[...] I feel they have missed a layer of depth [...]

Despre lucrurile cu adevarat importante.

"I think it's true that when a country is seeing low fertility rates, it can be associated with a society-wide sense of solipsism or futility.

One common factor in Vietnam and Russia, another country where birthrates have cratered, is that over the past couple of decades both societies have lost what was once a very strong sense of national mission.

In both countries, the old national narrative has been increasingly replaced by a creed of pure capitalist consumption. That creed provides no logic for the transmission of durable cross-generational values; some of the worst child-rearing I have ever seen was going on among newly rich Vietnamese.

Of course, you could describe the problem via a different channel: in both countries, the collapse of the national narrative has predictably been associated with a sharp deterioration of the public sphere and a huge increase in corruption, which makes these societies worse places to raise children.

But either way, I think there is an association between the transition in such countries to a value system that sees no higher goal than Ferraris, football clubs, mistresses and stupidly expensive wine, and a declining interest in fashioning a child-friendly society.

Finally, though, and I'm frankly hoping that some of my childless friends don't read this: I think, as a matter of personal sensibility and conviction, that having children is an extremely important part of interacting with the universe at a level that extends beyond your own immediate circumstances.

There are, of course, many other ways one can achieve similar kinds of future-directed, altruistic engagement with what Dutch call the "whole-all". You can adopt. You can teach. You can give yourself over to some pioneering project, social, scientific or spiritual, that extends beyond any hope of renown for yourself and attempts to explore or shape a larger reality.

But having children is one of the best ways of doing this, and one that is both unique and an obvious core aspect of what humans are designed to do. I feel bad for my friends who won't have the experience, and I feel, since they are my friends, that the universe has missed something through that absence.

Some of those friends are sad about it too; others have decided they were lucky or smart not to have kids, just as most all of us decide we were lucky or smart to have ended up with the lives we've ended up with. Some of them never wanted kids, some really are better without kids, some have found ways to engage with the world that are every bit as deep.

But for at least some friends, I feel they have missed a layer of depth, have not been made to think about how to live in a way deserving of being passed on to the future (though God knows most of us parents rarely meet that standard), and have not been forced into dialogue with the time travelers from that future, who will ultimately decide what to keep and what to throw away.

I'm not sure I would call it "decadent" when a higher number of people don't engage with the future by having kids, but I certainly think it's a shame, and we ought to shift both social mores and corporate and government policy to make it easier for more people to do so."



Sursa: The Economist, It takes a decadent village



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Vin alegerile!

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Woman, woman, trudging slowly

Sursa: Statistics on Discrimination of Women Citeste tot...

21st Century Economic Endeavour Man

"SOME people recite history from above, recording the grand deeds of great men. Others tell history from below, arguing that one person's life is just as much a part of mankind's story as another's.

If people do make history, as this democratic view suggests, then two people make twice as much history as one. Since there are almost 7 billion people alive today, it follows that they are making seven times as much history as the 1 billion alive in 1811.

The chart below shows a population-weighted history of the past two millennia. By this reckoning, over 28% of all the history made since the birth of Christ was made in the 20th century.

Measured in years lived, the present century, which is only ten years old, is already "longer" than the whole of the 17th century.

This century has made an even bigger contribution to economic history. Over 23% of all the goods and services made since 1AD were produced from 2001 to 2010, according to an updated version of Angus Maddison's figures."

The Economist, "Two thousand years in one chart"

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Bloggerii astia, niste eretici, dom'le

"In the early years of the Reformation expressing support for Luther’s views, through preaching, recommending a pamphlet or singing a news ballad directed at the pope, was dangerous. By stamping out isolated outbreaks of opposition swiftly, autocratic regimes discourage their opponents from speaking out and linking up.

A collective-action problem thus arises when people are dissatisfied, but are unsure how widely their dissatisfaction is shared, as Zeynep Tufekci, a sociologist at the University of North Carolina, has observed in connection with the Arab spring.

The dictatorships in Egypt and Tunisia, she argues, survived for as long as they did because although many people deeply disliked those regimes, they could not be sure others felt the same way. Amid the outbreaks of unrest in early 2011, however, social-media websites enabled lots of people to signal their preferences en masse to their peers very quickly, in an “informational cascade” that created momentum for further action.

The same thing happened in the Reformation. The surge in the popularity of pamphlets in 1523-24, the vast majority of them in favour of reform, served as a collective signalling mechanism.

As Andrew Pettegree, an expert on the Reformation at St Andrew’s University, puts it in “Reformation and the Culture of Persuasion”, “It was the superabundance, the cascade of titles, that created the impression of an overwhelming tide, an unstoppable movement of opinion…Pamphlets and their purchasers had together created the impression of irresistible force.”

