Category: Education

I salute this guy!

Karl Denninger of Market Ticker is brilliant

Karl D

I say that not because I have sufficient financial knowledge to evaluate his writings from a technical point of view but because he puts in huge effort, I mean hundreds of hours a month, to support his perspective.

Anyway, do bookmark his website/blog – it’s here.

An article published on the 10th demonstrates both Denninger’s commitment to his audience and some very specific dangers potentially coming out of Europe.  Called “A Round-Up Of Current Idiocy” it includes this conclusion:

Since we keep drinking more as an economy (debt and deficits) the violence and incidence of these “undesirable outcomes” is going to continue to increase.  We had one nasty in 2000, and then again in 2007.  From the so-called “recovery” (2003) to the onset of the last mess was about four years.  We’re now about two years in from the so-called “bottom” of this latest train wreck (Lehman), and if we keep on-path, and we are as the below chart shows, our fuse should go inside the box for this next mess somewhere between now and the end of 2011.

I hope you’re ready, because this next one, coming with no real recovery having taken place in employment or private economic activity, may be the one that takes us well beyond the misery we suffered in the 1930s.

And if it does, it will be our – that’s right – our – fault, since we simply will not accept that there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Note the copyright please.

Despite it being quite a technical piece with some aspects that weren’t clear to me, no surprise!, it’s still got many important messages for all those concerned about our savings and assets.  Do read it.

Well done, Karl.

By Paul Handover

Stonehenge, again!

As yesterday, travelling demands make it impossible to find creative time for the Blog.  Thus a repeat of one of the most popular Posts from the last year.

Incredible outcomes from the dig in 2008

Stonehenge is one of Britain’s most famous historical sites, deservedly so because Stonehenge was one of the most important places in ancient Europe.

Stonehenge
Professors Tim Darvill and Geoff Wainwright are the world-renowned archaeologists who believe they have cracked the conundrum of Stonehenge's original purpose.

But evidence from a dig that was authorised in 2008 has shown that not only is Stonehenge a much older site of human habitation but that it’s purpose is altogether different to what has been assumed.  It was, indeed, a healing place, possibly the most important in Europe.

Those living in the UK can watch the Timewatch programme on the BBC iPlayer.  But for those living outside the UK then the following web site has reams of wonderfully fascinating information.  That site is here.

By Paul Handover

Silent river runs deep!

And how so …

Wikipedia has been quick to register an account of something that I saw on the The Daily Telegraph website on the 1st August, 2010.

That is:

Researchers working in the Black Sea have found currents of water 350 times greater than the River Thames flowing along the sea bed, carving out channels much like a river on the land.

The undersea river, which is up to 115ft deep in places, even has rapids and waterfalls much like its terrestrial equivalents.

If found on land, scientists estimate it would be the world’s sixth largest river in terms of the amount of water flowing through it.

The researchers at the University of Leeds in England used a robotic submarine to carry out the investigations, as their news item explains.

These channels are the main transport pathway for sediments to the deep sea where they form sedimentary deposits. These deposits ultimately hold not only untapped reserves of gas and oil, they also house important secrets – from clues on past climate change to the ways in which mountains were formed.

Now the team, led by Dr Dan Parsons and Dr Jeff Peakall from the University of Leeds, has been able to study the detailed flow within these channels. Dr Parsons, said: “The channel complex and the density flow provide the ideal natural laboratory for investigating and detailing the structure of the flow field through the channel.

Fascinating!

Black Sea underground 'river'.

By Paul Handover

Dogs ‘copy’ their owners

More evidence that shows there’s more to dogs than we realise.

Earlier on this year, a series of Posts was published on Learning from Dogs based on a science programme on the BBC (BBC Horizon) that revealed the degree of sophistication that is inherent in these clever animals.

This is the link to that article.  Unfortunately the YouTube videos have now been removed but there are some clips available on the BBC website here.  As the programme was introduced:

We have an extraordinary relationship with dogs – closer than with any other animal on the planet. But what makes the bond between us so special?

Research into dogs is gaining momentum, and scientists are investigating them like never before. From the latest fossil evidence, to the sequencing of the canine genome, to cognitive experiments, dogs are fast turning into the new chimps as a window into understanding ourselves.

Anyway, all this is a lead in to an item on the news today regarding a study into dogs by the University of Vienna.

Dogs “automatically imitate” the body movements of their owners, according to a study.

This automatic imitation is a crucial part of social learning in humans.

But Austrian researchers report that the phenomenon – where the sight of another’s body movement causes the observer to move in the same way – is evident in many other animals.

They say that it reveals clues about how this type of learning evolved.

