.
From Gary Marcus, at the New Yorker:
At the age of fourteen, Sidiki Conde collapsed on his way to school, in Guinea. For several months, he was in a coma. The lack of adequate medical knowledge muddies the source of his illness; it may have been polio. When he finally returned to consciousness, he was paralyzed from the neck down. He became deeply depressed; suicide crossed his mind.
One night in a dream, a voice asked him, “Why you are so sad? You are still here. You have something to offer.” Inspired, Sidiki finally asked to be released from the hospital, and in the next few years gradually regained the function of his arms. He then completely reinvented himself: he learned to walk again, on his hands, and to bicycle, water-ski, and dance. Gradually, he added drumming, choreography, and composition to his resume, eventually playing gigs at Lincoln Center and with world-class musicians, like Youssou N’dour and Baaba Maal. In 2007, the National Endowment for the Arts named him a Fellow…
Anne Masten, a psychologist who studies children at the University of Minnesota, calls this surprising resilience “ordinary magic.” If Sidiki’s story is exceptional, the amazing thing is that it’s not entirely out of the realm of what humans are capable at their best. As the title of his documentary puts it, “you don’t need feet to dance.”
Apart from admiring the speed & tensile strength of the new server, what’s on the agenda for the finale of the weekend?
Suffern ACE
After spending the day correcting a list of hospital systems and determining which ones were government owned, church affiliated, non-profit, private for profit and private equity owned, I don’t think single payor, single operator can come soon enough. Also, I favor limiting the number of hospitals to ten.
Comrade Mary
Cyprus seems to have a deal. In short: accounts under 100,000 Euros won’t lose anything, but the Russian mobsters (well, anyone with larger deposits) are getting fucked to the tune of 25%. Or maybe 40%: accounts vary.
Comrade Mary
Sad and angry Russians.
Suffern ACE
@Comrade Mary: it looks like they limit the confiscation to depositors if the failing banks as well.
Mr Stagger Lee
I think those Rebs took LaSalle too lightly as well San Diego St with Florida Gulf Coast.
Mr Stagger Lee
@Comrade Mary: Those bankers better heed what happened to Berezovsky, those Russkie mobsters have ex KGB operatives in their ranks, see that episode in The Americans?
danielx
Sigh. If the snowblower is going to crap out, right after one finishes the driveway and starts to do the neighbors’ sidewalks is a good time.
Origuy
It was interesting being in Moscow this month. My friend Natasha hadn’t been back for years and was amazed by the changes. GUM, on Red Square, is now one of several high-end shopping malls. The metro is filled with people using iPhones and iPads; somebody has a lot of money there. It’s not all mobster money, although I’m sure a lot of that trickles down.
clayton
Somebody won the Vietnam war. Some disagree and hold a grudge.
pacem appellant
Speaking of the new server, what are the specs on it, anyway? (‘Cause that’s my thing. I play with servers all day)