Author: Paul Handover

Can’t see the wood for the trees.

Debt, Inflation, Recession, Depression?  Finding some truth!

How blessed we are with almost instant access, via the Web, to mind-numbing amounts of information.  So, for example, it was easy to check the origins of the quote that forms the subject line.

Yes, the saying is at least five hundred years old, and probably a century or two could be added to that, for it must have been long been in use to have been recorded in 1546 in John Heywood’s ‘A dialogue Conteynyng the Nomber in Effect of all the Prouerbes in the Englishe Tongue.’ He wrote ‘Plentie is no deinte, ye see not your owne ease. I see, ye can not see the wood for trees.’

From here.

Anyway, to the substance of this Post.

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John Bachar, free-solo climber, RIP

For many years being a subscriber to The Economist newspaper has been a weekly pleasure.  Strangely, it might be thought, one of the most appreciated sections of this newspaper is the weekly obituary.  Frequently giving an insight into a well-known person but, not uncommonly, a beautifully written piece about a person not in the public arena.

Just so in the publication dated July 18th, 2009 (my copy always takes a couple of weeks to arrive).

It is about a climber, John Bachar, who loves climbing without any aids whatsoever.  Apparently known as free-solo climbing, not free-climbing, as described in The Economist.

Unless you are a print or online subscriber you will not be able to appreciate the wonderful prose used to describe John’s life.  If you are a subscriber the article is here.

For those that want some more background and do not have access to The Economist there is an obituary in the LA Times including a breath-taking picture.

What I can do (hopefully without treading on any copyright toes) is to quote just one of the comments that was attached to the online version of the article.

I was so enthralled reading this beautifully written piece that I suddenly felt living through one of John Bachar’s many climbs.  This is a lively description of an intrepid life lived in full harmony with and in respect of rocky mountains to the very end. Understanding the risks this man single-mindedly stuck to his values on rock-climbing, dangling with death but not with his body whilst working his way up until one rock-face decided to claim the better of him to remain unconquered this one time.
An obituary that pays due homage to a specialist nature lover in the art of blending with the rock graciously.

Integrity appears in many forms.

By Paul Handover

Taleb’s Black Swan-proof world

Nassim Nicolas Taleb has a deserved reputation.  His book, The Black Swan, has become a classic and, for me, was a wonderful and deeply educational read.

Here is Taleb’s recipe for our present, difficult times, as published in The FT.

By Paul Handover

This crisis of Capitalism

Yesterday, a Post asked the question “Are we now living through a historic turning point in terms of attitudes and behaviours?”

Further browsing found a very thought-provoking article in The Guardian newspaper, online version, of the 6th May 2009.  Let me encourage you to follow the link and read the article by quoting the opening and closing paragraphs:

What do we want to see emerge from the greatest crisis of capitalism for 70 years? If I had to answer in a single phrase, I would say: new models for a sustainable social market economy. This requires us to change as well as our states.

And the article closes with this (my underlining):

What you end up with is not just a systemic conundrum but also a personal challenge to every one of us. The challenge is to find a new balance in our double-lives as producers and consumers, at the same time consciously contributing to a larger set of new international balances between economy and environment, oversaving east and overspending west, rich north and poor south. That, too, is what I mean by a sustainable social market economy.

By Paul Handover

Just one hundred years on, update.

As it happened, just a few minutes after my Post on Louis Blériot I came across this epic adventure including a leg of over 4,000 km across the Pacific Ocean.  It really does put the last one hundred years into contrast!

By Paul Handover

Interesting times

May you live in interesting times is reputed to be the English translation of an ancient Chinese proverb, the first of three of increasing ‘cursedness’, the other two being:

  • May you come to the attention of those in authority.
  • May you find what you are looking for.

Anyway, a quick Google search will reveal many references to the saying, and others, if one is so minded.
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What is Truth?

A simple heading but, in truth, a very complex subject.  This was brought home by a recent article in The Economist by Bagehot.  That is “Politicians frequently lie. So does everyone else. Why all the fuss?”

Bagehot writes a Blog so those who don’t read the newspaper can read the rest of his thesis here.

By Paul Handover

Dogs and integrity … tell us your story.

Do you have a great story about your dog, or any dog, that shows that not only are they man’s best friend but that they do have integrity?

Well here’s your opportunity to share that on the Blog and with the wider world.

Just click here and tell your story via the comments link just under the title line.

By Paul Handover

Walter Cronkite, the most trusted man in America.

These days, commenting on something that happened longer than 24 hours ago is probably passé.  The last few days have been a bit busy but one couldn’t possibly not comment about this sad news.

Nice piece from the BBC and, thanks to technology, his voice lives on.

By Paul Handover