EMBARRASSED?

The president of the United States, my Commander in Chief regardless of his party of affiliation and political persuasion deserves deference and respect; he is not our father as Chris Rock once suggested Obama was; and it's fair game to criticize him. I don't have any problems with people criticizing our current president and I even call him El Loco as I have used nick names for pretty much every politician. Only time will tell whether this presidency brings any good to America or whether we chose the wrong character for the top job in the land. 

I was an ardent critic of president Obama, but I'm not ashamed of him; he was elected by the people and there is no reason for being embarrassed; the same is valid for Mr Trump; I don't give a rat's behind if the First Lady clawed his arm when he tried to hold her; I couldn't care less if they don't get along well. Like I don't care if our president's ego makes him push another dignitary to be in the spotlight of a photo op. I don't feel ashamed to have a president that many in the world do not like and I don't take lessons from anyone. This is the guy we chose and thank God we can yank him in 2020 if he doesn't deliver; I'm proud that we have that choice and when I hear some fellow Americans whining about how embarrassed they feel in front of the rest of the world I ask myself: why the hell should I be embarrassed ? Who can lecture us as to how to conduct our business? 

The Germans? Those who gassed millions of Jews in the caricature claim of a superior race?

The French? Those who murdered hundreds of thousands of Algerians with their stubborn colonial ambitions?

The Spaniards? Those who were at the very door of a communist dictatorship and found another dictatorship as the only way out?

The Italians? Those who made a mockery of themselves trying to colonize Libya, Ethiopia and Eritrea?; those who haven't been able to make a government last for decades and have been shoved FOUR consecutive prime ministers without the shadow of an election ?

"Americans are children", many claim. Well we may be; but we have the most powerful nation on earth the left notwithstanding. We don't need lessons from fascists, communists and political invertebrates in general; we just need to listen to our people, spend our money wisely and fix whatever may have gone wrong during the last few decades; and God knows many things have gone wrong.

We are a nation that welcomes talent and hard work from all over the world. We must continue on that path making sure the demographic balance is not upset and that we put our interests above all else. 

ODYSSEY OR VACATION? II

Friday April 28th; a hot afternoon in Miami; MÍA, as we know Wilcox Field (Miami's International Airport), one of the busiest in the country, shows its usual Friday afternoon rush. Terminal D, American Airline chunk of the u shaped structure in its international arrival area; the door opens continuously to let passengers in; occasionally the PA system lets us hear Mayor Carlos Giménes welcome all visitors in a short, insipid message in English; that's OK; most visitors have no idea of what Miami DADE County is nor what the mayor looks like. After standing stoically with the last name of my customers on a sign for over an hour and a half I finally see two long elderly faces approach me and try in their best Itanglish to apologize for their delay; they had had to fill a baggage loss report. Air Berlin had somehow left their two suitcases in Germany's capital. I made it a point to verify they had their report number and all necessary documents before we left the building. We quickly reached the parking lot; of course they could move fast; after all, they had no luggage.

Driving them to the Best Western Atlantic in Miami Beach took me about 17 minutes during which time I went through my entire repertoire of reassuring and soothing words in Italian to counter the barrage of negative facts the poor customers detailed to me: Air Berlin's ground handler in Miami; which means the company that takes care of all services for their passengers and negotiations on a day to day basis with the logistics of servicing an aircraft after a transatlantic flight and ready it up to fly back home punctually had explained to them the following:

"Your suitcases will most likely arrive tomorrow; due to the time of arrival we won't have enough time to clear customs and send them to the Port of Miami before 16:00 hrs ET (deadline to allow any passenger or luggage in) and make sure they get on board; therefore, we will send them to St Thomas, in the US Virgin Islands, on an American Airline flight and the AA staff there will hold them until May 2nd. That's the best we can do". So my poor elderly couple was supposed to enjoy their vacation as follows: spend one night in Miami Beach; embark the next day (April 29th at 13:30 ET) on a cruise (Carnival Glory) only with their two back packs; spend their first night aboard the cruise, enjoy the beauty of Carnival's private island in the Bahamas; sail for an entire day on May 1st and wait until May 2nd when, hopefully if nobody made a mistake, someone from the crew would go to St Thomas's airport and fetch their suitcases; FOUR days after they had landed in Miami.

