Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Into the Belly of the Beast

I travel to NYC [midtown] this morning for some meetings and to see some museums. I'll be there through Thursday evening, so no new posts on Wednesday and Thursday.

Election turmoil in Iran continues. Those claims by the past leader of a resounding win seem far-fetched. Perhaps a big lie ?

Barry to bloviate more. What else is new?

Tonight I expect to have a Golden Kryptonite Martini as the "club" bar. It's quite a convivial place, but I know fewer and fewer people nowadays. Time marches on.

Congress seems unable to walk and chew gum at the same time. Financial regulatory overhaul is running into Barry's health care reform and climate change legislation.

My German is making good progress now. But that language sure has some weird constructions. Why would one separate a prefix from a verb and stick it at the end of a sentence or clause ? Weird. And these stem vowel changes are so common. They are a relic in English, too, of its Germanic roots. [e. g. drink, drank, drunk] Some linguists think these oddities go back to a melding of a Semitic language [Phoenician] to proto-German circa 500 B. C. E. Perhaps. This wierdness came from somewhere and not from early Indo-European.

I took Latin in high school and remember some. From a time and population movement perspective, Latin must be rather closer to Indo-European than many modern languages. And its grammar seems closer to Polish than to English, French, Spanish or German. Of course the words themselves are very different.

A language has two dimensions: its words and its grammar. Both are important for understanding linguistic roots. Too much attention is placed on simple word evolution. Grammar might be more important. I strongly recommend the books by John McWhorter on this subject and the Teaching Company CD course by him. He's an excellent lecturer and writer. and extremely knowledgeable without being pedantic.

A language is really a bundle of closely related dialects with one annointed "standard" dialect, usually from the region of capital city of the nation. Standard English comes from the London dialect; standard French from the Paris dialect; and Polish from the Warsaw dialect.

Enjoy the week. The blog will return Friday.

Word of the Day

"Clinal" - adjective [$10]; from cline - noun
Cline means 1. Biol. a graded sequence of differences within a species, etc.; 2. a continuum with an infinite number of gradations.
Sentence: "All peoples of the world speak complex varieties of language, differing in clinal degree from one another and often not assignable as any one "thing". [from McWorter, The Story of Human Language", notes for the Teaching Company CD course, part 3, page 28.]

Das Wort der Woche

That means, "Word of the Week" in German. Coming soon.

SÅ‚owo Tygodnia

That means, "Word of the Week" in Polish. Coming soon.

88 comments:

mfl59 said...

While at NYAC perhaps you should get in a workout with some of their wrestlers....

Bunkerman said...

"should", but ....

Bunkerman said...

I'll probably hit the weight room, though.

Bunkerman said...

I was just a good HS wrestler, those guys are wayyyy beyond my "grade level".

Bunkerman said...

I used to lift with some and know a couple of them.

Bud said...

Bman what is your analysis on yday's selloff ??

Bud said...

how do you say...........'i have a wide stance' in german ?

mfl59 said...

Yes they have some real warriors there....men of honor....

Bud said...

this lowlife inbred pedophile brian bruney........what type of human beings are yankee fans that they will cheer for him


yankee fans .............just a bunch of scum sucking sewer rats

Bunkerman said...

beefer/trader taking profits.
Buyers patient, waiting for dips, hence no bids close to highs.

Bunkerman said...

ask frosty for triple witch analysis - he knows that stuff.

Bunkerman said...

the beaten down were the recent winners.

Bunkerman said...

Heading for the train ... enjoy the "fun"

mern said...

housing starts up 15%........y?

we need more homes?

asset based economy indeed.

on and inflation went down in may.

if rick santelli didnt just trash these #'s, i mite be a little concerned.

but never fear the bulls have steve liesman.

liesman and cramer bullish.

harrison and santelli bearish.

chatted with a harvard buddy yesterday. put his jaquar, up for sale, on graigslist yesterday. he was litterally in tears.

i suppose he is a lagging indicator...... and so r my friends getting a divorce over a lack of money. oh and a friend from college emailed last nite, hes on FOOD STAMPS!

he made 200k last yr....... (i told him to save money starting in 98)

mern said...

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is accepting comedian David Letterman's apology over the controversial joke directed at her daughter, but says she hopes "men who 'joke' about public displays of sexual exploitation of girls will soon evolve."


