Travelling with Americans

AOG, Madrid

Last weekend, after spending a few days with my partner, I flew from Barcelona back to Madrid. 

As I waited to board the plane, I noticed a man and his young son watching a soccer match between Germany and Greece on television. Because it was soccer, at first I thought that they were German. 

However, after a while, I overheard them speak and realised they were American. Yes, I was slightly shocked that somebody from the US would like soccer.

As luck would have it, they sat next to me on the plane, and we spent the entire flight, from take off to landing, talking about Europe and the US.

It was very interesting to hear him speak. After a few minutes he realised I was for Obama and never liked Bush, and I realised that he didn’t like President Obama at all and was very pro Bush.

We spoke, however, without acrimony, and listening to what the other had to say in a very amicable way. 

I was very surprised about what he said. It was like his views were taken from an alternative reality. From a parallel-universe America. 

“But President Obama is destroying our economy!”

“Of course we did nation-building in Iraq. Look at how grateful they all are.”

“How are American oil companies benefitting from the invasion of Iraq They have not received one dollar. How can you say that when ,today in the US, a gallon of gas is over $5.00?”

“We had to invade Afghanistan because they were harbouring and protecting Osama Bin Laden. What were we supposed to do?”

I don’t pretend to have all the answers, or even half the answers, but I was surprised that a man who grew up and lived in California was so misinformed. So one-sided. 

Here and there I would point out the general European view about America and its policies, both at home and abroad to the father.

“I have been reading the European media, and they only concentrate on the bad side, they never tell you about the good stuff in America”, he said at one point.

I have to say that the conversation was very challenging. His son, who was 15, had just spent an entire year studying Spanish in Salamanca, Spain’s Oxford. And his son loved soccer, so he loved soccer too.

I say this because this man was a nice person who loved his family and had worked hard to support it. 

I say this because he told me and his son so during the flight.

“How many birthdays did I miss? How many games?”

His son nodded in silence.

This man was now in semi-retirement but he must have been in his early to mid 50s. 

As the conversation went on, I tried to tell him about the other side of the spectrum when it came to some of the things he spoke about.

And I have to say that, to his credit, he went quiet very often and didn’t fly off the handle at any one point. 

Perhaps what I was telling him he had heard already, or maybe he is capable of independent thought and, when given new data, he processed it in silence. 

Or maybe he was ultra polite and thought I was just a stupid liberal living in Europe. 

His son, by contrast, did not really join in to defend his father's views. He would nod, however, whenever the European side was expressed. 

I don't know if he fully agreed with it, but, at least, he had been exposed to a different perspective for one year of his life. Unilateral views, for this boy, were no longer an option. 

I mentioned that, in the case of 9-11 and what happened in Afghanistan, perhaps invading an entire country to eventually kill one guy was not the best thing we could have done. That entire families had been killed by Western soldiers in the pursuit of one man. That I didn’t see the justification.

"But they, the Taliban, were harboring a terrorist!"

I mentioned that, as he had mentioned, the middle class in America was shrinking, and that this was very strange since, in the 1960s, when America was not as rich as it is today, the middle class was not shrinking, in fact, it had been growing steadily since WWII. 

That back then, and for many years afterwards, the world looked to America for guidance. But that was not the case today.

“So people hate us?”

“Some do, but then our foreign policy gives them little choice.”

“So what are we meant to do?”

“Not invade countries would be a good way to start.”

“So, are you saying invading Iraq was a mistake? Look at all the good we did.”

“We did good when, after WWII, we took up the cause of nation-building in Germany and Japan. But we didn’t do that, and have not done that, in Iraq.”

He was very surprised to hear this. His facial expressions were very interesting to watch. I think that at times he had a hard time taking in this new perspective. 

And then we went on to speak about his son’s future; and his own future.

“If you want to open a restaurant, why don’t you go to college? Take some courses; you have experience, how about some economic theory and new business concepts?”

“Dad I told you to do that!”

And then he told me about his new “job”, managing his younger son who wants to act.

And about how he needs to help his wife out, and look out for his  soccer-loving 15 year old’s college career.

And that of his other son from another marriage, but which they never talked about.

And I realised what a great father this guy probably was, and how unfortunate that he was a bit of a poster child for the dangers of misinformation and a lacking education. 

At one point he asked me if the sun was a planet just like the Earth and about how European countries managed to have free health care and not break the bank.

“Socialism just does not work, look at the Euro!”

And, when I got home, I turned on my television and, during my channel surf in search of BBC World, chanced upon Fox News.

