Geometry Quote: John Jewel (1522-1571), English bishop of Salisbury

Click the figure below to see the quote.

Zoom

Socratic wisdom of the day

A lovely little thinker but a bugger when he's pissed

After the post yesterday that quoted Jeremy Grantham, I received a mail from a regular reader who is let's just say "an industry professional", as we're not into blowing covers round here. Here's the whole mail re-printed; well worth sharing this chunk of wisdom on a day such as today:

Otto, I liked your note on Grantham, which reminds me of a quote I keep from Socrates on fiat money:

- I note that your bronze coin has an inscription that ensures your king will pay its face value, says Socrates.

- That is correct, answers the merchant.

- And with what will he pay? asks Socrates.

- He is the King, for God’s sake! And besides you are a wise man, responds the phoenician.

- Well then, I shall buy those good quality papyrus you bring from Byblos, I need them for my writings. Can I pay you with your bronze coin?

- No your lordship, with gold, I am also a wise man, said the merchant.

Just goes to show that plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Jeremy Grantham on gold

Jeremy is watching you

Prompted by Can of Corn's Morning Coffee today, your author went searching for recent market comments made by Jeremy Grantham, head honcho of GMO in Boston and the insto investor's insto investor. And sure enough, on Monday at the big CFA conference he said this about gold:

"I hate gold. It does not pay a dividend, it has no value, and you can’t work out what it should or shouldn’t be worth. It is the last refuge of the desperate. I was so sick of it going up that I thought I’d kill it. I bought some last Friday."

I liked that a lot. He also had plenty more to say about potential investments, as this link will detail. Worth a read to pick the brains of one of the market's smartest people.

Honduras Coup D'Etat: Chavez speaks

My translation of the direct quotes given by Hugo Chávez, ally of President Zelaya of Honduras, in this report. I've kept the translation as literal as possible so there may be some phrases that don't sit perfectly in English, but they should be comprehensible enough.

This situation may become serious quickly.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"To the coupmongers we say, "we are ready for action". These are no empty words. We have already started to mobilize. This coup will be defeated by the people of Honduras and by those of us that are outside of Honduras but equally feel ourselves to be Honduran.

"The Yankee empire has a lot to do with this. I will call the US President so that he speaks on this issue in the same way as we do from the depths of our soul. They look at us as if we were an operations base of the Empire; we are not.

"You know they call us coupmongers for the military action of February 4th, which was a patriotic military action against the bourgeois. This is the reverse.

"I call upon the soldiers of Honduras. We see them running, they are running without spirit. Please Lord don't let them use their weapons against their own people. The are men of the people, ordered by officials that also come from the people but have lost the notion of citizenry. They (the soldiers) are nearly children with guns in their hands, without conscience.

"There are some old troglodytes behind the troops, using them. You don't see a single general in the streets. They're in the barracks, well-protected.

"Now those soldiers are going to find out what a people is...the people have started coming out on to the streets. They (the coup leaders) made their move in the early hours of the morning, in a cowardly manner.

Chavez said he had called the chancellor of Honduras, Patricia Rodas who "was surrounded; they took away her bodyguards and she is now under detention. She is trying to make contact with the social movements, she is very brave and dignified. We understand that the social movements have begun to mobilize but they have no weapons. The troops commanded by the coupmongers have the weapons."

UPDATE: Full Honduras coverage on this link

Pele versus Maradona, round 320

Pele doesn't like Diego Maradona. This is basically because, deep down, Pele knows that Maradona was a better footballer than him. In fact Maradona is the greatest soccer player ever to walk the planet, but that's another story.

Pele is always dissing Maradona, and his usual line of attack is to question Maradona's infamous private life. And hey, it's easy to knock Diego for this as he's a arch-disaster by anyone's standards and probably lucky to be alive after all the crap he's put into his body.

So Pele had another dig at Diego last week, saying this, that and the other and in particular that, "Maradona is a negative example. He was an excellent player, but unfortunately all the world can see what he has done with his life."

So last night Maradona came back with the round-winning quote:

"He (Pele) lost his virginity with a young boy, so I don't know what a good example is."

I love Diego. ¡Que Viva El 10!

One day I'll write the long post I've promised myself I'll write that explains why Diego is the greatest, why Pele was, is and always will be an inferior player and person, and why Maradona is an important figure in the South American psyche.


UPDATE: EG write in the comments section;

"I love him too! Even when I hate him."

Exactly, EG...exactly.