Powers of government...

It's somewhat ironic that society expects the President to meddle with the Judicial system, but at the same time society asks of him to solve problems that are not in his hands.

What we can ask the President to do, is to let the Judicial branch of government to do it's work without interference from the Executive branch. The procurement of justice is not in the hands of the President, he is only in charged of executing whatever he deems necessary to the betterment of the country.

There is a need to understand that in our political system, each power has certain powers and responsibilities. Therefore, depending on what need is to be meet is to what branch of the government is the one we ought to look at to make things happen in order to find a solution.

We live in a system made in a way that no single person or entity concentrates to much power. So, different powers and responsibilities are vested on different persons or institutions.

And it's on our best interest that the powers if each of the branches that compose our government are kept limited and in check.

If we let a single person, or entity, hold to much power over the others it could lead to a system that works against our best interest. Society should hold the bulk of the power, only delegating to the government those powers that it deems necessary to serve the societies interest the best.

At the end, the government exist to serve society, not the other way around.

Market...

I find it hard to see why there is so little infrastructure work being done to modernize some of the markets at Cuernavaca.

The is some real and urgent need to modernize current markets, to bring them to modern safety standards, to make them a lot more hygienic and comfortable to use. But there should be new one built too.

With the population increment that has been happening over time, current markets are not enough to meet the needs of the city. The current markets are over crowed, making them unsafe, since they haven't been modernized to meet the increased affluence of costumers attending to them.

Also, as the city expands, there is need to build markets at those new locations. It's ridiculous that you can't build markets or general stores to serve those new centers because of the land use laws.

There is a lot of changes that need to happen, and most of those changes should have happened already. We need to make things happen, and do it with an eye in the future.

Importance of criticism...

I'm not sure if it's funny or sad the way some people say that it's not right not criticize our elected officials for whatever they do at their post. It may be a mixture of both.

I do agree that the criticism should be given in a constructive manner, not doing it just for the sake of it. Most importantly, it should be given with valid arguments of why you don't agree with the way the officials are doing.

Also, we need to understand that even though the officials should be open to criticism they don't have to act on it. There are times, when the one doing the criticism doesn't have all the relevant information on the given subject; but still there could still have valid points.

It's important to understand that just because someone is in a position of power, doesn't make them right on everything or every time. Therefor, it's important to keep tabs on what, and how, they do things because their actions have an effect on many people.

This is specially true on the public sector, since they manage resources that belong to the public.

But, it's important to keep in mind that not all criticism is bad. If it's given in a way that creates an environment that makes it easy to correct that what was made wrong, or to make things better, is actually beneficial for the community at large.

At the end, the important thing becomes differencing what criticism is for good and which for bad.

Challenges...

I find myself in a point were I'm thinking why people aren't challenging the way things are done around them.

It seems that as a society, we expect that someone else to do something to fix things. Even though part of the solution is our own responsibility, many are afraid to do something about it.

We need to understand that, if we want to things to get fixed, we need to do our part to fix what need to fixed. Not doing something about what is going on, makes us part of the problem. Even if we blame someone else, things will remain the same.

Also, we shouldn't do things expecting to be rewarded. We need to do them, because it has to be done. The reward should be that you did what had to be done, when it had to be done.

But, we are not doing things because we expect someone else to do something about it.

Democracy...

As much as Mexico's democracy has advance since the mid-1990's, there is long road ahead.

Society at large is more aware, and is a lot more participative in a wider range of aspects of our democratic life, but sometimes it show that most people don't really inform them selves about whatever they might be interested in more than the basics. On many cases, they just know whatever a single source told them.

This attitude is troublesome to me, because this makes the people more vulnerable to be swayed as the one handling the informations wants them to. If we want to avoid this, is important to use as many sources as you can. And to try to look beyond of what you are being told.

Objectiveness will always be relative, since we all filter informations trough the lens of our values and what we believe in.

This is why, if we want our democracy to grow and mature, we need to try to compare and contrast our ideas and beliefs with the one's of other's. No ones has the absolute truth, so what might apply to one may not apply to another.

All I hope for, is that we don't lose our way.

Next handset...

I've been thinking about what mobile phone I should get to replace my current mobile phone.

So far, I've decided that my next mobile phone should run Android. What I like the most about Android, is that is open source and that it's Linux based. Linux is my favorite operating system, that makes Android specially enticing for me.

The only thing now, is what handset should I get. For the time being, I've narrowed down my list of choices to handsets from Motorola, htc, or Samsung. I still need to do some research, but as far as I'm concerned, this three manufactures offer the handsets that are more akin to my needs.

