Guide for the Mexican Migrant
Esteemed Countryman:
The purpose of this guide is to provide you with practical advice that may prove useful to you in case you have made the difficult decision to search for employment opportunities outside of your country. The sure way to enter another country is by getting your passport from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the visa, which you may apply for at the embassy or consulate of the country you wish to travel to.
However, in practice we see many Mexicans who try to cross the Northern Border without the necessary documents, through high risk zones that involve grave dangers, particularly in desert areas or rivers with strong, and not always obvious, currents. Reading this guide will make you aware of some basic questions about the legal consequences of your stay in the United States of America without the appropriate migratory documents, as well as about the rights you have in that country, once you are there, independent of your migratory status. Keep in mind always that there exist legal mechanisms to enter the United States of America legally. In any case, if you encounter problems or run into difficulties, remember that Mexico has 45 consulates in that country whose locations you can find listed in this publication.
Familiarize yourself with the closest consulate and make use of it.
DANGERS IN CROSSING HIGH RISK ZONES
To cross the river can be very risky, above all if you cross alone and at night. Heavy clothing increases in weight when wet and this makes swimming and floating difficult.
If you cross by desert, try to walk at times when the heat will not be too intense. Highways and population centers are far apart, which means you will spend several days looking for roads, and you will not be able to carry foodstuffs or water for long periods of time. Also, you can get lost.
Salt water helps keep liquids in your body. Although you may feel more thirst if you drink salt water, the risk of dehydration is much less.
Spanish language original here.
There is an operation called Gatekeeper which is designed to block the traditional border crossing routes. It is causing a lot of grief for the illegal immigrants and their families. Especially heat/hypothermia related deaths have been on the rise. Migrants have started using more desolate and dangerous routes such as the Otay mountains. More information here.
A friend of mine recently got married with her Mexican boyfriend partly because illegal border crossing these days can be really risky in many different respects.
Posted by api at 09:34 - No Comments »
I’m a returning visitor to Explodingdog. I’ve actually thought of buying one of his t-shirts, but the t-shirts are not as cool as the actual illustrations.
People send him title suggestions and he illustrates them. Here is some additional information about the process.
Posted by api at 13:17 - No Comments »
cbs5.com - Bush Marks Earth Day Mountain Biking In Napa
President Bush marked Earth Day with a lung-busting mountain bike ride high above Napa County wine country, dodging ruts that sent several of his riding partners crashing into the mud.
The president spent Saturday morning with a small pack of riders in a foggy redwood forest about 90 minutes north of San Francisco. He relished the swampy conditions on parts of the trail in this remote state-owned tract, leading his partners repeatedly through huge puddles and streams running high after weeks of heavy rain.
“I still ride the mountain bike primarily to help settle the soul and to burn off the excess energy one gets when you’re living life to its fullest,” Bush told an Associated Press reporter who accompanied him on the ride.”We’re able to enjoy the beauty without really disrupting the pristine nature of the place,” the mud-splattered president said after the 65-minute ride.
“It’s a classic way for mankind to enjoy God’s gift. Plus, we get some exercise.”
Ahem, I believe the news piece above needs no additional comments.
Speaking of pristine nature, the Banff Mountain Film festival show here in Helsinki was a big success. The films were very well chosen and represented a wide variety of viewpoints ranging from a documentary of a 79 year old polish paraglider to mindblowing big air powder film “Person as a projectile” and extremely entertaining and informative “Parallelojams” which was about crack climbing at Indian Creek, Utah.
15 euros well spent.
Posted by api at 11:28 - No Comments »
Dragonbane - Summary
Kicking off in Swedish Älvdalen in late July of 2006, Dragonbane will be the first truly pan-european larp ever organized. Attracting around 300-400 participants from many countries it will also be a very influential event in the history of larp, joining the efforts of a hard-working production team and the dedication of an international player community. Thanks to committed volunteers, academic partners, and industry sponsors, we are creating a roleplaying game the likes of which have never been experienced before. Roleplaying always deals with imaginary reality and Dragonbane will push the limits of how believable fiction can be.
This is not a modest project. We aim to make Dragonbane the perfect fantasy game, and we aim to make Dragonbane better than any other game we have participated in as players or organizers. And we will not settle for “as perfect as possible”. Organizers from all over Europe have met to give birth to the ideas that are Dragonbane, and every organizer represents different larp backgrounds and experiences and we are intent on evolving larp by picking the best from every larp culture represented. We have the combined experience, the combined visions and dreams, and the combined courage to take on a task as grand as the Dragonbane project.
