himmelfahrt

A few weeks ago, our balcony was a flutter with activity when the swallows came back to investigate their former nest under the eaves. I was a little surprised to see them swoop around at amazing speeds (and there was only one casualty when one slammed into the glass door but then fortunately flew away unstunned) since they had not been around the previous two years and there had been only their totem, a ledge fixed to the exterior wall placed squarely underneath to shield the railing and floor from their leavings, piled high and petrified, which we carefully removed. After this sortie, they were gone again but returned the other day, perhaps in earnest. I suspect maybe, although there's been a spot of rain, the birds are confused as well but this hottest, driest Spring on record for Germany.

Reports describe how the trees are in shock, exploding into bloom prematurely, and pollen still hangs oppressively heavy in the air, crops are drying up, and there's unprecedented news of steams stagnating and fish dying from lack of oxygen. There has been a patch of rain but there needs to be a steady succession of days to really soak up the ground. Christi Himmelfahrt, Ascension, has expanded to include the celebration of Fathers' Day, in part, because traditionally the hardest work of cultivating the fields was finished by this day, but the menfolk still needed to inspect their land, to ensure a good harvest, and embarked on this mission with a wagon or tractor loaded with libations. Let's hope the festivities help bring things back in sync.

Vor ein paar Wochen wurde unser Balkon durch Schwalben bombardiert, die zurückkommen, um ihr voriges Nest unter dem Dachüberhang zu untersuchen. Ich war etwas überrascht, um die Draufgänger zu sehen (es gab nur einen Unfall, als eine in die Glastür einschlug aber dann glücklich unbetäubt wegflog), weil sie während der vorherigen Jahre nicht zurückkehrten. Nur ein Totem ihrer Exkremente blieb als Beweise, aber wir entfernten diesen Schutz. Ich glaube, dass die Vögel auch durch das heiße und trockene Wetter verwirrt sind. Es gibt Berichte von Bäumen unter Stress, gedörrter Ernte, und beispiellosen Nachrichten über den Fisch, der wegen heißen und stehenden Gewasser stirbt. Es hat etwas Regen gegeben aber es muss mehr geben. Christi Himmelfahrt hat sich ausgebreitet, um das Feiern des Väterstag einzuschließen, weil traditionell die härteste Arbeit, die Felder zu kultivieren, schon am Ende. Die Männer mussten jedoch noch ihr Land untersuchen, um eine gute Ernte zu sichern. Sie unternahmen diese Mission in einem mit Erfrischungen vollen Ackerschlepper. Hoffentlich das Fest hilft alles wieder ins Lot zu bringen.

white hat or in kind

The US presidency and Department of Defense has been offering previews of its vaunted Cyber Command, due to have its big debut soon. One counter-measure--and some words do not have meaning until released to the public, especially in the very private universe of information technology--does not preclude a real-world military response to a cyber-attack. Hacking, ranging from social-activism to corporate espionage to terror-inducing and image-engineering, can cross a blurry line and there are no treaties nor expanded definition of sovereignty that adequately address policy or this sort of measured-response. What if a third-party initiates a snooping mission on behalf of an enemy with the servers of an ally? Allowing the IT department to have the wrath of the military at their disposal does not seem to be a wise thing, just as neither would allowing one nation to weaponize the people's internet.

Es hat Vorschauen auf den gerühmten US-Cyber-Kommando gegeben. Eine Art des Vergehens wird die echte militärische Antwort auf einen Cyberangriff sein. Einige private Wörter sind sinnlos, bis sie öffentlich gesagt werden. Hacking kann viele Ursachen unterstützen: sozial, spionierend, probieren, zum Terrorismus und PR. Das ist ein vages Thema, auf das Policen nicht entsprechend antworten. Wie ist Souveränität und Treue, wenn ein Hacker allein handelt? Das Internet ist eine öffentliche Einrichtung und sollte nicht als Waffe benutzt, derselbe als das Ermöglichen der Rache ES Abteilung.

