How to Recover from the Current Economic Crisis

I´m a fan of Richard C. Koo - very smart man.

I highly recommend spending some time watching his podcast and processing all the insightful information.

http://csis.org/events/all?filter0=Richard+Koo

Happy Watching!!

Wal-Mart, Healthcare, and the U.S. Government

I just read an article by Wayne F. Cascio of the University of Colorado “Decency Means More than “Always Low Prices”: A Comparison of Costco to Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club” and it is one of the most biased, poorly written articles with misinformation I have ever read. The two key problems are that the size of Wal-Mart and Costco are quite different and that the conclusions drawn are of little substantial basis. He is comparing Sam’s Club to Costco but uses data and incidents that have occurred at Wal-Mart which is a completely different kind of retail operation.

As a former Wal-Mart employee, I definitely hold some animosity towards them. As an Assistant Manager, you work hard, long hours for little pay or respect. It was definitely not the right work environment for me but let’s it least be objective with our judgments. And let’s try to see the whole picture. Is it even right to be outraged by the lack of healthcare and support Wal-Mart offers its employees? Let’s think for a moment and look at the big picture. Whose responsibility really is it?

Why should a company be responsible for healthcare and not the government? The article implies that Wal-Mart, the second largest employer in the United States (after the government), has a social responsibility to have healthcare for all of its employees. Let’s take a step back, why can we not make the link that maybe the government has a social responsibility to take care of its citizens? The key issue is not Wal-Mart. It’s society. It’s the United States government’s lack of responsibility, not Wal-Mart’s.

For example, many of the friendly door greeters that you see as you enter Wal-Mart are actually retired people that should be….RETIRED. They should be out enjoying life, spending time with their grandchildren, and relaxing after spending the majority of their lives working hard. Why do they go to Wal-Mart and start working again? Because Wal-Mart offers a healthcare plan and is willing to hire retirees. U.S. citizens that weren’t lucky enough to work for a company with retirement benefits are forced to find a job that can help them. The cost of medicine is so high and they cannot afford it without a private insurance plan. There is no other option for them. Whose fault is that? It’s the fault of the current healthcare system of the U.S. government and the people that aren’t trying to change it.

Now that healthcare reform is more than just a hot topic, I found it appropriate to actually write down my opinion and express it with others. I hope Obama’s team is able to make change happen! I would love to hear your thoughts – dissent and support- in order to address weak points and strengthen my viewpoint. I’m hoping to refine this document and add more facts and others perspectives in order to submit it to my local paper. Who knows? It just might get published.

I support Dr. Howard Dean!

Some Energy Saving Tips

We have had a week long Energy Conference hosted by IE that was incredible! Here are a few things I learned to try and reduce your energy consumption:

Install motion sensored lighting in your hallways, closets, and bathrooms.

Don't brake or accelerate quickly when driving.

Unplug your cell phone charger when you're not using it.

Eat less meat. It takes a lot of energy to raise an animal for us to eat (i.e. more than the energy expended to grow a carrot).

Also, buy your meat from a local butcher or a place that sells meat from local farms instead of large supermarkets. This reduces the ill effects of transporting meat and often times packaging.

Support propositions in your cities to invest in more public transportation.

Buy an electric car.

Install a rain water harvesting system for non-drinking water uses (watering the lawn, etc).

A company in New Zealand recently designed a small machine (about the size of a dishwasher) to put in your home that will make all the energy you need for your home without the use of traditional energy sources. They're being manufactured in Spain. Check out the website http://www.whispergen.org/

GE has already built a zero emission house in California! If you are about to construct a home, find out what features you can have built into your home.

Build your home that maximizes the natural resources. For example in hot Southern Spain, the houses are constructed with long hallways and other architectural tricks to allow wind to flow throughout the house and natrually cool it. And all the floors are made of marble.

Apostando por la reducción de CO₂ con la generación de CO₂nciencia.

Iceland is doing some pretty amazing things with hydrogen.

France is run with about 70% nuclear power.