What's the deal with Weiner?

AOG, Madrid

Ok, I confess, before all the media attention surrounding "penisgate" I hadn't much heard about Congressman Anthony Weiner. 

I mean, I live on the other side of the Atlantic, and I have the local European politician crew to keep me entertained (or not, as the case may be), so why should I have heard of him before now.

However, I must tell you that my European friends are, once again, appalled at the way American politics works. They really don't see what the big deal is with this guy and they find his resignation rather strange for what they think is a no-crime. 

Especially when they read things about him on the New York Times that say he was: "a once-promising politician whose Brooklyn roots and scrappy style made him a leading candidate to be the next mayor of New York". 

Well, yes I think he made a mistake or two along the way but...I mean, where exactly does America think it is doing its shopping for politicians? And, why do we think that our politicians should not be allowed to be human and make mistakes?

Personally, I think the whole affair has gone a little out of proportion. He is still a brilliant politician, that hasn't gone away. Ok, so his behavior was "lewd" to quote NYT. But...I'm sorry is the only politician on Capitol Hill who has ever made a mistake such as this? Is he to be ostracised for the rest of his life because of one error? Or even two? And in fact, which is the bigger error, his actions or his attempt to deny them?

Yes I know, he sent "lewd" pictures of himself to women on facebook and Twitter. Ok so, after apologizing to the women in question, is his resignation really necessary? If he were not a politician, his actions would more than likely be brushed aside as "typical male behavior" or perhaps the behavior of someone who needs help, not public outcry. 

I cannot say I know all the particulars, but if I got a "lewd" picture of the type seen online these days from a work colleague I would think the man needs help, but little else. I would not ask for his resignation, I would ask the powers that be to talk to him and get him some counseling. Especially if he/she is an esteemed colleague. 

If it is someone I despise, then yes, I would probably want his/her head on a silver platter. I am only human. 

But my wanting revenge, or at least leverage, would still not obscure the fact that my colleague was actually good at his/her job. Which is what makes my Euro friends think we are not putting this entire Weiner thing into perspective. 

And yes, they quickly say things like "Why are Americans so offended by nudity?" or "Why are Americans so puritanical?" I don't think they see a connection since the country is perceived as being slightly manic. 

On the one hand, we give money to the poor, and on the other, we invade poor countries which are weak (because, god forgive, we should invade North Korea who does have nuclear weapons, or Iran or China) and within our sphere of national interest as defined not by public opinion but rather by the -I'm hoping- learned opinion of our political leaders. 

It is hard for them to be on our side (but we knew this even before 9-11), and when scandals such as this one pop up, Europeans look the other way and wondering why the double standard and why are his own party so quick to condemn? 

Well, the reason is probably because they are in a state of panic over the next presidential election and they want absolutely no whiff of a scandal anywhere near them. But is this really necessary? 

Do they think that by not supporting this Congressman in a time of need they really look good in the public eye? That public condemnation from his own party looks good for so small a non-crime?

Yes, of course, I assure you that European politicians and European political life is filled with irony and hypocrisy too. There is nothing new under the sun anymore. But back to Washington.

 Am I supposed to believe that the rest of his fellow politicians never made mistakes? That's a tall order. If anything, I'd concede that they have made mistakes which no one has heard about, but mistakes, believe me, they have made. We all have. 

And bottom line is, he hasn't killed anyone or embezzled millions of dollars from anyone, he sent pictures of his penis to adult women on the internet. No, he shouldn't have. Of course not. And he should not have lied about it. But I think we should get some perspective here.

Everyone who lives on this planet has made mistakes at one time or another, though perhaps we are not all as gracious as he has been:

"I am here today to again apologize for the personal mistakes I have made and the embarrassment I have caused", as NYT writes.

Will the world be a better place if Anthony Weiner, a seven-term Democrat is not working in politics? Probably not. It will be a little bit worse off, of that I'm sure it will be.

As a sort of personal consolation, which Mr. Weiner will probably never know about because he will never read this blog, is that on facebook, among my gay friends, both American and European, the fact that he did all this made them all like him even more. 

Yes, probably for "lewd" reasons, but...isn't voting for a politician because he is good looking or handsome, or she is attractive, just as lewd? 

Do we vote for ugly people very often? Am I mistaken in thinking that it is usually the attractive candidate who wins? Not not always, but often enough? 

Mr. Weiner, I'm sorry you could not behave better, but I'm also sorry that his has been blown out of all proportion. If you need help, I hope you get it.