A. has a losing VP candidate ever been mentioned after the 2nd week in november? guess the right has that ticket for 12. palin/christ in 2012. CANT WAIT!

b. she knows what evolve means? NFW!

Spin-em said...

hows Ellen today mern?

mfl59 said...

Bud perhaps you could take some of your winnings from the tank and buy mern's buddy's jaguar.....

mern said...

i swear to god he only wants 6 grand!

maybe he wants to join the tank?

mern said...

lets see its 1238 or 938 on the west coast.

ellen probably catching her morning nut with porcia.

lucky bitch!

Bud said...

ummmm................is the recession back ???

mfl59 said...

Bunkerman must be putting bids in from the NYAC gymnasium....

SPX 1200 by next month...per bull on minyanville...

mfl59 said...

Bud please repost your golf swing video...thank you...

Bud said...

i have a lesson tonite.........i'll ask him again

tonite's lesson............grip pressure

mfl59 said...

grip the club firmly but dont choke it...

"$150 indeed"....

mern said...

i havent seen anyone suggest this recession is over.

other than a bear market rip, what other signs r there?

credit loosening up for people who dont need like the friggin NBA?

only 400,000 a month losing work now........

1 trillion dollars of tax payer money thrown at a problem without much rhyme or reason.

cramer is bullish

the yield curve is steep.......

gas is 3 bucks again.....

they say its a rally in the dollar everytime it gets near 80....

not one public company in the S&P 500 is doing any real hiring...........

this is a recovery? or 1934, 21st century style, but with no deflation just depressflation.

SUNSHINE DAYDREAM!

mern said...

thats it, sal is gay.

never mentions women, and is a homophobe.

now that post.......

does he choke u for 150 or does that cost more?

Bud said...

i'm not the one the spanks it barry nite................you dark meat lovin fag

mern said...

bud ive slept with more women in the past yr than u have this decade.

ive slept with 4 women in the past yr, if u count the nigger chink.

2 white chix
1 negro
1 chink/nigger

Spin-em said...

loooooooooooooooooooooooool mern

Spin-em said...

"slept with"..rofllllllllllll

chink/nigger "make love to me mern"

loooooooooooooool

Bud said...

"negro"

"chink nigger"

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo



ummmmm............you still a dark meat lovin faggot......f'ng wide stance queer

Bud said...

oh no..........say it ain't so


sammy sosa tested positive for roids

Spin-em said...

"merci jim"

mfl59 said...

FedEx Corp.'s loss widened for its fiscal fourth quarter on higher-than projected write-downs related to its Kinko's business and as demand slumped.The shipping giant projected earnings this quarter far below analysts' forecasts. FedEx expects earnings of 30 cents to 45 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had projected 68 cents. Chief Financial Officer Alan B. Graf Jr. said the operating environment through November is expected to be "extremely difficult" as manufacturing activity is expected to be down from a year earlier through the summer


Obviously the recession is over....

mern said...

While most are debating whether the "green shoots" are real or just weeds, Liz Ann Sonders is declaring the recession over.

Yes, Charles Schwab's chief investment strategist says the recession has ended, and believes second quarter GDP could be marginally positive.

LOOOOOOL

how does she have a job?

oh like palin, shes hot. thats the only reason. shes retarded!

mern said...

what was that stock she picked in a CNBC contest that went down 60% in a week?

she lost her job for that.

probably blew chuck and got the job at schwab.

mern said...

liz ann, cramer and kudlow bullish............

santelli and toddo bearish......

just called my ticket broker for floor seats for dave mathews.

out of business!

he was just in business 2 months ago, and said things were ok.

WOW

mfl59 said...

Im sure Ron Paul loves the fact that the Fed now about to get even more power....

mfl59 said...

what did you learn about grip pressure Bud?

mern said...

im guessing the lesson went like this.

first some ball tickling.

then some grippage on the lower part of the shaft.

next the stroking of the pipe.

finally, a deep swallow of that delicious gravy.

:-)

mfl59 said...

Spin-em said...
"slept with"..rofllllllllllll

chink/nigger "make love to me mern"

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Spin-em said...

Tiger goto Buds swing coach?? $150

mfl59 said...

