argument would be fine in a courtroom, but not in the "court of public opinion", in which such reasoning is unacceptable. Although the watcher may not be doing direct harm to the children involved in this sexual activity, as a consumer, he or she creates a profitable market for the sexual exploitation of which they are victims.

I've been saying it all along: American know-how is a lot of propaganda, designed to impress the rest of the world with its supposed superiority. Latest case in point: the ebola contagion in the Texas hospital. It now seems that there was no protocol to deal with the ebola patient. So much for the U.S. telling the rest of the world how to do things, and the alleged best health standards under which it operates.

U.S. media, begrudgingly, reports on President Evo Morales' victory for a third term in Bolivia. The explanation for his successful reelection is that of a "buoyant economy and a sustained drop in poverty in one of the region's poorest countries." So, the man deserves to be reelected. And yet, in writing about it, the press doesn't seem to give him credit for an extraordinary performance, given the state of most of the world's economies. You read something like: "He was also aided by the economy's growth of more than 6 per cent last year...", as if it were a natural phenomenon that had nothing to do with him and his policies. Not being a lackey of U.S. imperialism, Morales' merits will always be downplayed by the Americans.

Another October 12 comes around and out come the people who, especially since 1992, have made it their cause to badmouth Columbus and all that came after him. To these people, he did not "discover" anything, Spanish America was hell on earth, and pretty much of everything that is wrong with Latin America is his fault and of those who came over from Spain. I suppose that they would have preferred that this part of the world remain in the hands of the native people, in a sort of idyllic prehistory, more imaginary than real. Of course it would have been better if the Europeans had come peacefully and not exploit the natives, but it did not happen that way neither in Latin America nor in North America. Nor anywhere else, for that matter. We must get over it, and stop agonizing about the past and playing this blame game over and over again, to no purpose, except showing off our modern sensitivity to this issue.

Plagiarism keeps thrwarting notable people in all walks of public life. Now, it's a U.S. senator from Montana who has had his master's degree revoked by the Army War College, for copying parts of a term paper. The guy served in the military for 33 years, something he seems to feel entitles him to special consideration. Obviously, he doesn't really own to his fault, saying that he is "not a scholar" but a soldier. Clearly, this is not a matter of being or not being a scholar, but of being honest and truthful. Copying someone else's work without acknowledging it is unacceptable; it is deceitful and has no place in the academic world, or elsewhere, for that matter.

The U.S. Secret Service scandal just won't go away. The prostitution one in Colombia, that is. It now seems that there was a White House staffer involved that the Obama administration refuses to acknowledge. Partly because the young man is the son of an important donor to the Democratic Party and has been appointed himself to a government post. In any case, there is strong evidence of a cover up of the young man's involvement and the subsequent efforts to eliminate all trace of it. So, while Secret Service agents lost their jobs or got punished, the kid with connections got away scot-free. Maybe this explains the recent lackadaisical attitude by the Secret Service.

Once again, it is American analysts who come out in favor of ending the embargo against Cuba. So, this is not just a Cuban initiative for their own self-interest, but the recognition by Americans who have not been unduly influenced by Cuban exiles, that the embargo is an absurd, illegal and untenable position, contrary to U.S. commercial interests. The fact is that both countries would benefit from normal relations, as is the case between close neighbors. Although the embargo has made life in Cuba much more difficult, it has failed miserably to bring  the Cuban regime down. More than half a century is enough proof of a failed policy. Only American stubbornness and courting of the Cuban-American vote have maintained such an anachronistic and irrational measure for so long.      

Joe Biden has done it again! The man is a walking, talking embarrassment for his government and country. He spends half the time apologizing for things he says either wrongly or stupidly in a diplomatic context. At a time when his boss is trying to garner the support of some key players in the Middle East with regard to the Syrian crisis, the Vice President has managed to upset Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia with careless remarks about their role in this issue. Now, he's begging for forgiveness from those governments. If he ever thought that he had any chance to succeed Obama as President, he talked himself out of it a long time ago.

Michael Phelps may be the greatest swimmer ever, but it looks like, out of the pool, he's a "fish out of water." He drinks and smokes pot -- that, we know -- and seems unable to control it, to the point that he has been caught doing it, even after he has seen the consequences of his behavior. For some people, talent comes with the "curse" of insecurity and stress. Being very good at something, but not very good at anything else. Terrified of being a failure in "real life", away from the sport or artistic performance, they turn to alcohol and/or other drugs to calm their anxieties and fears. Drowning themselves in the cesspool of a life without meaning.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm as outraged at the beheadings by ISIS as anybody else. But, I also ask: Shouldn't we all be as outraged by the indiscriminate killing of old people, women and children by drones and other airstrikes? Just because we don't get to see them up close doesn't make them less horrible. We should be equally horrified by the killing of thousands of innocent people who are just going about their business or staying at home like normal persons around the world, their lives ended by a bomb or a rocket dropped or launched from the safety of a plane or by remote control. Think about it.