Outside

AOG, Madrid

Outside is different. What does this normally mean? Well, for starters, it means that everywhere you go, it is going to be different. Different? You may say, But of course!

Well Little Miss Smart Ass, you don’t know different until you see a French toilet up close and personal. Or until you enter a rest area on a British highway and marvel at the dried up and insipid food. You never knew sausages could taste like rope did you?

Yes, forget America’s obsession with hygiene and smells and get ready to enter the smelly world waiting for you just outside your local international airport terminal.

The planet is different from us. Not better or worse just different, and I suggest you strap yourself tightly, darling, because the great “unknown” just beyond our borders is going to smack you in the face like a wet fish and no, it won’t say sorry afterwards.

Start with Europe, one of our acknowledged cultural homelands (for what else is our country but an amalgamation of XVIII European Enlightenment thoughts and ideas sprinkled here and there with some good old fashioned social and religious persecution and a shameless excuse for slavery and world domination?).

Europeans feel superior to us. No, I can’t explain it. They just do. It does not matter that we tend to earn more, have bigger and longer hair, that our waistlines are expanding like mount Krakatoa on acid, or that we live in larger homes. 

It does not matter that the price we pay for gas is half of what they pay, or that anything the Japanese invent, we get first.

It goes beyond that.

Europeans have a certain knack for keeping old things around which we either lost along the way, or, quite frankly, never acquired. And yes, we must admit, that is why we go to Europe.

No one in their right mind travels seven hours from JFK to stare at London’s Canary Wharf, or eight hours to be marvelled by La Defense, in Paris.

No.

We jump into those flying tubes to get what we don’t get in America: old stuff. Sometimes, very old stuff. In the case of Greece and Italy, even ancient stuff.

And here’s where their dislike of us begins. Once, in Southern Spain, I overheard a group of American teenagers as they were being addressed by their tour guide.

“We will visit the Roman ruins of Italica”, she said.

And what did Miss Blonde Bimbo say to her friend within earshot of yours truly?

“Oh, we have those back home, how boring”.

In case you are wondering, la Bimbona was from Texas.

The tour guide overheard her and started to laugh when she glanced over towards the airhead section of the group and saw me trying to gnaw my veins off in disgust.

Europeans, I must confess, don’t hate Americans, they just hate stupid people.

Unfortunately for us, we do have an inordinate amount of those within our borders. Sometimes they even make it into the White House, so imagine how superior Europeans feel!

In Europe you will find old everything: homes, cars, clothes, people, museums, streets, jewels, neighborhoods, cities, bridges, and, interestingly, customs.

Europeans like their tradition even more than we do, the difference being that they have so much of it!

Like their tradition of keeping poor people poor. 

An age old tradition that one.

Why help the poor better their lot in life when they will only multiply and produce more smelly poor people? 

Like I always say, you can’t rape the willing!

Harsh, but very much how many European governments treat their population, and they then, in turn, say things like “please Sir, can I have some more?”

Unless they are Scandinavian. These are probably the only countries on Earth which have worked tirelessly to ensure everyone is middle class, and poor at the same time.

Poor? You may ask. But I heard they have a great social system!

Indeed they do. Everything is paid for…out of their salary. What is the point of earning 60K when half (or more) of it is going to the State? So ok, they are not exactly Brokeback Mountain poor, but they are sort of lower middle class on state aid poor… ish.

But they drive Saabs and Volvos! You say. Yes, but they tend to be cheaper there. And subsidised.

Unlike their alcohol, which is taxed to death and controlled unlike in any other place on this planet.

Which explains why Scandinavians like to visit Southern Europe so much: booze is cheaper there, and like the Vikings they really are at heart, they love nothing more than getting wasted on a Mediterranean beach after (or even whilst) “fertilizing” a local lovely.

Ah…Europe…so civilized…and yet…so not!

Like I said at the beginning, “outside” is different. Be prepared, yes, but bear in mind that our way is not the only way, nor the best way.

You really haven’t lived until you’ve Frenched a drunken Adonis on a Mediterranean beach under a star lit sky with Europop blaring nearby. 

Or until you discover what a foreskin is. You thought you had, but I assure you, you haven’t. Not until you've seen one upclose and personal.

Pack your bags my lovely, it is going to be a bumpy, yet thrilling, ride!

Falcon Heene Was Never In The Aircraft

AOG, Madrid

This whole charade is amazing. Not just because of the coverage it achieved in the US, but because the amount of countries which followed the story. A small boy was thought to be inside a hot air balloon in Colorado. And the world talked about it here, and here in the UK, here in the Philippines, here in France.

