yo writing oder was. type away
yo writing oder was. type away
yo writing
what about this problem with longer headings — can i do anything about it, eh? (what the hell, really). hope for the best. February 4, 2008
Yet another test entry — Windows Live Writer test #1 February 4, 2008
The age gap between the 46-year-old Obama and the 71-year-old McCain would be the widest in the history of presidential elections. (The current record: 1996, with Bob Dole 23 years older than Bill Clinton.) Before Obama was even born, McCain was shocking his uptight naval colleagues by bringing a stripper dubbed the “Flame of Florida” to the Officers’ Club.
More than any other Republican or Democrat, they appeal to independent-minded voters while still parting ways on crucial issues. On Iraq, taxes, health care and the Supreme Court, the differences between these two men are profound. McCain would want to focus a race on national security and terrorism, Obama on domestic concerns and economic insecurity.
“This would be an extraordinary contest, an opportunity to see striking contrasts, from age to public philosophy,” says Tom Mann, a political scientist at the Brookings Institution, based in Washington.
The age gap between the 46-year-old Obama and the 71-year-old McCain would be the widest in the history of presidential elections. (The current record: 1996, with Bob Dole 23 years older than Bill Clinton.) Before Obama was even bornthe 71-year-old McCain would be the widest in the history of presidential elections. (The current record: 1996, with Bob Dole 23 years older than Bill Clinton.) Before Obama was even born, McCain was shocking his uptight naval colleagues by bringing a stripper dubbed the “Flame of Florida” to the Officers’ Club.
More than any other Republican or Democrat, they appeal to independent-minded voters while still parting ways on crucial issues. On Iraq, taxes, health care and the Supreme Court, the differences between these two men are profound. McCain would want to focus a race on national security and terrorism, Obama on domestic concerns and economic insecurity.
“This would be an extraordinary contest, an opportunity to see striking contrasts, from age to public philosophy,” says Tom Mann, a political scientist at the Brookings Institution, based in Washington.
More than any other Republican or Democrat, they appeal to independent-minded voters while still parting ways on crucial issues. On Iraq, taxes, health care and the Supreme Court, the differences between these two men are profound. McCain would want to focus a race on national security and terrorism, Obama on domestic concerns and economic insecurity.
“This would be an extraordinary contest, an opportunity to see striking contrasts, from age to public philosophy,” says Tom Mann, a political scientist at the Brookings Institution, based in Washington
More than any other Republican or Democrat, they appeal to independent-minded voters while still parting ways on crucial issues. On Iraq, taxes, health care and the Supreme Court, the differences between these two men are profound. McCain would want to focus a race on national security and terrorism, Obama on domestic concerns and economic insecurity. 
“This would be an extraordinary contest, an opportunity to see striking contrasts, from age to public philosophy,” says Tom Mann, a political scientist at the Brookings Institution, based in Washington
More than any other Republican or Democrat, they appeal to independent-minded voters while still parting ways on crucial issues. On Iraq, taxes, health care and the Supreme Court, the differences between these two men are profound. McCain would want to focus a race on national security and terrorism, Obama on domestic concerns and economic insecurity.
“This would be an extraordinary contest, an opportunity to see striking contrasts, from age to public philosophy,” says Tom Mann, a political scientist at the Brookings Institution, based in Washington
More than any other Republican or Democrat, they appeal to independent-minded voters while still parting ways on crucial issues. On Iraq, taxes, health care and the Supreme Court, the differences between these two men are profound. McCain would want to focus a race on national security and terrorism, Obama on domestic concerns and economic insecurity.
| yo | ne |
| doch | oder nich |
“This would be an extraordinary contest, an opportunity to see striking contrasts, from age to public philosophy,” says Tom Mann, a political scientist at the Brookings Institution, based in Washington
Guerrilla Entrepreneurship — Is it self-sustainable? October 29, 2007
I’m intrigued by Robb’s portrayal of Guerrilla Entrepeneurship in Iraq:
“As a failed state, Iraq is unable to provide economic alternatives to the insurgency. Further, even though Iraq is a failed state, it is awash in money. Fortunes will be made through the perpetuation of its chaos (as we see with the Narco warlords in Afghanistan, who combined generate $2.5 billion a year in revenue).
Given this trend line, we will likely see more advanced forms of this in the future, particularly market-derived financing. Guerrilla entrepreneurs will use prior knowledge of attacks to generate revenue from global financial markets [...]. These efforts will include:
—Assaults on individual corporations [...]. Attacks on resources (particularly oil infrastructure) will influence the oil market. Billions could be made through this process.
—Attacks on oil infrastructure. Global guerrilla methods make it possible for the rise of a “Shadow OPEC” and all the financial leverage that entails.”