Well, what do you know! The U.S. is selling arms and providing funds to Vietnam to strengthen it against a supposed aggression by China. The move has been criticized by those who point out that this contradicts the American policy on democracy and human rights, given the fact that Vietnam isn't exactly a showcase of both things.But, then again, when has the U.S. been consistent in this regard? Anything to make things difficult for China, the American current foe on all fronts. Meanwhile, closer to home, the U.S. embargo on Cuba continues, which would lead anyone to conclude that Cuba is a worse enemy that Vietnam ever was.

Once again, the outrageous injustice of the whole war on terror comes to the fore, in the case of the British citizen of Arabic descent who has lost years of his life in prison over a suspicion of being a terrorist that finally has come to naught. After being detained without ever being charged by the Americans in Guantánamo and elsewhere , he was then allowed to return to England, where he was once again held on other charges that have just fallen through. Many others around the world have seen their lives destroyed or seriously disrupted by these Kafkaesque proceedings of abuse of power for which no one is ever held accountable.

Another day, another shooting at an American school or university. This time it's a high school in Kentucky, with just one victim who was only wounded. Nothing to write home about. Almost not worth mentioning in a society in which gunplay is part of the national culture. As American as apple pie and baseball.

The Vatican must be "relieved" that the latest scandal is only of the more "normal" stuff, that is, of an English bishop that has had to quit over having an affair with a woman...or two. When tending his resignation, the man hastened to add that it had nothing to do with something illegal or involving minors. He simply had a relationship with a woman. There is another woman, married, whose husband claims that the bishop was also involved with her. So, the plot thickens. Still, these are more or less peccadilloes, compared with the pedophile epidemic in the Catholic Church.

No, Mr. Obama. It is not a question of "mistrust" between white policemen and black people in communities. It's that whites and blacks do not form a community; never have and never will, because whites feel that they have nothing in common with blacks. A community is not just a place that people more or less share as living space. Racism and the hate that comes with it are so ingrained in the American soul, that time has done very little to change the basic view that whites have of blacks. White people in the U.S., on the whole, do not appreciate blacks as equal human beings, and as long as this is the case, things will never change between them. So, Mr. Obama, it is not a question of "trust" or the lack thereof, but of appreciating the humanity of people with a different skin color.

Once again, Cuba -- yes, that "devil" of a place -- has put its resources, such as they are, at the service of those in need around the world. Its medical personnel, recognized as among the best in the world, is being sent to Sierra Leone to fight the deadly ebola epidemic. So, while others are just talking about doing something about it, Cuba is actually doing something about it, not just by writing a check, but by sending people to risk their lives by treating the sick there hands-on.

By now, the whole world knows that the U.S. Secret Service is a joke. All those movies in which they are portrayed so positively are pure fiction. The latest security breaches at the White House show how vulnerable the protective measures around the President really are. Those SS guys seem to be very distracted at their jobs. Given what we all know about their bad habits -- drinking, chasing women, staying up late, etc. -- one can't be all that surprised by their ineffectiveness. The only reason that Obama or his family haven't suffered serious harm is pure, dumb luck. Putting on his best face, Obama tries to downplay these "snafus", and continues to say that he has "complete confidence" in the Secret Service. I don't think so. He would have to be too big a fool for that.

It serves them right! All those who voted "No" in the Scottish referendum, relying on the British politicians' promise to give Scotland greater autonomy, have begun to see that England's government has started to renege on that promise, saying that it's going to take some time, because it has to deal with other issues pertaining to Wales, Northern Ireland and England itself. In short, the Scots have been duped. They should have known better. Those in power never give it up, unless they absolutely have to, due to a full-blown crisis or it is taken away from them by force. In this day and age, there is no middle ground. Either you are completely free or you are not. Autonomy is just a longer chain that the master keeps holding on to. Independence is the only way to make a clean break with the master.

The American Marine jailed in Mexico for having weapons illegally there has begun playing the "I'm-going-crazy" card, in his effort to get out of prison. Unfortunately for him, not even the U.S. State Department seems to believe his story. It's just one more of those tales about an innocent American who doesn't know where he is, and ends up where he didn't mean to...supposedly. The trouble is that this has happened too many times all over the world, and it's become very difficult to believe it. Some people have criticized Obama for not doing much to try to get this guy released. But, who can blame him for not wanting a mentally-disturbed man with a lot of firepower in his hands driving around in the U.S.? I suppose that he must be thinking: "Let Enrique Peña Nieto worry about him..."

The independence movement in Scotland may have lost, for now, but 45% or 46% is a substantial minority that just will not go away. England would be ill-advised, if it does not take it seriously, and start to make some major changes in its relationship with the Scottish people. Sooner, rather than later, the independence movement will grow stronger, and it will not be denied anymore.

On the question of Scottish independence, I would simply ask: If you live in a country that is independent, would you go back to not being independent?  To those who are calling for Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom, why presume to tell others that they should not be free to govern themselves without outside interference? Would you like to live in a country in which another country has power over it? Freedom is good, in and of itself, regardless of any difficulty. Isn't that what people who believe in democracy are always saying? Does this apply only to some countries and not others?

