Great site. Check it out. I'd like to see a Jewish one.... more

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... more

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,... more

Our modern lifestyles breed a barrage of man-made defects. Monoculture agriculture, for example, ruins soil and decreases the earth's long-term production capacity. The clearing for land for farming and the abundance of stagnant water has created the perfect environment for... more

Stanley Diamon in his "In Search of the Primitive notes that "In machine based societies, the machine has incorporated the demands of the civil power or of the market, and the whole life of society, of all classes and grades,... more

Michael Kenna (born 1953) is an English photographer known for his moody landscapes. Writers have described his photographs as romantic, surreal, haunting, and jewel-like... Kenna's body of work focuses on a variety of subjects, but usually features etheral light... more

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To us the ashes of our ancestors are sacred and their final resting place is hallowed ground, while you wander far from the graves of your ancestors and, seemingly, without regret. Indian Chief Seattle addressing General Isaac Stevens.... more

MADRID, Spain - The world’s first ban on overly thin models at a top-level fashion show in Madrid has caused outrage among modeling agencies and raised the prospect of restrictions at other venues. Madrid’s fashion week has turned away underweight... more

I’m half way through Barbara Miller Lanes “Architecture and Politics in Germany, 1918-1945”. So far, Miller has been concentrating on the architecture movement in pre-Nazi German. While I’m not a big fan of cosmopolitan and “internationalist” design and architecture, I... more

"80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year." "58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school." Marginal Revolution... more

WASHINGTON - When "say," "they" and "weigh" rhyme, but "bomb," "comb" and "tomb" don't, wuldn't it maek mor sens to spel wurdz the wae thae sound? Those in favor of simplified spelling say children would learn faster and illiteracy rates... more

From an e-mail to my friend Julia from New York in a question she asked concerning same-sex marriages: Eliminating the need to even talk about the same-sex marriage issue: First let me clarify. In Puerto Rico, if you are living... more

At 9:46am I posted the following note on the bulletin board located in the reception area of this week’s housing conference: Today I saw a homeless woman with three kids and a shopping cart. I find it ironic, considering that... more

I always thought that hair dying and fake nails were foolish. Fake tans and breast implants were even sillier. Now transsexualism... I really don't see the difference.... more

"Temporary Autonomous Zone" by Hakim Bey was not necessarily a life-changing book, but it did help me conclude that all authentic anarchists are fucking crazy. No beef, though; their insanity helps them think out of the box. Their disgust for... more

Neat site: NEw York Artchitecture Images' "Unrealised Stalinist Moscow".... more

Fascinating note on a wikipedia search of Reforms of russian Orthography: Calls for the elimination of yat from the Russian spelling began with Trediakovsky in the eighteenth century. It is said that Nicholas I (rgn. 1825-1855) considered issuing a decree... more

I have never seen so many condominiums, hotels, outlet stores, and theme parks in a single place. One must see Orlando, Florida and the surrounding vicinity to understand the America depicted in writings such as Jihad vs McWorld, No Logo,... more

The first result on a recent query for "Denver Latino" on Google took me to "Latino Scene" from AOL's City Guide. Interestingly enough, the main photo for the website depicted a bunch of dark-hair Latinos apparently dancing Salsa. It's... more

Good afternoon, brothers and sisters, as you already know, My name is Malcolm X. Now, let me say that Uncle Sam has failed us, and he has failed us -- you can't deny that. Anytime it's the 20th Century and... more

5/5 September 3, 2004 Reflections on "22:40+" Pt. 1: Dependency September 3, 2004 Reflections on "22:40+" Pt. 2: Power and Bureaucracy August 30, 2004 Church, State, and the Military in Latin America August 5, 2004 The Left in Puerto Rican... more

Maurice Bishop once said that There are those… who believe that you cannot have a democracy unless there is a situation where every five years, and for five seconds in those five years, a people are allowed to put an... more

A new study by the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, headed by author and researcher Maggie Gallagher, shows that the percentage of homosexuals opting for "marriage" is small. The study estimates that between 2.6 percent and 6.3 percent of... more

One would not expect that the preoccupations of a poverty-ridden world would be relevant in one where the ordinary individual has access to amenities – foods, entertainment, personal transportation, and plumbing – in which not even the rich rejoiced a... more