An amazing speaker if you're looking for one is Profesor Ralph E H Sims. He's working for International Energy Agency out of Paris. http://www.iea.org/

Check out the article "The Power and the Glory, A special report on energy" from the June 21, 2008 issue of The Economist for some really interesting things that are going on!

Recommended Movies:

Who Killed the Electric Car?
The End of Suburbia
Blood and Oil

Looking for tips to use less gas, oil, and electricity

The director of the movie Blood and Oil was one of the speakers at our conference yesterday at IE. I am ashamed and shocked by the behavior of our government. Let's stop taking advantage of oil rich countries and just start using less! If each of us makes an effort to decrease our usage by just a bit, we can collectively lower the demand and thus lower the pressure Washington feels to FIGHT for these resources that aren't ours. So, I'm looking for tips. Let me know!

Save the Internet!!

I didn´t realize this was even happening until it was brought to my attention in Enrique Dans class. Net neutrality is the idea that everyone gets the same access to the same speed and quality of the net (good). There´s currently no regulation on the internet but the big companies want to start charging based on the content of the websites (bad).

Net neutrality (gov. controls) vs. hands off (infrastructure companies to be the gatekeepers)

A lot of the infrastructure was originally built by the government and then privatized.


Check out this link and take action!! www.savetheinternet.com
Also, http://obama.senate.gov/podcast/060608_network_neutral/index.php

Just to be fair, here´s the other guys opinion:

Recommended Venues, Artists, Etc in Madrid

I thought it'd be nice to keep track of the places I have really enjoyed (to hopefully remember to go back soon) and to share them with the Newbies of Madrid to check out. Let me know what you think of them!

Cine Ideal- if you're looking for a movie theatre with movies in English, this is a good place. They have original version movies and are in a great location for shopping before the movie and tapas afterwards. I recommend going to Calle Barcelona or Cadiz after the show for drinks and tapas. The theatre is located near Puerta del Sol in Plaza Jacinto Benavente. If you're in Sol, look for the street Calle Carretas and walk up it. Then ask people where the Ideal theatre is or just look for the big sign. The address is Doctor Cortezo #6.

69 Petalos- this place is super fun - great atmosphere, music, and dancers. It costs 15 euros to get in (which includes a drink) and there are all sorts of wild, funky dancers all night long from Austin Powers to boys dressed as girls to girls barely dressed at all to a crazy space dude with glowing body parts. They play all the right music, the AC is pumping, and although people are smoking, the smoke gets sucked out of the room immediately. It's at Calle Alberto Alcocer, 32 near the Colombia metro stop. We arrived around 1:30 and stayed till after 5. I recommend the same time table to you party goers! Go with a big group of friends and dance the night away!

Casa Camu- this place is known by all Madrilenos for it's great food at really nice prices. They have many locations. I recommend the one on Alonso Cano. They have fast and friendly service, great typical Spanish food at VERY reasonable prices. Don't tell my suegra but they have the best croquetas I've ever tried. Their salads are good too. If you're looking for typical spanish food, this is the place to go! Location: Calle Alonso Cano 101 http://www.casacamu.com/ Thanks for the recommendation Miguelito!

Lateral - Reasonably priced food that´s not too bad, WONDERFUL WONDERFUL atmosphere, cool water glasses, great presentation, long wait time for a table but the food comes out quite quickly, very efficient server system (those in the restaurant business should go just to see that). I recommend it for an early dinner on a weeknight. I went to the one at Velazquez 57. Check it out at http://www.cadenalateral.es/

Galileo Galilei - live music every night of the week, great acoustics, great ambiance, casual, reasonably priced drinks, 10 euro cover; www.salagalileogalilei.com

Causeway - Irish Pub with great music to dance to, free buffett Milan style, free entrance, and most enjoyable on Thursday nights. 9:30 is a good time to arrive for the food.; Calle Miguel Angel, 11

Delic - a small cafe on Plaza de la Paja with yummy food and Austin-ish atmosphere; great for a Sunday afternoon; http://www.deliccafe.com/

Bisú - great for dancing and drinking all night long, a bit expensive but a fun environment (not a meat market) ; Calle Jose Abascal

Stomboli Cafe- it's a bar, not a cafe - very chic, small, great musice, lively & fun bartenders, great atmosphere...The drinks are quite expensive but strong - great mojitos but cost 9 euros each. I would recommend going for a special occasion...defintely a place to check out. Calle Hortaleza 96

Retiro Park – check out the drummers that play by the lake on Sundays. They start around 5.

