Mexico

Whoever is aware of Mexico's newest Tax proposal (a 3% Tax on IT including INTERNET access) might be reminded of the infamous quote,"We are on the border of the abyss... but today we will take a firm step forward!" (loose translation)

Seriously, as if the place wasn't already seen as a pit technology-wise. Where companies hesitate to even consider sending video games to home owners and a depressing number of children haven't even learned how to type on a keyboard... Now we have a bunch of obviously computer/internet-illiterate politicians who believe that forcing a tax on the internet is going to be beneficial.

Haven't they considered that Mexico already is really expensive already for really low quality services? That by doing that, people that have to go to Internet Cafes will have to pay even more for the short time they use the computers? That some schools might consider passing the chance for a connection to reduce costs? That the INEGI once pointed out that people who earned less than minimum wage were the owners of about half of the computers in the country? What will this tax do to them?

What about people that will hesitate to continue having it, despite the need their children might have of it? Computer Illiteracy in Mexico is pretty wide-spread, and making it more difficult to reach is not going to solve it.

They might as well build a real wall on the borders (both north and south), prohibit interactions with the rest of the world and fester in their own stupidity. But we cannot pretend that this is new, Mexico has previous history of stupidity in Taxes, as I am sure every country in the world does to some level... take the British Tax over owning TVs for example.

Those familiar with Mexican Taxes might also remember the "Tenencia" a "temporary" Tax introduced in 1962 by former President Adolfo Lopez Mateos to pay for the projected costs of the 1968 Olympic Games to be held in Mexico City.

This tax became so convenient that the government completely "forgot" that it was a temporary measure and as such it carried on irritating everyone that owned a vehicle, until recently, when President Calderon finally put down a termination date- by the 1st January in 2012, (which is also the Mayan Year for the "End of the World" as sensationalists like to call it) it will be gone. Supposedly.

So, what is the response to it? Well, in the long history of rather useless shows of solidarity, instead of marching (which would have been just as useless as it always is in Mexico) people decided to Twitter messages of discomfort about the tax.

Now. I don't have a problem with this method of complaint. In fact, I think it is better than messing up the traffic of Mexico City even more for such random causes as, I don't know, still supporting AMLO (classic show of downright stupidity.)

My problem is that they have stopped. Just like the marches, once they have done it, people tend to feel better about themselves and simply forget to check up on it believing that they have said their share and that is enough.

I say put pressure on the bastards and force their hand. They are elected officials -that means that they can be kicked out by the people that elected them.

Thoughts

Everyone wants something, be it fame or fortune, or any of the many other things that bother us in life and we have yet to achieve.

Sometimes we have part of it, just in our reach and it goes away, and in those times the choice is either the simple one, walk away... or the hard one, reach for it again.

When you do reach again, and again for it, tension builds. People expect things from you, but worse, you demand from yourself to grasp it, because it is *just* there. And sometimes, you cannot do it, not because you lack the strength or the intelligence or the drive- sometimes things happen that set you back and make you feel like a fool. Sometimes it takes longer than you want, and sometimes it surprises you how quickly it works out.

When you are betting everything on chance; when things are looking like there is no way you will manage to do things in time, when the people you hope would stand by you don't and you only receive accusatory looks or remarks...

What else is there to do but stand up, bear and grin it and march over again to try and get that which eludes you?

There will be some that will judge you. There will be some that will make fun of you. There will be some that will try to diminish everything you try to do... but in the end, you only answer to yourself.

People will always judge and pretend to know what is best for you or even assume that they know you better than you do. If you are afraid to stand up even if you might fall yet again, you have no business trying.

If history has taught us something it is that everyone looks at the same object and sees two different things. I'd rather see hope than despair. I'd rather see chance than stagnation. I'd rather say "I'm getting there" than "I'm quitting."

But that's just me.

MORE Politcal BS from the GOP and Co.

So, now some Reps in the USA are complaining (big surprise) about Obama telling children to make an effort in school and study.

To those guys, and the teachers and principals and government officials that are going to block a non-political statement encouraging children to better themselves, I can only ask this: "Just-how-stupid-can-you-really-get?"

If you don't want your children to get an education or get inspired to go get more, don't send them to school!

Now, about the Health Care...

First of all, for those people (Republican and otherwise) that complain about how Obama has no right to pass the bill without the consent of Congress, read this: George Bush: Commander in Chief

It is annoying to say the least just how much BS is being talked about the current President over nonsense.

First, (unlike his predecessor) he shows respect and an attempt at joint work by going the extra mile to get bi-partisan approval, and what does he get? Attacks and derision, not even on the results of his bill, but mostly on the basis of partisan choice.

So what does that mean? In simpler terms, the reason the Republican politicians complain about it, is not because it is bad for the country; they complain because it comes from the Democrats.

So, what about the masses? Well, let's see. First off, they are easily influenced by whatever some asshole in a suit says. Don't believe me? Just look at the "Pulling the plug on Grandma" quote reactions.

That's just the paranoia of the uninformed being fed to the credulous masses. Where is the truth in that? Have you read the statement of what the plan hopes to accomplish? What the goals are?

