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Yosemite morning

Monday, October 10, 2011

Monday morning borgaschmord

The Occupy Wall Street crowd may not have a clue in regards to a specific agenda. They may not have a leader or even a unified message, 'tis true. Still it is heartening that these folks are getting politically active for the first time in their young lives and that they smell something dirty on Wall Street, seeing through the opposition narrative. A Wall Street mind you, that traded worthless paper, exported our jobs to third world countries, moved their corporate headquarters offshore to escape paying taxes, and blames all of their sins on a government not sufficiently wily enough to catch them. They are certainly no more ignorant than your average birther or bagger.

I see that the powers that be are trying to put a stop to the huge volume super computer trading, that operates in a millisecond and can destabilize markets and cause such turbulent market volatility. These computers work with very complicated algorithms. The creators of such systems are called "quants." There are all types of quantitative analysts, physicists who specialize in partial differential equations, algorithmic traders who utilize game theory, signal processing and time-series analysis, quantitative developers, front office quants, and many other extremely smart people who tinker with the arcane econometric models.

Being out of touch and off of t.v., I wasn't even aware of the term "quant" as it relates to a 21st century vocation, until Renée clued me in. A new word.

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Seems not a day goes by where I am not receiving a gmail from Al Franken or Joe Biden or a myriad of other democratic apparatchiks hitting me up for money for the re-election or the great cause. As I have mentioned before, I have lost my taste for this president and his policies, on a host of fronts. If I vote for him again in the absence of a suitable opponent, it will only be about making sure that we don't get another John Robertsalitoscaliathomas on the SCOTUS. That is awful reason to vote for a president but it is unfortunately the most important issue affecting the balance of our lives. Saw where Mississippi is trying to institute a pretty draconian bill called a "personhood amendment," which legally defines a person as existing at the moment of fertilization. This type of bill is getting more and more popular and will wreak havoc on another reproductive fronts including abortion and the right to use contraception.

This kind of shit.


I don't even look anymore. Obama was cool, he used the new technology to energize his base. Bravo. Now it is just old. Because as an incumbent you have to run on your conduct and decisions from when you are in office, not the pretty crap in your campaign speeches. I think that the president's hypocritic about face on decriminalization is going to hit him much harder than he realizes. He can try to out-republican the republicans but the campaign strategy is going to be very unfortunate for him in the long run. Unless I am wrong.

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Mr friend Ed's son has written a new book, Bicycles and Mobility.  University of Vermont anthropologist Luis Vivanco's newest book traces the history of bicycling in the Green Mountain State.
Apparently bicycling has a long and storied history in Vermont. Early wheelmen were known as "scorchers" and were thought to contribute to the region's moral turpitude.

Bicyclists were believed to be spoiled  elitists who could afford contraptions priced beyond the budgets of most of their countrymen. Congratulations. Sounds like an interesting read.

I love Vermont. My mother used to spend time at the Farm and Wilderness Quaker Camp near Plymouth. Established in 1939, this camp has been incredibly progressive on a host of matters including gender equality, organic food, racial integration and environmentalism. I remember visiting once in late september and having to chip the ice out of the barrels so that the cows could drink. The maples were getting tapped and the place had the delicious smell of sap and syrup and hardwood burning in the kilns. The ground was a gorgeous tapestry of yellow and orange, russet and red leaves set amongst the first snow.

F&W borders land that was owned by Abby Rockefeller and I remember walking up to her property and finding a large lake. I found a canoe squirreled away near the riverbank and spent a leisurely day canoeing through the waterways. One of the great days in my life.


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