A different view of life

By Ben Bustillo – Prohibited its reproduction To unite some phrases that can carry some love or some hate, To say off a few things the way I perceive Seen with the eyes of an old errand soul, Felt with a flow of sentiments converted to words… It takes me a few minutes no more than three times ten, To get a stream of words that could rhyme or not, I feel the silence around once they are told, Did I say it right, did I say it wrong? At times, I feel the need to say I am sorry, I did not mean to make you feel that way, They are words that flow in place After sitting in a brain cell for a moment or two, I think they are formed to express a belief, Whether they are fired with venom or passionated love, They come out of me, To say what I need… A poem might say what its writer might think, A purview of pictures transformed to reflexions, Sometimes, I feel good because I unloaded myself, Some other ones confused, did I offend anyone? ...

Ben Bustillo – Prohibited its reproduction.   Patrick Kennedy says in the article published by USA Today on July 28, 2014, that “legalizing pot endangers children;” but, isn’t it worst what is happening now that drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol are sold illegally to children in any jurisdiction as well as in any part of the world? Why legalizing marijuana couldn’t be just a step towards decriminalizing its use for those children who tend to smoke it at an early age and be raised without the stigmatization of acting criminally? He begins his article claiming a nexus between smoking pot and mental illness. However, there are many scientific and medical studies conflicting with each other: those who say that it does, and their counterpart who flat out say it does not. Based on my personal experience and knowledge both are right, wrong and inconclusive; more important to me is the criminalization of the activity because raises a generation thinking they are criminals and their...

Ben Bustillo – Prohibited its reproduction             Did I ever consider any changes to my physical appearance? At this stage of my life, would I consider one? Absolutely no! I never even consider changing the color of my hair that is more salt than pepper, which it would be an easy thing to do, much less going to a surgical procedure that no matter how anyone looks at it brings a degree of risk and something that I adventure to define differently: mutilation. Even if it had the best success and everyone around me say that I look better than before. Perhaps I would believe them for a short moment, but the truth is that those who go under a change of appearance through surgery know that is just a fleeting illusion, since studies show that neither type of plastic or cosmetic lasts long enough to satisfy a one time trial to see how it goes. Furthermore, those changes reveal a great truth: what took place was a disfiguration c...

Ben Bustillo – Prohibited its reproduction I certainly do since I know of a case that creates some special forces making me talk about it. The medical definition is somewhat ambiguous and even professionals, who know well that is almost impossible to find the right definition, disagree and do not give us a concise explanation of schizophrenia. According to them, there are many types and perhaps each individual case is one of a kind; worst of all there are not known causes of its origin, but numerous hypothesis.             I am not an erudite on the topic or have any kind of studies qualified to determine proficiency on the subject matter. However, as I mentioned in my first paragraph, I know of a case; and most importantly, I do have an opinion based on this experience and personal research.             Mayo Clinic defines it as “ a severe brain disorder in which pe...

 Ben Bustillo - Prohibited its reproduction Parodiando el programa de Venevisión que ha tenido dos presentadores en su existencia - la última, una tremenda mujerona y la iniciadora, una pedante que se siente ser la última autoridad de un tema tan complejo -   recurro a parte de los datos que reuní para un artículo que escribí anteriormente, ya que hubo una aparente protesta en el exterior sobre la eliminación de una de las curules que “nos pertenece”. Primero, no nos pertenece a ninguno de los que residimos en el exterior ni representan intereses que nos pudiesen beneficiar directamente; segundo, le pertenece y le ha pertenecido a individuos que necesitan de un trabajo tan cómodo y remunerador como es el de ser parlamentario; imagínense, casi veinticinco millones de pesos al mes, un poco más de diez mil dólares; tercero, las fuentes que diseminan cifras representando un número de cinco millones de colombianos en el exterior no citan de donde proviene ese número. Ci...

  Prohibited its reproduction I have to admit without shame or fear that it brought tears to my eyes. This is a story that lives in many of us regardless of the color of our skin, nationality or the language you speak. It is about a soul, a love, a house that could have been placed in any corner of any small town around the globe, with the same ingredients of remembrance, nostalgia and a very special place on a sacred altar of our memories. Let’s begin with the author, Horton Foote. As many writers as prolific as he was, he choose not only his hometown (Wharton, Texas) as the setup of the imaginary town Bountiful, but he also used the story of one of his aunts who had been forbidden to marry one of her first cousins combining it with a little bit of his imagination. A story that has been told in many languages and that has touched all races and ethnicities everywhere. Foote wanted to continue to live after his passing through his writings, and The Trip to Bountiful ...

Ben Bustillo – Prohibited its reproduction La primera vez el trono le tocó a Jairo Martínez, la segunda a Manuel Vives, la tercera a Jaime Buenahora, la cuarta al mismo y la nueva curul al partido religioso Mira, Ana Paola Agudelo. ¿Trono? Sí, puesto que así lo miran las colonias colombianas esparcidas por Estados Unidos. Me imagino que en Venezuela y España pasa igual, aunque no tengo información precisa de estos dos países. Las   cantidades difieren de acuerdo al estudio “Perfil Migratorio de Colombia 2012” realizado por el Dane y el Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores; según el Dane, el número de colombianos residiendo en el exterior es de 3.378.345, y el Ministerio de Relaciones dice que la cifra estimada es de 4.700.000. El Banco Mundial los contradice considerando que es de 2.122.100 pero hay solamente un potencial de 571.420 sufragantes de acuerdo a la Registraduría. Parte de esta información está basada en un artículo publicado por El Colombiano el 20 de septiembr...