Glaciar Martial

Getting damp at the end of the world. Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Hike to Glaciar Martial. Pic by Dominica M.

Beirut - "Nantes"

I love Beirut. Zach Condon is one of those rare songwriters that can take your mind to another place and time. This video is from a cool French blog called La Blogotheque. The song is the first track on The Flying Cub Cup. Enjoy.

Editors - The End has a Start

YouTube Video for a great song by Editors. I thought it was Interpol when I first heard it, but this has a poppier, dancier edge. It was the first individual track I bought on iTunes in many months.

Mar del Plata

Quilmes is huge down here. I've acquired a taste for it. Very drinkable, as the Bud people would say. In Mar del Plata, Quilmes signs are huge.

The Knife - Heartbeats

An amazing song. I must quote one of the comments posted on the song's LastFM page:

"this song is the culmination of human evolution." (nick_gale)

BA

2 nights left in BA. 2 more months in South America.

First the Reefs go, then...

20% of all coral reefs in the world are dead. One fifth. Gone. Why? Us; Pollution, over-fishing, and climate change.

If you ever wondered why eating fish could be bad, think about this. You may not be the one fishing fragile coral reefs unsustainably, or even buying from those who do. But the overall demand for seafood is increased by every person who goes to Red Lobster, eats sushi, or likes tuna salad sandwiches. It may be healthy, and some suppliers may claim to do their fishing responsibly, but why risk it when we are killing our own planet? If the coral reefs die, other ocean ecosystems will die, then probably eventually every other ecosystem. Sorry to sound high-horsey, accusational, or whatever, but this stuff makes me crazy.

In the Park

Japanese Whalers Claim They are the Victims

The Japanese whaling fleet is scared of the big bad Steve Irwin! Much like they did in the book I read on the subject, The Whale Warriors, the Japanese are trying to turn the press and public opinion against Sea Shepherd, who are trying to disrupt the hunt. They are calling the activists "terrorists" and accuse Westerners of being "insensitive" of their culture. Please. Go Sea Shepherd.

Post Bar

This is a random place we stepped into in Palermo, BA with stencils all over the walls. The napolitano pizza was good, though obviously not vegan. I just loved the punky feel of the place.

Post Bar, located at Thames 1885 if you get a chance to stop by.

Boo Hoo for Big Auto

For a whole decade the Big 3 US automakers were raking it in selling giant SUVs to Americans addicted to cheap oil. Now they are begging Congress for help, because nobody wants a monster gas guzzler at $4 a gallon. These are some of the big corporations who advocate deregulation and free market principles. They have always resisted better fuel economy, because hey, it makes good business sense. Now the market is telling them that we don't want what they're selling, and they suddenly want intimate involvement from the government, in the form of billions in cash.

I got sick of the whole big oil game a couple years ago, and have been wary of the many ways corporations influence our country and world since I became old enough to think about it. That is why I decided to get a job close to my home, at an environmentally friendly company, where I could ride my bike to work every day. Well, that and the fact that I cannot stand driving anymore. Unfortunately I probably wiped out more than a year's worth of carbon-footprint-reducing by flying to South America and Vegas this year. Travelling is not earth-friendly. But the minute there is a sustainable airline I will be among the first frequent-flier members.

I've been going back and forth over this whole debate on the evils/merits of the free market lately. I used to be more of a free market guy, but again, that was before I really thought about it. The free market only serves the companies that provide desired products at reasonable prices. This gives us cheap "quality" goods. Getting those things we want at a low price usually comes at the expense of the environment, our health, foreign workers' quality of life, or our own jobs (among many other things). I'm no economic genius, and I can't claim to know very much about these things, but it does not take a genius to realize the truth: when there is money to be made, all you have to do is think about how a given product made it to the store shelf in front of you at its price. It does not take a great stretch of the imagination to realize that a corporation will go to any lengths to get away with selling you their product.

So, should the government allow the US automakers to fail? The arguments against it seem obvious; thousands of jobs lost, increased strength of foreign competitors, a big hit to a weak economy. But the free market theory says we should let that happen. These companies made their bed. They chose to sell us bigger cars rather than offer the selection of small fuel-efficient vehicles available in Europe, Asia, Latin America and everywhere else. They focused on gas-guzzlers while Toyota developed the Prius into a waiting-list must-have. They failed to innovate or even keep up. So they are dying. That is what happens. If they do fold, something better will rise up in their place; new car companies that give consumers what they are looking for will take over.

They say they are learning from their mistakes. But why should we believe their greed won't get the better of them? Their whole strategy has been to choose what to market to Americans and force it upon us. At least it seems that way to me. They attached a stigma to small cars by saying they are less safe (because there are so many big trucks on the highway). They probably said that we don't want hybrids because they aren't as powerful or sleek. Maybe they even had some sort of deal with Big Oil to keep gas cheap in the US so they could sell us the more profitable SUVs. You would think that these giants, who started the industry, who have been in it from the start, would know the best way to do business. It turns out they don't know what they are doing. We can learn from their mistakes, and maybe they can do better in the future. But rather than save these dinosaurs, why not give that money to new industries? Maybe give loans to start-up automakers in the US who start with a green focus, rather than lend to the old guys who promise to do better next time? If we're so worried about job loss, these new companies can give preference to industry veterans for their work force. It would take time for the economy to recover, and this whole recession may be prolonged in order to heal the problems. But maybe the industry would be better for it.

I don't even care that much about the auto industry. I guess I went on this whole rant because I'm sick of the hypocrisy of big business. You could make similar arguments about the airline industry and banking, and I think in the coming decades we will see many of the old industries collapse as we begin to realize that their ways of doing business are wrong. The beauty of the information age is the increasing clarity of everything. Many industries have gotten away with murder for their entire existence. Now that they are beginning to reap what they have sowed, I'm almost happy to see them suffer.

Here is a relevant link to show how things could be different: We Can Solve It.org

Boca 2 - Racing 1

We survived our visit to La Bombonera. It was crazy. And amazing. The banners, the singing, the volume, and the passion are all beyond anything you see in America. American college football might come close in terms of fanaticism, but the extent to which these fans go to show their support... there is no comparison in the states. It inspired me for the Rapids season next year. I can't wait to cheer for my team again.

Boca won 2-1. We were lucky to get tickets, even though we unfortunately ended up in the Racing section. This added a whole extra level of anxiety to the experience, but it was all cool in the end. It was worth it sitting there to be able to watch the Boca socios on the other side of the stadium go loco when they scored, and bring out their giant banderas before the game.

Dominica posted a great documentation of our experience, here on our travel blog. It has highlights of the game, and shows some of the Boca fan section, which was comparable to what we experienced on the Racing side.