Quote of the Day

If the reed is bent too far, it breaks; and he who wants too much gets nothing.

- Bouterwek

GhostNet

Sinofascists busted by Canadian university:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GhostNet

On the Gods

Gods are man's explanation for forces. If a rock rolls down the hill - what caused it? Something must have caused it, because inertia determines that the rock would otherwise stay put. Something with a will must have decided to move it, and something with the strength must have moved it. Hence - a god, a spirit, a numen...whatever.

By the Late Republic, the Romans no longer really, deep in their hearts, believed in gods, and considered human sacrifice an abomination. They did however traditionally 'execute' enemy leaders at the traditional site...in the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus Capitolinus, the national god of Rome.

We, however, are not nearly so superstitious. For example, we no longer believe in the god Mercury, the god of commerce and all that is associated with commerce, such as the spread of news (hence his function as the messenger of Jupiter). We believe instead in the Invisible Hand.

And neither do we believe in human sacrifice. Our Northern European ancestors used to sacrifice victims, usually criminals, to the gods, with hanging the preferred method. We, however, reserve hanging for the 'execution' of 'criminals'. Who are we sacrificing them to? The goddess Justice?

W.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weELpc3pYMs

Niall Ferguson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cIeQp2zzhY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niall_Ferguson

The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World
http://www.amazon.com/Ascent-Money-Financial-History-World/dp/1594201927/ref=reg_hu-wl_mrai-recs

Niall Ferguson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cIeQp2zzhY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niall_Ferguson

The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World
http://www.amazon.com/Ascent-Money-Financial-History-World/dp/1594201927/ref=reg_hu-wl_mrai-recs

Martin Wolf

The Causes and Consequences of the Global Economic Collapse
http://www.amazon.com/Fixing-Global-Finance-Constructive-Capitalism/dp/0801890489/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238311159&sr=8-1

http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/conversations/
Explanation for the Global Financial Crisis: approx. min 9-14

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Wolf

Also:

Why Globalization Works
http://www.amazon.com/Globalization-Works-Yale-Nota-Bene/dp/0300107773/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238311758&sr=8-2

Conversations with History: Luttwak Interview

Luttwak is brilliant as usual.

Longer video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vz1BpRf3Lc&feature=related

Short Vid: Luttwak on Foreign Aid

Brilliant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ex4aC5z_XA

The War Room

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_Room

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A47H4qzV3ms

Econospinning

Gene Epstein Econospinning: How to read between the lines when the media manipulate the numbers, New Jersey: Wiley, 2006

Top Secret Ultra

My lecturer's favourite book on Ultra.

http://www.amazon.com/Top-Secret-Ultra-Peter-Calvocoressi/dp/0947712410/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237688837&sr=1-1

In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing the Second World War

An analysis of the various drafts of Churchill's History of WWII and how history is made.

http://www.amazon.com/Command-History-Churchill-Fighting-Writing/dp/0465003303/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237688529&sr=8-1

The First Global Revolution

"It would seem that humans need a common motivation, namely a common adversary, to organize and act together in the vacuum; such a motivation must be found to bring the divided nations together to face an outside enemy, either a real one or else one invented for the purpose....The common enemy of humanity is man....democracy is no longer well suited for the tasks ahead."

- King, Alexander & Russell, Bertrand; The First Global Revolution (The Club of Rome), 1993

'Oldest English words' identified

Reading University researchers claim "I", "we", "two" and "three" are among the most ancient, dating back tens of thousands of years.

...

We think some of these words are as ancient as 40,000 years old. The sound used to make those words would have been used by all speakers of the Indo-European languages throughout history," Professor Pagel said.

"Here's a sound that has been connected to a meaning - and it's a mostly arbitrary connection - yet that sound has persisted for those tens of thousands of years."

...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7911645.stm