Blood and manure
By Varela
To better understand some things in life, the best method, according to my psychiatrist, is to compare, but in parables, same as Jesus did when talking to others. Remember that at that time people were very ignorant – almost like today but without a crucifix.
Note that Jesus said that it would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to walk through the door of Heaven.
From that day on, all rich men have been chopping camels into little pieces to see if they can slip them through the tiny hole.
Well, so ... to understand certain warlike poses, pretexts for struggle and militant opportunism, I always compare them with overly exaggerated notions. But I understand everything quicker that way.
For example, I picture this scenario: José Martí comes to Tampa to raise money for Cuba's independence and decides to settle in Key West with the money he collects. He buys a bungalow, starts stuffing bottles with proclamations and exhortations and tosses them into the sea...
Click to continue reading...Deficits and the military-industrial-intelligence complex
By Max J. Castro
These days the discussion in Washington D.C. centers on deficits. Deficit hawks abound; they predict the country will be ruined unless the U.S. budget deficit is cut beginning now. Never mind that an economy teetering on the edge of a second recession needs stimulus, not budget cutting. Deficit reduction has become the Holy Grail of...
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The Alan Gross case: Could 12 dozen = 5?
By Saul Landau
Someone, perhaps the protagonist himself, made a mistake -- perhaps an “oversight,” as Washington bureaucrats label their errors. Alan Gross, on a mission for his company (DAI) working for USAID (United States Agency for International Development) solicited a tourist visa to travel to Cuba for the purpose of “promoting democracy,” a euphemism for undermining governments that challenge Washington dictates.
Imagine the 60-year old American posing as a tourist while distributing laptops, cell phones and forbidden satellite phones to Cubans! Gross should have known he would draw the attention of Cuban state security. Or did he think he could innocuously drop-off expensive appliances at private homes, like a Santa Claus who prolonged his gift-giving night? Gross claimed he intended only to help the Cuban Jewish community upgrade its communication technology. Do most religious Jews believe God will talk to them only via satellite phone?
The atheistic Cuban government, of course...
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Why not Jeb Bush?
By Joshua Green
(Editor’s Note: This column is taken from Boston.com. It appeared on July 22. We thought it was important to print. Although you don’t hear of Jeb Bush, he is an expert at maneuvering behind the scenes. And to think that if he were to run for governor of Florida this year, Jeb would surely win.)
Last Thursday, politicians reported their second-quarter fundraising totals. Along with providing a glimpse of who looks strongest and weakest heading into the midterm elections, the occasion functioned as a test of strength in the race to decide who will challenge President Obama in 2012. Republican hopefuls raised money for their political action committees to donate to state and local candidates who might support their national ambitions.
Arizona on hold
“Requiring Arizona law enforcement officials and agencies to determine the immigration status of every person who is arrested burdens lawfully-present aliens because their liberty will be restricted while their status is checked.”
-- U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton ruled against parts of the anti-immigrant Arizona law, SB 1070.
Follow our progress by clicking here where we will show you the number of hits received on a monthly basis. Or, at the top, click on each of our sections and there you’ll find a week by week account of how each article was received by the number of hits it received.
Uribe: Farewell performance
By Atilio A. Borón
An unconditional pawn of the empire, Álvaro Uribe says goodbye to the presidency of Colombia with a new provocation: the allegation of the existence of FARC camps on Venezuelan soil.
Al’s Loupe
Miami’s (probably) most ethically challenged politician should coast to victory in August, with our help
By Alvaro F. Fernandez
Dorrin Rolle wants to be reelected Miami-Dade County commissioner in August. It would be his fourth term. Commissioner Rolle has been slapped on the wrist numerous times for ethics violations while a county commissioner. I think he deserves to pay a steeper price. At the very least, not get reelected. He’s held the position since being named by then Governor Lawton Chiles in 1998.
As executive director of JESCA, a Liberty City social services agency Rolle helped bankrupt, he made sure he was paid his $200,000 a year salary.This, in spite of driving the organization into the ground while not paying employees, vendors and not spending money on a community that badly needed the agency’s services.
Then when a northern developer rolled into town promising to create jobs and build a high tech center in his district...
Click to continue reading...A race to judgment – over race!
By Bill Press
Shirley Sherrod has been offered a new job in the Department of Agriculture. And by the time you read this, I hope she has taken it. She was done wrong. And she would never have been fired in the first place if her superiors had taken the time to learn all the facts before they jumped.
But her story isnot just one of administration overreaction. It's also a case of irresponsibility on the part of the news media.
