Einfache Entscheidungen

Vor einem Jahr habe ich hier geschrieben, dass 2012 ein Jahr mit vielen grossen Entscheidungen sein sollte. Zwölf Monaten später finde ich, dass die grossen Entscheidungen nicht so gross gewesen sind. Im Gegenteil hat das Leben einfach und langsam mir durch die nächsten Stationen gefahren.

Zuerst sollte ich in 2012 entscheiden, ob ich weiter in meiner Arbeit in Frankfurt blieb. Endlich hat es keine Möglichkeit gegeben, meinen Vertrag zu erweitern. Dann musste ich mich nicht so viel darum kümmerm, alles wurde einfach un flüssig. Ausserdem habe ich durch den ganzen Jahr etwas Lust verloren, um weiter in Frankfurt zu bleiben. Folglich komme ich zurück nach Spanien am Ende März: ich fange schon langsam an, zu fühlen wie im Rückkehr. Vielleicht vermisse ich eine einzige Karrieremöglichkeit, aber ich mache kein Bedauer darüber.

2012 ist auch das Jahr gewesen, wo mein Leben angefangen zu verändern hat. Jetzt ist es klar zu mir was ich will von Leben und das bedeutet, ein enge Beziehung mit der Slowekei zu haben, so zu sagen. Es wird nicht einfach, es wird sehr schwer und es gibt viele Unsicherheiten und viel zu opfern. Aber allein zu bleiben, ohne "Delfinika", würde viel schwerer werden und es gibt auch eine grosse Sicherheit: wir wollen zusammen sein. Ich habe mich viel bemüht durch den Jahr, um mit der Beziehung weiterzumachen. Alles hatte ein klares Ziel: mit "Delfinika" zu sein und 2013 sollte das Jahr sein, wann wir sind endlich, Tag und Nacht, zusammen.

Zu Ende wollte ich nur ein Nummer geben: 68. Das ist die Fluchte, die ich durch 2012 ergriffen habe. 2013 wird ein niedriger Nummer produziert, bestimmt.

Was mehr? Nicht mehr. Ich habe immer in meinem Leben sehr einfach grosse Entscheidungen zu machen, weil ich finde, dass der beste Weg allein und langsam sich selbst entdeckt wird (was zu studiert am Uni, welche Uni, nach London zu fahren für ein Praktikum, Arbeiten zu verlassen,...). 2012 war keine Ausnahme.

The value of life

As all of us, I have witnessed these days with horror the massacre of 26 young children and their teachers in Newtown, Connecticut. These episodes of sudden rage of a lonely young person are becoming, unfortunately, more and more frequent, since the episode in Columbine (Colorado). The death of so many young children, while they were at school, together with their teachers is really devastating.

A lot has been discussed these days about the necessity to control the possession of weapons in the United States. The lack of controls in the United States for the purchase of a weapon is something that the Europeans find hard to believe and which reminds us of the times of the Far West. I am certainly not going to side with the NRA and defend the right of every citizen to have an arsenal in his house, but I would like to nuance something this simplistic argumentation.

First, there have been similar episodes happening in Europe as well (I remember one in Scotland, a second one in Finland and several of them in Germany). Establishing a direct relation between the lack of controls for the possession of weapons and these episodes may be premature. It is obvious that the authors needed a weapon (or several) for their actions, but I think that this debate takes us far from the real core problem.

The real core problem, which from time to time comes to light in the form of these terrible episodes of senseless violence, is the widespread trivialization of the violence in our lives, as Samuel L. Jackson has pointed out (although I do not agree with him not blaming videogames or movies). There is a full generation who was grown up with violent videogames, where one can easily kill one thousand people in one evening. I know because I also did it, from time to time. Some of the most successful movies are quite bloody as well (see the battles at Lord of the Rings, for example) and the same can be said about the language used in music.

Furthermore, in addition to this environment of free violence, our society has made our teenagers more vulnerable to the bullying of others, which has become a real problem in the Western world, and more lonely. The parents nowadays do not have time to spend with their children doing nothing (not running from one activity to the other) and to teach them the value of life, of their own life and of the life of the others. The scenario of a teenager spending his evenings playing videogames in his room is familiar to all of us.

The combination of these two factors may become explosive in some cases, with the tragic results known by all of us. I just hope that our society is learning the lesson to avoid any other small and tiny town becoming famousdue to an episode like the one which took place in Newtown some days ago.

Walden e Civil Disobedience

Questi giorni ho letto, nei miei studi di filologia inglesa e più esattamente di literatura nordamericana, su la vita ed opere di Henry David Thoreau (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoreau).

Henry David Thoreau è tra gli scrittori americani più influenti nella cultura degli USA. Ralph Waldo Emerson aveva sviluppato idee su la unione tra uomo e natura, nascite dal bellissimo paesaggio norteamericano. Henry David Thoreau prende queste idee e le segue per due anni, due mesi e due giorni, periodo dove abita da solo in una piccola casetta nella foresta. Così nasce "Walden", il suo libro più conosciuto, che descrive le esperienze raccolte da Thoreau in questi due anni, due mesi e due giorni. "Walden" è molto di più che un raccolto autobiografico, è anche una critica del capitalismo, dato che espiega come gli uomini diventano schiavi per il lavoro. Anche moltissime citazioni sono venute dalle pagine di "Walden".

Henry David Thoreau è conosciuto anche per il suo saggio "Civil Disobedience", che ha ispirato, tra altri, le azioni di Gandhi e Martin Luther King. Lì, Thoreau difende una società dove il governo diventa così piccolo come possibile, senza interfernze nella vita degli uomini. Thoreau non reclama una società senza governo, ma una società con un governo piccolo, il miglior governo possibile. Thoreau fa queste affirmazioni con il senso di promovere una vera unione con la natura, desiderabile in contrasto con una società dove il governo controlla tutto.

Veramente si puù apprezzare qua il valore delle opere di Thoreau, che hanno disegnato la società nordamericana attuale e che restano ancora oggi nel centro delle discussioni.

Bruce Wayne Vs Peter Parker

No, no, que no cunda el pánico, este post no habla de un nuevo engendro de Hollywood, sino que querría comparar hoy a dos de los superhéroes que mejor han llevado su paso del cómic al cine. Más allá de sus poderes y habilidades, quiero centrarme en su personalidad, pues se trata de dos personalidades (Peter Parker y Bruce Wayne) totalmente diferentes, pero al mismo tiempo apasionante. En mi opinión, es esta definición de su forma de ser lo que hace que estas adaptaciones hayan tenido éxito, mientras que otras se han hundido en taquilla. Sin un personaje principal creíble y con algo de vida interior (tampoco hay que pasarse y hacer de él un filósofo nihilista), es muy difícil llegar al público.

Tenemos por una parte a Bruce Wayne, millonario con la vida resuelta, que dedica su mucho tiempo libre (no tiene que trabajar) a entrenarse y luchar contra el crimen. En su caso, la muerte de sus padres es lo que le empuja a convertirse en un vigilante enmascarado. La historia de Peter Parker es casi opuesta: es un chico criado por sus tíos, interesado en la ciencia, de limitado éxito socialmente que, gracias a la picadura de una araña, se transforma en un superhéroe de noche, mientras intenta trabajar y estudiar por el día. En el caso de Peter Parker nos encontramos con el típico empollón convertido en superhéroe mientras que Bruce Wayne caería más en la categoría de "pobre niño rico".

Ambos personajes tienen una relación contraria con la responsabilidad que sus poderes y habilidades conllevan. Bruce Wayne acepta la responsabilidad y no le importa sacrificar su escasa vida social y familiar, mientras que Peter Parker tiene más problemas para aceptar esta responsabilidad. En el caso de Peter Parker, sus continuos problemas para encontrar tiempo para estar con su novia de siempre, Mary Jane, se convierten casi el leitmotiv de sus aventuras.

Estos dos enfoques tan diferentes hacen de estos dos héroes personajes con los que el público fácilmente se puede identificar. En el caso de Bruce Wayne, se trata del rico que a todos nos gustaría ser, un personaje comprometido con la sociedad y atormentado, muy alejado de la estereotipada imagen banal de los ricos. Se trata de un personaje que lo tiene todo materialmente pero que es profundamente infeliz. En el lado opuesto, Peter Parker es más cercano al espectador, es fácil identificarse con él porque todos nos hemos sentido rechazados en algún momento de nuestras vidas, hemos tenido problemas para encontrar tiempo para hacer cosas y, en definitiva, nos hemos sentido tan ínsignificantes y desdichados como él.

