money pressures graphically shown

Here's a small addition to my long Labor Day post on things that could go wrong with the economic situation in the US and world. It's from an article in the Washington Post on the current election season: 'Mortgage Moms' May Star in Midterm Vote and it provides evidence for Bernanke's warning about the potential political fallout from income inequality. It's tempting to think the financial crunch being experienced by vast numbers of American voters will result in election of Democrats who will make things better. Unfortunately, if what the most vocal Democrats in Congress are saying is any indication, this will not be so.

thinning bones

A couple years' back, an article in Bicycling magazine warned about the dangers of bone thinning in cyclists (WHY YOU NEED TO BONE UP..., March 2004 - Bicycling Magazine, by Roy M. Wallack). There are quite a few reports of reputable studies on the subect including these two: Cycling and osteoporosis and
Cyclists May Risk Bone Loss.

The current issue of Bicycling Magazine has yet another warning: "Cycling is one of the best exercises for every part of body except the one that holds it all together: your skeleton. Studies show that some of the most elite riders have the weakest bones. Even passionate enthusiasts riding about 12 hours a week can have bone densities 10 percent lower than their active, noncycling peers."

The item caught my eye because I do five to seven hours of cycling a week, maybe 5,000 miles a year. And, last winter, a Dexascan showed that I have suffered bone loss. I'm now taking Fosamax and do doing weight-bearing exercises including weight lifting and lots of stair climbing (I stopped using the elevators in the building where I work). The condition I have is called osteopenia, which is simply bone loss short of the amount defined as osteoporosis.

health food

The same issue of the AARP mag that had the articles on Living Longer also had one on five foods that are particularly good for you. I'd never heard of Spirulina, the one that leads off the list. Since it's short, I'll give the whole thing:

5 Foods That Can Add Years to Your Life, by Donna Jackson Nakazawa

New research suggests that including a combination of antioxidants on your plate yields a more powerful advantage than eating any one type of antioxidant-rich food alone. Try to make the following foods a part of your daily diet:

1. Spirulina (blue-green algae) Spirulina contains not only the antioxidant phycocyanin but also a bundle of protein, plus omega fatty acids. Once a mainstay food of the Aztecs, spirulina additionally works as an ibuprofenlike nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory. Add one teaspoon to one tablespoon of spirulina a day to smoothies or yogurt, or take it in capsule form. Caution: for some people, spirulina can be overstimulating (kind of like too much coffee), so experiment to find the right balance. [Note: There is little empirical evidence for spirulina's health benefits. For some indications of its nutritional value, see this site.]

2. Cranberries, blueberries, blackberries These are jam-packed with antioxidants called anthocyanins and polyphenols, which also have anti-inflammatory qualities. Try to work in a cup of berries a day.

3. Leafy greens (such as kale or spinach) They're full of lutein, another super-antioxidant; it's been proven to protect against macular degeneration of the optic nerves, thus protecting eyesight. Scientists recommend eating a cup of cooked kale or one to two cups of raw spinach each day.

4. Almonds and walnuts These nuts are a fantastic source of omega-6 fatty acids, as well as phytosterols (plant sterols) and vitamin E (tocopherols). People who regularly consume nuts tend to have both a lowered risk of Parkinson's and lower cholesterol. Try to eat a quarter cup of these nuts a day whenever you can.

5. Flaxseed It contains fiber and omega-3 fatty acids that help to clear plaque and bad fats from the cardiovascular system. The fiber also protects against colon cancer. For best results, buy flaxseed ground (or grind it yourself) and throw one teaspoon to one tablespoon a day into everything from meat loaf to muffins.

Finally, don't forget to add these superfoods into a diet rich with lean meat, fish, and whole grains.

a not so happy Labor Day

It boggles the mind that the US economy has remained strong despite deficits, energy costs, natural disasters, unfavorable global imbalances, and all ... and all. The driving force behind this freak of nature is probably the strength of the US consumer culture. And why do we buy? Well, prices are low for many consumer goods and, interest rates also being pretty low, Americans can buy a lot without reaching the point where they can't meet the minimum payments on their credit cards.

Prices are low, of course, because (a) so many consumer goods can be produced cheaply abroad (mainly in Asia) and (b) Wal-Mart and the other big box stores make sure that cheap foreign production yeilds up low retail prices. Another way of expressing these two points is to say that global competition makes for low-cost shopping.

This Labor Day Weekend, The New York Times and Washington Post are calling attention to the downside of the enthusiastic US emersion in the vibrant global economy.

Harold Meyerson in the Post draws attention to an article on Wal-Mart in the July issue of Harper's. He says 20 percent of all retail transactions in the United States take place at Wal-Marts and explains that Wal-Mart exploits the power this gives them. As is well known, they keep wages and benefits low for their own employees, but, less well known, they're also able to force this cost-cutting on their suppliers and, in effect, "drive down wages and benefits all across the economy. ... [With the result that] "of Wal-Mart's 10 top suppliers in 1994, four have filed bankruptcies."

The Wal-Mart trend has been enabled in part, Meyerson says, by a long-term transition from an economy based on heavy manufacture (in which union organization has been strong) to one based on the Silicon-Valley type of manufacture and on services (where it has not been so strong). He says since 1973 there has been a "decoupling of increased corporate revenue from employees' paychecks [as] productivity gains have outpaced median family income by 3 to 1."

