Michael Lewis:

Probably most people would agree that the people paid by the U.S. government to regulate Wall Street have had their difficulties. Most people would probably also agree on two reasons those difficulties seem only to be growing: an ever-more complex financial system that regulators must have explained to them by the financiers who create it, and the ever-more common practice among regulators of leaving their government jobs for much higher paying jobs at the very banks they were once meant to regulate. Wall Street’s regulators are people who are paid by Wall Street to accept Wall Street’s explanations of itself, and who have little ability to defend themselves from those explanations.
 
 Our financial regulatory system is obviously dysfunctional. But because the subject is so tedious, and the details so complicated, the public doesn’t pay it much attention.
 
 That may very well change today, for today — Friday, Sept. 26 — the radio program “This American Life” will air a jaw-dropping story about Wall Street regulation, and the public will have no trouble at all understanding it.
 
 The reporter, Jake Bernstein, has obtained 46 hours of tape recordings, made secretly by a Federal Reserve employee, of conversations within the Fed, and between the Fed and Goldman Sachs. The Ray Rice video for the financial sector has arrived.

Last fall I posted several sports images taken with an iPhone 5s – using its burst mode. How does the iPhone 6 (unlocked) compare?

I captured a few images using the iPhone’s burst mode (10 frames per second) last evening in somewhat low light conditions, shot through a fence. Hardly ideal. Tap to view the original, digitally zoomed versions.

The iPhone 6’s auto-focus is much faster than the 5s. The images are original, other than downsizing the display images in Photoshop to 1200 pixels wide.

It will be interesting to try the iPhone 6 with the iPro lens and perhaps others.

A bit later in the evening before a recent dinner:

Optics make a difference 🙂

Canon’s new 7D mark ii supports 10 frames per second with a much larger sensor and a wide variety of optics. The camera body is $1799.00 plus the necessary lenses.

Links:

2013: iPhone 5s & Sports photography.

2014: iPhone 6 camera.

The iPhone 6s and traditional cameras. Thinking ahead…

Pabst (!) on offer. [Wikipedia]

Cigarettes….

Iconic Memorial Union chairs.

Street photography in Madison, WI USA on a gorgeous Saturday. A few tilt-shift images that are worth a look.

The street comedian’s offer hits home on a beautiful Madison Saturday.

Oh, there’s a new Street Photography book that looks interesting.

Sally Davies:

Think of them as God’s back-office. Technology start-ups have spied an opportunity in helping Christian clergy manage their organisations – from using apps to harvest data about their parishioners, to administering assets such as cemeteries and church organs.

California-based Kaleo Apps offers a host of smartphone features to churches, including Facebook-like “prayer walls” and a service that lets churchgoers donate via SMS. The company says its tools have increased giving by up to 40 per cent.

“Churches have been managing themselves for thousands of years, but they’re being challenged on their story and their relevance,” says Klaus Nyengaard, chairman and investor in Danish start-up ChurchDesk. “They need to spend less time on administration and more time on the values they have and preaching the Gospel.”

Mr Nyengaard, who was previously chief executive of London-based online food marketplace Just Eat, says priests are working harder than ever before to “sweat” underutilised assets and get local community groups through the door by offering space for events, creating an ever-greater need for efficient management.

Door County, WI September 2014

David, Jackie and their colleagues continue to impress.

Martin Puchner:

I still don’t know. Fermor didn’t encounter any hermits, though he passed a hermit’s hut, wryly observing that it was the most desolate sight he had ever seen. Perhaps being a hermit was one step too far for the convivial Fermor. Despite his skepticism, I’m sure he would have known what to say: it would have been the ultimate test for this gifted conversationalist.

Periodically the monasteries on Athos crack down on the hermits, accusing them of encouraging personality cults. They undoubtedly do. But I think there is another reason for the crackdowns: the hermits capture a truth about Athos. Having set itself apart, the island lays in waiting for pilgrims and travelers, waiting for our questions, fears and desires, a Christian oracle speaking in voices that are not of this world.

Cesar Meloni:

4K/2K Sequences from the incoming project of Ezeiza International Airport. Shot on 2 Sony FS700 and 2 Odyssey 7Q. Graded in Davinci Resolve Lite 10, exported to ProRes and timeline edited in Adobe Premiere CC.

Sony and Canon EF lens were used + metabones adapter + follow focus.

Aeroparque as well.

“How do you know that the babysitting money you deposited in the bank a few days ago will still be there next week?” – a conversation with our children during the “Great Recession”.

“What?”

Indeed.

I pondered the state of money today after reading Benedict Mander’s latest: “Companies fear radical turn in Argentina”.

Argentina features a “pegged” currency in contrast to the many notes that “float”, where the “market” determines the exchange rate. In Argentina’s case, the government sets the peso conversion rate, currently about 8 to the dollar. Yet, the Country’s black market rate, or “dolar azul” currently trades at 13.8 pesos to the dollar.

I experienced this contradiction firsthand during a recent joyous trip to Argentina. A friend suggested taking cash to trade for Pesos. Spot on, our trading ranged from 9.5 to 13 Pesos to the US Dollar. 13 was found in the far north and required perfect US bills, no tears or wrinkles. The exchanges were quick and matter of fact. One money changer asked why more Americans don’t bring cash? “You save at least 50% compared to paying with a credit card.” “Americans must be conditioned to use credit cards”.

Not completely naive, I asked my last counterparty about his rates? “13 to 20. It’s crazy and changes daily”. Another local friend said that they expect a devaluation within a year’s time.

Attractive buys are to be had, from great bottles of wine for $2.00 to inexpensive sumptuous dinners. However, one must not underestimate the cost of such currency swings to local businesses. The proprietor of a delightful restaurant in Buenos Aires’ Palermo neighborhood related how difficult it is to “plan for anything. It’s crazy. I don’t know what to expect from day to day.”

And so, it was, while reading Mander’s article that my mind raced to Solomon’s words, inspired long ago: “All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” – Ecclesiastes 1-3.

It is remarkable to witness the faith that people put in money, particularly fiat money, or currency that has “value” because the Government says so.

The price of such faith can be seen when observing inflation. Exhibit A: Chobani’s Pomegranate yogurt had long been priced at $0.99/cup at Madison’s Woodmans. It now requires $1.15, an increase of 16%!

United States’ Dollars include the term “In God We Trust“. Obviously, this is all that matters.

1. Argentina’s insatiable—and destructive—appetite for U.S. dollars.

2. Politics is the biggest hurdle to developing Argentina’s enormous Vaca Muerta field via the Economist.

Interested in a deeper dive?

Money of the Mind: Borrowing and Lending in America from the Civil War to Michael Milken by James Grant.

Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed.