Traveling in Transnistria - the country that's not a country

Today I ventured to the country that's not a country. 

Nested between Moldova and Ukraine, lies the "country" of Transnistria. 

With close to a half a million people they have declared themselves independent but they aren't recognized as such. 

It's famous city of Tiraspol is it's capital which includes it's own government, banks, currency, etc.

The interesting part is that once you cross the border (Including border post, showing passport and all the like) it's a bit like going a bit back in time to Communist Russia. Every sign is in Cyrillic, people speak in Russian and while Moldova is vying to become part of the EU, here they side with Russia.

But now the war in Ukraine has made it interesting to have a bastion of Russia with Ukraine in between. 

But one might ask WTF anyone cares about Transnistria? Well, the truth is that not even Russia recognizes them, but they still have a military presence there! WHY?

Well ..it happens to have some of the largest depots of Russian ammunition and hence it's importance. 

Here are some photos of the few Instagram memorable moments 

Typical Russian style - a tank to commemorate the independence of the Transnistria Moldovan Republic

a visit to the Kvint factory which makes famous brandy. That bottle was one of a handful sent to space with Yuri Gargarin and crew but this one came back. Will drinking in space make for better or worse hangovers?

Our grandfather and friend Lenin of course is about everywhere

And lunch was also an experience by going to a little restaurant that was like a time capsule

But you might also wonder what this place in the world is famous for. Ask any Real Madrid fan about one of the most embarrassing defeats of recent times

a team called Sherif rings a bell?

Last, the fortress of Bender where the Turks held a presence and which through history made an accord so no mosques will be built in Moldova (which still stands)

and a great good bye shot from the fortress

Of course on the way back, had to stop at one of the Moldovan wineries for some wine tasting. 

More on that soon..

Israel lowest point?

 Is this Israel lowest point?

The morning of October 7, 2023 was Israel's darkest moment as it literally was caught with its pants down as terrorists entered the country leisurely with the intent to kill as many people as possible, jews or not and start a new war against Israel  The whole world was in shock and wondered how could this happen to a country with one of the most powerful armed forces and best intelligence services; similar to how we were in shock during 9/11.

There will be plenty of time to understand what went wrong and identify all the mistakes made over many years that allowed something of this magnitude to happen. Simply put, the Israeli Government and its leaders COMPLETLY failed in its most important duty which is to protect its citizens. After the holocaust, all Jewish people have lived with the mantra of NEVER AGAIN! and yet we were failed by those in power and with the responsibility for such atrocities to never happen again!

The two weeks after this terrorist massacre have become Israel lowest point in its 75 years history. Bluntly speaking Israel is lost and has no idea of what is the course of action anymore. Most rational governments tend to be prepared for worst case scenarios and simulate potential responses which they hope never have to carry out as for example the threats of nuclear war during the cold war. But clearly this government has been busy with other more important priorities than being prepared to protect its citizens, even thou we all know our neighbors stated objective is our destruction!

To me, it's very obvious that there's no strategy and not even a clear objective on how to respond. The conflicting messages coming from Netanyahu and those in power from we will annihilate Hamas to we will destroy Hamas military capabilities to carry such attacks again while they sound similar, they are actually world apart. The course of action for one or the other are very different and what each will entail.

Over 300,000 reservists were called up in order to act swiftly and with the intention to go into Gaza and eradicate Hamas. Two weeks later, Israel is still debating if to send ground troops or not? 200 hostages taken and very little effort to save them and liberate them? we all know that the more time that passes in any hostage situation the more difficult any rescue mission becomes. Was Israel so taken by surprises that they simply have no idea where the hostages are?

The Israeli response so far has been to play into Hamas game. Hamas wants Israel to come into Gaza as they know the playbook by now and how this changes the narrative to make Israel the aggressor and rally the international community against Israel atrocities. Israel not only has the right to defend its people but also a duty to do so. But any action should stem towards solving the terrorism problem as well as with a view of peace in the future and not simply out of a desire for revenge. No matter what different factions think and all the historic blame the fact of the matter is that Arabs and Jews are neighbors and unless one side is prepared to commit genocide we need to find a way to bring peace.

The dichotomy Israel faces between defending itself and dealing with terrorism and impeding future danger has brought up (once again) very difficult moral and existential question to Israel which sadly I think are not being addressed out of a desire for revenge. Can Israel justify any action and any indiscriminate palestinian loss of life just because terrorism was committed against them? Has Israel become a state with no morals and in which the end justify the means and where killing one hamas terrorist is ok even if it means 1,000 other lives of Palestinians, innocent or not?