Con este blog no quiero elegir entre uno u otro, sino solamente mostrar por qué las adaptaciones al cine de Batman y Spiderman tienen éxito (más allá de algunos deslices como "Batman y Robin") y otras no, como Superman. De verdad, ¿dónde se ha visto en el mundo de hoy en día a un tío con los calzoncillos por fuera y con capa? De otros, Linterna Mágica, mejor ni hablar.

Envieux des Anglais

Il y a quelques jours, le nom du prochain gouverneur du Bank of England a été annoncé. Ça était la dernière étape de une procédure vraiment transparent et sans influence politique.

Tout a commencé avec une vacance dans les journaux économiques (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/9536387/Bank-of-England-governor-job-advert.html#), où le travail était décrit et ouvert pour lequel pourrait être intéressé. Trois mois plus tard, Mark Carney (Canadien), un étranger, a été choisi.

Quand on compare cette procédure avec ce que on a fait en Espagne, il est impossible de ne se sentir pas envieux des Anglais. Selon George Osborne, Mark Carney était le meilleur candidat et la politique n'a pas joué aucun rôle ici. Je ne peux pas imaginer que Mark Carney a été choisi grâce à ses contacts politiques dans le Royaume Uni. Il y avait des autres candidates plus proches au domaine politique, une autre candidate qui était une femme et des candidates qu'on fait déclarations dans les dernièrs mois en pensant en cette procédure. Finalement, un étranger, inconnu dans le domaine politique britanique, mais préparé, a vaincu.

Qu'est qu'on a fait en Espagne avec le gouverneur du Banco de España ou le président de la Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores? Avant tout, les candidats devaient montrer le carnet du parti politique, sans importer l'âge ou l'expérience. Elvira Rodríguez, présidente de la Comissión Nacional del Mercado de Valores n'a jamais travaillé dans les marchés financiers. Les deux procédures ont compris une négotiation parmi le deux plus grand partis politiques, où des noms entraient et sortaient la liste de candidates tous les jours.

Avec cette procédure démodé et opaque, qui n'est pas envieux des notres vieux enemis Anglais? Parfois, on peut aussi apprendre des autres.

Sabiduría de los mayores

Hace unos días leí la historia de este vídeo, que llevaba guardado en una estantería cinco años. Lo que empezó como un documental fallido sobre un escritor soriano cuyo nombre casi nadie recuerda se ha convertido en una lección de economía de primer orden.

Lo que quiero destacar aquí es que la lección no nos la da un doctor en Economía ni un catedrático de Universidad ni un Presidente de un banco ni alguien con un profundo conocimiento del sector financiero. No, es una lección que nos enseñan dos pastores castellanos (que bien podrían pasar por ablanqueños), ya entrados en años, que tienen algo que escasea: sentido común y dos dedos de frente. Estos dos pastores han pasado por todo tipo de dificultades y penurias en su vida y saben apreciar el verdadero valor de las cosas, algo que parece que hemos olvidado demasiado pronto y que es, sin embargo, un concepto básico en la economía.

Podría destacar muchas frases de las que dicen, pero me quedo con tres: i) la lección de economía: si ganas cinco y gastas seis,...; ii) de lo malo a lo bueno se va muy bien, pero de lo bueno a lo malo...; y iii) si no lo tengo (el dinero) no lo compro. Nuestro Ministro de Economía lo único que tiene que hacer es extrapolar esto al conjunto de la economía nacional y aplicarlo.

¡Cuánta sabiduría tiene la gente mayor de los pueblos castellanos!

Radsport war eine grosse Lüge

Jetzt ist es klar geworden, dass die Jahren nach Indurain im Radsport wirklich katastrophal waren. Bjarne Riis, Jan Ulrich und Lance Armstrong haben die Tour de France gewonnen und danach zugegeben, gedopt zu haben. Das Buch von Tyler Hamilton "The secret race" beschreibt diese Jahren von Lügen, Drogen und Korruption.

Wenn man das Buch liest, entdeckt, dass der Radsport eine grosse Lüge war. Alle wollten siegen, ohne sich zu kümmern, um die Methoden. Das Doping war weit verbreitet und die UCI konnte (oder wollte) nicht dagegen machen. Der Festina Skandal endete mit dem mannschaft-organisiert Doping, das danach mehr individuell wurde. Jede Radfahrer sollte für sich selbst sein Doping organisiert und zweifelhafte Ärzte wie Ferrari oder Fuentes wurden sehr beschäftigt.

Tyler Hamilton erklärt auch wie das Doping drinnen funktionierte (hoffentlich sollte ich hier die Vergangenheit benutzen). Er erklärt wie er wollte unbedingt nichts mit Doping zu tun aber wie nach drei Jahren ohne Erfolg hat er angefangen, zu dopen. Er nennt ohne Doping zu fahren "paniagua" (Brot und Wasser, auf Spanisch). Es ist nicht einfach zu akzeptieren, "paniagua" zu fahren und dann keine Möglichkeit im Rennen zu sehen. Tyler Hamilton definiert die Grenze um 1000 Tagen, ungefähr drei Jahren: erste Jahr ist man illusionsvoll, zweite Jahr erreicht man die Realität und dritte Jahr muss man zwischen Abschied zu Traume oder Doping entscheiden. Er, und alle Anderen, war keinen Monster aber auch nicht unschuldig.

Es ist mir klar, dass das Buch von Tyler Hamilton nicht einen Literaturwunder ist, aber es öffnet die Augen. Ich wunsch es, dass was Tyler Hamilton beschreibt gehört nur zur Vergangenheit und nicht zur Gegenwart. Radsport is zu schön um dieser Fluch zu verdienen.

November in London

Following the stay the previous week in Paris, this week I had to travel (twice) to London, for business reasons. As the purpose of the trip was work, I did not take any picture so this post will remain pictureless, I am afraid.

My general impression about London is that there are more and more foreigners there. It seems now clear to me that London has become some kind of capital of the world and everybody important wants to be there. That explains the rise in the price of property and the abuses by some hotels (Doubletree by Hilton Westend is an example). On the other hand, I can confirm my preference for NH Harrington Halls (http://www.nh-hotels.com/nh/en/hotels/united-kingdom/london/nh-harrington-hall.html), a very nice hotel, with big rooms, situated in a wonderful area of London and with a nice price.

London also showed me the new style of life, where everybody is absent with earphones and does not care about what happens in metre in front of him but is in close contact with somebody thousands of kilometres away. While I was walking near Holborn, the man in front of me (5 metres) fell down and none of the two people close to him said a single word to him. I was the third one and the only one who asked him whether he was fine... Is this the world we are going to have? I really hope that not.

The underground is an example of the abuse in prices, but it is also an example of the new tendences. Everybody there was reading their tablet (iPads and similar), something which will be exported to the rest of Europe in the next two years. This time, I have not found the underground so crowded and it was quite reliable in terms of timelines, although it is remarkable the absolute lack of facilities for disabled persons.

Finally, I did not want to finish this post without a mention to British Airways. Whereas the flights on Tuesday and Wednesday went smoothly and with no delays, the flights on Thursday and Friday were both cancelled. In the first case, I could be easily rebooked and the inconveniences were not large, but on the second one I had to book a trip on Saturday morning and... go to Heathrow from London City Airport. Thus, I spend my Friday evening in the public transport of London, trying to reach Heathrow from the other corner of the city.

To sum up, as you can see, my November days in London have not been so easy as the November days in Paris...

November in Paris

Last week, we decided to spend some days in Paris, trying to run away from the start of the winter season. I must say that, after almost three years of living in Germany, I appreciate the milder weather of Paris, when compared with other regions of Europe beyond the Rhin. In this occasion, although our days in Paris were not what I would call sunny, I was happy because it did not rain and it was not cold.

Prices in Paris are exaggerated, starting by the accommodation itself. In many other cities in the world, hotel prices are more reasonable, but you are not in Paris, that is true... Just as an example, the first day we decided to go to a café and we paid 36 € for just an austere refreshment (believe me, as Castilian, I know what is austerity). The second day, we walked around the Opera area and we visited Galeries Laffayette, where we could experience the obscenity of luxury. I start to think that Paris is becoming a huge amusement park of luxury, like Disneyworld, or something similar.