The next day at 13:00 ET sharp I drove by the Best Western Atlantic Miami Beach to take them to the Port of Miami; they told me they had followed my advise and used the Miami Beach Trolley to know a little of the northern part of my beautiful city; they were not happy; something was bothering them; after 38 years you can always tell. Knowing what bothered them I asked them point blank if they had heard from the AB ground handler; and there they went again; they were scared that nobody could help them aboard the ship; they spoke two words of English and their anxiety was evident. Finally they shot the request I knew was brewing inside them since we had first met: could I explain the situation to the Carnival staff so that they could be certain everyone was in the same page?; course I answered. I used all of the 14 minutes needed to get to the Port of Miami reassuring them that while a baggage loss did not happen everyday both the cruise line and the airline were used to handle their situation. We finally got there; and after writing a detailed account in English of the facts and what needed to be done so that they could instruct the concierge on the ship I immediately asked security if I could accompany my elderly clients a few feet further to speak to the cruise staff; they called someone and the minute I saw who was supposed to help I knew it wouldn't happen; this Hispanic lady had TROUBLE written across her face:

"They lost the bags and we have to pick them in St Thomas?; I doubt it; that's unheard of" the customers could not understand English but the dismissiveness and lack of interest shown by this employee was so blatant that they quickly turned their hopeless faces to me and BOTH grabbed my hand like small children. I felt sick; how can you betray your fears, your incompetence and your lack of skills in front of a passenger?.

"May I speak to someone who works for Carnival?" I asked, my fuse running short, "I work for Carnival sir" the lady countered.

"No; you get a check twice a month from Carnival, I need someone who does work for Carnival; someone with the will and the urge to assist my elderly customers; because they didn't lose their bags as you wrongly put it; some inept prick misplaced their luggage in Berlin; someone that evidently gets a check from Air Berlin but does not work for Air Berlin"!!!. My irritation was so obvious that the security staff quickly intervened and asked for a supervisor. 

A young Hispanic lady with a smile in her face approached me and carefully listened to what I had to say; she didn't even blink; it was at that point evident that Volcano Alburquerque was about to erupt. She took a step towards me and looked the passengers in the eye. She spoke to me in English but used her eye contact and her warm demeanor to help me repair the damage her colleague had caused. She wrote a brief note on a piece of paper and ALWAYS looking at my customers she told me what they needed to do the minute they boarded the ship. Fortunately the lava never reached the crater. This sweet young girl had helped me do the trick.

When the clients entered the terminal she held my hand for a second and gave me the friendliest thank you I have ever got. Thank god someone had come to work that morning.

By 14:00 ET I had the names of all involved including the ground handler. Late in the afternoon May 2nd I got a called from an unknown number; reception was poor and all of a sudden I realized it was someone from the cruise; I feared the worst until I heard my customer thanking me and promising he would make sure his tour operator knew how great we were. "Mi hai lasciato un bel ricordo; ti ringraziamo di cuore..." those words meant the world to me.

I would like to share some thoughts regarding this unfortunate incident:

1- For the passengers' convenience, but most of all for security purposes there has to be  system that detects how many pieces of luggage are checked in for each flight and match that number with the ones actually inside the luggage container; if that is done (and I'm sure it would take an IT young kid two minutes to desing such software) not only will the airlines give a better service and reduce operational costs but most importantly we will be sure that no luggage goes unaccounted for. After all, if there can be missing luggage there could also be extra luggage containing a bomb couldn't it?

2- The timing was tight, but if instead of letting this couple's baggage follow the normal course the staff in Berlin had marked it so that the handler in MIA could have identified it and swiftly fast tracked it through the customs inspection my elderly customers may have had their suitcases at the original point of departure instead of wearing the same clothes for three days. Let's bear in mind that had this been a three nighter the clients would have had to attend the Captain's dinner with the same smelly attire.

3- I have had the enormous privilege of attending several seminars and courses by Cornell University; supposedly the Mecca of academics regarding the hospitality industry. I have also been privileged to give lectures at the Institute of Tourism in Treviso, Italy. Both as student and as instructor the theme was NEVER use the word no with a customer; use the positive even if your objective is to deny or negate something. The customer can in no instance feel that you are contradicting him/her or doubting his/her word; you are simply broadening the spectrum, adding more variables to the same equation; finding an angle that could make him/her more comfortable. What that lady who gets a check from Carnival twice a month did was a flagrant boycott to customer service; the fact that she did not know the procedure to deal with baggage loss is not only serious but out right unacceptable; what the hell is she doing there?; how can Carnival allow this inept employee take care of its passengers?

The truth is that corporations in America and the rest of the world see human beings as numbers; they can be treated with the same coldness and aloofness that we treat screws and bolts; every minute we spend enlightening a client and providing information is seen as a waste of time and money. A long line of customers checking in is perceived by arrogant corporate America as an assembly line. And why not? Perhaps I'm wrong; perhaps my emotion when I receive a thank you or a warm and grateful handshake is a vestige of my slavery background; maybe I'm an Uncle Tom. Maybe I'm just getting old. Maybe the world will never be a better place; maybe our future as customers is to be treated like trash.

