Loopback Filter with Truman Boyes

In this clip, Ron Paul speaks with Ben Bernanke about the weakening of the US dollar as the fed cuts interests rates to ridiculous levels which in turn creates inflation and the general loss of buying power and wealth of individuals. It is an interesting clip, and it shows that obviously Ron Paul understands economics clearly on par with Ben; and certainly challenges the fiscal (un)responsibility that is present under the current Fed.

I just finished reading Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. This book takes statistics to a new level, away from the bland and grey colored pages of text books, but into a more interesting and delectable taste of the real world. The book presents economic studies that intertwine with seemingly random trivia facts (ie. what do sumo wrestlers have in common with schoolteachers), and the studies on names that parents
give to their children and their economic status including their socioeconomic status (ie. education of parents). It was a truly enjoyable read
that prompted me to keep reading through it even when there were pages of data between actual paragraphs of information.

The citations at the end of the book are thorough and informative. I think I will read some of Roland Fryer’s papers, and look forward to reading any material that may surface between S. Dubner and Roland Fryer’s joint publishing.

Today seemed t o fly by with a few conference calls and consuming large amounts of documents. I caught the tram from Bourke and Russell over to Spencer ( after meeting up with dave over at QV) then made  it to southern cross station for a quick trip to the airport on the skybus. Easy, cheap, what more could you ask for?

At the AirNZ lounge now, downstairs enjoying the free internet, and decided since my laptop is packed to use one of the workstations. Decent.

Fantastic pasta and good atmosphere over at Lucattini’s.  Highly recommended great dining over on Punch Lane off of Little Bourke St in Melbourne. More to write later; but feeling a bit tuckered from a day running around between offices. Caught up with the JNPR gang for a coffee. Been thinking about starting some more writing and getting involved in another paper or book. A paper would mean less strings attached to the writing, but a book would be interesting as well if the subject was specific and useful. Hard to say at the moment.

Caught up with Phil over email and it seems his brother is really getting a name for himself within the music industry with his local NJ radio show, hosting big names from the hip hop world. Great to hear that it is coming together for him, its been a long time coming; I remember giving him one of my DJ mixers back in the day.

Reading Freakonomics at the moment. Great book so far, and highly interesting information on every page. Making sense of data is something I find myself inclined to continue to persue. After all, isn’t that what networking is all about?

Our book (BNA) is apparently doing quite well. I just found it on Target.com : http://tinyurl.com/yulxzb ; and as of today we are #4 on Amazon in the category of Books: Professional and Technical: Engineering : Telecommunications : Networks.

Burmese police, your weakness shows as you attack the monks for which your country respects. Gone are the days where attacks and atrocities can continue to be under the radar of the world. A monk is not above a man, but a monks are peaceful people, and your actions will forever be remembered in your own heart.

A few months back, I received an advertisement for a cruise along the river(s) of Myanmar. As much as I would love to visit the country of Myanmar and see the Burmese villages and cities, I find it ethically wrong to financially support (indirectly) the illegitimate government of Myanmar.

Burma, your day will come. Remember Mandela: “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” You are almost there.

When the protesters grow is number, it means that change is underway and that the people are willing to make a difference. The catalysts which instigated the change could have been brewing in the background as the injustices and prevention of a democratic people realized the potential.

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The BBC has an article about the US blocking Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to visit the WTC ground zero. The site has been viewed by millions of people since the attacks; it is viewable on Google Earth, on Microsoft’s Live service, and has since been photographed in every possible way over time since the attacks; and yet for some reason the US state dept has deemed that the Iranian president would not be able to visit the site do to security concerns. This seems completely misguided and built upon illogical concerns, most especially when the Iranian president will already be in New York at the UN building. Surely the United Nations buildings with the number of influential worldly leaders and people would be far more of a secure location than the rebuilding site of the former World Trade Center, which has public viewing sections for all New Yorkers.

As tensions are high at the moment between Iran and the US, I can only see this current stance as promoting hostility between the respective nations of the leaderships. Pres. Ahmadinejad had asked the permission of the police dept, the US secret service, and the port authority of New York and NJ to visit the site.

Bloomberg news is reporting that a Thai airliner carrying 130 people crashed in Phuket. A heart breaking day for the traveler’s families and a hard time ahead for the Thai people in Phuket.  This will most likely affect the tourism in this region for a while.

Friday night we dined at Habibi in Wellington. Lebanese food warms my appetite and the servings and presentation at Habibi do great satisfaction to the hungry restaurateurs. The meals were a tad pricey and the beverages menu had only roughly 15 items, some sparkling wines, reds, whites, and local beers. It’s a new restaurant in a location that has been hard to attract business ( I think the last business in the same location, was a trendy T-shirt store); but they had a good crowd on Friday night; complete with a local belly dancer.

The fresh houmous with oil and lemon juice was fantastic. They serve it cold, although I am particularly fond of warm houmous as Jenny and I use to have in NYC.
Location:

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Last night we attended the Opera House to see Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi play some of his new music from his album Tsimba Itsoka as well as some of his classics. I got into listening to his music after reading about him about 8 years ago when my mother was traveling to Africa. I purchased the Paivepo album for her, and then completely got into it myself. The Zimbabwe and other southern Africa peoples living in New Zealand were absolutely spell bound when he started playing.  Tuku has fun with the people and gets into jamming on his guitar, dancing like crazy (more than you could imagine for a man born in 1952), and telling stories. Sometimes he would break into English and connect with the larger audience, thou most of the singing is in Shona.

We danced from one of the middle tiers in the opera house, and suprisingly met up with one of Jenny’s co-workers whom is from Zimbabwe.

Tuku generously signed autographs of his CD’s and we got him to sign his new album as well as Paivepo. Great work Tuku, thanks for the visit!