Do you have the courage to take part?
Yesterday I spent hours and hours browsing the website of Dragonbane. The depth and level of the organizers’ commitment is just unbelievable. After just a few minutes of exposure I was totally ready to participate myself. However, after careful consideration I realized that I just don’t have the time to prepare for the event properly. To participate, you must be willing to live in a total immersion LARP (live action role playing) setting for 5 days straight. The requirements for participation include stricts rules about the clothing, tools etc. that permit only non-synthetic materials in footwear, underwear etc. Also, you must be willing to prepare your in-game character properly in advance.
I’m afraid that I will be regretting this decision for the rest of my life, but hopefully there will be a sequel sometime within my lifetime.
Posted by api at 23:14 - No Comments »
Presentation
The MARATHON DES SABLES is all about management ;for one week everyone must manage strength, food and water needs.
“A PLANNED RACE IS A SUCCESSFUL ONE”
Especially in Southern Morocco at a time of year when the temperature can exceed 100 degrees Farhenheit in the sun. Due to the nature of the terrain crossed throughout the race, the body is under strain, and thanks to the experience acquired by the doctors in previous years, we can advise you on how to avoid certain mistakes and how to prepare efficiently for this “extraordinary expedition”.
1. Your equipment may quickly become an unsurmountable handicap !
When you have to be self-sufficient for all your food and water needs, everything you carry must be carefully weighed so that you do not have to carry anything not adjusted to the physical performance it is meant to deliver.
The backpack : check that the frame will not cause injury to your back or shoulders because of frequent rubbing.
2. Select your food carefully.
There again, weight is a major consideration.There are now numerous food products which are vacuum packed or freeze dried and their small volume and weight make them ideal solutions for this kind of undertaking. When planning your meals you must include a solid breakfast and high energy snacks every 20 to 30 minutes during the race. The evening meal should, of course, replace all the calories lost during the day.
Another endurance sports related event happening right now is the North Pole expedition by Airborne Ranger Club of Finland.
Posted by api at 08:58 - 1 Comment »
Welcome To TankChair
Tank Chair is a Custom off-road wheelchair that can go anywhere outdoors.
Conquers Streams, Mud, Snow, Sand, and Gravel, allowing you to get back to nature, and can also climb up and down stairs. For every 10 chairs sold, TankChair is going to donate one to a fire department in a rural area so that they can give it away to someone who would not normally be able to afford one. The first is going to go to Parker Fire Department in Arizona. This is our hometown and they were the ones who rescued my wife, my kids, and myself when we got in the accident that put her in the chair.
Posted by api at 18:13 - No Comments »
Syndesis, Inc. - Works in Progress
This project is a 55 acre property in the remote hills of Malibu with several sites and unique topography with panoramic views looking out to a nearby mountain range, a valley, and the ocean with distant island views.
The client, a woman, requested curvilinear/feminine shapes for the building. The progenitor of the building’s form was envisioned as a floating curved roof. It soon became apparent, that in fact, an airplane wing itself could work. In researching airplane wings and superimposing different airplane wing types on the site to scale, The wing of a 747, at over 2,500 sq. ft., became an ideal configuration to maximize the views and provide a self supporting roof with minimal additional structural support needed.
Old aeroplanes seem to be a trendy source of building material these days.
Also see Limojet
Posted by api at 20:06 - No Comments »
Chernobyl’s lost city - BBC
A haunting series of images from the model city of Pripyat near Chernobyl.
Although it is a terribly sad and tragic environment, there is something that’s immensively fascinating about it as well. Just like the forbidden fruit, it tempts all kinds of creative people such as the anonymous graffiti artists whose work can be seen in the image above. Parts of the zombie movie Return of the Living Dead 4: Necropolis were shot in the area as well.
Also see, Kidd of Speed’s 2004 photographs.
Posted by api at 14:04 - No Comments »
“Viral” and “contagious” advertising campaigns are no longer just a buzzword at the cubicles of trendy and youthful ad agencies. Sometimes agencies are just slapping a viral component to compliment an existing, more traditional campaign. It seems like they did something like this with the Sony Bravia advert web site. Well, even that approach works occasionally, as you can see by this blog entry itself.
Stimorol Kiss Off on the other hand, has obviously been designed from the ground up as a viral campaign. Kudos for the great idea and execution.
(EDIT: well, I’m ready to take my words back. After seeing the actual battle, I must say that the execution was a bit chaotic and messy after all)
Posted by api at 10:40 - No Comments »
I clicked this ad link by accident, I think.