Still, while there's air in my lungs and my heart beats I will do everything in my power to make my customers happy, I will continue to get emotional when they acknowledge my efforts to accommodate them and help them make the best of their stay. It will always be my pride to know that beyond all hurdles my customers are aware that every time they visit my Miami there will be this insignificant individual who will fight the windmills if necessary to make sure they get their money's worth of pleasant time. There will be this person that transcends the usual customer/purveyor dynamics and for the duration of their stay is family. No amount of "modern" savage capitalism will change that. 

ODYSSEY OR VACATION?

                                                                                 

During the last few days I have tried to raise awareness among my FB friends as to the deplorable state of services in our great nation; the scarcity of choices we have as consumers and the arrogance of corporate America; which, compounded with negligent politicians are parts of a lethal recipe.

As a fervent advocate of capitalism I'm convinced that this system does not only consist of a bunch of privileged individuals making a pile of money; but also of the inalienable rights of the people, the respect for human dignity and last but not least, our freedom to CHOSE, to decide what brand of shoes to wear, what make of car to drive, what destination to pick for our next vacations. If companies continue to disappear; if their founders sell them to banks or financial institutions, and these entities appoint presidents, general managers or CEOs that are nothing but yuppies with allegiance only to their bank accounts and a shameful lack of sensibility towards the consumer capitalism is mortally wounded. If America's proverbial and exemplary entrepreneurship drifts into mere greed and imposes the dictatorship of those who serve upon those who are supposed to be served capitalism is mortally wounded.

The infamous incident that involved United Airlines and one of its passengers has brought our attention to poor procedures; irrational methods and quasi Communist rules that we all accepted as normal. What is more; what I would call the sodomized customer syndrome is so persistent among us that even after viewing a video where the passenger is forcibly removed from the aircraft with a bleeding face a segment of the public opinion dwelled on the integrity of the customers; and the real objectives behind his stubborn refusal to be deplaned; the usual dirty trick a defense lawyer uses when his or her client is charged with rape; the defendant's attorney digs deeply into the victim's life trying to find as much filth as possible. I have even heard people I love and respect claim that albeit unfortunate, the incident is not such a big deal and that Mr Munoz, United CEO, should not be criticized for, at first, siding with his staff at O'Hare's airport only to conveniently shift his position to a more realistic approach when the pressure of the public reached a critical point. Some even say a successful career cannot be tarnished by one mistake. I have news for those friends: a brave American soldier makes one single mistakes and drives too close to an IED (improvised explosive device) he loses a limb or two and his life is ruined forever; he then comes back to the country he fought for only to find himself being pingponged from one bureaucrat to another in that torture chamber we call VA. For that brave soldier who risked his life and most likely ruined it for us there won't be a second chance; and he or she makes a fraction of Mr Munoz's millionaire salary; why should we give the arrogant CEO what life denies to our brave wounded soldiers?

It now seems that United will have a new person at he helm as of next year; yet, this article is not an attempt to assassinate someone's character, but to instill in all of us the sense of freedom and certainty that capitalism used to create in the citizenry. The sacrosanct vehicle of exchange is money; you pay for an object or a service and it becomes yours; no law or regulation should be above that criterion; the minute we allow other elements to enter the equation and challenge our ownership capitalism is mortally wounded. And in this struggle both parties are conspicuously absent. The Democrats suffocate us with thousands of regulations, Republicans oppose those regulations and probably impose some of their own; but neither party seems keen in making corporate America efficient, accountable and law abiding; or, to put it better: common sense abiding. It is time for us as consumers to fight for our rights and the true value of our hard earned money. 

In the second part of this article I will detail to my FB friends the type of nightmare two customers of mine lived after paying thousands of euros for cruising in Carnival's Glory. TO BE CONTINUED...

ONE MORE LETTER TO PRESIDENT TRUMP

Miami Beach, April 27th 2017

Mr. Donald J. Trump.
President of the United States of America.
The White House

                             Dear President Trump,

                                               Please find bellow an article I just ported on my blog www.decadadeloscincuenta.blogspot.com not only venting my frustration in light of the world's indifference towards Venezuela and its people, but sounding an alert as to our passive foreign policy. The calamities I detail are were not caused by your administration, but you indeed do have the opportunity to put in place a more robust foreign policy in sync with what we are as a nation and what our role should be in the world. This message is particularly valid coming from a proud Republican black Cuban American who refuses to indulge in wishful thinking.

