An American Story

We now know that neither market nor political institutions match up to the performance of their conceptually idealized models, a simple truth of course, but one that social scientists and philosophers have so often failed to recognize.--Buchanan

Chris is much better. 
We went to Park Pub for burgers and met The Librarian.
Liz is sleeping better.
Interesting draft.

The bodies of 15 people, including six children, were discovered at the site of a fierce overnight gun battle on the east coast of Sri Lanka, a military spokesman said on Saturday, six days after suicide bombers killed more than 250 people.

So the party of innovation which so resents the history of America and its domination by old white men has put forward its front-runner, Joe Biden. In second place, Bernie Sanders.

Justice Democrats, a PAC that supported candidates like Ocasio-Cortez in 2018, declared on Thursday morning it would support whoever becomes the Democratic nominee — but claimed candidates such as Biden had divided America and led to the election of Donald Trump. “The old guard of the Democratic Party failed to stop Trump, and they can’t be counted on to lead the fight against his divide-and-conquer politics today. The party needs new leadership with a bold vision capable of energizing voters in the Democratic base who stayed home in 2016,” the statement read.

A curious line by Rosenstein: "The previous (Obama) administration chose not to publicize the full story about Russian computer hackers and social media trolls, and how they relate to a broader strategy to undermine America," Rosenstein said in a speech to the Armenian Bar Association. Yes,  the Armenian Bar Association.

"Hundreds of Muslim refugees in western Sri Lanka have taken refuge in mosques and a police station after facing intimidation following the deadly Easter bombings, activists said Thursday." Huh? They are afraid?

Economist and scholar Julian Simon argued, in the face of the dire predictions of population growth in the 1970s, that people would innovate "their way out of resource shortages." He actually made a bet with Erlich over it. Marian Tupy from the Cato Institute and Gale Pooley from Brigham Young University-Hawaii have launched The Simon Abundance Index, which offers a new and better way to measure resource availability "using the latest price data for 50 foundational commodities."  They had a nice little, optimistic summary:
 "The world is a closed system in the way that a piano is a closed system. The instrument has only 88 notes, but those notes can be played in a nearly infinite variety of ways. The same applies to our planet. The Earth's atoms may be fixed, but the possible combinations of those atoms are infinite. What matters, then, is not the physical limits of our planet, but human freedom to experiment and reimagine the use of resources that we have."

Happy birthday, us. On this day in 4977 B.C., the universe was created, according to German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler, considered a founder of modern science. Kepler is best known for his theories explaining the motion of planets. And in 1865, the worst maritime disaster in American history occurred when the steamboat Sultana, carrying 2,100 passengers, exploded and sank in the Mississippi River, killing all but 400 of those aboard. And Magellan was killed in 1521.

                                    An American Story

An elderly black lady in a patched coat stands in front of the cashier, offering a ten dollar bill. "A pack of Marlboros," she says. The clerk demands an ID; she searches her purse and can't find it. The clerk will not give her the cigarettes without documented proof of age.  A millennial in line takes her ten, gives his own ID and buys the Marlboros. He returns the cigarettes and change, she gives him one dollar as a tip, thanks him and leaves.

Freedom to buy cancer causing chemicals, a government ID requirement to make a purchase, a clerk who officiously demands proof of age from an obviously elderly woman, a young man enabling a woman to harm herself and then accepting a tip from someone who could not afford it, a law blatantly sidestepped.

The mind reels.

Fable

A story from Quora:

"I was babysitting a friend’s little sister and decided to take her out for fro-yo. As the two of us piled on the different flavors and toppings, we noticed a friendly-looking old man in the corner.

I paid, we sat down, and the man approached us.

“If I gave you a million dollars, would you give me your sister? (Sic)” he asked.

“NO!” I shouted. I pulled her closer to my chest. Instinctive. Instantaneous. Natural.

The man looked at me in the eye. He said, “Never forget how rich you are.”"

A charming lesson in life, except in many instances the man would be lynched before he could explain his point.

Joke

A Joke

A husband and wife won the lottery. They needed help investing their money. They decided to interview three people: an accountant, a mathematician and a lawyer.

They first interviewed the accountant. They had only one question. How much is 2+2? He confidently answered: four. They thanked him, and told him they'd be in touch if they needed his help.

They next interviewed the mathematician. They asked him the same question. How much is 2 +2? He answered:  "It's greater than three, but less than five." They thanked him, and again and said they might be in touch.

Finally they interviewed the lawyer, asking him how much is 2+2? He hesitated, smiled,and replied “How much would you like it  to be?”