Although Luther had been declared a heretic in 1521, and owning or reading his works was banned by the church, the extent of local political and popular support for Luther meant he escaped execution and the Reformation became established in much of Germany.

Modern society tends to regard itself as somehow better than previous ones, and technological advance reinforces that sense of superiority. But history teaches us that there is nothing new under the sun.

Robert Darnton, an historian at Harvard University, who has studied information-sharing networks in pre-revolutionary France, argues that “the marvels of communication technology in the present have produced a false consciousness about the past—even a sense that communication has no history, or had nothing of importance to consider before the days of television and the internet.”

Social media are not unprecedented: rather, they are the continuation of a long tradition. Modern digital networks may be able to do it more quickly, but even 500 years ago the sharing of media could play a supporting role in precipitating a revolution.

Today’s social-media systems do not just connect us to each other: they also link us to the past."

The Economist, How Luther went viral. Social media in the 16th Century (17 dec 2011) Citeste tot...

The shape of the future

THE 12-year-olds filing into Courtney Cadwell’s classroom at Egan Junior High in Los Altos, a leafy suburb of Silicon Valley, each take a white MacBook from a trolley, log on to a website called KhanAcademy.org and begin doing maths exercises. They will not get a lecture from Ms Cadwell, because they have already viewed, at home, various lectures as video clips on KhanAcademy (given by Salman Khan, its founder). And Ms Cadwell, logged in as a “coach”, can see exactly who has watched which. This means that class time is now free for something else: one-on-one instruction by Ms Cadwell, or what used to be known as tutoring.

So Ms Cadwell, in her own web browser, pulls up a dashboard where KhanAcademy’s software presents, through the internet, the data the children are producing at that instant. She can view information for the entire class or any individual pupil. Just then she sees two fields, representing modules, turning from green to red, one for Andrea, the other for Asia. Ms Cadwell sees that Andrea is struggling with exponents, Asia with fractions. “Instead of having to guess where my students have gaps, I can see it, at that moment, and I walk over to that one student,” says Ms Cadwell, as she arrives at Asia’s chair.

While the other pupils continue to work at their own pace and at different problems, Ms Cadwell now spends a few minutes just with Andrea and Asia. Soon Andrea has an epiphany and starts firing correct answers, getting, in KhanAcademy’s jargon, a “badge”, then going “transonic”. A few minutes later, Asia also gets a “streak”. She lets out a shriek. Ms Cadwell, with a big smile, is off to another pupil. “The growth in these kids is just staggering,” she says. “This is the future. I don’t see how it couldn’t be.”

This reversal of the traditional teaching methods—with lecturing done outside class time and tutoring (or “homework”) during it—is what Mr Khan calls “the flip”. A synonym for flip, of course, is revolution, and this experiment in Los Altos just might lead to one. For although only a handful of classes in this public-school district tried the method in the last school year, many other schools, private and public, are now expressing interest, and the methodology is spreading.

The Economist, Electronic Education: Flipping The Classroom (17th of September, 2011) Citeste tot...

Tiganii lui The Economist

Zilele trecute, The Economist a publicat un articol privind situatia tiganilor, in contextul recentelor expulzari etnice facute de francezi.

Mai intii spicuiesc citeva comentarii ale cititorilor:

I read the article with shock that how much the writer has no clue about the Gypsies situation and reality in Eastern, Central and Western Europe. It is very easy to say that the Roma minority is persecuted in several countries without knowing the real background. Gypsies has a lot of opportunity in several EU countries to receive higher education, social help and a lot of financial, educational and cultural help from the majority in the said countries.

Unfortunately, Gypsies tend to
abuse social welfare systems and tend to dismiss education opportunities. The Roma culture itself the actual problem which based on tribal-like rules, uncontrolled birth rates and sexual life also not very keen on being integrated in the majority society or seeking regular work.

Crime is extremely high in the Roma populations. It does not matter where they live, they mostly keep their own cultural rules and dismiss any integration into society. Best example is when Gypsies started to immigrate to Canada claiming that they are persecuted in Hungary. The Canadian Government accepted them and offered them help, social support and economic prosperity. Despite all of this they started to abuse the system as they always do, so the Canadians simply wanted to get rid off them. They reinstated visa requirements for Hungarians in general blocking this way further Gypsies immigration to Canada.


* * *

Individually, Gypsies are more often than not kind, happy and friendly persons, with their own not-so-strange set of moral and ethical tenets, a great deal of natural intelligence, imagination and skills in a wide variety of endeavors.

