Letras Nocturnas

Of nocturnal forays into life

2010-07-24T17:38:00.001-07:00

Last night I left my home late, I ventured into the night and indulged my wishes.

Last night I walked the streets and arrived at a place of wonder and fascination.

Last night I was not alone but my companion was not the person sitting beside me.

Last night I came home in somebody else’s clothes, with somebody else’s scent.

Of carbon structures and the musings they induce….

2010-03-22T04:48:00.001-07:00

I'm happy to know I'll live long enough to see this world collapse on itself, and see it burn on a fire set by its own settlers, to see all this façade of a life exposed for what it is, and this shameful species reduced to a dying ember, a vague memory of the fire that once raged unchecked throughout this planet.

In any case, once the supply of dead dinosaur that remains burns out, the powers that be will burn the world looking for more right? They’ve already done it…

Of silence and disconnection

2010-03-20T02:37:00.002-07:00

Ever felt you’re at a place where you do not belong? Say, a gathering where you are not acquainted with any of the attendees? That, I believe, is a common occurrence. Most people have been in such a situation at some point in their lives. In such a situation, a person usually does not expect to be addressed, and it’s not unusual for said person’s comments to go unnoticed or outright ignored, the person (being an outsider) naturally excluded. That sort of environment drives our hypothetical subject either into withdrawal or into asserting him or herself by means of discussion, arguments, antics or perhaps even aggression.

And then comes my particular case.

You see, dear readers, having grown up rather distanced from most social settings, I end up taking the place of our subject on most occasions that involve socialization. I usually find myself excluded from conversation, my comments blatantly ignored, even when speaking to family, and it’s not due to a lack of assertion or verbal skill, as I have always been able to talk myself into or out of any situation as circumstances require. Perhaps my particularly individualistic upbringing turned me into an incorrigible outsider, even in the most familiar ambience.

I believe this deserves more analysis.

Of comebacks, layoffs, and life in general…

2010-03-12T19:21:00.002-08:00

Bonsoir, mes chês lecteurs! I hope you missed me! It’s been long since I last wrote, too long, perhaps. There have been many stories, happennings, indicents, damage dealt and struggled recoveries since I last came to visit you (almost a year) in this little space of mine. It starts with a menial job at a callcenter, followed by my adaptation to living alone, then by a time of fun and games, after that a period of intense feelings, followed by a crash of equal magnitude, a period of serious instability fueled by contemporary events and the history of the past year-and-a-half, of which I have barely recovered about two months ago. My life turned uninteresting for a good while, and then it was getting interesting when... I was told I'm going to be laid off soon... Ouch. That is, of course in the process of being corrected. Expect more news soon from me, as I intend to keep on writing this time. I’m Back from the ashes again.

Rêves doux

Of another year crawling to its end....

2009-12-23T23:45:00.002-08:00

Bonsoir, mes chês lecteurs. Its been a long year, a year of progress and transition, change, joy, pain, and ultimately, growing. I'm not the same person I was a year ago, yet I'm still me. I still walk forward, tall and proud, undefeated, even though I came close to the ground. For those who walk the path this life lays before us with me, thank you. You know who you are and what you mean to me. That I have never refrained from showing, never kept to myself. I hope you continue walking with me.
To those of you who worried about me, be at ease, for it takes much more to bring me to my grave. I'm still here, and this world shall not rid itself of me for very long.
Let us then, take some advantage of a tradition, and turn an otherwise meaningless moment in life into a point of reflection, and a time of celebration. We survived another year, we learned, gained, lost, enjoyed, suffered, in short, lived, through another trip around Sol. Let's make sure we survive the next.
So, on that note, and withouts further ado, mes chês lecteurs:
Onwards! The future awaits....

2009-12-23T23:44:00.001-08:00

Docking procedures complete

2009-05-26T09:54:00.001-07:00

Initiating refit

Welcome home

Starbase ready…

2009-05-21T23:23:00.001-07:00

Docking port open…

Starbase protocols have been transmitted…

Beginning docking procedure.

Alert the starbase…

2009-05-18T09:26:00.002-07:00

Open the docking bay…

I’m coming home!

You again…

2009-04-19T20:36:00.001-07:00

I hope you are happy with what you did. I hope you are brave enough to one day come out and admit that all that “I care about what happens to you” and “this is your home” is bullshit. You did way more damage than you imagine, and you picked some fine moment to do so. Don’t forget what you did because I sure as hell am not going to. You know who you are, and if you know me as you so petulantly claim, you know that there will be a reckoning.

And the madness overruns my city again...

2009-04-11T00:57:00.001-07:00

So, the overflow of fervor is back, again. The TV is saturated with Jesus stories, religious movies, and their like. Oh, and of course, the processions...

It's most annoying.

Anyway, I don't feel much like writing at the time, but I'll be back soon.

Rêves doux.

Of essays that had to be written...

2008-11-13T21:39:00.001-08:00

Bonsoir, mes chês lecteurs, comment ça va? Here's a little essay I had to write. I hope you enjoy it.

Conformismo forzado

O porqué se nos hace creer que es bueno renunciar a nuestra identidad personal

¿Quién no se ha visto obligado a conformarse cuando menos una vez en su vida? El requerimiento de indumentaria de esta particular ocasión es un claro ejemplo de ello. La justificación detrás de dicho requerimiento es que constituye una preparación para un futuro profesional, porque, como dice el vox populi, “Como te ven, te tratan”. Tristemente eso es cierto, lo cual no significa que sea correcto.

Antes de proseguir, un breve antecedente.

La conformidad es el proceso a través del cual las actitudes, opiniones y comportamientos de un individuo son influenciados por otras personas. Esto puede ser el resultado de influencias sutiles o incluso inconscientes, o de presión social.

Sin embargo, el conformismo por si mismo no necesariamente es negativo. A final de cuentas, cuando al manejar, uno se detiene ante la luz roja, esta llevando a cabo un acto de conformismo, que en este caso particular, es benéfico tanto para el individuo, como para la sociedad. Basta con imaginar lo que resultaría si todos los residentes del Distrito Federal y áreas conurbadas se decidieran a ignorar los semáforos para apreciar el valor de un acto así.

¿Pero que pasa cuando esa conformidad no solo es una imposición, sino que no beneficia ni al individuo, ni a la sociedad? Eso priva a la conformidad de cualquier tinte positivo que pueda tener, convirtiéndola en un medio de opresión. En otras palabras, la conformación voluntaria no es algo nocivo, finalmente todos nos conformamos de una manera u otra, por una plétora de razones; pero la imposición de una conformidad daña la individualidad de una persona.

Cabe notar que la conformidad forzada puede pasar de ser algo incómodo a algo abiertamente dañino. Varias veces a lo largo de la historia se podido observar ese efecto. De hecho, es una herramienta favorita de los regimenes totalitarios. Cómo olvidar a la GESTAPO de Alemania y los miles de prisioneros políticos que desaparecieron bajo la directiva Nacht und Nebel y todas las minorías que intentaron hacer desaparecer por la fuerza, la KGB de la URSS y su constante supresión de “ideas heterodoxas” y la persecución de disidentes o incluso las acciones que tomo Estados Unidos a través de la CIA contra cualquier ciudadano del cual sospecharan nexos con el comunismo. Un par de pasos atrás en la historia nos presentan a la Santa Inquisición, creada por la iglesia para convertir o destruir a cualquier hereje que osara no conformarse con ellos. En todos estos casos, ese conformismo hizo mal a los que lo siguieron ciegamente, viendo en el una solución única, y peor a los que trataron de no seguirlo.

No puedo evitar preguntar: ¿Porque? ¿A qué propósito sirve esa imposición? ¿Control? Tal vez una persona desindividualizada sea mas manejable. ¿Intolerancia? Es posible también que al creer en la superioridad de las opiniones y costumbres, una persona, y posteriormente un grupo se sienta obligado a hacer que otros sigan esas costumbres, bajo la creencia de que eso es bueno para el sujeto de tal acción. O tal vez no. De cualquier manera, cuando se exacerba esa conformidad, se llega no solo a la pérdida de la individualidad, sino al fomento del pensamiento colectivo, y la perdida de la razón individual, junto con el discernimiento y el criterio que se requieren para la toma de decisiones conscientes.

La conformidad puede llegar a ser benéfica, si, siempre y cuando ocurra no como una imposición, ni como obediencia ciega, sino como una decisión tomada conscientemente, sabiendo lo que se hace.

En realidad, una imposición sobre algo que es intrínsicamente individual devalúa a la persona, volviéndolo uno más, como si hubiera salido de una fábrica, producido en serie.

Esa individualidad, más que suprimida, debería ser celebrada. Es lo que hace que tengamos un valor como individuos más allá de nuestra utilidad para la sociedad en la que vivimos, lo que hace que seamos más que piezas en una maquina. El individuo, por tanto, debería ser juzgado no por su apariencia, ni por su “normalidad”, sino por sus talentos, sus conocimientos, y su calidad humana.

Por desgracia, eso no es la norma, y parece que la norma actual prevalecerá por mucho tiempo. Es por eso que uno como individuo, dentro del conformismo del que pueda ser parte, debe valorar su individualidad, y en la medida de lo posible expresarla.