Fable/child

Another stolen parable:
A two year old is playing in a sandbox in a public park while his parents watch. An older boy the parents do not know, about six or seven, wanders up with his mother and, before anyone can do anything, the older boy grabs the two year old and throws him to the ground. The two year old hits his head on the side of the sandbox and screams; there is no obvious injury but the child continues to cry.
The mother of the older boy, the perpetrator, rushes to him and says, "Oh, honey, what is upsetting you?"

Porsch/Fable

A Labor Day parable I stole off a blog:


A guy looked at my Porsche the other day and said I wonder how many people could have been fed for the money that sports car cost. I replied I am not sure, it fed a lot of families in Bowling Green, Kentucky who built it, it fed the people who make the tires, it fed the people who made the components that went into it, it fed the people in the copper mine who mined the copper for the wires, it fed people in Decatur IL, at Caterpillar who make the trucks that haul the copper ore. It fed the trucking people who hauled it from the plant to the dealer and fed the people working at the dealership and their families. BUT,… I have to admit, I guess I really don’t know how many people it fed.

Bald Man and Fly

There was once a Bald Man who sat down after work on a hot summer's day.

A Fly came up and kept buzzing about his bald pate, and stinging him from time to time.

The Man aimed a blow at his little enemy, but his palm came on his head instead.

Again the Fly tormented him, but this time the Man was wiser and said:

"You will only injure yourself if you take notice of despicable enemies."

Fable

A Cherokee fable.

A famous chief, known for his kindness and his concern for the tribe, was approached by his grandson. What, he asked, could he do to become a good man?
The chief said, "When I was young, I had within me two wolves, one filled with ambition and anger, one filled with kindness and respect for his fellows. Both fought within me ceaselessly. You have within you the same wolves."
"Which one will win?" the grandson asked.
The old man answered, "The one you feed."

Sunday: A Fable

A Fable from Quora:


Many hundreds of years ago in a small Italian town, a merchant had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to the moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the merchant’s beautiful daughter so he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the merchant’s debt if he could marry the daughter. Both the merchant and his daughter were horrified by the proposal.

The moneylender told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty bag. The girl would then have to pick one pebble from the bag. If she picked the black pebble, she would become the moneylender’s wife and her father’s debt would be forgiven. If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father’s debt would still be forgiven. But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.

They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the merchant’s garden. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick her pebble from the bag.

The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.

“Oh, how clumsy of me,” she said. “But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.” Since the remaining pebble is black, it  be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an advantageous one.

MORAL OF THE STORY:
Most complex problems do have a solution, sometimes we have to think about them in a different way.

Two Pictures: A Fable

A man and his wife walk into a home of a Canadian hockey fan in Montreal. There are two pictures on velvet over the fireplace, one a formal portrait of President Reagan and one of Henri "Rocket" Richard in his Canadian uniform.
The wife does not know anything about hockey and asks "Whose picture is that?"
"President Reagan," the man answers.
Moral: Devotion makes assumptions

A Patient's Pain: A Fable

A 94 year old man comes to his physician complaining of abdominal pain. A close exam reveals nothing. The physician is reassuring but explains he worries about the patient's age and suggests some x-rays.
The patient thinks x-rays are too  much trouble. He says he will stop doing sit-ups for a while and see if that helps. When the physician asks how many sit-ups he does, the patient tells him he does two sets of two hundred every day.

Moral: The context of a problem often explains a lot.

Baseball Practice: A Fable

A teenage baseball team was practicing in the field before a playoff game and the second baseman made several clownish plays, purposely throwing the ball badly. In the game he accidentally made a bad throw that cost them the game.
Moral: you can practice making mistakes, too.

Making Chili: A Fable

A young woman wants to make chili for dinner. She follows a well regarded recipe and when she tastes it says she wishes there were jalapeños in it. When questioned as to why she did not add the jalapeños she replied the recipe did not allow for it.

Moral: The meal is made by the cook, not the recipe.

Teaching Reading: A Fable

A young teacher teaches a fourth grade class in an American service school in Korea, teaching the children of American soldiers and their non-military support staff. One day she comes across a number of old McGuffey Readers, primers used to teach reading to young grade school children in the 19th and early 20th Century. She uses them as the class readers. At the end of the year her class is tested with all the other classes in the school system and her class performs extraordinarily well in reading, much better than any other class. When questioned as to her teaching technique, she reveals her reliance on the McGuffey Reader. She is told never to use them again but to stick to the prescribed protocol.

Moral: Organizations are defined--and define themselves--through structure and processes; both are more important than the end-point or result.

A Medical Investigation: A Fable

An elderly woman is brought by her anxious family to see a doctor. She complains of feeling generally unwell but has no complaint more specific. She is fearful she is having a heart attack. The doctor is new in town and wants to be especially thorough. He does an extensive investigation and all the exams are normal. The doctor calls the family in with the patient to discuss her good results. During the discussion the patient suddenly dies.

