Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Despedida a Carlos A. Zigaran


Hoy venimos a despedir a Carlos Alberto Zigarán, un esposo, padre, abuelo, tío, hermano, suegro y amigo.
Carlos había nacido el primero de Noviembre de 1931, tenía 83 años.
Carlos era conocido por muchos nombres, entre ellos Papá, Abuelo Tito, Tío Carlos y Suegro.
Carlos llevaba sus sentimientos a flor de piel, esto se reflejaba en sus expresiones de afecto por sus seres queridos, particularmente su esposa Emma de casi 60 años de casados, como también en la discusión familiar o entre amigos cuando el tema era la política. Esto último es algo que comparto y que entiendo dado que en más de una ocasión hemos tenido amigables intercambios. Por suerte compartíamos en la gran mayoría de los casos las mismas posiciones.
Pero donde Carlos supo volcar mucho de sus sentimientos, sus ansiedades, fue en su creador y Salvador Jesucristo. El sabía que Dios es un padre de amor, de compasión, de entrega.
Tanto Carlos como Emma vivieron con la tristeza de tener parte de su familia muy lejos, y a eso sumado la ansiedad de sentir que uno de sus hijas padecía de una enfermedad que, con el paso del tiempo se complicaba.
Carlos y Emma tuvieron 4 hijos y 9 nietos. Ahí fue donde yo presencié en práctica como Carlos había entendido el mensaje de amor y compasión de Dios, en el trato que le daba a esos que necesitaban más ese amor, esa comprensión, el respeto por quienes eran sus seres queridos, principalmente en el caso de Ian, mi hijo que tiene una discapacidad, respetándolo, aceptándolo como era, distinto. Pero no solamente ofrecía compasión y amor cristiano a los que estaban en la familia; Carlos visitaba presos que no conocía, enfermos que no tenían familia, y ayudaba a los que Dios ponía en su camino, sin preguntar mucho ni esperar las gracias. Para los más cercanos que han seguido y vivido diariamente el desarrollo de la enfermedad de Carlos, tanto la familia Acutain, que fue golpeada estos últimos tiempos muy duro, viviendo simultáneamente varios frentes, como también la familia Zigarán en Córdoba, al igual que para nosotros desde EEUU, esto es el final de un capítulo, siempre sabiendo que Dios está al timón, desde su trono, de ahí nos vendrá a juzgar tanto a los vivos como a los muertos.
Le damos Gracias a Dios por la vida de Carlos, por haber podido compartir parte de esa vida con nosotros.
Ahora está con Dios, con Gabriela, en el paraíso celestial.
Carlos,   El Señor le bendiga y le guarde; El Señor haga resplandecer Su rostro sobre usted, y tenga de usted misericordia; El Señor alce sobre usted Su rostro, y le dé paz.
Y que su ejemplo de dignidad, y vida simple y limpia perdure en sus hijos, nietos, y en toda su familia.

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Tribute to Gabriela / En Homenaje a Gabriela



We come here to say goodbye or Au revoir to Gabriela.
Gabriela was a daughter, sister, wife, aunt and a friend.
She was born in Villaguay, in the Province of Entre Rios, in Argentina on the 27th of October of 1961.
Being the daughter of a military officer meant many and often changes of residence during her early years, with new friends, new schools and new towns she called home, including the Holy Land just walking distance to the city of Jerusalem.
She was the middle daughter of 4 siblings, something she struggled with for many years, primarily during her early and teen years.
During her late teens she embarked in the university to become an architect, a very demanding endeavor that took many hours of her sleep, and that would not pay dividends as she decided that it was not for her.
In April of 1989, a few months after Emma and I traveled to Argentina to finalize our legal residency in the USA, she decided to try her luck in America.
Her beginnings were the beginnings of many people who come to try their luck in this great country, with lots of enthusiasm, and some disappointments, trying to learn the language, trying to adapt herself as best she could. She lived with us for a few months, and thanks to her persistence and determination she pushed ahead.
She was determined to make it in the big apple, and made it she did. She lived at the Jeanne D’Arc Residence for many years. In the early '90s she lived in the Bronx with 2 roommates.  She later went back to Manhattan to the Residence on 24th St.
Happiness was knocking on the door, and in September of 2003 she married Juan Williams
In mid-2006 she graduated at the N.Y.U. with a degree as a social worker.
She had finally made it in New York.
They were living in Manhattan just as they both aspired to.
She had the world at her feet.
But life has it’s not so happy moments. She had started a few years before with bone marrow issues that evolved into Leukemia.
In march of 2011 Juan passed away from a long illness.
She struggled with her health for some time, she had periods where she was better, and then there were others in which she was not so good.
In the past few weeks her health deteriorated rather quickly, until God stepped in to say enough, my daughter, you fought the good fight, but now it’s time to come home with me.
And in the morning of Thursday July 30th God took her home, so that the suffering would end, she will there join her beloved Juan, and all her ancestors that went before her.
Although there is pain and sorrow for those of us who stay on our own paths what gives us great comfort is to know that she is with her God and her savior enjoying paradise.
We are grateful for her life, although we may consider it brief, we were fortunate enough that she  shared her path with us. She enriched our lives and gave us the best of herself, that is something that we will cherish and take with us for the rest of our lives.
Gabriela, The Lord bless you and keep you;  the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;  the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.