Fortunately, the balloon was empty and the boy, allegedly, was hiding in the family home's attic. The media have portrayed the family in question as being very media hungry. It seems the father has twice asked to be on Family Swap. When interviewed, the boy said it was all for a show. Was it a hoax? Who knows. It appears it was.

My take on the whole thing has bigger perspectives. I think it is a perfect example of the differences, injustices and disparities still found in our world.

Daily, children in the Middle East, Africa and India, die.

These deaths get little or no air time. Unfortunately, it shows once again that Western citizens' lives are much more valuable and newsworthy than the lives of non-Westerners.

It is also a monument to the Global reach of American media.

In my view, it shows us once again how the world is getting smaller, but only its rich citizens are worth knowing about.

Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize

AOG, Madrid

I truly admire President Obama. But I think this is premature. He has yet to do anything like bring about peace somewhere.

If he can stop the Israelis and the Palestinians from killing each other, then yes. If he can bring peace to war-torn countries in Africa, of course. If he ends the nuclear threat or bans nuclear weapons, without a doubt. But...as of today, he has done very little to deserve this.

I'm sure in time he will deserve it. No doubt.

But I think the best he can do right now is decline the honor and leave it for the future.

Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Sotomayor's Medical History Sparks Wider Debate

AOG, Madrid

I agree that a post at the US Supreme Court is a very important post. I understand that service is lifelong. But to use health as criteria is, quite frankly, a form of prejudice.

People with Type 1 Diabetes have as much a right to hold high office as those without Type 1 Diabetes.

What if she developed the disease after being sworn in? No longer useful? Less able or capable because of it? I doubt it.

As a country we should be enlightened enough to take a chance on people whose health may not be 100% since, after all, nobody's health is 100% at any one time.

As a species, we start dying from the minute we are born. I think we should be able to look beyond the physical and concentrate on the intellectual.

Sonia Sotomayor should not be disqualified for suffering from a human condition.

About Barack Obama
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Miss California Vs. Gay Marriage

AOG, Madrid

This all started with Carrie Prejean, Miss California, giving her personal views to a question regarding gay marriage posed by Perez Hilton, one of the Miss America judges. Her reply meandered around political correctness for a bit before falling into religious convictions and prejudice.
-one of the

Her views were incipiently homophobic. Since then, many people, in many forums, have defended these views. Others have derided them. Others still have applauded her for "sticking to her views" and "being true to herself", regardless of the fact that they are prejudiced.


I have always been amazed at how we can applaud ignorance and bigotry just because the individual in question is being "true" to themselves and only following religious morals when being homophobic.

We somehow manage not to do the same when they are being racist, although the Bible was used not long ago as a source for justifying racism. I guess that, to many, it is still ok to hate gay people because the Bible says so.

As if that were not enough, this woman has decided to fully oppose gay marriage and protect "traditional" marriage.

The US has the highest divorce rate on Earth. I don"t think this is because of gay marriages. This is just another ploy to further repress gay people under the guise of respectability and tradition.

She and her advisors should be ashamed of themselves. Now more than ever I'm glad this homophobic beauty queen did not win Miss America. How long before she becomes yesterday"s news?

About Video
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Why Designers Are Dissing Michelle

AOG, London

I strongly defend Michelle Obama's desire to favor American designers and to dress as she pleases.

This is America, not Europe. Somebody's background should not even be up for debate or used as any sort of excuse.

She is now the First Lady; her background is a moot point because from now on, until the day that she dies, she will have been the President's wife.

However, this is not to say she has not made a couple of fashion faux pas.


Going to Buckingham palace wearing a cardigan is not one of them. The first rule of fashion is that clothes should flatter the wearer. Protocol aside, she looked good.

The same cannot be said about her choice of outfit in Prague.

It is worth remembering what the Roman's said about Ceasar's wife: It is not enough that she is Ceasar's wife, she should also look the part.

Although I am not about to suggest she should only wear big name designers like De La Renta (American? He is from the Dominican Republic), it is true that they tend to produce the clothes that look best in certain occasions. But this is not to say that they are the only ones to produce such type of garments.

They are not.

Perhaps the question should be more "What is she wearing?" and less "Who is she wearing?".

I think we all need to give her a break. She has been at this for scarcely three months!

About Michelle Obama
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Levi Johnston On CBS: Palins Treated Me Like An Outcast After Election

AOG, London

I think he should thank his lucky stars he did not marry Miss Palin. However, the Palins will be in his family for years to come, so long as his son lives with his mother.


