Póngase su tanga en Tonga
y ponga su pinga en mi tanga.
Tóqueme un tango y tenga
su pinga con mi poronga.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Full Circle
There is a student this year who is half P and half G.
She was born and grew up in P, and is a practicing muslim. It is tragic to think that, 70 years ago, her two grandparents lived in a country that persecuted and oppressed a people that later constituted themselves into a nation that now persecutes and oppresses her.
What kind of a species are we? Or what kind of life? For the same could be asked about insects that prey on the tadpoles that later, as frogs, prey on those insects.
She was born and grew up in P, and is a practicing muslim. It is tragic to think that, 70 years ago, her two grandparents lived in a country that persecuted and oppressed a people that later constituted themselves into a nation that now persecutes and oppresses her.
What kind of a species are we? Or what kind of life? For the same could be asked about insects that prey on the tadpoles that later, as frogs, prey on those insects.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Alkaid
Am catching or have caught a flu, apparently. Snotty nose, chills and joint aches. Still, had to return a projector I'd borrowed from the Administration building to show a movie at my place. This time it was "Drop Dead Gorgeous". Not all of the residence came over, but there was much laughter among the ones that did, so the movie was enjoyed. Not least by me, flu or not.
Anyways, on the way to Admin. i noticed the sky has finally cleared a little and some stars were shining. Perfect opportunity to use pUniverse. Ursa Major, Cassiopeia, Bootes... All there. And then the stars: Arcturus, Vega... Those are the ones I know more or less, or at least of.
So, I've decided that from now on, every time I get the chance to use pUniverse I'll focus on a star, learn its location, and then read about it. I've started with Alkaid. This is what I read about it, taken from http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/alkaid.html :
ALKAID (Eta Ursae Majoris). Though the name may not be so well known, the star known as Alkaid is the end star in the handle of the Big Dipper, the great asterism that makes most of the grand constellation Ursa Major, the Greater Bear. Just fainter than Dubhe, the front bowl star of the Dipper, second magnitude (1.85) Alkaid is the third brightest star in the constellation and places number 35 in the list of the brightest stars. Though Johannes Bayer generally listed stars by Greek letter names in order of brightness within a constellation, the stars of the Dipper are named from west to east, rendering Alkaid Eta Ursae Majoris rather than Beta. Different cultures see the sky differently as well. Alkaid's Arabic name means "the leader," and appears to refer to the "daughters" (the handle of the Dipper) that stand by a funeral bier made of the Dipper's bowl. Alkaid is also known as Benetnasch, which also refers to the daughters. Alkaid is almost exactly 100 light years away. With a surface temperature of about 20,000 degrees Kelvin, it is one of the hotter stars that can be seen with the naked eye, and therefore glows to us a soft blue-white. Like the Sun it is a "main-sequence" star that shines by fusing hydrogen into helium in its core. However its mass of six times that of the Sun renders it both hotter and over 700 times more luminous. Were Alkaid our Sun, we would have to be 25 times farther away to survive, almost to the orbit of Neptune. It is one of the two renegades of the Dipper. The five middle stars are all moving through space together as part of a loosely bound cluster. Alkaid and Dubhe, however, are moving in their own directions, ultimately dooming the Dipper's shape. The star is just below the temperature limit at which stars produce strong X-rays as a result of shock waves in their winds, and is therefore only a weak source of X-rays.
Anyways, on the way to Admin. i noticed the sky has finally cleared a little and some stars were shining. Perfect opportunity to use pUniverse. Ursa Major, Cassiopeia, Bootes... All there. And then the stars: Arcturus, Vega... Those are the ones I know more or less, or at least of.