The piece in the Times, by Steven Greenhouse and David Leonhardt, gives more recent data:

The median hourly wage for American workers has declined 2 percent since 2003, after factoring in inflation. The drop has been especially notable, economists say, because productivity — the amount that an average worker produces in an hour and the basic wellspring of a nation's living standards — has risen steadily over the same period.

As a result, wages and salaries now make up the lowest share of the nation's gross domestic product since the government began recording the data in 1947, while corporate profits have climbed to their highest share since the 1960's. UBS, the investment bank, recently described the current period as "the golden era of profitability."

Worker productivity rose 16.6 percent from 2000 to 2005, while total compensation for the median worker rose 7.2 percent, according to Labor Department statistics analyzed by the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal research group. Benefits accounted for most of the increase.

"If I had to sum it up," said Jared Bernstein, a senior economist at the institute, "it comes down to bargaining power and the lack of ability of many in the work force to claim their fair share of growth."

Some current Census reports show what's happening. Between 2004 and 2005, although the overall median household income rose by 1.1 percent in the US, the real median earnings of both men and women who worked full-time, year-round declined. Median household income rose because households at the top end of the spectrum saw huge increases in income, much of it coming from sources other than wages and salaries. The Times article quotes Charles Cook, who publishes a nonpartisan political newsletter:

"There are two economies out there," Mr. Cook, the political analyst, said. "One has been just white hot, going great guns. Those are the people who have benefited from globalization, technology, greater productivity and higher corporate earnings.

"And then there's the working stiffs," he added, "who just don't feel like they're getting ahead despite the fact that they're working very hard. And there are a lot more people in that group than the other group."

The Census report provides a measure of the distance between the two economies. It's the Gini index, a widely-accepted measure of income inequality. Says the report: "Over the past 10 years, the Gini index has increased 4.2 percent (from 0.450 to 0.469)." This index has remained fairly constant in the last couple of years. The Wikipedia article on the index puts this data in context. As the chart reproduced below shows, income inequality in the US is greater than in other industrialized nations and even some emerging economies.
{Click to enlarge. Source.}

The Times article says that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke sees a risk in this inequality. In a speech given last week he warned that the political fallout could produce an increase in economic protectionism. He's quoted as saying that recent economic changes "threaten the livelihoods of some workers and the profits of some firms," and thus the govenment must try "to ensure that the benefits of global economic integration are sufficiently widely shared."

Where does this set of facts and opinions leave us?

It appears the short-term outlook is good; long-term bad. Here's one of many expressions of confidence about the former. It comes from a blog called Between the Hedges by the manager of a hedge fund. He's talking about the stock market but the scenario applies more widely.

Over the coming months, an end to the Fed rate hikes, lower commodity prices, seasonal strength, the November election, decelerating inflation readings, lower long-term rates, increased consumer/investor confidence, rising demand for US stocks and the realization that economic growth is only slowing to around average levels should provide the catalysts for another substantial push higher in the major averages through year-end as p/e multiples begin to expand.

Longer-term, the US is still at risk for slipping into a recession. The country's deficits restrict the ability of the Fed to manage change. The end of the housing bubble puts a huge number of Americans in financial peril since they have borrowed against the value of their homes to help pay current expenses (such as managing their consumer debt of course). This plus the high cost of fuel and an expected continuation of the slow-down in business activity could produce a substantial decline in the consumer spending that's driving not only the US economy, but much of the global one as well.

Another long-term risk is a financial crisis in China, source of so many of the cheap goods Americans buy. Chinese banks have been lending far too much money to marginally-productive and unproductive businesses (many of them state-owned). Recently Bernanke said the Chinese are expected to correct this problem, but the task is difficult and they may not succeed. (See Can't rule out China hard landing: Bernanke in Yahoo News.)

And finally, there's been no progress in stemming US deficits or dealing with the problems of unfunded mandates (future shortfalls in Social Security and Medicare being the main ones). There's been no progress in stimulating consumption in Europe, Japan, and other wealthy countries to help reduce dependence on US consumption as force behind worldwide economic expansion. There's been no progress in correcting the overvaluation of the Japanese and Chinese currencies against the American dollar. No increase in investment in emerging economies by countries that hold large surpluses. Etc.

live long and well (maybe)

The the current issue of the AARP magazine has a set of articles on how to live longer and better:

Special Report
Living Longer
September & October 2006
Add ten (healthy) years to your life

It's pretty good. Most of the contents are based on empirical evidence, some of it strong, some weak. Where information is speculative, the author says so.

Here's the intro section and table of contents:

What if someone said you could live ten years longer—and you wouldn't have to drink any strange potions or take any magic pills or perform any body-cleansing rituals? Better yet, it wouldn't cost you a dime. That's exactly what we're about to tell you. For this special report we talked to leading scientists in the longevity field and studied the latest research to bring you the truth about the search for the fountain of youth, including surprising breakthroughs in the science of aging; a highly nutritious, stay-young diet that really works; exercise secrets for a longer, stronger life; tips to help keep stress from cheating you out of precious years; and a fascinating look at what the future may hold. Turn the virtual page, and start turning back the clock!