There is no easy way to solve this, and no family is perfect, but it is becoming increasingly clear that America was spared a great mistake by not electing the Republican ticket.


Unfortunately the Palins assure us of this constantly.

Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Vermont Legalizes Gay Marriage, Overrides Governor's Veto

AOG, London

I was hoping that gay marriage would become federal law, encompassing the entire country in one go. Instead, it has to be a blow by blow account of a civil liberties battle.

Will there come a day when there will be 49 states that allow it and one that does not.

I wonder which one that will be? Will Congress get there first and institutionalize gay marriage once and for all?

Emphasis on the "for all".

About Gay Marriage
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Lifelong things

AOG; Madrid

Today, whilst browsing through the internet, I came a cross a couple of newspieces which I found interesting.

The first one concerns the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, a paper I had never heard about until today. The news pice in particular refers to its demise as a printed paper, and its inception as an online publication only.

The article states thus:

The Hearst Corp. announced Monday that it would stop publishing the 146-year old newspaper, Seattle's oldest business, and cease delivery to more than 117,600 weekday readers.

The company said it would maintain seattlepi.com, making it the largest daily newspaper in the US to shift to an entirely digital news product.

Here is how the New York Times covers the story.

They say:

"But The P-I, as it is called, will resemble a local Huffington Post more than a traditional newspaper, with a news staff of about 20 people rather than the 165 it had, and a site with mostly commentary, advice and links to other news sites, along with some original reporting.

Other newspapers have closed and many more are threatened. But the transition to an all-digital product for The P-I will be especially closely watched in an industry that is fast losing revenue and is casting around for a new economic model."

On a related note, the Financial Times ran an article today which spoke of the eventual demise of journalism.

The piece, entitled "When newspapers fold" somehow missed out on today's happenings over in Seattle, though this might be because the paper in question continues.

Their article starts like this:

The death of a modern newspaper is a real-time, multimedia event. When journalists on the Rocky Mountain News were summoned to their Denver newsroom on February 26 to be told they were working on their final edition, they relayed the announcement through live blogs, online videos, slide shows of tearful colleagues and a minute-by-minute stream of updates on Twitter. “It’s odd to cover your own funeral,” read one tweet.

Among the links to the article there are pieces which talk about how in Europe free papers are winning the day. Perhaps, but a month ago, Metro, one of Madrid's pioneer freebies folded.

Because I had never heard of the Seattle paper, I was very curious to "check it out". For some reason, here's a paper which appeals to me in many levels. Quality of reporting aside (I've only read a couple articles), aesthetically I find it very self assured.

It also boasts photographic galleries from times past. I came across this one which sparked my interest.

It is an image of Barbara Beers, first woman Seattle firefighter, the day she was sworn in on May 11, 1978. That is 31 years ago.

I became interested in her life pattern and did a little googling.

Turns out Ms. Beers was a lifelong firefighter who retired last month after 31 years years of service. 31 years a firefighter! I find this dedication amazing.

She is 53. Here is the article which outlines this. She was 22 in the photograph.

I know the being a firefighter is a vocational thing, which is why I was surprised she is retiring at such a young age. I am in no way judging her, but I did wonder to myself if she thought about her future at the age of 22, back in 1978.

Did she know she was going to retire in 2009? Probably not. I think that when you are 22 you don't think about those things. I didn't.

So her job was not for ever. It seems newspapers aren't either.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

I can't decide, but I am not entirely sure it is good.

ABSOLUT...ely....58% of Mexicans believe...

AOG, Madrid


An ad for Absolut vodka in Mexico has sparked a small outrage in the US because it, according to some, suggests that the border between both countries should be re-drawn.

Here is the ad itself:

As you can appreciate, it somewhat follows the border between both countries as it stood before the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848.

A war in which Mexico lost more than 500,000 square miles (about 1,300,000 km²) of land, about 40% of its territory and for which the US Government paid Mexico US $ 15,000,000, — less than half the amount the U.S. had attempted to offer Mexico for the land before the opening of hostilities.

All other borders are, in fact, contemporary, so the ad plays a dangerous game between historical fact and concurrent political borders. Certainly not an oversight.

I first came across it a couple of days ago when my cousin, living in Cancún, sent me a petition of support on Facebook. I thought it was cute and rather daring on Absolut's part.

I gave it little thought and saved the image for a post. Then, this morning, doing a bit of online research for this post, I came across a few disparaging comments concerning the ad.

It appears that most Americans are surprised by it. Somehow they thought that Mexico was quite happy for things to stand as they are and thought nothing of the war they fought and lost against the US back in the XIX century.

