Some unusual sights in the Iberian Peninsula

My wife and I joined a tour group to Spain and Portugal last year.This stuff can be seen in restaurants all over Spain. Some were hung right on the top of your head. There were a number of Muslims in our group. It must be very difficult for them to swallow when we were in some of these restaurants.

Can you see an apartment block in between? It must be the narrowest in the world!

ANTIFRAGILE by Nassim Taleb (2012)

This must be the most difficult book for one to read!

Taleb, whose The Black Swan (2007) became a run-away success in the wake of the global financial crisis in 2008, followed up his 'theory' with this 500-page volume: "ANTIFRAGILE - How to live in a world we don't understand" 

Taleb's concept is quite commonsensical really. To him, there is no word to define the exact opposite of 'fragile", hence "antifragile. In a nutshell, he advocates that we should throw away our Statistics and expect the least expected to happen, and happen in the most unexpected way. In this book, he rants away example after example of economic and corporate collapses and failures, most of which we already know, to back up his "theory". These are not uninteresting; however, I take strong exception of his extreme arrogance. Everybody seems to be wrong, except him! The way he runs down doctors, pharmacists, economists, scientists and researchers and what-have-you is totally uncalled for. Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz and author Thomas Friedman bear the worst brunt of his attack. I could also discern some Levant racism in him too.

Success breeds arrogance!

 

Something on STRATEGY

This is a chapter on STRATEGY in a book that I was working on a couple of years ago. Since I am not publishing it, maybe I should share it with friends here. I welcome criticism and feedback.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_UuKXLogLNWUG4zVy1KTnh0Y2M/edit?usp=sharing



Chinese improvisation knows no bounds. Picture taken in Henan, December 2010

Personal Profile

For friends who are interested in my fuller profile, please feel free to access this:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_UuKXLogLNWNDNqWGExajVxMGs/edit?usp=sharing

My pleasure to share these two pictures...

 

What a dish!



 

I had the privilege of being invited to watch the final of 2010 World Cup in Johannesburg. The dish was served in a Chinese restaurant there. I am shy to tell you the cost of this dish!

 

 

Nangliloc and Colignan

 



Nangiloc and Colingnan are two rural towns in the northeast of Australia's Victoria. Do see their spellings carefully!

Jews in China

 

I have long heard of Chinese Jews. When I went to Henan in December 2010, I made an effort to track them down. Yes, they are indeed in Kaifeng - the capital of a number of Chinese dynasties. Ms Guo (Esther) said their ancestry can be traced as far back as the Song dynasty (960 to 1279). Unfortunately, not much is left. She is now trying to raise fund to rebuild a synagogue in the original site.

 

Esther can be reached at yisrael-faifeng@hotmail.com (http://hi.baidu.com/yisrael).

 

Her story is more real than Marco Polo's. (I always believe Marco Polo was the world's first "arm-chair" traveler.)



 

 



A synagogue? Yes, it is!

Ms Guo Yan (Esther) is a descendant