One important feature of Paris is the amount of museums that we find everywhere. Beyond the culture itself, they are also perfect for a short visit to the toilets, since public toilets are sometimes not an example of cleanness. In our case, we visited the pyramid of Louvre Museum although we had no intention at all of visiting some of its exhibitions.

There are also other examples of the dirty side of Paris, like the underground, which sometimes looks like in desperate need of some water. I must admit though that this time I was less negatively impressed by the underground than in previous visits.

All in all, although this entry may sound very critical with Paris, I must say that going for a walk in Champs Elysées, Place de la Concorde, Arc de Triomphe,... is delicious. There are many cities which cannot simply compete with Paris, Frankfurt and, it is hard to admit, Guadalajara, included. I am starting to appreciate more and more the southern shore of Seine, with special mention to the area around Invalides. It feels more real and not so crowded with tourists. Additionally, for real good shopping, one can walk along Bulevard de Saint Germain, where prices are sometimes more down to Earth.

Paris may be becoming a huge amusement park but it is still lovely...

Sibaritas en el Pedro Escartín

El pasado sábado, aprovechando que estaba por tierras alcarreñas, me acerqué con mi padre al Pedro Escartín a ver el partido entre el CD Guadalajara y Las Palmas (http://www.as.com/futbol/video/liga-adelante-jornada-guadalajara-2-3/20121027dasdasftb_20/Ves). Antes del pitido inicial, tenía muy clara la clasificación de nuestro equipo y las posibilidades reales de victoria que podía tener ante un rival con mucho más presupuesto, historia y equipo.

Lo primero que me llamó la atención, negativamente, fue el precio de la entrada: 30 €. Está todo el país patas arriba (mejor habría que decir, patas abajo) y el precio de una entrada a un partido de fútbol de Segunda División permanece inalterado. No quiero meterme donde no me llaman, pero igual así no se consiguen llenar las gradas del Pedro Escartín.

Pero lo que de verdad me llamó la atención de este partido fue la actitud de la afición de Guadalajara. No hubo apenas insultos al árbitro (más allá del incontrolado de turno) ni al equipo contrario. De verdad, no recuerdo ningún insulto a ningún jugador de Las Palmas. No, no, al contrario, las críticas y comentarios negativos iban hacia nuestros jugadores. Tampoco se animaba a nuestro equipo, sino que, como si estuviéramos en el Bernabéu, reinaba un silencio sepulcral, únicamente roto para criticar cualquier error de nuestros jugadores, con una severidad casi espartana. No sé, me pareció extraña esta actitud ante un equipo que está haciendo historia, pues nunca antes se había visto en Segunda División.

Eso sí, la mayor parte de las críticas hacia nuestros jugadores fueron hechas sin juicio ni razón alguna. Vamos, que aunque muchos vayan de sibaritas y entendidos, no saben nada de fútbol. Así lo demostraron quienes criticaron sin piedad a Azkurra, delantero centro del Guadalajara, por no meter goles (cuando tenía que controlar los melones que le pasaban sus compañeros, luchar con los dos centrales contrarios y aguantar el balón hasta la incorporación de sus compañeros). Ya me gustaría ver a Messi en su situación...

Tampoco quienes apelan a los huevos y similares atributos, porque, el fútbol, es muy sencillo: se compone de dar el balón al compañero que tienes al lado y es, ante todo, un juego de inteligencia.

En fin, lo dejo que me enrollo. Que lo que quería decir es que llamó la atención la actitud de los aficionados de Guadalajara con su equipo de fútbol. Está visto que somos tierra de expertos (pese a no haber tenido jamás un jugador guadalajareño en primera división).

Guardare nel lato brillante della vita

Nel film "Life of Brian", un uomo crocificato canta questa canzone, invitando a tutti a guardare nel lato brillante della vita, sebbene siano, come dire, in una situazione non molto confortevole. I Monty Phyton ci insegnano qui una lezione molto importante: essere sempre positivo per poter godare la vita.

A volte è possibile diventare molto critico e negativo con tutto quello che circa di lui. La ricerca della perfezione ci fa infelici e provoca che siamo tutto il giorno lamentandoci. Questi lamenti nascondono tutto quello positivo che abbiamo nella nostra vita. Poi soltanto un 1% di imperfezioni servono per renderci infelici, sebbene il 99% restante sia meraviglioso. Non solo ci facciamo infelici noi stessi, ma anche quelli intorno a noi.

Qua, diventa importante, quindi, potere guardare la nostra vita con prospettiva e molto pragmatismo. Il mondo non è perfetto ed non è nostro compito di farlo perfetto da soli. Uno bisogna aiuto per questo. Veramente si può, si deve, cambiare il mondo, ma piano, piano. Per di più, ci sono moltissimi piccole cose che veramente sono meravigliose e che dovremmo valutare meglio. Così faremmo di nostra vita (e la vita degli altri) un luogo meglio dove rimanere.

(Projects of) Intercontinental trips

I have realised that my latest posts are quite negative, mainly related to the financial crisis. In order to have something more optimistic and not to become "monothematic", I would like today to write about some intercontinental trips I would not mind to make in the coming years. Let's try to put a little bit of optimism in the blog.

First, I have always felt some kind of fascination for Japan. I find its culture and lifestyle so different from the Western European that I definitively want to experience it in person. On this, I see two main difficulties. The first one is the food: I cannot eat sushi and many other Japanese food, so I may lose some weight while I stay there. The second problem is, hopefully, conjunctural: Fukushima. In the current circumstances I do not dare to go there and be exposed to (more) radiation. So, that mainly means that this trip is, for the time being, on hold.

Also in Asia, my interest towards Singapore has increased very much recently. One could say that it is mainly due to the Marina Bay complex and its swimming pool with skyline views. But not only for this, more than that, I feel attracted by the old colonial atmosphere one seems to be able to feel in some parts of the city, like in the Raffles Hotel. Singapore is also an interesting melting pot of different nationalities, so I can find a little bit of everything there. The new Airbus A380 also makes this possibility more attractive.

A long-standing projected trip is Canada and, more precisely, its mountains (for example, around Calgary). I have always been seduced by these beautiful pictures of snowed mountains and blue lakes, where one can feel lost and isolated from the world (together with grizzlies, needless to say). Nevertheless, the mountains in High Tatras are very similar to them and one does not need to take an intercontinental fligth there, so the option of Canada is losing momentum...

Finally, in all my flights with Lan to Madrid, I read with interest the information about the Chilean Patagonia. In this case, the trip is more adventurous as it would involve, together with long hours of flying, some glacier walking, whale watching and so on. I must admit that the constant reference to the attractions of this part of Chile is working on me, slowly, but working on me, since I am feeling a bigger need to visit this corner of the world.

I sincerely do not think that I can manage to make any of these intercontinental flights in the short-term. I could try to make my way to a statistics conference in Hong Kong next year, but the place is not so appealing to me... Anyway, I think it is good to have dreams and illusions, not only crisis and theories about the crisis and stupidity surrounding us.

Fous pour les modèles

Demain on announcera le nom du lauréat du Prix Nobel d'Économie et je vourrai aujourd'hui écrire sur une tendance en économie, que j'estime dangereux: la prolifération du emploi de modèles dans le littérature économique. Non, malhereusement, les modèles ici n'ont rien à faire avec Claudia Schiffer, mais ils sont plein de formules et équations.

Très souvent, un papier économique contient un modèle pour expliquer sa théorie. Ce modèle commence avec des assumptions simplistes, comment "il y a deux participants dans le marché" ou "tous les consommateurs se comportent rationalement". Avec ses assumptions, il est possible que le modèle ne soit pas très proche de la realité, mais... Puis, on trouve des pages pleins d'économétrie et finalement les conclusions. Attention parce que parfois les résultats obtenus ne peuvent pas être dupliqués, ce que veut dire que peut-être l'économiste les a modelé pour être d'accord avec ses conclusions. Ce phénomène se présent plus souvant qu'on croit.

