Archives for "March 2007":

"World Shaking Photos" on March 30, 2007 in Photos

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Response to a Denial of Employment on March 30, 2007 in Humor

Dear ......, Thank you for your letter rejecting my application for employment with your firm. I have received rejections from an unusually large number of well qualified organizations. With such a varied and promising spectrum of rejections from which to select, it is impossible for me to consider them all. After careful deliberation, then, and because a number of...

Consumerism and the Ideologies of Yesterday on March 30, 2007 in Economics

Our societies pride themselves on being "open" and "democratic". The common folk praise the conquest of the free world over the tyranny of dinosaur Marxist ideologies, hailing the fall of the red curtain as the triumph of democracy. With fewer people exercising such "democratic" rule as each election rolls by, the term "democracy" is almost exclusively being used not to...

A Pseudo-Socialist on Social Mobility on March 30, 2007 in Economics

I am a socialist. Ironically, a socialist that does not put much importance in the redistribution of wealth, but the redistribution of access to social mobility. If anything, the redistribution of profit.Access to social mobility, you might ask? Well, while all men are not born equal, I feel as if it is ideal for all men to be born with...

Latin America Update on March 30, 2007 in Latin America

Venezuelans have long been famous for their addiction to plastic surgery and weekend shopping trips to Miami, but thanks to newly available credit, interest rates that discourage savings, and restrictions on money that can be spent abroad, Venezuelans now have world-class shopping all over the country.... An increase in government spending, including monthly remittances sent to over two million...

The Luxury of Misunderstanding on March 30, 2007 in Politics

"The poor man has always a precise view of his problem and its remedy," states John Kenneth Galbraith, "he hasn't enough and he needs more. The rich man can assume or imagine a much greater variety of ills". Galbraith continues by referring to the rich man's woes as "the luxury of misunderstanding." Throughout his book "The Affluent Society", the author's...

The Garden is my Machine on March 30, 2007 in Environment , Puerto Rico

This morning I made the two hour drive to Guanica where I caught a short boat ride to Cayo de Aurora, also known as "Gilligan's Island" by many. Gilligan's is a tiny island off Puerto Rico's south coast only reachable by a boat ride. Often wooden boats can be seen 'parked' on either of its coasts as locals barbecue...

5 Pictures: Santurce on March 30, 2007 in Photos

Ate lunch yesterday near the Plaza del Mercado in Santurce. Charming part of town, if I must say. Impressive architecture. Shows how urbanism can be appealing to the upper classes and compatible with modern infrastructure while maintaining a link with local culture. I wish this architecture was more consistent throughout Santurce. The light blurred the photo a bit, but it's...

Infinite Economic Growth on March 30, 2007 in Economics

The healthiness of our economies are often measured by growth. Public officials and corporate leaders both preach the doctrine of infinite growth, often forgetting that we live in a world of finites. Once the entire global population of 6 billion people is consuming and producing as much as possible, what would our leaders do then? The champions of the poor...

Chin Singers on March 30, 2007 in Humor

Chin singers e-card. Thanks Crystal....

AMLO in Puerto Rico on March 30, 2007 in Humor

I saw the following man in the El Popular restaurant in Santurce. He looks just like leftist Mexican Presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador:...

17 Pictures: Una Sola Camara Protest on March 30, 2007 in Photos , Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN (AP) - Leaded by more than 20 trucks from the Teamsters union, thousands marched toward the Capitol with a single claim: the legislators must respect democracy and validate the people's will expressed in the referendum which favored unicameralism. The leaders of the organizations that had publicly supported the single-chamber system -businessman Adolfo Krans, Julio Muriente and several Popular...

Una Sola Camara Videos on March 30, 2007 in Puerto Rico , Videos

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The Empire Economy and Credit on March 30, 2007 in Economics

Ancient civilizations from Egypt to Persia, Mesopotamia, Greece, and the Roman Empire required a constant supply of fresh new lands, servants, and resources in order to maintain their quality of life and political might. The various kingdoms of Europe required the same, carving into Africa, Asia, and the Americas for its natural treasures. The Australian outback and the United States'...

Mega Man on March 30, 2007 in Humor

Oh boy. Check out this cover for Mega Man 1. It looks as if it was drawn by a child. The cover artist should be flogged. Also, if your in the mood for mp3s of the old Mega Man level songs, check out Atomic Fire. Mega Man 2 and 3 are my favorites. Just listen and compare to modern day...

See Chelsea on March 30, 2007 in Humor , Personal

The woman in the advertisement below resembles my good friend Chelsea, who was kicking it over in Spain last I remember. Spooky. I actually wondered if it was really her....

Review of "Affluent Society" on March 30, 2007 in

A week or so ago I finished reading John Kenneth Galbraith's "Affluent Society" for the second time. You can probably already tell, considering the fact that I've quoted him maybe a dozen times in the last few days. Galbraith is a former bestselling Canadian American economist who is known for his Keynesian writings during the 1950s and 60s. While a...

Review of "Primitive Government" by Lucy Mair on March 30, 2007 in Books , Society

I picked up title in a used bookstore in the outskirts of Denver. After finishing "Affluent Society" one morning, I read through this baby that same afternoon and evening. Concentrating solely on African societies effected by colonization, I was quite upset to see that the tribes of the Americas and Asia were not mentioned. Also, the groups mentioned in...

"Life and Death of Nazi Germany" by Roberto Goldston on March 30, 2007 in Books

Yet another read-in-a-day book. Being the second time I had read this book, it wasn't that hard to zip through it while in the waiting room at my grandmother's doctor's office. I purchased this book off of ebay, if I remember correctly. I have a practice of roaming the nonfiction book section for $0.01 books with shipping below $2.00....

Lineage, the State, and Punishment on March 30, 2007 in Politics , Society

<br>While not living up to the expectations of its title, "Primitive Government" by Lucy Mair did succeed in bringing up a primitive concept that is often forgotten in the face of modern political debate; that of lineages. Mair states that "Lineages have corporate rights in property; they consider themselves to be injured as a body if one of their members...

Ponce Pictures Part 3 on March 11, 2007 in Photos

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Ponce Pictures Part 2 on March 11, 2007 in Photos

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Ponce Pictures Part 1 on March 11, 2007 in Photos

Drove to Ponce with Jesus yesterday. Check it out: Fucking crazy. In the middle of Ponce....