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.