              Respectfully,

Andres Alburquerque Jr.
Message will be divided due to field capacity

VENEZUELA AND OUR SILENCE

If Venezuela were ruled by a right wing dictatorship we would be hearing a lot from the left; marches would have been organized all over the country and the world would utter a high pitched cry of foul; being Maduro the puppet of the Havana Junta: thus, a left wing facilitator, the same persons that want to dismember America from within make no effort to change the course of events in that Latin American nation.

One would think however, that being our great nation the beacon of hope and a sworn enemy of communism and left extremism a sterner warning should have come out from Washington as we watch the graphic images of innocent people getting killed under precise instructions of the Cuban government. Then; as if out of the blue, a group of retirees from our military sends a letter to the Trump administration underscoring how strategically important is for us to have good relations with the  Cuban regime. I had hoped that the capture and sentencing of Ana Belen Montes, the highest ranking Castro spy ever incarcerated (that we know of since the cloak and dagger ways of espionage leave little room for credibility) had once and for all done away with such appeasing talking points; but as the convicted Puerto Rican is about to complete her sentence we still hear the same old same old.

As we all know; only a few insignificant individuals (that includes yours truly) are fool enough to trust the government and send spontaneous missives to presidents, senators and representatives; usually letters are mailed as per request from the addressee; which could lead us to believe that for all the Cuban American victory lapping in the right the Donald will not be as effusive as his predecessor; maybe he won't clumsily try to bear hug Raul Castro, but we are not to expect a distinct departure from Obama's policy. If this chain of conjectures is accurate the White House must be alarmed by the possibility of Maduro's downfall and Cuba's economic debacle.

The worst possible outcome for this administration is the improbable victory of the popular riots in Venezuela, Cuba's remake of the Periodo Especial and Washington as it has happened more often than not; perceived as siding with the wrong crowd and having to clean the mess just the same. In very simple words: the powers that be are not happy with a regime change in Venezuela, not because they like Maduro, but because they fear its catastrophic effect on Cuba. America bets on stability even if it makes us move to the wrong side of history. That principle is one of the pillars of our myopic foreign policy and one of the reasons why we are so unpopular. Kicking the can further down the road, avoiding to take the bull by the horns. Venezuela is on its own; Castro is flagrantly meddling in its internal affairs and America looks the other way.

For decades our government has accepted and at times even aided and abetted injustice in order to secure stability only to achieve neither. A quick look at today's world proves beyond any doubt that America is safe when it applies its overwhelming power. We must remain vigilant so that the industrial military complex won't drag us into useless conflicts, but abandoning the Venezuelan people is shamefully unAmerican.

SNOWDEN, OBAMA AND OLIVER STONE.

   

I would like the reader to think carefully about the above title for this article; none of the names is that of a right winger and yet; when you watch the whole movie a sense of helplessness remains in the viewer. 

What we know about Ed Snowden is what Mr Stone has decided to unveil about the controversial individual. According to Stone, Snowden is the classic case of the usual average right tilted ignorant American who needs the love of a liberal activist to wake up. In Oliver's world one is born a stupid conservative who won't question the power's judgement and drifts farther and farther away from the dark cave as life hits him or her with the real facts.

Contrary to some, I try not to mix professional skills and political views; I believe Stone is a dictator lover and left wing lunatic, but at the same time a fine film maker. His attempt at personalizing Snowden, whether we accept his version of facts or not, is artistically and psychologically plausible. He does a decent job and for the first time I was forced think that after all, the traitor, which Snowden undoubtedly is, may have undergone a process of radicalization in light of the negligence, the immobility and the useless waste that our government performs every year pushing the agenda of the industrial military complex not necessarily to the advantage of we the people.

But we have whistle blowers like James and Joanne Moriarty from Texas  who have seen their bank accounts seized; their earnings garnished and their lives destroyed but to my knowledge have never given their information to the enemy. To me, Snowden is a traitor who belongs in jail as well as the many liars in our government who once and again testify under oath that we are not being surveilled when we now know we all are FISA or no FISA.

What stroke me most about the movie is the naive hope and high expectations Snowden and his girlfriend place on Barrack Obama's election only to realize that the government under his watch kept spying on us; actually, according the Stone's script Snowden discovers at some point that our security agencies surveilled more Americans than Russians. Had the movie been shot by one of Bill O'Reilly's filmmakers that would have seemed normal; but it was the one and only Oliver Stone to claim that nothing changed under the former president. I'm afraid Stone will be disowned by the left or maybe suffer an untimely accident.

