I HAVE a book in my hands "The Lady of the Three Cards and other stories" and a date with my name July 1, 1963 Saturday.
It is the acquisition of those cheap books that I bought with the money from the Sunday strike that my mother gave me.
Sixty years have passed and I reread Pushkin. You have to be Russian to fully understand it because the great poet of Slavic letters made the art of writing an aesthetic.
All of his work is a hymn to freedom, love and beauty combined with that eutrapelia of the Greeks of reverence for human life.
My love for Russian letters goes back a long way, in those authors I found my paradigm as a writer and journalist.
I continue in that demand rowing against the current because yesterday I heard Vladimir Putin's speech full of reasons and patriotic sanity that the torticorous Madrid newspapers and the voice of his master have received with insults and sarcasm.
Russia enervates and excites. I fall in love
Volodya said something that is spoiling the party for those of the Brussels conspiracy that Russia is invincible. When she appears, more humiliated and defeated, she resurrects.
In "Roslavlev" one of Pushkin's stories when referring to the visit made by Madame Stael, Napoleon's spy who fell precisely defeated at Borodino (something that Joe Biden must have overlooked the short steps the one with the look arrogant and cruel smile without decomposing the very dangerous type of gesture the vera effigy of a tyrant a new Nero another Napoleon who ran in a hurry to take refuge when he was walking through the streets of Kiev and ran in full prose to take refuge when the alarm sirens sounded, all the bullies are cowards) and goes like this:
“The intelligentsia of that time extolled Napoleon with fanatical servility and mocked our failures, but look at Moscow burning on all four sides, it is the ruin of the French army… Oh, I am proud to be Russian. The whole world will be stunned by the magnitude of our sacrifice."
This is Pushkin the greatest poet of his great standard-bearer literature of the Russian soul. Yesterday while I was watching Putin in his important two-hour speech surrounded by officers, economists, politicians and soldiers (beautiful people) some of them wounded in combat are the ones who fight against evil (Zlo) the old book guarded it back in my hands of Alejandro Pushkin and I kissed him.
Shape for not only my library but also my life.
I am sure that Russia will be victorious in its confrontation against the hidden forces and will defeat them as she defeated Hitler and Napoleon even if they have to burn Moscow again.
PUSHKIN
TENGO un libro en las
manos “La Dama de los Tres naipes y otros cuentos " y una fecha con mi
nombre 1 de julio de 1963 sábado.
Es la adquisición de
aquellos libros baratos que yo adquiría con el dinero de la huelga de los
domingos que me daba mi madre.
Han pasado sesenta años y releo a Pushkin. Hace
falta ser ruso para entenderlo plenamente porque el gran poeta de las letras
eslavas hizo del arte de escribir una estética.
Toda su obra es un canto
a la libertad, al amor y a la belleza conjugada con esa eutrapelia de los
griegos de reverencia a la vida humana.
Mi amor hacia las letras rusas data de muy
antiguo, en aquellos autores encontré mi paradigma como escritor y periodista.
Sigo en esa demanda remando contra corriente
porque ayer escuché el discurso de Vladimir Putin cargado de razones y de
cordura patriótica que los periódicos de Madrid torticeros y la voz de su amo
han recibido con insultos y sarcasmo.
Rusia enerva y apasiona.
A mí me enamora.
Dijo Volodia algo que
les está amargando la fiesta a los del contubernio de Bruselas que Rusia es
invencible. Cuando aparece más humillada y derrotada resucita.
