Panchosays

the good and the bad, lo bueno y lo malo…

commend / condemn

          What’s going ta happen?  I do wish Obama would say “to” instead of “ta”, and he should have sat up with better posture last night during the “debate”. And both candidates do that dumb-downspeak gunna, and gotta. Alas, even the venerated moderator Bob Schieffer needs to brush up his grammar — “Each of you are….”  Each is singular, not plural. Bob, it should be “Each of you is” when you address the candidates.

          Oh well. I’ll tune in to Spain’s and Mexico’s newscasts in the morning to find out what is really happening in the world, articulately. 

         Well, it will be “over” come November 4. As they always say, “God bless America”. I suppose that refers to “USA”  because the word “America” is really the name of the entire continent: (North America, shared with Mexico and Canada), as well as the entire Western Hemisphere (“The Americas”). This usurped “America” moniker for a nameless country confuses the Spaniards and other Europeans, and disconcerts the Mexican whose country (officially Estados Unidos Mexicanos) is also located in North American.  Both default to yankis or gringos, respectivly, simply for clarity; they both use estadounidenses (Unitedstatesians, suggested in lieu of “Americans” by William Safire in his New York Times past article concerning this country’s namelessness and proposing nomenclatural options.)                  

           Do other countries traditionally declare that God blesses them? Don’t think so. I prefer the patriotic exclamations Viva México, and Viva España.

           Perhaps the ”God bless” tradition is due to the fact that, according to statistics, USA is the most religious country in the world. USA leads with the world’s highest obesity rate as well, despite the fact that gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins.

            (Yikes…why did my spellchecker attempt to change Obama to Osama ? Evil lurks…)

 

~O.O~

 

THUMBS DOWN  –evil construction – that wall along the boarder between “America” — USA that is — and its neighbor Mexico (which “shares” the North Amercan Continent, and they were here first).   It’s about politics. It’s stupid, even ugly.  A waste of money, and it won’t work.  People aren’t cattle. It’s flawed, and does not extend the entire border. Furthermore the pendejo gringo builders erected some of the wall sections a few meters into Mexican territory….duh…then had to dismantle and rebuild (“legally”) on the Meriken side of the border line.  In the past 14 years, 5,000 Mexicans including women and children have met violent death at the border, and thousands more assaulted, raped, beaten. Click the following link for the wise words of a Mexican about el muro de la vergüenza (wall of shame).  the US MEXICO Border Wall of Death. It won’t work   Remember Regan’s words to Mr. Gorbachev: “Tear down this wall!”.  Even more shame on you, Mr Bush…and adios to you at last.

 

~oo~

 

THUMBS DOWN — for NO construction — Seven years after the annihilation of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers and thousands of New Yorkers, there is still a hole, a crater…NOTHING HAS BEEN BUILT. No skyscraper, no memorial.   ”Ground Zero” remains a morbid attraction for tourists.  Listen to Keith Olbermann! “This hole in the ground — Sept. 11: A special comment about 9/11 seven years after the terrorist attacks.” NBC News video   http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14687895/

 

~oo~

 

THUMBS UP  for  BOOK TV: enriching in-depth and uncensored interviews with top nonfiction authors. The program airs every weekend continuously for 48 hours (plus federal holidays) on C-SPAN2.  Programming and profiles:  www.booktv.org

     In addition to reading favorite authors, you can get to know them:  Isabel Allende

and  Simon Winchester  (I am privileged to have studied the craft and joy of travel writing with both of them); Pete Hamill, fellow New Yorker who also lives in Mexico, deeply understands both, and has published books about Manhattan and Diego Riviera ; and two immortals, both deceased tragically early in their lives:  Peter Jennings , and his fellow journalist Tim Russert who wrote about his father who outlives him, Big Russ, and finally Wisdom of Our Fathers

     Today, August 3, 2008, I was enlightened by Ralph Peters , then enraged by what I learned from Vincent Bugliosi telling of his book The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder www.prosecutionofbush.com which is presently number 15 (hardcover nonfiction) on the New York Times Best Seller List despite “predictably” minimal media promotion or exposure.

 

 ~oo~

THUMBS DOWN: USA’s prudish censorship banning a new television ad campaign featuring actress Eva Mendes promoting a new Calvin Klein perfume…”because the spot shows a brief glimpse of her nipple”…i.e. it’s obscene (by USA standards)

            This news story broke in today’s (Aug 06) London Telegraph and was immediately picked up by Spain’s RTVE (Radio Televisión Española) news which also informed that the complete commercial is viewable on You Tube (Spanish media) and is receiving thousands of hits (I was one of them…(I say it’s artistic…and not  “obscene violence-and-guts” that pervade on USA tv.)

            Guess what!   I checked the You Tube for the correct url from this morning showing the commercial and…IT’S GONE!  Same day. Disappeared…perhaps BOYCOTTED ONLY FROM USA INTERNET? . 

            Speaking of tv bad taste, I cringed at the Paris Hilton spot (she’s wearing a tacky bathing suit thing)  promoting both herself (“…I’m hot.”) and Presidential candidate John McCain (paid for, indirectly, by the MercanPeople).  Dumb-down marketing targeting the “average American” with demographics of Peoria IL.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 ~oo~

THUMBS DOWN:  smog in Beijing during the Olympics causes athletes lung ailments and reduces their performance.

HOW CAN THIS BE?  With years of preparation, couldn’t they have taken effective measures?

I say eliminate all private vehicle traffic, shut all factories – IMMEDIATELY.  Also prohibit smoking (Chinese have an inordinately high cigarette smoking rate), eliminate those celebratory and polluting fireworks….and get GIANT FANS to blow the smog away. Too late?

Let’s see the outcome.

~oo~

 

THUMBS UP:  for some giggles — but what would Darwin say?  (see both pics 1 and pics 2)  The end is nearing!    www.bushorchimp.com

~oo~

 THUMBS UP:  For availing graphic art treasures to those who appreciate: International Vintage Poster Dealers Association online summer auction ¡Víva España!  CLICK THEIR SITE: http://www.ivpda.com/cgi-local/postershow.cgi   (with participation of my neighborhood gallery:  www.chisholm-poster.com )

~oo~

  ### SUGGESTIONS FOR MORE?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THUMBS UP:  Early this morning I watched my favorite two smart, swift, comprehensive and giggle-free newscasts: from Spain (RTVE) and Mexico (Televisa). Since they broadcast simultaneously, I clicked back and forth trying not to miss anything.. The Spaniards ridiculed the quasi-down-home usage of Joe the Plumber (Pepe el Fontanero), and the Mexicans did the same, but they call him (José el Plomero). Point is, in Spain plumber is fontanero (think fountain) and in Mexico plomero (think plumb/lead) – all evolved from Latin. Isn’t this bit of linguistics for those of us who are bi- or multi-lingual more interesting than batting around those “issues” during that pathetic debate?   Turns out Joe the Plumber, immediately investigated, appears to be an ignorant jerk and doesn’t even have a plumbing license, so he’s illegal, unethical, and certainly is more astroturf than grass roots as an example for the MerikunPeople.