In a search for a progressive public policy that would nourish and foment single bread-winner households (as contradictory as it sounds,) I wrote that "Maybe if a sole person's wage is sufficient to cover his family's living costs, the necessity... more

“If rulers refuse to consider poems as crimes, then someone must commit crimes that serve the function of poetry.” p. 19 “Don’t just survive while waiting for someone’s revolution to clear your head” p. 21 “Poetic Terrorism proposes this sabotage... more

In Washington DC I picked up a copy of “Temporary Autonomist Zone” by Hakim Bey at a trendy lounge/book shop. The subtitle of the book – “Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism” – quickly caught my attention. I am a fervent reader,... more

Words from my Grant Writing seminar instructor."While working on various Head Start proposals I have had to take into account certain cultural traits. For example, in the United States young individuals feel a tremendous pressure to leave their house at... more

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- FBI agents in Puerto Rico on Friday searched five homes and a business to thwart what the agency said was a "domestic terrorist attack" planned by militants favoring independence for the U.S. island territory. API'm... more

It's ironic how one of the largest tourist attractions on the world is but a collection of billboards.... more

Three municipal cabinet members sit behind closed doors at 6:30pm. They are hungry, tired, and worn from a hard day of work, paper shuffling, and zipping around the Town Hall. They discuss which roads shall be paved, bridge placements, what... more

All the same, says Reginald Smith of the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the rap world is not an unfriendly place. As with other human networks, collaborations between rappers bring them together into their own... more

From a paper titled "The Rise of Europe"The rise of Western Europe after 1500 is due largely to growth in countries with access to the Atlantic Ocean and with substantial trade with the New World, Africa, and Asia via the... more

I hold a high respect and admiration for mothers who opt to stay home to tend to their household and children. While there is nothing wrong with a woman who decides to take on a profession and work alongside men... more

"Latin America has a rich indigenous and revolutionary legacy that could, should, and is being tapped into by the “new left"" I belted a few days back in "The Foreign Roots of Marxism in Latin America." While reading yet another... more

The United Arab Republic (UAR) (Arabic: لجمهورية العربية المتحدة - al jumhuriya al-'arabia al-muttahida) was the state formed by the union between the republics of Egypt and Syria in 1958. It existed until Syria's secession in 1961, although Egypt continued... more

Check out this fascinating National Geographic coverage (photos and audio) on Libya, a country which I have always been quite curious of. The presentation has a link to the article, which is also pretty good. (I had read this article... more

NuSapiens has a post addressing differential performances of diverse and non-diverse groups. This is an important issue. In modern American culture there is literally a Cult of Diversity, a general assumption that Diverse ~ Good. But, "Goodness" is more predicated... more

Just finished downloading part 1/4 of the entire first season of "Earth 2," a short-lived FOX television. I recall having fond memories of Earth 2, attracted to its social potential since a young age. The series shows the life and... more

A hint of anarchy:Redistribution comes with the apocalypse; the complete destruction of decent society arrives not with vaporization of thousands of human beings in agonizing early-80s sfx, but with the threat that the spirit of property might have ceased to... more

Interesting reading:The social contract, as a political theory, explains the origin and purpose of the state, and of human rights. The essence of the theory (in its most common form, namely the one proposed by Jean-Jacques Rousseau) is as follows:... more

Dios tomó forma de mendigo y bajó al pueblo, buscó la casa del zapatero y le dijo: Hermano, soy muy pobre, no tengo una sola moneda en la bolsa y éstas son mis únicas sandalias, están rotas, si tu me... more

I get a kick out of seeing frame-breaking culture jams. Whether it be via ad busting or billboard hijacking, there a lot more abundant and efficient ways to protest than to grab a poster and gather outside of the city... more

I'm rereading former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami's book "Islam, Liberty and Development."Thus we cannot expect any positive transformations anywhere unless the yearning for freedom is fulfilled. That is the freedom to think and the security to express new thinking. The... more

I've never understood patriotism. It's always seemed to me the seed for hatred, violence and war. To take pride in one's own country is a short step away from taking pride in one's race - if each country in the... more

Interesting quote from Marginal Revolution:Scholars seek the truth, activists already know the truth. Activists don't like questioning, debate or independent research.... more