Those among them who acquire and hold even non-menial jobs are respected employees and co-workers. The key words are "acquire" and "hold," and this is where they face obstacles that are huge BUT not unsurmountable. In order to overcome, they are asked to change -- not entirely but significantly. No one asks them to change their diet, their language among each other, their music, their customs. They are asked to show up on time every day, perform their assigned tasks, relate professionally with their co-workers. Among those
I know there are some who behave in this manner and their lives are greatly improved.

These ("good") Gypsies are still not free from bias and even occasional mis-treatment, just as some people do not like red-haired or left-handed people or those rooting for another soccer club. But there are laws, even in regions the Economist considers "darkest Eastern Europe" and more and more we see those laws enforced.


* * *

In cele din urma, si articolul, pe care il copiez in intregime pentru ca dupa ceva vreme va fi trecut in categoria Premium (pe bani).

* * *

Europe's Roma
Hard travelling
Scapegoated abroad and the victims of prejudice at home, eastern Europe’s Roma are the problem no politician wants to solve

Sep 2nd 2010 | Budapest

SLOVAKIA is in shock; France in uproar. The cause of both nations’ turmoil is the Roma (gypsies), or, rather, what is being done to them. This week a gunman in the Slovak capital, Bratislava, killed seven people and injured 14, before shooting himself dead. Six of the victims were a Roma family, killed inside their apartment; they appear to have been deliberately targeted.

In France the expulsion of hundreds of Roma immigrants, whom Nicolas Sarkozy’s government says were in the country illegally, has galvanised opposition from the pope, French churches, a UN committee and even several ministers in Mr Sarkozy’s own government. Yet further tough legislation is promised.



Between them the Slovakian shootings and the expulsions from France highlight the difficulties faced by Europe’s largest stateless minority. An ingrained underclass, Roma are the victims of prejudice, often violent, at home in eastern Europe. Thousands have migrated westward to seek a better life, particularly as the expansion of the European Union has allowed them to take advantage of freedom-of-movement rules. Yet although conditions may be better in the west, the reception has rarely been friendly and politicians like President Sarkozy have ruthlessly exploited hostility towards the newcomers.

But the demagogic instincts of western leaders pale in comparison to the negligence of their eastern counterparts. Roma don’t vote much. No government in eastern Europe with a substantial Roma minority has done much to deal with the discrimination they face or the hopeless poverty that keeps them excluded from the mainstream, says Rob Kushen of the Budapest-based European Roma Rights Centre.

One of the biggest problems is schooling: Roma children are routinely placed in institutions for the mentally handicapped. A new survey by Amnesty International says that in Slovakia, Roma make up less than 10% of the school-age population but 60% of pupils in special schools. Unsurprisingly, many leave school early, without the skills they need to compete in the job market. Instead they drift into collecting scrap metal, begging or petty crime.

Straightforward prejudice plays its part. This week an MEP from Jobbik, a far-right Hungarian party, called for the mass internment of Roma. Last year Hungarian police sought help from the FBI after a series of attacks on Roma settlements in which six people were killed, including a five-year-old boy, Robika Csorba, and his father, Robert. Gunmen firebombed their house and lay in wait as they fled, before opening fire. A few weeks later, six Roma teenagers arrested in the Slovak town of Kosice for allegedly stealing a purse were forced to strip naked, kiss and hit each other, as police filmed their humiliation. In western Europe Roma migrants have faced firebomb attacks in Italy, pogroms in Belfast and forcible evictions in Greece.

This year marks the halfway point of Europe’s “Decade of Roma Inclusion”, launched in 2005 at a riverside hotel in Budapest. Five years on, say activists, most Roma are still worse off than under communism, which, for all its faults, at least guaranteed work, housing and welfare, and stamped down on hate crimes. Today conditions in Roma settlements on the edges of town and villages rival Africa or India for their deprivation.

Yet the Roma also suffer from problems of their own making. Ambitious youngsters are often held back by their intensely patriarchal and conservative societies. Girls are married off in their teens and boys put to work at an early age rather than study. Weary of the hostility they face from the outside world, Roma communities are prone to cut themselves off from society and its laws. Four years ago in Olaszliszka, northern Hungary, a driver who clipped a Romany girl with his car (she was unhurt) was dragged from the vehicle by a mob, many of them related to the girl, and beaten to death in front of his daughters.

In recent years, under the EU’s rules on freedom of movement, a torrent of cheap workers from the east have found work in the west. But most Roma leave their homelands in search not of work but of freedom from destitution and persecution. Little wonder that France, egged on by Italy and others, has been keen to “Europeanise” the issue, urging Brussels to go to greater efforts to get the eastern countries to integrate their Roma. Yet now that those countries are safely inside the EU it is far harder than in the pre-accession years for Eurocrats to tell their governments what to do.

