Interview with Cormac McCarthy

Very interesting… he seems to be a good guy.

I can’t say The Road is one of the best books I’ve read in the sense of being an enjoyable read… Like I said at the time, it is slow and creepy. But I think it was one of the most important books I’ve ever read. It is one of those things that get better as time goes by.

I think it is similar to a very difficult test, that you suffer throughout but at the end you are proud and enjoy the results. I would never do it again, but I am glad I’ve been through it once.

Books, November 2009

My Grandfather’s Son: A Memoir

Clarence Thomas’ biography is a powerful book. It starts by describing his childhood as a very poor kid in Georgia and all the tough times he went through. It focuses specially on him being raised by his grandparents and how important his stern grandfather was for him and his brother.

The most interesting part though is the latter chapters on how his career developed. Thomas talks about how racism really works in corporate America and government. He talks about how affirmative action negatively impacted him throughout his life, and also speaks at length about all the crazy schemes liberals have tried during his life to ‘ameliorate’ our race issues. It is a required reading for anyone who believes in liberal policies to solve racism.

Finally, the last part of the book is about his career in Washington. You get to hear plenty about the Anita Hill debacle, but the surprise to me was Thomas’ experiences with Joe Biden. I always thought Biden was a smug and stupid politician but I never thought he was such a dishonest and lying piece of garbage. Truly sad.

In any case, this is a great book about an American success story. A poor black boy who went from nothing to a seat in our Supreme Court.

The Numerati

Numerati is about how numbers and statistics are playing an increasingly important role in our society. It describes examples on how corporations are exploring this and all the potential behind it.

Not really a ground breaking book, but it is an interesting one nevertheless. I still would recommend it to anyone who is interested in technology and math.

Usurper of the Sun

Another Japanese book that surprised me a great deal. This is truly a fantastic read. A page turner, filled with the perfect mix of ‘real’ science and fantasy.

It tells the story of Aki, a Japanese girl who is the first to discover that something is wrong with Mercury. She ends up becoming a scientist and leading a team who investigates the origins of a ring that has started to form around our sun.

Anyone who has any interest at all in sci-fi should buy this one immediately.

The future, the past, and the clouds

The future:
Modern Warfare 2 five-day sales hit $550 million
Half a billion in 5 days. Who would have thought that a ‘kids’ toy’ industry would become so important? Well, I did. BTW, my original point about Brazil’s backward approach on videogames continues to be valid: MW2 will be selling for the amazing amount of 250 Reais (aprox. 140 US$) compared to US$ 59.99 in the US.

The Past:
Fat cat pay – Then and now
Among all the stupid arguments and lies being sold during this recession, this whole controversy on CEO pay has to be the worst. Pure media garbage and political populism.

The clouds!
Chavez asking Cubans to ‘bomb clouds’ amid drought
What a clown.

Oh please

I think that it is stupid for Conservatives to criticize Obama’s bow to Japan’s emperor.

Just like it was stupid when Liberals mocked Bush for holding Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah’s hand.

About Religion

I rarely speak about religion. In my mind, faith and religion are such private subjects that somehow blogging about it seems very silly.

So let me try to make this quick. I can’t say I am deeply religious but I what I can definitely say is that I am pro-religion. The biggest two reasons you and me are here comfortably reading this post instead of fighting with tigers and lions for food are religion and government. In that order.

Every time I see an atheist trying to debate religion based on faith (oh, so you believe in an invisible white-bearded man!) I just shake my head and walk away. This is the equivalent of trying to discuss the merits/problems of marriage by trying to disprove love. I don’t discuss love, and I don’t discuss faith.

The reason I respect and accommodate much more for religion when compared to government can be summarized in one word: free will (or agency as called by many Christians). You see, I don’t have a lot of choice about government. I can move to a different country, state, I can elect a certain party, but the fact of the matter is that to support what we call civilization we need to pay and obey. It is a loaded gun against our head that will never go away.

Religion on the other hand is completely optional. Except under some extreme circumstances, nowadays one can join a variety of religions and be involved in many levels. Or you can simply stay out of it completely (even though atheists do tend to channel their religious energies into very religion-like activities in the end). Not surprisingly, religion continues to be a much more popular choice than militant atheism.

Just like governments, not all religions are created equal. And just like I try to judge a government or culture by the citizens it produces, I do the same with religion. All things considered, Christians produced the societies they did for a good reason.