Rêves doux

Economic havoc

2008-10-23T13:36:00.001-07:00

Bonsoir, mes chês lecteurs. How have you been? Me, I've been through the gauntlet two or three times, but came out with no more than scrapes and bruises. And speaking of gauntlets, world's economy seems to be going to hezmana lately, and it's taking mine with it. What's next? Alien invasion? A killer quake?

Oh, no, you shall not see me fall yet!

2008-10-15T21:00:00.001-07:00

After what has easily been one of the worst seasons in my existence, I come to you my dear readers, and say this to you.

This world shall not see me go down yet. I'm not done with this life, and I'm not done with you. I still stand, tall and proud as I should.

Onwards!

Of obsession with fiction and the reason behind it

2008-06-25T22:24:00.006-07:00

I have been musing, as I often do, on the topic of people's obsession with religious fiction. Whenever you ask a feligious fanatic/fundamentalist and even more moderate believers to prove some part of their faith, the answer is often the same: "Because the bible/Al-Qur’ān/talmud says so and it is the inerrant word of allah/jehovah/god/etc". They take their preferred bit of fiction as fact whithout a moment of doubt in its veracity. Now consider for a moment how these people would react to someone publishing a book with the premise of the world being created by the Q continuum. I'm sure they would see it as pure fiction and nothing more. Why is it then that they don't see their respective holy books as the fiction they are? The reason that comes more easily to mind is indoctrination. I have mentioned before that I find the idea of religious "education" of children as a truly contemptible one, as it is forcing one's beliefs over someone else, worse even, someone else incapable of distinguishing fact from fiction and taking the dogma he or she is being fed, as truth. Furthermore, in the case of the bible (and I'm almost sure it applies to other holy books as well), the belief of its inerrancy is so deeply ingrained that those indoctrinated doublethink their way out of its obvious contradictions. The fact that dogma can supress reason in such a manner is utterly apalling. Not to mention the sheer power of indoctrination (Take a look at Richard Dawkins' Root of all Evil p.2 for a wider view on that one). The point here being the disservice religious education does to humanity in general, converting people into absolute irrationality. That's why I think that religious education should be illegal, just like drinking or smoking, for minors.

Come on, Eureka too?

2008-05-29T22:32:00.005-07:00

So, I've been watching this fairly recent series named Eureka, about a town filled with the greatest scientific minds of the US, all in all a rather interesting series for a science and sci-fi nut like me. Season one and everything's lovely, season two and all's well until episode ten. Why, because the writers were utterly incapable of envisioning a town without a damned church, even if the town is filled with the greatest of American geniuses. Oh, and to top things off, the churchgoing was pretty slim until things strarted to go biblical-awry and then the bloody church is filled to capacity. Well done, sci-fi channel, thank you for reinforcing the stereotype of the false atheist, ready to turn believer at the flick of a match. The sad thing is that it has been a good series so far. Hopefully, they won't further wreck with it more religious nonsense.

Rêves doux.

Of theocrat hierarchs and their opinions

2008-04-18T17:32:00.003-07:00

Bonsoir, mes chês lecteurs, comment allez vous? Today I bring you this. Apparently the pope not only dislikes the existence of other religions in the world, he criticizes "Secularist ideology", which according to him, denies any kind of "trascendent truth". I'm quite sure that his view of in ideal world is a global theocracy, ruled by none other than himself, who knows, maybe bring the inquisition back, for old times sake. It is fortunate that he is the head of state of a really tiny country, though it is unfortunate that so many people heed his ill-concieved words.
And on the note of ill-conceived words, have you heard of the 7 new capital sins? I find it most paradoxical (not to mention hypocritical) that they had the audacity to put among those "sins" one about becoming obscenely rich at the expense of others, since the Catholic church has been doing it for more than a thousand years, and continues to do so today.

Of government-assisted religious transgression

2008-04-05T01:45:00.004-08:00

Bonsoir, mes chês lecteurs, aujourd'hui je suis furieux. Je suis furieux parce que le gouvernement de mon pays a décidé d'offrir quatre-vingt-dix Millions de Pesos (MXN) a l'eglise catholique. Quatre-vingt-dix millions! It is truly outrageous. This particular transgression comes from the state of Jalisco (which is notorious for the borderline and not-so-borderline religious fanaticism of most of its inhabitants). I'm sure you can understand my anger at this event. Oh, and to top things off, the ninety million are to be used to build a monument to catholic martyrs of the Cristero war, when their so called "martyrs" were the ones who started the war and committed the atrocities during the conflict (Further reading here). Mexico is by law a secular nation, and this is an open violation of said law (pdf). As it has come to be expected, the governor of Jalisco is a member of the National Action Party (PAN). The church constantly violates the Law of Religious Associations and Public Cult, one of the more recent incidents being their attempt to coerce congresspeople into not legalizing abortion here in the city by threatening them with excommunication (I'm sure that only scared the people from PAN).

Para cerrar, los que vivan en México y sean seres racionales, y los que no vivan en México y tengan un lugar especial en su corazón para este pais nuestro, no se queden callados ante este abuso. Ese dinero es de todos los contribuyentes y no es correcto que lo desperdicien, mucho menos regalándoselo a una asociación religiosa (notando particularmente que esta asociación, la iglesia católica, no necesita ese dinero para un monumento, porque estoy seguro que el retrete del papa cuesta mas que eso). Que sepa el ciudadano gobernador Emilio Gonzalez que no importa que maquille el asunto como que le está dando dinero a una Asociación Civil, no engaña a nadie.

If anyone requires a tranlation of anything I wrote, feel free to ask for it.

Rêves Doux, chês lecteurs.

Of secularity and belief

2008-03-30T23:46:00.003-08:00

Bonsoir mes chês lecteurs! Every country seems to have a party that favors the participation of religion in politics, or at least the creation of laws that enforce religious "values". In the US it's the Republican Party, here in Mexico it's the National Action Party (hereafter referred to as PAN). The PAN originally was a center party that was ready to favor either left or right policies, if those were to favor the country and its people, but it became a highly conservative, right-wing, "christian democratic" party (I cringe whenever I hear christian and democracy together). PAN has opposed same-sex civil unions, legalization of abortion, day-after pills (One member of the party went so far as to call them "weapons of mass destruction"). Fortunately, Mexico, with all its wrongs and flaws, has very strict Church-State separation laws. One example of this in action was seen during the campaign of Vicente Fox Quesada (President, 2000, 2006) when he used the standard of the Virgin of Guadalupe as a symbol of run for presidency. His effort was quickly stopped and he was given a fine of about 2'000 dollars (a mere slap in the wrist, but a powerful message none the less). Still, the battle is far from over. Catholic priests and bishops have the bad habit of meddling in politics (Exempli Gratia: The church threatening to excommunicate politicians who voted in favor of legalizing abortion here in MX City), particularly the big bad wolf Norberto Rivera.

Fortunately for us atheists, we are not even remotely as hated or discriminated here as in the US, so hopefully we'll one day have an atheist president.

The current president is a member of PAN. Luckily enough he is kept from being too harmful because PAN does not have majority in congress. Some of the less rational of their policies in states governed by PAN are forbidding the use of miniskirts by public employees and outlawing the use of profanity in public marketplaces (Guadalajara and Queretaro).

The sad truth is there is not a "Best Choice" in politics here, rather a less harmful one. Oh well, I'm sure you all know how that feels.

Rêves Doux

Of atheism and blogrolling

2008-03-28T21:45:00.002-08:00

Bonsoir, mes chês lecteurs. Comment ça va? As you may see to your right, I joined the atheist blogroll, grouping blogs with a common theme and/or recurring topic: Atheism (Yeah, overdramatic, and that much was obvious by the name). So, do take a look at the various blogs in the roll, I'm certain you will find many things of interest!

Rêves Doux!

De salvajismo e intolerancia

2008-03-13T00:00:00.002-08:00

Como pocas veces, me he sentido indignado con una noticia reciente. Es ya del conocimiento público el incidente que transcurrió en la Plaza de Armas de Querétaro, asi que no hay necesidad de elaborar sobre el tema. Mas información aquí, aquí y acá.

Estas personas decidieron agredir a los emos por ser diferentes. No muy distinto de, digamos, la inquisición española. Les pareció qe los emos no tienen lugar, por su forma de pensar y vestirse, en Querétaro y decidieron atacarlos. ¿Porqué diablos tienen que caer en eso? ¿Qué demonios importa si se ven feos o chillan mucho? Los emos tienen todo el derecho del mundo de ser emos, tanto como yo tengo de ser gótico, y tanto como los imbéciles que los atacaron tienen de ser unos abyectos imbéciles. Pero de lo que no tienen derecho es de agredir a otros por sus diferencias. ¿Cómo carajos pueden hablar de respeto a la plaza cuando ellos no supieron respetar la diversidad que ahí había? No es muy grande la distancia entre un acto de agresión coordinada como este y un odio generalizado que por lo general acaba con la muerte de mas de uno. Ningún ser humano que se llame racional puede aceptar un acto barbárico como este.

Además, basta con leer algunos de los sitios anti-emo para darse cuenta, no solo de la escasa educación de quienes los sostienen, sino del tono de odio insensato que manejan. Esa clase de odio ya lo he visto, en grupos Anti-semitas, Anti-ateos, Homofóbicos...

Para recibir respeto hay que darlo. Esas personas, a las que agredieron, son seres humanos y merecen el mismo respeto que todos los demas, independientemente de sus gustos personales.

Otras opiniones en Firenation y en el blog de Gh0stface.

