A New Year's Jaunt

Dr. Albert Schweitzer | Image via Wikipedia

Our House in Barrio Parque

It’s 1 January 2016.

I’m in my house in Barrio Parque, La Paloma, Uruguay, surrounded by Uruguayans who’ve come mostly from the departmental capital of Rocha to flock to the beach while I continue with the day-to-day struggles of life. This barrio is over on the opposite side of Cabo de Santa María from where the center of La Paloma is located. We´re farther from the beaches—La Aguada, Costa Azul, Antoniópolis, and Arachania—than we were when we lived in town, so we don´t get over there too much. But I can always hear the ocean from our second-floor balcony. I love the way that sometimes, it´s the waves crashing on the beaches over on the far side of the cape, sometimes it´s from the near side, and sometimes, I get it in surround sound.

And then there´s the night sky… We´re coming up on the time of year when the Southern Cross shines right into my house after nightfall, lighting my way up the stairs through the sliding glass door on the landing—how awesome is that!

Can President Santos Bring Peace to Colombia? or, Let the Wars be of Words

This week, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced that his government has begun engaging in peace talks with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolutionarias de Colombia (FARC). In a nationally televised speech on Monday, 27 August, he acknowledged that "exploratory talks" had been taking place since February in Cuba, and now, the stage is set for dialogue to be formally launched in Oslo in October that will continue in Havana. Reporting on Colombian media reports, Mercopress states:

The agenda of the dialogue will include issues such as “integral agrarian development policy”, “political participation”, “end of the conflict”, “solution to the problem of illicit drugs”, “victims” and “implementation, verification and ratification” of the agreement.

Open Letter to Mr. President of the Republic Don Sebastián Piñera, a translation

This is an Open Letter to Mr. President of the Republic Don Sebastián Piñera, concerning the approval of the HidroAysén Dam Project, on 9 May, 2011. My English translation follows the original castellano.

Thank you very much to Brian Patrick Corcoran for forwarding this to me.

CARTA ABIERTA AL SEÑOR

PRESIDENTE DE LA REPÚBLICA

DON SEBASTIÁN PIÑERA

 

Señor Presidente:

Con el respeto que me merece su  persona y su investidura, me permito en mi calidad de ciudadano libre de compromisos políticos, empresariales e institucionales,  plantearle algunas preguntas y un comentario en relación al megaproyecto Hidroaysén, próximo a ser votado en cuanto a su factibilidad.

The Heroes of Egypt

Tahrir Square, Friday of Departure
photo by Mona sosh

79 million people strong, the Heroes of Egypt have at last triumphed over the Pharaos of Fear.

Hosni Mubarak has ruled the Land of the Pharaos through the Might of Fear – fear of the Muslim Brotherhood, which he fed to Israel and the United States in return for their support; fear of foreign imperialism, which he fed to his own people in return for their consent; and fear of chaos, behind which he built his wall of impenetrability; behind which the corruption by business and political elites continued to prop him up; behind which his brutal military and police tortured any Agents of Change that were perceived to be Enemies of the State of cruel Stability.

Social Networking Put To Good Use

One of the goals of this blog is to utilize the connective power of the internet. Here is this amazing access we all have to the whole world. The potential that it holds in bringing diverse people and groups of people together is immense. Facebook serves as an example of this potential. Yet, the purpose of Facebook is, above all, to sell advertising. So even though it can be used to spread good ideas and bring people together, it is not set up to do any more than invite individuals to go on the site, post their 400-character blurb of the moment, see what else is going on within their individual and separated group of friends, perhaps push a button that announces that they like something, perhaps even engage in some meaningful conversation... but, in the end, it is all entertainment. Real sharing of ideas, I find, is stunted by the structure and the amount of banter that's overwhelming nature rises exponentially the bigger one's list of friends grows.