The reason I see for Christianity’s advantage is that it found ways to address some of the toughest social issues we have in our societies: the eternal circle of violence and the lack of natural group cooperation required for big social projects. Besides that, it provides a framework for ‘self-help’ (for the lack of a better term) that is really genius. The whole idea of offering a ‘new beginning’ by the sacrifice of a superior being is the biggest reason why people are willing to join and repent (i.e., improve themselves).

The kicker here is that after we moved away from monarchy and other authoritarian systems, governments decided that they didn’t need their sister institution anymore. Why ask for churches to offer soup lines or education if you can tax the rich and provide that yourself? (And reap all the benefits – i.e., votes)

So, in that context, when I said that “a lot of the Christian’s belief system sounds like a Democratic welfare program” what I really meant was that welfare programs were created with the goal of duplicating religion (at least in part). After all, why would you follow all the difficult social rules set by your church if you can get the humanitarian benefit from the nice people from Washington? Now, many believe that religious people should not consider this to be government ‘competition’ but only cooperation. And that is why some religious people do become Democrats.

So I hope this clarify things.

Hmmm

Brand new Gallup poll: More in U.S. Say Health Coverage Is Not Gov’t. Responsibility

The tenuous existence of the American right wing

Here is the question I asked my wife the other day: How do Republicans ever win an election? How is it possible that Democrats, and all the ‘natural’ advantages that party has, can ever lose?

This whole conversation started when we were talking about the abhorrent lack of political knowledge some of our friends and family show. One of them voted for Obama without even knowing his name (Maybe she thought calling him Hussein was a right wing attack).

Try to think about this. Imagine yourself as a political ignorant. Also consider that you are an average citizen, with an average job, family, and concerns. Most probably, you are an ‘independent’ (40% of population), someone who is not emotially or intellectually connected to either party.

Why on earth would you choose the ‘mean’ party over the ‘bleeding heart’ party? Do you prefer the ‘war monger’ party or the ‘peace and cooperation’ party? The party of the rich and greedy of the one that helps unions and blue collar workers?

It is very nice to keep discussing fancy economic theories and advanced global strategy issues, but at the end these things don’t win or lose elections.

Now, it is somewhat easy to see how little scandals (like Clinton’s) or big economic upheavals (like the end of Bush’s second term) can turn things around. But I am mostly talking about the overall existence and viability of the Republican Party. Why doesn’t it turn into a Democratic party with a different name?

Currently, I think the Republicans have basically has 2 things going in its favor: pro-religion sentiment and patriotic/tough on foreign enemy’s stance.

That is very concerning.

First, because if you understand Christians at all, you know that a lot of their belief system sounds like a Democratic welfare program. You have to help the weak, no matter how lazy or wicked they are. You have to forget and forgive offenders. You have to live your life for others, not to yourself.

On the military front, republicans only have the advantage because of one historical event: Vietnam. Democrats got burned bad and decided to drag the isolationist/pacifist crowd to its side. But this can change at any point. An eventual (albeit improbable) Obama success in Afghanistan could be the trigger.

There is another risk for the Republican Party lurking on the background: our own economic success. You see, many ideals behind the Republican Party are about freedom. You are free to choose what you buy, when you buy it, and how you pay for it. You can keep your work’s riches and try to expand your wealth as much as possible. Democrats are about equality. No one should be without X (job, health care, house, food, etc, etc). No one should be allowed to accumulate wealth without giving back some (20%, 30%, 50%, etc) to the ‘community’.

Since we are becoming a richer world, the marginal returns on excess wealth are becoming smaller. A rich person and a high middle class person have many more things in common today than they had 30 years ago. That is why the ‘barons’ of our time (Gates, Buffet, etc) are all Democrats. They don’t care if they have to pay 20 million instead of 15 million in taxes. Given the choice, they actually prefer to give out as much as they can so they can enjoy the social benefits of being a philanthropist.

The only other reason I think Republicans are still viable are around the special circumstances created by the two party system. It forces fringe groups to associate with one or the other. The average American hates fringe groups. Even though this is a problem for both parties at some level (extreme right wingers include skin heads, anti-Semitic groups, etc) the problem is that lefty fringe groups are more vocal. People like code pink, PETA, pro-gays, etc. This difference in exposure makes it look like these groups have more influence over the party direction than the ones on the other side.