I really want to make sure my next handset runs on open source software, since then both my computer and handset would run on open source. Currently, I run Ubuntu on my laptop. So, moving to an Android based handset is a natural move for me, since both Android and Ubuntu are Linux based.

It's just a matter of time.

Work in progress...

Sometimes, is rather frustrating to see how the infrastructure projects are handled at Cuernavaca, and Morelos as a whole.

It seems that in one hand, the government isn't capable of explaining itself about how the project being proposed would come about. Most importantly, the whole process is not as transparent and open to the public as it should be. Key information is often hidden, and when it's asked for is denied for the wrong reasons.

The people who handle those projects don't seem to understand that since these are public projects built with public funds, all the information that comes with it needs to be open to the general public. These includes costs, papers about environmental impact, and all relevant documents of the project.

On the part of society, what frustrates me is the fact that instead of making sure that the projects being proposed and build are the one needed are dead set of preventing anything new is being built or enhanced.

What worse, there seems that as some of these groups aren't able to make alternate proposals. Or what would be the ideal, to propose projects that would solve problems that need to be solved.

To be honest, the ideal thing to have would be both society and government proposing and building to prevent problems to happen. Instead to building, or adapting, infrastructure to solve current problems we should be building with an eye on the future.

Needs of life will be always changing, with new technologies and other thins that life brings, our cites our always work in progress.

Socialism, or Capitalism?

For me, on paper both Socialism and Capitalism are equally good ideas. Both are capable economic models, that are able to bring much prosperity to the societies in which they are deployed.

The question to which of the both economic model should be applied, should be left to each country to answer. Depending on the culture that each country has, the success that Socialism or Capitalism can achieve is completely different. What's more, in some cases a system that is a hybrid between the two might bring much better results.

All depends on how society works in each country. The values in one might be compatible with Capitalism, while in other they may be more compatible with Socialism.

But, in my mind, the pure form of either of them can't be applied. The main reason for this belief is that in most societies would benefit more from a mixture of both models, in varying degrees. Yes, some lean to one more than the other, but most are more in the center.

At the end, each the self determination of the people of each country should be what determines what economic model to follow.

Specially since what works in one country, doesn't mean it will work in other.

At then end, for me what makes Socialism or Capitalism better, relative to each other, is where are they to be applied. Either one could be the answer to bring prosperity, but it depends on which one is compatible to the core values of each society.

Not anyone else's problem...

The more I see how many people prefer inaction when it comes to making things better, I can't help to feel disappointed.

It's specially so, when all they do is whine about how bad things are. But, when it comes the time for them to do something, the answer seems to be that it's some one else's responsibility to fix things. That it's not their fault that all is as it is.

But, at the end it is their fault that things have come to where they are. Doing nothing is just as bad as doing the things wrong.

Not doing the right thing, or not fixing things when it's needed, is what has us where we are now. We don't have to fix everything, or other people problems, but we have to keep tabs with our what we are need to get done for our benefit.

Closer together

It's amazing how current communication technology allows real time calls with several persons, while each one is at a different location.

What's more impressive, is that it not only allows audio but video too. With the right software/hardware combination, video calls can be made to anyone without mattering where in the world they are.

Thus, bringing people together than other otherwise would have difficulty communicating with each other. And if you add that you can add video to the calls that can be made, makes it a lot more gratifying than just listening the person you want to talk to.

From my point of view, this advancement in communication technology is a good thing. Since it helps to keep people in touch with their loved ones a lot easier, and sometimes far cheaper than traditional alternatives, it helps to keep people happier while they make their lives in places far from they are from.

At the end, technology is making easier to keep people in touch with their roots. But at the same time, it also make it easier to get to know people from other cultures than other wise would be almost unthinkable to do so. This gives me hope that soon we could have a better understanding about why and how other people think about.

If used correctly, it can make the world a better place.

Cell phone

I've considering changing my cell phone for an Android one in the near future.

So far, I've considered a Samsung or a Motorola model, but I still haven't made up my mind. The main thing for me is price, since I don't have much money.

Though, I have been thinking about getting a cell phone that I can use with whatever carrier I choose. There was a booth here a Plaza where technology vendors concentrate where they sold several cell phone models that could be used with any carrier, but it closed a couple of mouths ago.

Which is a shame, since they had a couple of models I really like. As a mater of fact, there was a touch screen model that I was actually willing to give a try. Which is odd, since i mostly prefer models with the QWERTY models over touch screen ones.

Now, I have to find where to buy one at Cuernavaca. Or I'll have to go to Mexico City.