Of religion and morality (or lack thereof)

2008-03-08T22:18:00.003-08:00

Bonsoir, mes chês lecteurs! Comment ça va. I read an inspiring piece of news and decided to comment on it (link is further down), enjoy.

I've read time and again of christians labeling us atheists as immoral, citing the supposed need for religion in order to be a good citizen (which is utter bollocks, mind you). Funny how they abstain from commenting on one of their own endorsing acts which are widely seen not only as immoral, but also as atrocious. In case you are expecting an example, I have one right here:

Bush vetoed a law that would prohibit waterboarding interrogation in the CIA.

Now, you may be asking yourselves, what the bloody hell is waterboarding?

Wikipedia defines waterboarding as follows:

Waterboarding is a form of torture that consists of immobilizing a person on their back with the head inclined downward (the Trendelenburg position), and pouring water over the face and into the breathing passages. Through forced suffocation and inhalation of water, the subject experiences the process of drowning and is made to believe that death is imminent. In contrast to merely submerging the head face-forward, waterboarding almost immediately elicits the gag reflex. Although waterboarding does not always cause lasting physical damage, it carries the risks of extreme pain, damage to the lungs, brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation, injuries (including broken bones) due to struggling against restraints, and even death. The psychological effects on victims of waterboarding can last for years after the procedure.

You can read the complete Wikipedia entry here.

Just so you know, waterboarding was a technique used by the Spanish inquisition.

So, Bush wants the CIA to keep on performing "Autos de Fe" on suspected terrorists, how lovingly benevolent and humane of him...

Now, president Bush is a devout christian, he himself has stated that. Furthermore, he even stated that he, as a christian, did not believe atheists could be good citizens. Yet he wants to keep the CIA torturing people as they see fit. That says quite a bit about christian morality, don't you think, mes chers lecteurs?

Rêves doux.

Of failed concerts, weapon injuries and overall good days.

2008-03-05T10:41:00.002-08:00

So, mes chês lecteurs, I've been gone for a while, but I'm back and posting.

If you are wondering about the title, it refers to the Mandragora's Fest, which was a mini-treffen attempt here in Mexico City. The concept was nice, and the event itself was not so bad. There were many medieval attractions (I actually hurt my hand with and arrow, a huge splinter stuck in my finger whilst I was shooting it) quite a few gothic and medieval stands and good fun. Joculatore Domini deserves a special mention, as they not only knew their instruments but also had the charisma to make quite a great show. Oh, there was also an "Arabian House", with bellydancers and hukkas (water smoking-pipes). Overall it was a nice day. I got my rear end handed over to me by my dear lady in sword combat, but took my revenge in what we call cotton swab combat (The combatants are placed with little space to move or maneuver armed with staffs that have big stuffy ends. They must then attempt to knock the other opponent off his or her place).

But it was far from perfect. It was unorganized, and the stands were scattered all over the place like an mp3 on a FAT32 partition. And it was not a small place, mind you. Security at the entrance was adamant about removing any metal spikes, and everyone complied only to find out that they were selling spikes, swords, maces and daggers inside.

And then things took a turn for the worst.

The local bands played, and after that there was an hour long wait before Clan of Xymox climbed on the stage.

So, Xymox, plays and everyone is hopping happy, until the manager of Atrocity asked them not to go through the whole repertoire because they had a plane to catch at 6 am (it was about 1 am at this point). Xymox tells him to go to hell, he pulls their plug. Then As it was Atrocity and Leave's Eyes turn to perform, the generator went out and stayed out for quite a while. When it came back, the surge disabled Atrocity's equipment and they couldn't play. They tried to save the situation by singing acapella, but the crowd was somewhat aggressive and they got insulted off the stage. After that, they told us that To/Die/For would be playing later. We went to a nearby bonfire and heard some people play the flute and enjoyed ourselves for a while before leaving. We'd been standing or walking for almost 12 hours straight, plus it was freezing out there, so we didn't stay to see the last two bands. It was a shame that the concert was not so good due to the lack of proper organization, but all in all it was a good event, hope they learn from their mistakes and make a better one next year.

Rêves Doux

Ever seen one of those little bibles in a hotel room?

2008-02-09T22:52:00.002-08:00

They're place there by this group called "The Gideons".

Their chosen name is taken from a biblical character who supposedly was sycophantically obedient to "God" (and heard his commands directly). Among his great feats were destroying the altars of other religions.

So, these Gideons are a christian organization dedicated to spreading their belief all over the world, incluiding Mexico (I'll go into more detail of their operations here in my next post).

Now, they claim they used the Gideon story because

"Gideon was a man who was willing to do exactly what God wanted him to do, regardless of his own judgment as to the plans or results. Humility, faith, and obedience were his great elements of character. This is the standard that The Gideons International is trying to establish in all its members, each man to be ready to do God's will at any time, at any place, and in any way that the Holy Spirit leads."

Of course, since there is no direct connection to this "God" other than the pastors or the bible, they're pretty much looking for someone that will do anything as long as they cite the name "God" along with those orders.

I took the liberty of going through their FAQ and found these two quite outstanding (comments in yellow):

Is The Gideons International a denomination or a church?

No. The Gideons are an association that works with Protestant/evangelical churches. Our members come from many denominations, live all over the world, and share a desire to see the lost come to Christ.

To be read as: "a desire to impose our nonsensical beliefs over the whole damn world". They also happen to consider as "lost" anyone who doesn't share said belief. According to them no non-christian can be truly happy and successful in life. I'm quite certain I'm an example of the opposite, and I know quite a few others that fit into that description too.

What do Gideons believe?

The Gideons International is a diverse association in that our members come from many Protestant denominations with a common interest in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. All Gideons also hold certain core beliefs:

The Bible is the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God.

This point should should be unsurprising, coming from the people who believe themselves to be at the center of the universe. Also, this "inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God" is self contradictory (take the gospels of Luke and Matthew as an example) and written by human beings. I wonder If part of evangelizing a "lost" person is teaching them to doublethink* their way around things like those.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God.

And they devote themselves to follow the alleged teachings of someone who lived two thousand years ago, and believed himself to be the son of god. Medicine has long identified this particular type of psychosis. Its called schizophrenia, with some delusions of grandeur.

Members must also:

Have received Jesus as their personal Savior.
Endeavor to follow Him in their daily lives.
Be members in good standing in their Protestant/evangelical churches.
Have the recommendation of their pastors.

Apparently, these Gideons will not stop until they have managed to convert every last person on the world to christianity. While not quite as bloody as a jihad, the principle behind it is the same. the misguided belief that their belief is unequivocally superior, without proof to sustain such an assumption.

I will follow this post with more about the Gideons activities.

Rêves Doux

*Doublethink is the act of simultaneously and fervently holding two mutually contradictory beliefs. it was used in the novel 1984 by George Orwell

Warning! Temperature exceeding nominal levels. Warp Core shutdown in thirty seconds

2008-02-05T17:40:00.001-08:00

I really don't like having a damned fever...

Of bringing order to chaos

2008-01-29T23:29:00.001-08:00

So, after a while and some effort I managed to turn this storeroom I've been living in into some decent living quarters. It took long but it was worth it!

Random musings

2008-01-26T19:01:00.001-08:00

It had previously occurred to me that a human usually is defined by its genes, its upbringing and its environment. Most of our traits have been developed through aeons of evolution and adaptation.

So the big question is, how much of me, as an example for the sake of argument, is a product of genetics and environment, and how much is "me"?

Furthermore, it can be argued that most of me is me, with some contribution from genetics and environment, but it can also be argued that reality is in fact, the other way around.

This, of course, does not intend to be a determinist statement. While our decisions may be influenced by genetics and environment, all decisions we make are ultimately ours. My question is aimed not to expose an impairment to free will, but to understand how personality as a whole is constituted, and how that free will of ours is used. Unfortunately, no one has a precise answer to this question.

Yet.

It stands to reason that, as genetic and cerebral knowledge increases, this question of mine may one day see an answer, but meanwhile, I'm hoping to spark a debate, if you're interested.

If you wish to discuss it, I will be online at the chat to your right tomorrow night (27-01-08, 11:00PM -6GMT).

Also, I would appreciate suggestions on post subjects, all comments welcome!

Rêves doux!

Of wind and the city

2008-01-23T23:25:00.001-08:00

Bonsoir, mes chers lecteurs, comment ça va?

We had a very windy day here in MX City, I understand a good portion of the city is still without power (with me not being in that portion, fortunately). There were lots of leaves, some branches and ads scattered around everywhere. Even a few trees were knocked off.

I just love windy days!

Rêves Doux

Coming up this year!

2008-01-23T11:10:00.001-08:00

So, yeah, I know it's a bit late for this kind of post, but hell, these are good things to expect!

Fallout 3. We've been waiting for this damned game for ten years. also, we had to suffer one half-good game and and abject misuse of the franchise name (Fallout Brotherhood of Steel for the Xbox).

Starcraft 2. Another decade of waiting, blizzard finally decided to publish the sequel.

Star Trek Online. A star trek MMORPG! Need I say more? It's a dream come true!

A new Star Trek movie. About the exploits of a young captain Kirk and company in their academy days, YAY!

Soul Calibur IV. The newest of the series. I'm impossibly bad at fighting games and therefore, I don't like them, but SoulCalibur has long been the exception. Can't wait to see what they can do with the newer hardware. Also, Yoda and Vader will be appearing! Who would have thought?

