First Act:
Obama to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan (Funny, I thought the US should not do these things unilateraly… Where are the other 30k troops provided by NATO?)

Second and Final Act:
The president assures that U.S. forces will begin coming home in July 2011

Or if you prefer, here is the headline the Taleban will be reading:
“US to give up in 2011. Please take an extended vacation here.”

And here is the headline all our current allies in Afghanistan will be reading:
“Help us now – Die in 2011″

From the series: How fans treat their sport heroes (and their opponents) will tell you a lot about their culture.

Some Turkish love on display

And meanwhile, in the land of love:
Love troca socos com torcedores após tentativa de agressão em banco

(If you pay attention, you can actually hear the sound of lefty bloggers furiously searching for videos of violence in some American sport event )

Politics aside, one of the liberal characteristic that gets to my nerves the most is their pessimism.

I bet Burke and some of the old guard would say that this is just the tip of the iceberg – Liberals are always complaining because they always think we need more and more change. It is never enough that society moves forward, we are always going way too slow. If we ever are content, the need for eternal change diminishes and their political survival goes with it.

The problem, of course, is that by being such a pessimistic and whinny bunch, Liberals make things much worse. Once you inflame the public enough, it is hard to calm it down. You add up stupid government taking always populist measures, and you get into a vicious cycle.

But I digress. The reason I am saying I really hate Liberal pessimism is because it is stupid. Intellectually I just cannot take it.

Just take a look at this gem of article and try to understand what I am talking about:
The ’00s: Goodbye (at Last) to the Decade From Hell

Seriously, this is so easy to disprove and such a pathetic collection of arguments that even this guy goes through a dozen mea culpa throughout the article.

What are we talking about here? Are we calling a GDP growth of basically 50% from 2000 to 2009 hell? (see data here). Even for all the madness about we hitting 10% of unemployment, we still have to remember that during the 80s we hit unemployment over 9% for 16 months in a row (March 82 to October 83).

How about our wars? Here the argument is really, truly, pathetic. Are we now calling the loss of approximately 6 thousand soldiers in 10 years hell? Just as a comparison, the US military lost over 15 thousand soldiers in Vietnam in one year (1970) alone.

Any way you look, this article is just total insanity. And the worst part is that this is not an outlier. Lots and lots of people will follow this mindset and continue to believe that we are just miserable and living in a ‘hellish’ time.

—x—

Taking aside my personal peeve with this kind of lunacy, I do have one solid concern related to all of this, which I think I have mentioned before: What happens when we really hit a big roadblock?

What happens if we have another big war, or a huge economic distress (which I would call anything that includes chronic lack of food, energy or other essential services)?

What happens then? Will we be able to overcome? Will we be able to fight back? Or have we become so ‘pussyfied’ as a society that one real crisis will really be our doom?

Honestly I don’t know. And that is something that really concerns me.

Thanks to all American soldiers who are again spending another Thanksgiving away from their families. And thanks Metallica for a fantastic new album, which includes this video which I consider one of the best of all times.

A few (‘bloggable’) things I am thankful for in 2009:

- This was my 5th year working for a big multinational software company, and it was the best one so far. This is a place that truly has changed my view of things. I continue to learn and challenge my limits every single day. I never thought I would meet so many amazingly smart people.

- Not bailing out on the stock market: Most of my investments got close to 50% returns since the end of 2008.

- America’s freedom: We moved yet again to a new city in 2009 and my family and I have never been happier.

- The US and its resiliency: For all the gloom and doom pushed by the media daily, the undeniable truth is that after 2 years in what is considered by some a cataclysmic recession, this is a country where everything continues to function and 90% of its active population is still working and generating wealth. Including me.

More here

2009 is turning out to be one of the best years for movies I can remember.

Very good article about the future of energy production, after oil and coal are gone (or too politically incorrect).

This part should tell you something:
“To obtain 20 kilowatt-hours per day from wind, one person would require roughly 330 square meters of wind farm — or, to put it another way, would need to share a big 2-megawatt turbine with 600 friends. To get the same power from deserts would require roughly 50 square meters of concentrating solar power station — the same area as a typical British house. And 20 kilowatt hours per day from nuclear power would require roughly a one-millionth share of a modern nuclear power station.

If a country with the size and population of Britain — 61 million people — adopted that mix, the land area occupied by wind farms would be nearly 10 percent of the country, or roughly the size of Wales. The area occupied by desert solar power stations — in the case of Britain, they would have to be connected by long-distance power lines — would be five times the size of London. The 50 nuclear power stations required would occupy a more modest 50 square kilometers.”

Nuclear, here we come baby.

Paralyzed Man Was Awake for 23 Years, Not in Vegetative State

I wonder how many people got ‘terminated’ after incorrectly diagnosed as being in a vegetative state…

Great news is that our tech is getting better so honest mistakes can be avoided. Bad news is that some political forces might turn out to be against using such technologies. After all, will the government pay for the wait? It is so much easier to pull the plug and cut the costs, isn’t it?

118 Days, 12 Hours, 54 Minutes
“On June 21, reporter Maziar Bahari was rousted out of bed and taken to Tehran’s notorious Evin prison—accused of being a spy for the CIA, MI6, Mossad…and NEWSWEEK. This is the story of his captivity—and of an Iran whose rampant paranoia underpins an ever more fractured regime.”

Very good, worth reading the whole thing.

Hasan ‘has no sensation’ below chest

One of the few things that made me rethink my support of death penalty.

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.

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:
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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Lula from 2000 makes a lot of sense! hehehehehehehehehehe

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.

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.