One Man's Opinion

There must really be something wrong with Arizonans: not only do they have McCain as their perpetual Senator in the U.S. Congress, but also Jan Brewer as their Governor.  Both are, obviously, in some sort of dementia stage.  Brewer's performance in the recent debate, when she became almost catatonic, and then seemed at a loss on how to answer the question about the claimed beheadings speak volumes about her mental condition.  And yet, both of them continue to have the support of the majority of the people in Arizona. Frankly, with people like that, I wouldn't dream of going to Arizona illegally...or legally.

Burger King has fallen on hard times, but now Brazilian businessmen have come to the rescue, buying the company.  That could be great news, if they can put their own stamp on the burger business.  Anyone who has been to a churrascaria or a rodizio restaurant knows how wonderful Brazilian meat and its preparation can be, so the hamburger chain could see a big improvement in quality in that regard. That and Brazilian music in the background, and the competition won't stand a chance...

Germany's Central Bank President has written a book in which he, essentially, warns his countrymen about the deleterious effect of immigration from Islamic countries, mainly,Turkey.  According to him, "those people" are a bunch of ignorant, ne'er do wells, that in a few years will end German civilization as we know it.  Now, if this reminds you of someone who made these kinds of arguments some 70 years ago, you're not that far off. Luckily, it appears that, except for the usual lunatic fringe, the German people have denounced this type of racist and bigoted statements.  Still, it's significant that such a major public figure would dare to express  these views publicly.  Fascism and, in this case, Nazi ideology are always a threat and must be taken seriously, especially in a country such as Germany.

The Irish Cardinal Brady defiantly refuses to step down from his lofty throne, after having admitted his involvement in the cover up of sexual and physical abuse by, at least, a priest. It seems that the monsignor feels that he has been absolved of all wrongdoing, by the simple expediency of saying that he is sorry. I suppose that this comes from the Catholic belief that, if you confess your sins, you can go on your merry way. So, he has said that he has "moved on", and doesn't want to be bothered with this thing anymore. Meanwhile, the Pope has given him the cold shoulder, by planning to visit Great Britain but, pointedly, staying away from Ireland. Of course, the Pope needs to do much more than that. But, then again, his own record in the handling of pedophilia in the priesthood is nothing to be proud of.

The coincidence of the guy behind Wikileaks being investigated for rape and all sorts of sexual crimes is too much for me to believe.  It may very well be that he is a sex fiend, and if so, he should be dealt with through the criminal justice process.  But, there seems to be some doubt about this, and the Swedish authorities have been rather inconsistent in pursuing the matter. I would bet my bottom dollar that the U.S. is behind this.  Just a few weeks after the U.S. cried foul over the revelation concerning Afghanistan, calling this "high treason", all these accusations surface.  Obviously, they want to put him away, so that he doesn't embarrass them anymore by revealing other secrets about how the U.S. really conducts its affairs at home and abroad. If they can't silence him this way, they will probably do it in a more permanent fashion.

Now, we all know that the rich and the powerful get a different kind of "justice" in the courts, but some things are really ridiculous.  Take the case of Giuliani's daughter, who was caught shoplifting.  The girl has been "sentenced" to one day of community service , and if she stays out of trouble for six months, her record will be expunged of the charge and conviction. Can you imagine what former prosecutor and tough-talking mayor Giuliani would have said if it had been a girl from the public-housing projects?  I'm not saying that the girl should have been sent to a maximum-security prison for stealing some cosmetics, but if the court chose to sentence her to community service, it should have been for a longer period, along with a fine.  As it stands now, it's a mockery of the criminal justice process and a very poor example of equal justice under the law.

Now that the U.S. is sort of pulling out of Iraq and turning over their country to the Iraqi people, the landscape is full of failed and incomplete rebuilding projects paid for by the American taxpayers.  The estimate is that $5 billion worth of projects are a complete or partial waste of money because what was built is not fit to be used.  Of course, we can imagine what happened: private contractors went over there and did botched construction work, not caring too much about the results, knowing that no one was going to hold them accountable. Aside from the oil that the Americans got their hands on, this was the other big incentive in attacking Iraq under false pretenses: you destroy a country, and then you rebuild it with private contractors that get paid with public funds, and you either get a cut of that or you end up being in their board of directors when you get out of public service.  It's so obvious and has been done so many times, that you wonder why the Americ...