Science
By Joe Treen
A new understanding of the aging process

Diet
By Donna Jackson Nakazawa
Try this stay-young food plan

Exercise
By Susan Crandell
Why adding muscle boosts life expectancy

Balance
By Karen Cheney
Easy ways to keep stress from sapping vitality

The Future
By Joe Treen
A look ahead at promising ideas for curing age-related diseases

The articles make the following main points (all these are quoted extracts):

• Consistent exercise, not smoking, an ability to deal with stress, long-standing religious beliefs, an independent spirit—are common denominators among the very old.

• You can't live to 105 if your parents or grandparents died young.

• In study after study, animals — from worms to primates — lived longer when their diet was cut by as much as 40 percent of the norm. A recent study supports the idea that caloric restriction works in humans. But is it a good idea? Many scientists say it can lead to premature osteoporosis, a susceptibility to infectious disease, and infertility.

• For all the research, the best way to be a long-lived human like Ed Rondthaler seems relatively uncomplicated: eat an antioxidant-rich diet, avoid obvious environmental pollution such as cigarettes, get lots of exercise, and find ways to cope with stress.

• Get as much of your caloric intake as you can not only from antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables but also from nuts and flaxseed, which are loaded with vitamin E and omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.

• [Exercise is important.] Many of what we thought were symptoms of aging are actually symptoms of disuse. Besides keeping your weight under control, regular physical activity can promote the growth of neurons in the brain that are affected by chronic stress, studies in animals have shown. Exercise "stimulates certain factors in the brain that help to repair it and protect it," says Albert.

• The loss of muscle (and accompanying increase in body fat) puts extra strain on the heart, alters sugar metabolism (increasing the risk for diabetes), and can tip the balance of healthy lipids in the blood, leading to heart attack and stroke. A regular exercise program (30 minutes of physical activity at least three days a week) can reduce your risk of dying in the next eight years by 40 percent, improve brain function, cut your risk of Alzheimer's disease by up to 60 percent, and blunt the symptoms of depression.

• Long-term stress, the kind you can't control or resolve, however, can have far-reaching, harmful consequences.

• [To avoid or reduce stress:] Sleep more. Learn to meditate Researchers have shown that a regular practice of meditation adds to the thickness of the cortex—a region of the brain, associated with attention and sensory processing, that tends to thin with age. The theory is that people with a thicker cortex may deal better with stress. [Nuture friendships.] There is a link between a strong social-support network and reduced levels of stress. Indulge in activities you enjoy

• A 2005 study at the University of Maryland School of Medicine found that laughter causes the tissue that forms the inner lining of blood vessels to expand, increasing blood flow to the heart and other organs. (Stress causes blood vessels to contract.) "There's nothing like a good laugh to break the intensity of a situation and give you some much-needed perspective," says Stephanie Marston, a marriage and family therapist and a frequent guest on the Today show. "When you laugh, your brain releases endorphins that create feelings of joy and euphoria. Having a sense of humor is a key facet in creating greater balance in your life."

pilgrim amid dusty rustics: Emerson's Journals, Sept 2-3, 1823

From the Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1820-1824, edited by Edward Waldo Emerson and Waldo Emerson Forbes (1909).

Emerson continues the travel diary of his return from Western Massachusetts:

[Sept. 2-3]
From Mr. Haven's garret bed I sallied forth Tuesday morning towards Hubbardston, but my cramped limbs made little speed. After dining in Hubbardston I walked seven miles farther to Princeton, designing to ascend Wachusett with my tall cousin Thomas Greenough, if I should find him there, and then set out for home in the next day's stage. But when morning came, and the stage was brought, and the mountain was a mile and a half away, learned again an old lesson, that, the beldam Disappointment sits at Hope's door. I jumped into the stage and rode aways Wachusett untrod. At Sterling, I learned that Oliver Blood studies physic in Worcester. At Boston I saw Nat Wood on his way to Amherst, N. H., to study law, his pedagogical career being terminated - O fortunate nimium. [See note 1 at bottom.]

Close-cooped in a stage-coach with a score of happy, dusty rustics, the pilgrim continued his ride to Waltham, and alighting there, spent an agreeable evening at Rev. Mr. Ripley's. [See note 2] Home he came from thence the next morning, right glad to sit down once more in a quiet well-fed family at Canterbury.

==========================

Note 1: Blood and Wood were his classmates. [Editors' note]

Note 2: Rev. Samuel Ripley, minister of Waltham, was step-uncle of the Emerson boys, and always a kind friend and benefactor, especially to Waldo. [Editors' note]

Joost on top!

Yesterday Joost won a Dutch race, Profronde of Almelo. This is a criterim, meaning it's a circuit race in an urban area, in this case Almelo in the eastern part of the Netherlands where he was born and raised. The event --part of a festival that continues into the evening with live music -- was blessed with an unusually warm and sunny day. Although most of the racers were Dutch, an top-ranked Australian, Robbie McEwen, participated, having dropped out of the Tour of Spain. And so did the Luxembourger, Frank Schleck, winner this year of the prestigious Amstel Gold Race and the famous L'Alpe-d'Huez stage of the Tour de France. Joost went off the front with Bram Tankink to beat out Robbie, Frank, and everyone else, and Joost edged Tankink in the final sprint. Robbie came in third. (Like Joost, Tankink is a local in those parts.)