Health Care is excessively expensive in the USA. STUPIDLY expensive. Do you think any economy can work if the people that don't have much money have to suffer or even die because they cannot afford Health Care? So, making it cheaper is bad? How?

Let me tell you before you answer... you will say, "well, it needs more money injected to work" and my answer to that is: "What the hell doesn't require money to work?"

You complain about Afganistan. And how things are bad there... for a war that was started by George Bush... and then diverted to "free" Iraq (we can see how well off they are not) and then went back to the "original" purpose.

People, don't forget, with all the BS and excuses he used to divert your minds, that it has been proven that the White House knew about the terrorist attacks that happened in the US. Newspapers around the world published it!

You call Obama a Socialist and compare him to Hitler. Of all things. How much bullshit can you really come up with? Really? If you had ANYONE that could have been compared in certain actions to Hitler, it is not Barak Obama.

Let's face it, little boys and girls: things didn't get this way just because Obama became president... this comes from before...

So, here's a question for you to consider: While Bill Clinton was in office taking the US into the best economic growth in 30 years during his presidency. George Bush came in and left it in the worse shape it has been in 60. DO THE MATH!

If you are going to be blaming the presidents for the Economy, then you have to look to the origin of the problem, not blame it on the current president.

Heat!

The last few days in SLO have been burning hot.

I think that heat is much worse than cold. Yes, your nose freezes in the cold, yes, you tremble and yes, it is normally darker and less appealing (at times) to go out. BUT! When it is cold you simply dress up. You choose warm clothes to put on, and you do so. And you heat up, while outside the cold breeze helps you enjoy it. If you are cold, you cover yourself more until you are not.

However, when it is hot, you have to deal with it. Other than activating the air conditioning, or drinking ungodly amounts of water, there is really not much you can do. And if you don't have those, you will start cooking in your own juices soon enough. There is not much you can do... you can take off your shirt, then your pants, then you are naked... and the heat seems to build up. You HAVE to go out, there is no other way around it, or suffer.

When it is cold outside, you grab a book, get covered in something or turn on the fire, heater, whatever. If it gets too warm, you lower the temperature and let the cold do its job. You make hot chocolate, you eat marshmallows, you prepare a nice warm dinner.

When its hot, you never have enough to drink to get results. Cold water doesn't cool you down the way a hot tea warms you up. Cold drinks, while nice, don't really do their jobs. Yeah, you could drink Gatorade and be healthier, and yes, it is definitely good for you to replenish your electrolites, but it is not going to cool you down that effectively.

Now, there is always the vacation spot thoughts: If it is hot, you go to the pool, the beach, the mall, stay out of the sun, cook outside, lie down and get a tan, etc.

But, what if you don't have a pool? And even if you did, how often will you swim? Are you going to spend every day tanning or swimming when you have to work, cook and do other things? Going to the beach, unless you live just on the shore is another thing that is basically only on the weekends, as is the mall. BBQ (and my readers know how much I love doing it) is great, but between the heat from the grill and the sun, you don't want to do it the next day. Let's face it, even Bobby Flay will probably not grill outside every day.

Besides, it is not really affordable!

Staying out of the sun is great in concept, but again, unless you have air conditioning, at 110 it gets very, very uncomfortable. While I will not even go to the point of comparing it to deserts and such (since, well, they are deserts and let's face it, whining about the heat to a desert-dweller is, well, stupid) I will say that I can't wait for winter to freeze my toes.

The Truthiness of the G.O.P.

One has to wonder what the hell goes through the minds of Hard-core Republicans these days.

The GOP (which, despite popular belief does not mean "Gathering Of Pretenders") has time and again demonstrated their excessively conservative views in outright stupidity to the point where it is almost not funny anymore.

Yes, democrats like to laugh it off since if taken seriously, it would probably start another civil war! But, there is a limit. Whenever racist attitudes come out, Republicans are fast to remind the rest of the world that good ol' Lincoln was a Republican... but that was back in 1861, when the beliefs of Republicans were the same as Democrats today... imagine that.

We (the world) had become used to the Republican ways under the leadership (snicker) of George W. Bush, where the policy was to answer with variations of the word "terror" to just about any question out there, IF they ever got an answer. "Vague" was the theme, and during those times, things like the Patriot Act and torture under the pretense of "Protecting the USA from Terrorists" made the USA seem more like Nazi Germany than the "Land of the Free".

But now, it seems that the Republican "Machine of Fear" has transformed into a new form... that of senseless and rather childish attitudes.

President Obama has been under constant attack by Republicans who claim that were it McCain in his place, it would have been the same situation... please... don't put the rest of us down with your credulous masses.

Would you have asked McCain for proof of his birth on American soil?
No.
Would you have made up a false Birth Certificate (from a country that didn't exist) to try and start a debate?
No.
Would you be chasing after McCain to fulfill the campaign promises he made whilst in the middle of a depression created and perpetrated and not prevented by G.W. Bush?
No.
Would you be accusing him of being a socialist?
No.
Would you say that the posters of him being depicted as the Joker are admissible as a form of "free speech"
No. ( Especially with the history Republicans have had of destroying and mutating free speech.)