Horcahteria Alboraya – My friend Hajin showed me this place today. It’s near Retiro Park at 125 Calle Alcala just past Principe de Vergara. They serve the typical drink of Valencia called Horchata. It’s a drink that’s impossible to explain. You just have to try it. It’s like a milkshake I suppose. If you enjoy it, let me know.

Tahona San Onofre – my favorite bakery so far in Madrid. They’re located all over the city. I’ve been to the one near Plaza Mayor on Calle Mayor #73. They even have a cookie named after my state.

Corner Cafe – The best “pan/barrita con tomate” I’ve tried in Spain. Their coffee isn’t very good but their toast makes up for it. They are also a chain with many locations in the city. I’ve been to the one on the corner of Calle Francisico Silvela and Calle Maldonado. Check it out!

Rocablanca Cafeteria/Cerveceria- this little place is a bit of a 'hole in the wall' but it is a great place for SUPER cheap food in a completely TYPICAL little cutre spanish joint with locals on their lunch break. It's across the street from Mango on Fuencarral (the cross street is San Mateo).

Club Tempo – A very cool cocktail bar. They serve all sorts of cocktails with high quality liquor (including Flor de Caña). The drink prices are around 8 euros which is quite good for the quality you get. I went before midnight and the atmosphere was very chill. It’s near the Plaza de España metro stop at Calle Duque de Osuna, 8. I went to their website http://www.tempoclub.net/ and it looks like they have live music too.

El Jardín Secreto – I haven’t tried the food or tea yet but I heard it’s quite good and the place is absolutely adorable. There are candles and plants all over the place. For those of you that have been to Austin or Vancouver, this place would fit in well there. It’s just a few doors down from Club Tempo on Calle de Conde Duque 2 near the Plaza de España metro stop. It doesn't open till very late afternoon. If you try it out, let me know what you think. Enjoy!

La Burbuja que Ríe- super fun and lively atmosphere with live bagpipe players. This place has typical Asturian food including apple cider that is poured into glasses from great heights. The prices are WONDERFUL but the place is always packed. So make sure to make reservations at least a week in advance. It is near the La Latina metro station at Calle Angel 16. Thanks for showing me this place Saralita!

La Puerta de Cotos - wonderful scenery and great place to HIKE just an hour outside Madrid. You can take the train or rent a car. The views are amazing (if you walk to the right spots) and you can choose to hike all day or go on shorter paths to soak in the sun and fresh air. We had a picnic and hiked for a very long time. I was exhausted but absolutely loved it! I highly recommend doing this itleast once! Make sure to go before it gets cold! Thank you Sasha for being our guide! There is no entrance fee. If you take the highway to La Coruna, it's the exit after Torrelodonesand it says Navacerrada Puerto de los Cotos. Go to this link for driving directions: http://www.viamichelin.es/search/Itineraires?strStartLocid=34MTE1OGI3aTMwMDN5NXIxMDUyeXhyaWNOREF1TkRJek5UTT1jTFRNdU56RXpNams9Y05EQXVOREl6TkE9PWNMVE11TnpFek5UYz1jTkRBdU5ESXpOVE09Y0xUTXVOekV6TWprPTBmUGxhemEgZGUgRXNwYcOxYQ==&strDestLocid=31M3VycjE4Y05EQXVPREkwT1RFPWNMVE11T1RVNU9UWT0=&intItineraryType=0&isFavoriseAutoroute=false&isAvoidPeage=false&isAvoidVignette=false&isAvoidLNR=false&isAvoidFrontiers=false&dtmDeparture=null&distance=km&devise=1.0EUR&carbCost=1.3&Fp=0&autoConso=6.8&villeConso=6&routeConso=5.60&Fl=0&indemnite=0&caravaneHidden=false&vh=CAR&empriseH=275&empriseW=315&reinit=true

