Pandora's Other Box

No Government member shall be above those laws they create for the people whose care has been entrusted to them. There comes once in a while a bright moment in life when one looks for the umpteenth time at familiar words, and finally sees the meaning they have… a meaning often hidden in plain sight, as it were. The rule of law has been bandied about for several centuries now. Perhaps as far back as the times of the Roman Empire. Yet, one of our own, John Adams, also talked about it and what he said, can be summarized in 4 basic points: Everyone must follow the law; Leaders must obey the law; Government must obey the law; No one is above the law. What he also said was that we must have a “government of laws and not of men”. Perhaps it takes one who has lived under what is considered to be a government of men and not of laws, to understand the meaning of this small, yet powerful sentence. When someone in government assumes that his/her position allows the deliber...

Whenever my friend Cheíto calls me unexpectedly, I know something is really bothering him… in his own basic way of thinking he actually has some very keen insights . -“RAFA!!!!” “Juat’sup Man?” “We ain’t talk in a lon’ tain” -“Cheíto, Bro… what’s goin‘on?” -“I’n worryd man” “too many thins happenin’ and none too good ” I’ve had my own worries during these past days. All I hear from the direction of our capital and neighboring alleys has not been good. Yes, we all know there isn’t a single government which has been free of sin, but these specific sins are worrisome. They indicate a mind set which wants to control and negate, at all costs, any kind of dissent to said control. -“juat’s goin’on man?”  “souns like our presiden’ has ben takin’ gvmint lessons from Cuba”… -“Whoa Cheíto…. What do you mean?” -“he’s lyin’, he’s havin people look’t at, he’s usin’ the tax people to push other people aroun’…” I have to say that Cheíto, once again, was getting to the cor...

A feeling that sometimes blinds us and leads us into dark physical as well as emotional alleys from which there may be no return… In the many years I have been a “communicator” there has always been a basic rule which I was taught at the very beginning by those who trained me, and which I have tried to follow… not always successfully: Don’t speak blindly in anger for those words which are spewed at a moment of ire, can never be taken back and may destroy more than what they may build. Tonight is different; there are far too many instances that are totally incongruent between what we profess to live and what we, as a nation, choose to actually live. As I watch a show in which different regular Joes and Josephines are being awarded for actions of heroic measurements, there is one in particular which has brought this feeling forward. We, as a nation, have sent our young men and women off to wars, at one time or another, in just about all corners of the world. While they ...

Remember those ads in which a lady was singing until a wine glass would be broken by the sound waves… and then the above question would be asked? Of course… we knew the answer to that one!!! ( by the way… if you do remember… you are giving away your TV age …) Sometimes evidence and circumstances tell us very clearly “who done it” and what’s what. But it isn’t always so clearly established and defined. In fact, circumstances and soft evidence can be managed to make it appear other than what is, or was. Especially, was. There are junctions in life when decisions are made. When these do come about, usually they are due to expediency as well as the reality and need of the moment. Yet, the decision maker I believe tries to take a road which is favorable and will bring about a desired outcome. All within the realm of the moment’s possibilities as well as of the capacity of the person to make and carry out such a defined course of action. Here we go again!! The best laid plans a...