ladybird06

It’s time for giving thanks

2007-04-29T23:23:00.000-07:00

Now that the blog experience is arriving at its final days, Ladybird wants to say THANKS. THANKS Virginia (or Nuria as you like) for this BLOG experience. I think we still don’t appreciate how much have we learned. THANKS to all of you. THANKS for reading my posts, THANKS for being patience with me, THANKS for your comments, SPECIAL THANKS TO Pumuky’s & CO, Blog Writer, Eddie_IM, Still Acer, Maia, BlueSky, Kayser_Soze, Nacupenda, Shanti and to the rest of the writers and readers. Virginia THANKS for your corrections, for your patience and also for your comments. Now that we have arrived to the end of the posts I have discovered how my writings have become much better despite I still make some mistakes.

But, who the hell is Ladybird???. Is it an ethereal soul over your heads or is it a quiet person in class? , and which class? Is it a woman or a man? Be patient and wait for the party day.

The incorrect using of the word “HELP”

2007-03-13T08:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was thinking about writing a post about male chauvinist and a wrong word used many times by women “My husband helps me a lot at home” (talking, of course, about housework). I have looked at the dictionary for the definition of the word HELP and I have felt astonished when I have read one of the definitions:

“the activity of contributing to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose; example - "he gave me an assist with the housework"; (www.wordreference.com). Are housework tasks only for women? Why do we consider that a man is HELPING a woman when he does housework? I always have considered me and my husband living at the same house and SHARING (that could be a correct word) activities at home. How can women fight for equal rights than men having those kind of definitions at the dictionary? Just try to look for the word “househusband”. Could you find it at the dictionary? (of course, housewife it is!!!). I’m waiting for your comments (women and men)

Dog Meat

2007-02-28T22:24:00.000-08:00

Some years ago I took this picture at Qingping Market, in Canton (China). I think I will never forget that experience, specially because it was the first place to visit after our arrival to China. It’s difficult to describe the smell, it was not bad but it was totally different (a new smell for me). Some minutes later we arrived to butcher’s area and I couldn’t believe what my eyes were seeing but there they were, dogs at butcher’s. They were previously boiled to take out the skin. In fact, we had read in our guide book that in Guandong Province (in the south of China) all the things with four legs could be eaten (except tables and chairs!!!) and it was true. If you went for a walk around that market you could see all kind of animals (some of them protected in Europe), dogs, rats, fawns, tortoises, snakes, ferrets… The market also had one of the biggest sections in Chinese medicine products I’ve ever seen. If you ever go to Canton, then Qingping Market is a must . I’m sure you will be astonished.

Diary Entry: The best day in my life

2007-02-06T15:09:00.000-08:00

June 21^st. Today is the day. We have been waiting for many months and today, if everything is OK, our dreams will come true. Helena, our translator, is waiting for us outside. First of all, we must visit Mrs. Vasilievna. She will give us the permission access to the orphanage. She explains to us that she is not sure if today we will be able to visit the orphanage but, after some phone calls, she tells us we will go in the afternoon. We still have some free hours so our driver decides to show us the highlights of the city and we also go for a walk along the Volga river. Unfortunately, I cannot concen- trate on all the things the driver wants to show us, specially because my mind is not there at the moment. Finally, we arrive at the orphanage and we come into a big room decorated with a big sofa, a piano and some toys. Two very kind doctors, a social assistant, the orphanage’s director and two more nurses (all of them women) are waiting for us. There, they read us her medical and social report. The long-waited moment is just going to arrive. Someone opens the door. My heart is beating so fast. A precious little toddler come into the room walking by herself with a nurse. She is shy, looking at the floor but, in fact, I think she knows something special is happening. There she is, the most beautiful girl in the world,…. MY PRECIOUS LITTLE GIRL.

Mini-Saga: The Parrot

2007-01-14T22:08:00.000-08:00

He saw his bulldog with the neighbour’s parrot in his mouth. It was dead and covered with sand. He though “Oh, My Godness. My dog has killed the parrot”. He cleaned the sand from its feathers and came into his neighbour’s house by the window. “I will put it inside the cage and they will think he has died by natural reasons”. When the neighbours arrived from their weekend trip they were just near to die by a heart attack “Oh, my God, he died last Friday, we buried him in the beach… and he has come back to his cage!!!.

Selling “Duros” for four pesetas!!!

