Cantona: Director of Football?

Well whoever would have believed it? Eric Cantona, here seen Kung-Fu kicking a Crystal Palace fan, has been named Director of Football at the New York Cosmos. Maybe he was chosen because of the deep philosophy he will communicate to the team? His proposed solution to the global financial slump was a run on the banks. And here's a favourite Cantona quote of mine: "Quand les mouettes suivent un chalutier, c'est parce qu'elles pensent que des sardines seront jetees a la mer (Seagulls follow trawlers because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea)". Important for young players to internalize these things.

Why is it that clubs think the best players always make the best directors? Surely Cantona will go the way of that other footballing great - chemical-crazed Diego Maradona - who, for some reason undeciphered by rational humanity, was chosen to manage Argentina for the last World Cup. Maradona guided the country to a 6-1 rout by Bolivia and a 4-0 hammering by Germany before leaving with the team in chaos.

9 megatons dismantled

Given that the 9-megaton B53 bomb recently dismanteled at Y-12 reportedly had the potential to flatten most objects within a 10-20 mile radius, and that Y-12 is only a couple of miles from ORNL, I'm kind of relieved that the mission was safely accomplished!

No, seriously, I'm sure there was virtually no chance of a nuclear inferno happening, although the workers involved would have had to be careful to shield themselves from the toxic materials. The operation also demonstrates that Y-12 has an important role to play in peace through nuclear disarmament.

Cut Everything Except Seeding for the Future.

Now for a somewhat political statement - I don't make many of them here.

As we all are aware, many countries have experienced large reductions of government income due to the recent near-global recession. Now, although I do appreciate that 'stimulus' measures can be effective, and I don't pretend to master the fine art of recession economics, it does seem to my simplistic mind that income reduction should be accompanied by reductions in government spending.

So the question would be where to make the cuts? Well, in this question I tend to think like an average household might. An average household would cut down on the luxuries while keeping the essentials, and would shore up their financial situation for the future. So that's why, for example, I don't think government tax incentives to encourage spending on luxury items makes sense when you're trying to stimulate a healthy recovery. It might indeed help lead in the short term to economic activity and an increase in GDP/employment etc, but in the longer term it would just increase debt.

So cuts need to be made in spending that does not promote economic growth. This, in the US, should include the big three: social security, medicare/medicaid and the military, which together make up the majority of federal spending. As for entitlement spending, certainly truly disadvantaged citizens need help to remain healthy and get back on their feet, and I'm aware that federal money spent in these fields is indeed immediately ploughed back into the economy, but this money arguably does not stimulate longer-term growth. We need to think creatively of ways of maintaining and improving entitlement care without throwing $1.2 trillion per year of federal money at it. For example, how to get more, healthier food on the tables of the hungry while spending less doing so.

We need to cut social security benefits and/or raise the age of full entitlement. And what was the point of the recent reduction in the social security payroll tax without transparent concomitant recalibration of the benefits received in future years? Live now, pay later.

The US medical system, which is one of the least effective and least fair among developed nations, needs to be revamped including (i) coverage for all, (ii) controlling costs and (iii) more competition. The system existing until now has been effective in none of the above. The recent healthcare act goes towards (i) without significantly tackling (ii) and (iii). Phil Bredesen's recent book "Fresh Medicine" describes how to do all three.

As for the military, in my opinion most of the wars fought by NATO countries since WWII have been at best ineffective and at worst disasters, and, by the way, have also done little to enhance economic influence. The Afghan and Iraq wars have wasted trillions. Certainly, our nuclear deterrent needs to be maintained, although we should continually work assiduously towards multilateral reduction. Also, of course any existing threats to Western society must be tackled, but this in an effective, and cost-effective, way: the present, dumb, invasion-based attempts at doing this have proven useless and painfully expensive.

So, it's across the board cuts, then, is it? Well, no. Government investment that is likely to produce clear economic return should be maintained. This means education, science and technology. Now, some people think that the government should keep out of anything to do with R and D - market forces will create the demand, stimulating private research. But the problem is that the financial system is skewed towards short-term gain, so private investment does not represent the longer-term wishes of the people. The result of this is that we are failing on counts that are of prime importance to us and our families. Why, for example, do we we spend $900 billion per year on the military but $5bn on cancer research funding? Think of the relative suffering families endure at the hands of foreign foes relative to disease. Admittedly in 1940 we had to put everything we had into defending our patch. But, today, are we really 200 times more scared of the Taliban than cancer? I wrote at length about this in a previous blog entry, and to some extent this paragraph simply reflects what was written there. Science and technology are the way forward for the military as well, and in protection against terrorist attacks. In this the British government has led the way in recently proposing huge cuts in government spending while ringfencing science.

