One Man's Opinion

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.