prospectus

Avarice and opportunity have always been formidable market forces, and though those factors have managed to highlight the need for reform and reflection, they have not been very trustworthy gauges of performance or relevance. Exotic financial instruments, investment tools, like derivatives, still dominate a large portion of what passes for wealth, and like greed and chance stay around because of their ability to clone themselves, reduplicated a thousand times like two mirrors facing each other that reflect infinity just around the corner. Other institutions are still ballooning too big to fail, as if the physics of scale and influence alone are enough to engender the artistry and skill of doing business. The world follows markets that are accomplished at fronting this image and see this as something to emulate, jeopardizing the future of any meaningful progress and prosperity.

Habgier und Gelegenheit sind immer starke Marktkräfte gewesen. Obwohl solche Faktoren das Bedürfnis nach der Reform und Nachdenken hervorheben, sind sie nicht sehr vertrauenswürdige Eichmaße der Leistung oder Relevanz gewesen. Exotische Finanzinstrumente, Investitionswerkzeuge, wie Derivate, beherrschen noch einen großen Teil des unecht Reichtums. Sie bleiben sie wegen ihrer Fähigkeit, sich zu kopieren, kopierte eintausendmal wie zwei Spiegel, die einander gegenüberstehen, der Fluchtpunkt der Unendlichkeit widerspiegelt. Andere Einrichtungen blähen sich noch zu groß, um zu versagen, als ob die Gravitationskraft allein sind genug für geschäftlicher Scharfsinn. Die Welt folgt Märkten, die dieses Image präsentieren. Die Emulierung damit wird auf die Gefahr zum Fortschritt und Wohlstand getan.

civil service or let’s go dancing at the VFW

Memorial Day is a difficult concept to translate to German. There is no precise equivalent but traditions span the divide each with cultural nuances that make the comparison moot, also notwithstanding the existence of Americans’ repackaging of Armistice Day. With reunification, East Germany was bequeathed many West German religious holidays that seem equally inscrutable yet servicable.  It is also approximately my father’s birthday (Happy Birthday, Dad!), who, before the States migrated most holidays to the nearest Monday, grew up with somber birthdays spent at the cemetery.

I can articulate the significance but it is often a challenge to explain the mitigating trappings that most observances have taken on: the beginning, officially, of summer—another day off or the christening of one’s grill and all outdoor equipage. No one remembers it was begun by liberated slaves for openness and reconciliation in the aftermath of the US civil war. Before dismissing us for the long weekend (and early specifically not to interrupt chance for vacation), work hosted a simple yet poignant ceremony, which was not bombasted with the usual patriotism, politics and nationalism. Because the service was attended by the Burgermeister and representatives of the Bundeswehr, the occasion demanded one show not just restraint and respect but also to be simply reverent and circumspect. Instead of being cynical, I thought not only about the people I work with but about both of my grandfathers, who had long, circuitous military careers that brought my family together.  These sorts of realizations and connections make the day off more enjoyed.

eschatology or a peck of pickled peppers

Being somewhat inured to out breaks of food poisoning, being much more common occurrences in the States, the wrath and general indignation to this episode that’s apparently originated with a harvest of Spanish cucumbers is laudable. Such risk coming from the normally innocuous is rightly intolerable. I have a lot of sympathy for the people that have gotten sick, as well as for the farmers and truck-farming industry that has garnered a bad reputation. It is difficult to attribute this out break to simply a quality control issue—although the draconian austerity measures being imposed on the Spanish people may lead to more cutting corners in the future and possibly more farmers entering the marketplace without proper training and experience with organic agriculture, the preferred cultivation method for German consumers—there is moreover the dangers of a monoculture emerging here, I believe. Culling one uniform type of cucumber, instead of a variety, makes the whole crop more susceptible to pests of opportunity—maybe this one robust strain of E. coli (DE) too. Monocultures, uniformity, in the form of designer seeds, I think, has also fuelled the frequency of out breaks in the US, but such cultivars arise even without genetic meddling.  Tastes adapt and call for this standard, and it doesn’t stay a Spanish problem. The flora and fauna in human digestive systems make up a delicate and complicated ecology too, and the bacteria attacks this wildlife preserve rather than going after the host, the game warden, directly. Variety allows for immunity and the strength to overcome the daily onslaught and poaching of our bodies.

