domingo, 11 de diciembre de 2011

the gambler








THE GAMBLER


KENNY ROGERS - THE GAMBLER

On a warm summers evening, on a train bound for nowhere
I met up with a gambler, we were both too tired to sleep
So we took turns at staring out the window at the darkness
The boredom overtook us and he began to speak

He said, son I've made a life out of reading people's faces
And knowing what the cards were, by the way they held their eyes
So if you don't mind my sayin', I can see you're out of aces
For a taste of your whiskey, I'll give you some advice

So I handed him my bottle, and he drank down my last swallow
Then he bummed a cigarette and asked me for a light
And the night got deathly quiet, and his face lost all expression
Said, if you're gonna play the game, boy, you gotta learn to play it right

Chorus:
You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away and know when to run
You never count your money, when you're sittin' at the table
There'll be time enough for countin', when the dealin's done

Every gambler knows that the secret to survive is
Knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep
'Cos every hand's a winner and every hand's a loser
And the best that you can hope for is that I end asleep

And when he finished speakin', he turned back for the window
Crushed out the cigarette, faded off to sleep
And somewhere in the darkness, the gambler he broke even
But in his final words I found an ace that I could keep




sábado, 5 de noviembre de 2011

NELSON MANDELA

For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.

sábado, 1 de octubre de 2011

Barcelona's last bullfight


Bullfighter Jose Tomas The Catalan parliament voted to ban bullfighting from January 2012

Barcelona has staged its final bullfight after Catalonia became the first region in Spain to ban the traditional spectacle.

They came from all over - serious men from Seville and Madrid filling trains and planes with their fine suits and Havana cigars, their tanned and buffed consorts in tow.

The flamboyant French had poured down over the border to celebrate "Los Toros" with extravagant "ole's and elegant wines.

Studious Americans, wealthy Mexicans, Basques and Swedes - even the sole Japanese torero, El Nino del Sol Naciente (the son of the rising sun), was among those who had managed to secure the scorching-hot tickets for the big show in town.

The last show in town - ever.

I did not spot any other Englishmen among the 20,000 aficionados packed into the Monumental, Barcelona's beautiful Art Nouveau bull-ring.
'Feted killers'
I had come here as a form of pilgrimage to the place where I had first fallen in love with the brutal beauty of this age-old ritual, when I lived here as a romantic young Hispanophile back in the 1980s.

American writer Ernest Hemingway at a bullfight in Spain in the 1950s Ernest Hemingway's passion for bullfighting inspired two of his books

Three hundred or so corridas (bullfights) - and even more arguments with my uncomprehending and often appalled countrymen - later, I felt the need to be there at the death, so to speak.

Influenced by Hemingway and Picasso, I was taken all those years ago by the potent metaphor of man against nature, and the stirring displays of grace under pressure, as the matadors - the gilded and feted killers - attempted to create fleeting, fluid beauty with the doomed beast.

Watching man and animal become one in this highly stylised dance of death was the most intense and life-affirming experience I had ever witnessed.

And to this day, I am entranced every time a paso doble plays and a man in a glittering suit steps onto the sand, with one of the most powerful and deadly champions nature can provide, before hopefully providing a swift and fitting end, all the while placing his own life on the line.

To me it is undoubtedly an art form and one intrinsically linked with my love of the dark and intense culture of Spain, one of the things which still marks out this unique and magnetic land as so different from its European neighbours.
Torture and culture
But I am also acutely aware that the bloody public slaughter of noble animals for my entertainment is seen by many as a disgrace, a cruel anachronism and a stain on modern Spain, which should be banned completely.

Anti-bullfight protest outside the Monumental arena A campaign by animal rights protesters was the catalyst for the ban

I may have been the only Englishman in the plaza, but outside, I suspect, there was at least one fellow countryman among the surprisingly small but jubilantly vocal group of antitaurinos who had gathered opposite the ring.

He held up a sign which read in English "Never again" and gave a uniquely English hand gesture to the few bullfight fans who bothered to argue with the 50 or so "antis", who were outnumbered by the stern-looking riot police who surrounded them.

Theirs was not so much a demonstration as a celebration of victory, their job having been done a year ago when the Catalan parliament voted to ban the corrida throughout the province. It was never a hotbed of taurine activity, but had seen regular fights in the Barcelona plaza for 97 years.

