I read last week that four members of Congress met Israel’s national security minister Ben-Gvir in his recent visit to the United States. I wonder what verb I should choose. ‘Met’ is safe. Dare I write ‘welcomed’ or ‘greeted?’ The four congressmembers posted no encomia to Ben-Gvir on their house.gov web sites, but photos of…
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Ben-Gvir viene a Washington
(Nota: Casi todos los enlaces están en inglés.) La semana pasada leí que cuatro miembros del Congreso se reunieron con el ministro israelí de Seguridad Nacional, Ben-Gvir, en su reciente visita a Estados Unidos. Me pregunto qué verbo debería elegir. ‘Reunirse’ es seguro. ¿Me atrevo a escribir ‘dar bienvenido?’ Los cuatro miembros del Congreso no…
United States of Israel
I can’t think long about U.S. policy toward Israel without remembering the political mastermind who destroyed his career by suggesting this photo to a reporter. I’ll get to him soon. When I do, you’ll know why. Some facts of the Israel-Hamas war that strike me as key: (♦) Hamas is a militant, adamantly anti-Israel movement that…
Estados Unidos de Israel
(Nota: Casi todos los enlaces están en inglés.) No puedo pensar mucho en la política estadounidense hacia Israel sin recordar al cerebro político que destruyó su carrera al sugerir esta foto a un periodista. Llegaré a él pronto. Cuando lo haga, sabrás por qué. Algunos hechos de la guerra entre Israel y Hamas que me…
The Block Universe Theory
The block universe theory holds that our human perception of time misleads us, that past, present and future are equally real. Or that’s how I understand it, at least, as a lay person. I sit at my Madrid computer, blink at the display as I type these words; a doctor tugs my wailing, bloody newborn…
La teoría del universo de bloque
(Nota: Todos los enlaces están en inglés. Lo siento.) La teoría del universo de bloque sostiene que nuestra percepción humana del tiempo nos engaña, que el pasado, el presente y el futuro son igualmente reales. O al menos así lo entiendo yo como profano. Me siento frente a mi ordenador de Madrid, parpadeo ante la…
Transitophile is Cookie-free
Internauts visiting this page only yesterday saw a pop-up in the lower right corner, modified to look like: The pop-up was furnished by Complianz, a WordPress plug-in for webmasters who want to comply with European Union data protection laws. Transitophile made cookies! I didn’t know how or why, had tried to be rid of them…
A Bigger Picture
5,300 years ago, this doomed man ate a last meal on the mountain glaciers of today’s Northern Italy. He may have struggled to grasp food. He was right-handed, ate despite a fresh, deep gash that reached to the bone of that hand, perhaps sustained in a brawl in the valley. He might have climbed the…
How I Renewed my Spain Visa
7/9/2019: This post is out-of-date. Please see the 2019 update. * * * * * Please note cagey blog title wording. A title like Spain Visa Renewal Steps or How to Renew Your Spain Visa would suggest an offering of authoritative advice on how to renew your Spain student visa, or au pair visa, or…
Madrid Impressions: Round Four
… or ‘Spain Impressions’ this time around, and you just might see a “Round Twenty-Five” post in the years to come. So much here is new to me. I grew up and grew gray in California, feel entitled to judge U.S. life from the inside out. In Spain, I grasp at threads of a plot…