Most Republicans I know seem to have an attitude of wanting President Obama to fail. There is this underlying current of speaking up and pointing how he is acting like a "Rock Star" and not doing his job...

Let's analyze that for a moment... So, it is okay for George W. Bush to literally have a several month vacation at the very beginning of his presidency, but it is not okay for Obama to help improve the USA's International Perception at the same time he tries to push his changes? Hm.

All I see is Republicans WHINING about whether what Obama is doing is to their liking or not. Throwing terms like "Obama Inflation" trying to scare others into their system of beliefs... (Sort of like, you will go to hell if you don't believe what I do) But I don't see any attempts in favor of productivity.

To those Republicans out there that like so much to say "Obama is not doing this..." well, let me remind you that if George W. Bush had done what most of the world wanted, he wouldn't have survived the pretzel.

As a bonus, I leave you this: The Illegitimate Grandson of an Alligator (Just my luck that it was the only video with no "embed" code)


-WD

You knew it would come...

So, Michael Jackson is dead and people debate on whether there is too much hype about it. What I would just like to point out to them is that MJ was, after all, the last of those artists that were at any one point comparable to Elvis or the Beatles (or Jesus). Of course there is going to be a lot of hype: since MJ there has been no-one to reach that amount of comparison or recognition... can you imagine someone saying with a straight face: "If Justin Timberlake died he would be bigger than Elvis"? of course not. Nor for that matter any other singer since then.

So what I really hope not to see are the opportunists that will try to make use of the hype to create attention to themselves with false MJ related claims that will be investigated and turned out to be nothing more than some idiot trying to get attention.

Chicago - SLO - L.A.

So as many as you guys know I have been traveling around. I visited Chicago for a couple of weeks, went to my first ever Baseball game (White Sox!) and went out boating.
When I got to San Luis Obispo things quickly piled up with a lot of things to do! I accompanied a group from Cal Poly on a tour of Los Angeles.
I learned a lot about what City Planning is and how it really affects lives. I was guided through the city by people from the Planning Department of City Hall, people from the Transportation Department, and others.
I learned about the L.A. architecture, the changes it has lived through, and I stayed at both East L.A. and Beverly Hills.
I also went to a Dodgers game there!
Back in San Luis Obispo I got a chance to show off my cooking skills and got to enjoy and appreciate the difference between really fresh off-the-garden fruits and vegetables and the supermarket variety. To the point that I actually started enjoying beets. (Which I formerly hated)
Now as rough days in the airport and tough luck with planes has modified my plans a little bit, I am preparing to return to Mexico soon, but I forsee a quick return to California.

Travel begins with a thermal camera

First time I've ever seen a thermal camera... I never expected it to be in the Mexico City International Airport!
But it is there... which is quite amusing, you get to pose only for a guy to usher you in. The Influenza scare is still fresh in Mexico's mind, the radio comes up with apocalyptic warnings: don't let your guard down!
It's, I imagine, a bit how the Cold War was, or the Cuban Missile Scare... keep out an eye for commies! Don't let Russian Spies thrive amongst us! Report them!
One good thing out of this is that it most likely increased the amount of people that will actually wash their hands regularly.
I think my views on the actual inflenza scare are well documented here (just scroll down) so I will leave it there.

Security here has also increased from what it used to be... it is quite annoying too. For example, we all know that regardless of where you are, most airports have a basic rule: if you bring liquids with you, they better be in your check-in bag, or you will have to dump them. If you want a coke, or a coffee you can drink it all before going through security (inadvisable as last minute rushes through it will make you miss the flight) or you go through the check-up and THEN buy it.
Here however, you go through the check-up (x-rays, take the laptop out of the bag, put coins and your belt on a tray, security personnel checking to make sure you are not slipping through drugs or something and/or making you throw into the trash whatever they might frown upon) then you can CONSUME some products.
Unlike the USA where you can buy stuff like drinks inside the airport and carry them into the airplane itself, over here they insist on a second "layer" of "security" where whatever you bought that was not "Duty Free" (and therefore given to you once past them) is taken away and thrown out. So you end up losing money if you didn't gobble down your drink.

Another layer of security which I consider pretty much useless over here is the X-ray machine that checks your bags just before you leave the airport (on arrival). Not because I think the machines are useless, but because you put your bags through the machine and THEN you still have to push the green button for a random chance to get your bags checked.
What irks me about this is that they already checked your bags (all of them) on the X-ray machine. So, theoretically they know exactly what you have in your bags. What is the point in forcing you to "randomly" submit to yet ANOTHER search. Heck, the wait for the bags is annoying enough without having to stand in line for double-check-ups.

Anyway, regardless of this airport rant I am glad to be on the "road" again.

So, for now I bid you all good bye and invite those of you that read Spanish to check out Vilrandir's amusing (and true) post about Raquel Levinstein and "Quantum Psychology"

Later!

-D