2006-12-17T23:38:00.000-08:00

Last Friday, watching the news on TV I saw a lot of people protesting at different airports because of Air Madrid problem. Goverment has cancelled its flying license because their planes haven´t passed all the security controls needed. A victim at the airport was being interviewed by a reporter and she was explained about her decission to fly with Air Madrid because the ticket price was much cheaper than the others… As my grandma says ‘ Selling “Duros” for four pesetas!!! . Strange bussiness, don´t you think?. We, the society, are falling into an spiral looking for the philosophal stone. We pretend to pay less for things having the same quality but we know that´s impossible. Why those tickets were cheaper??? Does Air Madrid, and the rest of low-cost companies offer the same services than non low-cost companies? Does Lufthansa, Air France, Alitalia, KLM, Iberia, etc… offer the same services than low-cost companies? OF COURSE, NO.

Of course, all companies can have problems but no all of them look for the same solution. A non low-cost company spent money on their planes and has qualified workers who controls airplanes security and do all security controls needed, has agreements with other companies and, in case you have a problem with a flight, they can re-route you. A low-cost company save all that money to reduce tickets cost. My question is: How much cost our security? We probably save 100 euros flying on a low-cost company and later we spend those 100 euros on any other silly thing. Do you value your life only in 100 euros???.

Let’s be more intelligent, and be intelligent doesn´t mean to save money, means to look for our security.

BRIEVA'S FIRST WHITE HAIR

2006-12-15T07:06:00.000-08:00

Hi Brieva. I have create a post in response to your post because comments are not allowed in your post.

Dear Brieva.

Don´t worry! It´s not the end of the world!. Of course, your youth hasn´t finished. Youthfulness is not a question of white hair. Yourhfulness is a question of your soul. How will you feel then when the first wrinkles appear on your face? You don´t have to feel down because of that. There are other important things to feel down than your first white hair (just think for a moment on those women from Africa who have no food for their kids!!! Do you think they should be worried about their first white hair?????)

PROBLEMS WITH THE COMMENTS

2006-12-01T04:33:00.000-08:00

Just yesterday I made a comment to UXIA telling him I was a little depressed because nobody made comments on my posts. Thanks to our teacher I discovered later that I had "Comments moderation" enabled so that meant I had to accept all the comments. I didn´t know about that so all the comments all of you had make me were waiting to be accepted. Fortunately I had accepted all the comments and now all of them appear in my blog. I have also unabled Comments Moderation so all comments will be accepted.
THANKS to all of you for your comments. I have discovered I have a lot of them. You cannot imagine how happy I feel now!!!.

Answering Maia’s post: “A little complain”

2006-11-29T00:47:00.000-08:00

This post could be a comment to Maia’s post “A little complain”. In fact, it was going to be a comment but finally I have thought the topic deserves a post.

Well, probably the problem at RENFE is more serious than we think. The fact is they have had 14 serious problems in 22 days!!! And RENFE’s legal representatives say that it is because of the AVE works. Do you believe them? I DON´T. Only two or three of the problems have been because of the AVE works. The other problems have probably been because of sabotages because of the working conditions. Do people know that RENFE is subcontrating many of the tasks done by RENFE workers? RENFE workers who sold tickets have been replaced by other workers from other company different than RENFE, making the same work but earning a lower salary. RENFE train drivers have worse conditions everyday, and so on.

IBERIA had a similar problem this last summer. Everybody was protesting because they could not take a plain to go on holidays because of IBERIA worker´s strike. Does anybody know why did they decide to stop working? Does anybody know those people were fighting for their work?…

I know, we, people in general, are the ones who suffer RENFE delays, IBERIA cancelations, TELEFONICA problems, CORREOS postal problems, etc… but we have to remember all those companies, and many others, are Spanish companies which contribute on Spanish economy. Those companies are being invaded by foreing companies which offer worse working conditions and which contribute on the economy of the countries where they come from, not in our economy (just take a look on Argentina’s economy for an example!).

So my conclusion is… Let´s try to understand to working class problems, specially because most of us belong to this class and tomorrow, who knows, you can have a similar problem than RENFE or IBERIA or other company has.

Becoming monsters

2006-11-22T01:48:00.000-08:00

Last week I listened on the radio about something that happened in Italy (but it could have happened anywhere). A teenager filmed his friends (thugs) beating another guy up. Since here it looks like something “normal” because nowadays it looks like beating another person while your friend is filming the scene with a camera is something usual (of course I don´t agree but it is becoming something frenquently shown on TV news). The news was commented because the guy who was beated up was a guy with Down’s syndrome. From my point of view society is getting crazy. Videos from kids beating up teachers, videos from teenagers killing an emigrant in a park, etc, etc.

