Should a gay parade be allowed in Jerusalem?

Jerusalem is perhaps one of the holiest places in the world, as jews, christians and muslims (the three bigger monotheist religions) have reasons to glorify and defend such city's religious importance. A city to show our devotion and faith (I mean, for any who follows any of the religions mentioned above).

However, the city council authorized the performance of a gay parade that will take place from August 6 to 10. And this has brought sour consequences among the city's residents. The most angry are the orthodox jews, as they consider this event as an aberration that insults the Holy City. They are actually thinking of causing a boicott in the parade, speaking about perverts, sodomy and abomination while the march develops. However, here they find another dilemma: How will they speak to their children about forbidden issues like homosexuality? How will they explain why are they so angry about a such parade in Jerusalem, the Holy City? Well, maybe they could find their answer if they read the Bible, where it states that "You must not have sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman; it is a detestable act" [Leviticus, 18:22].

The situation is really tense, and orthodox jews are as well. They will obviously think of a manner to avoid that march of being allowed in the city.

Well, I think that this is a very controversial topic to write about, and whatever opinion I could have about it, could cause anger to any of you reading these lines. But what I think about this controversy is that somehow, those orthodox jews in Jerusalem are right. I consider myself a devote person and therefore I find inadequate that a parade of this nature is allowed in a holy place as Jerusalem.

With this I'm not implying that I'm against, or for, homosexuality. What I consider is that homosexuality should not be shown in gay pride parades that obviously show those sexual preferences in a very grotesque and disgusting way, but it should be kept as a personal issue for homosexuals. Who would need to see people marching in the streets, waving rainbow flags, yelling strange (and sometimes offensive) slogans, and from time to time marching almost naked? This is not a good example for children, who will eventually have the freedom of choosing whatever preference satisfies them most. Besides, this kind of demonstrations only cause more repulsion against homosexuals.

After this thought, I finish by telling that I'm also against such parade taking place in Jerusalem. But it's something that is out of my reach indeed. So let's wait to see what measures will the city authorities take.

Please post any messages, thank you.

Latin American Astronauts... ready!

Having a Latin American astronaut launched out to the space won't be an unpreceded event, as the first Latin American Astronaut that had the opportunity to exit our planet was the Mexican scientist Rodolfo Neri Vela, who was sent to a mission along with many other astronauts on 1985.
But never in history a female astronaut coming from any Latin American country has been assigned to any mission to the outter space. And this could change really soon.
There have been rumours that the Russian Space Agency (or Roskosmos) has been negotiating with Venezuelan authorities a space cooperation agreement that, among other issues, would consider the possibility of launching a Venezuelan female to the outter space to accomplish a mission there.
According to the Venezuelan ambassador in Russia, Alexis Navarro Rojas, the agreement is almost ready to be accepted by both parties, and this project could be preformed soon, when both presidents will meet and maybe sign such treaty.
How relevant will this success be in human history? If you ask me, I'd say that this won't make a real difference in the way that this world is moving, and worst of all, this mission won't have a specific target to achieve; besides it will only be used by the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, as a demonstration of how effective and trascendental is his government, and maybe he's thinking that this will help him to reach a little more popularity around the globe (while he keeps wasting his country's money in buying weapons)... it's a creative way to waste about $20 million dollars, which is the estimated cost of this project.
Well, sorry Mr. Chavez, but I think that you'll need something else to gain the world's sympathy.

Happy Birthday, CN Tower!!

It's always a pleasure for me to write about famous skycrapers, I believe that they're some of the most fascinating man made things that a person can see during their lifetime.