How wrong they are.

I remember back to when I lived in Mexico as a child. I remember the text books where Mexico had two really bad enemies and it was because of them that Mexico was in the state it was: One, the main evil culprit, was Spain. And the other, the US.

I understand, now, as an adult, why Mexicans need these two countries to be their nemesis. How else would they explain the state of their country? I have to say that, since independence from Spain in the 1820s, Mexico and Spain have come a long way in reconciling their differences. Though that is not to say all is well in their particular little patio.

I am not so sure the same can be said about the US and Mexico. Economic power aside, it is painfully obvious that the US sees Mexico as a bit of an inferior country. Mexicans, unfortunately, are not the best treated foreigners in the US. And, while on a personal basis, most Americans have no problems with individual Mexicans, it is true that, as a whole, Mexicans get a bad rap in the US.

Part of this is America's ignorance of its neighbors. Most Americans think Mexico is a country which extends all the way down to the Tierra del Fuego. In the US, to most people, regardless of where you come from, you are Mexican if you happen to be Hispanic. Unless you are black. In which case most Americans don't know what to make of you.

This is not to say that Mexicans are better than the Americans at understanding their neighbor. Perhaps the only truly anti-American country in the Americas is Mexico. Their love-hate relationship goes back a long way.

I am not surprised to hear that it was a publicity agency in Mexico City which came up with Absolut's campaign. It obviously plays a part in the national conscience. It is not something which they came up with. It was already there.

I always stress the need for greater education. On both sides of the spectrum.

Here is CNN's take on the whole issue:

I have to say that at times I feel like slapping Lou Dobbs with an enchilada.

But I am not surprised to hear that to 58% of Mexicans, believe that the American West is rightfully their land. Even if they lost it in a war. Even if the US then paid them for it. Even so. It is that thing which is so in vogue these days in Europe, Historical Memory. We see it everyday in the Balkans. And here in Spain.

I have to say that such an advert in Spain would have caused a diplomatic row. But for now, all quiet on the Mediterranean front.

On the US front, however, many are calling for a boycott of Absolut vodka in the US. And here is a link to that little piece of madness combining national outrage, immigration issues, and a whole lot of ignorance.

The Los Angeles Times has dedicated this page to air the views of its readers regarding this issue. Some of the comments are frightening. On both sides of the spectrum.

No more Italians in America, thank you

AOG, Madrid

I have just read an article in the New York Times which I find amazing.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency detained an Italian citizen for 10 days and sent him back afterwards.

Apparently he, who spoke little English, and the Agency's agents, who obviously had no education, appeared to be asking for political asylum in the US.

Italy is a country in the EU and very much rooted in what today we call the "First World". A democracy and a member of the G-9. So, why would an Italian citizen be asking for asylum in the US? Boggles the mind.

It appears that Domenico Salerno, a lawyer by the way, has an American girlfriend and is fond of visiting her and her well-to-do and well-connected family. From the NYT's article, it appears that : "Ten days after he landed in Washington, Mr. Salerno was still incarcerated, despite efforts by Senator John W. Warner, Republican of Virginia, and two former immigration prosecutors hired by the Coopers".

That is what I call well connected.

The photograph depicts Mr. Domenico Salerno and Ms. Caitlin Cooper, his girlfriend, who wrote an email to the New York Times detailing the situation.

Senator Warner has a big bad battleship on his website's front page. So he cannot be accused of not loving America. Furthermore, the Senator is a Republican and a war veteran.

I am truly baffled by the fact that a Senator cannot hold enough sway with a Governmental agency to hurry the release of an obviously innocent man. Thus far, according to all involved, he has not committed a crime and was, in fact, spending a lot of his free time volunteering in the US. This is how the current Administration thanks him for his troubles.

What is happening in the US? Does it need to be such a Fascist regime?

There is a quote by Mr. Cooper, Ms. Cooper's father, in the article which, however, throws all goodwill out the window:

“They were pretty shocked that the government could do this sort of thing, because it doesn’t happen that often, except to people you never hear about, like Haitians and Guatemalans.”

I take it in the spirit in which it was said, but it does show a lot of the arrogance which First World nations have towards other less fortunate countries. He is surprised because it happened to someone from Italy, but would have been less surprised if it had happened to someone from Guatemala or Haiti.

And this is because....?

Streisand versus Winfrey

AOG, Madrid

What is the Democratic party trying to sell us? A return to a good past or a leap towards a better future?

The jury is still out.

