One Man's Opinion

So, what else is new? The news that the CIA has given millions of dollars to Hamid Karzai, the President of Afghanistan, is no news at all. This is standard operating procedure for the U.S. Government, which has bought and bribed its way throughout history. Of course, when corrupting foreign officials fails, then it takes stronger measures, such as assassinating them, plotting their overthrow or invading the country. The Americans have already invaded Afghanistan...

If the history of the 20th century has taught us anything, it is that the U.S. does not remain on the sidelines when a country -- especially in the Western Hemisphere --  elects a government that the Americans do not like, but rather actively pursues its downfall, be it by an outright military intervention or plotting with the opposition. Given that historical fact, one must be extremely suspicious of the alleged innocence of Americans who go to those countries, purportedly, for all sorts of reasons. Sooner or later, we find out that those people were indeed agents of the U.S. government with an undercover mission to help topple the foreign government. In light of all this, I tend to believe the Venezuelan government when it says that the American "filmmaker" was really a sort of bagman for the U.S. support of the Capriles group. Unfortunately for the Americans, the movie Argos  has shown the world how alleged filmmakers were really up to something else.

The Americans presume to lecture the rest of the world on efficient and honest government, as befits the bombastic claim of having the greatest democracy the world has ever known. A reality check shows how self-delusional and misleading of others that claim is. The truth of the matter is that the U.S. Government is as incompetent and wasteful -- if not much more -- as any other nation. Case in point: the Federal Government currently spends $890,000 on fees for 13,712 empty bank accounts . The reason for this absurdity is that no one has taken the time to close those accounts. Of course, things are not as bad as they used to be. Two years ago there were more than 28,000 . So much for listening to those long-winded lectures by American bureaucrats on how to run a decent government.

Here's another very disturbing occurrence that gets very little media exposure. In the last decade or so, there have been a number of incidents in which U.S. military personnel have killed their fellow soldiers either in Afghanistan and Iraq or at American bases at home. The reason these incidents are not widely reported, I believe, is two-fold. One, because, frequently, the culprit is someone who has been deployed more than once to those war zones. When they reach the breaking point and go on a killing spree against their own, it's embarrassing, to say the least, to have to admit that that person was most likely driven to the criminal act by the abnormal stress to which he was subject by the abusive deployment. Two, because Americans killing Americans in the military is "an inconvenient truth" that runs counter to the official propaganda that portrays U.S. soldiers as "boys next door", the epitome of clean living, victims of Arab or Muslim fanatics. Thus ...

Although it's understandable that an event such as the Boston bombings cause a great alarm, the fact is that people should be much more alarmed at the everyday sort of murder that happens in places such as Seattle, where a lone gunman killed five people yesterday. The truth is that this kind of violence is more frequent and deadly than the occasional terrorist act. And yet, the American people have done very little to curtail it effectively. It almost seems as if, in some irrational way, they have come to accept gun violence as a natural byproduct of community living. The fact that terrorist acts are usually associated with foreigners may have something to do with their high profile in the media, while the domestic murder rate by "the guy next door" does not get the same kind of attention.

Thank God, my wife and I visited Pompeii a few years ago. The chaotic Italian government is apparently making a mess of the preservation of the ancient city. That and the neighborhood Mafia, which routinely interferes with its "black hand" in contracts and labor matters pertaining to the site. Preserving Pompeii is difficult enough without any extraneous elements such as bureaucratic incompetence or corruption. So, when all three things are factored in, the task is made much more difficult. It's really a shame that such a cultural wonder might, ultimately, disappear as a site to be enjoyed by all the world. What Vesuvius couldn't do, modern man will.

Another elite American athlete is in trouble regarding doping. For the past 18 months, the world-class sprinter has been "running" as fast as he can from making himself available for testing. That is a violation of the rules of track and field, and circumstantial evidence that he has something to hide. Apparently, sensing that he was past his prime, he went the way of others who have tried to prolong their careers artificially. In the short run, he may have had some success. In the long run, the moment of truth will catch up with him.