En “Roslavlev”
uno de los cuentos de Pushkin al referirse a la visita que hizo madame Stael la
espía de Napoleón que cayó precisamente derrotado en Borodino (algo que se le
debe de haber pasado por alto a Joe Biden el pasitos cortos el de la mirada
altanera y sonrisa cruel sin descomponer el gesto tipo muy peligroso la vera
efigie de un tirano un nuevo Nerón otro Napoleón que corrió apresurado a
refugiarse cuando paseaba por las calles de Kiev y corrió a toda prosa a
refugiarse al sonar las sirenas de alarma, todos los bravucones son cobardes) y
dice así:
“La intelectualidad
de entonces ensalzaba a Napoleón con servilismo fanático y se mofaba de
nuestros fracasos, pero vean ustedes Moscú ardiendo por los cuatro costados es
la ruina del ejercito francés… Oh me enorgullezco de ser rusa. Todo el mundo
quedará atónito ante la magnitud de nuestro sacrificio”
Este es Pushkin el mayor
poeta de su gran literatura portaestandarte del alma rusa. Ayer mientras veía a
Putin en su importante discurso de dos horas rodeado de oficiales de
economistas de políticos y de soldados (gente guapa) algunos de ellos heridos
en combate son los que luchan contra el mal (Zlo) volvió a mis manos el viejo libro
esguardamilladlo de Alejando Pushkin y lo besé.
Forma para no sólo de mi biblioteca sino
también de mi vida.
Estoy seguro de que
Rusia saldrá victoriosa en su confrontación contra las fuerzas escondidas y las
derrotará como derrotó a Hitler y Napoleón aunque de nuevo tengan que quemar
Moscú otra vez.
Two days after one of the region’s most beloved clerics was shot to death inside his home, authorities arrested the husband of a housekeeper to Auxiliary Bishop David G. O’Connell following an hours-long standoff Monday at the suspect’s Torrance home.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna identified the suspect as Carlos Medina. He did not cite a motive but said a tipster told authorities Medina was acting strangely after the killing and claimed that the bishop owed him money.
Luna said Medina is 65, but jail records gave his age as 61. He is being held in lieu of $2-million bail.
Detectives connected Medina to the crime, Luna said, by reviewing surveillance video that showed a dark, compact SUV pull into the driveway of O’Connell’s home about the time of the slaying. The sheriff added that Medina had reportedly done work at the bishop’s residence in the past.
Rosary beads hang from a picture of Bishop David O'Connell near his home in Hacienda Heights.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
In the early-morning hours Monday, deputies went to the man’s residence in Torrance, Luna said, and Medina barricaded himself inside. After several hours, Medina left the home and was arrested. Deputies searched the home and found two guns, Luna said, noting that ballistic tests were pending.
Revelations about the shooting came during an afternoon news conference in which local officials and Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gómez lauded O’Connell for his friendship, his selflessness and his focus on the community he had loved and served for decades.
“He was the help of the helpless and the hope of the hopeless,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who described O’Connell as a longtime friend. “He knew that serving God meant serving man.”
O’Connell, 69, was killed Saturday afternoon in the Catholic archdiocese-owned home in Hacienda Heights where he lived alone. Luna said the bishop was found in his bedroom with “at least one gunshot wound to the upper body.” There was no sign of forced entry, Luna said, and detectives are investigating how the suspect got into the home.
Deputies answering a call for a medical emergency shortly before 1 p.m. Saturday found O’Connell, and paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. A couple living on the quiet tree-lined street said they heard no gunshot or other unusual noise before the arrival of firefighters and ambulance crews.
Asked about who called 911 to report the incident, Luna said he believed a church deacon had gone to O’Connell’s home to check on him after O’Connell was late for a meeting. The sheriff also was asked whether authorities had spoken to the housekeeper.
“The detectives are absolutely interviewing her,” Luna said. “As far as we know at this time she’s been fully cooperative.”
Gómez fought back tears as he spoke about O’Connell — “Bishop Dave,” he called him, remembering him fondly for his fluent Spanish spoken with a distinctive Irish accent.
L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna comforts Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gómez during a news conference regarding the slain Auxiliary Bishop David G. O'Connell, whom Gómez called “a good friend” of the city.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
“Out of his love for God, he served this city for more than 40 years as an immigrant from Ireland,” said Gómez, an immigrant. “He was a good priest, a good bishop and a man of peace.”
The archbishop’s voice began to quiver, and he paused. The sheriff walked toward him and rested his hand on the archbishop’s shoulder.
O’Connell served as founder and chairman of the interdiocesan SoCal Immigration Task Force, helping scores of children who entered the United States without adult companions.
