History for Dollars

By DAVID BROOKS

When the going gets tough, the tough take accounting. When the job market worsens, many students figure they can’t indulge in an English or a history major. They have to study something that will lead directly to a job.

So it is almost inevitable that over the next few years, as labor markets struggle, the humanities will continue their long slide. There already has been a nearly 50 percent drop in the portion of liberal arts majors over the past generation, and that trend is bound to accelerate. Once the stars of university life, humanities now play bit roles when prospective students take their college tours. The labs are more glamorous than the libraries.

But allow me to pause for a moment and throw another sandbag on the levee of those trying to resist this tide. Let me stand up for the history, English and art classes, even in the face of today’s economic realities.

Studying the humanities improves your ability to read and write. No matter what you do in life, you will have a huge advantage if you can read a paragraph and discern its meaning (a rarer talent than you might suppose). You will have enormous power if you are the person in the office who can write a clear and concise memo.

Studying the humanities will give you a familiarity with the language of emotion. In an information economy, many people have the ability to produce a technical innovation: a new MP3 player. Very few people have the ability to create a great brand: the iPod. Branding involves the location and arousal of affection, and you can’t do it unless you are conversant in the language of romance.

Studying the humanities will give you a wealth of analogies. People think by comparison — Iraq is either like Vietnam or Bosnia; your boss is like Narcissus or Solon. People who have a wealth of analogies in their minds can think more precisely than those with few analogies. If you go through college without reading Thucydides, Herodotus and Gibbon, you’ll have been cheated out of a great repertoire of comparisons.

Finally, and most importantly, studying the humanities helps you befriend The Big Shaggy.

Let me try to explain. Over the past century or so, people have built various systems to help them understand human behavior: economics, political science, game theory and evolutionary psychology. These systems are useful in many circumstances. But none completely explain behavior because deep down people have passions and drives that don’t lend themselves to systemic modeling. They have yearnings and fears that reside in an inner beast you could call The Big Shaggy.

You can see The Big Shaggy at work when a governor of South Carolina suddenly chucks it all for a love voyage south of the equator, or when a smart, philosophical congressman from Indiana risks everything for an in-office affair.

You can see The Big Shaggy at work when self-destructive overconfidence overtakes oil engineers in the gulf, when go-go enthusiasm intoxicates investment bankers or when bone-chilling distrust grips politics.

Those are the destructive sides of The Big Shaggy. But this tender beast is also responsible for the mysterious but fierce determination that drives Kobe Bryant, the graceful bemusement the Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga showed when his perfect game slipped away, the selfless courage soldiers in Afghanistan show when they risk death for buddies or a family they may never see again.

The observant person goes through life asking: Where did that come from? Why did he or she act that way? The answers are hard to come by because the behavior emanates from somewhere deep inside The Big Shaggy.

Technical knowledge stops at the outer edge. If you spend your life riding the links of the Internet, you probably won’t get too far into The Big Shaggy either, because the fast, effortless prose of blogging (and journalism) lacks the heft to get you deep below.

But over the centuries, there have been rare and strange people who possessed the skill of taking the upheavals of thought that emanate from The Big Shaggy and representing them in the form of story, music, myth, painting, liturgy, architecture, sculpture, landscape and speech. These men and women developed languages that help us understand these yearnings and also educate and mold them. They left rich veins of emotional knowledge that are the subjects of the humanities.

It’s probably dangerous to enter exclusively into this realm and risk being caught in a cloister, removed from the market and its accountability. But doesn’t it make sense to spend some time in the company of these languages — learning to feel different emotions, rehearsing different passions, experiencing different sacred rituals and learning to see in different ways?

Few of us are hewers of wood. We navigate social environments. If you’re dumb about The Big Shaggy, you’ll probably get eaten by it.

There are three classes of people who do not believe that markets work: the Cubans, the North Koreans and active managers.

Rex Sinquefield  

 

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Joburg and Durban: 15 worst potholes

Stuart Farrow

10 February 2010

The Democratic Alliance identifies some of the nastiest holes in our roads

From those hundred or so potholes photographed by the DA, we have identified the 15 worst. To do this, we took into account both their location - that is, if they are on a major carriageway or a road with a great deal of traffic - and their size (often a signal of the amount of neglect that caused them in the first place).