Estamos todos reunidos hoy aca para decir adios a Gabriela.
Gabriela era una hija, hermana, esposa, tia y amiga.
Nacio en Villaguay, en la provincia de Entre Rios, en Argentina el 27 de Octubre de 1961.
Siendo hija de un oficial military significo muchos y seguidos cambios de residencia durante su infancia y adolescencia, con nuevos amigos, nuevas escuelas y nuevas ciudades a las cuales llamo su casa, incluyendo Tierra Santa a una corta distancia de la ciudad de Jerusalem.
Era la hija del medio de cuatro hermanos, algo con lo que tuvo que luchar, primordialmente durante sus primeros años y su adolescencia.
Al terminar el secundario se embarco en la Universidad para estudiar Arquitectura, una decision que le demandó muchas horas de sueño, y que no pagó frutos, dado que decidió que no era para ella.
En Abril de 1989, unos pocos meses despues que Emma y yo viajasemos a la Argentina para finalizar nuestra situación legal en EEUU, se decidió a probar suerte en el país del norte.
Sus comienzos fueron los mismos de otra gente que viene a probar su suerte en este gran país, con mucho entusiasmo, algunas desilusiones, tratando de aprender el idioma, intentando adaptarse lo mejor que pudiese. Vivió con nosotros por unos meses, y gracias a su persistencia y determinación tiro para adelante.
Estaba decidida a conquistar a Nueva York, y la conquistó. Vivió en la Residencia Jeanne D’Arc por un tiempo. Al principio de los ‘90s vivió con dos compañeras en el Bronx. Luego volvió a Manhattan a la Residencia de la calle 24.
La felicidad estaba golpeando a la puerta, y en Setiembre del 2003 se casó con Juan Williams.
En el medio del 2006 se graduó en la Universidad de Nueva York (NYU - New York University) de trabajadora social/psicologa.
Habia finalmente conquistado a Nueva York.
Estaban viviendo en Manhattan como los dos deseaban.
Tenia el mundo a sus pies.
Pero la vida tiene sus momentos no tan felices. Unos años antes había comenzado con problemas de médula que terminarían convirtiendose en leucemia.
En Marzo del 2011 falleció Juan despues de una larga enfermedad.
Gabriela luchó y padeció con su salud durante un tiempo, en el cual disfrutaba de buenos períodos, como también otros que no lo eran.
En estas últimas semanas su salud se deterioró con bastante rapidez, hasta que Dios dijo basta, mi hija, has luchado una buena batalla, pero ahora ha llegado el momento de que vengas a casa conmigo.
Y en la mañana del Jueves 30 de Julio Dios se la llevó a casa, para que ya no haya mas sufrimiento. Ahi se re-encontrará con su adorado Juan, y todos los ancestros que se han ido antes que ella.
A pesar de que hay dolor y pena para los que quedamos en nuestros propios caminos, nos queda la satisfacción de saber que ella está con su Dios y su Salvador disfrutando del paraíso celestial.
Estamos agradecidos por su vida, aunque  podamos considererla breve, tenemos la fortuna de que ella compartió su camino con nosotros.
Gabriela enriqueció nuestras vidas y nos dio lo mejor de si misma, eso es algo que vamos a valorar y llevar con nosotros por el resto de nuestras vidas.
Gabriela, El Señor te bendiga y te guarde; El Señor haga resplandecer Su rostro sobre ti, Y tenga de ti misericordia; El Señor alce sobre ti Su rostro, Y te dé paz.