And today, taking advantage of the 30th anniversary of the CN Tower's opening (June 26, 1976), I'll write a little about it.
Well, this building is considered the world's tallest freestanding structure, as it has a total height of 553.33 meters, and it's located in the city of Toronto, Canada. Actually, the letters CN stand for "Canadian National" (the most important freighter train company in Canada), as this building was originally planned and owned by such company.
This structure doubles the Eiffel Tower's height, and it had a building cost of about $300 million Canadian dollars. It is considered by many as one of the seven wonders of the modern world.
Among other attractions, this tower contains a restaurant called "360" that rotates a complete turn in 72 minutes, to allow a complete view of the city, and during clear days, it is also possible to see the city of Rochester, New York, right across Lake Ontario. It has also an observation point, named Sky Pod, which is located at 447 meters above the ground and therefore it's considered the world's highest viewing point.
The CN Tower has a web address that you can visit to get more information and knowledge about this impressive structure. Click here to visit such page!
That's all folks! Please post any comments, see you 'till the next one!

Our World, 1967

39 years ago, on June 25, 1967, was broadcasted the first international satellite television production, named Our World. In this project, a total of twenty six nations took part; it had a duration of two hours and had an audience of about 400 million people all around the globe. It was broadcasted by the European Broadcasting Union (being basically organized and produced by the BBC in London, England) and it was spread all around the world with the help of satellites Intelsat-1, Intelsat-2 and ATS-1.
The most attractive part of this program was the show given by The Beatles, Eric Clapton and The Rolling Stones, among others.
This was for sure an event that made a difference in the history of TV and satellite telecommunications, wasn't it?

Female priests... impossible or not?

A Swiss lady named Monica Wyss, 46, and mother of four children, has been appointed today as a Catholic priest by other two theologian women in Lake Costanza, Switzerland.
According to the catholic law women cannot perform as priests, so this represents a challenge to the Roman Catholic Church, and maybe these three women could be excommunicated from their faith by the Pope. (By the way, I'm not catholic so if I write some mistaken information, I'll really appreciate your comments).
However, some Catholic women claim that this kind of prohibitions for women adopted by the highest clergymen in Vatican City are mistaken, as "it's not a rule enunciated by Jesus", but only by Vatican authorities.
There are allegedly several other women receiving formation to become future priests, and some have actually been appointed as priests. The Roman Catholic Church, as far as I know, won't support these kind of practices, so I think that those women's future as priests is quite unpredictable.
Since I'm not catholic, I'm not able to tell whether I'm for or against this rules and phenomena, but remember that your comments are always welcome. Also, I'll thank you guys if you make me know about any mistaken information found in this article.
Goodbye now.

O Canada

In June 24, 1880, took place the first performance of "O Canada" with its original French lyrics by Sir Adolphe Basile Routhier. The English version of this song, written in 1908 by Robert Stanley Weir, would become Canada's national anthem on July 1, 1980, a hundred years after it was first sung. It's quite a simple but powerful song that invites to join a nationalist feeling for Canada; for the people who don't know it's lyrics, I write the English version down for you:

O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!

Maybe you'd be as surprised as me when you hear that this anthem has been criticized by some individuals, because they consider it "sexist". They propose that, instead of singing the part that reads "in all thy sons command", it would be better to change it for "in all of us command" or "in all thy children command" (although the latter proposal doesn't rhyme at all). Also, some people don't agree with the mention of God in the anthem.

However, I consider it a beautiful anthem, that describes the patriotic feelings of a country, with little words and lots of emotion.
Long life to Canada!!

German Parallel Soccer World Cup

The World Cup fever is increasing day by day in Germany, and not only because of hosting one of the major sport competitions all around the world. It seems that the Fifa World Cup trophy is not the only award pursued, at least for Germans.

There is a parallel competition that is taking place in Germany, but instead of being played in fields, it's played online: German Internet users will have the opportunity to vote the best German internet site dedicated to soccer through a website named Deutscher Multimedia Award. The users will be able to vote until June 28, 2006, when the final results will be published. The list of candidates was created by twelve judges who had to chose from about 900 websites.

More information about this prize can be found in the following address: http://www.dmma.de (unfortunately, it's in German so I don't understand much of the information, but if you don't speak German try to find someone who can help you out with it).

See you now guys!

Hockey: 'Canes win the Stanley Cup

Well, what can I say? I missed my predictions again: the Edmonton Oilers, who were my favourites to win the Stanley Cup (the championship trophy in the NHL), were beaten by a solid Carolina team, and after seven vibrant games to decide a winner of the season, yesterday the Carolina Hurricanes played to achieve a final 1-3 score while playing home.

