One Man's Opinion

What is the world coming to! Sean Penn's joke at the Oscars was funny, and anybody with enough sense was able to understand what he meant by it. We can't be that serious about everything, especially when we know that the person making the joke has absolutely no intention of offending the butt of his joke. What Penn was doing was recognizing the great talent of Mexican directors such as Cuarón and González, and the fact that they have won over the American film establishment in Hollywood. The truth is that American audiences are used to this kind of "insult humor", which is very frequent in activities in which they "roast" a guest of honor. As the great humorist George Carlin used to say, let's not be so "pussy" about everything.

By now, most people who take an interest in public affairs are aware of Joe Biden's track record of saying the wrong things or saying things in inappropriate ways, for which he has had to apologize frequently. But, now, the whole world has been made aware of another one of Biden's dumb moves: the inappropriate approach or touching of women of all ages and marital conditions. The photo of him grabbing the new Secretary of Defense's wife from behind while talking in her ear has made other similar pictures surface. In another instance he does something very similar to a biker woman in a group. There's also a video of his approach of the 13-year-old daughter of a congressman, in a similar fashion. There's an obvious pattern here. What makes this more surprising is the fact that, culturally, Americans are not huggers, and they usually keep a distance in social situations. The fact that Biden is the Vice President of the United States of America makes it all the more em

Far be it from me to defend North Korea's leader, but I think it unseemly to keep making fun of his physical appearance. I'm sure that there are valid reasons to criticize him, but it seems to me that his haircut -- weird as it may be -- is not one of them. Picking on him for that is, frankly, sophomoric, frat-house stuff. Once you go down that path, no one is safe from that kind of criticism. The world is full of people with all kinds of crooked, strange, twisted and ugly features. Many have a dubious taste in clothes or personal accoutrements. But, these things are beside the point, unless you're part of the so-called "fashion police." The world is complicated enough, without  this trivial stuff about how political figures or government officials look. Nobody likes to be made fun of, and this is no way to improve international relations.

According to Cold-War speak, Poland was a Soviet "satellite." And then, the Wall came down, and Poland and all the other "satellites" were freed, and turned into glorious democracies with the encouragement of the U.S. and the then-Pope's blessing. Not quite. It seems clear that Poland just changed orbits, and has been revolving around the American sun. After all those years as victims of the "Evil Empire", one would have thought that they would have been incapable of doing the kind of things that their Soviet masters did on a regular basis. And yet, when the U.S. asked them to hold some people in a secret CIA prison there, where they could be tortured while the Americans denied that they were doing so, Poland was more than willing to oblige. Now, a court has ordered that the Polish government pay two of those men $262,000  for, essentially, doing the U.S. bidding having detained them at the secret prison. But, to me, the real newsworthy thing abo

Once again, young people in the U.S. do poorly in basic intellectual skills, such as math, in comparison to those of the rest of the world. This is getting to be a yearly tradition. So much money and all that boasting and self-aggrandizing, but, when it comes to down to it, Americans are becoming dumber by the minute. Take note of this, the next time you hear an American claim that his is the best country in the world and everybody else is inferior.

A 16-year-old kid, church-going and member of the junior ROTC, got into an argument with his parents, who took away his computer and cellphone. So, the youngster did what any red-blooded American boy would do in such a situation: he got a gun and killed both his parents. Then, being the good Christian that he is, he went to Bible study at his church. Another episode in the gun-toting, Bible-thumping U.S. soap opera.

Remember "mission accomplished" by Bush? Well, by the looks of what is happening in Afghanistan and Iraq, "not really." Both countries have not achieved anything closely resembling democracy, security and stability. So, if nation-building was part of the mission, it has been an utter failure. As a matter of fact, there is a very real possibility that the U.S. will go back, to try to put in things in "order." Really, there is no way that the Americans can undo the mess they created by invading and occupying both countries. It was a dumb move in the first place. Going back won't make any difference.

So, what else is new? The Venezuelan government has foiled a coup by the right-wing opposition  backed by the U.S.   Does this sound familiar? How many times have the Americans plotted against a foreign government not to their liking? They always deny it, but years or decades later, we find out that it was true. Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of history, especially of Latin America, knows this. The truth is that the U.S. has absolutely no credibility when it comes to its dealings with governments in this hemisphere. I have no doubt that the Americans have been plotting to overthrow the Venezuelan government since Chávez came to power, and they will continue to do so, until they get what they want: a "user-friendly" government that will allow them to do as they please in Venezuela.

The FBI Director has called upon law enforcement personnel throughout the U.S. to recognize their racial bias and to act to overcome it, in view of the many incidents in which race is a major issue in deadly confrontations in the past few months. Now, this is like discovering America in the 21st century. The question is: Why has it taken so long for the FBI to address this issue? Have they just realized that this is the case? Was the FBI waiting for more black people to die at the hands of white policemen before they spoke about this? "Better late than never", but this is very late in the game to try to make amends.