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

The latest presidential hopefuls for the GOP



In the last few days we have seen three republicans throw their hat into the 2016 presidential race.
These three presidential hopefuls join a long list that is running for the republican candidacy.
Let’s look at the three: we have Mike Huckabee, a Baptist pastor that was governor of Arkansas, the same state from which Bill Clinton comes from, Carly Fiora, former CEO of HP, and Ben Carson, a bright neurosurgeon.
So far their qualifications seem impressive. Unfortunately we have to start looking at some of the things they have saying. As a defender of the first amendment of the Bill of Rights in which we have free speech they are entitle to their opinion. And just like I’m doing here their words also can give us some insight, some idea how qualified they are to be president. They seem to think that using hateful speech toward the president and/or Hillary Clinton and/or Bill Clinton will make them more electable.
Let us be more specific.
Mike Huckabee, has said about Obama that everything he does is against what Christians stand for, and he's against the Jews in Israel, but Muslims 'know they have his undying, unfailing support. It seems that Huckabee has left out the fact that Obama has attacked with drones Muslims in Pakistan, Yemen, and bombed Isis over and over. I guess Isis and all the other Muslims Obama has killed are
not the real thing.
He also said in a radio interview that “There’s nothing more honorable than serving one’s country and there’s no greater heroes to our country than our military,” he responded, “but I might suggest to parents, I’d wait a couple of years until we get a new commander-in-chief that will once again believe ‘one nation under God’ and believe that people of faith should be a vital part of the process of not only governing this country, but defending this country.”
Carly Fiorina, he record, which she has overlooked to tell her fellow republicans is nothing to brag about. She took over Compaq, against the advice of the whole industry, while other companies were getting out of computer hardware all together. For this she was fired as CEO of Hewlett-Packard. Of course she did not go open handed, at that level nobody does. She walked away with 21 million for almost running the company to the ground. She has blamed the California drought on environmentalists. From day one she has been attacking Hillary Clinton, we can say that she seems obsessed with her. She even included a Hillary Clinton’s ad when she said she was running for president.
Ben Carson, has said a few things that I’m including here:
1. “There comes a time when people with values simply have to stand up. Think about Nazi Germany. Most of those people did not believe in what Hitler was doing. But did they speak up? Did they stand up for what they believe in? They did not, and you saw what happened.”
2. “I mean, [America is] very much like Nazi Germany. And I know you’re not supposed to say ‘Nazi Germany,’ but I don’t care about political correctness. You know, you had a government using its tools to intimidate the population. We now live in a society where people are afraid to say what they actually believe.”
3. “ObamaCare is the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery. In a way, it is slavery, because it is making all of us subservient to the government.”
4. “Because 9/11 is an isolated incident. Things that are isolated issues as opposed to things that fundamentally change the United Sates of America and shift power from the people to the government. That is a huge shift. You have to take a long-term look at something that fundamentally changes the power structure of America.”
5. “I think what’s happening with the veterans is a gift from God to show us what happens when you take layers and layers of bureaucracy and place them between the patients and the health care provider. And if we can’t get it right, with the relatively small number of veterans, how in the world are you going to do it with the entire population?”
6. “My thoughts are that marriage is between a man and a woman. It’s a well-established, fundamental pillar of society, and no group — be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality — it doesn’t matter what they are — they don’t get to change the definition.”
7. “Certainly there’s the potential because you have to recognize that we have a rapidly increasing national debt, a very unstable financial foundation, and you have all these things going on like the ISIS crisis that could very rapidly change things that are going on in our nation. And unless we begin to deal with these things in a comprehensive way and in a logical way there is no telling what could happen in just a couple of years.”
8. “I think most people when they finish that course, they’d be ready to go sign up for ISIS.”
9. “Anyone caught involved in voter fraud should be immediately deported and have his citizenship revoked.”
10. “So if there were a container of contaminated urine, and somehow it managed to find its way to someplace a lot of damage could be done. Someone comes up to a lab worker. He knows he’s got the urine. ‘How would you like to have a million dollars?’ … Such things have been known to happen.”