Here's another "bold" prediction: George Zimmerman will kill again. Once you get away with murder, you start feeling all-powerful, especially if, as is the case with the Trayvon Martin killer, you have other run-ins with the law, and you get away with them too. Zimmerman is a human time-bomb that keeps ticking, but the authorities refuse to hear. Here's a guy that the NSA should definitely keep tabs on, instead of wasting its time on spying on ordinary citizens who pose no threat to anyone else.

Let me make a prediction here. Sooner rather than later, Texan troops are going to cross over into Mexico with some excuse dealing with illegal immigration or drug trafficking, shades of Pershing's campaign of 1916. Mexicans will get killed, the Americans will go back to Texas, and nothing will come of it. The Texas government has already deployed its National Guard along the border. It's only a matter of time.

The news that the U.S. government threatened Yahoo with a $250,000-a-day fine in 2008 to force it to turn over information on its clients is another proof of the kind of fascist state the U.S. has turned into. This from a country that is constantly denouncing others like Cuba and Venezuela for employing all sorts of illegal or immoral tactics against their own people, in general, and the media in particular. Significantly, Yahoo  was forced to comply, when the courts ruled against it. Once again, the judicial branch failed to protect citizens' rights, accepting the «national security» defense by the government. American citizens and the rest of the world continue to find out just how ruthless the U.S. government really is.

Add Victor White III's name to the growing list of modern-day lynchings in the U.S.' South. The 22-year-old black man was in police custody, handcuffed behind his back after being frisked twice, and, inexplicably, shot himself with a mysterious handgun. There is an ongoing investigation of this remarkable act that has been compared to the ones by Houdini, the master escape artist. Clearly, this is one more incident in which either white civilians or policemen feel free to kill blacks on the flimsiest of excuses, if any.

Racism dies hard, if it ever does. Many people pretend to have overcome it or to have never been racist, but, at the least "provocation', it comes to the surface very quickly. Case in point: the comments by a major owner of the Atlanta Hawks basketball team in the NBA, who, in essence, said that there were too many blacks connected to the team, as well as in the stands, and that drove away the white customers. This is the same guy who very vocally denounced Donald Sterling a few months ago for racist statements of his own. Which goes to show what these people really feel and think about blacks. In their heart of hearts, they have never accepted black people as their equal, and still see them as an inferior race, only to be tolerated for their athletic abilities and artistic talents, not regarded as fellow human beings. This is why they find it so easy to shoot them, on the flimsiest of excuses.

Obama keeps disappointing all those who hoped for change . His presidency has been pretty much of the same as those who came before him. The U.S. continues to stick its nose everywhere, usually for the worst. American espionage goes on at home and abroad, where he has embarrassed himself immensely. Guantánamo is still open for its dreadful business. Domestic policies like immigration reform have not changed significantly. Health care has failed miserably. Race relations have taken a turn for the worst, with open season on blacks by both whites and the police. And, with each passing day, he becomes a "lamer duck."

On the subject of saving children, the charging of the Georgia man who "forgot" his child in a hot car with murder is a step in the right direction. Too many people have gotten away with murder with that flimsy excuse and the ill-placed solidarity of the community and the authorities. It was high time for the State to stop feeling sorry for the parents and start applying the full force of the law to these cases. The "I-forgot-my-kid-in-the-hot car"-excuse is a lot of bullshit and has become a part of a copy-cat scheme for parents who, for whatever reason, want to get rid of a child and get away with it. That is murder, pure and simple, and it should be dealt-with accordingly.

Thank God that both the British and Spanish authorities seem to be coming back to its senses in the case of the English couple who went to Spain looking for a cure for their little boy. It should have never come to this. Neither the English should have persecuted those parents, nor the Spaniards incarcerated them for trying to save their son's life. Every good parent in the world would have done the same thing, in such desperate circumstances. The British should have supported them anyway they could, and the Spanish should have understood them, not jail them for three days. The whole world hopes and prays that the treatment is successful, and the boy's life is saved.

Here we go again! Who are these people -- supposedly, tourists --  who insist on going to North Korea and do things to get in trouble, like trying to spread the Christian faith in a country where it is illegal to do so? Are these people so misinformed that they don't know what they're getting into? Then, when they are caught and jailed, they start to cry out for help. Whatever we may think of the North Korean regime, one should not go there to deliberately provoke it. Better yet, one should not go there. Period. Why would someone choose to vacation in such a risky place, especially after all the previous cases of "wrongful imprisonment"? Or, is there something more here than meets the eye? There are just too many cases of Americans who wander around the world and just happen to cross a border or some other line "innocently." It's just too silly to be true.

The West or developed world has done some very bad things to Third-World countries throughout history. First, it has exploited them mercilessly, robbing them of their natural wealth and condemning them to poverty, and subjecting them to unfair trade and other economic practices, with the same result. Second, it has invaded them and changed the course of history for the worst, creating or aggravating all sorts of economic, political and social problems there. Third, it has fueled domestic and international conflicts, by selling arms to parties to those conflicts, weapons that, otherwise, would have been impossible for them to have. Thus, conflicts and wars have turned deadlier and lasted much longer due to the supply of weapons by the so-called democratic nations which are constantly decrying the violence in those countries.