“For me, it really is a labor of love,” he said in 2019. “This is, I think, what our schools and parishes are all about. Not just for unaccompanied minors but for all our children. There’s an epidemic of hurting children, even the ones who have too much. They feel we’ve abandoned them. And the migrant youths have become a metaphor for our whole society.”
In the 1990s, O’Connell gained a reputation for seeking to bridge relations between residents of riot-torn neighborhoods and law enforcement after the police beating of Rodney King.
Peter Dreier, a professor of urban politics at Occidental College and author of “The Next Los Angeles: The Struggle for a Livable City,” remembered O’Connell as a progressive community organizer who put his personal charm to work for poor and disenfranchised people.
The Hui family of Arcadia join other mourners to hold a vigil outside the home of Bishop David O'Connell in Hacienda Heights.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
“I was always impressed with Father Dave’s street smarts, compassion, and willingness to challenge people in power around a variety of issues, including immigrant rights, housing justice, racism, and public safety,” Dreier wrote in a Facebook post. “He saw the church as a vehicle for social justice.”
Parishioners at St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church in South Los Angeles, where O’Connell served for more than a decade, recalled a man with humor, a deep commitment to social justice and dedication to serving Black and Latino communities. They were stunned and struggling to make sense of the violence that claimed the life of someone whose calling was rooted in peace and love.
Jarlath Cunnane, pastor at St. Cornelius Catholic Church in Long Beach, met O’Connell more than 50 years ago at All Hallows College in Dublin, where they worked to become priests.
They bonded over shared interests — both studied English while at university — and Cunnane quickly came to appreciate O’Connell’s ability to deliver the perfect joke or quick-witted comment in almost any situation.
Both men moved to California, and their friendship grew deeper with the years. In 2020, when Cunnane was hospitalized for several weeks with a blood infection, O’Connell visited him almost every day. Cunnane was on an oxygen machine at the time and had a terrible taste in his mouth, he recalled, so O’Connell almost always brought him a kombucha drink when he visited.
“He had a great capacity for friendship,” he said.
The two friends met up for dinner on Thursday to catch up, Cunnane said, and they discussed plans for Cunnane to visit some parishes in O’Connell’s region. His longtime friend had not expressed anyworries about his safety, Cunnane said, so he was stunned when he learned that he’d been shot to death.
“Who on Earth would ever want to do this?” he asked.
During the Monday news conference, politicians took turns sharing memories of O’Connell, who they said had impacted the lives of countless Angelenos.
“Our bishop, your bishop,” State Sen. Bob Archuleta said, adding that O’Connell “had an ability to walk the streets, everywhere he went, bringing people together with clergy, bringing other priests together, bringing families together, gang members together. He brought everyone together. He was truly a man of the cloth.”
In a statement read by a member of her staff, Supervisor Hilda Solis described O’Connell as a dear friend, alongside whom she had long advocated for immigration reform.
“He was the real deal,” Solis wrote. “We will do as he taught us — to love, to care and to fight for the vulnerable.”
Times staff writer Michael Finnegan contributed to this report.
El discurso del presidente ruso, Vladímir Putin, demuestra que Rusia tiene la intención de ganar en el conflicto con Occidente, declaró a Sputnik el asesor de investigación del Instituto de Estudios Europeos, Stevan Gaich. En sus palabras, la victoria de Moscú significaría "una oposición directa a la hegemonía y el neocolonialismo" occidental.
En opinión de Gaich, la victoria es el objetivo principal al que se subordinará todo en el futuro. La determinación de Rusia de ganar se refleja también en el hecho de que Putin declaró que su país tiene derecho a ser fuerte, citando a uno de los estadistas rusos más importantes de principios del siglo XX, Piotr Stolipin, que abogó por la modernización del Estado y murió en un atentado en 1911.
"Es una alternativa y una oposición directa a la hegemonía y el neocolonialismo, que es lo que Putin afirmó directamente, y la condición para ello es el poder de Rusia, y en ese sentido la cita de Stolipin era importante", señala.