Le sujet de ces papiers mélange les concepts de "corrélation" et "causalité". Par exemple, il y a corrélation inverse entre le succès des pays communistes et le succès de l'industrie de jeus vidéo (plus jeus vidéos, moins communisme), mais pas causalité (l'industrie de jeus vidéos n'ont pas causé la chute de communisme). Beaucoup d'économistes n'ont a pas compris cette difference et identifient causalité quand on a seulement corrélation.

Ces papiers économiques commencent avec des questions comment "détermine les actifs des banques la croissance du PIB?", "influe sur le comportement du consommateur ses revenus?" ou "montre le comportament rationale des consommateurs traits deterministes dans temps de crise?". Cettes questions sont valides mais on se domande parfois se elles sont les questions appropiées. Encore, on trouve que la relation entre le sujet du papier et la realité est très faible. La simplification de la realité fait pour ces modèles est autant grand que ils perdent leur valeur.

Tout ça pour dire seulement que on semble d'avoir perdu le nord dans les études économiques, qui contient trop de économétrie et qui souvent n'ont pas une application dans le monde réel.

El verdadero rostro del campeón

Hoy se ha hecho público el informe de la Agencia Norteamericana Antidopaje (USADA en sus siglas en inglés), donde se detallan las prácticas dopantes en torno a Lance Armstrong entre los años 1999 y 2007. El informe, en inglés, tiene más de doscientas páginas páginas, y, para aquellos con suficiente tiempo libre, está disponible en Internet: http://estaticos.elmundo.es/documentos/2012/10/10/armstrong.pdf.

Según recoge la prensa de hoy, el informe nos da una imagen de Lance Armstrong muy alejada de la oficial. No hay ni rastro del hombre que venció al cáncer con su esfuerzo y que asombró al mundo al vencer en siete Tours de Francia consecutivos. La imagen exterior que daba era la del triunfador americano definitivo. Al contrario, en el informe recientemente publicado, se nos presenta a una persona de modales dictatoriales, tiránica y hasta sarcástica con la gran mentira que está organizando en torno a él. Sus propios compañeros aparecen coaccionados ante la agresividad mostrada por su líder.

Ciertamente no consigo imaginarme qué deben estar pensando todos aquellos que llevan la pulsera de su fundación Livestrong. Tampoco consigo imaginarme cómo Lance Armstrong podía dormir por las noches, sabiendo que estaba engañando al mundo. ¿Cómo es posible vender pulseritas amarillas y al mismo tiempo hacer bromas con las sustancias dopantes, que corrían libremente por el equipo US Postal. ¿Es que no tiene conciencia?

No estoy diciendo que me haya pillado todo esto de sorpresa. Más allá de sus innatas cualidades para el deporte, que las tiene, sus exhibiciones en el Tour de Francia siempre resultaron sospechosas. Su ritmo de ascensión reventaría el corazón de un buey: hacer quince kilómetros de ascensión con esa cadencia de pedaleo no está al alcance del ser humano (sin ayudas externas, claro). Además, el hecho de que su equipo andase como un tiro desprendía un cierto tufillo dopante. Este informe nos ha constatado lo que muchos intuíamos: que todo era una gran mentira. Cierta y lamentablemente, el ciclismo de hace unos años está podrido hasta la médula.

Aún así, llevo todo el día dándole vueltas a la misma pregunta: ¿cómo una misma persona puede engañar al mundo tan vilmente y venderle, al mismo tiempo, las pulseras amarillas de su Fundación?

Lügen, Nationalismus und Geschichte

Vor einigen Monaten erfindet man einen Aufstieg des Nationalismus in Europa: Katalonia in Spanien, Schottland in Gross Britanien, Venedig in Italien, Flanders in Belgien,... Ich sehe gefährliche parallele Verhalten mit der europäische Situation in der dreissige Jahren, die so tödlich für Menschheit waren. Deshalb möchte ich heute über die Lügen der Nationalismus schreiben.

Zuerst, was Nationalismus braucht, ist einen gemeinsamen und abstrakten Feind. Ohne Feind gibt es keinen Nationalismus, weil er muss sich wie Opfer vorbereiten. Der Feind hat eine wichtige Rolle: er wird an die Schwierigkeiten des Gebiets (oder Volks oder Lands oder Bezirks oder irgendwas) die Schuld geben. Es ist immer einfacher Anderen für unsere Schwierigkeiten verantwortlich zu machen. Mit ein bisschen Demagoge und Manipulation wird das Volk es freiwillig glauben. Man darf nicht vergessen, dass Hitler den Macht erreichte, weil er eine Wahle gewonnen hat. Für ihn war es sehr einfach einen Feind zu finden: Juden waren schuldig an der katastrophalen ökonomischen Krise Deutschlands. Es ist nicht einfach, die einige Verantwortung nehmen. Heutzutage hilft die aktuelle Krise dem Nationalismus zu expandieren.

Um das Feind konkret zu definieren, braucht man eine historische Ungerechtigkeit. Es ist nicht nötig, dass die Ungerechtigkeit wirklich passierte. Realität is hier zweitrangig. Das Wichtiges ist, dass die Ungerechtigkeit ein gemeinsames Zeil dem Nationalismus vorsieht. Es ist der Grund hinter dem Kampf des Volkes. Die Ungerechtigkeit definiert den Feind aber auch gruppiert die Leute um den Nationalismus herum. Die Ungerechtigkeit kommt oft mit einen Mythos über bessere Zeiten, wo das Leben wunderschön war. Dann der Feind erscheint, etwas ungerechtig passiert und das Volk muss leiden, bis zum es wieder aufstehen, um seine Freiheit zu erobern. Es sieht wie eine Hollywood-Handlung aus, aber viele glauben sie ohne Fragen zu stellen.

Die Geschichte ist hier eine optimale Quelle für Nationalismus. Niemand ist hier um zu behaupten, dass die Ungerechtigkeit des Nationalismus nicht wahr ist, und niemand kann etwas dagegen sagen, weil die Geschichte subjektiv ist. Der Nationalismus braucht nur ein Paar Historiker mit schmutzigen Gewissen und viele Fantasie. Siege bekommen Nachrichten über ein goldenes Schiksal von Gott, Niederlagen bekommen Siege: was der Nationalismus nicht passt, verschwindet.

Wie gezeigt hier, ist die Geschichte von dem Nationalismus immer das gleiche. Sie hat in der dreissiger Jahren grauenhaften Folgen gebracht. Ich hoffe, dass wir allen, auch Nationalisten, etwas gelernt haben.

November rain (of votes)

This year we had the Summer Olypmics in August, which means that in the second weekend of November we also have the US Presidential Elections. Today I would like to write about this, without entering too much into the political discussion. Apologies if I disappoint those fans of Guns'n Roses looking for an entry about the song with the same title.

Yesterday night, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, the candidates from the Democrats and the Republicans had their first discussion on the TV, and this has been in the front page of the Spanish newspapers this morning. There were thorough revisions of the behaviour of both candidates, with multiple analysis. This fact reveals the main characteristic of these elections: since they affect the whole world, the whole world is looking at it. No other election in any country of the world has a similar global media coverage, but, obviously, no other country in the world has the influence the US have.

The US political system is considered to be bi-partisan in Spain, but this is far from being true. There are a number of small parties, which also run for the election but which often do not get any minute of glory. It is also remarkable the evolution of the two big parties (Democrats and Republicans) in the history of the US, since they were once a single party, which, as a result of some disputes on agriculture and slavery issues, split into two. At that point in time, if my memory of my study of American history last year is not wrong, the Republicans were clearly against the slavery (not what many prejudices would suggest).

The political map of the US is also very interesting. Democrats usually win in both coasts (Massachusets, Washington, Oregon, Maine,...) while the Republicans get all the inner continental states (Texas, Iowa, Kansas,...). There are only few states which may change from one party to the other and they are always the same: Michigan, Ohio, Florida, Nevada, Illinois,... The campaign therefore concentrates there, with little attention for other estates. For those who complain about the same political party dominating one region in Spain, that gives us also an idea of the static state of political views in the US.

So, let's wait one month approximately to see who will run the destiny of the most powerful country in the world. Will we be able to open the windows in the planes?