Rêves Doux

One pernicious mental illness

2008-01-23T10:21:00.001-08:00

It is my impression that religious belief has a lot of similarities with schizophrenia or other mental ailments. In particular, fanatical belief, as is demonstrated by this lovely piece of news. So, this idiot sees what he believes to be the mark of the devil in his hand, and proceeds to lop it off himself because the bible tells him so...

So let's analyse this shall we?

Wikipedia defines schizophrenia as follows:

Schizophrenia, from the Greek roots schizein (σχίζειν, "to split") and phrēn, phren- (φρήν, φρεν-, "mind"), is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a mental illness characterized by impairments in the perception or expression of reality, most commonly manifesting as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions or disorganized speech and thinking in the context of significant social or occupational dysfunction.

Now let us compare it with religious belief:

Auditory hallucinations: The most devout believers claim to hear their deity of choice.

Paranoid or bizarre delusions: Many believers claim they are under the watchful gaze of an all mighty but improbable god who will banish them to some fictitional hell if they do not behave according to some self contradicting book written millenia ago.

Therefore, their perception of reality is highly impaired. I wonder why that has not yet been classified as a mental illness...

Rêves Doux

Reporting live...

2008-01-22T22:39:00.001-08:00

Bonsoir, mes ches lecteurs! I was checking the Rational Response Squad website (I'll post about them soon) and I came across this social site called Stickam. Now, I don't care much for social networking sites, but this one has a particularly interesting function which you can now see on the right side of this blog of mine. It allows me to appear live for you every now and then. I intend to do this often, mostly around midnight -6 GMT. If you care to come visit, you are welcome to do so. See you around!

Reves Doux

Requiem for a Chessmaster

2008-01-20T21:54:00.001-08:00

Bobby Fischer, 1972 World Chess Champion at age 29, died in Reykjavik on January 17, 2007

Sobre fanáticos ignorantes

2008-01-17T21:19:00.001-08:00

Una anécdota del blog de Ryksz (No es para tanto, chequen los links) me llevó a recordar un par de encuentros con una fanática ignorante.

Para darle contexto al asunto, tengan en cuenta que es la clase de fanática ignorante que se avienta un viaje semanal a la basílica de la ciudad. Dicho eso, procedamos.

En una ocasión me dama estaba con ella en la cocina, observando con curiosidad cómo preparaba el pastel de atún. La persona en cuestión, antes de meter el atún al horno lo persinó. Si, leyeron bien, persinó el atún. No solo eso, sino que tambien dijo con una ufanía sorprendente: "El diablo está en todas partes". Mi novia respondío, con un sarcasmo que esta persona fue incapaz de percibir, "Si, hasta en el atún".

Ahora viene la buena.

Una vez me preguntó que si estaba yo bautizado, a lo cual yo respondí que si, pero no por elección propia y que ese hecho me molesta. Ella me dijo que es el deber de TODO EL MUNDO bautizar a sus niños (si, de los ateos, musulmanes, budistas, hindúes, wiccas, etc. también) y que las personas que no son bautizadas son como animalitos sin dueño. Al encontrar yo tan ofensivo ese estúpido comentario, le informé que lo que decía no era cierto, que nadie tene la obligacion de hacer eso, y le trate de mostrar como ejemplo los grupos arriba mencionados, y si, como se imaginan me dijo que no importaba, que todos tienen esa obligación y que yo no sabía de lo que hablaba.

Lo más triste es que hay mucha mas gente como ella.

Dulces Sueños

Like a phoenix

2008-01-15T23:59:00.001-08:00

Without the need to burn to the ground, of course. What I mean is renewal, and as some of you may notice, this blog of mine has undergone some of it. Hope you like it!

Of my quarters requiring rearrangement and other problems.

2008-01-15T22:29:00.001-08:00

So, dear readers, I have been away from you again, but I will try not to. What can I say. Nothing quite big happening around here aside from two spectacular failures an a need for me to rearrange my room to maximize useful space, but there is only so much you can do in a somewhat cluttered room. Also I may bite my pride a bit and get a regular job, seeing how clients appear to be absent and I therefore am low on economic resources. Inevitably there will be a few flights of fancy that will result in crash-landings of reality. Oh well, one must march on to the future, whatever that may be.

Rêves Doux.

Reading comics...

2007-12-05T23:21:00.001-08:00

Bonsoir, mes chers lecteurs, comment ça va tojours? A dear friend of mine was kind enough to share his neil gaiman comic collection, so I've just devoured Death - The High Cost of Living. Gaiman is quite good.

On other news, I happen to see a forced eviction today. Not a nice business. There were even some riot policemen, to prevent any confrontations, I presume.

oh, well. Rêves doux, chers lecteurs

Ice?

2007-12-03T21:35:00.001-08:00

Bonsoir, mes chers lecteurs, comment ça va? Any of you both here in the city and elsewhere in the world heard of the ice skating rink they set up in the Zocalo (downtown plaza) here in the city? Its very pretty and over three thousand square meters in size, and a waste of money considering the other unattended needs. Not to be mean, it's nice to have pretty things like that in one's city. Not to be unfair, it's privately funded. But the cost of keeping it running until January 12th might as well be spent helping restore Tabasco which is still in very poor conditions, don't you think?

Rêves doux.

You may have already seen one of these...

2007-12-01T21:13:00.001-08:00

If you live in MX City. Bonsoir, mes chers lecteurs, comment ça va?

I recently came across an Alcoholimeter Checkpoint (that's what we call breathalyzers here, Alcoholimeter) and the police officers there were kind enough to let me snap this photo of it.

The breathalyzer is an Intoxilyzer® 400 Made by CMI Inc. Breathalyzers are not 100% accurate and might produce abnormally low or high alcohol counts given a situation. Here in Mexico, if you believe you have been detained unjustly due to a wrong B-Alyzer test, you can request a blood test, which the state must provide. Also, so you know, onion, mouthwash or breathmints can fool a person but not one of these, before you try anything funny. Oh, mind you, the checkpoints have a towing truck readily available, so if you don't pass the test, I do believe your vehicle gets towed, so to add insult to injury, you would have to go get it an pay an extra fine too.

Rêves Doux, chers lecteurs!

Been to the theatre recently?

2007-11-29T23:34:00.001-08:00

I just did! Bonsoir, mes ches lecteurs! I was given tickets for a play named The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales (which was originally a movie).

I highly recommend it. It has a good deal of morbid humor, religious fanaticism is mocked, some very nice acting... all in all a very nice play.

Season's over but if you live in Mx City and wish to go, next season is in January.

Info on the original movie here.

Rêves doux!

Oh, so that's what it looked like when it was young...

2007-11-28T22:31:00.001-08:00

Bonsoir, mes chers lecteurs! Comment ça va? See this? Imagine seeing how this dear galaxy of ours looked like in its early eons. Thanks to more advanced telescopes, astronomers were able to see small patches of faint light that will merge (have already? maybe they're so far away that what we're seeing happened an eternity ago and the galaxy is now as formed as ours) to form a baby galaxy.

Beautiful, is it not?

Rêves doux!

So, they agreed to reopen...

2007-11-27T19:01:00.001-08:00

And I was hoping for a permanent shutdown. Bonsoir, mes ches lecteurs! So, they decided to reopen the cathedral at downtown MxCity, with mandatory searches on all those going in by the PBI (Industrial and Bank Police). And on top of all, some of those faithfully going to be told how to lead their irrelevant lives by their chosen imaginary friend representative complain about the extra security, go figure.

Oh well, someone willing to believe that the social standards from two millennia ago are the truth of truths, and that all other beliefs are false and therefore erroneous is not a very intelligent person to begin with, is it? Oh well, you all know how I feel about religion.

Rêves Doux

And they probably did it willingly...

2007-11-26T22:14:00.001-08:00

Bonsoir, mes chers lecteurs, comment allez vous?The limits to which idiocy can go, never really cease to amaze, do they? Especially religious idiocy. Today I came across this bit of news.

So the family believes these two women have been cursed and proceed to exorcise them, first damaging their eyes and then drowning one of them.

Just how much claptrap are these people willing to believe, and worse, act upon?

Rêves doux

Super Mouse

2007-11-25T21:41:00.001-08:00

And I'm not talking about the cartoon. Bonsoir mes ches lecteurs, comment ça va? look at this little curiosity I found.

A genetically enhanced mouse.

By tweaking this rodent's genome (specifically the gene responsible for the PEPCK-C), they managed to enhance it, to the point that it can run at a speed of 1.2 Km per hour for about six hours. Talk about endurance.

This little achievement is explained by the extra mitochondria in their muscles, which also explains why they eat twice as much but weigh half as much as a normal lab mouse since they burn whatever comes in.

There is a little side effect, though. These overpowered mice happen to be rather aggressive.

And I return...

2007-11-25T01:25:00.000-08:00

Albeit, tired, mes ches lecteurs! Tonight was the VNV Nation concert! And a lovely concert it was. Despite the fact that it was tiresome (that, or I'm really getting old), it was quite nice. Mr Harris was very charismatic, and their repertoire as good as expected, perhaps even more. If anyone of you, chers lecteur wnet, I hope you enjoyed it as well. In the meantime, I sleep.
Rêves Doux.

I return with more news from beyond!

