Read this:
Dear Republican friends: Your Romney vote disrespects my marriage

Who would have thought, eh? That a few months ago, Canadian group AdBusters was able to start a successful call to protest Wall Street, that many originally thought it was destined to fail. However, when September 17th hit (the date AdBuster had assigned as the official protest day), people reacted. They actually came out and did something! After this original demonstration, the message spread like wildfire and more people continued to join until the movement became global. As of today, the protests have lasted 23 days and they are still going strong.

There’s an air of change. The world is starting to feel… different. It seems as if average people are finally starting to talk in a less scared manner. Folks waving signs that say “I’m part of the 99%” sends a clear message against the world’s class order; a message I haven’t seen expressed in the United States before. Up until now, protests weren’t really targeted towards the system… but more towards individual players or situations within the system. To know that, finally, the once perceived as “perfect” structure is starting to be perceived as unfair… fills me with hope. This shift of minds cannot be stopped. Once people “get it”… there’s just no way of going back to think as they thought before. This shift will certainly increase the levels of fear within the 1%, which will make them either loosen up or become more controlling.

Something great that the Internet has done is to bring organizations such as Avaaz.org forward who have revolutionized the way technology is used to express dissent. What they do is that they employ “live counters” to show instantaneous global support towards good causes. As people sign petitions, or view manifestations, they are aware that they aren’t alone. Their vote will end up being part of that ever growing number right in front of their eyes. So alive and so meaningful. I’m embedding one of their live transmissions from New York, in which people get to see the virtual support towards the Occupy Wall Street movement live.

There’s been quite a few groups involved in encouraging this charge against corporate corruption, and it would be unfair to try to credit a group more than another. However, in its essence, this movement is leaderless. This might inspire criticism in some, but others find it to be the very essence of a successful 21st Century resistance. The idea is thought to be more important than the person, because an idea cannot be killed. Also, people are easily corrupted, and their own personal hangups constantly take away the credibility of their movement. By keeping the movement faceless, anyone can be a part of it. There’s no excuse to not believe in it based on the color of the leader’s skin, or their gender. This technique reminds us a lot of what we see with Mexico’s Subcomandante Marcos and his faceless leadership. Naomi Klein describes Marcos:

“Marcos, the quintessential anti-leader, insists that his black mask is a mirror, so that ‘Marcos is gay in San Francisco, black in South Africa, an Asian in Europe, a Chicano in San Ysidro, an anarchist in Spain, a Palestinian in Israel, a Mayan Indian in the streets of San Cristobal, a Jew in Germany, a Gypsy in Poland, a Mohawk in Quebec, a pacifist in Bosnia, a single woman on the Metro at 10 p.m., a peasant without land, a gang member in the slums, an unemployed worker, an unhappy student and, of course, a Zapatista in the mountains’. In other words, he is simply us: we are the leader we’ve been looking for.”

Another faceless hero the movement is inspired by is V from the work of fiction V For Vendetta. This hero also felt that change belongs to everyone, and that ideas should be more about the “what” rather than the “who.” The “who,” in a society of cynics, can easily be divided, while the “what” is too strong to be attacked. The group Anonymous, a firm supporter of Occupy, constantly uses Guy Fawkes’ masks from V For Vendetta to express this decentralized approach. I find fascinating how the concept of Anonymous has been able to touch people in such a positive way, regardless of its anarchic associations.

Only thing missing is some Fight Club references and the protests would be complete from my dorky perspective.

Personally, I’m quite enthusiastic about where things are going. Not necessarily because I think something dramatic will happen in the next few years, but because people are finally starting to think differently. A different type of thought means a different type of world. Once people stop blindly celebrating billionaires and defending a minority who is sending our world into an unfair feudal-esque era of poverty (in which the world is inhabited by peasants), we’ll be able to advance again as a society. Stop vicariously living through the rich, and just start plain ol’ living. This could very well be the birth of a culture in which we judge ideas independently, without getting caught in a cynic condescending mentality towards “the other.” Something I appreciate about contemporary European nationalism is this concept of pride for your country in a way that you desire to see EVERYONE do well. We should feel it is our responsibility to touch others in a positive way, even people who think or look different than us. We should find humiliating when people die in our country without proper medical care or when we see people losing their homes because it is better business for banks to throw people in the streets. It is not that much about overthrowing the system, but about actually caring and thinking that, whoever has power should also be responsible for improving the world we live in, and should be held accountable.

Finally, I thought of closing this with a quote I read a woman exclaimed during Tuesday night’s General Assembly meeting in New York: “Occupy your own heart,” she said, “not with fear but with love.” This might sound a bit silly to the cynic who lives in us, but it is only with this love that we can truly be united as one, divided by zero. And it is with this love that we can stop rolling our eyes and rejecting good ideas because we focus too much in who is expressing them, because we think we are better than everyone else. Well, got news for you, pal… something you’ve been suspecting since your teenage years as a pimple-ridden dork with low self-steem. You are not special. You are as ridiculous as the clown sitting next to you. And if you want to start being taken seriously by the people who are above you, you better start taking seriously and respecting your peers and the people you think are below you. You will never be truly free until you learn this lesson. “The other,” my friend, is simply an extension of yourself.

