A blue moon was immortalized in a musical standard that became a
lover’s hymn… it is also part of a popular saying that implies that whatever is
being alluded to, never really comes to pass… I wonder if these two apparently
divergent concepts are related…
This is one of those titles which allow the writer
(that’s me) to go into all tangents
available to his mind (let’s assume it is
working at this time) and express most any idea without a real deep
commitment to any of them.
This week birds are in the news…or rather, one
particular bird. According to Venezuela’s interim President this was the late
Commander Chavez’ way to come back and communicate with him… Hmmm… and this man
runs a country?... Then again… On the other hand, this is the same guy who would
have us believe that at some point during Chavez’ last days, while in his death
bead and comatose, he held a five (Yes, 5)
hour work session with him, and without the aid of a Ouija. Maybe that is what
finally pushed him over to the other side… Methinks it may be easier to believe
he talked to a bird.
Continuing with Venezuela… this Sunday there will
be General elections for the presidency… “G”eneral with a capital G because I
don’t think the Generals in the armed forces will allow the current regime to
lose their power, no matter what the majority of the voters may say. The
current interim government, headed by the “Bird Whisperer”, seems not to have
the same people power the late commander had. And this is a cause for concern.
As much as they try to revive the image of the late Chavez at every speech and
rallying point, giving the accurate impression that Maduro by himself could not
bring the people to vote. He tries… oh how hard he tries to imitate the style
of the late president but… he fails miserably. Just doesn’t cut it. We’ll see what happens… the last popular
polls indicate that the contender actually may have taken the lead… however, this doesn't mean much in a dictatorship…
Closer to home, our Social Security and Medicare
benefits are taking the blunt of the Presidential economic attack… funny… every time
there is talk about a cutback, these two line items always get the priority.
It’s like a permanent threat… we don’t get what we want, we take yours away. It
doesn’t matter if someone has worked 40 or more years to get these benefits (and NO, they are NOT an “entitlement”… they
are the result of a lot of damn hard work) our dedicated government hits
the proverbial SS panic button, instead of cutting back a lot of wasted allotment
moneys that have no apparent coherent reason to exist. Other than political expediency. We’ll see what some 70 Million “Baby Boomers” who are retiring in
these 5 years have to say in the next election. Especially those who voted for
this government.
I think we Cubans in the US -as a group- are beginning to
finally grow up some. For many years it was perceived that “he who shouted the loudest”
was "rightest". Even when wrong. Miami radio airwaves became a slug-fest of shouts, screams
and of people hurtling epithets to one another as loudly and quickly as they
could shout “Death to Fidel”.
Over the years, many new Cuban American generations
have been born and bred and are more concerned with their American than with their Cuban
side. Also, there have been a great number of migrants coming into Miami from
most Latin American countries (and even from
Spain, where the soup has become quite a bit thinner as of late) so the
“Cuban” issue is becoming of lesser overall interest and weight. Yes, we do
have the senators and congress people, which is a true achievement for a relatively
small group of immigrants, but they now have to divide their time and efforts
into the other “non-Cuban” issues.
Yoany Sanchez, a well known and respected dissident blogger who is of that very rare breed who courageously choose to do their "dissidence" from within Cuba, proposes that the embargo against the island should be lifted. And she is quite willing to discuss her thought-out reasoning.
However, when she was coming to visit Miami, a group called “Brigada 2506” (made up from the remnants -without
disrespect- of the failed assault group that was sent to Cuba by Kennedy around
1962) vowed to shout her down. Then, it became apparent their call was
going unheeded by a vast majority who follow and admire YS (some 10 Million hits a month in her blog). In an
unprecedented reversal, their “protest” became a very small group of ageing
folk who quietly held a couple of signs across the street where Mrs. Sanchez
was speaking.
Changing times indeed. As a group, we seem to "maybe" be
finally moving forward… it only took some 55 years to do so.
Be
Well … Be Back!!!
Final Notes:
- Pray for those who are fighting an illness
which may take them away from their loved ones… Every request is heard,
and counts!!
- Follow us on Twitter …
@RJAsPandora
- Any comments please send to otherboxp@yahoo.com
- “La
Otra Caja de Pandora”… The
Spanish language Blog… “otracaja.blogspot.com”
… Bienvenidos!!!
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