Europeans would be swift to condemn the plight of the Roma were they in any other part of the world. However, eastern European governments are unlikely suddenly to tackle a problem that dates back centuries just because Brussels tells them to. Perhaps self-interest may prove a more powerful motivator. Roma families are far larger than those of the mainstream population: the pool of deprivation is only going to grow. In addition, a recent World Bank study estimates the annual cost of the failure to integrate Roma in Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and the Czech Republic at €5.7 billion ($7.3 billion). As the report notes: “Bridging the education gap is the economically smart choice.” If humanitarian arguments fail to carry the day, perhaps economics and demographics might.

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Europa buba-buba

“We all know what to do, but we don’t know how to get re-elected once we have done it.”
Jean-Claude Juncker, prime minister of Luxembourg, 2007

Cititi, va rog, articolul din The Economist, The Future of Europe: Staring into the abyss. Ca de obicei, un punct de vedere pertinent, nici prea prapastios, nici prea optimist, bine argumentat si elaborat, despre tensiunile structurale din Europa.

Asta pentru a ne da seama ca zaticnelile prin care trecem acum, in urlete si isterii si dedindu-ne la acte stupide de populism feroce, doar-doar mai creste un punct procentual, sint de fapt pacate comune intregii arii europene. Nimic nou sub soare, doar ca noi sintem ceva mai bicisnici in isteria noastra decit altii. Deh, coloratura culturala. :(

Cititi. Aveti numai de cistigat, spre limpezirea creierului si spre dreapta cumpanire si intzelegere a lumii si timpurilor in care traim. Citeste tot...

Stance: Papua New Guineea

De aici. The Economist, evident.
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KALology

Ca de obicei, KAL strikes again.

O caricatura foarte potrivita si starii de lucruri din Romania.

Courtesy of The Economist.



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Ce face televizorul din om

lol. Maniera in care procesele in Statele Unite sint tinute incepe incetul cu incetul sa fie influentata de serialele de televiziune in care sint prezentate procedurile stiintifice de identificare a criminialilor, gen CSI. In cadrul proceselor cu jurati, acestia se pliaza din ce in ce mai mult pe felul in care au vazut ei la televizor ca ar trebui sa decurga un proces, mai ales in zona de colectare a datelor.

Mda. Televizorul, aceasta imensa masinarie de socializare stereotipa :)

Courtesy of The Economist, our weekly provider of well-thought balanced journalism.

:) Citeste tot...

100 de milioane de motive de ingrijorare

Va povesteam acum ceva timp despre problemele structurale demografice cu care se confrunta China.

Iata acum un articol din The Economist care vine sa discute acelasi subiect: o structura de nasteri puternic dezechilibrata in randul tarilor asiatice. Prea multi nou-nascuti baieti si prea putine fete. Cauzele culturale, politice si tehnologice ale acestei situatii, cat si consecintele sale.

Iata un fragment din articol:
In fact the destruction of baby girls is a product of three forces: the ancient preference for sons; a modern desire for smaller families; and ultrasound scanning and other technologies that identify the sex of a fetus. In societies where four or six children were common, a boy would almost certainly come along eventually; son preference did not need to exist at the expense of daughters. But now couples want two children—or, as in China, are allowed only one—they will sacrifice unborn daughters to their pursuit of a son. That is why sex ratios are most distorted in the modern, open parts of China and India. It is also why ratios are more skewed after the first child: parents may accept a daughter first time round but will do anything to ensure their next—and probably last—child is a boy. The boy-girl ratio is above 200 for a third child in some places.

Si iata un alt fragment, care ne arata ce inseamna sa promovezi idei liberale. Liberale, nu precum "idei economice liberale", ci atitudine liberala despre lume, societate si viata. Mult dincolo si peste acuzele indignate ale socialistilor care cred ca liberalismul se limiteaza doar la apararea averilor nemernicilor de bogati imbuibati care au facut averi pe spinarea clasei muncitoare.

And all countries need to raise the value of girls. They should encourage female education; abolish laws and customs that prevent daughters inheriting property; make examples of hospitals and clinics with impossible sex ratios; get women engaged in public life—using everything from television newsreaders to women traffic police. Mao Zedong said “women hold up half the sky.” The world needs to do more to prevent a gendercide that will have the sky crashing down.

Ca de obicei, The Economist ne ofera o analiza pertinenta asupra lumii in care traim. Gasiti tot articolul aici. Citeste tot...

The upside down world

Va aducetzi aminte de Shalmaneser? Sau de The Happening World?

