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My conservative mind, My illegal heart

Posted by JuanPablo on Tuesday, January 15, 2008 12:12:00 AM
Back to life!

"It's the most wonderful time of the year"

My conservative mind would love to see Thompson win the nomination and the Nov08 Election.  My illegal heart knows that the best chance for a change in the immigration debate is for McCain or Huckabee to win. 

And here is the dilemma of someone like me, who believes in the conservative principles but is hoping for an opportunity to erase the first two letters of the word illegal.
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Steeling Obama

Posted by JuanPablo on Sunday, October 29, 2006 12:42:07 AM
Barack Obama has really received a vast amount of attention lately.  You would think that someone promoting a book would in fact receive some, thanks to the planned strategy to sell the book.  But a Time cover? Nonstop press coverage? All the buzz about how he'd be this great presidential candidate?

Don't get me wrong.  Obama seems like a decent man and I don't have anything against him.  It surprises me that he is getting all this attention when he hasn't said anything new.  At least I haven't read anything interesting from him.  Everything just sounds nice, but with little substance.

Now, since I live in Northern Virginia, I've been able to follow the Maryland Senate race.  I've watched the adds, followed the interviews, read the articles and caught the debates.  I find Michael Steele to be an amazing candidate.  His message truly resonates with what I believe in: is not about what the goverment can do for you, is about the tools you need to do it yourself.  I found Steele's campaign strategy to be positive, avoiding (so far) negative adds and focusing on keeping a distance from the current political soup bowl in DC.

The point I wanted to throw out is this one:  Say the stars align this Nov. 7 and Steele wins the election.  We will have our 2nd black senator.  I wonder if he will get the same type of honeymoon welcome that Obama received. 

It would be an incredible political experiment to have these two senators run for President in a not so distant future.  I've read in countless places that America is ready for a black president.  Funny how we live in the 21st century still stuck with the need to make race such a big deal.  But well, that's another topic for another night.

I would pay money to watch that Obama vs Steele presidential debate.  Moderated by Brian Lamb, of course!
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My Brother: Iraq Bound

Posted by JuanPablo on Sunday, September 24, 2006 11:27:28 PM
It was a great summer. 

After my last post I took some time off with my family and went to Virginia Beach.  It was incredible.  I'm more like an autumn-kind-of-guy, and summers had always seem too long, but this one went by so fast. 

I have 3 kids now and spending time with them makes any day go faster than I remember in my single, children-less life.  But there was something else.  My younger brother (#4) became a Marine last year.  I can't express in words how proud I am of him and his decision to change his life this way.  He is the first person in my family to have joined military life. 

We all knew that he was going to be deployed to Iraq sometime during this year's fall, and this is something that I've been trying to avoid.  Even though things have calmed down against US Troops, there's always that thought that something might happen to him.  Tonight he's leaving for 7-8 months (maybe more) and I know my life will change.  I know the lives of my parents, brothers, cousins, etc will change too.

I don't want to sound too tragic.  I have faith and I believe that it all will be done according to Our Lord's will.  But I can't hide my fears as I think that the worst could happen to him.  And I have to shake my head when I start thinking about tonight, and how many families that have lost someone in Iraq (or any war) have had this same moment: The immense feeling of being proud of him, the immense fear of the "what if"s.

Tonight my brother leaves, and God willing we will have him back soon. 

Semper Fi my bro.
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Immortal Cuba

Posted by JuanPablo on Wednesday, July 12, 2006 10:55:29 PM
From CNN reporting on plans for a post-Castro Cuba...
to Jonah Goldberg's "e-friends" rumors about Castro's death...

Sometimes I wish for the morning that will bring the news of the New Cuba.  I have a feeling that after Castro, things are going to change in that little island.  It seems to me that the current cuban system is sustained mainly by the enormous influence and political pressure that Castro's presence embodies.  That and the strong take down of dissidents.

And then I find something like this: Chávez highlighted Fidel Castro's good health, stating "he's stronger than ever".

I started thinking about the need that people like Chavez have for Fidel to stay alive.  And to me this just plainly shows how weak their ideology is.  Have your mother ever told you to remember that you are not indispensable (in whatever activity you are involved) and that you CAN take a night off to come with the family and enjoy your little brother's play?  Mortality, what an amazing concept.