By now, everybody knows about the 9-year-old girl in Arizona who accidentally killed her instructor, while being taught how to  use a Uzi submachine gun . If there was a need to prove just how insane the U.S. is, this is definitely it. People who even think about a child handling a gun, let alone an automatic weapon of that kind, should not be allowed to walk around the community. People like that should be put away, so they stop hurting others. Both her parents who took her to the firing range and the instructor who accepted to teach her were clearly at fault, and showed a degree of irresponsible behavior that is beyond belief. That is one sick society.

It may very well be a case of "tit for tat." After all, if the Americans want to play hardball against the Russians with economic sanctions of all sorts, they should be prepared to suffer the consequences. Like having a dozen McDonald's closed in Russia, which, by the way, is not such a bad thing, from the Russian point of view. There are too many fast-food -- really junk food -- outlets in the world, so those won't be sorely missed.

The U.S. is outraged at the Russian "invasion" of Ukraine. Imagine a country invading others, in order to impose its will on, annex it or whatever. As a citizen of a country invaded by the U.S. in 1898 and maintained as a colony till the present, I find such a reaction by the Americans as simply cynical and laughable. As part of Latin America, the so-called "backyard of the U.S.", invaded so many times by the Americans, we in Puerto Rico have to laugh our heads off at the American attitude on this matter. The Americans must either think that the rest of the world ignores their history of interventions and invasions, or that it accepts that the U.S. has some sort of divine right to rule the world as it sees fit.

Well, the Vatican has begun to undo some of the damage that it consented to during decades, regarding the  pedophiles in its ranks. Revoking the diplomatic immunity of the Polish bishop who was its ambassador to the Dominican Republic, where he engaged in child pornography, is an important step in the long road to a long-lost credibility and respectability. Pederast clerics can have no quarter inside the Church; they have to be turned over to law-enforcement authorities, wherever they may have committed their crimes. There can be no room for technicalities or legal finesse, in order to avoid prosecution and conviction.

Anyone who sees the video of the Missouri white cop that is on the Web knows why Michael Brown was shot to death. This is still the mentality of much of the South, including its law enforcement. They are just itching to kill black people. Imagine this guy being on the police force for 35 years! As a lawyer, I know all about due process, but ordering a psychiatric evaluation is a waste of time and money. Even if some psychiatrist finds him capable of performing his duties, there is just no way that he can continue to be on the force. Except in KKK country.

As a whole, education has been on a downward slope for a long time over most of the world. Most young people are more concerned with taking "selfies" and sharing their trivial lives through the so-called social networks, than with learning anything of value. Consequently, when the time comes to grade or test them in whatever shape or form, they do rather poorly. Then, teachers are blamed, tests are blamed; anything but the real culprits. It's the "system" that's at fault, not the dumb and lazy students who just want to get by and can't wait to get out of school and go party and do all sorts of wild and crazy stuff. Then, when they end up asking you if "you want fries with that", they realize that it's too late.

Some in the U.S. are bothered by the coverage and criticism abroad of the Ferguson, Missouri situation. At bottom, they are upset and embarrassed that the U.S., so fond of lecturing the rest of the world on human rights and civil liberties, is being taken to task for its handling of the demonstrations there. As I've said before, the Americans like to look down on other people and feel superior to everyone else, pretending that they don't treat dissenters and protesters badly, a part of the myth that the U.S. propaganda machine has been feeding us for decades. Now, we all get to see that there isn't that much difference between the U.S. and other countries, when it comes to dealing with street protests, especially when what started all this was a racially-motivated crime by white police against a black young man.

Frankly, Obama should be much more concerned with what is going on in Ferguson, Missouri than what is happening in Afghanistan, Iraq and Ukraine. He should be paying more attention to the tragedies at home, and less to the ones abroad, to which the U.S. contributes heavily by its incessant meddling. Perhaps, if he wasn't so embroiled in the violence overseas, he would have enough time to think about what should be done to curb the violence in his nation's streets. Especially against his "brothers and sisters."

Here's another news item that is... not news, really. The University of Notre Dame has suspended four of its football players for having cheated on their academic work, by turning in papers that were written by someone else. So, what else is new? Does anyone still believe that college athletes are there to study and, worse, do so honestly? College athletics is big business, especially in important universities in the U.S. Talented athletes are recruited to play, not study and get good grades. As long as they are healthy and  successful on the field, everything is done to keep them at the university or college. The institution couldn't care less if they learn anything or graduate. At best, this episode at Notre Dame is old news.

Full-scale fascism has hit home in the U.S. In Ferguson, Missouri, to be exact. Granted that some people have turned to violence and looting as part of the protests over Michael Brown's death, but, by all accounts, the police have gone overboard themselves.They have gone so far as to arrest journalists from The Washington Post and The Huffington Post, as well as impeding coverage from other sources. In other words, law enforcement has turned lawless. These events should be an eye-opening experience for all those who naively believe in the silly "exceptionalism" of the United States. There are still too many people who think that these kinds of things only happen in barbaric and inferior countries, but not in the good ol' USA. Things haven't changed all that much since James Baldwin wrote The Fire Next Time . Next time is now.