Moral: We are very complicated and hard to predict. Some of our essence is beyond our grasp. Imagine hundreds or thousands or millions of such complicated being. Anyone who thinks they can analyze and influence large groups of these complicated beings should be viewed with suspicion.

Dog Shopping: A Fable

A man wants to buy a dog and answers an ad to see one.

"He's mostly a lab," the owner says.  "He's in the back yard."

The man goes out the back door and finds a well groomed black lab sitting expectantly.

"Hi there, fella," the man says as he reaches down to pat the dog. "You're a good looking guy."

"Thanks," the dog replies.

"You can talk?" he asks, astonished.

"Oh, yes. Ever since I was a pup. It's been a great advantage for me. And it's given me a lot of opportunities. I've been used by the CIA to overhear conversations when surveillance was difficult. I could move anywhere without suspicion. As I've gotten older I've been used in more stationary jobs like TSA work."

The man returns to the house very impressed.

"I like the dog," he says to the owner.. "What are you asking for him?"

"Ten bucks," the owner replies.

"Only ten for a dog like that?" the man asks.

The owner waves his hand dismissively. "The dog is a goddamn liar. He's never been out of the back yard."

Moral: Everyone has a lens though which he peers with a burning focus. And that lens is often exclusive.

Hit and Run: A Fable

A man coming home from the swing shift at work stops behind a car at a red light at about midnight. Suddenly, the reverse lights on the car in front of him go on and the car backs into him. The driver stumbles out, clearly drunk. She apologizes profusely and begs the man not to call the police. She has a violation already and if found drunk and in an accident, it will go hard for her. She asks the man to take her name and insurance and let her pay for the accident.
 
The man feels sorry for her and after inspecting the car damage and finding it manageable, agrees. He takes the woman's name and insurance numbers and continues home.

The next morning he is awakened by a state policeman who tells him the driver of the car has reported him as a hit-and-run and he is arrested and held responsible for the accident.

Moral: Kindness is golden, but never extend the hand of kindness to an unknown dog.

An Insurance Claim: A Fable

A man pulls up in his car behind a woman at a stop sign in a parking lot. The woman sees a parking spot slightly behind her, puts the car in reverse and backs into him. The two exchange insurance information but later her description on her insurance claim states that he drove into her as she was stopped.
When the man complains to his insurance agent she says, "Don't worry about it. This happens all the time; the next time it might be my client who lies. It will all even out in the end."

Moral: Businesses see truth as just another variable in their equations, often too expensive to pursue. So truth becomes a commodity --with a price.

Three Spendthrifts: A Fable

Three men walk into a Dublin bar they found with good reviews on their smart phone. They are told to their dismay that the establishment is a club with membership requirements. The men ask what the membership fee is as they plan to spend about 800 dollars on food and drinks and the money doesn't matter. The maître de says, in that case, he will just say they are members and allows them in, breaking the club rules. Later on in the night the three men are planning to leave. The maître de stops and tells them they should stay because Bono is coming  soon. The men decide to stay but after several hours of more outrageous spending their cards are maxed out and, with no Bono, they leave. In the cab home one looks up "Bono" on his phone and finds U2 is in Australia.

Moral: 1. Eventually the money will matter. 2. Someone who is dishonest to your advantage might as easily be dishonest to your disadvantage.

The Umpire: A Fable

In a tight pennant race, the two contending teams met on a Saturday for the "Game of the Week." Both teams were talented, the race had drawn interest and the game was watched by millions. It was 0-0 in the seventh when the batter hit a liner into right-center field. With the play before him and seeing an opportunity in the close, important game, the man tried to stretch the hit into a double. The strong-armed fielder cut the ball off and fired a good throw to second. The second baseman tagged as the runner slid in.
"Safe!" the umpire cried, but threw a hooked thumb out as an "out call."
Both the runner and the second baseman looked at him in confusion.
"What was it?" the runner said.
The umpire replied, "Oh, you were safe but five million people on TV saw me call you out so you're out."

Moral: An authority will lie and deny the truth to maintain his appearance and dignity.

The Ruby, A Fable

A young woman I knew years ago was suddenly orphaned by an auto accident that killed both her parents. Terrified and stricken by the loss and its unpredictability, she took all of the insurance money and, after funding her education, bought gold. "And one ruby," she said. "Why the ruby?" I asked. "To pay the boatman," she answered.
Moral: Always put enough money aside to pay for essentials should the need arrive. Expect the need will arrive.  And always have enough money hidden to escape, to pay the boatman.