#OccupyWallStreet

Watching this video about American kids reacting to the news of Osama Bin Laden’s death made me realize something: Human intelligence peaks very early in childhood.

There’s a big difference between being smart and having knowledge. These kids will gain knowledge as they go through life, but most of the way they process things is already defined by age 10. Sure, there might be a schism when they turn 18, in which they might slightly shift their political views, but this change will most likely be a reaction to a movement rather than a reflection on the kids’ levels of critical thought. In fact, that movement might already be pre-digested and served as a generational revolution without them being aware.

These kids are an example of mind control performed upon the masses. Parroting what adults say after being told what to think by the The Powers That Be, this video makes it obvious how opinions get shaped by a template or predefined answers handed to groups. The copy, of the copy, of the copy makes the distortions of the message far more obvious.

For example, with the subject of Osama Bin Laden’s death, based on this video, we can say there are 4 possible templates of thought:

A. Horrible man who would have killed everyone; we are happy he’s dead.

Template A (Hollywood) is the one that views the world as a black & white image. The relation between enemies mimics the interactions between super heroes and villains. The hero embodies virtue, while the villain is evil at his core. Since respect only applies to people; then there is no reason to respect adversaries, since they are not people. “My country is perfect and superior. ‘The other’ is evil, envious, and archetypically wrong.”

B. The US tried handling it with words and it didn’t work; we are happy he’s dead.

Template B (King Solomon) emphasizes in a country’s attempt to reason, therefore higher moral value. The man standing on a higher ground feels a moderate amount of guilt for performing the act of violence against his adversary. To avoid conflict within the ethos, the moral man relies upon a historical retelling of the events that led to the kill, this helps reduce the amount of cognitive dissonance. The higher stance is taken from a colonialist perspective: The Civilized Man vs. The Barbarian. Relying on the fact that someone else started the conflict to justify a violent resolution is the template that tackles the problem from the perspective of King Solomon.

C. One smaller evil can outweight and correct a larger evil; we are moderately happy he’s dead.

Template C (Machiavelli) proposes that the right answer is the one that benefits the greater personal good. It admits that there is wrong in all possible resolutions, but the end justifies the means. It doesn’t find satisfying that someone else started the conflict, the punishment needs to fit the crime. Disproportionate punishment is not acceptable. “All men are equal, but some are more equal than others… the ones who belong to one’s group.”

D. Pessimist critical thought is allowed to certain extent, yet we still accept his death, therefore we aren’t a menace to the status quo.

Template D (Postmodern) finds that there is no ultimate answer to the problem. The world is more complex than what a person can understand, and what’s good depends upon cultural context. There is acceptance regarding one’s circumstances and a lack of confidence in being apt enough to generate results. This template consists in fearing to take action because of the inertia brought by the jenga effect.

The interesting thing is that, nothing can fit outside of A, B, C, and D because it is simply not part of the discourse that’s available to these children. I’m not saying that one answer is right while the others are wrong. What I’m saying is that people repeat these answers so many times throughout their life, that it appears as if they got smarter when the answers became easier to grab, when in reality, their proximity to the conscious brain meant that years of coercive persuasion have been successful.

What’s my stance in all of this? How have I been mind controlled and assimilated? Well, even though I might lean towards Template C in action, I sympathize with Template D in spirit (while my soul longs for an unknown Template E). I’m satisfied Bin Laden died because it will be a driving factor in leading the Democratic Party to victory in the 2012 elections. I enjoyed engaging in the millennial and savage practices of dancing upon a person’s grave. I felt like an Ancient Mayan… so it was almost an educational experience, you might say. Anyway, whatever makes my educated president (who doesn’t believe in witchcraft) look good, I approve. Also, my favorite kid? William (the one in the green shirt). He was the only one who didn’t sound retarded. Oh, sorry. Did I say retarded? I meant retarded.

What can I say? Humans live in a world of metaphors, yet exist unaware of said metaphors. Aside from food, sex, and sleep, the world that extends beyond this is constructed solely on concepts. Hence, all thoughts are fiction, false, and illusive. Sure, this illusion contains physical consequences, but these are generated by arbitrary ideas that lack empirical science and are as variable as an “x” in a mathematical equation. Knowing then that all which cannot be touched or quantified is imaginary, would things like war, family, money, discourses, and status mean as much to you? Uncovering this illusion is like standing on a podium with a naked audience in front of you… it might set you off on a path of original thoughts beyond “templates” or you could just end up dropping off your pants and joining the audience anyway.

We at Fluid, Inc in San Francisco recently launched the most awesome site for Vera Wang Princess. It focuses on the fragrances (Original and Glam), and other cool social media content. This particular piece promotes the Vera Wang Contest at Polyvore.com, and for this I designed under Cat Lee’s art direction and Mariano Ferrario’s interaction design.