2007-11-23T20:35:00.001-08:00

The atmosphere, of course. Bonsoir, mes ches lecteurs! Remember that new module for the ISS I was telling you about? Well, the crew of the ISS just took a 7 hour spacewalk to properly install and connect the module. Watch:

Imagine the view! These two are the ones who did all the spacework, (right to left) Station Commander Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Dan Tani:

Oh, I do envy them greatly, mes chers lecteurs!

More information here and here.

For now, I'll go dream of the stars

Rêves doux de'l espace, mes lecteurs!

What do you mean my brain is weird? I only have a headache!

2007-11-22T20:58:00.001-08:00

Mes chers lecteurs, comment ça va? Any of you heard of or suffered migraine? For those of you who don't know, migraine is a neurological disease, commonly associated with horrible headaches, photo and audiophobia and many other ailments. It can go from annoying to life threatening. More info here for those of you interested.

Now, scientists have discovered that people who suffer migraine have some structural differences in the brain. To be specific, the somatosensory cortex (Click here if you don't know what that is) was about 21% thicker, specially the part that processes sensory input from the face and head.

I imagine it comes as a consequence of the migraine, given the fact that it is constantly stimulated by the recurring headaches and other symptoms.

Who knows, maybe this new information will lead to a cure for that ghastly illness! Meanwhile, Ibuprofen will usually do the trick.

More info on this new discovery here.

Rêves doux, mes ches lecteurs.

If you saw these work...

2007-11-21T20:50:00.001-08:00

You are at least as old as me. Bonsoir, mes chers lecteurs! Time for a little nostalgia!

Remember these?

Yes, mes chers lecteurs, the 5.25" floppy! Considered a minifloppy by its time (its predecessor was 8 inches wide), it could store 360 Kilobytes ( .03% of a 1GB Flash memory). It was used from 1976 to the early nineties. By then the 3.5" floppy had all but eradicated the poor old 5.25"s.

And to top the evening, this is an anti software piracy video from 1992. Enjoy!

I'm getting old...

See the whole video, including the credits, I didn't know some of those companies were THAT old.

Info an all floppies here.

RIP, floppies.

Rêves doux!

Network Rant

2007-11-20T20:34:00.001-08:00

Bonjour, mes chers lecteurs, though this day was a bit of a horror as you may imagine from the title. Today I had to fix a network that is barely functional, and poorly laid out. To top things, it was for these clients that are quick to demand service but slooooooow to pay. Bet you've heard of them before.

Besides, whoever built that net didn't know what he was doing, charged a laughable amount, and did a really poor job.

Secondhand cable, some of it on the brink of breaking, network nodes scattered all over the place, most of them non functional, net cable side by side with electric cable, switches everywhere and no server...

And they want us to make it work perfectly, those maniacs.

</rant>

Rêves doux, mes chers lecteurs.

So, now they're whining...

2007-11-19T21:31:00.001-08:00

Bonsoir, mes chers lecteurs! Comment allez vous? Heard the news, lately?

Here it goes:

A group of people in a political meeting got upset because the bells of the cathedral had been ringing for too long, and was disrupting said meeting.

They then went into the cathedral and demanded that they stop, and allegedly, attacked some of the cattle...er oops... churchgoers and caused some damage inside the church.

And now the archdioceses is getting all whiny, saying that, they have lost their freedom of religion at least in that cathedral (lost it, yeah right, the catholic church, losing their power over Mexico, that'll be the day...) and that they will close the cathedral indefinitely (yay!, no complaints here).

So, what about the church attempting to trample the rights of the congress people to choose when they threatened to excommunicate them if they dared legalize abortions in this city of ours? A bit hypocritical of them, is it not? They have no problem with trampling the rights of others, but when it comes to their so-called sacred temples, they start complaining. Mind you, I am not justifying the aggression against the churchgoers and the cathedral, I'm just exposing the hypocrisy of religious institutions, with this incident as an example.

A glimpse

2007-11-18T20:57:00.001-08:00

A spark of passion

A shedding of tears

A dripping of blood

A glimpse into eternity

A step into oblivion

Inspiration, mes chers lecteurs! Isn't it a beautiful thing?.

Rêves doux!

Rant, And I hadn't published one in a while, had I?

2007-11-18T11:11:00.001-08:00

Bonsoir, mes chers lecteurs! It's been a long while since my last rant.

Here it goes.

So, I got on the subway, and this lowlife gets on and starts going "blah blah, I'm no thief, I'm no swindler, I'm a beggar, give me money" in one of those pre-written speeches that all of these people seem to use. Mind you, he was talking on an expensive mobile phone as he stepped on. Either we hasn't as needy as he led on or it was stolen, in any case, what was this imbecile halfwit thinking?

Not only that, but also he was putting a demanding hand in front of anyone he could (the tube was packed).

This reminded me, in a way, of those beggars who pretend to be blind to gain the sympathies (and money) of those around.

Argh.

And to top things off, when I tried to get off, I had to fight a tidal wave of humans who wouldn't let me off because they wanted to get on without letting anyone off.

Morons.

I really do hate having to push my way through a crowd.

</rant>

Rêves doux, chers lecteurs.

Moratorium on death penalty?

2007-11-16T21:28:00.001-08:00

Bonsoir, mes chers lecteurs! How are you tonight? I imagine you saw the title. Here it goes. There is a proposal for a global moratorium on death penalty in the UN. Supporting it, some 88 countries,incluiding Mexico, the whole of the European Union, Venezuela, Austalia, Phillippines, about eight African countries, another ten Latin American countries, and some others. I wish I could be more specific but I have so far been unable to find a list of the countries that favor this moratorium. Opposing it are China (execution central of the world) The US, Singapore, Botswana, Jamaica, Iran, Egypt and others.

Anyone of you, mes lecteurs ever heard the opinion of the Marquis de Sade on capital punishment?

"A State that kills has no right to condemn murder"

I wonder if that is true. Anyhow, in my humble opinion, this particular moratorium should be ratified. Executions not only seem barbaric, it's also an incentive. If a criminal knows that what he or she did will get him (or her) executed, then said criminal will have nothing to lose, and increase the criminal rampage.

Also, there is the point of miscarried justice. If you find out that the person in jail is innocent, you let it out, but if you execute said person, there is no way to bring him or her back from the dead is there?

Too bad no one comments, I would love to get some feedback on this issue.

In case you want to read more, go here, here and here.

Rêves doux, chers lecteurs, see you tomorrow!

Labels: Nightly Politics , Nightly un-life

It would have been beautiful...

2007-11-15T21:13:00.001-08:00

But it was cancelled. Bonsoir mes chers lecteurs! Tonight I bring you a page from recent history.

THE X-33

It was a prototype for the larger VentureStar, which was meant to be a successor for the aging space shuttles. It was a Single-Stage-To-Orbit (SSTO, meaning no additional rockets or tanks to take it to space) reusable launch vehicle. The prototype was intended to test an array of new technologies meant for new space vehicles, and to demonstrate the effectiveness of the design. The VentureStar would not only be utilitarian but also commercial.

Sad news is, the design had some flaws, and the prototype was left at 85% completion when the project was canceled in 2001.

A damn shame if you ask me.

Sadly enough, once the shuttles are retired, they will be succeeded by the Orion which I imagine will sport the latest technologies, but looks like the Apollo, but they say the Orion will be taking people tothe moon in 2020 and subsequently to Mars. Hopefully!

I really do wish I can get to orbit one day.

Rêves doux, chers lecteurs!

Labels: Nightly History , Nightly Aerospace

News from beyond...

2007-11-14T19:44:00.001-08:00

The atmosphere, that is. Bonsoir mes ches lecteurs! How are you today?

For a change, today I bring you, not rant or controversy, but some nice news. I assume you know about the International Space Station, a collective multinational effort at having a human foothold in orbit.

This is it.

Today they installed a new module in the ISS, a research module, I believe. here are the pictures of the installation:

Beautiful, is it not?

Oh, mes ches lecteurs! I wish I could be up there! Oh well, all in good time, maybe I will.

Further news here.

Alas, mes ches lecteurs, it is time for me to fall, but fret not, I shall rise again tomorrow. Rêves doux, rêves d'espace, particulièrement!

Au revoir.

Labels: Nightly un-life , Nightly News , Nightly Aerospace

Well, seems like a fitting punishment...

2007-11-13T19:54:00.001-08:00

Bonsoir, mes ches lecteurs! How are you tonight?

Tonight I bring news about justice in Mexico, or at the very least law. I heard on the news today that Congress is discussing the usage of "Chemical castration" specifically the medicine called Depo-Provera to punish pedophiles and rapists.

I've been looking a bit into this, and I find the idea interesting, considering the fact that the offenders would actually be "cured" of their raping impulses. Along with a few side-effects. Curious?

Weight gain, fatigue, thromboembolism, malaise, hypertension, mild depression, hypoglycemia and liver enzymes gone berzerk.

I'm a bit divided on this issue. While the prospect of curing a sex offender is a rather positive one, the state should have no right to tamper with the body of any of its citizens.

Now, if the criminal voluntarily agrees to take the treatment, it would be another story, but I suspect it to be a highly unlikely event.

So how do we define the state's rights? Some would argue that a criminal should have no rights, but the road from there to summary imprisonments and no privacy is very short.

Then again, it may be argued that it is honestly done with the best interests of both society and the offender in mind, given the fact that through the treatment, said criminal would be completely reformed. Hopefully.