Anyway, this is all I could come up with. Overall, I think the Republican Party is going through dangerous times right now. After the resurgence in the 80s (mostly triggered by Carter’s incompetence but also by years of Keynesian policies that went out of control) it looks like now the tide has changed. I see some Republican gains in 2010, especially due to the immense incompetence of Pelosi and her like. But overall I think this is one of those times when we will have to get used to be a minority again.

If we should be so lucky.

Super Duper Funny!

Lula from 2000 makes a lot of sense! hehehehehehehehehehe

Hell is a little more crowded tonight

D.C. sniper executed in Virginia

It took way too long in my opinion, but at least it is done. I just wish they really would let this guy have his wish.

In any case, maybe the families of all the victims will sleep a little better tonight. The world is a better place without this coward in it.

A Happy Disconnect

Apparently Gallup has something called a “Well-Being Index” for the US. You can see the report for September here. It is pretty high, being just .3 points lower than August when it had tied the highest score since measurement started 20 months ago.

Live Science has a break down of the report data by States. There you find that the following states are in the top 10:
•Utah: 69.2
•Hawaii: 68.2
•Wyoming: 68
•Colorado: 67.3
•Minnesota: 67.3
•Maryland: 67.1
•Washington: 67.1
•Massachusetts: 67
•California: 67
•Arizona: 66.8

The funny thing about this is that the explanation given for these results in the article above is that “U.S. states with wealthier, better educated and more tolerant residents are also happier on average”. It also says that “In addition, states with a greater proportion of artists and gays would also be places where residents can freely express themselves.”

Wait a second. Utah in first, Wyoming in third and Arizona in tenth? And the explanation is wealth, education and being nice to gay people? If only Mitt Romney had seen this data before!

If you go to this web site, you can actually see an interactive map and browse over all states to figure out some of the additional data. For instance, Utah is only the 39 out of 50 for average income. Wyoming is 36 and Arizona is 29.

How about education? For college graduation, Utah does rank well being 15th out of 50. But Wyoming is 33 and Arizona is 25.

How can these numbers support this theory that wealth and education are the biggest motivators of happiness?

When you look at the whole list, it becomes evident that there is some data point being missed here. Idaho is number 11 and Montana is number 12. Illinois is number 31, Pennsylvania 32 and New York ranks 35th. Ohio is number 47!

Political views or Religiosity are nowhere to be found in the data.

Fantastic

Get Ivy League smarts – free
You can get a huge variety of free courses in some of the best universities out there. From Introduction to Computer Science and Programming from the MIT, to Introduction to Political Philosophy from Yale. And much, much more in between.

Check out some of them:
MIT
Yale
Carnegie Mellon
Stanford
Berkeley

Then and now: ‘The worst slum in America’
The total transformation of what was once called the worst area in the country to a nice suburb outside of New York City.

China’s Race Problem

This is a very interesting article about a very under reported subject: racism in Asia.

Even though I loved Japan, I was completely astounded by some of the ‘weird’ (a.k.a. xenophobic) behavior I saw there. And I was only there as a tourist for 5 days.

I wonder why the concerned citizens of the world focus so much on race issues in the US and not whatsoever in the same issue in much more populous countries.

Understanding Evil

I think it is great news that this guy is alive and seems to be recuperating. Hopefully, we will be able to hear Nidal Malik Hasan’s side of this story.

The reason suicide killers are appealing (for the media at least) is that they are usually blank slates. Even though we now can find their online ramblings that is still not enough. There is always room for the bleeding hearths to speculate that, well, he was not really an evil guy, he was just being mistreated… he was pushed by other people! The poor guy really was so desperate…

Once we get this psychopath to talk about his victims maybe we will be able to see through this. Once people can see that this guy is not really about religion, or government policy, or anything really rational, maybe then we can stop this nonsense bullshit of trying to find explanations for why he decided to open fire and kill old men, women and young recruits.

Maybe, just maybe, we will simply understand that this idiot is just an evil motherfucker that decided to kill for the sake of it, and again simply put, deserves to be put to death as soon as possible. That is the message we as a society should be sending to these guys: we know you exist; we know you can and are willing to kill, but once we get our hands on you we will kill you without mercy. Just like we are about to do with John Allen Muhammad, this other piece of human garbage.

Evil will always be there, and we should do our best to destroy it. There is no magical solution. That’s about it.

Holly Warming

Two years ago I mentioned that Global Warming was turning into a religion.

Well, now it is official. At least in the UK.

God help us…

Wow

Denver to Singapore (and back) in 5 minutes

The video is very cool… but the most surprising part is that this guy had the will to visit Singapore in a weekend! He had to fly from Denver to Chicago, Chicago to Tokyo, Tokyo to Singapore… That is *a lot* of time sitting in an airplane to spend 2 days there.

