WhimsyLand

Junie and I watched "A Beautiful Mind" last night.  After reading a bit about him, I found that Dr. Nash still works at Princeton and has a web page.  I was interested in his story because I had a few courses in Game Theory with Melvin Dresher.  Dr. Dresher would tell us stories about working with the brilliant John Von Neumann, inventor of Game Theory, designer of the modern-day computer, and founding faculty at the Institute for Advanced Study along with Albert Einstein and Kurt Gödel.  He also told me once that when he needed a reference citation for his research papers, but couldn't find any backup for his topic, he would make up some obscure Asian or Central European journal.  He was a fun old guy.

There are only 12 references to the moon in my manuscript, not counting the sections and titles.  I thought there were more.

Junie and I are accompanying Kyle and Derek (still home from college) tonight to Dazzle Jazz to see bluesman Christian McBride.  See you there, if you're in the area.  Update:  Oops, all sold out.  Looks like it's going to be Boulder's Redfish New Orleans Brewhouse instead.

This month's Atlantic is mainly about China.  James Fallows explains Why China's Rise Is Good For Us, which includes the opportunity for Americans to use China as a manufacturing base, leaving the higher-paid management and marketing jobs for us (I'm not sure I entirely buy the argument, though).  The proliferation of DNA testing by private individuals has led geneticist to believe that one in ten babies is fathered by someone other than the supposed father  – and that the percentages were probably much higher in the past.   As Europe is becoming somewhat more religious (as evidenced by a growing Islamic population and the Pope's new push), Americans have been slowly becoming more agnostic over the past few decades.  A new study suggests that today's young people are far more self-centered than preceding generations (though, I wonder if that hasn't been true for the last 3 or 4 generations).  Harlan Coben, a popular thriller writer, explains how he eventually succeeded in earling millions of dollars per book, even as (or perhaps because) the literary establishment ignored him.  Sardines are the new glamour food of trendy restaurants, Omega-3 rich and better for you than tuna and salmon which, higher on the food chain, collect more toxins and heavy metals in their flesh.  Regarding Ian McEwan's new novella, On Chesil Beach, (the ubiquitous) Christopher Hitchens offers "Only Philip Larkin has ever described sex more bleakly than McEwan does here.  No fumble, miscue, or calamity is omitted".

Time's cover has Ahnold and Bloomberg in the article "Who Needs Washington?", that focuses on the number of important state and local initiatives that have arisen in the absence of leadership from Washington.  10 Questions asks Al Pacino if he's happy (he isn't sure).  Cocoa has joined diamonds as a "conflict good" whose sales by African countries tends to finance weapons and fund militias.  The head of China's State Food and Drug Administration was sentenced to death for taking $850,000 in bribes to approve drugs (it's a pity we can't try our Administration there).  Michael Kinsley says there is a quiet gay revolution going on and it's not over yet.  Roadside bombs account for 80% of all US troop deaths this year, up from 50% last year, and the enemy changes its tactics so quickly it doesn't look like it's going to get any better.  The president of ING Direct rides a Harley and reinvented online banking (high interest rates paid on savings, no fees).  The newest restaurant craze is communal dining with strangers at large tables.  The Dutch have the best retirement system in world, with pensioners receiving 96% of their working income, AND the system is 120% funded.  The US Social Security system is also at the top, though it only pays out 52% of working income.  The national plans with the biggest problems are in France, Germany and Italy, where as little as 5% of the money is actually available to pay the huge pension payouts arriving Real Soon Now.

Findings from this month's Harper's:  Large-scale use of biofuels will lead to increased food prices and deforestation, and a study concluded that pollution from ethanol may end up killing more people than smog does now.  The head of a climate research group warned that there is so little we can do about impending global warming that talking about it is counterproductive, as it will "generate feelings of resignation and apathy in the face of a hopeless catastrophe".  Primates who engage in male-on-male competition devote more brain matter to aggression.  Men who practice S&M score higher on tests of psychological well-being.  Scientists are trying to figure out why Canada has less gravity than the U.S.  Shifting your eyes back and forth horizontally can improve your memory.