This is one complex topic, n'est çe pas, mes ches lecteurs? I hope I do get comments on this one, but I know no one reads this anyways.

But hope dies last

Au revoir mes ches lecteurs.

And after a long day...

2007-11-12T22:05:00.001-08:00

A nice post, mes ches lecteurs! You see? I'm keeping my promise of posting daily (even when no one reads this). Anyway, has any of you been hearing of the environmental disasters that have occurred recently? Two come to mind, one is an accident, and one is the force of nature. The oil spill that will make the Black Sea earn its name, and the state of Tabasco which has become pretty much one big swamp. I've been seeing images from both incidents, and it's not pretty. I'm quite certain that the coast near the spill is going to become a dead wasteland, the same happened in Alaska after the Exxon Valdez spilled. But, no sense in worrying too much. This planet of ours will probably keep spinning long after we become fossils and are studied by our evolved descendants. Anyhow, not much to rant on today, so I'll be sleeping now, rêves doux, mes ches lecteurs.

Oh, and lest I forget!

2007-11-11T22:51:00.001-08:00

I won a ticket to the coming VNV Nation concert here in the City, mes ches lecteurs! It is nice when one has a bit of good luck, is it not?

Well, it had to happen, sometime...

2007-11-11T22:47:00.001-08:00

Bonsoir mes ches lecteurs! I hope you read this, before reading the rest of this post. In my opinion it was only a matter of time before an issue like this came up. Do we forbid them or do we protect them? Science is not too far from successfully cloning human beings.

My question is: What the hell is everyone so afraid of?
A cloned human would still be a human, the only different thing would be that it would have the same genes as someone else, and even that is not unheard of. Twins fit that same description. So, what's there to fear? Most of the opposition I've heard has a religious basis, something long the lines of "blah blah artificial humans have no soul" or "blah blah we shouldn't be playing god". But I see no real reason to oppose them. Not only can cloning be a great option for those that cannot have children (i.e. sterile or gay couples), but cloned tissue can be a great lifesaver (i.e. liver or heart damage). So why oppose it? (I'm hoping for some good comments on this issue). In my humble opinion, not only should they not ban it, but indeed take a bold step towards the future and ensure the rights of cloned individuals.

Oh well. Time will tell. For me though, it is time to sleep, as I'm rather tired. Do comment, please.

Rêves doux, mes ches lecteurs, I'll be seeing you tomorrow

Morningstar?

2007-11-10T10:30:00.000-08:00

Bonjour, mes ches lecteurs! I know it's a bit early for me to be posting, but since I'm going to be out late, I did not want to leave you withoud the daily post (that no one reads). So, want to hear about my day? Wow, no hands up on account of no audience. Oh, hell, I'll tell you anyway. Today, there's going to be a gothoid masquerade event, and I'll be going. These days I rarely go out at night, which in my opinion is a damn shame. Oh well. I'm hoping for some good fun and I hope there is. I'm a bit bored, to be honest.
I do believe that is all for today, not too irrelevant for your taste, I hope.
Au revoir mes ches lecteurs. See you around.

Back, without a vengeance

2007-11-09T21:27:00.000-08:00

Well, if there were dust in the internet, this place of mine wold be covered in it. I'm sorry for my absence, mes ches lecteurs, but I've been busy, either with work or with a TV series I acquired. I'm going to try and type here every night, though I remain certain of the fact that no one reads this. Anyway, my readers, what have you been up to? No good I imagine. I've been watching videos, trying to finish a book I've been reading at a snail's pace, and reinforcing my dislike of mac (through work).
In order:
1.- The aforementioned series.
2.- Ten days that shook the world, a chronicle of the russian revolution from the point of view of a resident of Petrograd
3.- New client who has 6 macs, that crashed a few times.
Nothing quite so interesting actually. Oh well. Comments and insults welcome, and I hope to read at least one.
Bonsoir, mes ches lecteurs, et rêves doux.

Aw, hell!

2007-07-13T11:33:00.000-07:00

Tragedy has struck yet again! This time, in the form of a dead hard-drive. Yes, as you may or may not imagine, my laptop’s hd is toast. *Sob*. I’m hoping to be able to rescue my data after cooling it down for a while. With some big luck, that is.
Anyhow. Now I’m gonna have to buy a new one. which will cost me 1k, but hey, it’s 120 gb. guess you can’t ask for much more (Except for my data which I wish I can recover).

A glimpse of Mexican history, and the way the church has always attempted to hold their power over politics by any means possible

2007-06-15T01:14:00.000-07:00

Bonsoir, mes ches lecteurs! (or the lack thereof, as surely no one reds this) Those of you familiar with Mexican history will have surely heard of the Cristero Wars, also known as the Cristiadas (for those of you that don’t speak Spanish, the term refers to the wars of those who support Christ).
The Cristero Wars were a series of open revolts against the Mexican government by people who opposed the anti-clerical laws established in the 1917 Constitution of Mexico (this is the current constitution of Mexico). The laws stated, in various articles that:

-Education must be secular (Part of article 3, still in effect).
-Monastic religious orders are outlawed (Article 5, modified since, this part has been derogated).
-Public worship outside church buildings is forbidden (Article 24, modified since, this part now reads: “Ordinarily, all religious acts will be practiced in temples, and those that extraordinarily are practiced outside temples must adhere to law.”).
-The right to own property is restricted for religious organizations (Article 27, modified since, this part has been derogated).
-Priests and religious leaders may not vote, may not wear their habits, and may not comment on any political situation (Article 130, modified since, it still holds many restrictions for members of the clergy, but was softened).

These laws, while active since 1917, were not stringently applied until 1924, when President Plutarco Elias Calles was elected.

Now, it is important to note that Church and State have been officially separated in Mexico since the 19th century. I take the precaution of making it known because a British friend told me he honestly believed that the Catholic Church continued to be the State religion to this day. He found it was not through recent events that I have previously discussed in my blog and will discuss further in this post.

Now, back to subject.

On July 14, 1926, catholic bishops openly called for a boycott on economic activities. This boycott collapsed by October 1926, as boycotters lacked economic support. In an open violation of Mexican sovereignty, Pope Pius XI ordered bishops to resist the government and to work in having the “offending” laws changed. The hostilities escalated, with armed uprisings backed by the Church in Durango and Guanajuato, which were forced to use guerilla warfare against federal forces. In the meantime, rebels in Guadalajara were slowly and quietly increasing their numbers. The rebellion started in Guadalajara on January 1 1927, and the region became a focal point in the conflict. The rebels were led by the head of the Mexican Association of Catholic Youth, Rene Capistran Garza.

The conflict became a war, with clergymen at the head of the rebels opposing the government. The local priests and bishops mostly endorsed the armed revolt and the Vatican had yet to openly endorse or condemn the rebellion.
It is important to know that, while there were a few summary executions carried out by the government, the secularists did not set fire to the train, killing 51 civilians on board; a rebel priest did. This irreparably damaged the public’s opinion on the rebellion.

The rebellion was waging a losing war and a peace process ensued (supported by the Vatican, no less). As Elias Calles’ term was nearing an end, the process was followed by President Elect Alvaro Obregon, but he was murdered two weeks after his election, by a Catholic rebel.

In the end, the government agreed to be more lenient in applying the anticlerical laws, thus ending the rebellion.

Fast-forward to 2007.

Some of you must surely have heard that there was trouble in Mexico City, because the local congress was deciding whether to modify the laws forbidding abortions.
In the end, despite heavy protest from the church and the ignorant fanatics, the reforms were approved. As you may know, Mexico’s religious majority is catholic. The pope called for civil resistance to these (much needed) reforms.

With this I know of at least two occasions in which the Vatican has openly attacked Mexican Sovereignty.

As I mentioned before, the pope during the time of the Cristero War, also called for civil resistance.

Some may say that is far from being an attack on Mexico’s sovereignty, but I disagree. To put this in perspective, if president Calderon were to openly call for Mexican immigrants in the US to resist the American government, the Mexican government would be righteously and deservedly condemned for violating the sovereignty of the US, and it would be acceptable to put a stop to such an intrusion. In return, the Vatican, through a head of state, has twice (that I know of) violated the rights of a country (to put it nicely). Why is this hypocritically tolerated? Because the pope is a religious leader? Not only is it tolerated but also permitted. They allow a country to force its moralistic view of the world and their prohibitions on other countries, under the pretext of religion.

It appears that religious leaders do not care who they trample in order to preserve their power.

One final thought on the Cristero War before I go to sleep. I understand the leniency in the enforcing of the anti-religious laws was necessary to prevent any further bloodshed, but certain laws were quite correct, and would still be so now. I once before mentioned that religious education should be forbidden, as it deprives a child from his right to choose his religion, leaving it in the hands of others.

Au revoir mes ches lecteurs! I promise not to let it be too long before my next post (even though no one reads this =P )

A que ya lo veian venir!

2007-04-09T21:23:00.000-07:00

El titulo de esta entrada, queridos lectores, es porque quién me conoce sabe que tiendo mucho al rant (algo asi como sermon quejoso emocionado), y quien vive en la ciudad de Mexico sabe que hay muchos que se oponen a la despenalizacion del aborto. Quienes caen en ambas categorias, seguro ya oyeron mi opinion al respecto o esperaban un post de esta naturaleza.