As a fan of the Buffalo Sabres, I must confess that it's painful to see that the Hurricanes, who left the Sabres without any hope of winning the Stanley Cup, finally rose the trophy. But it's not so bad after all; at least the award will remain in the Eastern Conference for another year. And for the rest of the teams, there will be a lot of work to do during the offseason.
So congratulations to the Carolina Hurricanes, and congratulations to their fans again. I hope that you enjoy this championship, and keep the good work for the upcoming season!

Iranian nuclear weapons warning

I read an article in a local newspaper today that really worried me, and I think that the world should be shocked as well.
According to Hans Blix, former Chief of the UN Weapon Inspectors, Iran could be able to produce a nuclear weapon in as short as 5 years if they are allowed to produce enriched uranium massively; and although the Iranian government has stated in several occasions that their nuclear program has peaceful purposes, they could eventually change their minds.
Could you imagine the disgraces that could happen if an islamic fundamentalist government like the Iranian (headed by a psycho pronounced against anything that doesn't comply islamic rules) take control over any nuclear weapons, and they decide to use them? I think that the govenments all around the globe should be concerned about this Iranian nuclear program and they should do something about it, just to avoid an imminent disgrace that could cost millions of lives and thousands of years to patially relieve.

Women are so complicated... even for Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking is recognized as one of the most (and maybe, the most) brilliant contemporary scientists, and his theories about physics are studied and admired worldwide.
But today, during a trip to Hong Kong, this British intellectual let the world know the riddles that interest him most to solve: to find out how the universe began, to discover what happens inside the black holes, to understand how will humans live a hundred years from now... and to understand women!
And I must agree with Mr. Hawking. Women are indeed complicated. I wonder if they understand themselves... which probably I won't ever find out. However, I have to confess that I strongly believe that us men wouldn't be able to live without women, and although we don't understand them often, they are the best!! we love you, girls! :)
But at least, from now on I won't feel so bad for not understanding girls... even Stephen Hawking doesn't understand them. Maybe it's not a matter of intelligence, but would a man ever understand them? Who'll know. Let's see if Stephen Hawking is able someday to define a theory concerning women's behaviour.
See you for now, people, remember that any comments are welcome!

Dogs don't understand English

This is a true story. Dogs don't understand English... but it seems that they do understand Dutch. Or at least, this is the case of three police dogs that were recruited to work in England.
Members of the Police Department of an area near Bristol, in the United Kingdom, were seeking for police dogs, but they weren't able to find any animals that satisfied their needs. So they decided to look for the new police members in the Netherlands... and they found there the ideal dogs for the job!! But the animals, two German Shepherds and a Malinoi, didn't react to any instructions given to them in English, so their masters had to learn some Dutch.
Fortunately for that Police Department, the Dutch learned by its policemen is clear enough for the dogs to understand the instructions. So now they can be proud of having some international intelligence working for them. A strange world, isn't it?

Weblogger's day?

This is a fact that I didn't know... unofficially, June 14 is observed as the International Weblogger's Day. Oh well, I suppose that I must find some way to celebrate... I wonder if enough webloggers are aware of this "important" date haha.

I can't understand how do some people amuse so much by inventing ridiculous days. I guess that there's not too much to say about this topic, my opinion is clear and I won't waste too much time writing about bizarre topics like this one.

Should you require more information about the International Weblogger's day, please click here (you'll be redirected to the "Official International Weblogger's Day Homepage"). Any comments are welcome, cheers!

