My portable Wikipedia is my personal plane and time machine, and boy do I enjoy using it! The other day, I used it to look up the year 1913, to get a sense of what was happening in the world a hundred years ago. I got sucked in by the article and went on to read a pile of really interesting things. Let me tell you about some of them.
There are many opinions I do not share with Yoani Sanchez (I don’t follow her blog much either), but if her provocations, complaints, brilliant ideas or cyber-gossip helps shake the permafrost, the frozen subsoil of Cuban politics, then, hell, my respects to the tube worm.
In spite of phenomena such as the proliferation of aggressive fish species, the creation of artificial land bridges, irresponsible sugar-cane harvesting practices, the use of transgenic products and the propagation of marabou across our fields and cities, Cuba continues to be a prodigious island in terms of biodiversity.
Have any of you ever been addicted to anything? I have. One of my addictions, I confess, is masturbation. Though it’s a bit embarrassing to write about this, I’ll give it a shot. It will be my modest way of helping demystify this rather tenacious taboo.
Children love the beach. Years ago, I took a rather enjoyable trip to one named Jibacoa, located in what was formerly referred to as “Habana campo” (“the Havana countryside”). It looked like a paradise for children. Every morning, a fleet of large, old American-made trucks loaded with bathers from nearby towns would arrive at the coast. (13 photos)
It looks as though one does not need the violence of capitalism or a neo-liberal government to deliver the nation’s resources to private interests, through the mediation of a mob of bureaucrats. Apparently, it does not matter if the quality of a whole city’s drinking water is what’s at stake.
In these days the earth has aligned itself with the sun in a similar position to that of the day when I first poked my head out from the maternal womb. How badly I take birthdays!
Speaking of Chavez’s death, I was reading some articles on the Internet. Most of them were no more than boring caricatures. Luckily there are others that are better balanced, such as the one by Boaventura Sousa Dos Santos, titled “Chavez: The Legacy and the Challenges” (Chavez, el legado y los desafíos).
This is another post about drugs. No, don’t raise your eyebrows or huff. I’ll be raising the issue at least until they’re legalized and decent information on them can be found in bookstores and libraries here.
Yesterday, when Chavez’s death was announced, I was in the heart of the city and was able to pick up some of the spirit felt by people over the departure of the president.