The race wrapup says one prize for winning was that Joost got to kiss Celina Kalfane, the "rondemiss," who is Dutch of Indian origin. Click image to enlarge. Source.

a reaction of pain: Emerson's journal, 9/1/1823

From the Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson

Emerson continues the travel diary of his return from Western Massachusetts:

[Monday, Sept. 1]
After a dreamless night, and a most hospitible entertainment, I parted from Greenfeld and through an unusually fine country, crossed the Connecticut (shrunk to a rivulet in this place somewhere in Montagu). My solitary way somewhat more dreary, as I drew nearer Wendell, and the only relief to hot sandy roads and a barren, monotonous region was one one forest with many straight, clean pine trees upwards of a hundred feet high, "fit for the mast of some great Admiral." [see note at bottom] All that day was a thoughtless, heavy pilgrimage, and Fortune deemed that such a crowded week of pleasure demanded a reaction of pain. At night I was quartered in the meanest caravansera which has contained my person since the tour began. Traveller! weary and jaded, who regardest the repose of thine earthly tenement; traveller, hungry and athirst, whose heart warms to the hope of animal gratification; traveller of seven or seventy years, beware, beware, I beseech you, of Haven's Inn in New Salem. Already he is laying a snare for your kindness or credulity in fencing in a mineral spring for your infirmities. Beware.

============

Note:

                         "The tallest are
Hewn on Norwegian Hills to be the mast
Of some great ammiral"

Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 1
[Editors' note.]

sabbath sermons: Emerson's journal, 8/31/1823

From the Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson:

In the morning [of August 31, a Sunday] I called at Mr. Ripley's, and was sorely disappointed to learn that his son was at Cambridge. The family were exceedingly hospitable, and I listened with as great pleasure to a sermon from Rev. Mr. Perkins of Amherst in the morning, and in the afternoon rode over to the other parish with Mr. R. to hear Rev. Lincoln Ripley. After service Mr. L. R. returned with us, and in the evening we heard another sermon from Mr. Perkins which pleased me abundantly better than his matins. He is a loud-voiced, scripture-read divine, and his compositions have the element of a potent eloquence, but he lacks taste. By the light of the evening star I walked with my reverend uncle [see note at bottom], a man who well sustained the character of an aged missionary. It is a new thing to him, he said, to correspond with his wife, and he attends the mail regularly every Monday morning to send or receive a letter.

================
Note: The photo shows George Ripley (source: PAL).

Rev. Lincoln Ripley was Mr. Emerson's step-great-uncle, as being brother of Dr. Ezra Ripley, minister of Concord, who had married the widow of Rev. William Emerson of Concord, the builder of the "Old Manse," and chaplain in the army at Ticonderoga. Rev. Lincoln Ripley was minister of Waterford, Maine. [Editors' note.]

Joost interviewed

Joost Posthuma's web site tells of an interview with him in Sportweek and gives a link to a pdf file of the article.

Like his site, the sports mag is written in Dutch. It explains that Joost came relatively late to professional cycling and has had to do some quick catching up. As a teenager, he excelled in 800- and 1000-meter track races, but found that he was an eternal second behind Bram Som. Som has gone on to be the European 800-meter champion, while Joost, as we know, has been making his way nicely on the Rabobank team.

The article says Rabobank hasn't been known for nurturing young talent, rather wasting it in support roles. Thus Joost has spent a lot of time protecting the Rabobank team leader of the moment. Still, he has shown a lot of flair when given his own lead, taking off on early breaks and placing well in time trials. He's also twice taken stages in the Paris-Nice race and came in second in this year's young-rider competition in that race. He also possessed the White Jersey for best young rider during the first two days of this year's Tour de France, and took 6th in this year's Eneco Tour.

All this comes out in the interview as well as some comments from his team coach on his development: how he's young: has developed the ability to be a winnner, but hasn't yet got the right mind-set. He himself says he still feels the uncertainties of a new-comer since most of the guys he's up against were winning as junior bike racers when he was still running track. He's comfortable providing support (domestique in racing lingo). Still, he also points out, he was the top Rabobank finisher in the Eneco Tour.

He says his style is to be constantly on the attack, taking chances rather than playing the odds, and adds that -- like his mentor Erik Dekker -- he seems to be suited for the tours as much as the one-day classics. This makes him strategically useful to Rabobank, since they haven't been as strong in the tours as they might (despite winning last year's Tour of Spain).

Dekker himself says that Joost has lots of potential. The two are frequently compared these days, with Dekker saying Posthuma has yet to prove himself and Posthuma saying it's flattering, though premature, to be called the new Erik Dekker. He feels his confidence growing and says he's being given more and more freedom to drive forward. He hopes to progess by winning small, short races and see whether in time he's able to come out on top of the major ones.

meditating in the dark: Emerson's journal, 8/29/1823

From the Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson:

Here's more from Emerson's travel diary about his walk to western Massachusetts. This one describes his stay in the Amherst area, written a week or so later.