The study, which was led by Dr Friederike Range from the University of Vienna in Austria, also suggests that the way in which people interact with and play with their dogs as they are growing up shapes their ability to imitate.

The phenomenon under investigation is known as "selective imitation" and implies that dogs -- like human infants -- do not simply copy an action they observe, but adjust the extent to which they imitate to the circumstances of the action. (Credit: iStockphoto/David Brimm)

There’s more to the news release on Science Daily from which is quoted:

New research by Friederike Range and Ludwig Huber, of the University of Vienna, and Zsofia Viranyi, of the Eötvös University in Budapest, reveals striking similarities between humans and dogs in the way they imitate the actions of others. The phenomenon under investigation is known as “selective imitation” and implies that dogs–like human infants–do not simply copy an action they observe, but adjust the extent to which they imitate to the circumstances of the action.

By Paul Handover

Mau Piailug

A Pacific master navigator sails into the sunset

The Economist, for me, is one of the great newspapers of our time.  I have often referred to it on Learning from Dogs.

Last Saturday’s edition (July 24th – 30th 2010) carried a most beautiful obituary about Mau Piailug who in 1976 demonstrated that ancient seafarers could indeed have voyaged from Hawaii to Tahiti, a distance of some 2,500 miles, before the age of compasses, sextants or charts.  Here is an extract from that obituary (you may need to register to view it):

As a Micronesian he did not know the waters or the winds round Tahiti, far south-east. But he had an image of Tahiti in his head. He knew that if he aimed for that image, he would not get lost. And he never did. More than 2,000 miles out, a flock of small white terns skimmed past the Hokule’a heading for the still invisible Mataiva Atoll, next to Tahiti. Mau knew then that the voyage was almost over.

On that month-long trip he carried no compass, sextant or charts. He was not against modern instruments on principle. A compass could occasionally be useful in daylight; and, at least in old age, he wore a chunky watch. But Mau did not operate on latitude, longitude, angles, or mathematical calculations of any kind. He walked, and sailed, under an arching web of stars moving slowly east to west from their rising to their setting points, and knew them so well—more than 100 of them by name, and their associated stars by colour, light and habit—that he seemed to hold a whole cosmos in his head, with himself, determined, stocky and unassuming, at the nub of the celestial action.

Mau Piailug creating model of his canoe - Steve Thomas Photo

Here’s an extract from the website Suite101.com:

Mau Piailug was born in 1932 on Satawal, a tiny Pacific island no wider than a mile in Micronesia. When he was still a little baby, his grandfather put him in a tide pool as though he were putting him in a cradle. There the sea gently rocked him back and forth with the rhythm of the tides.

When Mau was six, his grandfather began to teach him about navigation. He started by telling him about the stars; the grandfather made a star compass out of a circle of coral rocks, and in the center he put a little canoe he had made of palm fronds. Then he explained how the stars rose in the sky and traveled from east to west.

As he grew older, Mau spent his evenings in the canoe house. There he asked the elders to teach him about navigation. In this way, and with his grandfather’s help, he learned the paths of more than a hundred stars. He also learned that when clouds covered the sky, he could use the direction of the ocean waves to guide the canoe. He could also follow the birds toward land when they headed home in the evening, and he studied the creatures of the sea, for in times of trouble they, too, could help him find land.

A film was made about Mau called The Last Navigator.  Do click on the link and read more about what Steve ‘learnt’ from Mau – here’s a closing taste:

It has been nearly fifteen years since I first met Piailug. In that time I have been blessed with relative fame and prosperity – an eventuality, by the way, that Piailug foretold to me. As I look back, I am impressed now by the twin qualities in the man that impressed me then: his generosity and his courage. Piailug took me into his family, assumed responsibility for my material and political well-being, and taught me his navigation without reserve. The knowledge he gave me about navigation is considered priceless in his culture. The knowledge he gave me about myself, I have come to see, is priceless as well. I often think of Piailug, and the fierceness and determination with which he defends a way of life he knows will die as the wise elders died. He has the courage to live and teach and voyage in spite of the certain knowledge that his struggle can never stem the tide of Westernization, which will change the character of his archipelago and may well eliminate the very role of the navigator as steward of his island’s sustenance and keeper of the flame of cultural knowledge.

Mau - asleep in the waves

A remarkable man.

By Paul Handover

Our economic outlook – where to?

The fundamentals always win, in the end!

Those that know me or have followed Learning from Dogs for the last year (and thank you!) know that I am pretty pessimistic about the economic future for North America and Europe (at least!).  I speak not as an economist, far from it, but as someone sufficiently old to think that many millions of individuals and their countries have been living on borrowed time for decades.

