[NON BLOG] Coffee-free, Day 8

Is it worth it, I wonder?

I've noticed a few things happen to me since I've stopped drinking coffee. I sleep more; I'm sleepier, earlier. I'm less driven, less frenetic. I'm more relaxed.

The thing is, I'm not sure if I like these traits. Yes, drinking coffee to the point of not being able to notice a can of Red Bull is bad, but surely a cup or two a day isn't bad? I don't suffer physical problems, and you have to admit that coffee isn't like, say, crystal meth. A cup or two a day isn't so bad, is it?

Prove me wrong, folks, prove me wrong.

[BRIEF NOTE] Bad news about rydel23

For the last 10 days I've been subjected to a vicious attack on my person, which included but was not limited to (1) ad hominem, (2) invasion of privacy, (3) dirty lies, (4) libel, (5) stalking, (6) death threats. The attack was staged by several Lukashenka supporters, Russian Nazis and a psycho who believes that I'm some sort of opposition activist and who spread false and libelous information about me. Since Livejournal.com failed to protect me from this attack, and due to several other serious reasons I made the decision to close this project. rydel23 ceases to exist. This blog is closed. rydel23 is gone. Thank you to mauz who gave me an invitation code three years ago. It was worth it! And thanks for all your comments, good or bad. And thanks to everyone else who read my journal and wrote to me interesting and insightful comments. I appreciate it very much. Thank you.

Goodbye.

[LINK] A Case Study of Wealth and Emigration

From Reuters, proof that economic development can, in fact, encourage emigration from poorer countries to richer ones.

Peru, with growth officials say could be more than 7 percent this year, is enjoying an export-led recovery. But according to figures published on Monday, one of its top exports is its people.

An average of 1,149 Peruvians left the country every day in the first half of 2005, a rise in net migration statistics of 39 percent compared to a daily rate of 826 people in 2004, according to the National Statistics Institute (INEI).

Long lines of visa seekers outside the U.S. and Spanish embassies in Lima every day are testimony to the sheer numbers who believe that their lives will be better abroad, despite four straight years of economic growth at home.

It is the improving living standards that makes it feasible for them to go, said INEI chief Farid Matuk.

"Peruvians have always wanted to emigrate. But now it's possible because of economic growth," he said.

He said that a family with extra cash could afford to decide that sending one member abroad to work and ship home dollars was more productive than, say, buying a car and running a taxi service -- one of Peru's most popular informal jobs.

According to Peruvian consultancy Apoyo, remittances to Peru totaled $1.117 billion in 2004, up 30 percent on 2003.

The United States and Chile are the top destinations for the net 302,000 Peruvians who emigrated in 2004 and 209,000 who had left by June 2005. Those two countries alone account for 40 percent of the total. More than 5 percent go to Spain.

Matuk said most emigrants were from Lima, highlighting the fact that Peru's economic recovery has been concentrated in the provinces. More than half Peru's population lives in poverty.

The more mobile the population, it seems, the more likely to emigrate. People shouldn't be surprised by this, but I predict that they will be.

[LINK] How connected is Pat Robertson?

From CNN, regarding Pat Robertson's support for the assassination of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez.

"If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it," Robertson told viewers on his "The 700 Club" show Monday. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war."

Robertson, a contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 1988, called Chavez "a dangerous enemy to our south, controlling a huge pool of oil, that could hurt us badly."

"We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability," Robertson said. "We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

Robertson accused Chavez, a left-wing populist with close ties to Cuban President Fidel Castro, of trying to make Venezuela "a launching pad for Communist infiltration and Muslim extremism all over the continent."

"This is in our sphere of influence, so we can't let this happen," he said.

[MUSIC] More Klaus Nomi

Right here.

[LINK] Do non-hets, in fact, recruit?

Elf Sternberg on Eugene Volokh's argument to that effect.