When I was a kid, some people used to say that children should be allowed to play with dirt, so that they would build up their immune system. What sounded like an old wives' tale now seems to have more than a grain of truth to it, with the strong possibility that some bacteria may be quite effective in reducing cancer tumors. Although in its initial stages, the research has started to indicate that this could be the case in some instances of the disease. "Cleanliness is next to godliness", according to Ben Franklin, but dirty may be closer to living.

Another young unarmed black person is killed by a cop in the U.S. Why is this news? Black people should know that it's always "open season" against them. The rest of us should not expect anything different. The question is not if it's going to happen, but when and where. The people who do the killing always have a"good" reason for it. But, we all know the real reason: blacks are presumed guilty...of anything and everything. So, it's shoot first, and ask questions later. The Americans built their country with the "The only good Indian is a dead Indian" motto. Ditto black people.

Hillary Clinton has thrown not her hat into the ring, but her gauntlet. An iron one, at that. And she hasn't thrown it down, but hard at Obama's face. One has to wonder if she ever got over her defeat for the Democratic nomination for President, and her recent disparaging comments about Obama's foreign policy are part of a grudge she has held all these years. Or if this is what she truly felt all the while she was his Secretary of State. In any case, it doesn't speak well of her to come out now with all this criticism. As to her views on foreign policy, evidently, she wants to portray herself as an extremely strong leader, in the mold of Margaret Thatcher, a poor choice of role model. If one is to believe her, should she get to be President, she will embroil the U.S. in one conflict after another, just to show how tough she is.

Isn't there something weird about announcing that you will continue to airstrike or bomb a country indefinitely, and then going on vacation with your family? Well, I guess this was just another day at the office for the President of the United States.

The Americans are bombing Iraq. So, what else is new? You know what they say: "If at first you don't succeed, bomb, bomb again!" Obviously, both Afghanistan and Iraq are U.S. failures. When faced with a problem, Americans either throw money at it or throw bombs. Frequently, both. Thus the legendary corruption by the U.S. government and its contractors in both countries. After proclaiming victory in its nation-building mission, the Americans have done an "about face" and gone back to the square one of bombing Iraq to hell once again. If it weren't tragic, it would be hilarious.

The Michigan white man who killed a young black girl who banged on his door seeking help, because he was afraid, has been convicted of second-degree murder and other related offenses. What did him in was the fact that he shot through the door, testified that he thought she was attempting to break in, and wasn't going to "cower" in his own home. In other words, his defense was a combination of "standing his ground" and the "I-thought-there-was-a-burglar" excuse by Oscar Pistorius. Luckily, the jury didn't buy that theory. They saw through it, and rejected that defense. Concern for one's safety does not grant one a license to kill, unless one is reasonably certain that one's life is in danger.  Shooting through doors is extremely dangerous and reckless with regard to the safety of others who may be in a vulnerable position through no fault of their own. A civilized community cannot tolerate that degree of violence in the name of self-defens

As I've been saying all along, those American "students" who keep getting into trouble in suspicious circumstances in other countries are not innocent babes in the woods. Now, thanks to the Associated Press, we know for sure what we suspected all this time: they are agents for the CIA, part of a program to infiltrate and do political work in places such as Cuba, posing as aid workers for the Agency for International Development. American propaganda has portrayed them as naive victims of circumstances, but they go in knowing full well what they are doing. Just as Alan Gross did, and now he keeps whining about his incarceration. This explains why the U.S. has abandoned him; he took his chances and he lost. I've said it over and over again: one cannot believe anything that the U.S. State Department says, including why U.S. citizens are in trouble abroad.

People of good will all around the world rejoice over the appearance of the grandson of one of the leading figures in the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo movement. After so many years, the woman has had some sort of closure of the tragedy that befell her family. The movement that she helped found  has once more been vindicated in its effort to find those who were taken away from their rightful families and given to people who knowingly participated in this despicable practice by the military dictatorship. As she so aptly put it: "The search for the rest must continue."

The Pope has lifted the 29-year-old sanction against a Nicaraguan priest who participated in the Sandinista government. That punishment was meted out by John Paul II, now a "saint, but really a closet politician himself, with a clear anti-communist agenda. One would have to be very naive to believe that Father D' Escoto was really sanctioned for accepting a government post. With a history of meddling in politics in all sorts of ways, it wasn't that which the Polish Pope found objectionable, but the fact that he didn't like the man's politics, which he found too similar to the one in his country. Had Nicaragua had a different regime, more to the Pope's liking, he would have never punished the priest; at least, not so severely. Thank God Pope Francis has corrected this gross injustice.

For the millions of people all around the world who admire athletic prowess and  are in awe of God-given talent, the brilliant return to competition of Usain Bolt, the fastest sprinter ever, is great news. After some injuries, he came from behind to anchor the Jamaican 4x100-meter relay in the Commonwealth Games in record time. Let's hope that he remains healthy, so that we can continue to enjoy more electrifying performances from this truly gifted athlete.

