A conversation outside my window

I'm listening to a man talk on his cell phone in spanish and the only words I caught were "Thanksgiving" and "dysfunctional family."

It's funny which English words get picked up in other languages.

On Confidence

I just finished Rosabeth Moss Kanter's book "Confidence, How Winning Streaks & Losing Streaks Begin and End." Like most books on an interesting subject written by an economist, it was disapointing. [Sometimes I wonder if economics education consists of learning how to wander around in circles picking up only the evidence that fits your theory.]

Her point is that winning and losing are spirals. I think that is a particularly American truism. On this election day, it is worth pondering if the Republicans would be anywhere if Americans weren't so attracted to winners. It is even possible for a political party to be successful by simply denying reality as long as they can protect the American people from that fatal sin of losing a war.