So, I've decided that from now on, every time I get the chance to use pUniverse I'll focus on a star, learn its location, and then read about it. I've started with Alkaid. This is what I read about it, taken from http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/alkaid.html :
ALKAID (Eta Ursae Majoris). Though the name may not be so well known, the star known as Alkaid is the end star in the handle of the Big Dipper, the great asterism that makes most of the grand constellation Ursa Major, the Greater Bear. Just fainter than Dubhe, the front bowl star of the Dipper, second magnitude (1.85) Alkaid is the third brightest star in the constellation and places number 35 in the list of the brightest stars. Though Johannes Bayer generally listed stars by Greek letter names in order of brightness within a constellation, the stars of the Dipper are named from west to east, rendering Alkaid Eta Ursae Majoris rather than Beta. Different cultures see the sky differently as well. Alkaid's Arabic name means "the leader," and appears to refer to the "daughters" (the handle of the Dipper) that stand by a funeral bier made of the Dipper's bowl. Alkaid is also known as Benetnasch, which also refers to the daughters. Alkaid is almost exactly 100 light years away. With a surface temperature of about 20,000 degrees Kelvin, it is one of the hotter stars that can be seen with the naked eye, and therefore glows to us a soft blue-white. Like the Sun it is a "main-sequence" star that shines by fusing hydrogen into helium in its core. However its mass of six times that of the Sun renders it both hotter and over 700 times more luminous. Were Alkaid our Sun, we would have to be 25 times farther away to survive, almost to the orbit of Neptune. It is one of the two renegades of the Dipper. The five middle stars are all moving through space together as part of a loosely bound cluster. Alkaid and Dubhe, however, are moving in their own directions, ultimately dooming the Dipper's shape. The star is just below the temperature limit at which stars produce strong X-rays as a result of shock waves in their winds, and is therefore only a weak source of X-rays.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Canción de cuna para Consuelo
Hace un par de días volví a ver "El laberinto del fauno". El comentario de esta película merece una entrada a parte, pero lo que me ha estado rondando por la cabeza estas últimas cuarenta y tantas horas es la nana que el personaje de Mercedes le tararea al de Ofelia.
"¿Sabes alguna nana?" pregunta Ofelia a Mercedes.
"Sólo una", responde Mercedes. "Pero no recuerdo la letra."
"No me importa. Quiero escucharla."
Es una melodía bellísima, y súper pegadiza. Hoy volvió a cruzárseme por la mente mientras corría y, pensando en Consuelo y sintiéndome autorizado por la desmemoria de Mercedes, se me ocurrió esta letra, para ponérsela a la parte 'tarareable' de la melodía:
Nena te querés dormir
y el sueño ya va a llegar
para llevarte a volar
a don
de quie
ras ir.
Y después al despertar
vas a ver que sonreís
porque para bien vivir
hay que
saber
soñar.
Sí,
mucho soñar
y al despertar
aún más.
"¿Sabes alguna nana?" pregunta Ofelia a Mercedes.
"Sólo una", responde Mercedes. "Pero no recuerdo la letra."
"No me importa. Quiero escucharla."
Es una melodía bellísima, y súper pegadiza. Hoy volvió a cruzárseme por la mente mientras corría y, pensando en Consuelo y sintiéndome autorizado por la desmemoria de Mercedes, se me ocurrió esta letra, para ponérsela a la parte 'tarareable' de la melodía:
Nena te querés dormir
y el sueño ya va a llegar
para llevarte a volar
a don
de quie
ras ir.
Y después al despertar
vas a ver que sonreís
porque para bien vivir
hay que
saber
soñar.
Sí,
mucho soñar
y al despertar
aún más.
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Veganos: viven sin consumir productos de origen animal
Tal es el título de un artículo aparecido ayer en el periódico Vox Populi. Se trata de una entrevista a gente de Red Animalista Mendoza, una organización vegana mendocina a la cual pertenece mi prima Tatiana. Hace tiempo que vengo siguiendo de lejos su lucha por los derechos de los animales, la cual me ha inspirado y dado fuerzas para volverme más cuidadoso con mi propia dieta (ya no tomo leche ni compro huevos, por ejemplo, pero todavía me tientan muchísimo productos como la creme fraiche y el cottage cheese). En fin, que a veces casi siento un tironcito de envidia por el apoyo mutuo que obviamente estos chicos de Red Animalista representan unos para otros. Aquí los únicos otros vegetarianos (que no veganos) que conozco son Angela y Edmundo, y como vivo en medio de una comunidad agrícola la visión de la gente en lo referente a animales de granja no es para nada compatible con la ética vegana...