China is a huge country with the planet's biggest population, by far. So, it's to be expected that all sorts of accidents and bad things happen on a regular basis. I get the feeling, though, that Western media -- especially that of the U.S. -- is on a permanent watch to report every little negative thing that happens in China. To my mind, there is an evident agenda in this. China has emerged as the dominant world economic power, so the West, particularly the U.S., wants desperately to portray it as dangerous, dumb or inefficient, not on a par with the rest of the developed countries. Hence, the bad press that it gets day in and day out, highlighting its failures, never its successes. The hatchet job is so obvious, it's laughable.

Jesus Christ! On the one hand, Obama admits to torture and other wrongdoing after 9 /11, but then he turns around and expresses his confidence in  the CIA Director, the man who has just admitted that they spied on the Senate Committee that was investigating the Agency. Either Obama is insane or insanely cynical. It has taken the U.S. government all this time to accept the truth. The Americans, knowingly, denied any wrongdoing, while persecuting those who told the truth about these things. There is no way that one can believe in the sincerity of these belated apologies or mea culpas . If Obama is really sincere about this, he should call off his dogs, and leave Assange and Snowden in peace. But, we all know that it's not going to happen, don't we?

Wow! The Head of the CIA has admitted to having spied on members of Congress who were investigating the Agency, as part of their oversight authority. Just four months ago, when he was asked point blank about it, he denied it in no uncertain terms. Either he was lying or he didn't know, an untenable position, whichever the case. Apologizing for it, just doesn't cut it. In a way, it's great that this has happened because it shows the kind of agency the CIA really is; a power unto itself, deceitful and not to be trusted. How can the American people rely on anything these people say about other countries, for example? If they have the gall to spy on their own elected leaders, and lie about it, they are capable of anything that strikes their fancy. The CIA has absolutely no credibility, and no policy decision should be made on its "intelligence."

It can be done. Germany is producing almost 30% of its energy from renewable sources. It may not be cheap, but it's clean and clearly the way to go for the future. The sun, the wind, and water are part of the environment, so, what could be more "eco-friendly"? There are other countries which are well on their way to substituting fossil fuels as the main source of energy. All it takes is the political will to commit the resources needed and resist the onslaught from the oil cartels. The longer we wait to take the path of clean energy, the more polluted the world, and difficult and costly it will be to achieve that goal.

Let's get something straight. The U.S is just as bad as Russia in supplying arms to the world. According to the latest figures, Russia leads the U.S. -- but not by much -- as the world's biggest arms dealer. Knowing how competitive the Americans are in everything, they must be working day and night to overtake the Russians on this. There's too much money in the arms business, for the Americans to settle for being No. 2 in it. So, the next time you hear Obama take the high moral ground  talking about some armed conflict, ask yourself: Are those guys armed by the Americans or the competition?

Okay, Sarah Palin is nice-looking, but "The Sarah Palin Channel"? At $9.95 a month, I'd rather see weird stuff on Netflix , rather than watch her ranting and raving like the lunatic that she is. I don't think that this new venture will last very long. Not even the lunatic fringe that pays any attention to her will keep her on the air. Some people will do anything to avoid doing an honest day's labor. Even being a joke on the national and international political scene.

As I write this, Puerto Rican journalists stage a demonstration on behalf of Oscar López Rivera, the political prisoner who has spent 33 years in U.S. jails for "seditious conspiracy", an archaic and obscure legal term meant to include anything the State wishes to accuse its opponents of. López has now been in jail six more years than Mandela. Speaking of which, Lopez's daughter was recently in South Africa and met with Bishop Desmond Tutu, who was saddened by this cruel and unusual punishment, and disappointed with Obama, for not having liberated López. Interestingly enough, López and Mandela were both convicted of the same "crime." Tutu and two other Nobel Peace Prize winners have come out in favor of López's liberation. Ironically, Obama, a Nobel Peace Prize winner himself, does not share their sensitivity, when it comes to human rights on his own doorstep.

OK, let's say that Hillary Clinton is right. The Russians are, at least, partly responsible for the downing of the Malaysian plane, given their support of the Ukrainian rebels. Then, by the same token, the Americans are, at least, partly to blame for a lot of the bloodshed by the regimes they have backed all over the world, supplying arms, funds and technical assistance of all kinds, as well as troops on the ground. Or is this one of those cases in which the U.S. does not apply to itself the principles that it chooses to apply to the rest of the world?

Another one of the bad guys gets away. Once again, one of those Nazis who took part in the killing of millions of people in WWII, has died before getting what he deserved. There is just no way that one can justify that this man, who was identified decades ago as a guard at Auschwitz, was able to "beat the system" and remain free, dying in a hospital bed in Philadelphia. Evidently, the U.S. dragged its feet all these years, allowing him to live to a ripe old age, that being, cynically, one of the reasons put forth by his defense to stop his deportation to Germany. One has to wonder why it took so long for American justice to deal effectively with this case, when, in many other instances, it acts very swiftly, even to the point of violating due process and other aspects of the rule of law, as in the case of the detainees in Guantánamo. The lack of political will, as manifested in this particular law-enforcement matter, is very troubling to people all around the world who de

Not only have they been spying on people, for supposedly security reasons, but the guys at NSA, behaving more like frat boys than responsible government employees, have been having a good time with racy photos encountered in their snooping. Thanks to Edward Snowden, who has been demonized by the U.S. Government, we keep learning about the kinds of shenanigans and high jinks that go on at the intelligence community of the U.S. and some of its allies. You know, those who love to point fingers at their adversaries for all kinds of bad things...