Tiger's grip pressure must have been a bit off on that tee shot...i guess Hank Haney forgot to cover that during their warmup...

mfl59 said...

Has this kid Bob Doll ever been on tv and not said "money on the sidelines"? comedy....

maverick said...

need the video posted......

Spin-em said...

not many "thanks jim" these days......

mfl59 said...

mern the USA is really a horrid side, as much as it pains me to say it...no guts in the midfield whatsoever....absolutely noone to create anything that looks like futbol....very disheartening...

mern said...

this shud be gud!

took house off the market.

calling the banks about a reverse mortgage or a line of equity.

hoping housing bottomed, but.................it hasnt, im guessing.

the state says the house is worth 300. ill bet the bank doesnt see 150.

mern said...

i told u not as gud as 2006.

they sux!

wheres luzak when u need him?

oh yeah, chasing tail on the womens team in philly.

whats up with these harvard alums?

lol

mern said...

out of 350 mil, there aint more donovans here?

bullshit!

we have the talent. poor scouting and coaching.

the guy from NJ, playing for italy. i see kids like him all the time, at the state level in florida.

we play on the same fields as under 18 and 16. u shud see some of these kids. i probably dont have to tell u. im sure the competition is as gud, up north.

so how does beasely make a world class team?

mern said...

i cant even get a line of eqity on a fully paid for home at wachovia.

wow!

the 400 i have in munis doesnt generate enough income.

actaully this cud really fuck me up from moving to costa rica!

god damnit!

mern said...

omg they wont lend money to u if the house was listed in the last 6 month.

mfl59 said...

"banks are lending again"

"the corporate bond market is very healthy"


oops....

mern said...

yep its official a fully paid for home in tampa is a liability not an asset.

i cant fucking believe this!

mern said...

im fucking LIVID!!!!!!!!!!!

mern said...

now looking into reverse mortgages.

UGH!!!!!!!!!

mern said...

i dont even really need a loan and cant get one!

i guess i gotta sell some munis............

at least those are back to par.

this is probably a great time to sell em.

florida is going BK

mern said...

wachovia gave me a fu

chase, too.

vystar credit union. giving me a loan, maybe.

mern said...

my credit rating is over 800, cant get a loan at a big bank.

ROFLLLLL

mern said...

this chix told me i have about the best credit rating shes ever seen. within 15 bips.

and publically traded companys wont lend me money.............................

mfl59 said...

will be interested to hear Bunkerman's take on your predicament....

mern said...

wait for it






























vystar rejected me, too.

i cant borrow money with no debt and assets close to 7 figures.

mern said...

i guess i can margin the munis...... or sell em.......

Spin-em said...

maybe you sound "total retard" on the phone???

mern said...

i didnt know my credit rating was 810?

still cant get money!

mern said...

except the agent is stunned too.

mern said...

shes filling an appeal

mfl59 said...

mern there are green shoots all around us....be patient...

Spin-em said...

BigDaddy Mern(cigar crunched to side of mouth..talkin Mr Potter).."You mean ta tell me...a man with no debt,7 figures in assets,810 credit score,the best pot smoker in his class mind you....cant get a looooooooan??? What kinda penny ante savings and loan operation you runnin here?????..Youre God D@#$% right you'll get the manager"....

maverick said...

how did you salvage an 810 through a divorce?....well done sir

mern said...

she didnt sign a prenup so ceremony wasnt legal......

so i wasnt "married" per say.

she was on the deed to the house, which fucked me up somewhat.

paid her about 30 grand to go away and i was robbed!

mern said...

i wonder if we were legally married when she wud have wanted a divorce?

honestly, probably the day we got back from the cruise we got married on.

hell we almost broke up, then, and she didnt stand to take almost 500.

i tried to marry a stockbroker and got what i deserved. a money grubbing nigger chink!

mern said...

but the blowjobs were FANTASTIC!

mern said...

they really were.......

big phat nigger lips......

mfl59 said...

"a money grubbing nigger chink"

what say you non-posters?

Spin-em said...

Big Al in Ohio "Bunky BAN MERN B4 HE TAKES YOU TO HELL WITH HIM!!"

mern said...

this isn't hell?

rut oh!

mern said...
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Spin-em said...
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mern said...
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Spin-em said...
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mern said...
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