More Interesting Stuff Continues This Week
So, after re-reading Monday's post and it's reference to the interesting term "sanguine," it turns out that yesterday (in the Catholic Church's calendar) was the feast day of Saint Januarius, aka, San Gennaro. There's a big festival in downtown Manhattan every year commemorating the occasion, that lasts about a week. It takes place in a neighborhood ("Little Italy") where lots of Italian-Americans once lived. Few live there now, but the festival keeps coming back to its original location nevertheless.
As we noted on Monday, the root meaning of the word "sanguine" is "blood," hence the interesting connection with Tuesday's feast day. If you don't know anything about San Gennaro himself, or of the festival, you can find lots on the Internet (of course!). You may find the ceremony, performed in Naples, of waiting for a vial of his blood - preserved for centuries - to liquefy on certain days of the year, including his feast day, strange. When the blood liquefies, it's a good thing; when it doesn't, the faithful believe trouble lies ahead. The blood does liquefy - most of the time.
Here's a thought: Maybe if they turned the UN Assembly's gathering into a big San Gennaro festival it would be a lot more interesting. They could either bring all the "dignitaries" to Mulberry Street in Manhattan (where the traditional festival is held), or maybe just set up some of those stands selling sausage and pepper sandwiches and Italian pastries around UN headquarters. The media would likely go for this, as they'd have something decent to eat while they're trying to spike interest in the mostly meaningless mumbling of politicians and bureaucrats that pepper their reports from the scene.
Ah, wishful thinking! Instead, the speeches, which so far included that of our own President, will continue through the week. Politicians will take center stage, commanding the temporary attention of the bureaucrats who daily walk the halls of that paragon of bureaucracies, if not power, the UN. And when it's all over, the politicians will get back to spending money they don't have in order to curry favor and secure their positions of power, as bureaucrats return to meddling in our daily lives. The security people will disappear and leave the rest of us to walk the streets of Manhattan, if not in peace, at least without the inconvenience and distraction that this annual event brings.
Meanwhile, another bureaucratic body the Fed - one that does in fact wield far too much power over our lives - will weigh in with its plan to "de-lever" its balance sheet. They'll let us know when and how they will disgorge the trillions of treasury and mortgage-backed securities that they purchased and held lo these last 9 years. Markets will do one of three things in response: rise, fall, or stay the same, just as they do pretty much every day. Some say the market's already "priced in" whatever it is the Fed will announce; some say that's so, but we could still see some kind of more pronounced response from traders. We'll find out today and/or tomorrow.
And so continues this last week of "official" summer. Fall begins Friday. Now there's something of note to look forward to. This year it arrives more as summer, as warmish weather should continue for another week or so. But eventually we'll get the cool, crisp air that brightens and energizes our lives, as the leaves turn from green to all those glorious colors.
Things are starting to look up despite all those meddlesome politicians, bureaucrats and other assorted "dignitaries"!
As we noted on Monday, the root meaning of the word "sanguine" is "blood," hence the interesting connection with Tuesday's feast day. If you don't know anything about San Gennaro himself, or of the festival, you can find lots on the Internet (of course!). You may find the ceremony, performed in Naples, of waiting for a vial of his blood - preserved for centuries - to liquefy on certain days of the year, including his feast day, strange. When the blood liquefies, it's a good thing; when it doesn't, the faithful believe trouble lies ahead. The blood does liquefy - most of the time.
Here's a thought: Maybe if they turned the UN Assembly's gathering into a big San Gennaro festival it would be a lot more interesting. They could either bring all the "dignitaries" to Mulberry Street in Manhattan (where the traditional festival is held), or maybe just set up some of those stands selling sausage and pepper sandwiches and Italian pastries around UN headquarters. The media would likely go for this, as they'd have something decent to eat while they're trying to spike interest in the mostly meaningless mumbling of politicians and bureaucrats that pepper their reports from the scene.
Ah, wishful thinking! Instead, the speeches, which so far included that of our own President, will continue through the week. Politicians will take center stage, commanding the temporary attention of the bureaucrats who daily walk the halls of that paragon of bureaucracies, if not power, the UN. And when it's all over, the politicians will get back to spending money they don't have in order to curry favor and secure their positions of power, as bureaucrats return to meddling in our daily lives. The security people will disappear and leave the rest of us to walk the streets of Manhattan, if not in peace, at least without the inconvenience and distraction that this annual event brings.
Meanwhile, another bureaucratic body the Fed - one that does in fact wield far too much power over our lives - will weigh in with its plan to "de-lever" its balance sheet. They'll let us know when and how they will disgorge the trillions of treasury and mortgage-backed securities that they purchased and held lo these last 9 years. Markets will do one of three things in response: rise, fall, or stay the same, just as they do pretty much every day. Some say the market's already "priced in" whatever it is the Fed will announce; some say that's so, but we could still see some kind of more pronounced response from traders. We'll find out today and/or tomorrow.
And so continues this last week of "official" summer. Fall begins Friday. Now there's something of note to look forward to. This year it arrives more as summer, as warmish weather should continue for another week or so. But eventually we'll get the cool, crisp air that brightens and energizes our lives, as the leaves turn from green to all those glorious colors.
Things are starting to look up despite all those meddlesome politicians, bureaucrats and other assorted "dignitaries"!
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