Inter-Korea Summit

Who could ever forget the historical moment when Kim Jong Il and Kim Dae Jong, presidents of North and South Korea, respectively, met? This happened on June 13, 2000, exactly 6 years ago. And this brought very important consequences: First of all, relatives from North and South Korea were allowed to visit each others after being severed when the Korean Peninsula was split in two different countries. Also, it brought a new hope for Koreans (both northern and southern) to become a single country again, like they were several years ago. And third, it became an international demonstration that peace between the countries and races is also possible. Do you remember how emotive was to see both Koreas marching as a single country during the opening of the Olympic Games in Sydney that year?
Unfortunately, there haven't been any news regarding this topic lately. Will both Koreas be able to become a single country again, after so many years, and considering that their political, cultural and social philosophies are radically different? Is this a project for real, or it's just a false hope given to Koreans? I guess it would be great to see in the future a united and peaceful Korea, which worries to become a modern country instead of being interested in the production of nuclear weapons to damage innocent people. Cheers.

The beginning of interleague games in the MLB

Since its very beginning, interleague games in the MLB were only held during the following events: spring training, All Star Game, and the World Series. Except for those occasions, watching an interleague game was only a dream.

But such situation changed in 1997 (not long after the legendary strike by the players in 1994, that led to the cancellation of the MLB's postseason and also the World series of that year), when the MLB agreed to introduce games between teams belonging to different leagues during the regular season.

It was on June 12, 1997, when for the first time in 126 years of profesional baseball history, a game between teams coming from different leagues was played during the regular season: the Texas Rangers hosted the San Francisco Giants.

This decision led to new conditions that allowed fans to watch games between teams that caused much expectation because of playing in the same city or neigbouring places (e.g., NY Yankees vs. NY Mets, Chicago Cubs vs. Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians vs. Cincinnati Reds, Oakland Athletics vs. San Francisco Giants, etc.).

But games between teams belonging to different leagues or conferences were not new in sports, as the NFL has always promoted that kind of matches. But to allow this games increases the attendance and expectation for some MLB series that otherwise could not been seen for years, so I guess that this decision marked a new era in professional baseball history. Congratulations to all those leaders that had the vision to promote interleague games in baseball.

PT Cruiser vs. HHR... can you find the 10 differences?

I remember the days when Chrysler's model PT Cruiser first came out to the market. Its vintage style mixed with some contemporary features caused a lot of criticism around this vehicle: some people loved it, and some other hated it. There were no middle points.

On the other hand, General Motors has always been seen as a company that produces very innovative cars through their affiliate brands. Who could ever forget when Pontiac's Aztek model came to the streets? Or even the legendary Corvette?

I think that the designers at General Motors really liked the PT Cruiser model as well. I'm not against inspiring in other people's ideas to create new ones, but what happened with their HHR model is just insulting. I can't remember any model created by a serious car company that looks like a counterfeit version of another model produced by a rival manufacturer, but this is the case of the HHR against the PT Cruiser. Not only they look similar, but their features are almost the same as well: their power, motor size and measures vary very little... and, worst of all, GM's counterfeit PT Cruiser has a higher price than the original thing.

Now, I dare you to find the 10 differences between these two cars:

The original Chrysler PT Cruiser, and...

...its counterfeit version, Chevrolet's HHR

Two thumbs down for this GM's model!!!

Big Cat Brother

I have mentioned on several occasions how ridiculous I find to create businesses designed especially for dogs and cats, which for sure they won't appreciate at all, like that radio station in Thailand created for dogs (click here to read that article). But the following marketing strategy could be a more intelligent way to take advantage of businesses focused on animals.

It looks that Animal Planet Channel and Meow Mix cat food decided that it'd be very interesting for their customers (both tv watchers and cats) to watch a reality show starred by ten cats taken from animal shelters in the USA. These animals will be placed in a house somewhere at Madison Avenue in New York, and they will remain there for the following 10 weeks, starting from June 16, and updates of what's going on into that place will be broadcasted on Animal Planet daily at 9 pm, on 3 minute spots. The purpose of this is to catch more customers for Meow Mix products, as well as to encourage people for pet adoption and care. The "winner" of this reality show will receive a grand prize, which will be an honorable title (well, this won't be very exciting for a cat, indeed).

I think that this marketing strategy may have good results, and let's just see if people find interesting a reality show starred by cats (I personally don't find this interesting, but I'm not the kind of customers that this cat food brand is seeking indeed).

More information about this creative project can be found by clicking here (you'll be redirected to a page hosted by Yahoo News).

