Detachment – “Doublethink”
Not much more needs be said. Do yourself a favour and see the whole movie.
Lesson of the day
Mai mult decât un candidat
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Un bun prieten pe care îl știu de pe vremea liceului mi-a trimis azi un e-mail care cred că merită reprodus integral.
Dragi prieteni de departe,
Acum cativa ani am hotarat sa ma stabilesc in Romania. Am fost constient ca nu va fi suficient sa imi vad de profesia si familia mea, ci va trebui sa ma implic pentru a mai indrepta din lucrurile care merg prost pe aici. Iar acum a venit momentul sa sustin o persoana care candideaza la Primaria Bucurestiului. Nu am zis politician, pentru ca Nicusor Dan nu este un politician, ci:
– matematician – castigator a doua medalii de aur la Olimpiada Internationala de Matematica, doctorat in matematica la Universitatea Paris XIII, cercetator la Institutul de Matematica al Academiei Romane;
– educator – a administrat timp de 6 ani Scoala Normala Superioara din Bucuresti (http://www.imar.ro/~aprodu/snsb/SNSB/Welcome.html), prima incercare de a crea o instiutie de invatamant superior de calibru international prin cooptarea de profesori de talie internationala din
Romania si strainatate;
– activist civic – fondator al Ascotiatiei Salvati Bucurestiul (http://www.salvatibucurestiul.ro/) prin care s-a luptat pentru a preveni demolarea cladirilor istorice, construirii in parcuri; de asemenea a facut lobby pentru schimbarea legii urbanismului, care s-a concretizat printr-o noua lege ce impune conditii mai stricte pentru emiterea autorizatiilor de constructie;
La inceputul acestui an s-a hotarat sa candideze ca independent la Primaria Bucurestiului cu scopul de a pune capat risipei din primarie si de a oferi o viziune de dezvoltare a orasului. Conditiile din legea electorala pentru candidatii independenti sunt foarte potrivnice, pentru primaria capitalei fiind nevoie de strangerea unui numar de 36.000 de semnaturi intr-un interval de cateva saptamani, dar printr-o mobilizare a oamenilor carora le pasa de acest oras s-a reusit strangerea a 53.000 de semnaturi si astfel Nicusor Dan a devenit candidat oficial la postul de primar general, cat si la cel de
consilier general.
Stiu ca unii dintre voi ati crescut in Bucuresti, altii ati studiat aici, sau poate unii doar l-ati tranzitat in fuga in drum spre aeroport. Daca Bucurestiul mai inseamna ceva pentru voi, atunci ati putea sa ne ajutati sa sprijinim acest candidat remarcabil:
– spuneti-le rudelor si prietenilor vostri din Bucuresti de Nicusor Dan;
– scrieti pe blogurile voastre si pe facebook despre el, dati like pe pagina oficiala a campaniei: https://www.facebook.com/nicusordan.pentrubucuresti
– donati pentru campania lui (conditia e sa mai fiti inca cetateni romani), detalii aici: http://nicusordan.ro/cum-va-puteti-implica
Sunt sigur ca va castiga locul de consilier general, pentru primar insa va fi o lupta grea, dar trebuie sa le aratam ca “suntem mai multi decat cred ei!”Va multumesc,
Bogdan
S-au plâns mulți de calitatea politicienilor români din ultimii 20 de ani; iată deci unul din primii politicieni răsăriți din societatea civilă. Am răsfoit site-ul lui Nicușor Dan, și cred că merită susținut.
Free fallin’
“Falling is just like flying, except there’s a more permanent destination.”1
I love that quote. Ever since I heard it, it kind of stuck in my head, sloshing around like melted snow. It is true, in its own way – skydivers know that best of all. But it also hints at something more, some deeper meaning. I don’t know whether the author really thought about this being misconstrued as a metaphor for life. But I like to think that he did; he just refused to explore it further, just letting it dangle there, for the world to see.
Oh yes, we think we’re flying. Some higher, some lower, some faster, some slower. Look at us go. Look at us, flapping those arms, going through the motions! Look at those fluffy clouds, man! Ground? What ground? We can see no ground from up here, and anyway, for us, the ground is just some theoretical abstraction that those folks of a philosophical persuasion thought up. Why, they say we’re all going to hit it sooner or later, and it’s “goodbye, flying” from there on.
Other folks say you’ve got to keep light while you’re travelling, ‘cause when you hit that ground, you’re going under! But just keep light and then, well, there’s a chance you’d bounce right back up, all the way to heaven. There’s even folks saying you just hop like a frog, depending on your baggage, and that your purpose in life is to get just the right weight to stop altogether.
As for myself, I know we all are falling. I’m guessing I’m about half way down, give or take a few years. If all goes well, that is, and I don’t hit some Everest. Like an idiot. If I steer free of mountain ranges in general. Who knows, maybe I’ll find me some good old chasm and ride this thing down for all it’s worth. Hey, if I’m really lucky, there might be some zero gravity zone at the end of it.2 But I don’t get my hopes up. All I’m aiming for are some nice barrel rolls along the way.
So. Wasn’t that a waste of a good metaphor? *ahem*. Welcome aboard Air Destiny. Fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride.
- This is what Steven Moffat, one of the great screenwriters of our age, tells us in the – quite grand, to be honest – finale of the second series of “Sherlock”, a modern take of Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved character. [↩]
- That would be what some of you good folks are calling “The Singularity”. Kind of like a Heaven for nerds. [↩]