Plastic bag animals

This is cool. Whenever a subway passes by, this piece of plastic becomes an animal.

The price of real gold is currently soaring

Fake fears over Ethiopia's gold (BBC)

Ethiopia's national bank has been told to inspect all the gold in its vaults to determine its authenticity.

It follows the discovery that some of the "gold" it had bought for millions of dollars was gold-plated steel.

(from David Nishimura at Cronaca)

If you weren't afraid enough already

this physicist gives a reason to be truly afraid of the Large Hadron Collider project.

Dr. Arkani-Hamed said concerning worries about the death of the Earth or universe, “Neither has any merit.” He pointed out that because of the dice-throwing nature of quantum physics, there was some probability of almost anything happening. There is some minuscule probability, he said, “the Large Hadron Collider might make dragons that might eat us up.”

The full article is here at the NY Times: Asking a Judge to Save the World, and Maybe a Whole Lot More

100 shoes dropping

After the Bear Stearns bailout the market has been waiting for the "next shoe to drop". Here are many more shoes that could drop. (Charles Hugh Smith)

As John Hussman says in this article, it's not surprising that there are a lot of shoes ready to drop.

If the market was “certain to crash” in the event that Bear Stearns failed, then the market is certain to crash anyway, because Bear Stearns wasn't the last shoe to drop – it was one of the first. Unfortunately, we're standing in a shoe store.

Are oil prices the next bubble that's ready to pop?

(Both of these links are courtesy of Matteo at Cartago Delenda Est, which is good reading.)

Where am I

I am pleased to announce that the link http://www.westernsyndicate.com now also works to reach this site, which will be helpful to you if you were reaching the site by typing the URL and couldn't remember what blogspot was (an improvement in usability indeed.)

Nevermore

To answer last week's question: by my count, the raven only says "Nevermore" six times, which is only one third of the verses. The beauty of the Internet is, of course, that if I miscounted someone will correct me.

Edgar Allan Poe

The Raven

[First published in 1845]

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more.'

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
`'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door -
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -
This it is, and nothing more,'

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
`Sir,' said I, `or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you' - here I opened wide the door; -
Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before
But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, `Lenore!'
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, `Lenore!'
Merely this and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
`Surely,' said I, `surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore -
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; -
'Tis the wind and nothing more!'

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore.
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door -
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door -
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
`Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,' I said, `art sure no craven.
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore -
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning - little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door -
Bird or beast above the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as `Nevermore.'

But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only,
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered - not a feather then he fluttered -
Till I scarcely more than muttered `Other friends have flown before -
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.'
Then the bird said, `Nevermore.'

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
`Doubtless,' said I, `what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore -
Till the dirges of his hope that melancholy burden bore
Of "Never-nevermore."'

But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore -
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking `Nevermore.'

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
`Wretch,' I cried, `thy God hath lent thee - by these angels he has sent thee
Respite - respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! -
Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted -
On this home by horror haunted - tell me truly, I implore -
Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore -
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels named Lenore?'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!' I shrieked upstarting -
`Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore!

It's deliberate

A very insightful comment by Rick on Mark Shea's blog:

Sometimes I wonder if there is an element of deliberate economic warfare in this:

OPEC countries gouge the US on oil

China steals US intellectual property and plunders our manufacturing base.

The US, in turn, lends trillions to Americans, inflates the value of our housing stock, packages the mortgages into financial instruments, and sells them at hugely inflated prices to OPEC and China.

Suddenly there came a question

How many times does the Raven say "Nevermore" in the eponymous poem?

Not welding

marriedtothesea.com

Negotiation

Kissinger Backs Direct U.S. Negotiations With Iran (Bloomberg)

March 14 (Bloomberg) -- Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said the U.S. should negotiate directly with Iran over its nuclear program and other bilateral issues.

``One should be prepared to negotiate, and I think we should be prepared to negotiate about Iran,'' Kissinger, who brokered the end of the 1973 Yom Kippur war and peace talks with the North Vietnamese, said yesterday in an interview with Bloomberg Television. Asked whether he meant the U.S. should hold direct talks, Kissinger, 84, responded: ``Yes, I think we should.''

So let's see if I can get this straight

JPMorgan to Buy Bear for $2 a Share (Yahoo/AP)

(This is breaking news, the linked stories will be updated by the time you look at them, most likely.)

So a week ago, Bear Stearns was around 70. Thursday, it closed at 57. Friday it closed at 30. Now it's worth 2.

So can I stop listening to people insulting my industry because I'm in the "dot-com" business and we were all stupid and made business decisions that smart people like bankers would never make? Thank you.

This is a faster decline than almost any of the dot-coms I can ever remember.

SOAP is dead

SOAP is Comatose But Not Officially Dead
(Manageability blog)

This is an article from back in 2005, much to my surprise. SOAP has been feeling dead to me for a while, but there were people even thinking about it enough over two years ago to write stories about its demise.

For new things that I am writing I have largely switched over to REST-style designs, and they are proving to be far more straightforward to deal with, and do everything I need. I will write more about that here at a later date. Of course if you want to speak with me about REST, you can send me email and I'd love to talk about it.

Mechanical army

marriedtothesea.com

She needs to get away

More on the 3 am phone call thing.

Larry David asks, "Does anyone want this nut answering the phone?" (can't believe I'm linking to the Huffington Post, but there you are...)

On the Red Phone

Secret

From the famous philosopher Groucho Marx:
"The secret of success is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake those, you've got it made."

The phone rings at 3 am

Check out this campaign video at the Coudal Partners web site

Hillary asked a serious question in her latest campaign spot. We thought it deserved an equally serious response.