WHR = 0.69

The French premier and his government are visiting Spain to have a round of bilateral conversations with their Spanish counterparts.

The Spanish public is not much interested in the Spanish/French bla, bla, bla, but, rather, in a more mundane endeavour: comparing the beauty of the French First Lady, Carla Bruni, with the Spanish Princess, Letizia. Spain is lags behind France in GDP and many other stuff, but, beware, in the beauty of our ladies, we can match anyone. This is not, then, a State visit, this is a competition!

The journalists, with an eye on satisfying public curiosity, have published the above photo where we can compare the waist-hip ratio (WHR) of both ladies. An excellent ratio would be 0.69, that is, if waist is 35 cm, hip will be 50 cm.

Oh, I am sure, that both ladies satisfy this exacting standard!

A good WHR sends powerful signals to the cerebellum of the male observer. It indicates good health and fertility. In fact, both women are signalling their “preparedness for reproduction”, although it would be “politically” incorrect to say that about the ladies of politicians.

Apart from waist and hip, high heels send another powerful message. Of course, high heels make the wearer appear taller, her legs appear longer, and the feet look smaller. Here the interests of both ladies coincide and differ, at the same time. Both are interested in looking sexier but the height of their men is very different. While Letizia, married to guy 2 mts tall , has opted for a bold approach and wears high heeled platforms, Carla has been more moderate: she strikes a balance between the desire to be sexy and the precaution of not appearing much taller than Nicolas.

Is it appropriate for a Princess to wear platforms? Well, I think is a sign of rebellion. She is an independent woman, a former journalist who has proved his autonomy and preparedness. She has adapted, albeit reluctantly I would say, to royal protocol. But she is prepared to defy some rules.

When it comes to dress and appearance, the subtleness of feminine soul is unfathomable.

This universe appears fine-tuned for life

Dear reader, I'm fascinated with the fact that I am here writing my blog and you will be there, sometime, reading me. Can you imagine the amount of coincidence that has occurred for that to happen?

To begin with, we have time scale. Do you know the amount of time needed for the evolution of intelligent life in the Universe? Estimates vary but, approximately, it took 14,000 million years.

The universe began with the Big Bang. At the start it was all energy. The energy coalesced into matter (e=mc2, remember?). The first stars were born. The elements of matter were formed in the core of the stars by nuclear fusion: hydrogen, helium and, in ever increasing complexity, the rest of elements of the periodic table. Stars exploded and planets formed.

In a remote star, a special planet was born made out of the debris of previous stellar explosions. Its orbit was nearly perfectly circular, neither too far nor too close to its star, so as to have liquid water. In this planet life erupted by a process we are not able to duplicate today. Life evolved, species were created and destroyed by the works of natural selection. And, after thousands of millions of years, about a couple of millions years ago, an ape capable of language and constructor of tools started to reflect and communicate.

This is dear reader, our common ancestor. So, you and I, descendants of that lineage, are capable of communicate today by electronic means.

In addition to this breathtaking time scale and transformation, the laws of the Universe appear to have been finely tuned for intelligent life to appear. Any slight deviation and life would not be present.

Take, for instance the gravity force, which is inversely proportional to the square power of the distance. If, for instance, we substitute the square by the third power, the orbits of the planets will be, one way or another, unstable and the planets will precipitate in a downward spiral into the Sun. Even a slight deviation of 2 --2.0001, for instance--, could be enough to make life impossible today.

Let's consider the stability of the atoms. The proton mass is 1,800 times that of an electron, but the electric charge of both is the same. Exactly. If it were different the atoms will not be stable and life won't be possible.

Think of the constant of proportional gravity (big G). Its value is 6,67 x 10 -8. If it were ten times bigger (6,67 x 10 -7) the only type of stars available will be the blue giants which spend their nuclear fuel so fast, that they will not last enough for life to form in their planets.If it were ten times smaller (6, 67 x 10-9), the only stars available will be red dwarfs. They emit so weak a light that all the water in their planets will be frozen. Life will be also impossible.

Martin Rees has written a magnificent book about this: Just six numbers, the deep forces that shape the universe.

How is it that everything works so well for life to flourish? Some speak of the anthropic principle: the universe is designed with the objective of generating and maintaining "observers", that is to say, us. Others say it's God the one who fine-tuned the universe's laws for the man to appear.But what happens if men destroy themselves in a nuclear holocaust, then it was not an omnipotent God the one who designed the universe, but an inexpert engineer.

Well, before that happens, I’ll will write my blog and you, hopefully will read it, God willing.

International Criminal Court

I have learned that the International Criminal Court has ordered the detention of the Sudanese president Omar al Bashir for promoting and covering war crimes and against the humanity. His troops have performed incredible atrocities against defenceless civilians.