As for raising taxes? Certainly: in one way or another for those who got us into the mess in the first place, ranging from those responsible for extreme leveraging in certain banks right on down to the many individuals who borrowed too much. For the rest of us? Well, even if we don't feel responsible for the sub-prime crisis and ensuing debacle, maybe we should all chip in a bit. Higher taxes temporarily to get the deficit down subject to the condition that spending be also reduced.
Maybe economists would crucify this concept, but it is, in a way, what an average household would do.

Finally, will any of the above happen? No. I can't actually see any of it happening at all. None of it. Can you?

John Lennon, Natural Healing and the Church in Southern Germany

The magnificent Heiliggeistkirche.

Well, I'm on one of my tri-monthly visits to Heidelberg right now, and happened upon a couple of articles in Friday's local Rhein Neckar Zeitung that offer contrasting perspectives on attitudes towards activities that, from the point of view of the Church in Southern Germany, might appear borderline.

The first article reported on a concert entitled "John Lennon forever!" by 'Freddy Wonder and friends' in the magnificent Heiliggeist Church in Heidelberg. The Lennon concert was hailed by all as a triumph and the Heiliggeistkirche as the perfect place to hold it, despite the fact that Lennon himself had an uneasy relationship with Christianity and, for a while, practised Hinduism.

The second article reported on the eviction of the "Naturheilverein" (Natural Healing Club) from the Catholic Church Rectory rooms in the tiny village of Spechbach in the surrounding Odenwald forest. The Club has been meeting in the Spechbach Rectory since 2002, and has now grown to 300 mostly female members. They were welcomed by the local priest, Father Meier, so long as they were offering innocent-sounding courses such as 'Mushroom Identification', 'Healthy Eating', 'Seminars for Couples and Pairs' and '"Classical" Homeopathy'. So far so good, but then the ladies started to offer suspicious-sounding courses in 'Chakra Meditation' and 'Healing with Stones'. Father Meier and the Catholic elders appeared to swallow hard and turn a blind eye. However, with recent offerings such as "Healing the Soul with Shamanistic Psycho-Kinesiology" the ladies have finally danced across the line, and are thus out on their asses. Pushed it a bit too far. They are, it is reported, rather aggrieved as they have already printed 4500 brochures for 2011 with the Catholic Rectory Rooms named as the meeting place.

I can't imagine 'Imagine' being allowed in the Heiliggeistkirche 30 years ago, so maybe the Nature Ladies would just need to wait awhile? Hard to predict that one, but I do suspect that in 2040 they'll still be in alternative accomodation.

CAUTION: graphic descriptions of disease and violence below.

Excerpt from “The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer” by Siddhartha Mukherjee. Mukherjee, a doctor, describes watching a two-year-old leukemia patient’s condition deteriorate as another drug fails:

"The patient “turned increasingly lethargic. He developed a limp, the result of leukemia pressing down on his spinal cord. Joint aches appeared, and violent, migrating pains. Then the leukemia burst through one of the bones in his thigh, causing a fracture and unleashing a blindingly intense, indescribable pain."

Excerpt from "JOKER ONE: A Marine Platoon's Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood" by Donovan Campbell.:

"The little kids stood in a tight knot on the sidewalk right next to our third vehicle, waving at us as we hopped in the Humvees, pleading for us to hand out more gifts.... Another explosion rang out, and the crowd of small children disintegrated into flame and smoke. From somewhere behind me, Marines started screaming out the worst words a platoon commander can hear: "Doc up! Doc up! Someone get a corpsman! Doc up!"I jumped out of the Humvee and looked around. I can't give specifics of the scene—I was too busy scanning the whole area and sorting out the enemy threat in my head—only a general impression, and it was of a macabre tableau from hell. The rocket had missed us. Instead it had impacted squarely in the middle of the crowd of small children. Dead and wounded little ones were draped limply all over the sidewalk, severed body parts mixing in with whole bodies, or in some cases flung even farther, into the street. Blood, always the blood, streamed onto the sidewalk and into the dirt, where it settled darkly in pools or rivulets. Across the whole scene drifted smoke and dust. The Marines jumped out of the vehicles and ran helter-skelter among the children, collecting the wounded and their body parts, applying first aid where they could. The docs were working frantically. I noticed, strangely enough, that they 'adn't bothered to put on their latex gloves."

Now for Jeremy's Soapbox:

We just don't get it. Why do we just accept cancer, heart disease and the other deadly afflictions? We just seem to seem to grin our teeth and bear it. People must not care, and here's why - because they only spend 0.2% of their wealth on finding ways to stop diseases. The US GDP is about $13tr and yet according to the OECD we spend only $26bn on health R&D i.e., 0.2%. Obviously we just don't care. Yet there are 1.5M new cancer cases per year in the US, and 500k cancer deaths. 1 in 4 of us will die of it, and a further 1 in 4 from heart disease. This absolutely dwarfs anything terrorism will ever do to us. If we make the effort research WILL stop these diseases. If people knew that themselves and their loved ones would be spared these diseases, wouldn't they want more than 0.2% of their income dedicated to it? Apparently not. Life is indeed cheap. We live for today, and don't care of tomorrow. Needed basic research is not funded, promising molecules are not synthesized and tested and clinical trials go unperformed.

