![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.conversiondiary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/7_quick_takes_sm1.jpg\" "\\"7_quick_takes_sm\\"")
<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n<\/a>— 1 —<\/strong><\/p>\n I came across an article on why married women cheat<\/a>. It isn’t a scientific study, but a sampling of different stories. Not usually my kind of article or theme. What pleasantly surprised me is the strong anti-affair stance – strong for mainstream media, at least. Most interesting is the What you can learn<\/b> section that follows each vignette, which seems to reiterate the importance of communication every time – here usually the importance of telling your husband your needs and desires, but I take from it the equally important admonition to receive Janet’s communication not as accusation, but as a means of improving our marriage. <\/p>\n <\/a>— 2 —<\/strong><\/p>\n More my kind of article, here’s an article (in German) on the basic problem of the Eurozone<\/a>. The most interesting bit was Dani Rodrick’s trilemma. Rodrick has stated that the Eurozone has three goals, one of which can never be fulfilled if the two others are. These are the goals: first, a strong economic integration of the member countries; second, politics aligned with the interests of the individual nations; third, democracy. And that’s why Papandreou’s announcement of a referendum shook the markets. <\/p>\n <\/a>— 3 —<\/strong><\/p>\n The German version of this song<\/a> has been in my head all week. Am I the only one to whom it feels like an incantation? Isn’t that a subtle form of idolatry? <\/p>\n <\/a>— 4 —<\/strong><\/p>\n Another German article<\/a>, this one on Shakespeare. (I hope Google translate is of help with these articles.) The most interesting points to me: First, Shakespeare avoided current issues, or at least made them abstract issues in Arcadia, and that is in large part why we still perform and enjoy his works. Second, looking for biographical elements in the author’s work is a modern obsession and certainly not on the Elizabethan radar, so those scholars who would describe the man based on his sonnets are badly misguided. Third, “he who insists on the biographical component underestimates the power of imagination.” <\/p>\n <\/a>— 5 —<\/strong><\/p>\n Just the thing<\/a> for a certain well-disguised oldest nephew of mine. <\/p>\n <\/a>— 6 —<\/strong><\/p>\n A pair of researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich chucked the data on about 43’000 transnational companies into their computers to find out who owns the whole ball of wax<\/a>. Turns out it’s a group of about 150 mostly British and American banks and financial institutions that control 40% of the market; 750 firms control 80%. They also showed that these companies at the wheel are heavily interconnected, which led them to the conclusion that they’re “too connected to fail.” Here’s an abstract<\/a>. <\/p>\n <\/a>— 7 —<\/strong><\/p>\n Received from a friend: a video of an owl coming in for the kill<\/a>, right at the camera. The video is taken at 1000 frames per second and shows the intricate flight mechanics of this bird of prey. <\/p>\n