Archives for "May 2005":

Rebellion, Revolution, and Pre-Caracazo Venezuela on May 25, 2005 in Latin America

While reading a newly released book on the Chavez administration, the following paragraph echoed a number of fragmented concepts that had passed throug my head within the last few years. Only now can I put them together:The people had taken to the streets just thirty years earlier, in January 1958, and had paved the way, under direction of the Patriotic...

Happy Mothers Day on May 11, 2005 in Personal

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Urban Decay and the State on May 10, 2005 in Photos

Many small municipalities throughout Puerto Rico suffer from urban decay. As shopping centers and department stores pop up in surrounding towns, the town's public plaza begins to rot away as buildings are left abandoned and townsmen leave the pueblo to do their shopping. Fortunately, despite the fact that a degree of urban decay exists in Aguas Buenas, at least it...

Zombie Dream on May 10, 2005 in Humor

I had a zombie dream.Apparently the Town Hall had become the place of refuge as a variety of cousins and fellow government officials took shelter from our neighbors-turned zombies. We camped on the top floor and set up obstacles throughout the first floor in order to allow us to easily detect (and exterminate) the walking dead."Let me in!" said a...

StyleWars on May 10, 2005 in Music

Today I saw "Style Wars," a 1983 documentary on hip-hop culture and graffiti art. Despite the fact that my deep fascination of hip-hop culture has long been overshadowed by my interest in Latin and Jazz music, Style Wars is a must-see for anybody who respects graffiti art."Cap," a renegade graffiti "artist" (if he could be called that,) adds a twist...

Private Goods, Public Services on May 10, 2005 in Economics

John Kenneth Galbraith in his book The Affluent Society points out the interesting relationship between private goods and public services:The line which divides our area of wealth from our area of poverty is roughly that which divides privately produced and marketed goods and services from publicly rendered services... The more goods people procure, the more packages they discard and the...

Me on Housing on May 10, 2005 in Politics , Society

I work in housing; so it's only natural for my eyebrow to rise every time I hear someone casually mention a caserio, housing subsidies, or urban development. I work with a number of programs that I agree with and even a larger number of programs that I don't agree with; either way, it's my job to help administer them with...

Santa Anita, Rio Piedras on May 10, 2005 in Photos

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Lessons in Public Administration on May 10, 2005 in Politics

I've learned two important things in public administration;1) The world of public service is full of incompetent people. Everywhere you look you see nothing but cannon fodder; political batatas, favors, and people with no capacity to govern. After a while these people loose their contact with the average Joe and adopt the subculture of the fat bureaucrat.When you find a...

Jesus and I, 2003 on May 10, 2005 in Photos

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Chavez the Communist on May 10, 2005 in Latin America

...chavismo is not a left-wing ideology. That does not mean that chavismo is a right-wing ideology. It means that the categories of left and right are ill-suited to capturing what has been happening in Venezuela since 1999. In fact, the tendency by chavistas and their opponents alike to place the experience of the last six years within familiar right vs....

Man Moments on May 10, 2005 in Humor

I walk into the giant department store with my headphones on. A variety of jazz, Latin soul, and underground hip-hop is on the play list. "Must replace wallet," I think to myself in primitive male-talk as I walk directly from the entrance to the male accessory section. With a brand new black leather wallet in one hand and a worn...

Alcaldia de Aguas Buenas on May 10, 2005 in Photos

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