My question would then be: why the Court does not act against Ehud Olmert, president of Israel who organised a brutal killing of the civil population of Gaza, the most crowded place in the world?

Military hardware meant for the battlefield, like tanks, jet bombers, heavy artillery and precision rockets have mercilessly been used against basically unarmed citizens! And the population was trapped. They had no way to go: all borders were closed. It’s unbelievable, to enter with tanks in such a place, firing indiscriminately against the people!

How many victims did such an action cause? Some sources say 1,300 dead and 5,300 wounded, including 1.855 children and 795 women.

Frankly, I am astonished at the double yardstick of the ICC.

Michel de Montaigne's essays

Montaigne retired at 38 just to write and think. This is how he describes that moment in his Essays:

In the year of Christ 1571, at the age of thirty-eight, on the last day of February, his birthday, Michael de Montaigne, long weary of the servitude of the court and of public employments, while still entire, retired to the bosom of the learned virgins, where in calm and freedom from all cares he will spend what little remains of his life, now more than half run out. If the fates permit, he will complete this abode, this sweet ancestral retreat; and he has consecrated it to his freedom, tranquillity, and leisure.

I have just read the 1.350 page volume of his essays. It's a mix between philosophical thoughts and personal story-telling. Without any order he writes about things divine and human, but mostly, he does it about himself.

I'm exhausted. What did I learn? Well, I learned about the nobleness of thinking and the joy of writing. To record your thoughts is like gymnastics of the mind.The idea is: let your mind flow and record whatever thoughts pass through your brain. Let's call it stream-of-consciousness. Don't try to edit too much, just let your thoughts go by and record them as they come. The style is not important, the freshness is.

That's precisely the purpose of this blog, dear reader, which I have named essays on my life: to reflect, to write my thoughts down, trying to fix them somehow. Like Montaigne I'd like to take refuge on the bosom of the learned virgins . Unfortunately, I have no castle to retire to, nor I have his fortune to lean on, the only thing that I promise is to do my best to write this blog while I carry on with my life.

Kisses, Hillary

This is the way Israel behaves today: flowers for Hillary, but white phosphorous for the Palestinians.
Israel has not many friends these days. Its arrogant behaviour, its brutality, its contempt for the international law, has earned the Jewish state many foes. But as long as Big Brother remains a friend, everything is all right. Will ever Big Brother get tired of supporting the unruly child?
Israel is the greatest single irritant in international relations. The US has paid a heavy price for supporting Israel: the enmity of the Arab Word, 9/11, Afghanistan… But they have manoeuvred deftly to be portrayed as the victims.
Well, Barrack Obama, you have a chance here to undo many wrongdoings. Will he be able to apply economic and military pressure to Israel? Will he be able to resist the Jewish lobby? If past experience gives us any clue, chances are that all things will remain the same.

The royals

Here we have the Swedish royal family announcing the marriage of Victoria, the heir to the throne, to a, supposedly, distinguished gentleman. This photo is taken after the royal couple has approved the wedding. Yes, the parents have to approve the wedding, like in the Old Times. All very formal: dark suit the men, with upper pocket white handkerchief, exactly folded, colour dresses for the ladies, the daughter bright, the mother pale. Low table Louis XVI intended to hide the royal legs. The King is to the right (from his viewpoint), the Queen to the left, the youngsters in the middle, but, the heir to the right.

How many royal servants have pressed those suits, folded those handkerchiefs? How many royal detectives have investigated the former life of the groom, his family ties, fiancées, drinking habits, police record, health history and net worth?

Given that the monarchy is about having heirs, perhaps they have tested his ability for that endeavour.

And how much will the wedding cost? Sources say € 2 million. Will the Swedish taxpayer foot the bill? Aren’t the royals rich already?
I would like to know the royals close by. Will they carry cash on their pockets or purses, or will everything be paid by others? Will they know how to send an email, clip their own nails? Does the King sleep with the Queen in the same bed?
I don’t like it. It’s old, false and conventional. They are royals because they descend from a royal family? This is nepotism, isn’t it?

Early retirement or late retirement?

We are in a concert Hall. The musicians are already on their seats. A side door opens and everybody stands up as a sign of respect. The conductor, a white haired man, enters dragging his feet. He looks very old, so bent over, that he has to do little effort to bow to the public applause. He approaches slowly the conductor's stand. Once there, he takes seat in a stool: he is so feeble he cannot conduct the orchestra standing up. Should we admire the old man for his stuborness in continue working well into retirement age or should we feel sorry for him?


This strikes a familiar cord with me. I am over retirement age, and continue working. I tell to myself all kind of excuses: I would not know what to do all day without working, I will bore to death, I would probably fall ill out of inactivity, etc.


Frankly I think that retirement is not a conquest of civilisation. To establish a frontier between working life and non working life is totally artificial. More, to establish a frontier between living and working is a nonse.


