Willem's Planet

The month of May’s US jobs numbers were the worst in more than five years : only 38,000 new jobs – when some 150,000 had been expected.

I see the Swiss referendum is coming up on Sunday June 5th : the one in which Swiss citizens will decide if their government should pay out a basic income to everyone. The Economist reports here that Finland and the Netherlands are planning limited experiments in which some citizens are paid a monthly income of roughly €1,000 ($1,100). But as the New York Times writes – while admitting that the American safety net needs fixing – an universal basic income is a poor tool to fight poverty.  A basic income is a powerful disincentive to get a job – and jobs give people status, and for many is a way to structure and improve their lives.

Here’s a cute doggie picture, animated by Google pictures.  (I did not take the pictures). If one has a series of pictures, Google Pictures can be used to make an animated .gif picture out of them.

A new ‘longest tunnel in the world’ opened today : the Gotthard Base Tunnel, after 17 years of construction, and running 57 km (35 miles) long under the Swiss Alps. It is 8,000 feet, or one-and-a-half vertical miles deep in the earth in some places. The tunnel reduces travel time from Zurich to Milan from 3.5 hours to 2.5 hours.  All the more reason for me to go visit Switzerland (I have never been there), and experience the 20 minute tunnel ride!  Check out these great pictures from the International  Business Times website.

 

 

 

We remember our fallen soldiers every Memorial Day in the United States.  (Veteran’s Day in November is to thank all veterans from the armed services, those that had served in wars and those that did not).  President Obama said a very true thing today – attending his last wreath-laying ceremony as President – that we should remember that each and every one of the soldiers that lay down their lives defending our country, is a hero, is someone’s hero. They are sons and daughters, moms and dads, brothers, sisters, dear friends, platoon leaders, officers, sergeants, support personnel.  And we salute every one.

I was at the Northgate shopping complex on Saturday, and checked in at the Sports Authority sporting goods store that is closing there (for bargains, of course*).  The Colorado-based chain is going out of business.  I guess they were hurt by the soft-ish economy, the competition from other chains, and by Amazon that is eating everyone’s lunch to some extent.

*I didn’t buy anything.  I still have new-ish sneakers and enough t-shirts.  If the discounts go to 40% or 50%, I may buy some sneakers or a new tennis racket, even though I play very infrequently now.

There is a new series about the cosmos called ‘Genius’ presented by Stephen Hawking on the PBS broadcasting channel.  In Episode 3, the question ‘Why are we here?’ is posed, and answered in the best possible way that science can offer to date.   Hint : per our current understanding of quantum mechanics, it is likely that we do not actually live in a universe, but rather in a multiverse : the hypothetical set of finite and infinite possible universes, including the universe in which we live.

[Spoiler alert!  Stop reading here if you want to watch the full episode to see how the answer unfolds].

Here are Stephen Hawking’s concluding remarks from the episode, and the answer to the question.  ‘ .. although each of us is a product of the universe, the universe we live in, is personal to us’.  The universe splits into all possible universes, all the time.  We may be tiny and feeble compared to the majesty of the cosmos, but in a very real way it exists just for you.  The universe you see is the one that gave rise to you, out of all the possible universes, and that is why you are here.  So no matter how bad things get, I always say, don’t look down at your feet, but look up at the stars.

 

It’s Memorial Day weekend here in the United States.  (Yay!  Monday is a holiday, and the unofficial start of summer).  The New York Times pointed out to New Yorkers that two days of ‘Manhattanhenge‘ are coming up : when the setting sun aligns perfectly with the numbered streets that run east and west on Manhattan’s city grid, bathing traffic and skyscrapers in its warm red light.   This year’s displays will occur at about 8:12 p.m. this Sunday and Monday, and again on July 11 and 12.

‘Alright, people’, said the partner in charge of our presentation prep, ‘no more changes‘ (to the presentation materials). ‘We’re at the top of the water slide, and we have started down.  Let’s make a big splash’. 

This was at 9 this morning, as we went through the set of PowerPoint slides one more time.  The presentation’s duration was a total of 2 hours, and our presentation team was six strong.  So I actually had only five slides to talk about !  The slide comes up, you make your points, your pitch, explain what the proposed solution is, and then you might get peppered with questions from the audience.  We had rehearsed our talking points and answers five or six times (!) the last three days, and it helped a lot this afternoon at the presentation, to make us come across as prepared, confident and familiar with the materials.

So at 12 noon sharp, and sharply dressed, we drove out to San Ramon on the east side of the Bay.  We ended up sitting in between 20 or so people in a U-shaped layout. (Sometimes the presentation team all sit at the front).   I’m happy to report that it went well, I did not single-handedly torpedo our efforts with any faux pas – and we hope to find out in the next few days that we had won the work!

How well do you know the Nordic countries’ flags?  Check them out on the cool dessert from Friday night’s state dinner hosted by the Obamas in Washington DC!

P. S. Friday marked the end of a dizzying week in which there had been revelations on a daily basis in the national media about Republican presidential candidate Trump.  Here is a sample.  1. His tax returns are ‘none of your business’ he snapped back at George Stephanopoulos (former White House communications director, now ABC news anchor). Presidential candidates have released their tax returns since Richard Nixon had done that in.  2012 Presidential candidate Mitt Romney calls this ‘disqualifying’ for a candidate running for president.   2. The Washington Post revealed that/ reminded voters that in 1991 Trump would call up reporters, posing as his own ‘PR man’ as ‘John Miller’ or ‘John Barron’, discussing his divorce proceedings, and how he should be portrayed in the media, and that he is ‘starting to do really well financially’.  Here’s the thing.  Pressed about it on Friday morning on the Today show, Trump now he denies outright that it was him.  ‘No, that doesn’t sound like me. Wasn’t me’.   3.  His crude objectifying of women on Howard Stern’s radio shows from those days got more air again, this week. 4.  Mr Trump seemed to back away from his controversial statements on the campaign trail such as the ban on Muslims entering the USA, saying all his positions are merely ‘suggestions’ and that everything is ‘negotiable’.   5.  Still no endorsement from Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, after the much hyped-up meeting on Thursday.