Friday morning [August 29] we went in a chaise in pursuit of a lead mine said to lie about five miles off, which we found after great and indefatigable search. We tied our horse and descended, by direction, into a somewhat steep glen, at the bottom of which we found the covered entrance of a little canal about five feet wide. Into this artificial cavern we fired a gun to call out the miner from within. The report was long and loudly echoed and after a weary interval we discerned a boat with lamps lighted on its side issuing from this dreary abode. We welcomed the miner to the light of the sun, and leaving our hats without, and binding our heads, we lay down in the boat and were immediately introduced to a cave varying in height from four to six and eight feet, hollowed in a pretty soft sandstone through which the water continually drops. When we lost the light of the entrance and saw only this gloomy passage by the light of lamps, it required no effort of the imagination to believe we were leaving the world, and our smutty ferryman was a true Charon.

After sailing a few hundred feet, the vault grew higher and wider overhead, and there was a considerable trickling of water on our left; this was the ventilator of the mine and reaches up to the surface of the earth. We continued to advance in this manner for 900 feet, and then got out of the boat and walked on planks a little way to the end of this excavation. Here we expected to find the lead vein, and the operations of the subterranean man, but were sadly disappointed. He had been digging through this stone for 12 years, and has not yet discovered any lead at all. Indications of lead at the surface led some Boston gentlemen to set this man at work, in the expectation that after cutting his dark canal for 1000 feet, he would reach the vein, and the canal would then draw off the water which prevented them from digging from above. As yet he has found no lead, but, as he gamely observed, 'has reached some excellent granite.' In this part of the work he has forty dollars for every foot he advances and it occupies him ten days to earn this.

He has advanced 975 feet, and spends his days, winter and summer,alone in this damp and silent tomb. He says the place is excellent for meditation; and that he sees no goblins. Many visitors come to his dark residence, and pay him a shilling apiece for the sight. A young man, he said, came the day before us, who after going in a little way was taken with terror and said he felt faint, and returned. Said miner is a brawny person, and discreet withal; has a wife and lives near the hole. All his excavations are performed by successive blasting.

In the afternoon I set out on my way to Greenfield, intending to pass the Sabbath with George Ripley. Mr. Strong insisted on carrying me to Hatfield, and thence I passed, chiefly on foot, through Whately and Deerfield over sands and pine barrens, and across Green River to Greenfield, and did not arrive there till after ten o'clock and found both taverns shut up. I should have staid in Deerfield if Mr. S. had not ridiculed the idea of getting to Greenfield that night.

climbing Mount Holyoke: Emerson's journal, 8/28/1823

From the Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson:

Here's more from Emerson's travel diary about his walk to western Massachusetts. He's writing a week or so later about the end of his stay in the Amherst area.

After spending three days very pleasantly at Mrs. Shepard's, among orators. botonists, minerologists, and above all, ministers, I set off on Friday morning [August 28] with Thomas Greenough and another little cousin in a chaise to visit Mount Holyoke. How high the hill may be I know not; for different accounts make it eight, twelve, and sixteen hundred feet from the river. The prospect repays the ascent, and although the day was hot and hazy, so as to preclude a distant prospect, yet all the broad meadows in the immediate vicinity of the mountain through which the Connecticutt winds make a beautiful picture, seldom rivalled. After adding our names in the books to the long list of strangers whom curiosity has attracted to this hill, we descended in safety without encountering rattlesnake or viper that have given so much bad fame to the place. We were informed that about forty people ascended the mountain every fair day during the summer. After passing throught Hadley meadows, I took I took leave of my companions at Northampton bridge and crossed for the first time the far-famed Yankee river.

{caption and credit: This is a hazy-day August view from atop Mount Holyoke showing the Connecticut River. The photographer says "on a clear day you can see Amherst, Northampton, even Greylock, Monadnock, and Mount Snow." credit: Jimmy Squid}

Joost takes 6th place in Eneco Tour

Joost Posthuma took sixth place in the tour of Belgium and the Netherlands (Eneco Tour). The highest-placed Dutchman in the event, he beat out a bunch of big-name riders, including Tom Boonen, Didier Rous, Karsten Kroon, and, on his own Rabobank team, the primo rider, Juan Antonio Flecha.

The conclusion of the final stage, late last week, was exciting. Stefan Schumacher, the eventual winner, overcame George Hincapie in the final few meters by a 2-second margin. He took him down, literally, after an inavertent slap from a spectator forced him to swerve into George's path.

The photo at right shows Schumacher (in yellow) surviving the incident and Hincapie (in red) on the road. Joost, who is probably the guy in orange and blue at left, came in 14th in the sprint. {photo credit: Eneco Tour site}

Go to CyclingNews for all the news you could want about the race.

does sport give meaning to life? - the Kop at 100

Yesterday marked the 100th anniversary of The Kop, a stand in the stadium of the Liverpool football club. It no longer exists, replaced roughly 20 years ago by conventional seating; it was a set of concrete terraces built on a constructed hillside made of brick and rubble. I blogged about it last February in a post on Liverpool FC fans, Susan Sontag, and the Boer War. The fans, called Kopites, were credited with helping the team achieve dominance in home matches, not through visciousness towards opponents but rather by showing unquestioning support and passionate affection. As local accounts put it, this passionate affection for the Reds is shown in the adoption of You'll Never Walk Alone as anthem.

A club fan-site has a short review of the Kop's history. I've put extracts below. There's more history at the club's tv site and about.com has an informative article on Bill Shankly, who is credited with helping the Kop achieve much of its character.