I must say the site has been quite a success, including the Facebook application we launched for them. This application allows the users to share their princess moments in their very own Vera Wang photo-op. So, what are you waiting for? Check it out for yourself!

Tonight, 12:25am, thousands of Puerto Ricans were awaken by a huge explosion at Gulf’s oil refinery. The night became day, and everyone got on their roofs trying to trace the origins of the flames. Rumors started running online, conspiracy theories, even spontaneous parties took place as ways to cope with the stress.

I’ve dedicated this blog entry to all things Gulf refinery disaster. Here are the links as they become available. You’ll find photos, videos, jokes, and articles that go in depth regarding what happened tonight. Read the official story at Primera Hora’s page, since they were some of the first people from the media who were on it.

The search topic in Twitter is “#explosionpr” http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23explosionpr

The explosion caused an earthquake of 2.8… http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Quakes/prp0929602.php#detail

Listen to Univisión’s radio coverage… http://www.univision.com/contentroot/locales/radio/jhtml/NOMETA_stream.jhtml?station=WKAQAM

The actual moment of the explosion, caught on video…

Is that a plane? conspiracy theories?

McDonalds… explosión de sabor.

Kanye West always makes his guest appearance.

I don’t know how this is part of the news coverage, but it is.

Te compras una?

http://qik.com/video/3298106

http://qik.com/video/3298327

Pleneros frente a la explosión en Facebook…

http://radiotime.com/station/s_23401/Noti_Uno_1280.aspx

Today, September 17, 2009 is the unluckiest day of the year, as explained by Susan Miller. We are going through a very bad Mercury Retrograde (astrologically speaking), and sure, you might roll your eyes now, but you’ll be happy when the bad luck is over, and thankful that I warned you.\n\nIn this entry I’m doing to document (almost by the minute) what unusual things I encounter today, and I’ll try to find out if it is possible that by being aware of your bad luck, you can actually end it.

9:27PM – Pilled it up. Sighs. Funny, I wanted the moral of this story to be more along the lines of “luck is what you make of it”

8:15PM – Realizes I cannot go to tonight’s party… and surely I’ll have to work from home tomorrow.

7:00PM – “Hopped” out of the office.

5:15PM – “Congratulation” messages regarding my newly found disability. Word spreads like fire. Hmmm, or can you spread words like butter?

4:40PM – The massage lady at the office tells me I have flat feet! I’ve been lied to. My feet never developed an arch as certain people who once upon a time prayed for me told me I miraculously did. Now I have to buy special disabled people equipment.

4:30PM – My shirt is inside out!

3:34PM – Tonight is Hicki’s last party. RIP to Hicki nights… I guess I’ll have to go there tonight.

2:29PM – My project manager tells me she loves me The very same project manager who almost didn’t receive my email at 8:34AM. Gasp…

1:58PM – While I’m inside the bathroom, I realize I forget to lock the door. Luckily, I lock it, before any embarrassing naked disasters take place.

1:02PM – I take off my shoe because the pain in my right foot is increasing.

11:42AM – Awkward movement as I slide from left to right trying to avoid coalition with another individual who in turn is also moving left and right. Don’t you hate it? When another person has the same thought process as you, and then you bump into each other. Luckily, he didn’t pickpocket me, I think lol…

11:39AM – As I not go through, I decide to take the street route, a car almost gets me. Slight moment of freak-out. I think I’ve seen this in a Christian movie about the Rapture years ago.

11:38AM – Go outside to get a tuna melt. Construction site in front of me, with ladders and a wet tunnel. The people before me go through. I decide to NOT go through.

10:15AM – Where is my post? There was an error in my iPhone, couldn’t publish it properly. Rescued it from my Drafts folder.

8:41AM – Huge crows rest on top of the building in front of me, and they make their spooky sound. I can only see their sihlouette because the sun is rising from behind.

8:39AM - Next Bus lies to me. It told me the next 30X would come in 7 mins, it came as I was walking. The bus driver closed the door on me.

8:34AM – Work email to my project manager doesn’t get sent. I am aware of how the cosmos is weird, so luckily I verify in my “Sent” folder and realize the email is missing. Have to rewrite it, and resend it.

8:30AM - I get the news one of my best friends is being cheated upon.

8:00AM - Wake up with annoying pain on my right foot. I can still walk.

Calvin Klein, one of the main projects I’ve been working on in the last few months is launching today! I designed this for Fluid, Inc. Art Direction by Cat Lee. Interaction Design by Andrea Nelson. Implemented by Kris Range.

The site consists in a main website called Calvin Klein Fragrances, and there’s the microsite called CK Free, which promotes the latest fragrances they’ll be launching this fall.

I’d love it if you checked the site out and helped it go viral by creating your own postcard and sending it to your friends too.

Un besote y los quiero!
-Alex

Wanna be a rock star, or maybe the next Tila Tequila? Don’t forget to come to Anú tonight for a chance at being discovered by Tyra Banks herself… NOT. Just come. It is my birthday and it would be nice if you’d buy me a drink.