The Human Rights Foundation on Sunday denounced that the Puerto Rico Supreme Court’s decision to uphold a ruling that prevented a transgender citizen from altering his birth certificate goes against the Bill of Rights of the Commonwealth Constitution. After a... more

The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. They have greatly increased the life-expectancy of those of us who live in "advanced" countries, but they have destabilized society, have made life unfulfilling, have subjected... more

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... more

Zombies. I love them. The whole zombie-plague-apocalypse-survival theme tickles me. From my introduction to the zombie-craze of Resident Evil to my engulfment in Image comic’s Walking Dead to my recent viewing of the remake of Dawn of the Dead, I... more

Leonor Pacheco, a consultant to the Ministry of Social Development and Anti-Hunger, said obesity in Brazil was particularly prevalent among poor women in urban areas. She blamed that on not enough exercise, too much time spent watching television and using... more

The most fundamental of Muñoz Marin’s goals were to eliminate hunger, misery, and extreme poverty – objectives that were for the most part fulfilled. But one must ask oneself; what is the point of all this “progress” if after achieving... more

Education: The method used to transfer culture from one generation to another. What do you think?... more

"So how do you think that the municipality could improve the quality of life in this community?" I ask a shanty town resident. "Umm..... well.... I don't know" she responds. Maybe half of the people I asked that day said... more

Colonists began to populate urban centers with both locals and colonists from the metro-political powers. In order to do so, the colonists had to find a way to convince the indigenous that subordination was for their own good. Thus, a... more

Too much and for too long we seem to have surrendered personal excellence and community value in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product now is over 800 billion dollars a year, but that gross national product,... more

Quite paradoxically, "RoboCop" is skillfully used by director Paul Verhoeven as a carrier for his own fascination for fascism and the Jesus-figure. Looking beneath the surface, one will find there is a rather thick layer of social satire hidden underneath,... more

Tonight I saw "Mala Educacion," a Spanish-language film currently featured at the Fine Arts Theater in Santurce. If I knew anything about the movie prior to watching it I probably would have opted for something else. The movie consists of... more

This transition toward modernity disturbs many people, especially deep Greens. They are annoyed that so many people want what they consider the "wrong things", e.g. radios, motorized vehicles, refrigeration, hot water on demand, and TV... The logic of improving one's... more

An entertaining concept from a not-so-entertaining website:...there is no scientific evidence to suggest that greater mass allows for better range, breath control, or projection without microphones. Nevertheless, heavy opera singers tend to believe their weight aids them. And since singing,... more

I stumbled upon a brilliant collection of first-hand accounts of prison rape from Human Rights Watch. I'm more scared of prison rape than I am a jail sentence. Being locked in a room with free food and all the free... more

...the perspective of the train passenger is very different than in a car. In a car, you frame of reference is almost always forward. You always face the front in a car leading to you focus on what is ahead... more

I am in the process of watching 25th Hour, a film featuring that skinny cat from Fight Club. I like those films that attempt to depict actual real life. It touches many interesting topics too ("A Puerto Rico tattoo? Now... more

Fernando Buendía [leader of Ecuador's Pachakutik Movement]: It is a growing problem... In the Third World the consumption of drugs has to do with poverty, while in the First World, it has to do with alienation. Narco News... more

I like Newt Gingrich. I like him a lot. Why? Well because he's proposed some pretty radical and unconventional ways to solving lots of our problems (such as health care) in a very "masses-friendly" way. "What do you mean?" you... more

Throughout the modern history of Latin America leaders who support land reform and the nationalization of natural resources have been referred to as socialists and communists. Sometimes such claims are false but there are many instances where these leaders themselves... more

Workers' democracy is the only alternative to the "democracy" of the ruling class. There is no middle way. Instead of a Constituent Assembly, which is just another name for a renewed bourgeois parliament, what is needed is a national assembly... more

Remember how when you use to do something bad, your parents would whip out he belt, fold it in half, pull each side in order to make that ::smack:: sound, and then beat the shit out of you? What ever... more

When one brings up the word ‘colonialism’, people might think of Christopher Columbus stepping foot onto the coasts of a Caribbean island or maybe the Pilgrims sitting down with Native Americans for Thanksgiving dinner, but most will fail to note... more