Nu?

Nasol. Suntetzi tineri. Sau nu cititzi. Sau nu va place SciFi-ul. Sau toate trei. Oricum, o combinatzie neplacuta care scoate fara tagada la iveala faptul ca suntetz nishte nasoi iremediabili.

Deci.

Deci sa va luminez.

In Stand On Zanzibar, mare carte, profetica matzaraie de incurcatura de vorbe de 600 de pagini si plus, John Brunner vedea acum patruzeci de ani, cu o claritate impresionant de paranoica data doar de consumul exagerat de ciuperci complicate, cum e lumea cu adevarat. Si cum va fi. Si va fi. Si este. Si este deja. Si prea este.

Totul intr-o supa de cuvinte hiper-super-complicata, pe care Catalin Voicu sunt sigur ca nu ar aprecia-o la justa sa valoare, pen' ca n-a auzit cine e ala dos Passos (nu ca eu as sti, dar ma dau mare ca stiu, sa va impresionez la impresia artistica de sociolog carele le stie pe toate, inclusiv cat de urat este Groparu in realitate).

Deci.

Deci sa continui sa va luminez.

Printre multele cuvinte inutile despre care citeam cand eram tineri si superbi si imperbi si inutili si cand aveam noi timp, era Shalmaneser asta care spunea chestii complicate despre relatii si situatii complicate si pline de rautacisme de marketing si de geostrategie si de scificiziciune.

Daca ati citit, stiti la ce ma refer. Daca n-ati citit, prea tarziu. Poimaine vine cutremurul si vom fi cu totii piure de om, tocanitza de urban de la etajul noo, vai noo vai voo (nu, nu sunt beat. pur si simplu va arat ca stiu sa scriu presque ca John Brunner, cu cacccafonie cu tot).

Ei bine, acum nu mai avem nevoie de Shalmaneser. Acum citim chestiile astea direct in the bloody mainstream publications. Cum ar fi, de-un par exemplu

moooama, am inceput sa ma invat cu tastatura noului meu leptoc. sa vedetzi cum imi fug degetele pe ea, nici mie nu-mi vine sa cred.

Deci unde ramasesem?

Da, la The Economist.

Buuun. The Economist. Ei bine, in cel mai recent numar din The Economist aflam cum s-a intors lumea cu curu'n sus intr-o noua privinta. Pana acum, eram invatzatz ca marile secrete tehnologice militare sa se scurga, atunci cand isi ating un anumit prag de inofensivitate prin obsolescentza, in lumea asta a noastra, a blambecilor civili si pashnici si fraier, ca n'avem pusca la noi. Banda adeziva si Internetu si tranzistoru si radarul si GPS-ul si alea si alelante.

Ei bine, gata. Pana aici, tovarashi. S-a-ntors trendu. Acum militaru se duce frumos in magazin, acolo la raft la supermarket, cara frumos el de carutz in fatiguesurile lui alea de camuflaj, umple carutzul cu chestii apsolut banale si - vavavoum! - se duce la el acolo la bancu de proba cu melci atomici si mi tzi-mi face frate ditamai frumusetea de bomba sau de hiper-super-para-tanc, dintr-o mana de chestii cumparate de la supermarket.

V-am spus cat de repede tastez? Nici mie nu-mi vine sa cred. Flooorentino, vino bre nevasta bre, vino sa ma vezi cum lucrez la bloguri verzi.

Deci cititi aici. Cititi articolul, cititzi-l pe tot, ca merita. Si oripilatzi-va. Viitorul e aici, acum, peste noi, si noi nu facem nimic, doar exit poale si politica si isterie riguros organizata sa piara entuziazmu la natzia asta de romani carele nu se mai satura de politica fi-ne-ar natzia sa ne fie de isterici si de politici.

Moooama, ce repede tastez... Si nu, n-am baut nimic. Doar un Red Bull acum cinci ore.

PS: Shalmaneser vine de la numele mai multor regi din Asiria si Babilonu istoriei vechi antice si dedemult. Citeste tot...

Much needed wisdom

Despre certitudini si despre dubii bine tzinute in fraul mintzii. Despre legatura tensionata dintre politica si stiinta.

Despre The Economist, evident.

[...] There is no doubt that politics and science make uncomfortable bedfellows. Politicians sell certainty. Science lives off doubt.
[...]

[...] There are no certainties in science. Prevailing theories must be constantly tested against evidence, and refined, and more evidence collected, and the theories tested again. That is the job of the scientists. When they stop questioning orthodoxy, mankind will have given up the search for truth. The sceptics should not be silenced.
[...]

Restul articolului aici.