Cristóbal Colón y los presupuestos

He leído hoy con estupor la noticia de que el Ayuntamiento de Ibiza ha aprobado en pleno defender en público que Cristóbal Colón era ibicenco, pese a no tener ninguna base científica para realizar tal afirmación (http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2012/09/27/baleares/1348749540.html). Al leer semejante aberración, uno no sabe si llorar o reír, y no puedo evitar preguntarme si nuestra sociedad está enferma para generar este tipo de noticias a las que el calificativo de estúpida se le queda corto.

Todo esto sucede el mismo día en el que se han presentado los Presupuestos para el año 2013, que, por x año consecutivo, van a ser restrictivos. En algunas de las medidas, sobre todo en la creación de la agencia supervisora de las cuentas públicas, veo la mano de la UE, ya que esta era una de las reivindicaciones recurrentes de las autoridades europeas. Así, que igual podemos esperar que dentro de poco el BCE empiece a comprar masivamente deuda española. Por cierto, me llama la atención que haya que crear una autoridad independiente para vigilar al sector público...

Todo esto me lleva a pensar que si pensamos que la crisis se soluciona con la compra de deuda por parte del BCE, estamos muy equivocados. La crisis que sufre España es mucho más profunda y afecta a muchos aspectos de la sociedad. Lo que vivimos es una consecuencia de una cierta decadencia en los valores de nuestra sociedad en los últimos años, que con la crisis económica han saltado al primer plano.

Afecta, por una parte, a la pérdida de la cultura del esfuerzo y del trabajo duro para tener éxito (o dinero) en la vida; ahora lo que se busca es hacerse rico cuanto antes y sin esforzarse mucho. Parece que el Estado tiene que pagarnos la educación universitaria (aun cuando no tengamos la capacidad para ello) y darnos un trabajo cerca de nuestra casa. Relacionado con esto, el prestigio de la clase política está seriamente dañado, pues son incontables los cargos políticos que han robado impunemente a manos llenas en los últimos años, amén de colocar a sus amigos en empresas públicas a dedo (o sea, digitalmente) y de disfrutar de privilegios que en estos tiempos son sangrantes para la población.

Se produce también una crisis como nación, puesto que ya parece claro que el estado autonómico no funciona y que solo conduce a una multiplicación inútil del gasto (uno puede decir que ya que todos los políticos son ladrones, minimizando el número de políticos, podremos, al menos, reducir lo que roban). Es preciso abrir un debate sobre el modelo de Estado que queremos (sin entrar en románticos y ruinosos viajes independentistas a ninguna parte), sin miedos y, por favor, sin mencionar ni a la Transición ni a Franco.

En cierto sentido, nuestra sociedad ha involucionado y, básicamente, por definirlo en una palabra, se ha atontado de una manera brutal, tal y como, por ejemplo, nos ha demostrado el Ayuntamiento de Ibiza hoy. Es necesario cambiar esta tendencia para conseguir salir de esta crisis y volver a despuntar en Europa y en el mundo, pues esta mediocridad no nos representa: España es un país brillante en muchos aspectos y no hay que olvidar que una vez fuimos un imperio donde no se ponía el Sol. ¿El Imperio contraataca?

Le biciclette non sono per la città

Abito a Francoforte da quasi tre anni e devo ammetere che non mi sono abituato ad convivere con le biciclette. Adesso andare al lavoro in bicicletta è diventato in voga (non solo a Francoforte, ma anche a molti altri città in Europa), per sembrare "cool", ma questo non va con me. Qua forse deva dire che sono andato in bicicletta da quando ero piccolo ed adesso è uno sport che pratico spesso.

Quindi, non credo che sia un problema con me (che abbia un sentimento negativo verso le biciclette), ma forse le difficoltà stano nell'atteggiamento dei ciclisti. Quando ero apena arrivato a Francoforte, non potevo credere che i pedoni non si fermano ad aiutare quando un ciclista fosse caduto. Adesso, dopo quasi tre anni, ho trovato molte ragioni per questo.

Il problema è que i ciclisti pensano che le regole di circolazione sono soltanto per le macchine e per i pedoni, non per loro. Quindi, saltano senza controllo dal marciapiede alla strada e viceversa, andano troppo veloci tra i pedoni, muovendosi un po' come serpi, non rispetano i semafori (quando è rosso per le macchine, saltano al marciapiede),... Ho visto tutti i giorni comportamenti come quelli qua descriti e non sono solo esclusive di giovani osati o di messaggeri. A volte desidero che pioggia un po' per non dovere soffrire tante biciclette quando cammino a casa.

Quello che manca è un po' de educazione per capire che la bicicletta deve anche rispettare le regole di circolamento. È vero che le macchine le devo rispettare e che non lo fanno molto spesso, ma questo non vuol dire che siamo nella giungla, dove la legge del più forte prevalece. Come piedone, non posso dire che mi piaccia compartire marciapiedi con i ciclisti.

Amidst lakes in High Tatras II

The previous entry in this blog described our first days of trekking around Strbské Pleso, in the High Tatras, in Slovakia. The other two days were devoted to more relaxed activities, also due to the worse weather conditions that we had there.

We started with a visit to the Belianska Cave (Belianska Jaskyna in Slovak), the largest one in the High Tatras and one of the most beautiful ones in Slovakia (which has several of its case declared as Human Heritage by UNESCO). We were ready for the cold temperatures inside (around 5º C) although not everybody could say the same, since some other tourists with us were wearing short trousers and T-shirt.

The cave is really spectacular and impressive. I still wonder how it could be discovered and how it could be explored, since inside it is pretty dark there, believe me. Our guided walk of one hour and a half took us to some really big rooms, most of them with lakes, where we could admire the strange stone formations created during thousands of years of erosion. In my case, probably due to some permanent damange in the brain, I could not help linking all the shapes I was seeing with creatures from the Alien saga.

As second part of the day, we went to Spiss Castle, the largest castle in Central Europe, which has been used very often as scenario in Hollywood films. The navigator somehow cheated us and took us to a remote parking place from which we had to walk uphill 15 minutes, so, as you can imagine, we were not in the best of the moods to visit the castle when we finally arrived there. Nevertheless, we managed to calm down and we went through the courtyard and the old building of the castle. One has to say that they really chose a very good place from the castle, since from it you can splendid and wide views of the area around it (it should have been very easy to see the enemy approaching).

On Thursday, it was raining quite heavily so we decided to relax first in AquaCity in Poprad (http://www.aquacityresort.com/en/). After three placid hours amidst warm water and nice pools and after having a complete lunch for 3,50 € (!!!!!), we decided to drive back to the mountains, to Stary Smokovec, the place where I have been attending a working seminar in December the last two years (see http://antsanch.blogspot.de/2011/12/high-tatras-one-year-later.html and http://antsanch.blogspot.de/2010/12/in-slovak-mountains.html). It was quite impressive to see the place without snow and I could even realise that close to the hotel there is a police station; which I did not notice in my previous stays due to the amount of snow cumulated outside.

 Finally, and probably to mark the end of a very nice week of holidays, we could admire the clouds amidst the mountains in the first kilometres of our way back to Bratislava. It was really a wonderful spectacle (although not the best conditions for driving). The picture below was taken once we were in the highway, when the clouds where not so dense around the mountains.

We have promised ourselves to come back again to this amazing and beautiful corner of Europe, where there are still many places to discover.

Amidst lakes in High Tatras

Last week, we spent some days in High Tatras, more especifically in Strbské Pleso (for the non-Slovak speaking world, quite a challenging name to pronounce), a beautiful lake and ski resort near Poprad. The main goal of this break was to forget about the world and to get lost in the mountains, just surrounded by beautiful nature everywhere. I certainly think that we achieved it.

First of all, before proceeding with our adventures there, I must mention the love of Slovaks for the mountains. Some parts of our trekking routes were more crowded (in a working day in September) than the commercial streets of Bratislava and it was not strange to see people well in their sixties walking into the mountains. That love for nature is evidenced by the Slovak word for trekking: turisticka.

The first day we decided to go to a waterfall and then to a lake over it (named, in Slovak, pleso na skokom, literally "lake over fall"), in Mlynická Valley. The way was pretty hard uphill and it certainly takes more than the mere 1:30 hour that the maps show you. The only explanation I find for this is that the man who made this map was in really good condition. In the last part, one must really climb over the waterfall, with the help of a chain (but again people of all ages are going there with no fears), so I could feel a little bit like Indiana Jones. The lake in question is just a glaciar lake surrounded by mountains. Most impressive are the views towards the valley, as you can see in the picture below (where I have my beloved T-shirt of QPR).