When we read and hear what this three candidates say one has to wonder if they are feeding meat to the wolves in the party, or if they are serious. These things completely take them out as middle of the road contenders, their speech is hateful, it says nothing about what they would do to make the country better, they seem to have blood running down their fangs.
I have some republican friends who don’t seem to be hateful, are not against gay marriage, who are not in favor extreme believers, who seem to be middle of the road people. I’ve told in more than one occasion that they don’t fit, they don’t belong in the republican party, that the party has been hijacked by extremists, just like many of us believe that Islam has been hijacked by a few minority of extremists.
I also once heard that made me stop and think, the person said if only a small minority of extremists have hijacked Islam, where are all the others saying no to that. And we have to stop and think where are all those voices of opposition to those extremists, either they are in fear or they are riding on those extremists tails. I think that can be applied to those so called moderate republicans, or who believe that they are moderate. Where are you that the Patriot Act is about to renewed with all the sections in which we have given up unknowingly, or knowingly, our freedoms? Are you represented by the evangelicals who call same sex marriage bestiality? Are you a tea bagger who wants to cut everything including those programs that benefit us or our family members, such as Social Security, Medicare, unemployment benefits? If there is silence, you are no different than the moderate Muslims, but please don’t call yourself a moderate republican, because you are not.

Friday, March 13, 2015





We have seen the lowest disrespect to this country and to its institutions by what a bunch of republicans have just done.
Republicans don’t seem to realize that they are setting precedents, one after the other, by insulting this president saying that he is a foreigner, yelling in a session of Congress while this president is addressing them that he lies, inviting a leader of a foreign nation to address Congress without consulting with the executive branch, something that never been done since the founding of the nation, and now sending a letter to the head of a foreign leader, with whom the Executive Branch is trying to sign an agreement to stop the creation of a nuclear weapon, not to respect the person who is signing this agreement.
It is also pathetic to see republican presidential hopefuls such as Bobby Jindal urging presidential hopefuls to sign on to GOP Iran letter. What these republican nutcases seem to have overlooked is the Logan Act that says:
“Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.”
The branch of the federal government that sets foreign policy is the Executive Branch, not the Legislative nor the Judicial. There is nothing that says here anything about Senators being above the law.
Now some people will say what is the Logan Act?
The Logan Act, enacted January 30, 1799 is a United States federal law that forbids unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign governments having a dispute with the U.S.
It was intended to prevent the undermining of the government's position. The Act was passed following George Logan's unauthorized negotiations with France in 1798, and was signed into law by President John Adams on January 30, 1799. The Act was last amended in 1994, and violation of the Logan Act is a felony.
So we can probably say that these senators are committing treason, as per the Logan Act.
We also know that most republicans not simply disagree but HATE, yes, let me repeat that, HATE this president. They hate the fact that he’s educated, in many instances more than them, that he is smart, that he won with more than 51% back to back elections, but most of all the fact that he is African American. Somebody recently was saying something that has merit: not all republicans are racist, but racists find their home in the GOP.
As far as this letter, it was “supposedly” written by Senator Cotton, a rookie in the senate, who has only been there since the beginning of the year. What about the other 46? Are they as inexperienced as he is, or are they just as irresponsible as Cotton? One thing is for sure, it seems that the young senator loves war, the Iraq and Afghanistan, as much as any other that this country can get itself involved in. The fact that trillions were spent in Iraq, over four thousand Americans died in a conflict of choice, over one hundred and fifty thousand Iraqis died, and that the Iranian government is running the Iraqi government, all  thanks to Bush and Cheney does not seem to have taught anything to the neocons. The only thing that counts to them is what right wing nuts that have never been in harm’s way such as Bill Crystal, Rush Limbaugh, Hannity tell them how to think, and that the Military Industrial Complex does not run out of wars, even if it means the bankruptcy of the USA.
I, for one, was always perplexed that people could vote for people like Cotton, but if travelling around the US has shown me something, it has shown me why people vote the way they do, why they chose people like Cotton, like McCain, like George W. Bush, like Louie Gohmert, like Farenthold, like Barton, like Ted Cruz,like  and others, is because these people tell the constituents that the Federal Government wants to take their rights away, their money away, and their voters believe them. Now, once their representatives become "The Government", that government that they had said was so terrible they end up sending their constituents, their friends, their family into war, they allow them to lose their houses, allow corporate America to ship their jobs overseas, they shut down the government, cut benefits of soldiers who come back from a conflict in which their elected officials sent them into, don’t allow them to get healthcare, to have their kids educated, all of it in the name of their constituents. In reality these elected officials only care about their careers, their future, their fame, the top 1%, corporate America, who pay for them to get re-elected so that they can kiss the rings of the, and care about their constituents as much as they care about the last penguin on Antartica.