Shankly came from a small Scottish mining village where life was hard and football was an essential diversion from the dangers of the pits. The about.com article says "Working six days a week in the harsh dangerous world of the coal face, left only Saturday evening for socialising over a beer at the Miner's Welfare Club - and Sunday for playing soccer." Shankly turned into an excellent player (one of a surprisingly large number who were able to use the sport as a means of escape.) As the article quoted below says, his work-life gave him a life-long commitment to socialism and helped him retain a strong bond with the working-class fans who inhabited the Kop.

=============

Here's the extract from the Liverpool FC tv web site:

Spion Kop's mixture of myth and magic, Aug 25 2006

extracts:

Saturday's first home game of the season marks the 100th anniversary of Liverpool FC's Spion Kop. In the first of two special reports, Mike Chapple looks at the creation of a sporting legend

THE Afrikaans name for the battle is Spioenkop, spioen for spy or look out and kop meaning hill or outcropping. Logical then that, at the end of the 1905/6 season, the new brick and cinder banking at Anfield should be christened the Spion Kop by Liverpool Echo sports editor Ernest Edwards.

It was named in honour of the many Merseysiders who died vainly trying to take the hill against overwhelming odds during the Boer War.

If Mr Edwards were still alive to celebrate tomorrow's 100th anniversary celebrations for the Kop, he would no doubt be pleased to note that, without the benefit of foresight, his moniker had come to mean something more profound than its literal translation.

This is epitomised by the Kop's anthem You'll Never Walk Alone. Sung at the climax of Roger and Hammerstein's classic movie musical Carousel, it's a song about united strength and fighting on together against all the odds.

It became Liverpool's rallying call after the song became Gerry and the Pacemakers' recordbreaking third consecutive number one hit in October, 1963.

[Under one of the] most iconic managers of them all, Bill Shankly, the terrace at last began to build its own unique and formidable identity.

Shankly's influence in all this was crucial. A true Socialist, he was the ultimate believer in the concept a football club had a responsibility to perform a service not to the shareholders but to the ordinary man in the street who worshipped at its gates.

Kopites know that through the wind and the rain their support is always expected - and respected. They respond in kind.

a new college: Emerson's diary for August 26, 1823

From the Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson:

Continuing the narrative of his walk from Boston the Amherst, Emerson's travel diary for the evening of August 25, 1823, contains some strained witticisms revealing pretty clearly that (a) he intended to share the diary with his family and (b) that he felt a strong need to impress his brothers; by implication that (as he says elsewhere) he felt less accomplished, capable, or intelligent than they were.

Thus, having arrived in the town of Amherst, he writes: "I sit here ninety miles from home, and three from the Institution [Amherst College], and have the pleasure and eke the honour, to waft, on the winged steeds of a wish, my best regards to the lords and ladye who sit at home [i.e. his mother and brothers]; to the majesty of Tartary, chiefest of men, calling the young satraps to order from the elbow chair and secretly meditating golden schemes in an iron age; then to the young lion of the tribe (to change the metaphor) now resting and musing on his honourable oars; ..." [see note at bottom]

His diary entry for a Thursday early in September, catches us up:

Thursday, August [actually September; if a Thursday early in the month, probably the 4th]

Tuesday morning [August 26] I engaged Mr. Bartlett to bring me to Mrs. Shepard's and I think the worthy man returned with some complacent recollections of the instructions and remarks he had dropped on the way for the stranger's edification. Our wagon ride was somewhat uneasy from below, but its ups and downs were amply compensated by the richness and grandeur visible above and around. Hampshire County rides in wagons. In this pleasant land I found a house full of friends, -- a noble house, very good friends. In the afternoon I went to the College. Never was so much striving, outstretching, and advancing in a literary cause as is exhibited here. ... [Emerson writes about how the local people supported the college] About three years ago, ... when the cornerstone of the South College was laid, the institution did not own a dollar. A cartload of stones was brought by a farmer in Pelham, to begin the foundation; and now they have two large brick edifaces, a President's house, and considerable funds. ... A poor one-legged man died last week in Pelham, who was not known to have any property, and left them four thousand dollars to be appropriated to the building of a chapel, over whose door is to be inscribed his name, Adams Johnson. ...

==========
Note: Waldo's brother William is the "Majesty of Tartary." He had begun the school for young ladies where Waldo then taught and he was about to leave Waldo in charge of the school so he could train for the ministry in Germany. The "lion of the tribe" is younger-brother Edward, a rising senior at Harvard. The entry also refers to Waldo's friend Robert Bulkeley and his youngest brother Charles. {Source: Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson, with annotations, edited by Edward Waldo Emerson and Waldo Emerson Forbes (Boston : Houghton Mifflin Co., 1909).

a bit of precarious credit: Emerson's Journal 8/25/1823

From the Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson:

Belchertown, August 25 [1823]

After passing through West Brookfield, I breakfasted among some right worshipful waggoners at the pleasant town of Western, and then passed through a part of Palmer (I believe) and on to this place. I count that road pleasant and that air good, which forces me to smile from mere animal pleasure, albeit I may be a smiling man; so I am free to commend the road from Cutler's Tavern in Western, as far as Babcock's in Ware, to any youthful traveller, whol walks upon a cloudless August morning. Let me not forget to record here the benevevolent landlady of Ware who offered me her liquors and crackers upon the precarious credit of my return, rather than exchange my bills.