Mi posicion al respecto es a favor de la despenalización. Yo no me opongo al aborto. Por el contrario, pienso que asi habria menos niños en estado de pobreza. Hay gente que se opone al aborto, pero entienden que es una cuestion de decision personal, y por tanto no se ofenden por la despenalizacion del mismo... peeeeero... nunca falta el idiota que pretende forzar su opinion personal sobre alguien que no la comparte. Pues si, hay gente que busca evitar que entre en vigor la reforma que despenaliza el aborto en el DF (cuando deberian de hacerlo constitucional para que sea en todo el pais).

El sitio ahi anunciado es un rollo mareador de "abortar es malo" que aunque tiene pinta de ser cientifico, los intereses y actitudes teistas se le notan a leguas. Hablando del tema, los teistas del pais estan tratando de que la muchedumbre ignorante se oponga a la despenalizacion del aborto. Por supuesto, si no tarde o temprano se les acabaria la gente ignorante que se encarga de mantenerlos y de darles poder. Es por eso que tienen propaganda especialmente dirigida a este sector que carece de la capacidad de razonar por si mismo.

Con una gigantesca ilustracion de lo mas kitsch, por no decir horrorosa en el centro, que pretende ser un feto sobredesarrollado, con el titulo "Plegaria de un alma". El texto de los lados es una retahila de necedades como "No me mates, mamá", "todos somos niños de dios" y demas insensateces religiosas. Con solo oir hablar al señor taxista , entendi porque traia tan sordido emblema en su vehiculo. A final de cuentas, NADIE tiene derecho de decirle a la gente, sean teistas, doctos, o legos; que hacer con su cuerpo. Esa decision corresponde solo a la persona que va (o no) a abortar. Asi que, señores teistas: Metanse en sus propios asuntos! Su trabajo es decirle a quien sea lo suficientemente ignorante como para hacerles caso que deben de creer en amigos imaginarios. La politica no les incumbe. Espero que se apruebe esa ley. Es lo menos que puede hacer el gobierno por nosotros, y honestamente, creo que un poco de respeto a los derechos humanos no hara daño.

Considerenlo, queridos lectores. Yo me retiro.

A fascinating concept

2007-04-04T21:36:00.000-07:00

I have recently come across a concept that I find quite interesting. It is named transhumanism. To be more than human, to improve ourselves through science and technology. I will research more on this current and its authors. Needless to say, the concept itself it quite alluring to me.

Tecnophilia at its best

2007-04-03T21:12:00.000-07:00

My dearest readers, you cannot even begin to imagine the joy I felt when I found out about this.
Are you ready? here goes...

Mexico City will have free citywide wireless access to the internetby 2008!

This, dear readers, has not been done by any city of the oh-so-first-worldly US. The only country to have done this is Zaragoza in Spain, and, Zaragoza is but a small town compared to this megalopolis of ours. Those of you who are less loving of technology will probably dismiss this as irrelevant news, but this is really grandiose and magnificent! The pure concept of physically living within such a vast wireless network, together with the possibilties that this brings make me burst in joy. Just imagine this, anyone who has any 802.11b or g device would never have to be offline again! Imagine having such a permanent vinculum with the global network. That of course was already possible, but the cost of mobile broadband services is grossly prohibitive and limited to laptops only. Soon we will have this kind of access from laptops, wi-fi enabled pda's, nintendo ds's and psp's.

The new government of the city is proving its worth quite fast.

Well, mes ches lecteurs, I hope you rejoice upon this announcement, as I have. LLAP, and have beautiful nightmares.

Lurking around

2007-04-02T22:15:00.000-07:00

Mes ches lecteurs! I'm back yet again, with more words for you which will probably never be read. This days the city has been in an odd state of calm, as most of the riffraff has set out to travel on this spring break. It was needed. The city is much better like this, as it is good to be left uncrushed in the subway every now and then. The nights are more quiet than before, and I could only wish that all the people that left would not return (except for my clients, I do want them back!).

I just recently managed to get my hands on the soundtrack of C&C. It is just beautiful!

Well, that pretty much sums it up. I better go to sleep now, as I must prepare for what promises to be a week of hellbent work and possibly one or more nights of caffeine. See you around the net

Concern

2007-03-25T22:14:00.000-08:00

Bonsoir, mes ches lecteurs! (I do believe no one reads this stuff, but hell, it doesn't hurt to be polite, does it?). The future begins to darken up a bit, enough to quell my worries. But, alas, the worries are back. A passing idea on a new place to call home drove me to fret once more. Income insufficient, future uncertain. And I bloody hate this feeling, specially when I find myself still living at someone else's while my 22nd birthday draws closer yet. And to be honest, I'm afraid, yet I have no choice but to push harder up the hill and hope I don't trip in the way. See, what I fear is not that work exceeds me, but that it doesn't. I have now come to understand how my father feels.
Very well then, let's continue the struggle. In the meantime, I will leave you with this particular quote (Bonus points to the one who tells me where I took it from and who the quotee is).

"Time is the fire in which we burn"

And now I retreat to the comfort of my subconscious.

Long since

2007-03-23T15:58:00.000-08:00

My dearest readers (if any). My most humble apologies for the wait to which you have been subjected. So, for the sake of your entertaintment, today I type without a purpose, to where the words and my mind may carry me.
Into eternity! (well, that may be a bit exagerated).
I find the concept of proportion fascinating. It's the human way of adapting everything to our level of perception. One might say a cat is small, yet the same cat is large in comparison to an ant, pretty much in the same way our planet is humongous, but minuscule when compared to the vast and trackless expanse of our infinite universe.
And speaking of universe...
The mind is an oxymoron in that it is infinite as the universe, but in turn quite limited. Our thoughts and perception are limited to that which we see, so simply imagining the distance between Earth and Mars is a difficult task. We may know the number of kilometers from here to la Planète Rouge, but it is hard, if not impossible to envision it. The study of physics requires a fair amount of abstraction that few are able to achieve.
Also on the topic of the mind, there is a song I'm particularly fond of, Equilibrium (by Tristania).
A part of the lyrics go like this:

I swim in you
In your dark rivers
Dive in your mind
Search for your monsters
Search for resistance
Sink into the mud
Dance in the halls of insanity
Yet madness is
Your highest deed
Your vanity

Lovely, is it not? O have I not danced those halls before, taking vain pride on my senseless dance.
On that note, dear readers, it is time for me to withdraw from this side of our magnificent global network. Please, do comment. I promise to write more often.

¿Quien...

2007-02-18T21:17:00.000-08:00

Bueno, pues, queridos lectores. ¿Que les puedo decir? Hay una persona existiendo temporalmente aqui en casa de mis abuelos. Esa persona se cree con la autoridad de retirarme mis llaves. Llaves que me costaron cien pesos. Ahora, normalmente no la detesto, entiendo sus razones para ser como es y para molestarme como lo hace; pero hoy en particular estoy enojado. Quien chingadas madres se cree para quitarme MIS llaves! "Pero es que no pusiste el candado en la cochera". Carajo! Obviamente no puse el estupido candado! No tengo coche, no salgo por la pinche cochera, salgo por la puerta para humanos. No acostumbro fijarme en eso. "Y no cerraste la puerta que da de la casa a la cochera". Vaya. Una vez. UNA MALDITA VEZ QUE HAGO ESO Y ME DECOMISA LAS LLAVES (que yo pague). Bueno pues no volvera a pasar.
Me vale madres quien vaya a entrar y quien vaya a salir, voy a poner ese candado las 24 horas, y no va a haber momento en el que pase yo y no este. Pudo habermelo pedido por las buenas, y por las buenas me hubiera fijado. Pero no. Quiere ese candado ahi? ahi va a estar. Y ay de ella si se le ocurre reclamarme.

Rant! of the night

2007-02-17T08:10:00.000-08:00

So, what's the thing with those bloody evangelists in the subway? Is it not annoying enough to have those thought-piercing yelling peddlers? Now we have people who yell about salvation coming through adoring a bearded man who perished two millenia ago. Cute. Let me tell you something, oh dear reader: I truly dislike religion. But people like this make me hate it. They have the right to believe whatever they want, I wouldn't dare deny them such a right. But why the hell do these half-witted imbeciles feel such an urgent need to push their idiotic beliefs on us. Do they see me in the metro system yapping on about why they should become atheists? No, they don't. Why? Because I have a functional brain and know how to respect other people's rights. I truly wanted to cast this idiot's bible out the subway's window, hoping that she would jump after it. Sometimes I lament having a good education. Anyhow, it's quite ironic that, given religion's past and present, both filled to the brim with censorship, now those worshippers abuse their freedom of speech.

In the meantime, I will leave you with a rant induced political statement for all of you to consider.

Religion should be prohibited for people under the age of 18. There is nothing quite so unethical as forcing a child to take your religion because of a whim disguised of righteousness.

I will rant about this later.

To sleep, perchance to dream...

2007-02-14T20:03:00.000-08:00

...for in the sleep of death what dreams may come, once we have shed off this mortal coil.

-Shakespeare, Macbeth.