The world is paying a lot of attention to the Malaysian airline tragedy and the one at Gaza, as well it should. Far be it from me to minimize both. But, as far as numbers of victims and the duration of the situation that produces them, the killings and rapes in India are something to be outraged about. There is something deeply wrong in a society in which rape is so common and vicious, and very little is done about it. The Indian criminal justice system seems powerless to respond to what seems to be an epidemic of violence against women. In fact, in the case of killings and rape by the military, the system protects it and the guilty parties take full advantage of a law that shields them from prosecution. Touted often as the world's biggest democracy, India is far from being in an acceptable position as to the rule of law in the very crucial aspect of its treatment of women.

American hype is not to be believed. Literally. According to American mythology, if an American is not involved predominantly in something, it's not worth anything. You can see this very clearly in sports: if an American is not the dominant figure, very little, if any, attention is paid to it in U.S. media. Or, as is the case now with Tiger Woods, the media insists that the sport " needs " him. Really? According to this theory, if Woods were to die, golf would disappear from the face of the earth. Well, for the past six years, in which he hasn't won a major tournament -- and by the looks of it , he may never win another one -- golf has done just fine. This reminds me of the time when John McEnroe took six months off to take care of his newborn son -- the one who was arrested for drugs recently -- and when he came back, he was never the same player and had to retire soon after. Then, it was said that men's tennis "needed" McEnroe. Well, guess what?

How convenient for the U.S. in its campaign against Russia, that one way or another that country is involved in the downing of the Malaysian plane! I may be way off base here, but, I find it too much of a coincidence that the Russians would do such a thing at this point in time, when the U.S. has stepped up its sanctions on them. It is just too damn convenient for the Americans. Right out of a Hollywood script, in order to blame your enemy and justify your actions against it.

You see, I knew that there was something wrong with Arizona, for having John McCain as senator for almost thirty years. Next, we found out about Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's particular brand of law enforcement And then, they elected Jan Brewer as Governor. That's when it became crystal clear that there is something really wrong with the state. How about a McCain-Brewer ticket for 2016? With Arpaio waiting in the wings to be named head of the FBI. That's a scary thought.

Does anyone really think that the Julian Assange case in Sweden is about rape and sexual assault? As with Edward Snowden, the Americans will not rest until they get their hands on him for Wikileaks.  They want to make an example of him by putting him to death. Once he gets to Sweden, the U.S. will get him, by any means necessary. You can be sure that that rape and sexual assault cases will go away, and he will end up in an American prison. Probably, on the same footing as the detainees in Guantánamo, that "black hole" of the rule of law.

The Church of England's decision to ordain women as bishops is the natural consequence of both having accepted them as priests and taking gender equality to its logical conclusion. Keeping women in a subordinate position in any human endeavor is untenable, especially if one believes that we are all worthy in the eyes of God. One cannot decry the lower status of women in other cultures and, at the same time, keep them from achieving their full potential in one's own. To hold otherwise is clearly unfair and contrary to any basic notion of the Divine as a force for good. The Pope, who seems to be on the right track on so many things, should follow the Anglican Church's lead on this one.

The last time I cried over a sporting event, I must have been about 12 years old and my favorite baseball team was thrashed. There must be something wrong with grownups who cry over a soccer game. In fact, there surely is, and that explains the riots, violence and even suicides in the aftermath of the World Cup. I can understand that people be disappointed or frustrated with a result, but to behave like savages because their team lost is really crazy. Sports are supposed to have all sorts of beneficial effects on human beings. But, judging from this and other competitions, it doesn't seem like it.

The Dutch are having second thoughts about their education system and how to finance higher education. Up until now, they have been extremely generous with everybody, regardless of actual financial need, but that cannot longer continue. So, they are switching from all-out grants to loans, albeit ones very easy to pay back. The whole idea is to get most of the population into college or universities, a goal that seems wonderful, but is not necessarily desirable. Not everyone is college-material. People can lead productive and useful lives without a university degree. Society needs all kinds of laborers, professionals or technicians that have never seen a painting by Brueghel or read Erasmus. Other countries would do well to reconsider their approach to universal funding for education. As in other aspects of life, quality is more important than quantity.

As a firm believer in independence for Puerto Rico from the United States, I sympathize with independence movements all around the world, as well as with the recognition of those who have fought for it. Having said that, I find it absurd that India plans to spend $33 million on a statue twice the size of the Statue of Liberty to honor one of its independence heroes. Especially so, when that is twice the expenditure for girls' education and $8 million more than what will be spent for women's safety, in a country in which the rape of women is brutal and commonplace. It makes you wonder about what Gandhi would have said about something like this.