Is this a viable strategy? Suppose a hypothetical guerrilla entrepreneur had just enough capital to build up a insurgency start-up cell (i.e. recruit some demobilized soldiers or foreign fighters, acquire know-how and military equipment, etc.). Could this enterprise survive and expand without external funding? In other words, would it be profitable?
The above quotation suggests that the necessary revenue could be raised by trading in financial instruments. For example, trading in futures contracts effectively represents “betting” on uncertain future performances of a company. For example, a futures contract that confers the right to sell shares of a particular company for a fixed price at some specified future date would turn out to be very valuable if at that date, the actual share price is below the specified fixed price.
By manipulating the share prices of foreign companies in Iraq, while simultaneously engaging in speculative financial transactions, our hypothetical guerrilla entrepreneur could raise revenues. Attacks on employees, for example, could force a US contruction contractor in Iraq to withdraw from the country. Its share price would likely fall subsequently, resulting in a payoff for the holder of the futures contract described above.
This raises the possibility of a market for guerrilla entrepreneurs that is independent of external funding. Insurgency would thereby become more than a way to drive the infidels out of Iraq — it would become good business.
The following questions remain:
1. How good are financial markets at pricing in the risk of guerrilla entrepreneurs trying to engage in this kind of “insider trading”? How big are the profits this kind of strategy could generate? How many guerrilla enterprises could such a market sustain?
2. Does spending more money on Iraqi reconstruction increase the incentives for guerrilla entrepreneurs to pursue this strategy? Would the US be better of not awarding contracts to publicly-traded companies in Iraq at all?
3. What are the chances of policing/suppressing this kind of “insider trading”?
Testeintrag — Der Zauberberg (1924) June 13, 2007
Aus Kindlers Neues Literaturlexikon (die Rezension in voller Länge hier) :
[Thomas Manns Roman "Der Zauberberg"] entstand von 1913 bis 1924 und erschien 1924. Im Jahre 1912 verbrachte Thomas Manns Frau mehrere Monate in einem Davoser Lungensanatorium; die Eindrücke, die der Autor bei seinen Besuchen empfing, bewogen ihn zu einer »Art humoristischem Gegenstück« zu seiner Erzählung “Der Tod in Venedig” (1912). Anstelle des etablierten Künstlers Gustav von Aschenbach sollte nun ein unbekannter Bürgersohn (Hans Castorp) stehen, als Pendant zum Verführer Tadzio erscheint die »Asiatin« Clawdia Chauchat, Symbol für den Niedergang ist statt der Cholera nunmehr die Tuberkulose. [...]
Der auf zwei Bände angwachsene Roman weiterte sich zum Zeitroman aus, zur Kritik an spätbürgerlichen Lebens- und Denkformen der Vorkriegszeit, deren Repräsentanten auf dem »Zauberberg« versammelt sind; zugleich aber treibt Thomas Mann seine leitmotivische Erzähltechnik, sein ironisches Spiel mit Bildungszitaten und Weltanschauungen in diesem Buch so weit voran, daß die Forschung das Werk als Bildungsroman, als »intellektuellen« oder »metaphyischen« Roman zu verstehen suchte. Der früh verwaiste Hamburger Patriziersohn Hans Castorp besucht nach bestandenem Ingenieur-Examen vor dem geplanten Eintritt in eine Schiffsbauwerft seinen lungenkranken Vetter Joachim Ziemßen in einem Sanatorium in Davos. Zunächst befremdet über die »hier oben« herrschende Lebensart, ordnet er sich zögernd in den Kurbetrieb ein, der, selbst auf Profit ausgerichtet, die Patienten aus ihren gewohnten bürgerlichen Verhaltensweisen reißt, sie in einen Zustand der Zeitlosigkeit und Pflichtvergessenheit versetzt: »Man ändert hier seine Begriffe«, prophezeit Joachim Ziemßen seinem Besucher. Anspielungen auf den Hades der Antike, auf den Hexenberg in Goethe “Faust” oder den Venusberg in Wagners “Tannhäuser” begleiten die Beschreibung des »Zauberbergs«, eine mystische, traumverlorene Welt, in jeder Hinsicht das Gegenbild zum »Flachland« und der dort herschenden Ordnung und Disziplin. [...]
Das [...] Treiben [...] findet durch den »Donnerschlag« des Krieges ein unvermitteltes Ende; der Roman verliert seinen Helden als anonymen Soldaten im Angriff »aus den Augen«, mit Schuberts “Am Brunnen vor dem Tore” auf den Lippen: »Lebewohl Hans Castorp … Deine Geschichte ist aus. Zu Ende haben wir sie erzählt; sie war weder kurzweilig noch Heilige es war eine hermetische Geschichte. Wir haben sie erzählt um ihretwillen, nicht deinethalben, denn du warst simpel.«
Thomas Manns “Banquet Speech” anlässlich seines Nobelpreises (1929)