Can Israel stick to its moral high ground and make excuses such as Hamas uses people as human shields or hides itself in mosques and schools or simply tell palestinians to flee where it will bomb and pretend that is enough? I don't think so! Doing so makes Israel dangerously act almost as terrorists, albeit very different intent and circumstances. Israel knows how Hamas operates and therefore if it values human lives then needs to find a way around this and not simply blame Hamas for using human shields. Similarly, telling people to leave their homes because they are about to be bombed is not enough. Palestinians in Gaza aren't free and they cannot simply leave. Many get killed by Hamas if they try to flee and Israel knows this. So for Israel to pretend it does everything it can to minimize human casualties it's very debatable.

The next couple weeks will probably define the Israeli-palestinian conflict and the middle east for years to come. Israel is at its lowest point in history, led by the wrong people, with the wrong intentions and clueless about the right course of action. There are dark times ahead and sadly peace in the region is further and further away. I can only hope for both Palestinians and Israelis to work towards our common goal which is to preserve human life and get rid of terrorism which is the real common enemy of both!

Israel biggest Coward

His name is Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu and he's a COWARD!

We are all aware of the current situation between Israel, Hamas and the palestinians so I won't go into details about that conflict and the subtleties of having to separate the Palestinian and Hamas causes. 

Over the years and during his 16 years as the longest standing Prime Minister in History all I've learned is how this so called leader is simply someone who will do anything to push his personal and/or political agenda above his duties and responsibilities and avoid any accountability. 

Netanyahu has not only failed in his duties but has failed its country and its citizens. Especially those that have lost someone in recent weeks. It's time for others to 

decide the path forward for the country in these difficult and unprecedented times and for him to resign. 

But he won't do this because people like him that believe that they are above everyone and who lack the moral courage to face consequences, rather deflect any attention to something else before they ever accept any wrongdoings. He's akin to a young kid that misbehaves but will deny to his teacher and parents no matter what, because they much rather not face consequences to his actions. And that's simply cowardice and the lack of a backbone!

His stance in regard to Hamas and the Palestinians hasn't really changed for decades. He's been happy having Hamas as the terrorist organization on his backyard so every few years there's an escalation and all eyes turn into this conflict and that way the Peace talks with the Palestinians lose traction, get derailed and no compromise is ever granted and the status quo remains. At the core, it's much easier to use Hamas as an excuse so he doesn't need to work toward a solution and peace with the Palestinian people. He much rather ignore a problem right in his backyard and continue his messianic dreams and build illegal settlements in the west bank. Little by little this has been one of his key focus, doing it quietly, ignoring international law without the scrutiny of healthy accountability and proper debate. 

He's been against most peace processes attempts. He will publicly state he's pro-peace and a two state solution while in reality these are just words to hide behind and continue with his agenda. He pretended to support the Oslo peace accords in public but back in 2001 a video was leaked in which Netanyahu, reportedly unaware he was being recorded, said: "They asked me before the election if I'd honor [the Oslo Accords]", "I said I would, but ... I'm going to interpret the accords in such a way that would allow me to put an end to this galloping forward to the '67 borders. How did we do it? Nobody said what defined military zones were. So who says one thing and does another?

His cowardice approach continued in 2003, when he quit Ariel Sharon' government as he disagreed with the Gaza disengagement plan so instead of working with his own party towards a different solution, he quit. It's much easier to throw a tantrum and disagree than actually working towards and alternate solution. The Gaza disengagement plan was the precursor to Israel leaving Gaza in 2006 and ending their occupation by removing 21 settlements and removing 8000 people, many of which had to be removed by force in September 2005.

In november 21, 2019 he became the only Prime Minister ever been indicted for bribery, fraud and breach of trust on three different cases and his trial was set to begin in May 2020 which was delayed due to the Covid pandemic and it's currently ongoing. But Bibi is a master on delaying things and not facing them and continue his almost dictatorship hold on power. Even the judicial reforms of the last two years are tied to who he is and to what lengths he's willing to go. Never before the Israeli society has been so divided and polarized and all at the expense of what?

He believes he's above anyone and thinks that facing his charges and being accountable as every other citizen doesn't apply to him.

Earlier this year in February 2023, he legalized 9 illegal settlements outposts in the West bank without much fanfare or most people even knowing. In June 2023 he shortened the procedure required to approve new illegal settlements. Once again, very little debate so he can get away with it.

These are sad days for the state of Israel and the Jewish people and I am ashamed to be led by a coward who doesn't believe in being accountable, someone who has put countless lives at risk to push his own agenda and who sadly is about to start a difficult war in which there will be no winners because he's too scared to admit that he's no longer the right person to be in charge! 16 years as our leader and today I feel the dreams of peace much further away than ever before!