This maps shows where Belchertown is located in Western Massachusetts. It looks like Emerson has walked across half the state. {source: Mass Dept of Env Protection, Belchertown page.}


This map shows the townships of Western Massachusetts, including part of Palmer and Belchertown, next to Emerson's destination: Amherst. {Source: Visit Western Mass}

pigs are said to see the wind: Emerson 8/22/1823

From the Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson

JOURNAL OF A WALK TO THE CONNECTICUT

August 22, 1823.

"Have lights when other men are blind
As pigs are said to see the wind"

Friday noon, Warren's Hotel.

After a delightful walk of twenty miles, I reached this inn before noon, and in the near recollection of my promenade through Roxbury, Newton, Needham, Natick, do recommend the same, particularly as far as the Lower Falls in Newton, to my friends who are fond of fine scenery.

To this stage of mine errantry no adventure has befallen me; no, not the meeting with a mouse. I both thought and talked a little with myself on the way, and gathered up and watered such sprigs of poetry as I feared had wilted in my memory. I thought how History has a two­ fold effect, viz., intellectual pleasure and moral pain. And in the midst of a beautiful country I thought how monotonous and uniform is Nature; but I found now as ever that, maugre all the flights of the sacred muse, the profane solicitudes of the flesh elevated the Tavern to a high rank among my pleasures.

WORCESTER; evening, 8 o'clock.

I reached Worcester one half hour ago, having walked forty miles without difficulty. Every time I traverse a turnpike, I find it harder to conceive how they are supported; I met but three or four travellers between Roxbury and Worcester. The scenery all the way was fine, and the turnpike, a road of inflexible principle. swerving neither to the right hand nor the left, stretched on before me, always in sight. A traveller who has nothing particular to think about is apt to make a very lively personification of his Road and to make the better companion of it. The Kraken, thought I, or the Sea-Worm, is three English miles long; but this land worm of mine is some forty. and those of the hugest.

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This extract comes the Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson, edited by Edward Waldo Emerson and Waldo Emerson Forbes (Houghton Mifflin, 1909) Of it, The Edward Emerson says: "This, though written in a pocket note-book, is inserted in its proper place in this journal."

=============

Ralph Waldo Emerson was 19 when he wrote this, a year out of Harvard. He was then earning his way by teaching young Boston ladies in a school that his brother William had started and left to Waldo when he departed to study in Germany. Edward Emerson says he was distressed in these months by a feeling of inadequacy as a teacher (in most things he felt less able than his accomplished brothers) and worried about his health (most of his family suffered from consumption and he himself had symptoms of it).

During a summer break from teaching, he took a solitary walk to the Connecticut River to visit the new Amherst College. On August 22, he had only just begun this trek.

The quotation that heads the entry comes from William Butler's comic epic, Hudibras. You can find the full text at exclassics.com. As Emerson says, his mind has turned to this and other "sprigs of poetry" and Butler's mock-heroic style clearly infects him as he writes. At bottom I quote the (very long) sentence in which "pigs are said to see the wind" appears. Notice that Emerson -- consciously or not - re-phrases Butler's first line (it reads: "Had Lights where better eyes were blind").

Notice too that Emerson addresses a hypothetical reader in this entry. He may have intended to share his notes on this expedition with friends and family after his return. That might be why he put it in a pocket notebook and not the journal volume he was keeping at the time.

Those who have seen Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest will be familiar with Kraken (as the character, Ragetti -- played by Mackenzie Crook -- says, pronounced Krawken or Kroken, not Krayken). {Source of image: wikipedia - Colossal octopus by Pierre Denys de Montfort.}

The issue of Notes and Queries for July 30, 1853, has a discussion of pigs that are said to see the wind. The author asks whether it simply means pigs are sharp-sighted or that they have the privilege of seeing what is invisible. He inclines to the latter folk belief and quotes an authority to that effect. He adds: "The version I have always heard of it is --

"Pigs can see the wind 'tis said,
And it seemeth to them red."

Here is the run-on sentence out of Butler's Hudibras:

To turn your zealous frauds, and force,
To fits of conscience and remorse;
To be convinc'd they were in vain,
And face about for new again;
For truth no more unveil'd your eyes, 1085
Than maggots are convinc'd to flies
And therefore all your lights and calls
Are but apocryphal and false,
To charge us with the consequences
Of all your native insolences, 1090
That to your own imperious wills
Laid Law and Gospel neck and heels;
Corrupted the Old Testament,
To serve the New for precedent
T' amend its errors, and defects, 1095
With murther, and rebellion texts;
Of which there is not any one
In all the Book to sow upon
And therefore (from your tribe) the Jews
Held Christian doctrine forth, and use; 1100
As Mahomet (your chief) began
To mix them in the Alchoran:
Denounc'd and pray'd, with fierce devotion,
And bended elbows on the cushion;
Stole from the beggars all your tones, 1105
And gifted mortifying groans;
Had Lights where better eyes were blind,
As pigs are said to see the wind
Fill'd Bedlam with predestination,
And Knights-bridge with illumination: 1110
Made children, with your tones, to run for't,
As bad as bloody-bones, or LUNSFORD:
While women, great with child, miscarry'd,
For being to malignants marry'd
Transform'd all wives to DALILAHS 1115
Whose husbands were not for the Cause;
And turn'd the men to ten horn'd cattle,
Because they came not out to battle
Made taylors' prentices turn heroes,
For fear of being transform'd to MEROZ: 1120
And rather forfeit their indentures,
Than not espouse the Saints' adventures.