What kind of pleasure do those people find on those actions? But the most alarming is that guy put the video to download on the Internet and the video was downloaded by a lot of people!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Today, I have read in the newspaper “13 people arrested because they downloaded a video about a 4 years old girl violated” (two teenagers, a journalist, a Xunta de Galicia’s employee, an electrician…). NO COMMENTS!!! What kind of people are those who enjoy watching a video of a 4 years old girl violation???? Don´t you think the world is getting crazy? Don´t you think laws should be stricter with these actions?

Why we must take Peak Oil seriously

2006-11-21T01:22:00.000-08:00

Some days ago I discovered an article on the Net which talks about the oil crisis. The article is really interesting and I think everybody should read it. If the article is true, and it seems it´s not false, a black future is waiting for us.

Dr Ali Morteza Samsam Bakhtiari is a former senior energy expert who spent his long career, which started in 1971, employed by the National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) of Tehran, Iran. During the course of his employment with NIOC, he held many important positions of trust and responsibility.

Dr Bakhtiari is now fully retired from NIOC, in accordance with a mandatory age requirement. He has no current official link with the company. But, luckily for us in the Western world, he is among the pioneers of the global "Peak Oil" theory.

In the future, Dr Bakhtiari predicts oil will cost in the range of $100-150 per barrel in the not-too-distant future. He characterizes as the "Four Phases of Transition" (which he labels T1, T2, T3, and T4) in a world of declining conventional oil output. So what are the "Four Phases of Transition"?

The Four Phases of Transition

I asked the good doctor this very question, and his reply was, "As for T1, T2, T3, and T4, they are still very vague concepts, but if you allow me a few days...I shall try to explain to you what I think about these four." And good to his word, within a few days, Dr Bakhtiari was kind enough to forward some amplifying thoughts on the matter. Here is what he sent to me, to share with you:

"The four Transition periods (T1, T2, T3, and T4) will roughly span the 2006-2020 era. Each Transition [will] cover, on average, three to four years.

"The major palpable difference between the four Ts is their respective gradient of oil output decline - very small for T1, perceptible for T2, remarkable in T3, and rather steep for T4. In fact, this gradation in decline is a genuine blessing for those having to cope and adapt.

"It should be borne in mind that these four Ts are only an overall theoretical structure for future global oil output. The structure is thus so orderly because [it is] predicted with 'Pre-Peak' methods, 'Pre-Peak'
assumptions, and [a] 'Pre-Peak' set of rules.

"The problem is that we now are in 'Post-Peak' mode, and that none of [the] above applies anymore.

Post-Peak: the consequences

"The fact of being in 'Post-Peak' will bring about explosive disruptions we know little about, and which are extremely difficult to foresee. And the shock waves from these explosions rippling throughout the financial and industrial infrastructure could have myriad unintended consequences for which we have no precedent and little experience.

"So the only Transition we can see rather clearly (or rather, we hope to be able to comprehend) is T1. It is clear that T1 will witness the tilting of the 'Oil Demand' and 'Oil Supply' scales - with the former dominant at the onset and the latter commanding toward the close (say, by 2009 or 2010).

"But even during that rather benign T1, the unexpected might become the rule and the orderly 'Pre-Peak' rapidly give way to some chaotic 'Post-Peak.'

"In any instance, the overall structure of the 'Four Transitions' is a general guideline for the next 14 years or so - as far as global oil output is concerned.

In practice, reality might prove to be worse than these theoretical Transitions; but certainly not better."

Dr Bakhtiari has a background in chemistry. He holds a B.Sc. and Ph.D. in chemical engineering, granted by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland. He has worked in industry and taught at a university level in the fields of both chemistry and chemical engineering for about four decades.

I asked Dr Bakhtiari if it would be fair to say that he is using the term "Transitions" in a manner similar to what are known as "phase transitions" in physical chemistry? Of course, the analogy need not be an exact chemical description. But I asked him if that concept from chemistry would be a proper way of helping to explain his thinking process.

The reason I asked the question of Dr Bakhtiari, and used terms from physical chemistry, was his statement, "The major palpable difference between the four Ts is their respective gradient of oil output decline." My interpretation of that comment is that at each "transition" point where the gradient changes, we might view that as the "phase change" analogous to, say, frozen water melting, or hot water boiling.