On the "Obamaic" camp, the future is bright and we gotta wear shades. Color Purple shades. Somehow, our Senator from Illinois has managed to get Oprah Winfrey onboard. Ms. Winfrey, probably the best symbol forward-thinking middle America has, has decided, first time ever, to back a (audacious) politician.

Barely a day after Barack Obama's campaign announced Oprah will stump with their candidate next month comes word that Hillary Clinton has snared her own celebrity endorser.

On the "Gin & (Clin)tonic” camp, Hilary has Barbra Streisand by her side. Ms. Streisand, ever the eternal liberal, represents to many a return to a not-too-distant, happier past: the interregnum between the Bushes, shall we say.

The economy was booming, the Cold War was over. The US was not at war with anyone, and it was not about to let something as meaningless as the Ugandan Genocide, or Bosnia, shatter its prosperity.

Nonetheless, life was good, gas was cheap, and the whole Lewinski thing was a hoot.

So which way will the Democratic party turn? Will it audaciously leap forward towards a brighter tomorrow or will it hark back to ancient Clintonian times?

The political calculations will argue that some voters are dumb enough to vote for a celebrity-endorsed politician; after all, Washington is Hollywood for ugly people, as they say.

But, in what appears to be a close race, by listening to Winfrey or Streisand, people will stick around long enough to listen and/or learn about the candidate they endorse.

The "Presidentiables"

AOG, London

I am saddened by the current state of affairs within the Democratic party and the upcoming presidential election in the US.
A couple of weeks ago I was semi-content with the idea that the next president of the US could have been a woman-Mrs. Clinton, or Mr. Obama. Yet, as the pre-presidential pageant runs, a few bits and pieces have begun to surface that make me think that, unfortunately, the next president of the US will be a Republican, if not, in fact, Senator MaCain.

I remember life in the US back in 1988, and the presidential election that year. The Democratic party, boldly endorsed the nomination of a certain, unheard of, Mr. Michael Dukakis. For a while, I believed he could be electable, though I remember thinking at the time that I preferred Reagan. I even remember a bumpersticker that read: "Let Dukakis become President, lets make Reagan King!" Ha ha ha... but I do think it represented the popular feeling at the time. Mr. Reagan had been a good president. At least I thought so at the time. So did many others.

I also remember that the media were very much against Mr. Bush Sr. at the time. I remember the quips about Bush Sr being boring, about not having served much in war, about being weak and a bit of a coward.

All looked good for Mr. Dukakis.

And then I saw it. I saw the one thing which made me understand immediatly that Mr. Dukakis would not win. There was a skit on Saturday Night Live on NBC, which parodied the presidential election. To this day I remember its slogan "Vote for Bush, he is more white!"

And then I knew it. Somebody somewhere had stumbled upon the one thing which would turn the election in favor of the weak, cowardly, tiger tatoo on his buttcheek Mr. Bush: his whiteness, or rather, his "more whiteness".

Sure enough, as my family flew out of the US on election day 1988 headed for a new life in Europe, voters in the US elected Mr. Bush.

I think this week it happened again. Whilst both camps intermittently boo and cheer their candidates, someone somewhere has stumbled upon the one thing which will turn the election away from Mr. Obama: his religion. As ridiculous as this may sound to most people, the mud has been flung about Mr. Obama being a Muslim -the bit about his middle name being Hussein has also taken its toll, but, it being just a name, and the infamous Saddam being dead, it is a bit of a "so?" issue- and it has begun to stick.

Fox news constantly decries that he has attended a muslim school in Indonesia, that he has tried to hide his past. That...well, lets face, that Mr. Obama "...just ain't a Christian!" And guess what? I don't think the US is about to elect a non-Christian into the White House. Mr. Obama has already decided not to favor Fox news any further during his campaign. Although this says a lot about the current state of affairs in America's partisan media, it also shows Mr. Obama may have noticed that Fox has struck upon something which may hurt his campaign no end.






As for Mrs. Clinton, the current climate looks less rosy with each passing day. The latest pecadillo by the "presidentiables" (Spanish word neologised into english to mean "those who are eligible of being elected to president") is the running spat between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama. is this a good thing? It is if you are a Republican.

So far, the only thing the Democrats have against them is that their candidates are seen as a) a woman, and b) a Muslim. So far, the only electable candidates the Democrats have are a) a woman and b) a Christian who used to be a Muslim.

Are these things important? Well, in any other country on earth, probably not. But in the USA, perhaps both these things are seen as much too important. If you take a look at the american press, it soon becomes obvious that no one is talking about major issues yet, and most everyone is talking about how each candidate is running their campaign- not what their campaign is about.