One of my biggest fears around these days in the mountains was the possibility to find bears and become part of their menu. I must admit that the fear was totally unfounded, since the only animals we saw were two squarrels running away from us on the way down to the hotel.

On our second day of lovely weather, we walked to Popradské Pleso, another lake not far from Strbské Pleso. Here the walk is really nice and easier than the other one, as our legs happily experienced. This second lake is also remarkable and to my eyes it is just the image of Canadian natural parks we have in our minds. I even dared to put my feet in the water (although people were looking at me as if I were crazy) and I would say that it is not colder than the water in Norway and certainly not than the water in Iceland. Having said that, after two minutes I decided to conclude the bath, je, je, je.

As it is quite late and tomorrow the alarm clock will go off, I will leave the second part of the trip for another post, later this week.

Habas contadas

Ayer leí el discurso que pronunció Andrew Haldane, Director de Estabilidad Financiera del Banco de Inglaterra, en la conferencia anual de Jackson Hole (la misma a la que Mario Draghi no pudo acudir por tener demasiado trabajo). El discurso, en inglés, está disponible en http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Documents/speeches/2012/speech596.pdf. En líneas generales, los discursos de Andrew Haldane son realmente preciosos, con una clarividencia que no es frecuente en estos tiempos.

En este caso, si bien no estoy muy de acuerdo con la fábula del perro y del frisbee, el resto del texto me parece sencillamente brillante. En él, Andrew Haldane hace una feroz crítica de la creciente complejidad de la regulación financiera, que tampoco está trayendo resultados mucho mejores que anteriores versiones más fáciles de entender. El ejemplo de las normas de Basilea de solvencia de los bancos es sangrante: en su primera versión, se pedía que el capital del banco fuera al menos el 8% de sus activos; mientras que en sucesivas revisiones y versiones, el acuerdo ha ido creciendo en número de páginas (ya está por encima de las 1000) y en complejidad (ahora se hace referencia a los activos ponderados por el riesgo, modelos internos,...).

Otro tanto sirve con el envío de información a los reguladores y supervisores. En lugar de centrarse en la información básica hay una tendencia hacia recibir información muy granular, a nivel de transacción, dando lugar a un fenómeno parecido al de Internet: la inmensa cantidad de información disponible acaba por no tener ningún valor por sobrepasar la capacidad humana de analizarla. No se acaba de entender que en este caso la cantidad de información no importa, sino que es la calidad.

Otra referencia de Andrew Haldane en su discurso comprende los modelos económicos y financieros, donde se queja de su complejidad, poniendo de manifiesto la enorme cantidad de estimaciones que llevan implícitos (basten como ejemplos las ponderaciones de los riesgos en Basilea II o el famoso VAR). Otros modelos, por el contrario, se dedican a demostrar lo obvio (con poco valor añadido para la sociedad, por tanto) o realizan tales asunciones iniciales que pierden todo su vínculo con la realidad. En este caso, ciertamente, parece más sensato mirar a una serie de indicadores básicos que a buen seguro nos van a dar información muy valiosa sobre lo que está sucediendo. Si uno observa el crecimiento del crédito inmobiliario en España en los últimos años, a partir de las tablas del Boletín Estadístico del Banco de España, se encuentra con tasas de crecimiento del 20%. No hace falta ser un gurú para darse cuenta de que semejante ritmo de crecimiento no puede ser sostenible a largo plazo. Sin embargo, por motivos quizá de vanidad intelectual y similares, este tipo de indicadores no son lo suficientemente "sexys" en este momento.

A modo de conclusión, se podría decir que ya es el mundo suficientemente complejo de por sí, como para que andemos nosotros añadiendo complejidad innecesaria a él. Y es que, a fin de cuentas, la economía son habas contadas...

Deux films entre Francfort et Madrid

Mercredì soir, je suis allé à Madrid avec Lan et aujourd'hui je suis retourné à Francfort. Avec Lan on a divertissement à bord, parce que le trajet entre Francfort et Madrid (et vice-versa) fait parti d'un trajet intercontinentale (Santiago de Chili-Madrid-Francfort). Si on est méticuleux, on peux voir un film complete en chaque trajet. Après deux ans et demi à Francfort, on peut dire que j'ai appris cette connaissance.

Dans le première trajet, j'ai regardé le film australien "The hunter", avec Willem Defoe et Sam Neill (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunter_%282011_Australian_film%29). Ici Willem Defoe est un chasseur professionnel qui cherche le disparu tigre de Tasmanie, en travaillant pour une société de biologie, qui cherche l'ADN du tigre. Le voyage du chausseur change sa perception du monde et lui devient un défenseur de la nature. Ce film ne changerà pas la histoire de cinéma, mais il est très facile et agréable de digérer.

Aujourd'hui, dans le trajet entre Madrid et Francfort, j'ai regardé le film "Green zone", avec Matt Damon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Zone_%28film%29). Ici, Matt Damon est un soldat américain en cherchant des ADM (Armes de Destruction Massive) et de la verité en Iraq. Situé en 2003, dans les premières semaines d'occupation en Bagdad, le film n'est pas facile à assimiler, il est un racconte réaliste de la cronique caché de l'invasion américaine de l'Iraq, avec tous ses erreurs et abuses. Matt Damon se demanda oú sont les ADM, qui sont la raison pour laquelle il est en guerre dans l'autre côté du monde, et découvre une manipulation de son propre gouvernement.

"Green zone" est vraiment un film politique, mais au milieu d'une guerre représentée avec toute réalisme et cruauté, qui nous montre un des épisodes plus tristes et honteux du XXIème siècle. Il s'agit d'un film qui nous montre un soldat qui ne tue comment un machine, mais qui se fait la question clé: pourquoi tue-t-il?

Ein gutes Buch für Sommer

Heute möchte ich über das letzte Buch, das ich im Sommer gelesen habe, schreiben. Von nächste Woche ab sollte ich mit die Bücher über mein Studium von Englische Literatur anfangen. Das Buch heisst "El imperio eres tú" auf Spanisch (etwas wie "Das Reich bist du" auf Deutsch), ist von Javier Moro geschrieben und hat den Planeta Preis 2011 gewonnen.

Es handelt sich um das Leben von Peter I, erste Kaiser von Brasilien in XIX. Jahrhundert (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_I._%28Brasilien%29). Das Buch beginnt mit das Kind Peter, das seit kurz in Brasilien wohnt, weil sein Vater, König von Portugal, dort ins Exil von Portugal nach Brasilien gefahren ist. Man entdeckt schnell, dass Peter ein Mensch zwischen zweit Welte ist: die alte Welt den Königen, dargestellt bei die Königin Catarina, und die neue Ideen aus der Französische Revolution.

Das Buch präsentiert den Kaiser wie ein Mensch, der viel erleidet und der weit von perfekt ist. Es ist einen interessanten Text über Jahren, die unsere Welt definierten und die Leidenschaften, die Peters Benehmen führte. Peter I hatte ein kurzes Leben aber er hatte Zeit, um Portugiese und Brasilianer zu sein, aber immer mit das Gefülh sich Fremden in beiden Staaten zu sein.

Javier Moro hat ein anderes Buch über Brasilien geschrieben: "Senderos de libertad", wo er das Leben von Chico Mendes erzählt. Es sieht es aus, dass Javier Moro ein besonderes Talent oder Sensibilität für Brasilien hat.

In the country of the spiders

 Last weekend, I was travelling through Belgium to attend the baptism of my godchild Leandro in Mechelen. As I am living in Frankfurt, there were no planes involved in this trip, something which I certainly liked.

So, the trip took me first from Frankfurt to Liège by train. Then I took a second train to Charleroi and from there a bus to Mechelen. In total I think it is a trip of less than 200 kilometres but which gave me a good overview of Belgium.

Liége, and the cities which I saw on the train to Charleroi, has the air of an old and dark city. The train station, designed by Santiago Calatrava, does not change the opinion of the traveller when arriving there. It is a nice building, full of light, but when you look beyond, you only see old brick houses, derelict industrial areas and grey sky. The same may be applied to Charleroi, but multiplied by five (at least). Uff, one feel there that this is an industrial city, where coal and steel have been the drivers of it in the past 200 years.