offworld

World economies do not need to be a closed-system, profiting rudely on the gullibilities and vanities of others, selling faded dreams, outstanding debt and financial hocus-pocus. Such things are not upwardly infinite. As an instrument to raise people’s standards of living sustainably, promote peace and cooperation, and to keep the engines of progress and development running smoothly, economies and investment opportunities can expand indefinitely and beyond this mundane sphere.

As the brilliant and always insightful Neatorama directs our attention to stellar prospecting and the new wealth possible with mining asteroids (a tiny metallic asteroid with an estimated worth of $20 trillion) alone, the new frontier is just begging for carpet-baggers. It is hard to believe that some clever (just playing by the numbers and the cold, unfeeling math of return on investments) are not already sending out corporate probe droids. Not that the skies should be brought down on us—unlimited resources added to the closed-system that is ecology would be equally devastating. Just has one cannot simply send all the excess carbon-dioxide to Rigel 7 and expect that to fix global warming without consequence, one cannot provide emission-free automobiles to the world’s population without paving over every last space of land or without being buried in our own trash. Still, the business of space exploration and exploitation could be managed well at its inception, putting factories and refineries off-world and maintaining a balance of trade in egress and import. Energy to power all these endeavours would be crucial, and considering all the capital already spent on the debate over the future of household atomics in Europe, Germany should be building a space elevator (Weltraumlift) and a stratospheric lightening rod, a wind sock to harness power from cosmic rays. That aurora alone would go a long way in meeting the world’s growing energy demands.

magic beans

French leadership had been criticized during the past week for courting important Internet entrepreneurs in a summit, ostensibly, to draft the rules for the Internet. One could only speculate what happens behind the scenes, but maybe this injunction, ingratiation was a sly move on the part of the French government, especially ahead of the G8 summit beginning soon.

If what's touted is to be believed, the virtual currency, commodity Bitcoin has the potential to usurp and destabilize traditional fiat markets. I don't understand quite how it works or how it is different from any other Ersatz currency, credit, or collective delusion that gives Nomos value. A lot of abstract probabilities generate more worth for what can be exchanged for real goods and services, and why shouldn't a mint in the virtual æther do the same? This is a new development and I don't think many of the technologically savvy, no matter how jaded or influenced by the kings in their counting houses, can quite yet grasp it either. I will study this. There is scarcity and skill in trading, and there is also oversight and Bitcoins are not the rupies of Hyrule.  Maybe France's interest, hosting both meetings, helps ensure that the old regime remain in power and foregoes this potential competitor.

Letzte Woche, wurde Frankreich als Gastgeber dafür kritisiert, einen Internetgipfel zu haben, um anscheinend die "Regeln" für das Internet zu machen. Keiner weiß, was hinter den Kulissen geschieht, aber diese Anbiederung war vielleicht hinsichtlich des G8 Gipfels sehr listig. Die virtuelle Währung, Bitcoin, angeblich hat das Potential um traditionellen Austausch zu destabilisieren. Ich verstehe nicht, wie es arbeitet, oder andere wie jede allgemeine Wahnvorstellung des Geldes. Wahrscheinlichkeiten erzeugen echt Wert. Warum sollte eine virtuelle Minze nicht dasselbe tun? Das ist eine neue Entwicklung, und ich denke nicht, dass die Technocrati es völlig auch verstehen. Ich will lernen. Bitcoins sind nicht Spiel-Geld von der Legend of Zelda, weil es Kontrolle und eine begrenzten Angebot gibt. Vielleicht als Gastgeber für beide Gipfeln, kann Frankreich Regeln behandeln die Konkurrenz aufzuhören.