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Tuesday, January 31, 2006 |
The Day that Userland Radio Died!
This is the last post I post with this stupid system. It;s over. Starting tomorrow (actually later today) I'll start using my new, improved, personalized blog system. WIth a new design that will keep improving over the next few weeks...
Posted by Alfredo at 8:59:08 PM Google It! 
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Monday, January 30, 2006 |
Chavez gives young people solid advice!
According to this article, Chavez closed down the World Social Forum threatening the US (if it either attacks us or Iran) and embracing a bunch of friends. He also gave wonderful advice about what he and others should do in the future...
Chavez also embraced Elma Beatriz Rosado, widow of slain Puerto
Rican nationalist Filiberto Ojeda Rios. Rosado, holding back tears,
said: ``I accuse the United States government of murdering
Filiberto.''
The 72-year-old militant independence supporter was killed in a
September FBI raid on a Puerto Rican farmhouse where he was in
hiding. He had been sought for the 1983 robbery of $7.2 million
from an armored truck depot in West Hartford, Conn. funds
intended for the independence cause.
``They murdered him,'' Chavez said. ``Viva Filiberto! ... Let's
follow his example.''
What is he saying? We should rob armored trucks or we should get murdered by the US? Are those his dreams? For himself, for the people in Venezuela, or just for the foreign attendants to the Forum? I'm curious, really...
Posted by Alfredo at 3:29:33 PM Google It!
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Saturday, January 28, 2006 |
Forget Global Warming!
World's Magnetic Field might Flip Soon
We all know that the world's magnetic field is weakening, but could it be because we are due for a magnetic field reversal? This would mean that animals might go the wrong way during migration or the fact that compasses might swing 180 degrees and point south. The magnetic shield might even disappear for a century or two. [digg] Try Magnetic Flip! That's something to worry about! From the article:
"When we plot the results from the ceramics," he notes, "we see a rapid fall as we come toward the present day. The rate of change is higher over the last 300 years than it has been for any time in the past 5,000 years. It's going from a strong field down to a weak field, and it's doing so very quickly."
Posted by Alfredo at 9:23:10 AM Google It!
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Friday, January 27, 2006 |
Told you so...
Bill Gates defends Google over China censorship issue.
Bill Gates, the billionaire founder of Microsoft, took the rare step of standing up for arch-rival Google today as he argued that state censorship was no reason for technology companies not to do business in China. [digg] I told you Google had jump the shark, even Bill Gates think what they are doing in China is Ok. Which basically means that is even worse than we imagine...
Posted by Alfredo at 3:22:19 PM Google It!
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Thursday, January 26, 2006 |
Funny and sad...
Satire of warrantless wiretaps
Cory Doctorow:
Fafblog -- easily the funniest political satire appearing online or off -- has published an excellent Q&A regarding Bush's stance on warrantless wiretaps:
[Q...] But is it legal for the president to ignore the law?
A. Maybe not according to plain ol stupid ol regular law, but we're at war! You don't go to war with regular laws, which are made outta red tape and bureaucracy and Neville Chamberlain. You go to war with great big strapping War Laws made outta tanks and cold hard steel and the American Fightin Man and WAR, KABOOOOOOM!
Q. How does a War Bill become a War Law?
A. It all begins with the president, who submits a bill to the president. If a majority of both the president and the president approve the bill, then it passes on to the president, who may veto it or sign it into law. And even then the president can override himself with a two-thirds vote.
Link [Boing Boing]
Posted by Alfredo at 3:47:05 PM Google It!
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Wednesday, January 25, 2006 |
Another one!
Sex Keeps You Calm
GOT some public speaking to do? Here's a tip to keep stress at bay: have sex beforehand. But make sure it's penetrative sex - the magic vanishes if you pursue other forms of sexual gratification. [digg] If they keep outing all my secrets like this I will have nothing left... nothing!
Posted by Alfredo at 8:26:35 PM Google It!
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Foro Mundial...
Anyone pissed off about how much money the Venezuelan government has spent on the World Social Forum now causing traffic jams in Caracas should check this out...
Foro Social Alternativo.
Posted by Alfredo at 5:55:49 PM Google It!
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Tuesday, January 24, 2006 |
That's it!
MPAA finds itself accused of piracy
"The MPAA admitted Monday that it had duplicated "This Film Is Not Yet Rated" without the filmmaker's permission " Whoops! [digg] From the Article The MPAA's Bernards, who said Glickman was unavailable for comment, said the organization was operating lawfully when it copied Dick's movie without his or his producer's authorization. "The courts recognize that parties are entitled to make a copy of a work for use as evidence in possible future proceedings," she said.
That's why so many films are copied... I mean, who can predict anything about future proceedings? I think it is our duty to copy any film or song that passes our way in case we can use [them] as evidence in possible future proceedings.