David Kauders

Twenty years ago I didn’t really do anything than feel uncomfortable when friends announced another new house with mortgages far in excess of the old ‘rule’ of 1.5 to 2.0 times one’s annual income.

Then I came across David Kauders of Kauders Portfolio Management who explained in fundamental ways why this was all going to end in tears, so to speak.  Wasn’t he right!

Thanks to David, I am moderately more well-off than I would have been – without a doubt.  Not only did David manage my private pension, he greatly influenced my modest personal investments outside his portfolio.

Where’s this heading?  This Blog is an attempt to show that integrity in all that we all do is not only the best personal strategy, it is the only viable course for mankind in bringing us back from the brink of global disaster.  So a couple of recent items about economic matters from people of great integrity underlined the value of mentioning them in this Blog.

The first is a talk given by Elizabeth Warren two years ago, in January 2008, entitled The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class.  It’s nearly an hour long but very well worth watching especially in the way that Ms. Warren shows how counter-intuitive is our understanding of how family costs have risen over the last 30 years.  Although it applies to the US, it certainly has relevance for British viewers.  Do watch it.

Here’s how the video is described:

Distinguished law scholar Elizabeth Warren teaches contract law, bankruptcy, and commercial law at Harvard Law School. She is an outspoken critic of America’s credit economy, which she has linked to the continuing rise in bankruptcy among the middle-class.

Next is that stalwart Karl Denninger.  How he finds the energy and enthusiasm for publishing his Market Ticker is beyond me.  He’s not subtle but his personal integrity is beyond reproach in my opinion.

Karl was recently interviewed by Bill Still (Bill produced the highly acclaimed film The Money Masters) and despite the videos being heavily edited Karl says “and for the most part accurately captures my views on the topics covered.”

Again these interviews are not short but, again, if you want to understand how dangerous the fundamentals still are – then watch them.

Karl Denninger, author of Market Ticker and winner of the 2008 Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award explains the roots of the current crisis and why real economic growth is impossible. He explains why the stock market rebounded in 2009 and why that can’t continue. He explains what needs to be done with the banks and predicts that all the big banks will fail.

Part One:

Part Two:

Finally back to David Kauders.  He also publishes an opinion website Contrary View. Here’s what David wrote in February 2010.

No. 73 22nd February 2010 Predicting lost decades

There is plenty of evidence from Japan about lost decades for investments. Japan has now lost two decades in equity and property investment, during which time only Government Bonds provided any sanctuary. All policy options failed, because none tackled the real problem, which is that there is already too much debt. What lessons can be drawn for Britain?

Shares here have certainly had a lost decade. On the Japanese evidence, they may well suffer another lost decade. Property has only hit minor bumps, so the Japanese experience suggests that property may suffer a long decline for two decades. In the UK, the Bank of England’s support for mortgages will be withdrawn over the next two years, which itself threatens prices. Why, though, the hysteria about Government debt?

It is questionable whether pundits appreciate the extent of the private sector debt problem, which explains why two groups of economists can offer totally contradictory remedies. In a world with no Gold standard and therefore no anchor to the monetary system, Government debt is relatively safe. The global economy is perched on a knife edge, with a permanent loss of output that must cause income loss and therefore restrict the capacity of households to service their debts. Seeing the commercial risks, banks are still restricting lending, which means there can be no sustained recovery.

There is a misconceived demographic argument being touted at present, which completely ignores the real driver of the post-1945 expansion, namely increased credit. That credit growth has simply gone too far and now brings its own problems. For those people who neither saw the credit crunch nor the long fall in interest rates and inflation coming, to now be credible in predicting a lost decade for bonds, is itself unbelievable.

You see how it all makes sense – the fundamentals are in charge, and always will be!

You be safe out there!

By Paul Handover

10 Questions Dalai Lama video extract 2

The film was mentioned in a Post here.

Parts 1 and 2 were included in a Post yesterday.

Enjoy!

10 Questions for the Dalai Lama

If you only had one hour what would you ask?

10 Questions for HH

This is how an excellent film by Rick Ray on the Dalai Lama is introduced.  We watched the DVD a few evenings ago and it was heart-stirring and full of the extraordinary wisdom from one of the leading spiritual leaders alive today.

Do watch it if you can.  Here’s the official trailer from YouTube:

As so often seems to be the case these days, there is a website for the movie here.  And the Dalai Lama’s website is here.

Finally, I see that part of the film, where Rick Ray is having an audience with His Holiness, is available on YouTube.  I’ll post links to the four videos over the next two days.