Why can't Castro say: "Is not about me! The dream will live on!"?  I think it's because he knows that it won't.  That nightmare is going to end for the people of Cuba.  But Fidel's people  love to shout out loud that his doctors said he can live another 140 years.  Sure, and I've just put all my kid's college money on that bet.

If President Bush dies tomorrow, the American System will go on, it won't even tremble.  If Castro dies tomorrow, haha, I think we'll see a revolution. 

Funny how they need him to stay alive, healthy and on top of everything.  It's all a show.  Once the doors are open, people will fly to freedom.  Few will stay behind.

May be this was Castro's last World Cup.  And God Bless the Internet for it helped me find the right image to come full circle and finish this post:  It all makes sense now.


 
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USA vs The World (Cup)

Posted by JuanPablo on Tuesday, July 11, 2006 1:17:27 AM
I love baseball.

Back in Ecuador I started playing baseball in a club when I was around 12.  One of my mother's aunts lived in L.A. and every time she would come back home to visit she would bring me something from the Dodgers.  Baseball cards, team posters, a t-shirt, etc.  I had no clue what the Dodgers were, but I liked the idea of getting presents.  One thing led to another and I started playing baseball.  And I loved it!

Eventually I started playing Second Base and could have been a Golden Glove player.  Man, was I good at fielding.  But I was awful at hitting.  Seriously, I was hitting something like .081 during one season.  I guess that would keep you off the national team.

In High School I played Volleyball.  Loved it too, but not as much as baseball, and since I'm like 5'7 I never had a chance to get far there.  I made it to the Pingpong team in a story that should be made into a movie: The night before the qualifying games a friend broke my paddle and I literally had a piece of wood with a piece of rubber on one side and a piece of fake leather in the other.  Lots of electric tape around the edge and what was something like the handle.  The next day it all came down to me playing against the best player in my school.  And I beat him with the coaches laughing about my paddle while watching the game.  But that was the high point of my pingpong carreer.

So what's the point of these sport stories?  Well, I also played soccer.  Lots of soccer.  The weekends were made for soccer.  I was actually part of a team that won a championship and I was the goalie.  But after that I was never like a star of the sport.  I just enjoyed playing it.

And I think sports are about enjoyment.  Just like I enjoy following the Redskins, having a Super Bowl cookout, or rooting for the Nationals and living the sleepless nights of the World Series... or one month of live or die soccer: I love the World Cup. 

I'm just amazed at the amount of negative comments mainly from US citizens regarding the World Cup and Soccer.  I mean I get it, soccer is not as popular here, just like baseball wasn't popular in Ecuador.  But I spend all Monday flipping thru talk radio show hosts that for some reason had the need to defend the US' lack of interest in the sport.  Some people sounded just nuts!  The guy sitting in for Rush actually said something like the US doesn't play soccer because it's such an evolved society. 

I get the dead-tree version of National Review (which I love) and I found some snippy comment about how inferior soccer is.  And at The Corner it's the same theme: Soccer is just a lame european, UN-like sport that's reserved for underdeveloped nations and cultures.

Give me a break people!  Leave politics out of some aspects of life!  I mean sure, there are probably people that will consider a soccer game something like an election or dictatorship (depending on the outcome) but I'm willing to bet that the majority of us, sport lovers, just enjoy the passion that a sport GAME brings to life.

I think that the reason why the US is not really into soccer has more to do with tradition and history than with anything else... like soccer being so rudimentary that's just too bellow the level of entertainment that the american minds need.  That's why the US had to invent baseball and football with all the complicated rules... this was another argument in the airwaves today.  Jeezas!

I think that one of the reasons why soccer is so popular abroad is its simplicity.  Just get a ball or something that can be kicked and mark 2 goals and play until you drop.  In other countries baseball and football gear is not that affordable.  Give me a bunch of old socks (washed, please!) and I'll make you a soccer ball. 

Why can't some people just enjoy sports as what they are?  You don't need to make it your national sport, but passion is contagious, let it get in you.

