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Archive for February, 2009

Intellectual Property and liberties

By: psr, 2009-02-21

In a friend’s blog I see a critic of a statement by a representative of the Spanish Ministry of Culture: “Without intellectual property, there is no free thought”.

Well… this sentence is not untrue: Let us imagine a world without intellectual property. Anything created by an individual would be nobody’s, not even the individual’s own property. There is no recognition for that individual for all the work that led to the production of that idea, of that new thing. Without acknowledgement there is no incentive to put effort into anything, and without that effort there is no thought: not free, and not captive. There is nothing.

Part of the very nature of humans is to associate ideas with people who published them. Such …

2009-02-21 | Economy - Rights - Spain | Trackback | No Comments »

Lies, from president Zapatero

By: psr, 2009-02-15

The following is an excellent article by Juan Manuel de Prada (www.juanmanueldeprada.com), published in spanish newspaper ABC on February 2, 2009, after the spanish president, Rodriguez Zapatero appeared on a TV show where a live audience can ask him anything they like.

Don’t swallow that lie, Izaskun
JUAN MANUEL DE PRADA
Monday, Feb 2, 2009

Much has been said about the many lies that president Zapatero, as he often audaciously does, spewed during his appearance in the TV program “I’ve got a question for you”. But it’s a known fact that current times demand stone-faced small-time politicians, and president Zapatero, no doubt, shines above any of his competitors to satisfy such demand. Zapatero unashamedly said he hadn’t promised full employment for his current term in office, and also that …

2009-02-15 | Rights - Spain | Trackback | No Comments »

Fire

By: psr, 2009-02-15

Australia has been hit by enormous wildfires, and not-so-wild ones too. Now authorities suspect some of those fires were actually arson. This seems to be a recurring theme everywhere in the world where supposedly wildfires break out. It’s the same story in the U.S., Greece, Spain and many other countries.

However, this time in Australia, I was very happy to hear the prime minister, Mr. Kevin Rudd, call things by their name. He has called the fires “mass murder”, and he is absolutely right, although he’s probably referring only to the human lives lost in the fires. His words are perfectly applicable to the murder of wild life in the scorched forests, both fauna and flora. Finally a government official (the …

2009-02-15 | Rights - World | Trackback | No Comments »

Encouraging drug use – or so it seems

By: psr, 2009-02-02

The “Foundation for help against drug addiction” (“Fundación de Ayuda contra la Drogadicción”, or FAD in Spanish) puts out an advertisement campaign every so often in Spain to raise awareness about the problems that drug addiction can bring. At least that’s what they say.

Their latest campaign consists of images depicting cocaine and Ecstasy as attractive products, alongside very small (comparatively) messages that supposedly should make people realize that drugs are harmful. The messages state that cocaine will bring “60% more suffering for your couple per gram”, or claim that by consuming Ecstasy you “enter a daily draw for a car accident”. (see below)

First and foremost, advertisement (of drugs or anything else) is effective with attractive visual presentations, not thanks …

2009-02-02 | Braindead - Spain | Trackback | No Comments »

“Revolution” as an end in itself

By: psr, 2009-02-01

This weekend (Jan 31, 2009) Madrid has seen at least two public demonstrations related to the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution: one on them in favor, the other against it. As usual, there’s people for everything.

All Cubans I’ve met, in the U.S. and Spain, are against Castro’s dictatorship, so I’ve never met an advocate of the “revolution” who could explain to me what’s good about it… but it seems its advocates speak of the revolution as an end in itself, not a means. They seem to imply that what is important is that a revolution took place, regardless of its outcomes.

However, a “revolution” is drastic change done for a purpose… but it’s not clear that the revolution 50 years ago in Cuba had any positive impact …