That's all folks, at least for today. Bye now.

Happy Birthday to me...!

June 7 is a date that I wait anxiously every year, as it is my birthday. That's true, it's the date when I must tell everyone that I'm already a year older (well, not so old, I'm only 23!!), but it's also a date to celebrate and to receive calls and hugs from people that really appreciate me, and that's what is most important in this date for me: to spend time with family and friends who are always there. Thanks to all of you people who remembered my birthday, each of you is very important for me as well ;). Let's organize a party for this weekend haha!

Well, that's it for now. Please post any comments, even if they don't have anything to do with my birthday :)! Thank you all!

Beware of Barry Manilow's music, Australians!

Barry Manilow wouldn't be very pleased to know that Australian authorities in the city of Sydney decided to use his music to drive away noisy teenagers each weekend.
These boys have been causing some minor riots lately in a parking lot located in a park. The people have been complaining about the heavy and loud music that the teenagers listen, as well as the noise produced by their roaring motors.
So, after many attempts to drive away the boys, the local authorities decided to play Barry Manilow's music with giant speakers in such parking lot. This is because teenagers consider this "outdated" and "extra sweet" music, and they just can't tolerate it, so it'll be the perfect tool to avoid those problems.
This strange experiment will begin next July and it'll last at least six months.
Well, Mr. Manilow, I don't like your music as well, but at least you can be proud that it'll be remembered in the future for being useful for different purposes than the one it was composed for!

Addiction to Internet games? Use the Vietnamese method

It seems that online gaming is becoming a serious social problem in southeastern Asia, more specifically in Vietnam.
Starting from this month, the Vietnamese authorities decided to impose some regulations to decrease the time spent by people playing video games in internet cafes and other public places with access to the internet. Some of the new regulations require that cyber games manufacturers must develop programs that control time and scores, so after three hours the program should divide the points scored by two, and after five hours it must not record any score; also, children under age 14 must be accompanied by an adult, and internet shops must close at 11:00 pm.
The government expects to decrease the time wasted by people, especially children, in playing internet games.
This news is not a surprise when coming from southeastern Asia, where it's normal to hear that the use of internet has caused health problems to many internet users, and where I believe that clinics to treat internet addiction are also available. It's just difficult to believe that Asians can develop health and social problems by using internet, and therefore I think that the Vietnamese authorities are taking correct actions to fight one of the most strange illnesses that those southeastern Asian countries have ever seen: internet addiction.
Goodbye now, please post any messages. Thanks.

Bhutanese TV, since 1999

June 2, 1999, is a date which is for sure marked on Bhutanese history, as it means the beginning of a new TV era in such country.
For many years, Bhutan was the only country in the world to ban TV, and only some government controlled radio programs were broadcasted. It was until the date mentioned above when the Bhutanese leaders finally authorized the operation and exploitation of a public TV service (regulated by the State), which began to broadcast news, documentaries, prayers and entertainment programs only during some hours per day (currently from 6 pm to 10 pm), through a State-controlled TV company named Bhutan Broadcasting Service (or BBS). The TV Service in Bhutan is only available in the capital city, Timphu.
FM and shortwave radio service is also provided by the government through the BBS and it doesn't reach the whole country, but only about 3/4 of its entire territory.

NHL action: Stanley Cup Finalists defined!

Hello People. The hockey conference finals ended today and it's time to review the results of the series against my forecast:

1. For Carolina vs. Buffalo, I said that Buffalo would win
2. For Edmonton vs. Anaheim, I picked the Oilers
Once again, I had a 50% accuracy in my predictions. The sad part of this story is that the Sabres are already out of the battle, so meet the finalists of the 2006 Stanley Cup:

Carolina Hurricanes - Edmonton Oilers

What can we expect from this series? Well, sincerely, I hope to see the Oilers winning the Cup, as they have done a hell of a job during the whole playoffs. Definitely they're my pick for the series and I assure you that we'll have an exciting Stanley Cup Final for this season, although the Sabres aren't there.
Keep an eye on the NHL, as the fireworks are about to begin!!!!