Nippon - sushi place with half price items on Sundays. Calle de Los Madrazo 18, phone 913 600 354

Bike Riding in Southern Madrid - I will be updating this soon with more information but basically Spain is replacing all of the old train tracks with bike paths. It's absolutely incredible - miles and miles of beautiful scenery, fresh air, etc. The place I went to can be accessed by metro - check the metro schedule as to when they allow bikes on the metro. It was an absolutely perfect day. We biked through two quaint towns (Morata de TajuNa and Perales de Tajuna), olive tree farms, pecan trees, large rocks, etc. Thanks for finding this place Carmen! Check it out at:
http://www.viasverdes.com/ViasVerdes/Itinerarios/Comunidad%20de%20Madrid/Madrid/V%EDa%20Verde%20del%20Taju%F1a/Ficha%20T%E9cnica

If you need to rent a bike, here are two options:
http://www.bravobike.com/html/eng/enlaces%20laterales/ofertasx.htm ~12 euros per day
http://www.bybike.info/alquiler.html ~19 euros for 6 hours (2009 prices)

Fuencarral- this is a main shopping street with great rebajas (sales). The Mango outlet is there!

Maty – great costume shop for Halloween or Carnival located at Calle Maestro Victoria 2. Metro Sol. http://www.maty.es/

El Mirador de EL GOLOSO - fantastic restaurant! The food is of high quality and authentic. It´s a great place to take visitors. I recommend ordering some wine to accompany the meal: Palacio de Bornos Verdejo Cosecha 2008 Rueda Bodegas de Crianza de Castilla la Vieja Valladid, EspaNa. The only problem is you need a car in order to go. So, if you have access to some wheels - then go! It´s always full. So make sure to make a reservation. Thanks for showing me this place Miguelito! Autovia Colmenar Viejo, km. 17,700; Salida 18 28760 Madrid; phone number 917341490; www.interocio.es/elgoloso

Places I'm going to check out and get back to you on: Sala Bujo http://www.buhoreal.com/

Musicians in Madrid: Tontxu, Andrés Suárez, Leo Minax, 84

Restaurants I recommend but not on the top of my list: Tulipan (really good authentic Korean food) at C/ Virgen de la Fuencisla N-2, Bazaar (classy ambiance with excellent prices) in Chueca at Calle Libertad 21, Lamucca in Plaza Carlos Cambronero at C/ Molino de Viento and C/ Del Pez (VERY tasty food, good prices, busy but cool waiters, and don't walk in the area alone at night), Arrocería Gala at Calle Moratin near the metro stop Anton Martin (nice indoor patio and awesome paella but expensive and I recommend a minimum of six people per Paella)...

Can Americans work in Spain?

YES! You just have to know a little trick. If you're interested, let me know and I'll let you in on the little secret. :)

I love GOOGLE!

The more I learn about this company, the more I like them! They want the best for everyone - the customers, the employees, the advertisers, the advertisees, society... It's great! There is quite a bit of controversy but I think if you really study them, you'll see. I'll continue to post articles about them and see what convos we get going!

Here's the first one up for discussion:

The Google Enigma

http://www.strategy-business.com/press/article/07404?gko=a2bce-1876-26510326

Funny Stories

Last night I read a story to three little spanish kiddos: Nacho, Carmina, and Africa. Nacho asked me why I'm not able to speak. "Why do you speak so strangely?", he asked. I explained that I'm from another country and that we speak English there. I started to read el cuento again and Nacho started trying to move my jaw with his hands as I read to help me speak Spanish better. It was one of the funniest things this three year old has ever done to me!! :)