The worst 15 are as follows:

1. Bolton Road (Rosebank, Johannesburg): Hidden from oncoming traffic, if you watch down Bolton Road you can see cars hitting it at speed on a regular basis.

2. Riviera Road (Killarney, Johannesburg): A mini sinkhole, across the road from the American Embassy, closer inspection suggests a large part of the road has worn away beneath it.

see them all

http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71619?oid=159962&sn=Detail

Maybe not humour!!!

The preferred game of Wall Street has convenience on its side, as 30 minutes on the squash court provides an impressive cardiorespiratory workout. Extended rallies and almost constant running builds muscular strength and endurance in the lower body, while lunges, twists and turns increase flexibility in the back and abdomen. "For people just getting into the game, it's almost too much to sustain, but once you get there, squash is tremendous," says Paul Assaiante, head coach of the five-time defending national intercollegiate champion men's squash team at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. Assaiante recommends a regimen of yoga, sprinting and distance running for preparation. Be wary of groin pulls, torn Achilles tendons and your opponent's racquet.
 

One of the few non-weight-bearing sports, rowing works wonders for cardiorespiratory health, muscular strength and endurance. Sliding seats in rowing shells and on rowing machines provide a total-body workout, building lean muscle throughout. "Most good oarsmen are strong but thin," says Steve Wagner, head coach of the men's crew at Rutgers University, who notes that proper technique in the legs, backs and arms, not strapping shoulder muscles, is the most important part of rowing. While Wagner notes that most rowing injuries occur "outside of the boat," those suffered inside are typically minor, such as tendonitis or overextended back muscles. Plus, it's a great argument for investing in waterfront property.

Provided you don't tumble to your death, climbing is excellent for everything but cardiorespiratory health. It's anaerobic, relying upon bursts of energy to get from one rock hold to the next. While that won't do much for your heart, it's great for strength, endurance and flexibility everywhere else. "Climbers develop long, lean muscles from stretching, then contracting," says Ivan Greene, who runs the climbing program at the Chelsea Sports Center in New York. Though weight training and pull-ups are good preparation, the only way to develop grip strength is to grab a rock. Don't let the slow pace fool you. Notes Greene, "At the end of a long day of climbing, I feel like I've been wrestling Mack trucks."

The importance of technique can't be overstressed in this total-body winner, which scores in particular for cardiorespiratory health and overall muscular endurance. "It's difficult for people to maintain proper technique for 30 minutes straight," notes Michael Collins, a coach with Irvine Novaquatics, a Masters Swimming group (usms.org) in Irvine, Calif. "Without good form, many swimmers just coast through their workouts without getting any of the benefits of strength training or weight loss." Collins recommends interval training--swim two lengths, break to catch your breath, repeat--to maximize those benefits, as well as supplementing with core exercises, weight training and yoga to help maintain body alignment and awareness.

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Though there's not much new or sexy about cross-country skiing, for a total-body workout it's tough to beat. Shushing through snow taxes every large muscle group, while varying terrain and conditions provide great interval training. "Just the process of the body warming itself in cold weather fires up metabolism and increases calorie burn," notes Gregory Florez, a personal trainer and CEO of the online coaching outfit Fitadvisor.com who teaches cross-country skiing near Salt Lake City. Though the legs remain in a steady range of motion, there's good flexibility for the thighs, back and shoulders. Of course, you can't always count on the weather, but that's what stationary NordicTracks are for.

Like an impenetrable zone defense, basketball has just about everything covered. Continuous movement works the cardiorespiratory system and melts calories, while quick anaerobic bursts of jumping, directional changes and fast-breaks build strength and endurance. Even flexibility can improve through hands-up defense and lunges for loose balls. The downside, alas, is the high rate of injury from stops, starts, twists and turns. And yet, "basketball doesn't have to be high risk," says E.J. "Doc" Kreis, the speed-strength and conditioning coach for the UCLA Bruins. "Most of what you see is knee and back problems from older athletes who've been away for a while and try to jump back in." Kreis recommends a holistic approach of preparatory conditioning work with an emphasis on weight training and "a healthy mind."