The animal rights view - enshrined in the chanted slogan "La tortura no es cultura" (torture is not culture) - is undoubtedly held by many Catalans, and the ring has long been in slow decline, as a young generation of funky, "European" Barcelonans turned their backs on the bulls.
Snub to Spain
But it was the complex politics of Iberian separatism which actually put paid to Barcelona's bull-ring.

Ever since the terrible Civil war and its long aftermath under General Franco when Barcelona - the most vehemently republican of cities - was viciously repressed and its culture and language suppressed, many Catalans have grown to despise Spain and everything associated with it.

This is a bitter enmity played out every time Barcelona and Real Madrid meet at football, as Real were General Franco's favourite team.

It is also a profound culture clash, because Barcelona sees itself as modern and forward-looking while Madrid believes it is the keeper of the traditional Spanish soul.

Snubbing "Spain" and distancing Catalonia by outlawing such a vividly "Spanish" tradition was the real motive for many of the nationalist politicians who took that historic vote.

There was certainly a heightened sense of history and emotion among the crowds who watched the three matadors dance with and then dispatch six bulls in the time-honoured fashion.
A 'good kill'
The atmosphere and noise were extraordinary with a febrile, sometimes angry edge, unusual in a bull-ring.

The whole event was interspersed with cries of "Viva la fiesta" and even "Viva Espana" from the stands, many of which were draped in banners and flags.

One of them read "Libertad de expresion, Libertad de creacion" (liberty of expression, liberty of creation). Another simply proclaimed "Continuara" (it will continue).

Serafin Marin and crew Serafin Marin (seated) was given the honour of being the last matador to face a bull

The matadors present included Jose Tomas, the most charismatic and enigmatic torero of his generation, and a man who has come close to death so many times that his every appearance is fraught with tension.

His close, smooth and vividly dangerous, yet somehow calm and gentle performance was judged the great triumph of the afternoon.

He extracted long soft "ole's from the crowd and an award of two ears from his expertly executed animal, the traditional award for a flawless kill.

And as he slowly paraded the ring for the last time, cradling the many flowers thrown to him from the stands, people around me - some of them hardened veterans of many a bloody afternoon - had tears in their eyes.

For they understand the true worth of a good kill, a perfect end to these splendid animals who have lived free lives to the age of at least four, grazing wild on Spain's finest pasture.

The applause for a brave and strong bull is as loud as the reception given to a good matador. The Spanish do not say "We are going to see the matadors" but "We are going to see the bulls".

But no longer, in Catalonia.
Lap of honour
With great significance, the final matador to perform was Serafin Marin, the only Catalan to currently wear the suit of lights, and a young man who was visibly shaken throughout the evening.

 
After an expert sword at "la hora de verdad" (the moment of truth), he bowed and then prostrated himself on the sand, sobbing. He cupped the golden dust and kissed it with elaborate passion, a baroque gesture somehow fitting such an impassioned evening.

All three matadors were then raised onto the shoulders of the fans who swarmed the arena, and given a tumultuous lap of honour accompanied by the ritual chanting of "Torero, torero".

Then somehow the chant morphed into "Libertad, libertad" and continued as the matadors were carried into the packed street outside.

For a while, the chanting swelled and a small demonstration looked like it might turn ugly, but it soon dissipated into the warm, late September evening, as the thousands of aficionados retired to bars and restaurants to discuss the significance of the tumultuous events.

Most were not even from here and so knew that they could continue their passion in their own, more pro-taurine towns further south.

The local fans were more upset but could not deny that Barcelona had fallen out of love with the bulls and that the vast majority would not miss it.

I personally thought of the poet Lorca who, back in the 1930s had called the corrida "the last serious thing in the modern world".

I wondered what he would make of a world so modern that it had no place for such a visceral but potent ritual. I also wondered what would become of the great ring, which now had no function.

There was once a second bull-ring in Barcelona, which sat idle for many years until it was transformed recently by the feted British architect, Richard Rogers, into a swanky shopping centre

domingo, 25 de septiembre de 2011

Women in Saudi Arabia to vote and run in elections

Women in Saudi Arabia to vote and run in elections

Women in Saudi Arabia to vote and run in elections

Women in Saudi Arabia are to be given the right to vote and run in future municipal elections, King Abdullah has announced.

He said they would also have the right to be appointed to the consultative Shura Council.

The move was welcomed by activists who have called for greater rights for women in the kingdom, which enforces a strict version of Sunni Islamic law.

The changes will occur after municipal polls on Thursday, the king said.