Most of the people are doing a work that does not satisfy them. Actually, most people hate their work and they distinguish perfectly the time they are toiling (unpleasant) and the time they are out of work (pleasant).

But if you are one of those rare persons who enjoys what you are doing and do not distinguish between working time and living time


In my case, I don't make such a distinction. I'm just living

Buzzwords

The dictionary defines buzzword as an important-sounding, usually technical word or phrase often of little meaning used chiefly to impress laymen. Impressed be not, dear reader, here are some explanations about buzzwords that the current economic downturn (a buzzword in its own right) has brought.

Stress test

The US government wants to submit the American banks to a stress test. It means that they want to know how much toxic garbage hides under the banks carpets and into their closets. In the process, they expect to know what banks will resist and what will fail in the current crisis. The good ones will be rescued and the bad let go under.

Too big to fail

The above rule does not apply if the bad bank, full of toxic trash, is a big one. Then the risk of letting it fail would be systemic, and it will be rescued anyway.

Systemic risk

It’s a risk that affects the whole system. The whole, as you know, is more than the sum of the parts. Systemic risks are unacceptable and should be avoided at all costs.

Quantitative easing

Having the Central banks tested all monetary measures to remedy the crisis; there is one of last resort, to crank the money printing machine full steam ahead. This is what the British Central Bank is doing. There will be walls of cash all around. Inflation? Oh yeah, we will deal with it later.
Mark to market temporary suspension

This, roughly translated, and means “if facts cannot be changed, let’s change the rules". The banks have to account for assets at their market value. If from one month to another, the value drops, the bank must register a loss. This is killing the bank financial statements and putting many of them under water. They want a suspension of the rule so they can breathe a little air.

Uptick rule

If a stock drops dramatically there is a way to stop the decline: raise the value artificially. That's what the rule does. In the process, the investor is deceived.

Tony the coward

I have just learned that Tony Blair, former UK premier and now special envoy for Palestine, had not been in Gaza since the inception of his mandate. Finally, two years later, he dared to enter the besieged zone, but only a mile, just a little bit, and then... back to the safety of Israel. This is what I would call a courageous guy. Well done Tony, you are earning your salary and probably you will enter into History for your peace endeavours. I f I understand well, your job is to promote peace in the Middle East. And you plan to do that by going into the area, probably staying in a luxury hotel in the Jewish Sate, take five-o'clock-tea with your Jewish friends and, occasionally, with Mahmud Abbas, the Fatah leader. But you don't dare to see how a trapped people, mostly disarmed, in the most densely populated area of the world, has been massacred by an army with jet fighters, heavy armoured tanks and rockets filled with white phosphorous.

Probably your senses are too delicate to see the maimed children, the wanton destruction, the filthy refugee camps, the foul odour, the ruin of so many lives. Probably you'll get dirty shaking hands with the Palestinians. You may not sleep well afterwards.

How I gauge the depth by the lenght

How deep is the current economic downturn? You can measure it by the fall in GPD, the thrashing of stock markets, the increase of unemployment, the decrease in consumer confidence, the reduction in auto sales, retail sales, and industrial sales. But I gauge it by the length of the taxi queue in front of my favourite department store in Valencia (Spain). The fact is that the queue has lengthened in the last months. The idle drivers chat with one another with long faces, no jokes here, please.
If the queue lengthens, what does it mean? It means that consumer spending has reduced: either fewer customers go to the store, or same number goes, but more of them get out empty-handed. You don’t need a taxi if you don’t carry any packages, do you? A taxi fare is typically 7 € and a bus or metro ride is about 1.20 €. With the difference you may eat a one-course meal in a restaurant with wine and coffee.
A queue that shortens or lengthens is easier to understand to the layman than all the stock exchange charts in the world. However, there is a catch to this: if the current crisis continues, many taxi drivers may loose their jobs and the queue will shorten. This is what an economist in its inhuman jargon would call a demand – supply equilibrium (the price is fixed in this case).

You don't get it until you write it

My reason to write a blog like this is in the title: you don't get it until you write it. Millions of thoughts have passed trough my mind, along the years, without my taking the endeavour of writing the most meaningful down. Thousands of books may I have read, without my making a note, or even taking the trouble of underlining something. Millions of landscapes around the earth have passed before my eyes, but I forgot to record my feelings. I have met with many interesting people in my life, but now they are vague remembrances.

It has been like drawing on carbon and forgetting to fix it. Everything is gone. But now, on the decline of my life, I have decided to put remedy to all this waste. To spray-fix my thoughts with the help of the Internet. I will record my opinions, recollections, suggestions to make them permanent, if this may be said of an electronic blog.

Humour will be my weapon of choice. Irony will, hopefully, permeate my writting. I will not write this for anybody but myself, but I will expose it to the whole world.