After a quick scroll down the page, I noticed that practically all of the driveways had a big ass iron gate. James Caan’s driveway (pictured above) was the exception to the rule for reasons unknown.
Posted by api at 09:22 - 1 Comment »
Plan
As far a planning is concerned, simplicity and flexibility are the foundation upon which the success of this expedition is built.
The expedition is comprised of two main parts, the walker and the support team element. The journey began near the southern tip of the South American Continent, in the Chilean town of Punta Arenas. As a single and unsupported walker Karl is walking north through South America, Central and North American, crossing from Alaska into Siberia, using the frozen Arctic waters of the Chukchi Sea (north of the Bering Straits) as a land bridge.
The journey then heads south west down the eastern coast of Russia, before turning west across Asia and Europe. The finish will be (pending authorisation) through the channel tunnel and into the United Kingdom.
For planning reasons the route is broken down into eight stages, then phases and lastly legs.
The route corridor concept is being used providing an imaginary path drawn upon a map containing several possible detailed routes. This gives Karl flexibility on the ground.
I like this guy! He had an ambitious idea and the balls to make it happen as well. He’s over half-way through already after starting in 1998. A Russian federal judge will be deciding shortly if he can continue his walk after crossing the frozen Bering Strait and entering Russia at an unauthrozed entry point.
Posted by api at 09:17 - No Comments »
Ancient Rome: The roman army in ancient Rome.
This new organization of both patricians and plebeians was originally only for military purposes, (that the army might be increased), and the expenses of keeping it more equitably divided among all the people. But gradually, as the influence of the wealthy plebeians began to be felt, the organization was found well adapted for political purposes, and all the people were called together to vote under it. It was called the COMITIA CENTURIATA, i.e. an assembly of centuries. The place of meeting was on the CAMPUS MARTIUS, a plain outside of the city.
In this assembly each century had one vote, and its vote was decided by the majority of its individual voters. The tendency of this system was to give the wealthy the whole power; for since each century represented the same amount of property, the centuries in the upper or richer classes were much smaller than those in the lower or poorer classes, so that a majority of the centuries might represent a small minority of the people. The majority of the wealthy people at Rome were still patricians, so the assembly was virtually controlled by them. In this assembly magistrates were elected, laws made, war declared, and judgment passed in all criminal cases.
The concept of democracy apparently originates from this region of the world. The soldiers were originally voting by raising their spears. Later, a more sophisticated and anonymous system was devised. Soldiers would drop shards of pottery in a jar and the shards would be counted afterwards. No absentee ballots in those days, I guess.
Posted by api at 08:03 - No Comments »
Maori Power - a graffiti in Wellington, NZ
Maori culture - Wikipedia
Certain people and objects contain mana - spiritual power or essence. In earlier times, tribal members of a higher rank would not touch objects which belonged to members of a lower rank. This was considered “pollution” and persons of a lower rank could not touch the belongings of a highborn person without putting themselves at risk of death.
Posted by api at 12:39 - No Comments »
I am a huge fan of Red Hot Chili Peppers. I don’t listen to their music that often, but their raw energy and, perhaps even more importantly, their ability to reinvent themselves has made an enormous impression on me.
They have a new album called Stadium Arcadium coming out soon.
Wikipedia - RHCP
The first single will be called “Dani California”, according to Kiedis the same girl from songs By The Way (”Dani the girl”) and Californication (”Teenage bride with a baby inside”) supposedly representative of every girl he has ever known.
The Dani California video is full of visual references to other rock bands and artists with super star status (Elvis, AC/DC, The Beatles, Nirvana etc.). A band like this can pull it off without compromising a single bit of their artistic credibility and integrity.
EDIT: Thanks for all the comments, this thread is now closed.
Posted by api at 21:04 - 52 Comments »
For the last week I’ve been doing all kinds of security related maintenance duties on my computing environment (read; laptop, desktop, web server), but I also found time to read the classic steam punk novel, Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. It won a Hugo award way back in 1996. It’s hard to believe that it was a decade ago. Anyway, it features an interesting mix of futuristic technology and cultural concepts combined with a strong influence of Neo-Victorian “decorative” elements: robotic mounts, cylinder hats, ink pens and all that.
Neo-Victorian fashion has been a sleeper trend in many subcultures such as the goths and the japanese underground street styles. I decided to google around a bit and try to find some images of people going all out with this Neo Victorian thing, but it wasn’t such an easy task. All I really found was a band called Rasputina.
Some of the recent big media names more or less related to this subject are:
Posted by api at 21:24 - 2 Comments »
