emphasise

"...consider two theories of economic destruction, which can be labeled the domino theory and the popcorn theory. Everyone knows the domino theory; it is the analogy that is commonly used to denote contagion. If one domino falls, it will topple the others, and conversely, if the first domino remains upright, the others will not fall. It is this logic that underlies most bailout strategies. The popcorn theory emphasizes a different mechanism. When popcorn is made (the old fashioned way), oil and corn kernels are placed in the bottom of a pan, heat is applied and the kernels pop. Were the first kernel to pop removed from the pan, there would be no noticeable difference. The other kernels would pop anyway because of the heat. The fundamental structural cause is the heat, not the fact that one kernel popped, triggering others to follow."

Suspáns

"Oricât i se dădea, mult, puțin, omul lua. De la bacșișul mizer de 125 de lei, la 4.000 de lei, jumătate de costul unui voiaj în vest. I-au fost decontate chiar și fleacurile artizanale dăruite celor vizitați și turnați. A fost primit, la cererea lui, de Vlad Georgescu, directorul al secției românești de la Europa Liberă. Vizita s-a soldat cu o schița detaliată a apartamentului gazdei, îndosariată în arhivele securității. În schimbul serviciilor făcute securității a cerut avansare profesională și științifică. Nu din arivism, ci pentru a-și spori credibilitatea în străinătate. Cot la cot cu securitatea, a combinat datoria patriotică cu plăcerea turnătoriei."

En voyage

"Il est difficile en effet à chacun de nous de calculer exactement à quelle échelle ses paroles ou ses mouvements apparaissent à autrui; par peur de nous exagérer notre importance et en grandissant dans des proportions énormes le champ sur lequel sont obligés de s’étendre les souvenirs des autres au cours de leur vie, nous nous imaginons que les parties accessoires de notre discours, de nos attitudes, pénètrent à peine dans la conscience, à plus forte raison ne demeurent pas dans la mémoire de ceux avec qui nous causons."

Predicat pragmatic

"Cele mai importante lucruri de dobândit, după libertate și democrație, sunt identitatea și demnitatea. Elita românească are aici o mare răspundere. Democrația trebuie să îmbogățească arta cârmuirii, nu să o sărăcească. România, ca și toate țările din Europa, are nevoie de cârmuitori respectați și pricepuți."

Analytical solution

Those attempting a mathematical pilgrimage to Kaliningrad’s Seven Bridges will be sorely disappointed. Two bridges were destroyed by bombing at the end of the Second World War, two more were demolished and replaced by a Soviet highway. Of the other three originals, one other had been rebuilt in 1935. So of the remaining five, only two date from Euler’s time. Ironically, this reduced number of bridges now does make an Eulerian path possible…

Meanings packed up

There is not past, no future; everything flows in an eternal present.(James Joyce)

Puzzled air

Alice didn't want to begin another argument, so she said nothing. `Seven years and six months!' Humpty Dumpty repeated thoughtfully. `An uncomfortable sort of age. Now if you'd asked my advice, I'd have said "Leave off at seven" -- but it's too late now.' `I never ask advice about growing,' Alice said Indignantly. `Too proud?' the other inquired. Alice felt even more indignant at this suggestion. `I mean,' she said, `that one can't help growing older.' `One can't, perhaps,' said Humpty Dumpty, `but two can. With proper assistance, you might have left off at seven.' `What a beautiful belt you've got on!' Alice suddenly remarked. (They had had quite enough of the subject of age, she thought: and if they really were to take turns in choosing subjects, it was her turn now.) `At least,' she corrected herself on second thoughts, `a beautiful cravat, I should have said -- no, a belt, I mean -- I beg your pardon!' she added in dismay, for Humpty Dumpty looked thoroughly offended, and she began to wish she hadn't chosen that subject. `If I only knew,' the thought to herself, 'which was neck and which was waist!'

Ed’s dilemma

Yet graduate programs have been achingly reluctant to see the world as it is. For all the innovation in the subjects and methods of history, the goal of the training remains the same: to produce more professors. The unchanged language of supervisors and students reflects that. We tell students that there are “alternatives” to academic careers. We warn them to develop a “Plan B” in case they do not find a teaching post. And the very words in which we couch this useful advice make clear how much we hope they will not have to follow it—and suggest, to many of them, that if they do have to settle for employment outside of academe, they should crawl off home and gnaw their arms off.

Latest Development

The question remains, however, whether such extensive damage can be reversed after abstaining from alcohol. Researchers have studied the effects of abstinence on the brains of alcohol-dependent individuals by comparing subjects recovering from years of alcohol abuse with those who do not drink or drink minimally. Scientists have also investigated changes in brain volume in initial versus sustained abstinence in one set of subjects. Although the effects of abstinence on the alcohol-abused brain vary, it appears that we display at least some ability to recover from the effects of excessive drinking. Future neuroimaging studies should clarify the full extent and potential for recuperation.

baladeur numérique

3 Pommes ont changé le Monde, la première a séduit Eve, la 2e est tombée sur Newton et la 3e a été offerte à la moitié du monde mordue par Steve Jobs…

tourism & fashion

Hindsight suggests that the best characterization of Germany's approach to occupied France was "Give me your watch and I'll tell you the time." But if the Germans looted with all the enthusiasm once shown by Napoleon's armies, they also struck deals that could serve both sides. The new order was European. With French and German bankers, industrialists, and other businessmen meeting regularly, the idea of a United States of Europe was making its way, along with visions of a single customs zone and a single European currency. The European Union, its attendant bureaucracy, even the euro, all appear to stem from the Berlin-Vichy collaboration. Bureaucratic controls proliferated, administrative and business elites interpenetrated, postwar economic planning took shape—as did that greater Europe in which France's Hitler-allotted role would be one of a bigger Switzerland, "a country of tourism ... and fashion."

Spleen

Rien n'égale en longueur les boiteuses journées,

Quand sous les lourds flocons des neigeuses années
L'ennui, fruit de la morne incuriosité
Prend les proportions de l'immortalité.
-Désormais tu n'es plus, ô matière vivante!
Qu'un granit entouré d'une vague épouvante,
Assoupi dans le fond d'un Sahara brumeux
Un vieux sphinx ignoré du monde insoucieux,
Oublié sur la carte, et dont l'humeur farouche
Ne chante qu'aux rayons du soleil qui se couche.

Correspondances

'En cause, les molécules présentes dans les médicaments très couramment vendus en France, que sont le valium, le Lexomil, le Xanax, le Tenesta, le Stylnox, le Mogadon, le Myolastan, l’Imovane ou le Tranxène. Elles augmenteraient de 50% le risque de contracter la maladie neuro-dégénérative, toujours incurable. Or, près d’un Français sur dix; soit 6 millions de personnes: consomme ces produits, vendus sur ordonnance, de manière régulière.'