And this reasoning leads us to where we are now; and I reiterate once again that if Trump conspired with the Russians in any way he must pay for it. But I also reiterate that to use the power of the American government to spy, request the unmasking and/or leak the names of American citizens is a flagrant violation of our Constitution and our way of life. If the left does not accept the theory of the movie it has to reconcile with how Mr Stone accuses them directly of lying; if they do not, instead, destroy the filmmaker nor hurriedly find lawsuits for sexual harassment against him; then they must accept that as Snowden claims, Clapper lied his butt out when he testified UNDER OATH that Americans were not being surveilled.

In closing, I don't think the problem here is whether Clapper, Comey or any bureaucrat lies (which is already a tragedy in itself) but the political manipulation of it all and the one sided version both parties feed us banking on our short memory and inability to make a simple analysis. 

DANGEROUS INHERITANCES

Yesterday, our Commander in Chief ordered the launching of some fifty Tomahawks to strike two different Syrian airstrips. Some claim the targets were actually two locations where chemical weapons were allegedly stocked. Whilst it would have been very difficult to remain silent in view of the horrific images of small children killed with poisonous gas, the decision raises more questions than answers and allows for multiple angles for interpretation. I'm a Republican, but above all I'm a proud American citizen and I want the best for this country FIRST, and by extension for the rest of the world. I would like the reader to join me as my mind wanders though the maze of motives, reasons, goals, strategies and possible outcomes the complex international scenario shows us. No absolute truth is claimed and no single solution, if any, is invoked.

1- Barrack Obama inherited two wars; to my judgement he made the wrong decision pulling out and most of all emailing the enemy time and coordinates of said pull out (figuratively speaking). His decision to withdraw, especially in such humiliating fashion and low tail dog demeanor emboldened our enemies. But the original sin lies on the Bush administration and its naive (provided there were no other interests) notion of exporting our way of life to peoples with different heritages and historical avatars. It was ignorant and suicidal and it passed on to Mr Obama a very difficult situation.

2- Mr Obama, who is not responsible for the failures in Iraq and Afghanistan, did worsen the situation in the region with his clumsy role in the overthrow of Gaddafi (who had already made peace with us and could be used to our advantage) and the consequent dismembering of Libya; his policies handed Egypt to the Muslim Brotherhood on a silver platter and had it not been for the traditional expeditiousness and omnipresence of the Egyptian military we would have a Muslim regime with a border with Israel. In an outrageous show if hypocrisy the Obama administration kept its distance from Egyptian strongman El Sissi while he even tried a bear hug on Raul Castro. Our enemy of fifty an odd years was removed from the list of nations that sponsor terrorism as we continued to denounce abuse of human rights in an old ally.

3- Bush responsible to some extent, Obama responsible to some extent. Despite his undeniable shortcomings; harsh demeanor, short fuse and lack of governing experience, Donald J Trump is NOT in any way, shape or form responsible for any of the conflicts he has inherited. But he is the president now; blaming his predecessors could set the record straight but won't straighten up anything.

4- As the situation in Syria deteriorates his relation with Vladimir Putin may become more and more strained. The honey moon (if ever there was one) could be over before we know it and that would make things ever more complicated. 

5- Let us not forget we have another madman breaking one rule after another in North Korea; not even his Chinese partners seem to be able to put a leash on him as he is most likely blackmailing his northern neighbors with millions of unwanted immigrants (the same extortion used by the Havana Junta, only there the two countries are only divided by a river). So El Loco, as half sarcastically half endearingly some Cuban Americans call the president, invites the Chinese president to a state dinner at his mansion in West Palm Beach and I envision him asking to be excused for a second only to reappear five minutes later; his lips u shaped lengthened in that sardonic smile of his and offhandedly dropping an explanatory remark on his guest: "sorry Mr Jinping, I had to go authorize my Navy to bomb the shit out of Assad; excuse me where were we?; oh yes, North Korea. As I was saying Mr President you have to help us with that crazy kid; do you like Dennis Rodman?"

6- I can't help noticing that for now the attack has been limited to two bases where Russians are unlikely to be embedded with their Syrian counterparts. It is my understanding that Russia and other key players were informed before the strike; so what now? . For Putin to change his position in Syria a lot of chess has to be played; so where does this leave us? Have we at least managed to scare the Chinese to a point where they order the Korean kid to go back to his video games and quit bothering the adults? Is the rest of the world convinced our president is bold enough to push the bottom? Or are the bad guys convinced he's just show and no substance?