Por otro lado, quizás podría armarme de un poco de valor y empezar yo mismo algún movimiento como este por aquí. Dada la trayectoria que tiene Noruega en lo que concierne la explotación de animales...
En fin, he aquí el texto del artículo:
"No consumen carne ni derivados de los animales por una cuestión 'ética'. En Mendoza tienen un grupo que lucha por dar a conocer sus derechos.
'¿Vos te comerías a tu perro? les dice Soledad Moretti a sus amigos cuando les intenta explicar por qué decidió convertirse en vegana. Este estilo de vida no muy comprendido por gran parte de la sociedad, consiste en dejar de comer carne y todos los productos provenientes de los animales para luchar por sus derechos. No está sola, ya que pertenece a un grupo que se llama Red Animalista Mendoza que tiene como fin primordial la educación en la no explotación de los animales en todas sus formas.
'Nosotros llevamos este estilo de vida de veganos por una cuestión ética, porque los animales poseen sistema nervioso central y sienten como nosotros, tienen emociones complejas, necesidades, preferencias e intereses. Tienen interés en vivir su vida en sus propios términos, en no ser explotados, en no ser privados de su libertad y desarrollarse naturalmente', explica Soledad.
La explotación de la que habla se basa en cuatro áreas principales: animales que son explotados para alimentación, para vestimenta, para experimentación y para entretenimiento humano.
'El vegano rechaza esa cosificación de los animales, vemos que no son medios para nuestros fines porque son seres que sienten y merecen ser respetados', continúa relatando.
Su medio de lucha es empezar por ellos mismos y de a poco concientizar a la población. 'Nosotros no nos dirigimos al explotador porque sería inútil, sino que apuntamos al consumidor, a generar conciencia sobre el hecho de que, si la demanda cambia, la oferta va a tener que cambiar inevitablemente', agrega.
Soledad comenzó a ser vegana en el año 2007, luego de haber visto videos documentales sobre cómo la industria ganadera trataba a los animales. 'Ya era vegetariana desde los 18, pero sólo a los 30 me di cuenta de que el poder lo tiene uno como individuo.'
Alejandro Prieto también está dentro de la organización Red Animalista y es vegano desde hace dos años. 'Yo llevaba una vida normal. Comía carne y fumaba. Una vez me enfermé y no pude fumar por 10 días y me di cuenta de que me sentía mejor. Eso me llevó a hacer deporte y luego a dejar de comer carne. Se vegano no me convencía del todo hasta que visité un tambo y vi el nivel de crueldad que significa extraer leche de la vaca.'
Uno de los mitos que rodean tanto al vegetarianismo como al veganismo es el de la falta de los nutrientes que supuestamente se pierden por no consumir carne, a lo que Soledad replica: 'La nutrición se puede suplir en un 100%, las proteínas, el calcio, el hierro, el zinc... Todos se pueden conseguir en productos que no vienen de los animales. Es más, uno se siente más saludable que antes.'"
Por otro lado, quizás podría armarme de un poco de valor y empezar yo mismo algún movimiento como este por aquí. Dada la trayectoria que tiene Noruega en lo que concierne la explotación de animales...
En fin, he aquí el texto del artículo:
"No consumen carne ni derivados de los animales por una cuestión 'ética'. En Mendoza tienen un grupo que lucha por dar a conocer sus derechos.
'¿Vos te comerías a tu perro? les dice Soledad Moretti a sus amigos cuando les intenta explicar por qué decidió convertirse en vegana. Este estilo de vida no muy comprendido por gran parte de la sociedad, consiste en dejar de comer carne y todos los productos provenientes de los animales para luchar por sus derechos. No está sola, ya que pertenece a un grupo que se llama Red Animalista Mendoza que tiene como fin primordial la educación en la no explotación de los animales en todas sus formas.
'Nosotros llevamos este estilo de vida de veganos por una cuestión ética, porque los animales poseen sistema nervioso central y sienten como nosotros, tienen emociones complejas, necesidades, preferencias e intereses. Tienen interés en vivir su vida en sus propios términos, en no ser explotados, en no ser privados de su libertad y desarrollarse naturalmente', explica Soledad.
La explotación de la que habla se basa en cuatro áreas principales: animales que son explotados para alimentación, para vestimenta, para experimentación y para entretenimiento humano.