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Exemplu de dreapta cumpanire

Stiu, stiu: nu-i frumos ce fac. Dar sa moara pisica tiparita daca nu o fac pentru un scop nobil. Ma gandesc la nepotzii viitorului (:p), cei care peste zile si saptamani si poate chiar luni vor arheologiza aceste semne ale trecutului recent si inutil, si ma tem ca daca pun doar link catre sursa, s-ar putea ca accesul sa fie restrictionat. Si atunci m-am gandit eu in nemernicia mea ca un caine balcanic turbat sa pun tot articolul. Ce blogul meu...

Promit sa nu mai fac (prea des). Doar de data asta, stimata redactie, da?

Deci, ashadar si prin urmare, sa intram in subiectul discutziei la soare. E vorba despre inca un exemplu, al nu stiu catelea, pentru care merita citita aceasta revista. Pentru retinerea de limbaj. Spre deosebire de alti isterici latini, ei nu sunt degraba varsatorii de epitete si de concluzii grabnice si de stihii verbale. Nu, ei trag aer in piept si in tastatura si ne indeamna: sa asteptam. Unele lucruri nu se intampla peste noapte. A facut si bune, si rele. Sa analizam nepartinitor. E vorba despre grija pentru nuanta si detaliu. Si mai ales si mai ales, e vorba despre puterea de analiza. Adica, doamnelor si domnilor, inteligenta si retorica.

Doamnelor si domnilor, The Economist. Sau cum ar trebui sa arate o analiza politica de etapa: Obama la un an de la investire.

Tz tz tz. Ce oameni. Ce creiere. Ce civilizatzie. Si ce iremediabil de balcanici si de isterici si de bicisnici suntem noi, prin comparatie.

:(

-------------------


Lexington
One year of The One

Oct 29th 2009
From The Economist print edition
He has achieved more than his critics claim, but the meat is yet to come


Illustration by KAL

WHEN he was elected president, Barack Obama made it plain that this was an event of some importance. His supporters, he said, had “put their hands on the arc of history and [bent] it once more toward the hope of a better day.” He promised to end the war in Iraq, sort out the Taliban, provide health care for all and erect a cap-and-trade system to save the planet. A year later, he has done none of these things, and some of his supporters are starting to grow impatient. “Saturday Night Live”, a comedy show, reckons his two big accomplishments are “jack” and “squat”. “Yes he can” proclaims the cover of Newsweek, “(but he sure hasn’t yet)”.

Mr Obama, for his part, is beginning to sound exasperated. “I never thought any of this was going to be easy,” he told a crowd in New Orleans this month. “Change is hard,” he said, “and big change is harder.” The crowd was friendly enough, but smaller than the crowds he used to attract during the campaign, and less starry-eyed. One young mother in the audience said she didn’t buy “all the hype of hope and change”. Generally speaking, she reckoned the president was “on the right path”. But she thought his bail-outs of banks and over-leveraged homeowners were “a slap in the face for those of us who are fiscally responsible”.

One reason why so many of Mr Obama’s fans are disappointed is that he promised the impossible and—such is the power of his oratory—got people to believe him. Time and again during the campaign, Lexington met voters who were convinced that he would deliver all the goodies on his wish-list without raising taxes on any but the rich. Mr Obama did little to dispel the idea that he could work miracles.

In his inauguration speech, he declared: “We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.” Yet roughly once a week since that day, he has ordered the assassination of suspected terrorists. These assassinations, carried out with Hellfire missiles fired from hovering drones, are often messy. According to the New America Foundation, a think-tank, it took 15 attempts to kill Baitullah Mehsud, a Taliban leader in Pakistan who was finally blown to scraps in August. Hundreds of people, some of them children, have died in these drone attacks. Mr Obama would presumably include “not killing children” among his ideals. Sometimes, however, he sets aside this ideal in the interests of safety.

That may or may not be the right thing to do. But it is absurd to pretend that there is no trade-off “between our safety and our ideals”. Were that so, Mr Obama would already have closed the prison at Guantánamo Bay; yet nearly all the prisoners he inherited are still there. Meanwhile, he says he will continue “rendering” freshly captured terror suspects to third countries. And American soldiers are still being discharged for being openly gay. Is this “change we can believe in” or merely Bush with panache?

At home, far from ushering in a new era of chummy bipartisanship, he seldom opens his mouth without bashing his opponents or his predecessor. “I don’t mind cleaning up the mess that some other folks made,” he told a group of wealthy Democratic donors. “But while I’m there mopping the floor I don’t want someone saying: ‘You’re not mopping fast enough or you’re not holding the mop the right way’.” His handling of the media is aggressive, too. A recent attempt to exclude Fox News, a conservative network, from a pooled interview with the White House pay tsar was so crude that even liberal networks objected.