It had to happen. There was no way that the German government, before its people and that of the rest of the world, could tolerate U.S. spying, once its cover had been blown off. So, they have kicked out the top American intelligence officer in Germany. Now, this isn't Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Venezuela or any other of those "unfriendly" countries to the U.S. whose every decision is attributed to evil intentions. This is one of the U.S. strongest allies and friends, a nation which has given no reason to suspect its good will toward the Americans. Spying on it so blatantly is doubly offensive and humiliating on the international arena. The Americans have really done this time.

It's really laughable that U.S. Senator Robert Menéndez claims that there is a Cuban conspiracy to smear him about the corruption charges for which he is being investigated by the Justice Department. This is such a lame, late-in-the-game excuse, that it is pathetic. Fortunately, no one is taking it seriously. The man is clutching at straws to save himself, and he has resorted to the old trick of blaming the Communists for every evil under the sun. But, this "defense" comes to him as an afterthought, when he realized that he is in deep trouble and needs some deus ex machina help to get himself out of it. His lack of imagination is comical and embarrassing. He needs no help in "smearing" himself.

I went to Catholic school, K-12. I even wrote a book about that experience. So, it comes as no surprise to me that Catholic schools have been in trouble for a long time; a lot of them have had to close down for financial reasons and dwindling enrollment. As time has gone by, people have become less inclined to put their children in such expensive and arbitrary environments, where individuality is suffocated in the name of God. I would also venture to say that the sexual-abuse scandal hasn't helped much. As a parent, I would be very concerned about putting my child in harm's way, by placing him or her near priests and nuns. There have been too many cases all over the world, for parents not to be rightfully worried about this. The Catholic Church has no one to blame but itself for the increasing disappearance of Catholic education.

In the end, it's the cover up that gets you. If the Watergate scandal should have taught us anything, it's the fact that what brings people, institutions or governments down is not so much the crime, but the cover up. This is a lesson that the Catholic Church is learning the hard way. As bad as the sex abuse of children is -- much worse than a burglary -- what has gotten the Church in deep trouble is its cover up, by either doing nothing about it or doing everything to hide it. We are now finding out that the British government also did not learn from what happened to their cousins from "across the pond." In what seems like an epidemic of pedophilia through several decades, U.K officials either ignored the problem, including the one in government circles, or, much worse, covered it up, going so far as to hide or destroy documents about it. The Pope has begged for forgiveness for what the Church has done. Now that Thatcher is dead -- much of this occurred during

It is both ironic and tragic that so much of History is full of death and destruction based on religious beliefs. Thousands of years have gone by in which people all over the world have been willing to kill other human beings because they have different ideas about God or of how to worship Him, Her or It. Good and devout people turn into savages against their fellow human beings, in order to convert or punish them for not doing so. It all comes out of an anthropomorphic view of a God that must be "protected" from blasphemy or offense, even if it takes killing the offender. A ludicrous idea that has come down to us through the ages, and is prevalent in some parts of the world. Obviously, meditation, prayer and the reading of texts held to be the Word of God, basic religious practices, have done very little to truly enlighten the faithful.

"The plot thickens." Indeed, the U.S. spying on Germany affair continues to get complicated, as we now know that a German intelligence officer has been spying for the Americans for the last two years. So, while Obama pretends to make amends with Merkel over electronic spying, he keeps spying on Germany the old-fashioned way. Let's be clear about this: Obama has told Merkel that he won't continue to spy on her personally, but that he reserves the right to continue to do so on other German government officials. When a country's President has the gall to tell another country's top elected official something like this, there is no way in which any meaningful trust can be established between the two nations. Only American delusional arrogance can explain U.S. actions in this regard.

No matter how late, it's always cause for celebration that criminals such as the two Argentine former military officers who arranged the death of a bishop in 1976, as part of the "Dirty War", have been convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Although both are in their eighties, so they won't be in prison too long anyway, it's important that they be held accountable for an egregious abuse of power and murder. Also, being in prison when you are old and, presumably, sick should be harder on those two, deservedly so. The example should continue to be set. No matter how long it takes, "if you do the crime, you will do the time."

Good for the Germans! They are well on their way to having a national minimum wage for the first time in their history. And, although they have come rather late to this labor law practice, they have made up for it by establishing it at the equivalent of $11.60 an hour , considerably more than the $7.25 in the U.S.; even if the $10.10 proposed by Obama were to be enacted by law. Once again, the Americans lag far behind other countries' economic and social justice measures. The time when the U.S. led by its example in the protection of worker's rights is long gone.

Right from the horse's mouth. The U.S. Census Bureau, no less, has confirmed our worst suspicions: the U.S. is getting poorer. In fact, one out of every four Americans lives in poverty . People are getting poorer by the minute,and the famed "middle class" is rapidly disappearing in the United States. This is a definite trend that will not end anytime soon. The U.S. government seems incapable of turning it around; most states are equally powerless to stem this tide that increasingly engulfs the whole nation. For the first time, the Unites States has been included in an international assessment of countries in which conditions are worsening. What seemed far-fetched just a few years ago, has come to pass.