Para terminar en una nota alegre, checa esta historia de El Universal sobre un robo de banco fallido en la Ciudad de México. Los ladrones, queriendo perforar con martillo y cincel de una casa abandonada a la bóveda del banco, terminaron primero en un salón de fiestas pero no se dieron por vencidos. En su segundo intento, esta vez desde el establecimiento para párvulos, fueron a dar al baño del banco, activando la alarma.
Estos cuates si no hubieran nacido los habría inventado Walt Disney…
Pemex, the Mexican oil monopoly, is on dire straits. The source of around 30% of the government budget, it has issues with the union, the lack of productivity and of technology for deep sea drilling, where the last known reserves are expected to be. Reform, however, is not an option since the oil industry in Mexico is intimately tied to arcane notions of nationhood.
For an overview of the situation, Bloomberg and Paco Calderón give the basics.
Of course, that's what happens when you treat an industry like the golden calf.
The warmest winter in recorded history (pictured) has given way to a very interesting spring, where Finland is having air-quality issues due to forest fires in Russia.
For me, your average chilango (Mexico City denizen), a little bit of smog just makes me, say, homesick 😉 .
As a friend would say, the secret of a good marriage is that both of you should "play for the same team". So, "if the goal is that way, no shooting on own goal is allowed".
I knew that football is life, but this is starting to get ridiculous 😉
Ever since reading The World is Flat and checking out books on the creative economy, I've been wondering if Mexico is competing in the wrong niche. Since before the start of NAFTA in the 90's, the country has focused on the maquiladora sector, basically using the wage differential between Mexico and the United States for its gain.
Since 2000, however, we found out that China, even being so far away, has basically strong competitive advantages to beat Mexico at that game, regardless of the location of both countries. They can produce faster, cheaper and with less of a fuzz. Mexican industries, however, have specialised in sectors that require just-in-time delivery or very specialised knowledge, leaving them vulnerable to the oscillation of supply and demand in those areas.
The Tec de Monterrey, one of Mexico's leading universities, has been trying to foster the creation of a knowledge economy, but I think that is not the right focus. A knowledge economy presupposes the dependence on knowledge created elswhere, with the relevant fees for patents and such, whereas we should be focusing on going further than that. This, however, needs more initiative than we seem to have…
If you are a regular reader of this blog (or an immigrant yourself), you know immigration procedures are not easy. Therefore, I would like to give a big thanks to the Espoo Police.
I went to renew my residence permit last week, which is a process that nominally takes three months. We arrived at their office at 8 a.m., and since all my papers were in order and they had me in the system, they did all the process on the spot and one hour later I left with a new permit for another couple of years. I found excellent, courteous service and as you can see a very fast turnaround.
It seems the authorities do want my taxes after all ;-).
"On lottovoitto syntyä Suomeen" is a phrase you hear often enough in Finland, referring to their perceived fortune at their high standard of living. Whereas I agree that it is indeed a nice place, I believe the statement is flawed for the most important thing is not where are you born, but what you do with your life.
I've seen plenty of people of advantaged backgrounds but self-destructive attitudes. Yes, a good starting point is nice to have, but shouldn't allow you to get overconfident or, shall I say, cocky.
Surgeon general warning: if you get easily offended please skip this post. Move along.
I guess it is true that one of the first things people want to learn when starting a new language is the profanity… which in my case caused a couple of hilarious situations, as I came to Finland being able to utter only "kiitos" (thanks) and "perkele" (a general swearword of very strong intensity).
One of my first encounters with other vocabulary was in the public transport. I used to live in a rather bad area (for the standards here) of east Helsinki and for a long time I would hear teenagers finishing their sentences with something that sounded like "tu". Something like "Yadda yadda yadda tu, yadda tu. Tu, tu, tu". Further down the line I understood that they meant "vittu" (cunt, but used as the local alternative to fuck).
Then came the summer, and a game called mölkky. The problem was that I had some difficulty with Finnish frontal vowels (ä, ö, y), which led to me referring to it as mulkku (prick). Hilarity ensued.
I found out this article at Martín Varsavsky's blog, and found it extremely interesting… and sad. As he says, one side promises virgins, the other citizenship. They all want cannon fodder.
Rest in peace, Arthur C. Clarke.