Is this democratic? Oh, of course it is. Democracy is the rule of the people. And if the people elect politicians on looks, religion, gender and...what else is there? I forget...

Success in North Korea but will Iran follow?

AOG, Madrid

North Korea has agreed to take steps toward nuclear disarmament under a groundbreaking deal struck on Tuesday that will bring the impoverished communist state some $300 million in aid.

Under the agreement, it will freeze the reactor at the heart of its nuclear program and allow international inspections of the site. The US and Japan -albeit belatedly- also said they would take early steps toward normalizing relations with North Korea, although a long running dispute between Japan and North Korea over kidnapping of its nationals by its communist neighbor, is still far from solved.

Washington agreed to resolve the issue of frozen North Korean bank accounts in Macau's Banco Delta Asia within 30 days, chief U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill told reporters.

As a special treat, the US will also initiate -under a separate bilateral forum- a process to remove North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. This must be because the US have proof that North Korea no longer sponsors terrorism, or proof that it never did. Either way I think it is in everyone's interest to know which is it of the two possibilities.

The proposed plan hammered out by the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, Russia and China after nearly a week of intensive talks will only be the first step in locating and dismantling North Korea's nuclear arms activities, leaving many questions to future negotiations.

"These talks represent the best opportunity to use diplomacy to address North Korea''s nuclear programs," President Bush said in a statement.

White House spokesman Tony Snow called it a "very important first step toward the denuclearization of North Korea" but said Pyongyang still faces sanctions if it reneges. Which it may do, as it has done before.

Iran standing by....

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Iran, another country at loggerheads with the West over its nuclear program, should see North Korea as an example. Indeed.

"Why should it not be seen as a message to Iran that the international community is able to bring together its resources?" she asked at a news conference.

Perhaps what Iran will see is that it is not enough to appear to be a nuclear power to get the US to the negotiating table; it might come to the conslusion that it is, in fact, a sine qua non condition for american collaboration.

As a morsel of things to come, Pyongyang's official KCNA news agency said the other parties decided to offer economic and energy aid equivalent to one million tonnes of heavy oil in connection with North Korea''s "temporary" suspension of the operation of its nuclear facilities. Hill dismissed that report as posturing. "Any action to restart the reactors would be a violation of the agreement," he told reporters. And yet....straight from the mouth of babes...

U.S. trade sanctions will also begin to be lifted from a country Bush once lumped with Iran and Iraq on an "axis of evil."

But is it a good deal after all?

One area of uncertainty is whether North Korea has a highly enriched uranium program as alleged by the USA. North Korea has not acknowledged the existence of such a program. Highly enriched uranium can be the fissile material for nuclear weapons and its production can be much harder to detect than plutonium refinement.

"We have to get a mutually satisfactory outcome on this. We need to know precisely what is involved," Hill said.

As details of the draft leaked out, Japan was already voicing doubt that any agreement could be made to stick.

John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and outspoken conservative, said the Communist state should not be rewarded with "massive shipments of heavy fuel oil" for only partially dismantling its nuclear program.

"It sends exactly the wrong signal to would-be proliferators around the world," he told CNN.

The deal says North Korea must take steps to shut down its main nuclear reactor within 60 days. In return, it will receive 50,000 tonnes of fuel oil or economic aid of equal value. It will also receive another 950,000 tonnes of fuel oil or equivalent when it takes further steps to disable its nuclear capabilities, including providing a complete inventory of its plutonium -- the fuel used in Pyongyang's first nuclear test blast in October 2006. The 1 million tonnes of fuel would be worth around US$300 million at current prices.

The steps for now do not involve providing 2,000 megawatts of electricity - at an estimated cost of $8.55 billion over 10 years and about equal to North Korea's current output - that South Korea pledged in September 2005 and which is due after North Korea's denuclearization is completed.

The deal is obviously less than perfect. It involves the cooperation of a distrustful North Korea and its only-too-willing donors

North Korea has been here before. In 1994 there was an agreement with the Clinton administration which would only collapse in 2002 after Washington accused Pyongyang of seeking to produce weapons-grade uranium.

And lets not forget that between the two Koreas there is a truce, not a peace treaty. The US maintains some 30,000 troops on the Korean peninsula, which has remained in a technical state of war since the 1950-53 Korean War truce.

Can it get worse...? Japan will not join in giving aid to North Korea because of past abductions of its nationals by Pyongyang's agents, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in Tokyo.