All lives do matter and more

Until we come to the realization that ALL lives do matter and that the Second Amendment is simply a document, this country will continue to not-so-slowly unravel. At the rate we’re going, sooner rather than later, we will collapse like a giant door whose old and rusty hinges cannot carry the weight of its expectations any longer.

The rampant killings that have become the daily storyline of this country are worrisome. Black men being shot indiscriminately by police officers may be a good reason for a Black Lives Matter movement. But to counter with the shooting of police personnel is not the solution. Maybe what we need is a national commitment to a belief that ALL LIVES MATTER. And part of that discussion will have to deal with this country’s love affair with guns. How they are sold, who they are sold to, and how they are used…

For a more in-depth look at the recent shooting of black men and the carnage of Dallas policemen, click here to read Max Castro’s “Black lives, blue lives” in Progreso Weekly.

Trumpism and a bit of Clinton

Meanwhile, as the shooting sprees continued around the nation, Donald Trump and his family appeared more interested in turning the presidential campaign into a real ‘House of Cards.’ What better example than the suggestion that was floated last week of turning the search for a vice president into a beauty contest and nepotistic adventure – a Republican presidential ticket featuring Donald and daughter Ivanka. Hopefully it was simply a hoax from a family whose collective ego has no bounds.

As The Miami Herald reported:

“Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., might not have meant it seriously when he floated Ivanka Trump’s name as a vice president pick, but the family of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump could be considering it.

“‘His best running mate would be Ivanka,’ Corker said on MSNBC after an announcement that he was withdrawing his name from consideration for VP. ‘I know that wouldn’t pass muster, probably. But I don’t think I have met a more composed, brilliant, beautiful in every way person.’”

This election gets stranger by the day. And what scares the heck out of me is the fact that Donald Trump has a chance to win. Which, by the way, does not speak well of the American voting public.

Then there’s Hillary and her email problem. It seems Mrs. Clinton always has a dark cloud ready to rain on her head. She has earned her dubious reputation. But to be fair, we must admit that the darkness that surrounds her has often been a creation of Republicans who hate her, or simply media who loves a good scandal to report.

Havana here we come

Last week we learned that regular flights to Havana are close, maybe as early as this fall. What’s left is for the airlines to come to terms with the Cuban government – an important factor if any plane from a U.S. airline is to land on Cuban soil. As was widely reported, the Obama administration announced the airlines that have been given permission by the U.S. government to start nonstop flights to Havana. They include American Airlines, JetBlue, Delta, United, Southwest, Alaska Air, Spirit and Frontier.

“Miami and Fort Lauderdale, which have the biggest Cuban-American communities in the United States, received the most flights at 83 per week among six airlines,” reported Reuters.

Last month Progreso Weekly reported that the Department of Transportation had announced that six U.S. airlines had won permission to resume scheduled commercial air service to Cuba. The Cuban airports included Camagüey, Cayo Coco, Cayo Largo, Cienfuegos, Holguín, Manzanillo, Santa Clara, Santiago de Cuba, and Matanzas. At the time I had asked Bob Guild, of Marazul Charters, why Havana had been left out of the DOT announcement. Guild said the selection process had been complicated by the fact that far more routes than are available to Havana had been requested by the airlines.