Happiness and excitement - keys to a fulfilling life

Most people are in a constant pursuit of happiness and most of our big decisions are made thinking about if this thing or that person would make us happy or not. But the biggest fallacy of thinking this way is to put your happiness into others or certain things instead of yourself.

Happiness is about feeling fulfilled with what you have and with what you are creating and taking advantage of what's in front of you. We all know what being unhappy is but most of us actually struggle to understand or even recognize what happiness is all about.

And one key ingredient is excitement - and i don't mean it in a sexual context but in a more well being one. 
Ever had days when you wake up and feel the world is your oyster and that you are energized and looking forward to what your day/week will bring? Or not being able to sleep because you want the next day to already be there? Or the anticipation of something that will happen like going on a trip?

Well, those are examples of what I think of as excitement and it is when we start feeling this way about most aspects of our lives when happiness then simply happens!

I love being excited!

The pursuit of happiness!

It's very easy for a myriad of things to affect our happiness. In a way, human beings are pessimistic in nature and very easily focus on the negative and the reasons why one isn't happy or what is affecting our ability to be truly happy!

But I think that the common misconception that we look into being happy as a destination to reach, is extremely flawed and a main cause of stress and disappointments. But achieving happiness isn't about getting to this magical place of happiness. In reality it's all about the journey and enjoying its ups and downs along the way and appreciating things everyday. That is what happiness is all about!

It's the ability to appreciate what we have and enjoy it without falling into the common trap of thinking what else are we missing? what else i still need/want?

The more I get older the more i understand this concept and the more i realize that happiness comes from oneself and it's also a choice! Everyone has plenty to be happy about if one looks carefully into their lives but when we fall into the trap of looking at what others have or what else we wish we had, we forget what happiness is all about

We should all smile more often as happiness attracts more happiness!

 

Flaws of democracy

Democracy is flawed and until we come up with a better system, it's the best of the different evils.

While I believe in the democracy principles, I'm not a big fan of how it works in practice. Over the last decade, the different results of democratic processes where the outcomes are disasters for many countries makes me wonder why we haven't been able to devise a better system.

For all of you that are parents, would you like your kids to decide who their teachers are? Or you rather have the school hire and focus on the best education possible? Because in politics and elections, what we pretty much ask people is to choose their leaders on a popularity contest basis and then hope for the best. It's akin to children choosing their teachers as to who promises them more candy and longer recesses.

And being Mexican, i'm "looking forward" to next year when the mexican elections and the USA elections circus will be in full display! Comedy central got nothing on those circuses!

Airfare pricing - Fair or unfair?

 This is one of those things that is more of a mystery than a black box. In general most goods and services are priced based on their cost plus the margin and that's what you pay for. IN dummy terms if i buy a $1000 TV, pretty much it cost the manufacturer less than that to make, sell, transport, advertise, etc.

But airline tickets don't work this way. The are priced dynamically to try to maximize profits irrespective of the cost of to provide the service. Why I say this? Well, here's an example:

Flying from San Diego to Dallas costs $300, but if instead I book a ticket from San Diego to Tampa which connects in Dallas might cost me $200. So i'm buying the same leg of the trip plus an extra one but paying less...Just don't do this if you check bags as your bags will go to where your ticket is going!

So this practice is something airlines scorn and have even sued people and companies for booking trips this way. Or if you are a frequent flier and abuse this loophole, your account might be terminated.

So is this fair?

I don't think so? When I pay for a service or a product, it's my prerogative as a customer to decide how or what of a service I use and it shouldn't be at the discretion of the one selling its service. To give you a few examples:

• Hiring cable TV with the full package even thou i only plan on watching ten channels - It's my choice!
• I go to Disney or any amusement park and get a full access with skip the line ticket but decide to only ride a few rides and never use the skip the line feature. It's my choice
• I buy a train ticket  From point A to point B and decide to get off in a town in the middle because I felt like it!

And i can come up with dozen more examples. But for airlines, because they price certain routes higher to maximize profit, they don't want you to book empty legs to pay less and according to their nonsense this is breaking their contract of carriage....yes the same one that when they do something wrong you are in bad luck as they will tell you to sue them!

Personally I think most airlines have become so crap with their service and charge for everything that therefore why shouldn't I optimize my trips to pay the least no matter what they think!

And this way of booking tickets makes so much sense that there are even websites that focus on finding such fares: https://skiplagged.com/ (I'm in no way associated with them) that can help you save quite a bit of cash!

So would love to hear people thoughts on this!

The beauty of science

Science and innovation are not linear processes. They involve experimentation, testing of hypotheses, and a lot of trial and error. This means that mistakes and bad assumptions are inevitable.

