The Missing Picture: Chávez and Vargas Llosa

I corrected Chávez' picture from the ISHR campaign to represent what happened yesterday.

Hilarious Campaign: Powerful men afraid of (computer) mice

Satire is a powerful force, indeed:


This campaign was created for the International Society for Human Rights, a very deserved mock to such powerful rulers who are so afraid of letting other dissent. They have made another against Chávez, but I do not put it here, since I do not think that Chávez' abuses related to the Internet are in the same league (not yet? He is getting his paws on cable TV now) than the ones made by these two jerks. However, you can find them here.

However, Sarkozy and some functionaries from the Australian government besides Colom from Guatemala should be mocked like that or worse.

Hat tip to Alberto de Francisco.

Are you a dick? Musings on El Vergatario

I started to read this comment about the so called 'Penis Phone' and I decided to write a post about it, since the translation is not really good.

In Venezuela, when a person is vergatario/a it means he or she is astounding, impressive, qualified. In a different way than English, to be called un güevo or un pipe does not means you are a dick, it means you are a highly skilled person. When I was a child, playing Mario and watching others go through the most difficult levels, it came natural to say to the player !Eres un güevo¡ literally: You are a dick! So the 'penis phone' is not only a non accurate translation, it lacks the context to transmite that here, to be called a male reproductive organ is a good thing (Being called a dickhead, however, is still an insult).

A mixed capital company, Chinese-Venezuelan, designed and built the thing, supposedly the cheapest cellphone in the world, even if I do not believe it, such thing would be in China, not here, but it has MP3 and WAP. I have bought cheaper stuff in the US (no MP3 or WAP, however).

That is one of the amazing things going on these days here, sadly, at the same time with all the crap. For a futurist, these are exciting times, the interaction of developing societies and technology is fascinating to witness, like street peddlers selling 8 Gigabytes flash drives in Cúcuta, the Colombian town across the border.

But, be warned, John Varley already made a prophecy:

'In five years the penis will become obsolete'

Exchange rate

I messed my numbers in a flame war about Venezuela this morning at BoingBoing. I claimed my grad salary would be less than a dollar daily, at black market rate (which shall remain unnamed here). Is much more than that, closer to 4 dollars daily. I counted only what would have left after paying the rent and picked up a wrong number for the rate.

I apologize for messing the numbers, and since the post was closed, I write it here. However, it does not change the nature of my argument.

Crying

Rico-chavez
Uploaded by noticias24 - Up-to-the minute news videos.

Chávez dixit:
"Wealthy people are not humans, they are animals, animals with human shape."

I am not rich, not at all.
But I have never seen in all human history, a situation where the government or authority claim that some people are not human ending without a blood bath.

I feel sick, sad, broken in the inside.

Update:
Translation:
Because being rich is evil.
To be rich, er, go on accumulating wealth
And land, look
"I am the Lord of the prairie"(dramatizing)
duh, you are a poor imbecile (jerk?)
Even more so, you are not a man
You are not human!
The rich is not human
I say so
And I respond for it
The rich is not human at all!
He is an animal with human shape
(applause)
He is an animal with human shape!
Now, if a rich now stands up and says
"Chávez is offending me"
well, OK (shrugs)
feel offended
Now, you want to be human?
That's why Christ said what he said (pointing finger to man's chest)
because Christ went to talk to him