Spanish Word of the Day

Quote: Pacomartin

But Nareed's vilification of Juarez is a little surprising to me also.

Still?

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but I was always under the impression that Juarez, Madero, and Cárdenas were almost universally lionized.

The dictator, the figurehead, and the thief?

Though to be fair, Madero was assassinated too soon to give him much of a career.

Look, it's hard to say something good about any politician. After all, they are politicians. Mexican politicians in particular are to politicians in general as politicians are to decent people.

Clear? :)

Quote: Pacomartin

I was aware that Porfirio Diaz started the first widely embraced "No reeleccion!" campaign against Juarez,

The original text of the slogan is "Sufragio efectivo. No reelección."

The joke is later Diaz said he'd always meant "Sufragio efectivo no. Reeleción!"

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but it is usually presented as an extremely ironic fact given his behavior in later life.

Diaz gets a very bad rap. I mean, if he hadn't established the precedent for presidential term limits to one, who'd have risen to depose him? ;)

This is a thread I binge, so apologies for jumping back but...

Quote: Wizard

Some people call me an awful father for this, but I never let my kids beat me in anything. I love to play Connect Four with them and proudly announce after they make a bad move, "I'm going to win in three moves!"

No. Just no. It would be awful to demean them, but not to beat them. Encouraging and putting value in participation trophies, that is awful. But soundly defeating a child, even repeatedly, is a good thing. Both of the men in my family never let me win a thing. Not only did it teach me how to cope with adversity and give me the drive to improve, but it also taught me how to win. After all, I learn from them. How they reacted, in victory and defeat, is an important lesson with not many opportunities to teach.

It also made the eventual victory mean something. Hollow success is as empty as its name implies.

And to jump back ever further, you sure those aren't all white as a matter of art? I see even the board is all white. What's it made of? I can think of some materials which in and off themselves are seen a pure and/or valuable.

Quote: Face

And to jump back ever further, you sure those aren't all white as a matter of art? I see even the board is all white. What's it made of? I can think of some materials which in and off themselves are seen a pure and/or valuable.

I don't see any artistic merit to all white pieces. Regarding the material, I think they were just made of plastic, but I didn't touch them. They certainly looked light enough for a child to move.

My best theory is that the pieces were previously dirty and/or covered in graffiti, and somebody who didn't play chess was tasked with doing something about it. Either he had only white paint available or was too lazy to wash the brush twice, but he simply pained them all over with white paint.

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No. Just no. It would be awful to demean them, but not to beat them.

Oh, I don't rub it in too hard. However, it is common in chess to say something like "With that move, I will mate you in three." I'm especially likely to say something like that when I play women, which may explain why they don't play me twice. I think the victor in any game is entitled to a little exuberance.

Quote: Wizard

I think the victor in any game is entitled to a little exuberance.

I think that people are widely divided about this point. I agree with you, that it is boring to play a game and when you win your supposed to simply say, "I got lucky, this time". You should get to do the "happy dance".

Quote: Nareed

The dictator, the figurehead, and the thief?

You are a tough customer. I've always read that Lázaro Cárdenas was the exact opposite of a thief, and was in reality that only 20th century President who did not leave the presidency many times richer than when he went in.

Quote: Pacomartin

You are a tough customer.

Thanks!

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I've always read that Lázaro Cárdenas was the exact opposite of a thief,

He stole the oil companies and their oil fields.

Quote: Nareed

He stole the oil companies and their oil fields.

I thought everything about oil in Mexico was government owned -- right down to the gas stations.

Quote: Wizard

I thought everything about oil in Mexico was government owned -- right down to the gas stations.

Yes, after Cardenas stole them.

Quote: Nareed

Yes, after Cardenas stole them.

Daniel Yergin wrote a book about the control of oil and some of the biggest fortunes in the world. Yergin does point out that Cardenas's motivation for expropriation of the oil industry was that the foreign companies would not meet wage requirements of the Mexican workers. But after the companies were expropriated the wages were actually cut.