Inconsequential Coincidences

Rummikub

The other night, daring daughter decided we should start playing some games so we did and we started with Rummikub. Later that evening, my wife and were watching episode nine zillion of Behzat Ç., and what happens? The murder squad, who have never shown any interest in playing any games, are playing Rummikub.

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When we first started watching Behzat Ç., bloody wounds were pixelated. Now the censorship has been extended to alcohol and drugs. It's kind of weird to have beer bottles getting pixelated. Of course, it's kind of weird that there is so much drinking going on in a predominately Muslim country.

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Behzat's brother, Sevket, is an annoying chatterbox. Whenever he shows up, his standard schtick is talk about talking. He can go on endlessly. Behzat usually cuts the conversation short by telling him to fuck off, not that it does any good, he just keeps babbling.

But tonight Behzat is watching a soccer game. Sevket appears, wanting another long winded conversation about having a conversation and Behzat tells him to shut up, and miracle of miracles, he does. Well, at least till the game is over.

I'm reading Treason's Harbor by Patrick O'Brian and round about page 67 Stephen is telling Jack about his new diving bell:

People take their sports very seriously, almost as seriously as warfare. I should not be surprised since sports is basically our civilized stand-in for warfare.

Quote of the Day

Clever banter can only be called “repartee” if it’s from the Repartée region of France. Otherwise it’s just sparkling wit. - Dan Hannan

Via Brian Micklethwait's New Blog

The Fighting Temeraire

The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her last berth to be broken up, 1838 - J. M. W. Turner

Tam mentions the The Fighting Temeraire, I'd never heard of it so I follow the link and find this little bit:

The Fighting Temeraire, tugged to her last berth to be broken up, 1838 is an oil painting by the English artist Joseph Mallord William Turner, painted in 1838 and exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1839.

The painting depicts the 98-gun HMS Temeraire, one of the last second-rate ships of the line to have played a role in the Battle of Trafalgar, being towed up the Thames by a paddle-wheel steam tug in 1838, towards its final berth in Rotherhithe to be broken up for scrap.

The painting hangs in the National Gallery, London, having been bequeathed to the nation by the artist in 1851. In a poll organised by BBC Radio 4's Today programme in 2005, it was voted the nation's favourite painting. In 2020 it was included on the new £20 note.

The Battle of Trafalgar is one of the high points of the British Royal Navy's war with Napoleon and as such, it is a touchstone for all the Royal Navy officers appearing in Patrick O'Brian's epic saga. I have just started volume 9, Treason's Harbor.

I was surprised to see a steamship in operation that early, perhaps because I don't have a landmark date for when steamships became common. Maybe there isn't any specific date, maybe the best we can say is that all through the 19th Century, steam was slowly supplanting sail and it wasn't until maybe WW1 that it was the dominant method of propelling ships.

I am surprised that this painting is held in such high regard. It doesn't do much for me. Maybe it looks better in person.

Tweet Me

 

Left to Right: Rudolph Giuliani, Donald Trump, Michael Bloomberg, Bill Clinton, former Yankees Manager Joe Torre and Billy Crystal, 2008

I had a vision of Donald and his buddies playing golf, and Donald is Tweeting on his smart phone. His buddies are impressed by his technical acumen and tell him he should run for President. And that's how it happened. I mean, nobody really wants the job. It's pretty thankless. 

First Penguin into the Water

How the big shots determine who is going to run is like penguins on the edge of an ice floe, they all creep up to the edge, pushing and jostling and eventually someone falls in.

Armenia - Azerbaijan Conflict

Azerbaijan and Armenia, arch-enemies in the Caucasus, have been locked for decades in a territorial dispute over Armenia-occupied Karabakh. (TRTWorld)
Area shown is approximately 500 miles across

I've been hearing about this conflict for a while now. What we have is neighbors setting up camp in each other's back yards, and nobody is happy about it. Part of Azerbaijan is cut off from the rest of the country by Armenia. The conflict is still in the news, so I went looking for map that illustrated this problem. This one that shows it is even more twisted than originally described.

Notice that this region is pinned between three relatively powerful countries: Russia, Turkey and Iran. Baku was the original oil boom town. It's still a big player in the oil business.

The Nobel Brothers' oil wells in Balakhani, a suburb of Baku, circa 1890.

The Nobel Brothers are Nobel Prize Alfred's brothers.

Inflation Versus Stock Market

S & P 500 versus Federal Debt

It's been my contention that the rate of inflation reflects the amount of debt the US Federal Government is carrying. Recently it occurred to me that the continuing rise in the stock market is tied to the rate of inflation and so also to the federal debt. The stock market in general represents things of real value, which generally means useful things, things which can be used to produce other stuff, stuff that people are willing to pay for. Money is ephemeral, it is only useful if it can be used to purchase useful stuff. When money becomes worth less, it takes more to buy stuff.

The great rise in the stock market (as represented by Standard & Poor's 500 in the above chart) is not because American industry is becoming more productive, or more profitable, it is simply the reaction of people to the inflation caused by the federal government's borrowing. Housing prices are doing the same thing, for the same reason.

If you can't afford to buy a house and you don't trust the stock market, gold in the form of one ounce coins is not a bad place to put your savings. However, beware, gold's value is also subject to irrational price swings, so don't put all your eggs in one basket.

High Fashion

Tesla Is Now Selling $250 Bottles Of Tequila

Seems Elon has found another way to separate rich folks from their money. Some things I will never understand.