Revenge is a dish best served cold

For those of us who are Star Trek fans the phrase “Revenge is a dish best served cold” rings a bell. Although the phrase has its history before Star Trek and its routes are in French I thought it would be well applied to this blog.
Since the ascension of President Obama in January 2009 the Republican Party and a vast majority of its members have been nothing but deceitful and dishonest, primarily with the health care reform bill proposed and passed by the present administration and the Congress. The reason I say that they were deceitful and dishonest is because they ran ads telling people that their health care was going to be either taken away or rationed. At the town hall meetings across country and primarily in democratic held house seats people were being bussed in by groups paid for by the insurance company, creating havoc at many of these town hall meetings. They also campaigned against the mandatory requirement. The interesting thing about this last issue is that in 1994 when President Clinton was trying to propose health care reform the Republican Party was in favor on the mandatory requirement. Even Newt Gingrich on Meet the Press a few weeks ago, and before he changed his mind, said he was in favor of people being forced to purchase insurance.
But here is where the revenge comes into the picture, in one of the most red districts in the northeast, in the 26th district of New York State, a state that Obama carried by more than 25 points in 2008 but lost in the district by more than 10 points, a district that has only voted 4 times (including 05/26/11) since 1857, voted for a Democrat. After the punishment that the Democrats suffered in 2010 this is a rude awakening for Republicans.
Since they have become the majority in the House of Representatives this past January the only thing that they have tried to do is defund the health care reform bill, shutdown the government, maintain the welfare state for oil companies, although they are making record profits, and vote for the Ryan Bill which tries to dismantle Medicare and Medicaid. This last item is was cost the election to the republican candidate for the House of Representatives in this district, because she said that she would have voted for the Ryan Bill.
Republicans have also seen tremendous resistance from the population across country with that bill.
81 % of Americans believe that Medicare and Medicaid should be left alone, 71% of Americans say that the Bush tax cuts should be rolled back. A vast majority of Americans also believe that the giveaways to the oil companies should be eliminated. Everything that the Republican Party disagrees with.
But now, to their surprise, their candidate got voted down because she supported those unpopular and draconian measures, especially when the Ryan bill wants to reduce taxes by 10% for the wealthiest. There are other alternatives. It looks like Republicans have misread their hand, not only in New York but also in other places such as Wisconsin when they overreached, and now they find some of the State legislators being recalled because of their vote.
If Democrats stay on message for 2012 they should be able to keep the Senate, recover the House of Representatives and keep the White House. And the message is simple, keep the Corporations and their cronies off of Medicare, off of Medicaid, roll back the tax cuts for the wealthy and stop the subsidies for the oil companies.

Harold Camping and his followers

Harold Camping, a radio preacher had been telling us for many years that may 21st , 2011 at 6pm E.T. the world would be coming to an end, in other words that it was going to be the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Mr. Camping said that he reached this conclusion based on what the bible said , that the events that were taking place confirmed all his studies.
In the book of Matthew, chapter 24 versus 36-44 Jesus says: 36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[a] but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
I don’t think you need anything clearer than that.
Many followers of Mr. Camping resigned their jobs, billboards across country were putting advertising the end of civilization. People were saying that we would have earthquakes.
May 21st came and went. Nothing happened.
As a Christian people like Mr. Camping offend me. He gives Christians a bad name.
But the thing that I find interesting is that Mr. Camping had 74 million in his bank account. If he thought that his prophecies were true why would he keep his bank account with all that money and not give it away, after all the world was coming to an end.
This completely discredits this gentleman.
He now says that he is flabbergasted that nothing happened this past Saturday.
When I hear things like this it reminds of Jonestown, Guyana, 1978 when 900 members of the Peoples Temple committed suicide.
Instead of worrying about the signs of the second coming we should focus on The Great Commission: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Obama, Bin Laden y Perez Esqivel