Sudden changes in levels of oil production

And as for how much we do not know in a post-Peak Oil world, as Dr Bakhtiari noted, that could be analogous to the phenomenon known as "flash evaporation." That is, if you raise the temperature of water to something well below its standard boiling point, but then rapidly change some other condition, such as lowering the atmospheric pressure above the water, the water "boils" at a lower temperature and lower pressure regime. This might be considered similar to some abrupt, unanticipated event reducing the supply of oil; for example, warfare, natural disaster, or unexpectedly rapid depletion and decline in a major oil-producing region of the world.

Dr Bakhtiari replied as follows:

"I certainly like your idea of 'phase transition,'...especially the analogy from ice to water, which occurs gradually. Start with ice and end with water, while to the very last second there is some ice present.

"I also agree that at the junction of two Ts, there should be some kind of a milestone. For example, at the close of T1, Supply should totally dominate Demand...I am toying with [the] idea, very preliminary, that close of T2 could be OPEC [oil production] surpassing non-OPEC [oil production], although OPEC died in 2004."

Middle East production

Dr Bakhtiari's statement that "OPEC died in 2004" is an interesting viewpoint, in light of his idea about the nature of T2, when OPEC production will surpass non-OPEC production. To explain this further, let me refer back to February 2006, in the ASPO-USA newsletter, in which Dr Bakhtiari wrote:

"It goes without saying that when assaying Middle Eastern oil reserves, one should tread carefully. Because, on the one hand, oil reserves' estimation is both a science and an art; and on the other hand, seen from the point of view of most Middle Eastern countries, oil reserves are more political than geological. Thus, nonscientific views come to prime over science and further enhance the various types of shades that have led to an overall opaque situation in the Middle East."

Dr Bakhtiari wrote this in the context of a discussion in which he estimated total oil reserves in the Middle Eastern group of major oil-producing nations (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) as about half, or even less, than what the respective national governments claim.

Dr Bakhtiari noted in the article that:

"As for Iran, the usually accepted official 132 billion barrels is almost 100 billion barrels over any realistic assay. If the higher figure was for real, its oil industry would not be struggling day in and day out to keep output at between 3.0-3.5 million barrels per day (inclusive of Persian Gulf offshore)."

Coming from a former senior official of NIOC, this is an utterly astonishing comment with immense implications. It may explain much about the current Iranian government's view of its options for setting future industrial, economic, political, and military policy, although Dr Bakhtiari certainly did not say this, and I do not want to put words in his mouth.

In February 2006, Dr Bakhtiari further summarized his thinking on the subject of oil reserve estimates as
follows:

"Notwithstanding the importance of conventional oil reserves, their days might now be numbered (both in the Middle East and elsewhere).

"Oil reserve estimates were useful in the era before 'Peak Oil.' But in the aftermath of the mighty Peak (as, for example, in the present 'T1'
period), they tend to become stale and rather useless, as field-by-field analysis and prediction takes over (e.g., Ghawar, Cantarell).

"So it will not be long now before we will have to say goodbye to all these mesmerizing oil reserve figures and dump the whole reserves file into the all-encompassing 'dustbin of history.'"

In another recent statement, Dr Bakhtiari has said this:

"The decline of global oil production seems now irreversible. It is bound to occur over a number of transitions, the first of which I have called T1, which has just begun in 2006. T1 has a very benign gradient of decline, and it will take months before one notices it at all. But T2 will be far steeper...My World Oil Production Capacity model has predicted that over the next 14 years, present global production of 81 million barrels per day will decrease by roughly 32%, down to around 55 million barrels per day by the year 2020.

"Thus, in the face of Peak Oil and its multiple consequences, which are bound to impact upon almost all aspects of our human standards of life, it seems imperative to get prepared to face all the inevitable shock waves resulting from that. Preparation should be carried out on individual, familial, societal, and national levels as soon as possible. Every preparative step taken today will prove far cheaper than any step taken tomorrow."

In his message to me, Dr Bakhtiari stated that the "gradation in decline (between T1, T2, T3, and T4) is a genuine blessing for those having to cope and adapt." Indeed, it is a blessing, but only if informed people and the industrial and political policymakers of the world will actually take Peak Oil as a serious matter and set policy accordingly.