With major benefits for cardiorespiratory health, body composition and muscular endurance, this non-weight bearer is the aerobic activity of choice for many who want to avoid the injury risks of running. Funny, then, that cycling has one of the highest injury rates of any sport--accounting for more than 500,000 emergency room visits each year, according to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. While most of those are suffered by the 15-and-under set, the potential severity of tumbling off a bike shouldn't be underestimated. Nor should the hazards of unpadded bike seats. As with running, cycling won't do much for leg flexibility or upper-body strength, so plan on supplementing with some cross-training.

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The ur-sport offers splendid benefits for cardiorespiratory endurance, the lower body and the circumference of waistline--provided you do some distance. "Long-distance runners burn plenty of calories, but if you do a few miles a day a few times a week, you won't lose much weight," notes Suzelle Snowden, a program director for former Olympian Jeff Galloway (www.jeffgalloway.com), who now operates training programs across the country. Running provides little flexibility for the legs and nothing for the upper body, so supplementing with cross-training such as swimming or weight training is key. So too is moderation, as injuries like stress fractures, shin splints and dreaded "IT Band Syndrome"--overworking the iliotibial band that stabilizes the knee--have stopped plenty in their tracks.

From the precision of pistol shooting to the balletic endurance of fencing to the lower-body demands of equestrian jumping, this holdover from the 1910s challenges as few sports do. Modeled on what a liaison officer might face behind enemy lines, modern pentathlon isn't as trendy as triathlon, but it has merits. Swimming (200 meters) and running (3,000 meters) offer cardiorespiratory benefits, while round-robin swordplay tests flexibility and endurance. Shooting from 10 meters demands focus--and you can't get much healthier than on the right end of a gun. Horse jumping, meanwhile, "is always the critical event," says Elaine Cheris, owner of the Cheyenne Fencing Society in Denver. "Horses are chosen by lot, and riders have 20 minutes to get intimate with an unpredictable beast." Sounds like good training for cold calling, at least.

If you don't mind the occasional fat lip, the "sweet science" is a knockout for cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular endurance. Indeed, dancing around the ring for a few rounds "is like nothing you've ever felt in your life," says Devon Cormack, a three-time World Kick Boxing champ and boxing coach at Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn, N.Y., who admits he tries to "take the wind out of students in the ring." Actual time inside the ropes is just part of the boxing regimen, which includes running, rope jumping and punching mitts with a trainer and against the bag. Though punches have more to do with alignment and efficiency than strength, your upper body will get a good workout. Watch out for ruptured biceps, strained rotator cuffs--and that roundhouse right!

Clocks

Over dinner -15 minutes ago - I described to my wife a question a market researcher recently asked me.

The question was: ' How would you define wealth creation?'

I asked how she would have answered and, unsurprisingly, she threw the question back at me

'At least a return commensurate with risk. Or a return in excess of an index'', were two platitudes I offered.

'No!' she retorted, ' The definition of wealth creation is anything you create over and above what I spend.

------

 Tickertalk community. I need your help. It's urgent.

Am I catatonic?

• Stupor - lack of response to external stimuli, e.g., no response to being spoken to or prodded
• Catalepsy - muscular rigidity, so that the limbs remain in whatever position they are placed.
• Excessive motor activity with no purpose
• Extreme negativism - resistance to movement or instruction
• Mutism - being unable or unwilling to speak
• Inappropriate postures and grimacing
• Echolalia - parrot-like repetition of a word or phrase just spoken by another person
• Echopraxia - repetitive imitation of the movements of another person

Or could it just be psychosomatic?

FM Community Banking

Local bankers are learning that tailoring products to suit the needs of rural communities is a growth area. There are key differences in approach, but all banks say senior management has realised the potential and is putting money behind it.

The sheer size of the un banked market has opened a gap, but filling it depends on making money off low margins, which means high volumes are needed.

Maybe we can all learn from the rural communities.

How about     tickerbanking  ?

• 'Crowd sourced' lending and borrowing
• 'Crowd sourced' risk analysis and risk sharing.
• Overheads approaching zero
• Comfortable oligopolistic competition.

Waddya think?

www.the-smart-class.com/index.php

Vampire des abysses

 

Clarke and Dawe ask the million dollar questions

http://abc.net.au/news/video/2010/05/20/...

KERRY O'BRIEN, PRESENTER: Time for John Clarke and Bryan Dawe with a few reflections on Europe's financial woes.

