Grave Error

I have been trying to keep very quiet the past few days, as I have found myself increasingly disgusted by the extremism back home. It is as if we have turned ourselves into the exact mirror image of what we believe is so radical about “them”.

Ironically, during this same period, I have spent a few days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Morocco with my in-laws. It is really incredible to go to a Muslim country and see just how radically different our imaginary portrait of a Muslim country and its people are from reality. Hopefully, I will write about my first Ramadan experience in Morocco soon.

In any event, a good barometer of how people think and feel is to watch how phone companies, banks, and car companies depict their audience’s aspirations. Here are a few good commercials from Moroccan television.

I have a developed a system, a pattern of behavior, an M.O. for my habitual weekend trips to visit my wife in Paris. Delays notwithstanding, the voyage takes me roughly five hours from door to door. Here is my story: (more…)

It may not be Jif Extra Crunchy, but Peter Pan Creamy will do the trick. The other day, out of sheer coincidence, I came across a nice stash of Peter Pan peanut butter in a local neighborhood shop that I almost never go into. I was so delighted that I gave the shop owner a gratuitous and boring monologue on why I was buying blueberry jelly to go along with the peanut butter. When I got home and ate toast after toast covered with the stuff, I realized that besides its power to transport me to my childhood, the PB&J combination has a quality very similar to the mixture of sweat and salty flavors in Moroccan cuisine. Maybe that is why I horde my mother-in-law’s homemade chebakia (fried cookie dough drenched in honey and covered with sesame seeds) as if they were Nutter Butters.

Today Raul Gonzalez announced that he was leaving Real Madrid after sixteen years with the first team. I have never been a big Raul fan, mainly because during the last decade (since I have lived in Madrid), Raul’s performance was consistently discrete, having lost his unique spark of the 90s. Nevertheless, I fully recognize that his lack of protagonism on the field was made up for by his stellar leadership role. Without a doubt, Raul — as far back as I can remember — has been the local emblem of his team.

What struck me most today when I read the news was not that Raul was leaving (I have been waiting for that for a few years) but the date in which he first debuted with Real Madrid: October 29, 1994. At first glance, 1994 doesn’t seem so far in the past, but sixteen years is in fact a long time. Just looks at the second video to see how much Raul as changed since his debut. It is a good measuring stick of how much time has changed in the past decade and a half.

The best doesn’t always win. And it is certainly difficult to imagine a more talented squad than the 1982 Brazilian national team, even by today’s standards. Cristiano Ronaldo has nothing on these guys hairdos (or shorts).

This evening on my way back from work on the metro, I listened to one of the most entertaining and informative podcasts I have heard in a long time. The Leonard Lopate Show had guest Dan Ariely discussing his new book, The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home. Ariely explained a number of fascinating matters like how bonuses actually inhibit performance, how the threat of revenge creates trust, and why we believe our own ideas and creations are better than others.

I definitely recommend you check it out.

John Coltrane composed “Alabama” based on the events of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. It is telling how throughout much of  Twentieth Century American history, groups like the K.K.K were given all of the protections of the Constitution while they freely committed what today would clearly be considered acts of terrorism. Meanwhile, throughout most of the 1950s and 60s, civil rights activists were considered by local governments and law enforcement as terrorists and treated with violence. Similarly, up until the final years of Apartheid in South Africa, the U.S. government (as did our closest ally, Israel) supported the Apartheid regime and considered Nelson Mandela a terrorist.

Unless you are in the NRA or the Tea Party and look good in a sixshooter, no matter how much we profess that the people have a right to rise against an oppressive government, neither armed nor peaceful resistance have ever had much support in American politics or society.

Just food for thought and some beautiful music.

The main character in Miguel de Unamuno’s San Manuel Bueno, Mártir explains that for him faith is not blindly believing in God, but rather desiring that He exist. In other words, faith is not about accepting God’s existence as a given, but wanting more than anything else that it were true.

I take a similar position on patriotism. I am not one of the tribalists who will blindly and unconditionally support my country/government simply because it is my country. Rather, I believe that we must demand, at all times, that our country meet the expectations we have of it. For at the end of the day, the government is nothing more than the reflection of the people it represents. As such, I believe we should be even stricter in scrutinizing the politicians we vote for than those we do not. For that very reason, for example, I am so critical of the Obama Administration. Precisely because I supported Obama, I am responsible for holding him accountable as my President.

Finally, in Grave Error, I am almost exclusively critical the U.S. and Spain (the two countries where I consider a part of society). For example, I often criticize the U.S. foreign policy toward certain nations, but rarely criticize those nations’ policies toward the U.S. The reason is simple: I am American. I understand my country and feel that as such, I have a right to judge its actions. On the other hand, I know very little about those nations (other than what the tribalistic American press tells me), nor do I vote for their politicians. I am unqualified to speak.

Moreover, just as I cannot stand those non-Americans who freely bash the U.S. government and culture — almost always from the standpoint of ignorance or half-truths – I particularly cautious not to fall into the same easy trap with regards to others. Just as it is dangerous to take the sola fide position — typical of Christian and Muslim fundamentalists — that faith justifies almost anything, patriotism based on pure tribalism leads us no where. True patriotism is about expecting more and accepting less.

There are a few popular stereotypes in the U.S. about the inferiority of white people. One being that we can’t jump, and another that we can’t dance. Now I am not a particularly great dancer myself and am not one to promote ethnic, cultural or racial stereotypes, but go to any European nightclub and witness the stereotype in action.

And if there is any doubt, check out this recent Adidas Originals commercial that I first saw about a month ago in Italy and couldn’t quite believe my eyes. It is SO pathetic on so many levels: the white Europeans trying to act all tough guy and hip-hop, the slow motion dancing, the arguably offensive replication of an American urban setting, graffiti and double-dutch included … oh, where to begin? No matter how you look at it, the guys in this video would get their poser-arses whipped were they back in the U.S.of A.

Watching this just reminds me of how silly white guys with dreadlocks look, regardless of their vehement self-defense and rationalization, and, of course, that other stereotype that we borrow heavily and free of charge.

On an unrelated note, I just get myself an nice pair of retro 1972 Adidas.

At the end of last season and without much of an explanation, Barça coach Pep Guardiola claimed it was time for his emblematic star striker Samuel Eto’o to move on. Tonight, though, Eto’o had the last laugh as his new team, Inter de Milan, advanced to the finals of the European Champions League Cup by defeating Barcelona on aggregate 3-2.

This year’s big match could be dubbed the Reject’s Final with the high profile rejects from Real Madrid, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder, leading Bayern Munich and Inter de Milan respectively to the finals. If Jorge Valdano got egg on his face for letting those two guys go, I suppose Guardiola’s doesn’t look much better.

¡Que vivan los rejects. ¡Vivan!