As I sleep I fall, an eternal fall with no discernible end. Then eternity comes to an end. An incessant torrent of ideas and thoughts swarm my mind. Turmoil ensues, as a thousdand different thoughts struggle for their place on my mind as I try to bring coherence to this seemingly endless flow of images and memories, as I try to realize what is real and what is a construct of my wayward mind. suddenly comes peace and silence, a moment of quiet meditation. But alas, it is short lived, for in the blink of an eye, I stumble upon a vortex of insanity once again. As I twist and toss and turn in this flux of incoherent inconscience I begin to question the sanity of my conscious self, my consciousness split into a thousand different personas, each a figment of my twisted ego, all arguing loudly. A myriad of images of places I have been to and places I have not flash before my morphean eyes as this ride flies at a hellbent pace. But then a sound comes. A sound uncannily out of place, even in this twisted reality. The sound becomes deafening, blasting through me, burning me. I burst, as consciousness brings closure to this unearthly plane.

I wake up.

Mondrigos Delincuentes

2007-02-02T20:40:00.000-08:00

Bueno pues resulta que estaba en el banco, fastidiado porque la maldita cola no avanzaba. despues, llega mi turno, paso a la caja, me estaban atendiendo, cuando oigo bullicio. Volteo un poco y veo gente echandose en el piso. Volteo mas y veo a un desgraciado con un revolver. Acto seguido procedi a echarme detras de una columna gruesa, seguido por mi Dama. Si habia tiros al menos estaría cubierto. Despues se largaron los criminales y nos levantamos. No pudimos salir del banco hasta que llegaron las autoridades y pidieron declaraciones. Dije lo que sabia y nos fuimos.

Hasta hace unos minutos, eso iba a constituir el post completo, pero hace 5 minutos sucedio algo que va dentro del tema. A un pobre sujeto le acaban de robar su coche a puntta de pistola afuera de mi casa.

Hijos de su repinche madre...

Winter ist gekommen!

2007-01-27T10:03:00.000-08:00

Finally, winter came again. For those who don't live in Mexico City, let me give you an update. winter came for a week then rushed away and we had summer back (much to my dismay). It's possibly going to be just one or two days, but I'll enjoy them while they last.

Has winter forsaken me?

2006-12-19T22:12:00.000-08:00

Oh cold winds of the winter, abandon not this great city of ours
Oh great clouds, come and shield us from the burning sun
Oh winter, bring your chilling love to this ground you seem to have forsaken
Come to us with your frozen kiss, and let everyone know...
Come winter, I reign!

nadie quiere a Bush

2006-12-19T22:06:00.000-08:00

Ni siquiera los americanos...

La prueba aqui

Mac apesta

2006-12-19T21:08:00.000-08:00

Probablemente aquellos de ustedes que me leen saben que detesto mac. Claro, habra algun adorador de mac por ahi que me diga blaaah blaaah seguridad, blaaah blaaah facilidad de uso. Pues la verdad, es que mac APESTA. Es inflexible. Es caro. Es Incompatible. Es problematico. En pocas palabras, es para niños nice que no saben ni pito de computo pero a fuerza quieren una máquina porque esta "in", y siendo que las mac tienen fama de "chidas", es la eleccion obvia. Por si fuera poco, mac tiene una campaña comercial que pretende hacer ver a la pc como un laboradicto con serios problemas. Cierto, nadie hace virus para mac, pero mac no es ni remotamente inmune. Creen ustedes acaso que es un comentario prejuiciado? Lean ESTO entonces.

Ah, verdad? Que paso con esa gran sensacion de seguridad que tenian? Dejenme decirles algo, gente de mac, su I-life es una exageracion. Mi PC esta lista para trabajar, entretenerme y cualquier otra cosa, desde el momento en que le pongo WINDOWS! Porque en sus anuncios, representan a pc con un pobre hombre que ni siquiera sabe divertirse. Diganme algo, usuarios de mac, cuantos videojuegos de verdad hay para mac que no haya para pc? Que dicen? Ninguno? Que tal juegos para PC que no hay para mac? Wow, son muchas manos arriba. Que esperaban de una computadora que cobra una fortuna solo porque se ve bonita cuando por capacidad real deberia costar la mitad? Vamos, es como si a uno de ustedes le quisieran vender un jetta por el precio de un maldito ferrari solo porque tiene la firma de SteveJobs en el cofre y un lindo decorado en el techo.
Dicen que las mac son excelentes para diseño y cosas asi, pero:
A) Todos los efectos de star wars los hicieron en PC.
B) Mi dama, que es licenciada en diseño grafico, probo las mac y llego a la misma conclusion que yo: APESTAN.
Ignorenme a quellos de ustedes que solo quieran una maquina que "se vea linda". Ignorenme aquellos de ustedes que quieran una mac por snobs o porque de verdad adoran a mac.

El resto, por favor, no tiren su dinero en una "·$%& Mac!

Proposal for a new domain name extension

2006-12-07T10:46:00.000-08:00

After wondering about the web, I have come to the conclusion that there should be a .crap domain name extension. That way, users who do not wish to have their brains bombarded with website containing absolute bollocks would just have to set their google filters not to display .crap sites. Allow me to show you an example of one such site.

This, dear reader is solid Trash. Of course, anyone who knows me will at first say I'm biased (for those who do not, know that I hold nothing but contempt for religion), but I am quite certain that you will change your minds after reading this horrid site.

Don't say I didn't warn, you...
Here you go : down the drain...

You see, no crap is better than self-righteous crap involving religion. It's just prime quality. This ad practically tells you that you can murder, rape, steal, cheat, lie and pretty much everything else, if after that you feel guilty and you pray! Then they say that the world's biggest problem is *background scream* SIN!
Oh, right. Sin. So, I hate to break this to all the Iraqi, but war is definitely not the biggest problem. And poverty, I guess that for these people poverty is not an issue either. It's okay if millions starve to death as long as they're praying, and giving the money to the church, right?
I'll tell you what, if there actually were a god, I think idiots like those would be the firt ones to come down. But guess what, there is none, all there is are liars who say they speak on behalf of some deity so people will blindly follow them and do what they want. But still they refuse to open their eyes. Oh well. Willfully blind equals helpless...

Oh really?

2006-11-27T23:30:00.000-08:00

So it turns out that, having nov 29 as a deadline, I'm going to have to work full steam on this one particular paper, which will be 2 or three pages long, and hasn't been delivered to me for translation. Then if I'm late it's obviously going to be my fault. Or maybe not, this lady does seem to be quite reasonable.
Anyway, I hope there's another cold front coming, cause it's getting warm again over here. Still, 13 night hours and 11 day hours is quite lovely, though another night hour wouldn't hurt anyone and would make me quite happy. Oh well, keine ewignacht...
On another story, some idiot almost crashed his car out here a second ago, and it seems one of his tires blew up. So sad, would have been one less idiot.

So that's it for the night. My dreams await me.
All manner of comments welcome, so if you feel like typing something, please do.

Winter come, I reign

2006-11-23T22:39:00.000-08:00

Y bueno, finalmente llego el invierno. He de comentar que nos han robado el otoño. Piensenlo, el verano, junto con el horrible calor que conlleva, duro hasta mediados de noviembre, y luego en un dia en el que no paraba de llover, llego el invierno. Y nuestro otoño? Estoy pensando que primavera y verano conspiraron para matarlo, y al no haber otoño, invierno decidio no sufrir el mismo destino que su amigo otoño, y se adelanto.

Han sido unos dias lindamente frios, aunque no tanto como quisiera. Méndigo sol. Solo me resta esperar que este invierno se vuelva mas frío y que dure hasta abril. Pueden ver en esta foto satelital que hay menos nubes de las necesarias. De cualquier manera, este hijo de la noche esta de lo mas feliz con las noches largas.

Bienvenido de vuelta, invierno. Te extrañé mucho!

De vuelta!

2006-11-22T22:16:00.000-08:00

Y bueno, este blog, que cree hace mas de once meses estuvo juntando polvo cibernetico hasta que alguien sin querer, me recordo que existe. Que les puedo decir a todos los que me leen, de entonces para hoy, Nos robaron el otoño, aprendi php-html-javascript, puse una empresa (or such) junto con mi primo, de Diseño y desarrollo de software; Servicio técnico, mantenimiento y asesoria (para usuarios de pc la asesoria, para pc el servicio y mantenimiento); y traducciones. Si alguien necesita alguna, dejeme por favor sus datos!

Algo suena en mi cabeza....

2006-01-18T17:20:00.001-08:00

Once upon a midnight dreary...
while I pondered weak and weary...
About Brain Music?!?!

Y pues, finalmente me puse a pensar sobre porque no siempre requiero un artefacto de audio portatil, y es que, escucho, no siempre felizmente, música en mi cabeza. Ahora, no me malinterpreten, no padezco esquizofrenia (aun), simplemente es una memoria auditiva. Lo malo es que no siempre es algo agradable. Me entederán bien, espero. Imagino que mas de uno de ustedes ha sufrido los tóxicos efectos de una cancion muy pegajosa. En especial porque las canciones mas horribles del mundo resultan ser las mas pegajosas. Es muy raro ir escuchando dos canciones simultaneas. En especial cuando la de los audífonos es de Tristania y la del cerebro es de Travis. Ya se imaginarán...

Pero bueno. Ya escribí. Prometo poner cosas mas relevantes, interesantes y profundas (como heridas de obsidiana XD) mas adelante, para hacer de este blog algo digno de verse.

Por cierto, quien guste de la mini-serie Band Of Brothers, la estoy bajando, si gustan verla, pongan comentarios, y si no tambien, y si tienen algo que decirme que no tenga relacion alguna con la antes mencionada serie, comenten por igual, los estare leyendo!!!!

Nox Aeternus