King Abdullah announced the move in a speech at the opening of the new term of the Shura Council - the formal body advising the king, whose members are all appointed.

"Because we refuse to marginalise women in society in all roles that comply with sharia, we have decided, after deliberation with our senior clerics and others... to involve women in the Shura Council as members, starting from next term," he said.

"Women will be able to run as candidates in the municipal election and will even have a right to vote."

Cautious reformer

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

Emily Buchanan BBC world affairs correspondent


Saudi Arabia is a conservative society which has been inching towards reform under the leadership of King Abdullah, himself a reformist.

About 10 years ago the king said women should be central to the Saudi economy. Since then, change has been gradual for fear of a religious backlash.

Steps have been taken to reduce segregation and give more respect to women. Now, allowing women to stand and vote in municipal elections is a big step towards political reform, even though the municipal councils have very little power.

The right for women to join the all- male Shura Council could turn out to be even more significant as it is the most influential political body in the country.

The BBC's world affairs correspondent Emily Buchanan says it is an extraordinary development for women in Saudi Arabia, who are not allowed to drive, or to leave the country unaccompanied.

She says there has been a big debate about the role of women in the kingdom and, although not everyone will welcome the decision, such a reform will ease some of the tension that has been growing over the issue.

Saudi writer Nimah Ismail Nawwab told the BBC: "This is something we have long waited for and long worked towards."

She said activists had been campaigning for 20 years on driving, guardianship and voting issues.

Another campaigner, Wajeha al-Huwaider, said the king's announcement was "great news".

"Now it is time to remove other barriers like not allowing women to drive cars and not being able to function, to live a normal life without male guardians," she told Reuters news agency.

Correspondents say King Abdullah has been cautiously pressing for political reforms, but in a country where conservative clerics and some members of the royal family resist change, liberalisation has been very gradual.

In May more than 60 intellectuals called for a boycott of Thursday's ballot saying "municipal councils lack the authority to effectively carry out their role".

Municipal elections are the only public polls in Saudi Arabia.

More than 5,000 men will compete in municipal elections on Thursday - the second-ever in the kingdom - to fill half the seats in local councils. The other half are appointed by the government.

The next municipal elections are due in four years' time.

miércoles, 3 de noviembre de 2010

Legalising marijuana in California

US Elections 2010: California rejects legal marijuana

Voters in California have rejected a ballot proposition that would have made it the first US state to legalise marijuana for personal use.

With one-fifth of precincts counted, projections by CNN suggested 56% had voted against Proposition 19.

Adults would have been able to possess up to 28g (1oz) of cannabis, and local authorities would also have been able to permit commercial growing.

The legalisation would have put the state at odds with federal drug laws.

Proposition 19 was the highest-profile of the 160 ballot measures being decided in 37 states in Tuesday's mid-term elections.

Other measures dealt with abortion, tax cuts and health care reform.

'Tremendous victory'

Growing and selling marijuana for medicinal purposes has been legal in California since a similar vote in 1996. Since then, 14 other states and Washington DC have followed suit.

Supporters of Proposition 19 had argued that ending the prosecution of people with small quantities of cannabis would have freed up police to tackle violent crime and helped combat powerful drug cartels.

They also argued that it would have allowed the state to regulate the cultivation and distribution of the drug, and profit from its taxation. A recent report estimated California's crop to be worth about $14bn (£8.7bn).

But opponents - including every major newspaper, both the Democratic and Republican parties, and the two leading candidates for state governor - said it was a badly-written law that would cause chaos.

And last month, US Attorney General Eric Holder warned he would "vigorously enforce" federal drug laws if Proposition 19 passed.

After the first results of Tuesday's ballot came in, Richard Lee, a leading proponent of Proposition 19, said: "The fact that millions of Californians voted to legalise marijuana is a tremendous victory."

"We have broken the glass ceiling. Proposition 19 has changed the terms of the debate and that was a major strategic goal."

"With limited resources this time around we were able to build an enormously powerful coalition.... This coalition will only continue to grow in size and strength as we prepare for 2012."

In other ballot measures on Tuesday, voters in Massachusetts rejected a chance to lower the state sales tax from 6.25% to 3%.

Oklahomans meanwhile supported making English their state's "common and unifying language", requiring that people have a government-issued photo ID in order to vote, and prohibiting state courts from considering international law or Islamic law when deciding cases.

In Washington state, voters rejected a proposal by Bill Gates's father to bring in personal income tax for those earning over $200,000 (£125,000). Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer was a leading opponent.