Hace unos días una persona conocida me decía que no podia entender como se puede justificar la muerte de alguien, como fue el asesinato de Bin Laden. Es discutible que las fuerzas especiales podrían haber capturado a Bin Laden, que se lo podría haber enjuiciado en Guantanamo en una corte militar, o en una corte civil dentro de EEUU. Pero indudablemente si se determino que Bin Laden terminara de la manera que termino era porque capturarlo y hacer todos los otros procedimientos anteriormente nombrados sin lugar a dudas hubiese creado en terminos de seguridad muchísimas complicaciones como también dar al terrorismo internacional un motivo para tomar rehenes para hacer un intercambio por un largo período.
Podemos tambien criticar la política exterior de EEUU desde el final de la segunda guerra mundial, muchas veces apoyando golpes de estado en muchos paises del mundo, pero defender a Bin Laden como un héreo es como defender a los terroristas durante todo el proceso que termino en la guerra sucia de la Argentina desde el ’76 y el ’83. Yo nunca defendi los medios que utilizo el ejercito durante esos años, pero tampoco se pueden cerrar los ojos a la realidad que condujo a eso.
Simplemente recordemos como y cuando empezó todo el proceso de terrorismo en la Argentina. En 1970 el ex-presidente Aramburu fué secuestrado y asesinado por lo que después se terminó convirtiendo en Montoneros con Firmenich, Abal Medina, Arrostito y Capuano Martinez.
Esta persona conocida que nombre al principio también me envió un editorial que es una carta de Perez Ezquivel a Obama cuestionando los métodos de EEUU, y dónde cuestiona las calificaciones del premio Nobel de la paz otorgado a Obama.
Tenemos que ser conscientes y realistas de como se determina quien recibe el premio Nobel de la paz. Es un premio politico mas que nada. Obama lo recibe con unos pocos meses en su administración. Porqué es adjudicado el premio? A pesar de no conocer los motivos yo pienso que es muy simple. Es el primer presidente negro de EEUU. No ganó con fraude sino en total justicia, fue votado por una mayoría de votos y de estados (colegio electoral).
Yo encuentro la carta de Perez Esquivel particularmente graciosa. Supongo que porque no puedo contener mi cinismo. Sabemos que el Señor Perez Esquivel no puede ser etiquetado de derecha, me parece que ni siquiera de centro, a menos que el centro dejó de ser la línea de 50, siendo 0 la ultra izquierda y 100 la ultra derecha.
Yo he sido etiquetado de burgués, lo cual me causa gracia porque la persona que me puso esa etiqueta creció entre algodones y vive en un mundo que podríamos llamar de una clase privilegiada. Fernando Abal Medina también vino de familia privilegiada. Yo siempre digo que es fácil ser de izquierda cuando uno tiene una buena cuenta bancaria.
También he sido etiquetado de comunista en EEUU. Eso también es gracioso porque para los estadounidenses izquierda de Atila, el rey de los Hunos ya es ser comunista.
Yo me considero un social demócrata europeo, como piensan la gran mayoría de los países europeos continentals, como Francia, Holanda, Dinamarca, Suecia, etc.
Volviendo a nuestra figura principal Bin Laden, fué un oportunista, que no unicamente le declara la Guerra a EEUU por medio de una organización que utiliza el terrorismo llamada Al-Qaeda, sino que también asesinó gente de otros países. No nos podemos olvidar de la bomba de la discoteca en Bali, de bombas y asesinatos en Iraq, de las bombas en Kenya y Tanzanía contra embajadas de EEUU, pero en donde murieron mas locales que estadounidenses.
Muchos otros en el pasado como Guevara también decidieron tomar en sus propias manos el avance del “Norte”, pero a pesar de que no podemos dejar de reconocer que muchos de los medios utilizados por Guevara en Cuba no fueron los ideales, el “Che” trabajo en el campo y en industrias durante su período en Cuba, en donde buscaba la mejora de la calidad de vida de los cubanos. Pero no podemos decir lo mismo de Bin Laden. Que beneficios le trajo a la gente de Afganistan, a la gente de Sudan, a la gente de Paquistán. NADA. Por eso para mi el no califica como un libertador sino simplemente como un terrorista, sin ningún objetivo de bien sino de destrucción. Y una casualidad más antes que termine con este blog, Osama Bin Laden venía de una familia de ricos. Bin Laden no sera extrañado.
Y dado que Obama también juega un rol en este blog, el actual presidente tenía todas en su contra en su vida, su padre era negro (africano) que se casó con una mujer blanca, su padre los abandona cuando Obama tenía 2 años, fué criado por sus abuelos, y el también es negro, en un país que a pesar de haber pasado leyes contra la discriminación sigue teniendo mucha gente que todavía tiene dificultades con las minorías. Pero el puso todo eso de lado, fue a la Universidad de Columbia en Nueva York, y después a Harvard. Se recibió con honores.
Perez Esquivel me parece tiene mucho para aprender todavía antes de cuestionar a Obama.

Big Oil and the U.S. government

The U.S. Senate blocked this week a proposal to stop handouts to the 5 big oil companies worth 5 billion.
All of the 47 Republicans and 3 Democrat Senators voted to keep the subsidies under the pretense that it would hurt customers at the pump. Customers are already hurting. The Energy Committee of the U.S. Senate had hearings with the Chairmen of the big oil companies. One of the chairmen said that the American public does not want the oil companies to sacrifice, they only want the wellbeing of businesses.
A poll taken by NBC/Wall Street Journal taken in February of 2011 showed that 74% of Americans believe that subsidies should be eliminated.
But the members that voted not to eliminate those subsidies have received 25 million in campaign contributions from these companies while the people who voted in favor of eliminating them only received 5 million from the oil industry.
I have said in the past that the oil industry together with other big contributors is one of the cancers of this country. They corrupt the system, poison the air we breathe and pollute the water we drink with leaks into soil.
The hoax of the republican party about cutting the federal deficit is nothing but a cover up of what it really is, the dismantling of ALL the programs that help the middle class and the poor, destroying Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.