Thoughts on the Gates Jr Incident

I'm sure there are at least as many opinions on this as their are people, but I thought I'd share my two cents...

After following this for a while, it really doesn't seem like a clear, racial confrontation to me. To me it speaks more to police's demand that you show the man some respect. I understand why they want and need respect. The police's weapon of first choice to maintain peace and order is to display authority, which is much more preferable all around than resorting to tazers, guns, arrests and billy clubs. Interestingly enough, there was another recent and related event that occurred in my hometown just a couple of days ago.

It seems to me that both parties over-reacted a little and escalated what should have been a fairly benign event.

1. The 911 caller didn't even report Gates ethnicity at first and even when asked, was unsure.
2. Gates was probably a little indignant since he was in his own home. That said, it's actually a good thing to know that if someone is breaking down your door that the police are going to come and ask a few questions.
3. Once the Gates did identify himself, the police shouldn't have lured him outside with the intent of "teaching him a lesson".

I'll take Obama one step further, there was stupidly all around on this one.

That said, I thought this video from David Chappelle was funny. But beyond that, it speaks to a real truth... Whether or not this was a racial incident or not, it was exacerbated by the racial non-equality that persists until this day.




The issue is real. Switching to politics for a moment... when the Republicans demonize Obama as racist or characterize him using racial overtones, I don't think they have no idea how they are alienating blacks and probably other ethnic groups from their party. Instead of building bridges they're blowing them up. They're also doing the same thing with Sotomayor and the Latinos. To listen to them you would think that almost all minorities are inherently non-American and have alternative agendas. That they all put race above justice and what is right. And yet they can find no cases of prejudice exhibited by the hundreds and thousands of white politicians.

Home

I arrived back in Washington DC just a few days ago. This of course was my second, extended stay in Barcelona. I loved it so much the first time that I chose to spend a second extended stay there instead of using the time to visit places I had never been. All I can say is that I wouldn't have thought it possible to have enjoyed it more than the 1st time, but indeed I did.

My trip was all I wanted and more. Of course I love the language study and just the fact of being in a foreign place that I love. Of course I loved the beaches. But above all else, I loved getting to know the people there. I mean really talking to and getting know the people that live everyday of their lives there. The people opened their arms and accepted me in to their lives if only for a short while and I have no doubt that a few of them will remain friends for many years to come.

Having been gone from work for so long, I started to become anxious about the crises and catastrophes that would await me. I was pleasantly pleased to find that all was in order. Sure my inbox was overflowing and it'll take a couple of weeks just to unbury myself, but all was ok.

But most of all, I'm happy to be reunited the BF and my little doggie. These past few days at home have just felt so right and joyful that I couldn't imagine myself anywhere else for a long period of time. I love Barcelona and definitely plan to return within the next year or two. But my home is and always will be wherever the BF is.

Gay Pride

I've only ever seen these in Europe, but think that they're so logical. They were perfect for gay pride and I used them quite a few times since I was drinking beer.

Almost nude.

The dragon was hilarious mostly because it was obviously so dangerous. See the wires protruding from the font? Every once in a while, they'd put these huge firework things on them, which would then shoot sparks up to 30 feet in all directions and send the crowd running for their lives. At the end they exploded with M80 like power. I was shocked that no one got hurt.

The picture doesn't do this guy justice. He as just completely hot!

Updates

This past Sunday was Barcelona gay pride day. Normally BCN is known to have very small gay pride festival relative to the size of the city, but this time they went all out. This was the second major celebration that occurred during my trip which I was unaware of when I first planned it.

My first two visiting friends from Washington have now departed. The first left on Sunday. He left just in time because he was just starting to become immune to Red Bull and seriously needed to catch up on lost sleep. The second departed just this past Wednesday morning. Today the second pair of friends arrived and we're looking forward to a great time together.

What's been going on?

• An older Catalan guy named Jose Luis drove us down to Sitges where we had an absolutely fabulous dinner. We then headed over to a bar to watch a show with 60 year old men in drag, which was very entertaining.
• Went back to beach la Playa Mar Bella several times where I met a slightly crazy named Nicolas. We had several beers in bar by the beach, then ordered tapas at another restaurant. Later that evening we met up at Punto.
• Attended the pride parade and the festivities afterwards at Plaza Espanya. While there I ran into Juan, and older guy and friend of Jose Luis, Jonan, a very cute and affectionate guy I met my first week here and Gabriel a very sexy student in language school.
• Spent quite a bit of time talking to a black immigrant from Columbia. He's a very good looking guy that I had met a few times before in Punto. He talked about how much he loves the openness of the city. Of course I agreed.
• Spent time with Jose Luis and Carlos and met Carlos's brother.
  Met a guy from Malaga who now lives in BCN. His name is Francisco.