¿Es psicópata?

En resumidas cuentas este artículo apareció hoy en el periódico (El País). No sé a quién se refiere, pero me suenan los síntomas.

El psicópata

Es cruel con los animales

Esa actitud es una clara muestra de su falta de empatía con el dolor ajeno.

No tiene remordimientos

Ni se arrepiente de sus malas acciones, ni tiene sentimientos de culpa.

Es insumiso

Desafía los límites, las normas y la autoridad en general.

Cuando algo no le sale bien, lo destruye

Se frustra con facilidad.

Se cree el centro del mundo

Es muy egocéntrico y exigente: lo quiere todo y lo quiere ya.

Es vengativo

Piensa que merece tener privilegios, y cuando considera que han sido injustos con él, su respuesta es hacer daño.

Miente más que habla

“Como quiere salirse con la suya, utilizará una mentira, pero para taparla tendrá que utilizar cien más”, asegura la experta.

Los castigos le resbalan

Antepone su objetivo a las posibles represalias, porque ante estas buscará una venganza y hará el mal, que es lo que le mueve.

El PP en el diván

El PP se encuentra en lo que los psicólogos llaman ‘negación’. Tienen un gran problema, la corrupción, pero no lo llegan a admitir. Son casos aislados, son ‘cosas’ que pasan, manzanas podridas, en todos los partidos pasa lo mismo…

La lista de casos de corrupción del PP sería demasiado larga para enumerar aquí. De todos modos habría que incluir también los casos de abusos de poder, de prácticas más propias de tiempos pasados pero aparentemente no olvidados.

¿Qué hacemos? Pues habrá que curar al paciente. Necesitan limpiar l casa y empezar de nuevo. Necesitan aprender una palabra que existe en inglés, pero curiosamente no en español. Accountability. Es decir, ser el responsable de tus actos. En UK si cometes un error, y es humano, no pasa nada. Sólo tienes que dimitir.

España necesita y se merece un partido conservador limpio, honrado, que sigue las reglas democráticas. El PP actual está enfermo, y debe buscar ayuda profesional.

You're Fired!

Donald trump has ‘terminated’ the head of the FBI.  That simple. Because he runs the show the only way he knows how, as if it were one of his business enterprises (and it probably is). I am the boss, you are my underling, you will do as I say. Period.

This should come as no surprise. After all, it was what he promised during the election campaign. Enough pc, let’s just get on with the job.

The real test is for democracy itself. Although not a perfect system by any means, it at least fends off would-be dictators, and, in theory, limits abuse of power generally. Trump will try to bring it to its knees, and his paid cohorts will gladly help him to achieve that. As will a certain number of foreign powers, with their own particular agendas.

Let us hope that the institutions of USA are strong enough to resist.  If not, God Bless America.

A Dirty Word

Politics (from Greek: Politiká: Politika, definition "affairs of the cities") is the process of making decisions applying to all members of each group. Wikipedia.

A dirty job, but somebody has to do it.

And there’s the rub. For who knows what kind of scheming, corrupt, small-minded, over-ambitious, two-faced megalomaniacs will run for office?

Politicians have given politics a bad name.  Just mention the word and everybody yawns, or groans or reaches for the bottle. Should anyone warm to the subject, the rest will wander off and leave them to it. Politics is boring, politics is a farce.

To the gallery they are public servants, sacrificing themselves to the god of the common weal, but we all know they vote according to their own interests.

Politicians are allowed, even expected, to lie. They can change their opinion and position mid sentence, no worry. If they make a promise, a solemn vow, it can be taken with a pinch of salt. Promises are made to be broken.

So we are asked, every so often, to choose between being robbed a little but controlled a lot, or being robbed a lot, but controlled less. If they win, they make a killing, if they lose, they make a living.

So voting becomes a chore. Thinking about different policies a pointless task. Politics? No thanks!

Which was the plan from the start. Leave it all in their capable hands. Let them get on with it. So that while we watch TV or chat in the bar, these boring, slippery types can decide for us exactly where our money goes.

And guess where it goes.

Fresh Kills

It is relatively easy to start a forest fire, often a stray cigarette butt is enough, but it is incredibly difficult to put out.

Incendiary Geopolitics has been lighting fires across the world for centuries. Sparks fly on the wind and light new fires, and now there is little left to burn. 

The endless tit for tat of attack/retaliation, the suicidal policy of scorched earth, will leave us all with third degree burns and nothing to eat.

Today it is Syria, tomorrow….

After the 9/11 attack, the USA sought revenge. Those who suffered that reaction sought a vendetta of their own. And so on.

After the 9/11 attack, the rubble from the destruction of the twin towers was taken to the municipal landfill site aptly named Fresh Kills.

How long will this song be relevant?

Rock

Gibraltar, the gateway to the Mediterranean, a majestic rock crowning the bay of Algeciras, often shrouded in mist as if trying to hide from the curious gaze of Africa.

Gibraltar, the most Spanglish place on earth, a town of Bobbies with thick regional accents and perfect English, tapas and fish and chips, where corned beef becomes ‘carne con bif’.

Gibraltar, the border town, the tax haven, the military base, the foreign territory.

Gibraltar, the bone of contention.

When it could be so different. Imagine a Gibraltar with no frontier, no customs, no high fences. Imagine Gibraltar with no naval base, no military buildings, no streets full of uniformed young squaddies. Imagine the whole bay of Algeciras, with La Línea and San Roque, from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, with its beaches and scenery, studded with hotels, a casino perhaps, a marina.

Gibraltar could be the jewel of the south. The history, the geography, the mixed cultures of Spain, Africa and Northern Europe. The Barbary apes, the amazing cave systems in the rock itself, the weather, the cuisine….

Maybe one day the nostalgic imperialists will all have faded away, and the people of Gibraltar, Los Llanitos, and their understanding neighbours  (they know each other, respect each other, without the need for political intervention), will be able to give back to the area the dignity and beauty it deserves.