Here's an interesting development from the Charlie Hebdo saga. Fox News, which is anything but a responsible news organization, claimed that Paris had "no-go zones" due to the insecurity after the attacks. Now, the Paris municipal government has voted to sue Fox News, claiming that that kind of reporting harmed the city's image and, consequently, value as a tourist destination. Although Fox should be held accountable for its irresponsibility in this matter, I wouldn't worry too much about the damage done. The whole world knows Fox is not to be believed or trusted. No person in his right mind is going to miss the opportunity to see Paris, least of all, based on what the people at Fox say.

The new Miss Universe, the former Miss Colombia, has been put on the spot by the FARC , the rebel guerrilla group who has been negotiating peace terms with the Colombian government.  Since she seems to have ideas about the peace process, the group has invited her to take part in it. Essentially, it has asked her to put her lovely body where her lovely mouth is. This is what happens when you ask beauty-pageant contestants all those seemingly-profound questions about peace and other world affairs. Maybe this will teach them all a lesson, to stick to the beauty part of it and forget about pretending that the pageants are about something else.

I have to correct myself. Brian Williams has not touched bottom yet...but he's going down fast! Now, he's being investigated, not only for his "misremembrance" of the incident in Iraq, but also for various reports he filed from New Orleans  at the time of hurricane Katrina. It seems that the guy likes to embellish the news, especially by putting himself in a starring role and claiming to have done and seen things that were just not true. He has decided to take a few days off from his duties at NBC. Having gone too far with his idea of "truthful" reporting, I very much doubt that he'll be back.

It's the conscience, stupid! An average of 22 U.S. veterans commit suicide every day . You can theorize all you want, but, bottom line, these guys can't live with themselves, once they realize what they have become and the things they have done for bogus patriotic reasons. They all go overseas with a gung-ho, hawkish, kick-ass attitude, as to some sort of weird picnic. Except, the people over there don't roll over and die. And then, these G.I Joes see that they are nothing but killers that are part of an invading force that kills civilians, including women, children and old people. That tortures prisoners and does unspeakable things to the dead enemy. Of course they can't sleep. They have to drink and take drugs to try to numb themselves to the images of their own doing. Sooner or later, they can't take it anymore. The death that they brought upon others claims them. There's something in the universe that makes it so.

Talk about liars! Brian Williams, one of those newsmen who are treated like royalty in the U.S., has had to admit that he lied when he said that he had been aboard a helicopter in Iraq that was shot and forced to land. Of course, he did not say he had lied; instead, he said that he " misremembered. " Then, he went on to say that he had been aboard another helicopter around there. This is just one more example of newsmen who want to not only report the news, but also to star in them. The American mania with celebrity drives people to concoct stories in which they do heroic things or endure extreme hardship, so that they become famous for it and make a ton of money while they're at it.

Is this news? Lance Armstrong lies or, in this case, has someone else lie for him. It so happens that he hit two parked cars, coming out of a party in which he had been drinking. So, true to form, he had his long-time girlfriend take the blame. But, a police officer, knowing Armstrong's track record on truthfulness, was suspicious, and investigated the matter more thoroughly, discovering that, once again, Armstrong has lied. Evidently, this guy is a pathological liar who refuses to take responsibility for his actions until he is forced to. You would have thought that, after being publicly exposed as a cheat, he would have learned his lesson. He rides on.

I'm all for being "politically correct", up to a point and about certain issues. If people want to be referred to in a certain way, so as not to remind them of painful experiences, fine. We have seen the transition from negro, to black and then to African-American in the U.S, for example. But, I don't think that you should get to change grammar on any account. The University of Vermont has accepted to call a person that was born a woman but does not feel like one -- nor a man, for that matter -- they . But, wait a minute. Isn't that the plural form? I suppose that this person feels that there's more to (her, him, it) than meets the eye. Seriously, though, unless you're royalty, the Pope or a judge in a courtroom, you don't refer to yourself in the plural form. No matter what the gender case may be, this person is just an individual ; therefore, should be referred to in singular form.

Guns keep on making the headlines. It seems that there is a new trend in --where else? -- the U.S. of infants shooting their parents or siblings. In the latest episode a three-year-old from New Mexico shot his father and pregnant mother, when he took out the gun from the mother's purse. Typically, the reaction by a police spokesman was that this is what happens when you don't secure a weapon, which of course is true, but ignores the basic issue of people having guns in their houses or elsewhere all the time. Ironically, those who buy guns to protect themselves and their families from criminals end up being shot and sometimes killed by those they aimed to protect. But, then, they die honoring the sacrosanct Second Amendment to the Constitution, something worth dying for.

Maybe I'm missing something, but isn't it odd that the prosecutor in Argentina who was found dead after accusing the President of covering up a terrorist attack having to do with Iran did not have a gun or a permit to have one?  All prosecutors everywhere, I daresay, have guns issued to them, for obvious reasons. But, this one had to borrow a gun -- illegally -- from an aide, who also broke the law, and ended being the weapon involved in his death. A curious turn of events, isn't it?