One positive aspect of this part of the trip was to see the huge river Mose, which I have never heard of, and which is certainly impressive. Being a Spaniard not used to big rivers, it seems I am easily seduced by any big river I see.

Mechelen, on the contrary, a city I know quite well and where we spent three days, has the atmosphere of a quiet and interesting town. This time I have discovered important aspects of its history, like the "beguinage" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beguinage) or its past history as capital of the Low Countries. The city centre has been recently renovated and it is delightful to walk there.

Finally, what most surprised me in the trip was the amount of spiders I have seen in three days. Everywhere, in every corner of Belgium, there was a spider web, with the spider hanging around it. I am not particularly scared of spiders (this honor is for snakes) but I cannot understand it: in Spain spiders are not so common and spider webs are quickly cleaned out when found in the streets or in houses. It seems that Belgium is a more "spider-friendly" country...

Unknown Toledo

It happens sometimes that when you are living abroad (like in Germany), you appreciate much more minor historical cities, which are nothing when compared with some of the wonders we have in Spain. Something like this has happened to me with Toledo (and I am not talking about the Toledo in Ohio).

Toledo has been for most of my life a place when we were going year after year on holidays with the school, in an age where I was not able to appreciate any historical value at all. I only remember the Alcázar (Toledo's castle), but very vaguely.

Some days ago, we visited Toledo; in my case for the first time in more than 20 years. In despite of the hot temperatures which accompanied us during our stay (it was like breathing fire, nothing I have seen before), I can say that it was a very interesting visit. The amount of historical buildings (especially churches and convents) is simply breathtaking. What is more, the special configuration of the city, on a hill over River Tagus provides marvellous panoramic views. It is really difficult to highlight something in particular, since the historical center of Toledo is so large and rich in history, that other "historical" towns look like toys compared with it. For example, the picture to the right depicts some paintings in a church from the XIVth century.

The city is announcing itself now to the tourists as the city of the three cultures, since Jews, Muslims and Catholics lived there, in relative harmony, for some hundreds of years. One can question whether life was like that but what I cannot question is that in the some town you can visit a synagogue, a (former) mosque and a church, something which not many places in the world can offer.

Also remarkable are the paintings of El Greco, overall the "Burial of the Count of Orgaz" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Burial_of_the_Count_of_Orgaz), since they seem to be 300 years ahead of the time when they were painted.

One has to mention here the cathedral, which is really impressive, for the rich collection of art which is inside. I did not like the tone of the music in the audio-guides: it was too similar to some songs from the Spanish Civial War. But, anyway, we forgive it: everybody knows that Toledo is a very religious and conservative city in Spain.

I am just uploading some pictures I took with the Blackberry (because I took my photo camera empty of batteries with no charger), just to give you an idea of what to find there. It is simply too much to put in a single post here, I could write and write and write... The better thing is to walk through the streets of Toledo and to feel the history blowing in the wind.

La revolution de Batman

Hier j'ai vu le dernier film de Batman "The dark night rises" et je voulais écrire aujourd'hui sur le contexte politique du film, qui va un peu au-delà de ce que les typiques films de super-héros font.

À la fois des intrigues avec le super-héro, "The dark knight rises" racconte aussi comment une revolution / dictature est née. Tout commence avec des gouttes de démagogie, avec une aggressivité parfois exag et avec la definition de l'ennemi, qui est coupable de tous les problèmes du peuple et qui rejoindre le peuple contre lui. Avec cet ennemi, tout est permis: tribunals que ont dejá trouvé les accusées coupables, cruauté infini, persécution des autres sans raison,... Mais, on a aussi une élite hyper-protégée derrière un pouvoir militair extraordinaire. Le seul pouvoir est ce des armes. Avec ces ingrédients, Gotham ressemble parfois une ville controlée par les seigneurs de la guerre (Mogadiscio?). On trouve cet un peu familier, vrai?

Je vourrais aussi me demander ici sur la motivation de Bane et amis pour détruire Gotham. Ils n'ont pas une raision economique pour ça, il semble d'être seulement pour porter des souffrances au peuple. Ils sont un peu comment le mal gratuit, que je ne le peux pas complètement croire. Peut-être que je suis optimiste, mais ce mal ne se trouve pas dans les humains.

Pour conclure, "The dark knight rises" n'est seulement un film de super-héros très divertissant, mais aussi un film que peux nous fair réfléchir à le cours notre societé suit.

Bryan Adams in Bratislava

As start of our holiday break in August, we went to the concert of Bryan Adams in Bratislava, on 28th July. Bryan Adams may have not been the number one rock singer in the last thirty years but he really have a collection of good songs, many more than other groups with better reputation and name. I have uploaded here a video of "Everything I do, I do it for you", a tremendous ballad, but certainly not the only remarkable song by Bryan Adams ("Cloud #9", "Summer of 69", "Can't stop this thing we started", "18 till I die" and many others).

Anyway, several things took my attention from the concert. First, the price of the tickets was unusually high for a country like Slovakia, where salaries are not very generous. That probably made that the arena was not full to receive Bryan Adams. In addition to that, the behaviour of the public was very civilised (almost cold) in some parts of the concert.

Concerning Bryan Adams himself, I must say that he looked much older than he really is. He has had difficult years and now little remains of his former face. Having said that, he was very passionate during the concert, which was more than two hours long. Probably, he knows he is taking part in his last big concert tour of his life, so he is trying to leave a good impression everywhere he goes.

In any case, it was a really good concert by a rocker I really like a lot (although my preferences are now in a different domain).

Second time in Helsinki

Earlier this week, I have travelled for the second time to Helsinki. I was there once on holidays, five years ago (see http://antsanch.blogspot.de/2007/08/antonio-in-fing-finland.html), and this time it was work what took me to the capital of Finland. As my first experience in Hotel Hilton Strand was very good, I decided to book the same hotel: it is rather cheap for being a Hilton hotel and the quality of the service is outstanding.

Before landing in Helsinki, I had a bad experience on the flight there: the food that was served to us looked horrible, so horrible that I did not dare to open it. The boy seated closed to me did and all he could was complain to the steward for the quality of the food. Nothing to do with the food we had during our dinner and lunch: I still remember the whitefish of the dinner with some mouth watering...

Moving a bit away from mere stomach issues, I must say that the fact that I like most of Helsinki is that you are never far from the water. A simple walk through the city centre is also advisable: I even found the same concert in the main promenade of Helsinki than in my previous visit, more than five years ago.

While we were in the meeting, where we were two Spaniards in a group of around 15 people, all the alarms in Bank of Finland started to run. A voice spoke in Finnish, probably alerting for the presence of two Spaniards in a temple of a triple-A country, although, needless to say, our Finnish colleagues were telling us quite a different story. Talking more seriously now, one of the attendants to the meeting was the person who had to explain to the Finnish Parliament the consequences of not supporting Spain in these difficult days.

Having said that and as you can see from the pictures, I really had a "summer day" in Helsinki. The sky was gray and cloudy, with some rain from time to time. Our hosts told us that Finns are on holidays in Southern Europe at this time of the year and I can certainly understand why. I could observe, nevertheless, that there was still quite a lot of light until 22:30.

Sobredosis de aviones y coches

Este doming pasado he realizado una visita al Museo Técnico de Sinsheim (http://sinsheim.technik-museum.de/es), hermano del Museo Técnico de Espira, que ya visité hace tres años, en mi anterior estancia en Fráncfort (http://antsanch.blogspot.de/2008/12/between-planes-and-other-stuff.html).

Para empezar el viaje, hemos ido en la autopista temiendo el atasco por el Gran Premio de Alemania de Fórmula 1, que se celebraba al mismo tiempo en Hockenheim, a apenas 30 kilómetros. Pero no hemos tenido problema alguno y de hecho hemos pasado al lado del circuito mismo sin casi darnos cuenta, de lo tranquilo que estaba todo. Al llegar a Sinsheim, nos hemos pasado la salida de la autopista, pero no ha sido nada que no se haya podido arreglar.

