God in the elevator

People talk in the elevator.  On the phone. Drives me crazy. Yesterday, in the elevator annoyed by several simultaneous such conversations, I grabbed my wife's iphone and started to talk to Siri. (definitely not a Sir I ). She asked me: Who are you?  Started I am ... intending to say I am that I am.  Did not want to tbe blasphemous, although I probably qualified as Siri's god in that elevator. I only said: I am a bunch of passwords (combinations of letters, numbers and capital letters). This is who I am in Siri's world. Let her figure out what the passwords were.

Russians on 5th Avenue

By Central Park in the 90s. Thirty, forty Russians bearing placards in Russian. What they were asking for? Niznayu. Probably hoping some tv station will pick them up on this slow news day. What could they want?

Bearing Bad Luck

Last Sunday decided to have lunch at an Indian restaurant. It had closed. Each time I start patronizing a restaurant it closes. This is a maledizione since I voted for Mondale. Go to the opera. The conductor is  sick. The soprano is sick. The tenor lasts only one act. The Giants  might be leading by ten points. I turn the TV on. They lose. I  enjoy watching Hung. It is cancelled. I throw my support to Gingrich, he collapses. Someone is reading this blog....

Evoria

She sings and I drive. For years now she's been my mate on long and short travels. In this language that I rarely recognize her songs seem mysterious. Probably they are simple. The sweet undulating mother. Perfumado. Did she sing sad  or happy  songs? should I cry or should I laugh?  We are not at the end of our journey. I hope.

Havel

He had become a brand. Of civilization and democracy. Of the intellectual engaged in history making. The essential central European ideal.

Gingrich for Gingrich

This blog supports Gingrich for the rep contest.
He is the most self assured of the lot. His fight against Obama will be educational (history, colonial). . One dreamer against another. (How can you dream as a president, it is a job where you lose your sleep?)
Gingrich has best experience in shutting down the government. For a woman and her music he had the courage to switch religion.

The Banana Man shows up

He showed up. With his fruits. Told him I missed him and his bananas, that I was afraid he had problems with authorities and so on. He said that he did not think showing up everyday was profitable. Definitely he deserves citizenship.

Dancing With The Republican Stars

Gingrich has peaked. Too soon for his own good.
Exactly like in the Dancing With the Stars. Public Favorite of the week. Press favorite. Jury favorite. Dancing rarely matters. Does this pair have an affair? Do they have die hard fans? Behind the scene deals. Lots of Russians. Slips and faux pas. And after one or two weeks the winner disappears from sight back to his faded stardom.

Democracy -return policy?

When something is sold to you. Oversold I mean. False advertising. Defective product. You can hope to be able to return it. Get a refund. All these revolutions and movements to get democracy and then?  Sometimes worse than before. These people should get a refund. At least when they bought democracy with the American Express.

kp?ca

Niznayu. Know nothing about internal Russian politics, but this billionaire suddenly running for presidency smells a rat. Most likely he was encouraged by someone (niznayu) to play the role of the opposition. Loyal opposition. Loyal like all billionaires. Crowding the field.

whaa

omnis determinatio est negatio

And then they were six..

 Although I don't understand much, I like to watch american sports for their final minutes fights. So I watched the republican debate. Even more to my liking as the punches do not end with blood but laughs. You see Santorum bragging  he is the one that won in tough conditions (but omitting his loss in his last election). Michelle, who  thinks she can retain the magic formula  of the lost Cain by repeating  three times short words, Paul who's position is to negate every policy enacted in the last 100 years, Mitt, the rich frugal (cheap) guy, who would bet  an amount beyond normal people's reach (on an editorial change!), Newt who  is ready to get a second phd by rewriting the history of his own presidency and Perry who can be forgotten (he had trouble with two and three again) ....Saturday Night really Live .....

Keeping in touch with CULTURE

 I bought only  two books this year.To keep up with the chattering intellectuals. Conversations with Einstein is about improving memory. Read the first chapter or so. Took the book with me on a trip and forgot at the hotel.
Thinking Fast and Slow is thick and I am advancing slowly (very slow of course).
 Prefer to spend my time on the Wii Super Mario my daughter bought for herself. Cannot boast around too much about this one as it has been around for some time. And I am not very good at it anyways.

Entertaining Gingrich

One of the few lines I still remember from my teenage readings  ...What does a woman expect from a man? To be entertaining.
Wonder why Gingrich had so many lady troubles....  He might not be  not a deep thinker but he  is a thinker nonetheless and he is always entertaining with new approaches to ideas.  A sophist one could say. Non stop spitting new explanations... Some researchers cared to go back to his PhD thesis. What could be more spectacular than finding positive policies in one of the most crude colonial experiences. Definitely entertaining....
After the intellectual Obama, the descendant of Mau Mau fighters, why not a president with a PhD..... in colonialism...

Calibrating pain

My knee is hurting. Go to Duane Reade to buy some Icy Hot. The escalator is  not working, Should  I walk down the stairs risking a significant increase in pain?   to buy the medication that might provide relief?
Is there a rational solution?

Democracy. How far in Russia?

A true test of democracy is the capacity to remove those in power by electoral means. Bringing people to power is relatively easy. Removing them....Firing governments without using fire. So what is going on now in Russia?

Economics regurgitated

My peeve - math and  social sciences. The NYT has this article about the new Nobel laureates. What you take from the article is that the two are just excellent at math.
They have shown that fiscal and monetary policy are inextricably linked, and their research reflects the broad shift in economics from words to numbers — toward a level of empirical analysis that few outside the profession can readily grasp.
If I understand right Sargent and Sims have worked on a theory that somewhat shows that expectations influence results.... the theory of rational expectations — which maintains that people use all the information available in making economic decision. 


(Good morning! What is a bubble? but the widespread use of the information available at a certain moment and that is considered true because of its extensive popularity.  The more accepted this bubbled info, the truer it appears, the more solid the reasons to act.)


Their only merit might be the demonstration that both Keynes and Friedman had large holes in their theories. Sargent even says that Keynes was an excellent economist but his math was not where it should have been.
 So these guys feed data that is regurgitated by models that use complex math tools.  But advancing the  tools of analysis not necessarily leads you to..
The prize is for empirical work. Yep. Fancy observations. Use of mathematical tools seems a proof in itself of  high reliability of findings. It is only a patina.
A microscope shows you lots of things, but it has been available since the 1600s. When did modern medicine start?

Plan B for 99 cents

Adieu HerrMan Cain. Your nein, nein, nein  sounded like the prodding of a very exigent Fraulein Governess.  I liked your fedoras. Your speak well but the girlfriends were just so so.

Tall Men with Ugly Mistresses

A note on the recent history of american politics. Most contenders for the presidency and other major politicians are handsome tall men. Many were taken down in size by affairs. With unattractive women. Herman Cain's with her lazy eye. Since Donna Rice on Gary Har's Monkey Business  haven't seen a hot one. These handsome tall men taking advantage of  poor, unattractive...Ugly.

no banana. No. Thanks.

My previous No bananas. Giving thanks has gotten a reality tested ending. My friendly salesman, the immigrant I imagined caught in the american custom, has not set his stand up since Thanksgiving. Sick? Deported? He could not have found a better street corner!

99% unamerican

A movement without a leader and without a clear program?  Somewhat took place under the name of Tea Party. But also without channeling hate? Occupy something  may be the future, but it is un-american. The effort involved too much intellectual effort. Or just not a good call to action.
As to similar movements in the arab world.  They were hijacked.  What else?