By Paul Handover

Another Brick in the Wall

Another ‘take’ on Pink Floyd’s 1979 Release

I happened to be listening to the radio the other day and this Pink Floyd song was played again, as it regularly is. It haunts the mind with its dark, brooding and atmospheric rhythm, which is quite ironic for something supposedly against “thought control”.

It never struck me so clearly before, but I realized this time how very stupid it is and how much I really dislike the message it has given to generations of kids. Let’s have a closer look.

We don’t need no education: Oh yes you do, matey! It is in fact the ONLY THING that will SAVE you from “thought control”. The irony of this is breathtaking. What are you going to do WITHOUT education then? Without it you certainly WILL become just “another brick in the wall”, no ability to exercise any kind of judgement, no decent job = no money = no power of decision ….

As a teacher myself, I am frequently faced with spoilt, fairly mindless, ill brought-up, uninterested children who can’t concentrate for more than two minutes because their minds have been rotted by too much television and video-and computer games, plus of course the prevailing ethos in society of: “The world owes us a living.” and “We have a right to cars, houses, holidays and all the rest without having to work our socks off for them as our parents did.”

And of course, one needs to define “WE”. I suppose in fact you mean “YOU” , since who gave you the right to speak for everyone else? In my experience 95% of kids want to learn (i.e. develop their brains to avoid this dreaded ‘thought control’), whereas the remaining 5% of utter morons utterly muck up the class. Given the nature of your ranting I would place “you” in fact among the 5% of selfish morons.

So, the first line is idiotic. Does it get any better?

We don’t need no thought control: No, you don’t, but you don’t get it from teachers; they are overwhelmingly there to FREE your mind. If they tell you to “Shut up” then it is usually in the best interests of A) you yourself  B) everyone else in the classroom. If you are looking for the best purveyors of “thought control”, why not have a go at politicians, advertisers and the like? Or indeed sections of the the media? (or even your own song – another great irony)

You are not FREE in a classroom to “do your own thing” (another prevailing ethos), since that is not possible in a largish group trying to concentrate on something. Your idiotic chatter and behaviour is extremely anti-social and of course humungously selfish.

No dark sarcasm in the classroom: Teachers are frequently driven to distraction trying to help eager kids learn while a minority of mindless, anti-social morons creates havoc. Teachers may indeed resort to occasional sarcasm in the face of this onslaught of idiocy, but they are overwhelmingly reacting to the tsunami of negativism that sweeps over the class from the utter morons.

Teacher, leave them kids alone: Actually Sonny Jim, it is not the teacher’s JOB to “leave them kids alone”. His duty is to HELP THEM, to DEVELOP THEIR MINDS. “Leaving them alone” is the LAST thing he should do.

Astonishingly enough (and it may not have occurred to you – but then you are of course a moron, so what do you expect) the teacher even tries to HELP the morons who make his life hell. That is his DUTY. That is why he BECAME A TEACHER instead of flogging houses or mortgages and making lots more money.

All in all it’s just another brick in the wall: The bricks in the wall are the mindless, uneducated plebs who live unfulfilled lives, and their lives are NOT unfulfilled because they are not Wayne Rooney or don’t have loads of money but because they have no education, like you presumably.

If you don’t eat yer meat, you can’t have any pudding: Too bloody right. Growing children need protein; you don’t in general get that from pudding, but from meat. But then you don’t know that, do you, because you are an uneducated moron.

Don’t you think the teacher has better things to do than constantly moan at kids to eat a balanced diet? But instead of  slumping in an easy chair in the staffroom at lunchtime he gives up his time and more importantly nervous energy (since he gets a lot of negative crap from you) to HELP you A) get more protein B) avoid getting fat and C) learn something about nutrition so that when (God help us, or more pertinently ‘them’) you yourself have kids you might have some chance of bringing them up in a healthy way.

You may not be aware that an insanely-ludicrous percentage of British kids are clinically OBESE. Yes, VERY FAT (though these days it is probably not at all PC to use the word “fat”.) This means their lives will be much more uncomfortable, they will be very unattractive, will be subject to more illness than the healthy and will no doubt die younger.

So, the teacher who sacrifices his own nerves to try to get kids to eat properly is a HERO.

Sorry, your song is utter rubbish from start to end. Worse than that, it is pernicious and also insulting to teachers, whose overwhelming intention and indeed effect is to improve the present and future lives of their pupils.

The song may indeed refer to a personal experience of bad teachers (no section of society is without its black sheep) but the trouble is that it comes over as a blanket generalisation of negativism against teachers, and it is time someone stood up for them.

By Chris Snuggs