Posted by Alfredo at 1:11:49 PM Google It!
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How the right wingers help Chavez...
Yesterday I commented on an article at the The Devil's Excrement about how McCain [had] joins[ed] Chavez's name calling. The intention of my comment was to counteract the barrage of inane right wing sounding comments that tend to permeate any discussion of venezuelan politics that is not inundated with inane left wing sounding comments. Basically the jest of my comment is that being anti-war or anti-Buish does not make you pro-Chavez. Deeply, I was hinting at the topic in the title of this article. I really have no problem that someone has right wing ideas, my problem is how they have permeated and hurt the opposition in Venezuela, making it a left-vs-right issue, but more about that later, got a story to tell.
What happened next was expected. A new barrage of inane right wing sounding comments demanding that I explain this pretty self explanatory statement:
Bush has contributed to put america in danger by furthering its dependancy on foreign oil and alienating the countries that produce it.
Since I was prepared for that to happen, I decided to leave only one more comment there and not answer any of the dribble that ensued. I left a link to this great script about How Conservatives Argue. But later on I checked on the comments again to find this:I don't agree with you on this statement, Alfredo: Bush has contributed to put america in danger by furthering its dependancy on foreign oil and alienating the countries that produce it. I have been talking to petroleum institute people and they don't think the dependency problem is based on anything Bush does. They think it's special interest groups across the US - greenies, eco-wackos, nimbys - all of them acting like little medieval fiefdoms, hypocritically demanding cheap oil but screaming bloody murder any time an oil company wants to drill, or worse yet, build a hated refinery. And a new nuclear power plant? Forget it. They will all scream bloody murder and make it impossible to do. Nothing new has been drilled in the US for a long time, it's all off limits due to these nimbys and enviromentalists. Leftwing activists have got to start taking responsibility for their refusal to allow any drilling in the US. Right now the only place a lot of drilling is going on is the western gulf of mexico, which is hurricane country. That's why there isn't enough oil. The spotlight has got to be turned to these eco-wackos who are empowering hugo chavez. This I had to answer, since I couldn't do it there, I decided to bring the discussion here, where it doesn't belong and get some much needed google juice out of the hassle.
The first thing that struck me about the response it that it came from Publius Pundit whom I considered one of the most thoughtful commenter in that site. The second thing is that it look like a typical "chavista" argument. Here is what would have been my from-the-guts-answer:
You mean to tell me that after 5 years in power, poor Georgie can't do what he wants? They won't let him govern as he wishes? I wonder why the chavistas haven't used that argument... Oh... Wait... Scratch that, they have.
You mean to tell me you really see no relation whatsoever between a war in the middle east, billions of tax payer money spent on Iraq, the deficit, the state of the economy, and the price of oil? If Chavez could claim such independence in such related fields he could... Oh... wait... he has.
Your sources arguments are weaker than Chavez blaming the Viaducto failure on "40 years of false democracy".
But really, the small point of this piece is that the political line is a circle and all extremist use the same type of arguments. It is pointless to counter them. But sometimes you have to 'cause the stakes got raised.
Venezuela has a tiny group of truly right wing believers (as it has a tiny group of truly left wing believers), but somehow we are much more afraid of right wingers than of left wingers. Here in the south the left wingers are cruel but romantic, while the right wingers are cruel and efficient (witness the events of April 12). Thus, we are more afraid of "a Pinochet" than we are of Chavez. This is also the reason why Chavez has been so slow in reform, he doesn't want to frighten us. If he nationalized something big (e.g. CANTV, the banking system) he may upset the delicate balance that keeps him in power. He would upset the dialectics of left-vs-right (as my intellectual wife would say). Hence, Chavez needs a right wing in the opposition to claim that all the opposition is right wing and frighten us, the people in the middle, the real mayority. At least so that we don't participate. At most so that we support him in order to curl the right wing threat. The best thing a right winger could do, to help Venezuela, is, really, shut up. Most Venezuelans do not want a US marines invasion, most Venezuelans believe the influence of the US in the region is negative, most Venezuelans prefer Chavez to a right wing dictator. Deal with it. Let the opposition be intelligent and allow them to conduct the politics they need to win. Allow them to critique Bush, to talk against the war, and to participate in the Social Forum. It would be good if some of the participants there hear about the real Venezuela...
Posted by Alfredo at 10:01:44 AM Google It!
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Not fast enough?
U.S. Says Microsoft Dallies in Adhering to Settlement
Microsoft is not complying quickly enough with its antitrust settlement with the government, the Bush administration said on Monday. [NYT > Technology] Try Not, at all, they are just repeating the behaviour that put them in the hot sit in the music business, because they are not winning they aren't getting caught! By the time someone in power realizes it, it'll be too late! Just like the last time...
Posted by Alfredo at 8:05:47 AM Google It!
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