Joost does well in the BeneLux tour

Joost is in seventh place overall after four stages of the Belgian Eneco Tour. As usual, he did best in the time trial events, third in the Prologue and seventh in the stage-4 ITT.

CyclingNews has good coverage.

Joost's web page says he lost 15 seconds in the ITT because he missed a turn. He had a mechanical problem in the third stage, but managed to fight his way back to the front and finished 25th.


This shot comes from the Eneco site.

slouched in a tilted chair, reading: Emerson 8/21/1820

August 21st.
In the H[arvard] C[ollege] Athenæum I enjoyed a very pleasant hour reading the life of Marlborough in the "Quarterly Review." I was a little troubled there by vexatious trains of thought; but once found myself stopping entirely from my reading and occupied in throwing guesses into futurity while I was asking myself if, when, ten or a dozen years hence, I am gone far on the bitter, perplexing roads of life, when I shall then recollect these moments, now thought so miserable, shall I not fervently wish the possibility of their return, and to find myself again thrown awkwardly on the tilted chair in the Athenæum study with my book in my hand; the snuffers and lamps and shelves around; and Motte I coughing over his newspaper near me, and ready myself to saunter out into gaiety and Commons when that variously-meaning bell shall lift up his tongue.
"Sed fugit interea, fugit irreparabile tempus."

This comes from the Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson. He was 20 when he wrote this. Though it's summer, the college term was only now coming to an close and he was about to end his junior year at Harvard.

Notes:

I don't have information about a Harvard College Athenæum. He may have meant the reading room of Hollis, his residence hall. The Boston Athenæum was established in 1807. {I got the photo of Hollis from wikipedia.}


About the Quarterly Review, Schoolnet says:

The Quarterly Review was established by John Murray in 1809 as a Tory rival to the Whig supporting Edinburgh Review. The idea for the journal came from Sir Walter Scott, a Tory who had previously worked for Francis Jeffrey's Edinburgh Review. The first editor was William Gifford and contributors included Robert Southey and Tory politicians George Canning, and the Marquis of Salisbury.


The Quarterly Review stood politically for preserving the status quo. The journal was very hostile to the work of writers in favour of political reform. Writers such as Percy Bysshe Shelley, Leigh Hunt, William Hazlitt, Thomas Babington Macaulay and Charles Dickens all received hostile reviews in the journal, whereas the work of Jane Austin and Sir Walter Scott was warmly praised. It was alleged that John Wilson Croker's savage review of John Keat's Endymion contributed to the poet's early death. The Quarterly Review ceased publication in 1967.

Motte was a classmate, Mellish Irving Motte, a Southern boy (Charleston, SC). After graduating he became minister of a Boston Congregational church.

Sed fugit interea fugit irreparabile tempus means, "But it flees in the meantime: irretrievable time flees". Wikipedia says: "The expression was first used in the verse Georgica written by Roman poet Virgil"

night fears: Emerson 8/20/1837

An entry in the Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson

August 20, 1837

Lidian remembers the religious terrors of her childhood
when Young tinged her day and night thoughts, and the
doubts of Cowper were her own; when every lightning
seemed the beginning of conflagration and every noise
in the street the crack of doom. I have some parallel
recollections at the Latin School when I lived in Beacon
Street. Afterwards, what remained for one to learn was
cleansed by books and poetry and philosophy, and came
in purer forms of literature at College. These spiritual
crises no doubt are periods of as certain occurrence in
some form of agitation to every mind as dentition or
puberty. Lidian was at that time alarmed by the lines on
the gravestones.

Emerson was 34 when he wrote this. His brother Charles had died some months before of consumption, the family disease. Too many whom Emerson loved most died young: his first wife Ellen, his brothers, his son Waldo.

When he wrote this entry he was preparing his famous Phi Beta Kappa speech, The American Scholar, to be delivered less than two weeks hence.

Lidian was his second wife, Lydia Jackson; they had married two years prior to this entry in the Journals.

The "Young" who tinged Lidian's day and night thoughts was Edward Young, English poet, who published a pretty morbid book called "Night Thoughts." (examples: "The knell, the shroud, the mattock, and the grave, / The deep damp vault, the darkness and the worm."

(Night Thoughts. Night iv. Line 10.)

, "The spirit walks of every day deceased."

(Night Thoughts. Night ii. Line 180.)

, and "Prayer ardent opens heaven."

(Night Thoughts. Night viii. Line 721.)

.

"Cowper" was William Cowper, also an English poet, a forerunner of Wordsworth in his celebration of nature and English country life.

Both Young and Cowper were evangelical Christians -- Young became a minister and Cowper composed hymms including some that are well known, including:

GOD moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
Olney Hymns (1779)--'Light Shining out of Darkness'

It's pretty safe to say that a kind of super-charged spirituality evoked Lidian's childhood religious terrors.