Measured against the expectations of those who bought pictures of him riding a unicorn, Mr Obama’s presidency has been a failure. Measured by a more reasonable yardstick, however, it has seen solid successes. For a start, the financial system appears to have stabilised. Continuing where Mr Bush left off, Mr Obama intervened to prop up ailing banks and insurers, thereby probably averting catastrophe. The bail-out may cost him votes, but it was necessary. And though the economy is still in a terrible state, it could now be through the worst.

Patience required

His big domestic reforms are taking time, but this is hardly surprising. He wants to reshape the one-sixth of the economy that is health care. This would affect almost everyone who expects to die someday. The details must be agreed on by a supermajority of senators, all of them opinionated and some of them nervous about re-election. Small wonder the deal has not yet been sealed. Cap-and-trade will be next, but since this would reallocate trillions of dollars and affect everyone who uses energy, it could prove even more contentious. Immigration reform, meanwhile, seems to be receding into the future.

Mr Obama’s election has dramatically improved America’s image abroad. That surely counts for something, even if it has yet to pay tangible dividends. He has unnerved America’s trading partners by caving in to congressional pressure for protectionism, but he has not sparked a full-blown trade war. He is pulling out of Iraq gradually and sensibly. His preference for talking to rogue states such as Iran and North Korea has so far yielded no substantial benefits, but diplomacy is seldom swift. His strategy for Afghanistan is up in the air. His indecision alarms hawks, but others contrast his cool deliberation favourably with his predecessor’s impetuousness.

The best test of Mr Obama’s presidency is not whether he changes things quickly but whether he changes them for the better. Perhaps, as the economy starts to recover, he will lay down a path towards fixing the budget. Perhaps his health reforms will curb costs. Perhaps he can reach a deal with Iran, and set up a cap-and-trade system. It is still too early to know any of this: but in the next few months, America and the world will start to see whether he can or he can’t.
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KAL strikes again

Courtesy of The Economist.

Evident.



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Quote of the day

In Argentina vegetarians are for eating.
A note scribbled on a paper napkin in a Palermo café, Argentina

Courtesy of that unending spring of ironic wisdom, The Economist

:)


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Sa nu porti pantaloni

Femeia nu este egala cu barbatul.
Barbatul are drept de viata si de moarte asupra femeii.
Femeii nu trebuie sa i se vada chipul.
Femeia este plina de pacat.
Femeia nu are voie sa poarte pantaloni.
Femeia trebuie biciuita.

Nu, nu este Evul Mediu. Este cultura islamica din ziua de azi: A martyr to her trousers. Este efectul religiei asupra creierului uman. Este totalitarianism si conservatorism si tampenie.

IN SOME settings, light-green slacks would be merely a fashion crime. In Sudan they may actually be against the law. Lubna Hussein faces 40 lashes and an unlimited fine if she is convicted of being inappropriately dressed in public—for wearing those slacks. She was arrested a month ago, under Article 152 of Sudan’s criminal law, which forbids “indecent clothing in public” without specifying exactly what that means. According to Ms Hussein, ten of the 12 women arrested with her immediately accepted they had been improperly dressed. They each got ten lashes and paid a fine equivalent to $100.

Ms Hussein, however, insisted she was innocent, and says she has done nothing wrong in the eyes of the Koran or Sudanese law. Moreover, she has cleverly embarrassed the authorities by turning her ordeal into a media circus. A journalist, she printed 500 invitations to her trial and sent out e-mails to the world’s press, inviting them to her flogging. Women’s-rights campaigners, foreign diplomats, journalists and well-wishers flooded into the court. Working as a press officer for the UN, she could have benefited from a form of diplomatic immunity to escape prosecution altogether. But the plucky Ms Hussein quit her job, the better to fight her case. She wants to put the law on trial. At a further hearing this week almost 100 protesters, mainly women, lined up outside the court. Some carried signs suggesting Sudan was going back to the Dark Ages.

Deci cine este pentru Islam? Cine ridica mana sa ne povesteasca despre meritele sale?

Astept comentarii pline de fervoare despre intelepciunea plina de poezie mistica a "adevaratului" Islam, care de fapt nu este asta aratat de nemernicii de pagani, ci cu totul altfel.

Mama voastra... Mama noastra...

:(

PS: Un alt articol despre religie si toleranta si erezie aici: Where freedom is still at stake. Tot in context islamic. Tot din The Economist.