As for energy research, improving and encouraging homegrown energy sources, while not eliminating international conflict, will surely lessen the pressure to go and fight foreign wars. Yet we pump trillions into stalemate conflicts while neglecting this simple way forward for both national and energy security. Again we fail to get it.

Science can cure cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis and the other hellish diseases. Science can mitigate the need to fight foreign wars, increasing national security via energy independence with renewable energy. Curing dreaded diseases and achieving energy independence is possible. But it takes time and resources and the short-term nature of the financial world makes it difficult for industry to do the groundwork research needed.

Energy and health research and development should be a top priority over the next twenty years. We must make sure the world's brainiest kids go into science and receive the support and motivation they need to do their research.

Why do we casually accept Middle Eastern oil as the lifeblood of our energy economy, and

two-year olds dying in excruciating pain?

What makes a 16-year-old GIVE UP?

I gave up pronto, I did, in 1976, on a dark afternoon in the dark country, Wolverhampton, England.

I had feverishly trained at long jumping for four summers, several times a week. My run up was paced perfectly to hit the board, with two checkmarks, my hang technique was impeccable, and I had made it to the National Under-17 final.

There it all ended abruptly! There were eight of us, and I finished a solid, emphatic last, more than a foot behind the lad in seventh place, and a meter behind the winner, Gus Udo. Outclassed, depressed, I realised the talent just wasn't there. That's what makes a 16-year-old give up. I never jumped again. Not once.

Not so my training partner Tim Newenham who kept going, threw javelin at the Commonwealth Games, became National Javelin Coach then fitness coached the tennis player Tim Henman for five years (Henman's the English guy who reached the Wimbledon semi-finals four times and lost each one, thus firmly cementing the national sense of sporting futility!). Now, with pleasure I see Tim N. is javelin coaching Oliver Bradfield from my same old athletics club, and Oliver last year threw 63m, the best throw in the world for his age, and this year over 75m, breaking the UK U15 record by over two meters. Way to go Ollie and Tim!

As for Gus, well, his 7.08m winning jump in 1976 broke the championship record, and he also won the high jump. I couldn't seem to get away from him, because we both ended up at Harvard a few years later. He, however, was the revered co-captain of the Crimson track team while yours truly gave him a wide berth. Fingers burned, you see...


Oliver Bradfield, wearing that same Norfolk County athletics vest I wore 34 years ago (brings tears to one's eyes, it does :-)).

New Musical Creation

I like to create and perform music, and my latest album, Paroxysms of Indifference, is now available for free download on last.fm (just click the icon on the right). Paroxysms follows 'Elementary' with the Parisian “Baskervilles Blues Band” (1994) and the Johnson’s Jump (2004) piano improvisation compilation.

The tracks on Paroxysms were recorded between about 2005 (I think) and last week.
Here's a description:

Tripped Hop (electronic): Was supposed to be inspired by Massive Attack’s Trip Hop style but somehow strayed from the straight and narrow.

Three Jolly Boys (Traditional English folk, Acapella): Bit of fun about women and drink but delivered too straight laced (rather angelically).

Reverie in White, Black, Blue: Dreamy improvised piano with white, black and blue themes.

Okavango (electronic): The Okavango delta in Botswana every year undergoes a remarkable river swelling, bringing life with it. You can here the flooding river towards the end.

Light on a Faraway Shore (Orchestral): Inspired by a night-time sailing approach to Milford Haven when I was 13. The bell represents the light and you can hear the yacht lolling, rain arriving with an increased swell and yawing, then, as the rain stops, the boat continues to approach the shore slowly.

Lac du Plan Viannay (Improv Piano): A remote, high lake in the Parc des Ecrins.

Fion: (Acapella). Traditional Gaelic Song. Yes, I’m singing all the parts! (Duh!... no, not all at once)

Paroxysms of Indifference (electronic): Title refers to the critical acclaim this album is sure to generate. Towards the end gets a bit Stravinsky-esque with the dissonance.

Song of the Wandering Aengus: W.B Yeats’ poem about the Irish mythological figure, set to music. Only track with acoustic guitar in.

Recording details: All music and vocals for all tracks performed arranged mixed etc by JCS. All tracks also composed by JCS except for the traditional vocal numbers and ‘Aengus’ for which the lyrics were by Yeats and the melody by D. Leitch. Software: Cakewalk, Garage Band. Light on a Faraway Shore was written using Finale Print Music and was the programmed straight into the computer using a software synthesizer. It was thus only piece not ‘performed’ using a musical instrument. MIDI-free.

Instruments: Keyboard: Yamaha Motif, Guitar: Guild acoustic with rotten strings, Piano: Kawai Grand (bass A flat slightly out of tune).