Según el analista político, se ve claramente que la operación especial va a durar porque el presidente ruso anunció que todos los soldados que están en la zona de combate deberían tener derecho a un permiso de dos semanas cada 6 meses. El principal mensaje ideológico, continúa el experto, es que Moscú defiende los valores tradicionales que comparten todas las principales religiones reconocidas en Rusia.
"Volvió a insistir en el problema del 'excepcionalismo' de Occidente y su actitud racista hacia el resto de la humanidad: tanto en que se les permitía mentir como en que ahora presumen de engañar a Rusia. Es muy importante que Putin pronunció que los oficiales que han demostrado iniciativa, ingenio y valor dirigirán la modernización del Ejército y que ellos, con su experiencia en la guerra moderna, dirigirán la modernización del Ejército ruso", concluyó Gaich.
John F Kennedy and Ronald Reagan had their speeches in Berlin. Joe Biden now has Kyiv, a moment to define his presidency and its era.
There was no one phrase in Biden’s remarks in Kyiv to match Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” in 1963 or Reagan’s “Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall” in 1987, but the trip itself was the statement. As the White House underlined repeatedly on Monday, there was no precedent in modern times. Visits to the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq were different, as the US military ran security in those countries.
In going to Kyiv, Biden was entering a war zone and putting his safety in the hands of the Ukrainian armed forces, and also those of the Russians. Moscow was given a heads-up a few hours before he crossed the border. The calculation was that Vladimir Putin would not risk the precedent of presidential assassination or all-out war for that matter. A reasonable calculation but a risk nonetheless.
It was a coup heightened by complete surprise. The secret did not leak, signalling that the bravery was underpinned by competence. The visit cemented Biden’s claim of leadership of the free world, but among Washington’s allies that has not really been challenged since the full invasion of Ukraine began a year ago this week.
A tougher question to answer – and it may take a week or two before the result is clear – is whether this will help Biden’s standing at home, where his popularity has not recovered from the hit it suffered from the shambolic Afghanistan withdrawal, inflation and the energy price shock of the invasion.
The popularity slump, which began in August 2021, has not so far been reversed by recent strong economic figures, a solid legislative record, and a lively, combative performance in his State of the Union address earlier this month.
In an average of recent polls, Americans who disapprove of his performance outnumber those who approve by 52% to 42%.
Much of the problem is an overall impression that Biden at 80 is too old, too doddery and gaffe prone to lead the country with vigour, especially into a second term. The bold appearance in Kyiv, strolling through the city in aviator sunglasses, alongside a grateful and admiring Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on the US Presidents Day holiday no less, is intended to address that perception head on and reframe the conversation on age and fitness for office.
Donald Trump was notably risk averse as president. On his single visits to Afghanistan and Iraq, he stayed inside heavily fortified US bases. The Kyiv visit, with its very real jeopardy, makes it less likely that Biden’s Republican challenger in 2024, whether it is Trump or the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, or another, will challenge him directly on courage. But the Republicans are already pivoting to portraying the president’s starring role abroad as an abandonment of suffering Americans at home.
“I and many Americans are thinking to ourselves: OK, he’s very concerned about those borders halfway around the world. He’s not done anything to secure our own borders here ... we have a lot of problems accumulating here,” DeSantis told Fox TV.
The very success of the Biden visit in underlining the US’s commitment to Ukrainian resistance could end up accelerating the drift of the Republicans towards anti-Ukrainian positions, now the preserve of a pro-Trump minority on the far right of the party, as the leadership looks for attack lines against Biden.
In his Fox interview, DeSantis downplayed the Russian threat. “I think it’s important to point out, the fear of Russia going into Nato countries and all that, and steamrolling, that has not even come close to happening,” he said, sketching out what may become the Republican line in 2024.
The conventional wisdom, reinforced by decades of polling, is that foreign policy does not tend to sway presidential elections. What Kennedy and Reagan’s famous Berlin speeches would have done for them electorally is unknown. Kennedy was killed before he could stand for a second term, and Reagan had already been re-elected and was in his penultimate year in office.
For Biden, the jury is out. The train ride to Kyiv will go down in history, but making history does not necessarily win elections.