For example, initial experiments of a drug might lead to certain results due to certain circumstances. However, many years later, it might be found out that something was flawed and those results aren't valid. This doesn't mean that science is wrong, but that the methods and experimentation used weren't right.

The constant stream of innovation also allows us to do things differently and look at things from a new lens. This can lead to us realizing that some of our beliefs were not exactly as we thought. For example, many of the laws of physics work and still work, but they break down when we enter the quantum realm. This is a great example of why I think science is beautiful. The more we discover and the more we know, the more possibilities and new things we will discover. It's an eternal exponential curve that drives progress in humanity.

However, one thing is certain with science vs. beliefs. When something is proven to be a certain way, it will remain that way. Even if all of humankind's knowledge was erased today or humanity became extinct, over time the same principles will be discovered and will remain true. That's the beauty of science and what drives many scientists to do what they do.

Thank you to all the scientists and innovators out there!

You don't need to win Nobel prizes to have people appreciate you. Your work is essential to the progress of humanity, and we are grateful for your efforts.

Global Warming is real but i'm optimistic!

 Being fair I think there are valid and real arguments for both sides of the global warming debate. And in a way this debate has been a precursor to the ever growing opposing views across the world where each side thinks it's all or nothing and thinks the other side is completely wrong.

In my view the world isn't black or white, or a place where things need to only be Yes or No!. It's more of a kaleidoscope of options which are ever-changing and hence many of these debates are difficult as they aren't static and there's so much that it's unknown.

My take is that global warming is happening but I honestly have no idea how bad or how little of a problem it is. Yes, the last 100 years are the hottest on record and stats show that the trend is for this to increase. But I can also argue that looking at 100 years in a million of years history might not be completely right. But either way, it's impacting us and it poses a challenge on the medium term.

Europe is having a record heat wave this week, South Africa had a massive snowstorm yesterday. These aren't patterns that make much sense so clearly something is happening! And not doing something is akin to seeing a crime being committed and pretending it's not happening. 

As of now there aren't many global scale solutions or even plans put in place (I don't count political agreements in somewhat BS conferences as a path to action....COP anyone?) but that doesn't mean that there aren't possible solutions. I truly believe that this is one if not the most critical area where innovation is going to play a major role in the next 20-25 years. 

the solutions that technology and new companies will devise are probably not even being imagined today but they will come - why i believe so? Because the human race keeps innovating and improving living conditions and finding solutions to problems and progress is exponential. I'm very positive of this.

Some of you might know this and some not. But at the end of  19th century, before cars were common and people transported themselves in horse driven carriages, most major cities were facing a massive pollution and sanitary disaster. Horse's shit and the amount of shit that they were producing was making cities filthy to the point that it was a major health concern and even newspapers used to say that at this pace in a few decades everyone will be living under nine feet of manure!

Having a place in a basements or street level was terrible as you pretty much lived next to poop. In 1898 at the world's first international urban planning conference in NY, this topic was forefront and no solution could be found and seemed civilization and urban progress was doomed. 

But necessity is the mother of innovation and Henry ford and his mass produced vehicles as well as electric trams and motor buses pretty much solved this problem and now the manure crisis is something that was a blimp in history. Fast forward not even 15 years and by 1912 this problem had been pretty much resolved. 

Damn Henry Ford! Why couldn't you go electric then? 

So in the way that automobiles and technology solved one of the potential devastating challenges to human growth and cities, I believe that new solutions will emerge for the global warming challenges we face (and if global warming isn't real..oh well... we have new technology and new innovation in any case that will lead to even better things!

Our stomachs - the future of Medicine

Before i start let me clarify, I'm no doctor, I don't work in pharma or have anything related to the latest in terms of medicine or are even familiar with today's research.

But, from personal observations and experience, I think that our stomachs or gut probably have to do more with our over well being that many other organs. Most times when we are sick, we think of the discomfort we experience as the symptom but the more and more i think (with my sample size of 1 - myself) I think the stomach is more intertwined with the rest of our body and other organs than we give it credit to.

Some of the most important body functions are regulated by our guts. We absorb energy through the food we eat, we hydrate ourselves, our sleep is very dependant on the stomach, and if you don't believe so, try having a massive meal and then try to sleep and have a great night rest.

I foresee a future where gut health and how to fight many sickness will happen by utilizing gut health as a mechanism to regulate our bodies and helping our bodies heal themselves. I believe that we will have different ways to measure and track what goes on in our stomach and use that information to improve health conditions. 

Even longevity is probably determined or heavily influenced by this and I reckon that many new theories and actions one can take to live longer will be determined by our stomachs.

So, thinking of all this, it's time for me to go eat some tacos and salsa!