TO MOST Western ears, the very idea of punishing heresy conjures up a time four or five centuries ago, when Spanish inquisitors terrorised dissenters with the rack and Russian tsars would burn alive whole communities of ultra-traditionalist Old Believers. Most religions began as heresies. Today the concept of “heresy” still means something. Every community built around an idea, a principle or an aim (from fox-hunting enthusiasts to Freudian psychotherapists) will always face hard arguments about where the boundaries of that community lie, and how far the meaning of its founding axioms can be stretched. But one of the hallmarks of a civilised and tolerant society is that arguments within freely constituted groups, religious or otherwise, unfold peacefully. And if those disputes lead to splits and new groups, that too must be a peaceful process, free of violence or coercion.

How depressing, then, to find that in the heartland of one of the world’s great religions, Islam, charges of heresy are still being bandied about in a violent and threatening way, in the hope of silencing critical voices.

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O de'aia pe zi

O tzatza pe zi aka Political Tits.

Asta pentru a va demonstra ca politica si tzatzele fac casa buna peste tot. In toata lumea. La toate popoarele si la toate persuasiunile politice. Si de stanga, si de dreapta.

Explicatzia e simpla: pentru ca sunt doua tzatze: una pe stanga si una pe dreapta. Deci o tzatza liberala si una conservatoare. Una comunista si una crestin-democrata. Una populista si una elitista.

Deci, doamnelor si domnilor de toate persuasiunile erotice, morale, orale, atitudinale, etice, epice, nimfice, priapice, constipate ori retorice, iata un stralucit exemplu de erotism politic, chiar la gomoshii geniali si foarte high brow si anglo-saxoni de la The Economist.

Prietenii stiu de ce.

:p



Ca sa nu mai spunem ca insusi uber-gomosului, prea stralucimii sale altetza sa constipata Printzul Charles ii stralucesc ochii si'i pulseaza podurile palmelor cand se trezeshte intr'o situatie in care politica, securitatea si uniforma bine mulata se completeaza armonios:



Deci se poate. Deci politica shi tzatzele se intalnesc uneori. Ca sa nu mai spun de sociologie, antropologie vizuala, studiul stiintific (stiintzific, bre, ai auzit?) al valorilor si comportamentelor la barbarii moderni. Metoda de cercetare preferata: observatzia participativa.

:p

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Forta inevitabilitatii

Ceea ce vedeti mai jos, courtesy of The Economist, poate foarte bine sa intre sub incidenta definirii faptului social (aici si textul lui Durkheim), desi nu are, daca stam sa judecam drept, propriu-zis anvergura conceptuala necesara.

Este vorba despre evolutia preturilor caselor in diverse tari ale lumii.

Este un fapt extern individului, face parte din zona fenomenelor sociale, in opozitie cu cele naturale, si are putere de constrangere asupra sa, influentandu'i existenta. Si, dupa cum vedem din grafic, are o structura bine definita, ceea ce ne permite sa avansam predictii privind evolutia sa -- fapt care il face si mai interesant pentru cunoasterea practica.

Stim ca Romania a cunoscut o intarziere in evolutia acestui fenomen - a pornit mai tarziu si s'a desfasurat initial mai lent. Insa pe parcursul evolutiei balonului imobiliar global, Romania a prins cumva din urma celelalte tari, si'a sincronizat evolutia si a convers spre aceeasi forma de crestere, respectiv descrestere a preturilor la case - nu atat din punct de vedere al amplitudinii absolute (preturi), cat mai ales a celei relative (procente).

Acum intrebarea este: pana unde? Cat de jos?

Stim ca oamenii, in comportamentul lor economic care este teoretic rational, de maximizare a profitului, prezinta de fapt o componenta puternica emotionala. Credem ca actionam rational, dar in spate hormonul isi face de cap.

In consecinta, evolutiile preturilor, fie pe piata bursiera, fie pe cea imobiliara, tind sa aiba extinderi de exagerare (overshoots, cum zic anglo-saxonii), atat la bine, cand cresc preturile - momentele acelea de euforie nesustinute de adevarul fundamentului economic, cat si la rau, cand preturile se prabusesc intr'o miscare de panica mult sub valorile unde fundamentele economice estimeaza ca ar trebui sa se aseze.

Vom vedea. Pana una alta, priviti ce frumos atarna la americani, spanioli, irlandezi si englezi (evolutii relative, avand ca punct de reper anul 2005 = 100%). Si pe urma priviti ce frumos incepe sa atarne, absolut la fel, si la noi.

Al doilea grafic, courtesy of Index Imobiliar.

Lumea capitalista cea rea
Sursa: The Economist


Ce'tzi doresc eu tzie, scumpa Romanie?
Sursa: Index Imobiliar

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