Another thing... let me ask something:  Is NASCAR considered a sport?  I heard people debating how Nascar is better than soccer and I just couldn't believe the arguments.  I would think that stock car racing falls more into the category of a somehow "sport activity", but not athletic...  at least I wouldn't think so.  And I like Nascar!  I just think it's in another level of  the competitive world.

One thing that I heard people complaining again and again were the Penalty Kicks.  Granted, may be the majority of us wants a game to end with a clear winner, but lets get something clear: PKs are not about luck.  I'd love to see people living a moment like that, with all the tension and responsibility in your feet.  Don't you remember how in 1994 (in the US) Baggio blew it for Italy against Brazil in the WC final?  So many factors come to play, but luck is a term for the weak. 

I can't wait for SouthAfrica 2010 but on the meantime, there's plenty more to enjoy.
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The Right Must Speak Spanish

Posted by JuanPablo on Friday, July 07, 2006 1:27:18 AM
(no, I'm not advocating Spanish as the National Language)

As the Mexican elections continue to unfold, I keep on thinking how the Left is gaining ground in Latin America.  There's a reason why those outdated ideals that keep the masses hinged to fake hopes are back, with a vengeance.

When the Right had its chance to change that part of the planet, it became corrupt.  As we all know the ones in positions of power simply abused the trust of the people who elected them.  My father (a lawyer in my country) was a Public Servant and I remember how he would tell me about coworkers laughing at him because he wasn't using his time in the government to make money.

I believe that what is happening now in the Latin American countries is buried deep in a culture where a person who does not take advantage of someone or something for personal gain is looked down as stupid.  Is not about doing all you can to move the country forward, its about surviving.

And the reality is that the few that try to bring some change are many times silenced by the mobs that, like in Cuba or North Korea, will not allow true freedom to flourish.

When the vast majority of citizens live in constant poverty, they listen to whoever promises, again and again, a ray of hope.  Many know that these are always empty political promises, but what cannot be ignored is the fact that people will always follow hope, no matter how easy it is to see that it's only a lie disguised as hope.

Chavez in Venezuela will always have the support of the masses that receive services from the government that they never saw before.  The same will happen in Bolivia and it almost happened in Mexico.

Populism is such an obvious game.  But I see it everyday in the rhetoric of the Democratic Party when they try anything to get the Latino vote.  I don't understand the silence of the Republican Party (in this and many other issues). 

The immigrants that come to this country, legals and (or probably mostly) illegals are in a way exercising the conservative principle of self help.  So many people that, when faced with a system where growth is nonexistent, leave everything behind to find and live a better life not only for them, but for their families too.  In some other post I'll write more of my views about this topic.

The Republican Party should stand up and speak directly to the Latino community: "You understand what conservatism is.  You don't want anything for free, you don't want a handout!  You just want that chance to work, and be rewarded for your effort."

He who works focused on his goals, will eventually reach them in this great country.  That is almost a guarantee that should be in billboards all over the nation.  And that is what's missing in the Latin American countries.

The Conservative movement should reserve some time to try to court the Hispanic vote.  I believe that the majority of Latinos here share the family values, economic ideas, the concept of personal responsibility, respect for religion and the eternal yearn for human freedom that Conservatism fights for.
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It's All Hugh's Fault

Posted by JuanPablo on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 4:24:47 PM
"...and I hope the launch will inspire you to begin blogging today, or if you have been blogging, to move your blog to the Townhall platform"
http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/

And it did.  Thank you Mr. Hewitt.  I've been an admirer of much of his work since I started paying attention to all this Blog stuff.  I read BLOG and I was convinced that what I was witnessing was indeed a revolution in the social communications world and therefore many aspects of everyday life. 

Honestly, before the 2004 elections I had no strong political views.  A link somewhere took me to The Corner, which sent me to Instapundit, which had a link to HughHewitt, who had something that Powerline had written and I realized that this was IT.  Now I'm addicted to this stuff. 

As a Conservative Hispanic guy I find the relationship between the Hispanic community and the Conservative movement to be really interesting.  I hope that in these virtual pages I can contribute a little different perspective to the debates that shape this world of ours.
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