Las dos mayores atracciones del Museo Técnico de Sinsheim son los dos únicos aviones supersónicos utilizados para el transporte de pasajeros: el Concorde y el Tupolev 144. El Concorde me ha sorprendido por lo estrecho que es en su interior, mientras que el Tupolev 144 es realmente impresionante, en todos los sentidos. Aquí me han ganado el corazón los soviéticos. En ambos casos, especialmente en el del Tupolev 144, se trata de aviones muy complejos (no hay nada más que ver sus cabinas de pilotaje) y escasamente rentables de operar. De hecho, según Wikipedia, el Tupolev 144 apenas ha hecho 100 vuelos comerciales. Eso sí, desde un punto de vista estético y aerodinámico, son dos auténticas maravillas.

El Museo Técnico de Sinsheim también cuenta con una colección importante de coches, aviones, locomotoras, motos,... Todo está muy bien y es realmente interesante, pero llega un punto en que uno se satura de tanto motor y tanta máquina. La colección de tanques y maquinaria bélica está bien, también, pero uno se estremece un poco al ver muchas cruces gamadas por allí. Yo me quedo con el avión de Indiana Jones de abajo (la foto se podría titular "Llegas tarde Lao Tsé", je, je, je).

También es destacable la bicicleta que acompaña el principio de esta entrada, donde la rueda gira alrededor del ciclista: un vehículo parecido aparece en la película "El ataque de los clones". Me parece sinceramente una obra tremenda de ingeniería, aunque viéndola de cerca uno se pregunta si este artilugio puede verdaderamente guardar el equilibrio.

Por último, en el camino de vuelta, para evitarnos el atasco de salida de Hockenheim, hemos ido por carreteras secundarias, destacando la ciudad de Eberbach, junto al Neckar, y Michelstadt. El ayuntamiento de Michelstadt es muy famoso en todo el mundo, aunque mi guía Lonely Planet de Alemania no lo menciona. En fin, dejo constancia del mismo con la foto de la izquierda, para que cada cual juzgue si los de Lonely Planet han cometido un error o no. En cualquier caso, esta región de Odenwald tiene paisajes realmente bucólicos e interesantes. Eso sí, en nuestra ruta por carreteras alemanas secundarias, nos comimos un atasco igualmente, porque se celebraba una feria regional en una ciudad y básicamente todo el mundo quería ir en coche allí.

Aprire gli occhi

La situazione economica spagnola non sembra essere molto positiva. Ma dalla distanza di Francoforte, ho la sensazione che la popolazione non è al corrente della realtà. I politici hanno paura di dire la verità e anche vogliono utilizzare la crisi per i loro interessi.

Il governo non fa queste tagli di servizi per gusto, perché godono con loro, lo fa perchè non hanno alternativa. Anche il governo più conservatore del mondo non gode quando annucia meno prestazioni per i disoccupati, tagli negli stipendi degli impiegati,... Certamente, sono decisioni dolorose (non per Andrea Fabra, ma si per gli altri). Non si fa per gusto, si fa perchè il paese è quasi fallito. Se i politici non lo fanno, la popolazione deve aprire gli occhi alla realtà.

Grazie alla crisi, le tasse non bastano per coprire le spese: lo stato spende lo stesso che nel 2007 ma non raccolta lo stesso con le tasse. Questa regola semplice vale anche per le famiglie, quindi, perchè i sindicati e gli partiti di sinistra non vogliono capirlo? Perché non proporrono alternative? Non si può dire che la BCE è colpevole della situazione spagnola per non comprare debito spagnolo, la BCE ha un ruolo nella crisi ma la responsabilità finale è nostra. Quando una casa spende più che guadagna, non può fare niente ed aspettare che i vicini paghino i debiti.

Arturo Pérez-Reverte ha detto che desidera l'intervenzione europea per solventare la situazione spagnola, dato che i politici sono inutili e non fanno nulla. Devo ammettere che comincio ad stare d'accordo con lui.

Die Eurokrise mit Deutsche Augen

Heute möchte ich ein bisschen über die Eurokrise und wie es in Deutschland gesehen ist schreiben. Ich wohne seit April 2010 in Frankfurt, in einer Zeit wo die Krise nicht so schwer in Europa war. Deutschland bleibt jetzt ganz allein wie das einzige Land in Europa ohne grosse Schwierigkeiten und alle anderen Länder bieten Deustchland um Hilfe, um ihre Schwierigkeiten zu überwinden. Natürlich hat Deutschland eine ganz verschiedene Meinung danach.

Deutschland hat noch viele Klischees über süd-europäische Länder, wie Spanien, Italien oder Griecheland. Diese Klischees sind dort und man hat sie gefunden, zum Beispiel, wann Mario Draghi zum Chef der EZB gewälht wurde (wie könnte man die Vordeseite der Bild Zeitung vergessen?). Wie immer, es gibt etwas richtig in Klischees, aber auch etwas falsches. Es gibt faule und fleissige Spanier, als es gibt auch faule und fleissige Deutsche. Das grosste Unterschied zwischen Spanien und Deutschland ist Wirksamkeit: Spanien verschwendet viele Ressources, die besser benutzt werden könnten.

Deutschland hat auch ein starkes Schuldgefühl, das vielleicht von der Religion kommt. Jeder Mensch is verantwortlich und muss auch die Last seinen Fehler übernehmen. Ähnlich muss jedes Land die Folgen seiner Geldverschwendung erleiden. Wenn Spanien viel Geld verschwendet hat, ist es normal, dass es jetzt Hilfe braucht, aber es würde nicht korrekt, die Hilfe einfach, ohne Voraussetzungen, zu geben, weil die Spanier nichts davon lernen würden. Manchmal sieht es aus, als ob Deutschland ein Lehrer wäre.

Das Gefühl liegt in Herz jeder Deutsche, aber man  muss auch behaupten, dass nicht alle die Deutschen denken so. Es gibt eine Gruppe, die unbeweglich und etwas skeptisch über die Vorteile der Euro für Deutschland ist, aber auch andere Deutsche zeigen ein konstruktivere Einstellung. Manchmal denkt man daran, dass die deutsche Elite nur zur erste Gruppe gehört (zum Beispiel, Axel Weber oder Hans-Werner Sinn).

Aber das ist fast ganz normal. Der Bau des Eurozone hat zu schnell und nicht solid genug gewesen. Solidarität ist heutzutage nicht ein wichtiges Wort in Europa und es bedeutet, dass jedes Land muss seine eigene Probleme allein lösen (und auch die Probleme, die aus europäische Freunde kommen).

Prometheus

Last Saturday night, I watched the movie "Prometheus" in the cinema in Bratislava. The movie has not been released in Spain yet, as it will arrive there in August. If you do not want to know more about the movie, just stop here and do not go on reading.

The promotion of the movie tells us that we were going to see a prequel to the Alien series. I would say that, although it has many aesthetic elements in common with the Alien movies, the plot is somehow closer to "Blade runner". Both movies, "Blade runner" and now "Prometheus", pose decisive questions about the sense of life, in the framework of a science-fiction film. My understanding is that "Prometheus" is a lesson of modesty for the mankind in its search of the creator, as it deals with the difficult issue of what if the creator is not proud of us at all and we are just an accident, which the creator is trying to remove from the universe (in this sense, the android David makes the right questions in the middle of the movie).

Nevertheless, everything must be said, "Prometheus" does not reach the level of perfection of "Blade runner". "Prometheus" seems to have tried to tell many things at the same time, but in an indirect manner, forcing the spectator to reach his own conclusions. However, there are too many open questions in the plot and some behaviours which are difficult to understand.

To the first group belongs the opening scene, where we see an "engineer" eating something and then being totally dilluted in a waterfall in Iceland (by the way, I have been in that waterfall). What does it mean? I would say this is the Prometheus of our movie, a person who decided to bring life (the fire of Gods, in terms of the Greek mythology, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus) to Earth, but it is punished for it and must sacrifice his own life. In addition to that, as already said, some behaviours in the film are difficult to understand. Just two examples: the android David has an excellent knowledge of the culture of the "engineers", what seems quite challenging given the fact that there has not been any previous contacts; and, at a certain point in the movie, the "engineers" are shown running desperately towards the room where the "dark fluid" is, but what is the point in running away to a room where you have a tremendously large weapon like the "dark fluid"?, they should be running in the opposite direction.

Anyway, in spite of these minor flaws, I can say that the movie is one of the most interesting I have seen lately, light-years away from things like "Avatar", "Harry Potter", "Twilight" and others.