diario - journal

What you'll read on this page are either reflections on personal events or on stuff I read in the news. Any opinions reported herein are merely personal, and subject to change, since that's how my brain works.

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Soccer Thrill
I took Gian Carlo and one of his best friends, Kevin, to see the soccer match USA vs. England at Soldier Field. It was a great game!

Unfortunately, the game was dominated by the U.S. tactically but won by the Brits! It was very exciting to be there. A lot of people, great response from the public. A lot of beer drinking too! (I couldn't indulge!)

It's too bad they don't show soccer games on the major networks... what a great sport... so much action. And the nice thing is that the American audiences are very respectful compared to the rowdy and violent european ones, so it really is a family event.
Entered on: Sunday, October 29th, 2006 at 10:02.
The Death of A Pope
I didn't think the death of Pope John Paul II would affect me this much, since I didn't really share his view on the way the Catholic "community" should be going, but I have to say that there is one thing I respect profoundly.

It is the fact that, for the first time in history, a pope went to visit the main authorities of other faiths to make peace with them about their past relationships. In a way, that says that, even though different religions worship different "names", they all are an expression of the same "God".

Another thing that touched me is his personal life: He lost most of the people close to him, starting from his parents, at an early age. And he really was the expression of an oppressed people. Poland needed him at the time he was elected Pope, and maybe Poland realizes this now more than it did back then.
Entered on: Sunday, October 29th, 2006 at 10:02.
The Vote in Iraq and The Neighborhood
I think if there is something good about the war in Iraq it is the day Iraqis went to vote. It seems that in many middle and far eastern cultures the egemony of a few powerful has kept the people down and mostly ignorant for centuries. It is an interesting moment. I hate the war, and I hate the senseless killing brought on by the Iraqi "insurgents". I hope all of this is worth something in the end. All there is for now, is the fact that Saddam and his cronies are not ruling the country anymore and the taste in a lot of common Iraqis' mouths of their voice. Let's hope it's all for something.

Yesterday, I was walking in front of the site where last year stood an old turn-of-the-century one-story house. Now, in its place, there is a "Petting Center"... How wonderful, we moved out an old couple and put in its place a bunch of pretty cats and dogs... I read that small towns in Kansas are giving away free land and down-payment incentives for people who want to build their houses there. This trend, called "economic gardening", is a shift in the attempt by small towns to attract new settlers. In the past, the same small towns engaged in "elephant hunting", trying to get big companies to resettle in their area. I guess elephants prefer big towns... or they became an endangered species.
Entered on: Sunday, October 29th, 2006 at 10:02.

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