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2010/05/20/2905304.htm

Clarke and Dawe ask the million dollar questions

Transcript

KERRY O'BRIEN, PRESENTER: Time for John Clarke and Bryan Dawe with a few reflections on Europe's financial woes.

BRYAN DAWE: Your name is Roger yes?

JOHN CLARKE: Roger.

BRYAN DAWE: Ah, that's your name?

JOHN CLARKE: Roger.

BRYAN DAWE: Good. And what do you do Roger?

JOHN CLARKE: I'm a financial consultant.

BRYAN DAWE: Ah, financial consultant, eh?

JOHN CLARKE: Roger, yes.

BRYAN DAWE: Terrific and Roger how is business at the moment?

JOHN CLARKE: Not bad thank you. Been a bit quiet lately.

BRYAN DAWE: How do you mean lately?

JOHN CLARKE: Since the war. Been a bit quiet.

BRYAN DAWE: Fair enough. Okay, Roger your special subject tonight is the economies of the European community. Your time starts now. Best of luck.

JOHN CLARKE: Thank you.

BRYAN DAWE: How much does Greece owe, Roger?

JOHN CLARKE: $367 billion.

BRYAN DAWE: Correct. And who do they owe it to?

JOHN CLARKE: Mostly to the other European economies.

BRYAN DAWE: Correct. How much does Ireland owe?

JOHN CLARKE: $865 billion.

BRYAN DAWE: Correct. Who do they owe it to?

JOHN CLARKE: Other European economies mostly.

BRYAN DAWE: Correct. How much does Spain and Italy owe?

JOHN CLARKE: $1 trillion each.

BRYAN DAWE: Correct. Who to?

JOHN CLARKE: Mainly France, Britain and Germany.

BRYAN DAWE: Correct. And how are Germany, France, Britain going Roger?

JOHN CLARKE: Well they're struggling a bit, aren't they?

BRYAN DAWE: Correct. Why?

JOHN CLARKE: Well ‘cause they've lent all the vast amounts of money to other European economies that can't possibly pay them back.

BRYAN DAWE: Correct so what are they go to go have to do?

JOHN CLARKE: They're going to have to bail them out.

BRYAN DAWE: Correct. Where are they getting the money to do that Roger?

JOHN CLARKE: That is a good question. I don't know the answer to that one. (laughs)

BRYAN DAWE: How much does Portugal owe?

JOHN CLARKE: Hang on a minute, what was the answer to that earlier question?

BRYAN DAWE: Just keep answering the questions Roger.

Where is Portugal going to get the money it owes to Germany if Germany can't get back the money that it lent to Italy?

JOHN CLARKE: Just a minute. What was the answer to the previous que-

The question was: How can broke economies lend money to other broke economies who haven't got any money because they can't pay back the money the broke economy lent to the other broke economy and shouldn't have lent it to them in the first place because the broke economy can't pay back?

BRYAN DAWE: You are wasting valuable time Roger. How much money does Spain owe to Italy?

JOHN CLARKE: $41 billion. But where are they going to get it?

BRYAN DAWE: Correct. What does Italy owe to Spain?

JOHN CLARKE: $27 billion but they haven't got it - they're broke.

BRYAN DAWE: Correct. How can they pay each other if neither of them has any money?

JOHN CLARKE: They're going to get a bailout, aren't they?

BRYAN DAWE: Correct. And where is the money coming from for the bailout?

JOHN CLARKE: That is what I'm asking you!

BRYAN DAWE: Correct. Why are people selling the European currency and buying the US dollar?

JOHN CLARKE: Because the US economy is so much stronger than the European economy.

BRYAN DAWE: Correct. Why is that Roger?

JOHN CLARKE: Because it's owned by China.

BRYAN DAWE: Correct and very well done! And after that round you've lost $1 million.

JOHN CLARKE: I've lost $1 million? I thought you said well done!

BRYAN DAWE: Yes well done - you've only lost $1 million. That's an extraordinary performance Roger.

JOHN CLARKE: I've only lost $1 million.

BRYAN DAWE: Very well done.

JOHN CLARKE: That's quite good is it?

BRYAN DAWE: Oh it's excellent.

JOHN CLARKE: Sell everything immediately. Quickly!

KERRY O'BRIEN: I think it's called laughing as you sink.