In this regard, when it comes to his efforts in explaining Peak Oil to a worldwide audience, Dr Bakhtiari is a prophet. He is both predicting something, and giving a 14-year time frame for its occurrence. Thus his efforts, his writings, and his work embody the old saying that "Time takes no holiday." Simply allow me to end by expressing my deepest thanks to Dr Bakhtiari for sharing his thoughts with me, and recalling the words of Dante Alighieri, who wrote in Purgatorio, Canto III, "It is the wisest who grieve most at the loss of time."

About death...

2006-11-06T11:24:00.000-08:00

Today, while I was reading “The curious incident of the dog in the night-time”, I have read a very beautiful paragraph about death.

… But Mother was cremated. This means that she was put into a coffin and burnt and ground up and turned into ash and smoke. I do not know what happens to the ash and I couldn´t ask at the crematorium because I didn´t go to the funeral. But the smoke goes out the chimney and into the air and sometimes I look up into the sky and I think that there are molecules of Mother up there…

I’ve never thought about death from that point of view so, while I was reading the book, I have remembered about the beautiful idea of breathing molecules of loved people who have passed away and then, I have discovered my eyes were wet. Chapter 61 is a very deep chapter, talking about death and I agree with many of the things explained on it.

... – I think people believe in heaven because they don´t like the idea of dying…

What is heaven?, Where is heaven? . I believe we have created the idea of Heaven because we don´t know what happens when we die and Heaven is the answer to that fare of the unknown.

Sophie Scholl: The last days.

2006-11-03T18:45:00.000-08:00

Yesterday night, after let my baby sleeping in the bed, I decided to lay down on the sofa and watch a movie. My husband, who is working on these days in the night shift, told me some days ago he had downloaded this film and that it was an interesting film. Only interesting…? When the film finished I was crying like a baby at the sofa and many inner feelings (specially rage) were floating on my mind. I haven´t seen a film as good as this one for a long, long time. Cry is something that usually happens to me when I see any movie related on the cruelties of the war. How a group of fanatics representing some political ideas and with power on their hands can decide about the future of other people killing them only because their way of thinking is just different. How many intelectual people has been killed only because they have defensed their ideas?. Watch the film made me think about how dangerous can be nationalist ideas managed by wrong people. In fact, all of us are citizens of this world and our place of birth, religion, culture or colour of skin are casualities of life. If you haven´t seen the film, well, just try to give a chance but keep near to you a handkerchief!

Do we need stereotypes in our society?

2006-10-30T14:10:00.000-08:00

I’m against stereotypes. More than that, I hate stereotypes. Why some people like to classified some others depending on their roots, race, work,… ? As Orlando say in his/her blog, for me it´s a hard subject to deal with. But the more I think about it, the more I discover everybody has stereotypes, including me. Do you know anyone who don´t? Some of those stereotypes are positive, some others (the majority) negative. Some of them come from ancient costumes (costumes that probably today have dissapeared), some others come from prejudices from a part of the population, some of them are true, some others false. No matter what kind of person could you be, sooner or later, you will be classified into a stereotype and people will assign you some qualities and faults that probably you don´t have. Are all Catalonians mean?, and what about people from Andalucia, are all of them telling jokes, singing, etc?. Not nowadays, not all of them but if we look back probably we will discover that some decades ago Catalonian high society was famous because they used to save a lot of money and they were very good on businesses and Andalucia high society was famous because they liked more to enjoy nightlife. As far as I´m concerned, we still valorate people depending on the place they come from and, YES, foreigners think that Spanish people are a bit lazy. Is it true? Well, probably it is true. Estatistics say that Spanish workers are the ones who most hours spend at the office but at the same time they are one of the less eficient workers in Europe. So probably we have a deserved fame. As I have said before, maybe you, the reader, will not be on that group but statistics demonstrate that the majority is inside that group.

So what can a person like me, who hate stereotypes, do when someone classifies me depending on my roots, work, etc? Well, I just try to show him/her how I really am. Of course, we will always listen someone who tells us things like “Hey, you don´t look like Catalonian?” and other atrocities but that’s something I have learned to bear up.

Introducing Ladybird

2006-10-18T02:57:00.000-07:00

Better late than never. Hi classmates. This is Ladybird and I hope to share experiences during all this year with all of you but, first of all, I need to discover how does this page works. I have never worked before with blogs so I think I will need some time... Ummm, TIME!!! What a precious thing!!! Have you ever thought 24 hours is not enough for you in one day???