I thought I was crazy to spend only 5 days in Tokyo. But I got to tell you, just seeing Narita Airport made me want to go there again. Tokyo is the best. And Singapore looked really cool too, maybe next time I will make an extra stop and make it a 7 day trip

Where would you rather be?

I’ve found some interesting Gallup polls around the immigration issue which we have been discussing here.

First, one that shows that 700 Million Worldwide Desire to Migrate Permanently. Looking at the map in the article, you see that Africa and the Middle East are the areas most interested, which seems to confirm that money and war are the main motivators.

But I decided to dig a bit deeper, and found a series of 3 other Gallup polls around migration in Latin America:

First one called One in Four Latin Americans Wishes to Emigrate, which shows the percentage of population that want to migrate (Brazil is second to last, but still has a 20% number which sounds high to me) and it confirms that the US is the most common destination (33%) but Spain does show first for a few countries.

The next one is more interesting: Latin Americans’ Motives for Migration. Here, you see that even though poverty and unemployment are strong factors behind immigration, quality of life and opportunity seem to be much more important.

Quoting the article:
“Furthermore, across the 20 countries studied, Latin Americans who say they do not have a job are no more likely than those who do have a job to say they would emigrate — 23% of the former do so, versus 26% of employed respondents. In countries with the region’s largest economies — including Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and Venezuela — employed residents are at least as likely as those who are unemployed to say they’d emigrate given the opportunity.

It seems that job satisfaction in Latin America matters more than job availability in terms of driving migration intent. A follow-up question asking employed respondents whether they are satisfied with their current jobs produces an important distinction: 39% of those who are dissatisfied would like to emigrate, versus 24% of those who are satisfied.

Further, there is data to suggest the search for better jobs and opportunities to achieve more in life, rather than desperation and an inability to “make it” in their home countries, leads many Latin Americans to want to emigrate.”

The final piece, called Ambition and Emigration Among Latin Americans, confirms that ambition and optimism seem to be the main driving factors behind most Latin American immigrants. People who want to start their own businesses or have ideas for new products also tend to migrate more. Other important factors shown here are lack of confidence in the stability of commercial rules and laws in their home country.

Like I mentioned many times before, for me personally the main motivation to leave was the chaos. I could not stand the violence (and maybe even more important, the constant threat of violence) and the culture. But, I can definitely see why highly productive and ambitious people want to leave. I have evolved professionally here in ways I never thought I would, and I think this was possible not only because I applied myself but also because of the environment here, which tend to push people to give their best all the time.

So Latin America might not be as bad as Africa or the Middle East, but the people there still have plenty of reasons to try and get out.

Small details, big truths

The One Place on Earth Not Destroyed in ‘2012′

For “2012,” Emmerich set his sites on destroying the some biggest landmarks around the world, from Rome to Rio. But there’s one place that Emmerich wanted to demolish but didn’t: the Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure located in the center of Mecca. It’s the focus of prayers and the site of the Hajj, the biggest, most important pilgrimage in Islam.

“Well, I wanted to do that, I have to admit,” the filmmaker told scifiwire.com. “But my co-writer Harald [Kloser] said, ‘I will not have a fatwa on my head because of a movie.’ And he was right.”

And there are still people who say all religions are the same.

This made me laugh

“Election Day losses in Virginia and New Jersey have congressional Democrats focused like never before on jobs — their own.”

Election result: Red-state Dems worried, rethink agenda

By the way, this dynamic nature of the political system here in the US has its flaws but at least allows the public to scare these guys pretty often.

Who would have thought that in less than a year after a solid victory in the last piece of government that they were not in control of, Democrats would be talking about being this concerned?

This is all great news for the country, no matter what party you belong to.

The backlash has begun!

Overcoming Racism

La. official quits after interracial marriage flap

That shows just how there is no institutional racism anymore. Even in this case, where the guy was elected to the position (and therefore could not easily be fired) the social pressure was strong enough to kick him out. That and the civil suit that the couple still filed, of course.

Will this guy remain a racist? Yes. Is there a way to ‘cure’ him? Should we send him to prison? No. He is just a stupid person and stupidity is a very common commodity in any place on earth.

What we do need to have is a society that legally punishes these people accordingly so the victims are not harmed. That system is already in place (albeit not perfectly) and that is a big deal.