R ticles of interest

As I was doing my regular run of newspapers at work these two pieces caught my eye:

1. Mexico City trying to clean up.

2. Cutting down on cardboard boxes for moves.

The Mexico City one, in particular, caught my eye. The fact that the population needs a civil ethics crash course on not throwing trash everywhere compounded by the general view that the government should pick the trash up since they are being paid for it, through taxes, is fairly interesting. So, is the incredibly low percent of Mexico City residents that recycle (10%, compared to 77% of Americans).

In the small population sample that encompasses my family, I can say that we do not recycle...at all. I actually remember talking about recycling around 5th grade or so, as well as a big push by my grade school to start recycling and educate people about recycling. Unfortunately there is a big need for Mexican citizens to think beyond the individual, and this does not stop at trash and recycling. Some time ago a supreme court justice in Mexico posted an opinion where he suggested that the country needed a change in ethics where the Mexican individual needs to think beyond the me and now, and start thinking for the benefit of the nation and the community.

The plastic box article I thought was an interesting counter point of the greenification of the US. Besides, I know plenty of us that have moved quite a bit so I figured it couldn't hurt to pass along the link.

Where were you?

I know this question is going to be asked a lot, but I just wanted to ask my two or three readers: where were you January 20th, 2009 when Obama officially took office?

Me? I was laying down getting my teeth cleaned. I guess I will be the most unforgettable teeth cleaning ever. I got to hear some of the ceremony in the waiting room thanks to a dude that had it streaming from his cell phone. Lots of people at Vandy must have been trying to stream the ceremony because web access was crawling all morning.

Obama on Dixie Kitchen and Bait Shop

I read about how Obama sat in this show in 2001 when he was an Illinois senator and apparently the episode never aired because, according to the piece I read, Obama was a little too good or smooth when he shot the piece. Make sure you let the clip finish and let it jump to the 2nd clip, where the prez-to-be hops on to talking about a little politcs. This clip made me think of the 60 mins interview where the Obama's talked at one point about how when they were dating Barack Obama was driving a car with a rusted out end where Michelle could see through. How does that sound for elitism?

Kidnapping expert kidnapped

Nothing says 'tis the season for giving like kidnapping an expert in kidnappings. Well, this is exactly what happened in my [not so]beloved home country recently as reported here. While I have not been a fan of my birth nation for quite some time, or a fine representative of it, I dare say that the frequent reports of kidnappings, narc killings, corruption scandals and you name it are starting to make me wonder whether things are about to get much worse before things get better. Actually, a supreme court justice in Mexico thinks the country is starting to slip from the hands of those that care for a better Mexico (article in Spanish). While on the topic, an exchange with my sister's boyfriend also yielded this news piece (sorry, also in Spanish) about a drug lord that was busted recenlty and that during a gun fight tried to call for help from two police chiefs.

Maybe I am naive in not worrying for the safety of my mom and sisters who live in Mexico City or my dad and sister who live in Ciudad Juarez and El Paso. I guess I just have convinced myself that since we are not loaded and are not narcs that we should be safe but for a robbery here or there. As far as I know, the only one in my immediate family that has been robbed at gun point was my dad a few years back while taking a cab. My oldest sister has had 2 cars stolen, but never while she was in the car.

Here is hoping that things turn around in Mexico and that Nat and I make it to and back without a hitch.

You tell me this now...

Courtesy of one of Nat's coworkers, US News thinks this about my career. I guess this tells me I should have started my subscription to their mag a long time ago and maybe I should have listened to all the voices in my head.

I [don't] love pirates

Today while driving home from work, Nat and I saw an older Jeep Wrangler that had this I love Pirates bumper sticker. OK, that is not a fair representation of the car. The car had a NJ Devils (the hockey team) tire cover and license plate holder, a NY Giants Super Bowl Champions bumper sticker, as well as about 3 or a dozen more. While there were lots of sports related stickers, I couldn't get past the I heart Pirates sticker, at least in the sense that I thought that sticker basically symbolized the driver of the car being a female. When I verbalized this to Nat, she quickly disagreed with me and asked for my logic.

My logic? While I can see lots of guys covering the back of their car with loads of stickers, I cannot think of a single one that would willing put an I heart Pirates sticker on their car. I mean, what kind of statement is that? It is not a political statement, or a statement of loyalty to a sports team, or crazed philosophy. It's a statement of love for a way of life, that short of this being Somalia, is something reserved for Disney, it goes by the way of a lifestyle similar to those of a LARPers nationwide. In the later case, I doubt a serious pirate would put a sticker on a Jeep Wrangler stating that they love pirates.

Thus, I take my opinion to you, my loyal listeners. I do like pirate movies and even an occasional visit to a theme park, but I do not heart pirates.

Election Special

"If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations," Palin told host Chris Plante, "then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media."

In other words, Palin wants freedom of speech rights to apply to her but not to the media. Those liberal nutjobs have just gone too far speaking their mind. If you want more on this, here is the entire piece. The best part of this, is that when a coworker told me about this, I thought it was a piece in The Onion.