'El vegano rechaza esa cosificación de los animales, vemos que no son medios para nuestros fines porque son seres que sienten y merecen ser respetados', continúa relatando.
Su medio de lucha es empezar por ellos mismos y de a poco concientizar a la población. 'Nosotros no nos dirigimos al explotador porque sería inútil, sino que apuntamos al consumidor, a generar conciencia sobre el hecho de que, si la demanda cambia, la oferta va a tener que cambiar inevitablemente', agrega.
Soledad comenzó a ser vegana en el año 2007, luego de haber visto videos documentales sobre cómo la industria ganadera trataba a los animales. 'Ya era vegetariana desde los 18, pero sólo a los 30 me di cuenta de que el poder lo tiene uno como individuo.'
Alejandro Prieto también está dentro de la organización Red Animalista y es vegano desde hace dos años. 'Yo llevaba una vida normal. Comía carne y fumaba. Una vez me enfermé y no pude fumar por 10 días y me di cuenta de que me sentía mejor. Eso me llevó a hacer deporte y luego a dejar de comer carne. Se vegano no me convencía del todo hasta que visité un tambo y vi el nivel de crueldad que significa extraer leche de la vaca.'
Uno de los mitos que rodean tanto al vegetarianismo como al veganismo es el de la falta de los nutrientes que supuestamente se pierden por no consumir carne, a lo que Soledad replica: 'La nutrición se puede suplir en un 100%, las proteínas, el calcio, el hierro, el zinc... Todos se pueden conseguir en productos que no vienen de los animales. Es más, uno se siente más saludable que antes.'"
Saturday, September 04, 2010
On Internationalization, by Cristovam Buarque
Cristovam Buarque, Professor of the Universidade Nacional do Brasil and ex-governor of Brasilia, D.F., as reported in the Brazilian Daily O Globo on the 23rd of October, 2000:
"During a recent discussion, in the United States, someone asked my opinion regarding the internationalization of the Amazon Region. The youngster asserted that he expected the response of a humanist, not of a Brazilian.
This was the first time anyone had established the humanist viewpoint as the starting point for my response. In fact, as a Brazilian I would have responded simply against internationalization of the Amazon Region. Even if our governments have not given the attention that this treasure deserves, it is ours. I responded that, as a humanist, realizing the risk of environmental destruction that threatens the Amazon Region, I could imagine its internationalization, just as for everything else that is important to humanity.
If the Amazon Region, from a humanist΄s point of view, has to be internationalized, then we should internationalize the oil reserves of the entire the world as well. Oil is just as important to the well being of humanity as the Amazon Region for our future. Nevertheless, the owners of oil reserves feel it is in their right to increase or decrease oil production and to raise or lower the price. The rich of the world, feel they have the right to burn this valuable possession of humanity. Similarly, the financial capital of the wealthy nations should be internationalized. If the Amazon Region is a natural reserve for every human being, then it could not be burned down by the decision of a landowner or a country. To burn down the Amazon Region is as tragic as the unemployment provoked by the arbitrary decisions of world-wide speculators. We cannot permit that the world΄s financial reserves serve to burn down entire nations according to the whims of speculation.
Before the (internationalization of the) Amazon Region, I would like to see the internationalization of all the world΄s great museums. The Louvre cannot belong only to France. Museums around the world are guardians to the most beautiful works produced by human genius. These cultural patrimonies, as the Amazon Region is a natural patrimony, cannot be dependent on the whim of owners or single countries, who may alter or destroy them. Recently, a Japanese millionaire decided to have a painting by a grand master buried with him in his grave. This painting should have been internationalized.
At the time of the meeting in which this question came up, the United Nations had convened the Millennium Forum and yet the presidents of several countries were not able to attend due to barriers they faced at the border. Therefore, I contend that New York, as the base of the United Nations, should be internationalized. At least Manhattan should belong to all of humanity. Similarly Paris, Venice, Rome, London, Rio de Janeiro, Brazilia, Recife, and every city with its own beauty, its own history, should belong to the whole world.
