November 2008
73 posts
“As Monetary Authorities, we have been humbled and have taken heart in the...”
– Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe compliments US Bankers
“Be stimulated by the Odes, take your stand on the rites and be perfected by the...”
– Konfucius (VIII.8, DC Lau trans)
“We don`t live in a Franciscan monestary”
– Goebbels
“It is the artist who is truthful and the photograph that lies”
– Auguste Rodin
“Far more than Senator McCain, you have received enormous, unprecedented...”
– Ralph Nader
“I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn’t start with much...”
– Obama
S:
I think there’s a problem with talking about aesthetics: We are apt to look towards the most concrete material as evidence. Call this the “archeology problem” - the things which survive tend to be “things” and not the immaterial ideas about them. We know more, materially, about geological history than we do about human history. Nevertheless, we obsess about...
An American friend remarked recently on the greater beauty of local women as compared to those in his homeland. Tho beauty may be a matter of perception, this is one oft stated. What is beauty? As with previous post on ideal forms, I attempt an empirical, observational approach, focused on men because I understand them better.
Men settle, marry, and reproduce because of societal habit, but also...
Group 1
What is intelligence?
Can it be measured?
Of what value is intelligence in measuring risk?
Of what value is intelligence in managing risk? What is the relation of trust to intelligence?
What factors other than intelligence should be considered when extending trust? Is trust necessary for the continued existence of society?
Assuming yes, in the event of a decline in trust, what...
Longed for the cold, but now that it is here and I wander the streets at night looking for a place to stay it is less welcome; I have come to understand the preference of persons for tropical climates. Able to keep up in new class, although shoddy work done this week, partly because of current migratory patterns — four different sleeping locations over five nights. Difficult to speak other...
Internal Free Market (Software) →
Fodder for the Goldbugs
“THE US TREASURY market, the foundation of government bond and corporate bond markets worldwide, is suffering a crisis of confidence at the worst possible moment. Investors in treasuries are the lenders enabling the US government bail-out of the country’s broken financial institutions. That leaves them financing purchases of equity of volatile and highly questionable worth and backing a...
FT | Lots of Leer over Lehmen →
ATimes | Regions won't dance to Beijing's tune →
“Pallaksch, Pallaksch”
Somehow I skipped two levels instead of just one last time around, and today performance on a test allows me to skip two more. The result: a desperate need to actually pay attention in class and do homework before the morning it is due.
Attempting to find a place to sleep tonight.
Re-evaluating my intellectual products, their function and placement. In a castle yesterday I was struck by once felt need for walls. Do cities of intellect require the same? What pact must be made for entrance? Even if a sketch is worth something, where will brick and mortar come from? Is it worth building if not protected?
I received recently a requested evaluation from former employer and friend which highlighted some of the things I do well, and not so. One aspect that stood out upon reflection was pacing. I reflect, reflect, and then act rapidly. This is not appropriate for some projects; I wonder if I have shifted into this mode of being because of my wandering, or if it has become simply fact of my...
Aliens Cause Global Warming →
FT | A Letter from Iceland →
Under problems with globalization, I currently struggle with a riddle for tomorrow’s class. Will a majority know of little red riding hood? Certainly the teacher’s example (1) American (2) Female (3) Blond (4) Dumb = Paris Hilton is the lowest common denominator, but what is the highest possible in a class of Americans (North and South), Turks, and Europeans?
Rolling Stone | New Trough →
Last two paras may be predictive.
Bittersweet and Briars | Jefferson and Liberty (Hard Times — Songs of the Civil War)
My room is behind the second set of windows from the left on the second floor. The decor is typical of the surrounding houses, and although the mayor’s office has made several attempts to tear down old building and build new modern looking ones, the largest local firm has consistantly bought such buildings and turned them into museums (including a beautiful local church that was no longer...
“To Laugh is to Live. What is Living without Laughter?”
– The Jester
“Laughing is a Substitute for Living”
– The Man Without a Face
Is it all a joke?
石室詩士施氏，嗜獅，誓食十獅。施氏時時適市視獅。十時，適十獅適市。是時，適施氏適市。
氏視是十獅，恃矢勢，使是十獅逝世。氏拾是十獅屍，適石室。石室濕，氏使侍拭石室。
石室拭，氏始試食是十獅。食時，始識是十獅，實十石獅屍。試釋是事。’
Of the more important things to learn about China…
Theory of Conspiracy Theories
What is a conspiracy theory? I suggest it is to create a comprehensive theory regarding actors and motives from only a few datapoints. What are the problems? First, the claim that such a theory, based as it is on only limited data, can be comprehensive. Second, the usual tendency to insist that the datapoints included are enough and that, consequently, the theory is ‘complete.’
There...
“When the fat one refuses to stop singing, prepare earplugs and munitions.”
– The Man Without a Face
Bush Warns of Aggressive Economic Regulation On Wall St., He Defends Bailout (By Dan Eggen, The Washington Post) At U.N., Bush Says Faith Leads to ‘Common Values’ (By Dan Eggen and Colum Lynch, The Washington Post)
“We may profess different creeds and worship in different places, but our faith leads us to common values” — GWB
What “common...
Spiegel | Nobel Winners on Economic Reform →
“Dynamic moving center,” “There has been a race to the bottom,” “A new mindset is required,” “Something else will be needed”
My children sit enraptured by the television while most of the rest of my adopted family attempts to sell little things at local flea market, almost epiphany. I am just back with art books, although I failed to obtain Jung’s book on Mandelas or beer stein at an appropriate price. The German Post has lost most of the money I was planning to spend for the next course; I am not sure if it is...
“Vom Himmel durch die Welt zur Hölle.”
“The United States, as the world knows, will never start a war. We do not want a...”
– JFK
I struggle with small town life. A slower pace creates space for other things, and yet I do not feel wholly here; wish to move back to a larger city where loneliness is easier — not that it did not also greet me in the Japanese countryside. Overwhelmed with choices; job and future studies loom large and soon. For some reason sleeping more the last couple days. Have less than a week to figure...
僕もがんばってください。
“Sie lächelte und tanzte mit Todesgedanken im Herzen.”