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Showing posts from September, 2014

Shooting As Usual

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.

Oh, That...Thank God!

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.

Fear and Loathing in USA

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.

Cuba Cares

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.

Another Black Day at the White House

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.

Duped

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.

Another American Whiner

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..."

There Will Be a Next Time

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.

The hypocrisy of liberal democracies

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?

Zimmerman Zeroes In

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.

Pershing, Part Two

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.

"Crying Uncle" to Uncle Sam

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.

Another Modern-Day Lynching

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.

Black is Bad for Business

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.

"0" for Obama

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."

The Child Murderers

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.

God Save the Boy

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.

The Wandering Americans

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.