If the United States want to internationalize the Amazon Region, due to the risk of leaving it in Brazilian hands, then we should internationalize all the nuclear stockpiles of the United States. Particularly since this country has already shown that they are capable of using these weapons, causing a destruction thousands of times greater than the sad fires taking place in the Brazilian forests.
During their debates, some of the current U.S. presidential candidates have defended the idea of internationalizing the world forest reserves in exchange for the foreign debt. We could begin to use this debt to guarantee the right of every child in the world to attend school. We could internationalize children, making sure they are all treated fairly, regardless of their birthplace, as a patrimony which deserves the care and attention of the entire world. Even more so than the Amazon Region. When the world leaders attend to the world΄s poor children as a patrimony of Humanity, they will no longer permit that these children work when they should be studying, that they die when they should be living.
As a humanist I accept to defend the internationalization of the world. But so long as the world treats me as a Brazilian, I will fight so that our Amazon Region continues to be ours. And only ours."
I must say I absolutely understand the guy, and agree with him, mostly.
"During a recent discussion, in the United States, someone asked my opinion regarding the internationalization of the Amazon Region. The youngster asserted that he expected the response of a humanist, not of a Brazilian.
This was the first time anyone had established the humanist viewpoint as the starting point for my response. In fact, as a Brazilian I would have responded simply against internationalization of the Amazon Region. Even if our governments have not given the attention that this treasure deserves, it is ours. I responded that, as a humanist, realizing the risk of environmental destruction that threatens the Amazon Region, I could imagine its internationalization, just as for everything else that is important to humanity.
If the Amazon Region, from a humanist΄s point of view, has to be internationalized, then we should internationalize the oil reserves of the entire the world as well. Oil is just as important to the well being of humanity as the Amazon Region for our future. Nevertheless, the owners of oil reserves feel it is in their right to increase or decrease oil production and to raise or lower the price. The rich of the world, feel they have the right to burn this valuable possession of humanity. Similarly, the financial capital of the wealthy nations should be internationalized. If the Amazon Region is a natural reserve for every human being, then it could not be burned down by the decision of a landowner or a country. To burn down the Amazon Region is as tragic as the unemployment provoked by the arbitrary decisions of world-wide speculators. We cannot permit that the world΄s financial reserves serve to burn down entire nations according to the whims of speculation.
Before the (internationalization of the) Amazon Region, I would like to see the internationalization of all the world΄s great museums. The Louvre cannot belong only to France. Museums around the world are guardians to the most beautiful works produced by human genius. These cultural patrimonies, as the Amazon Region is a natural patrimony, cannot be dependent on the whim of owners or single countries, who may alter or destroy them. Recently, a Japanese millionaire decided to have a painting by a grand master buried with him in his grave. This painting should have been internationalized.
At the time of the meeting in which this question came up, the United Nations had convened the Millennium Forum and yet the presidents of several countries were not able to attend due to barriers they faced at the border. Therefore, I contend that New York, as the base of the United Nations, should be internationalized. At least Manhattan should belong to all of humanity. Similarly Paris, Venice, Rome, London, Rio de Janeiro, Brazilia, Recife, and every city with its own beauty, its own history, should belong to the whole world.
If the United States want to internationalize the Amazon Region, due to the risk of leaving it in Brazilian hands, then we should internationalize all the nuclear stockpiles of the United States. Particularly since this country has already shown that they are capable of using these weapons, causing a destruction thousands of times greater than the sad fires taking place in the Brazilian forests.
During their debates, some of the current U.S. presidential candidates have defended the idea of internationalizing the world forest reserves in exchange for the foreign debt. We could begin to use this debt to guarantee the right of every child in the world to attend school. We could internationalize children, making sure they are all treated fairly, regardless of their birthplace, as a patrimony which deserves the care and attention of the entire world. Even more so than the Amazon Region. When the world leaders attend to the world΄s poor children as a patrimony of Humanity, they will no longer permit that these children work when they should be studying, that they die when they should be living.
As a humanist I accept to defend the internationalization of the world. But so long as the world treats me as a Brazilian, I will fight so that our Amazon Region continues to be ours. And only ours."
I must say I absolutely understand the guy, and agree with him, mostly.
Friday, September 03, 2010
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