 price index, a measure of “inflation”. Many commentators attach much greater significance to CPI figures than they deserve. The change in CPI from one month to the next may not be highly significant. It may be influenced by unusual factors that only applied in that month. Deducing a trend from one month’s figures can be dangerous. Statistics can also be adjusted and manipulated. Sometimes the adjustments are helpful. In the case of the CPI, for example, seasonal adjustments can be made. These reduce or eliminate the effect of items that vary sharply in price at different times of the year. They smooth out the figures, giving a better view of a trend. A moving average of several months’ figures may give a better view of an underlying trend. But neither of these is a panacea when it comes to interpreting the numbers. The less scrupulous might “annualise” one month’s or one quarter’s figures. But annualising can cause problems. If this month’s figures are sharply at variance with last month’s, then drawing conclusions from the annualised figure could be misleading.
Argentina’s Inflation Rate
For the last few years the Argentinian government has published inflation figures that a lot of people find hard to believe. Expansionary fiscal and monetary policy has caused the economy to grow too quickly which eventually led to higher prices. In order to conceal the higher inflation rates the government resorted to price controls and tampering with the official figures. Some employees of the statistics institute, INDEC, were told to omit decimal points, not round them. According to The Economist, although this doesn’t seem much, when you do the calculations you get the following:
1% monthly rise in the CPI = 12.7% annual rise
1.9% monthly rise in the CPI = 25.3% annual rise
Unions in Argentina use independent statisticians when negotiating pay increases. Surveys from a university show inflation expectations running at 25-30%. When you compare the official (Government) and the unofficial (PriceStats – private provider of inflation rates) you get the following (see also chart from The Economist):
Unofficial annual rate – 24.4% and cumulative inflation since the beginning of 2007 at 137%
Unofficial annual rate – 9.7% and cumulative inflation since the beginning of 2007 at 44%
Confidence in the present government’s economic policy has taken a hit and it will have to earn back the trust of not only its people but also the global community.Glass Transitionsby Luxury In Motion Final Cut Pro Templates
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We're trusted by these great organizations.Kyle graduated last night, from a class of 530 students. The program went surprisingly quickly considering the number of grads.
Today and part of tomorrow, and we’ll be on a plan on our way home. I hate to leave my family, but I do look forward to being home. No place like it, right?
So I’ve been thinking about graduations from high school. My own took place in 1965, when the “flip” hairdo was very popular, along with the beehive 🙂 And cat-eye glasses, remember those? I still think the flip is pretty. Today, girls seem to opt for completely straight and very long, although everyone seems to feel free to do her own thing these days.
Bouffant and flipped. I went with the flip, but not the think bangs. Things sure are simpler now.
Then there was college graduation four years later. A wedding a week after that. and yet another graduation for my master’s degree nearly 40 years later. Lots of living went on in the years between!
Some teens know exactly what they want to do after high school. Others are at sea, not having a direction or passion that leads them forward. It can be a most difficult time, because there is a great deal of pressure to know exactly what your next step is going to be after high school.
I had an interest in psychology way back then, but it was a relatively new field in the ’60’s for girls who came from the background I did. I’m not sorry I went in the direction of teaching instead. It certainly paved the way for the decision I would make at age 50 to go back to school so I could do private-practice counseling.
When I think about all the twists and turns our lives have taken, again, I’m not sorry for the decisions we’ve made. God brought Terry and me together at just the right time. We’ve had a (mostly!) wonderful marriage, and four adult children who have given us nine wonderful grandchildren.
It’s true that high school graduation is a huge steppingstone into life, but it’s not the ONLY point of decision. There is always opportunity, always the possibility of changing courses.
No decision has to be set in cement.
Neither of those lovely ladies is a picture of me 🙂 I was just illustrating the popular hairstyles back then.Man, what a question, right? Music is so, so subjective, and everyone is going to take issue with one list or another. I agree with another poster that Rolling Stone's peak influence is long past, and they've become the equivalent of the old man on his lawn yelling "It was better before!!" Case in point, how many times a year does RS put out a goddamned Beatles "special issue" ranking all their songs or albums? OH, HOW VERY EXCITING, RS! HOW MANY SURPRISES WILL BE IN STORE FOR US ON *THIS* LIST? Also, their top 10 is almost all Beatles and Dylan -- which is fine if you worship at the altar of Beatles and Dylan, but I can't be the only person in the world who is just *a bit weary* of this kind of stuff. That said, many years ago I did keep a tattered, highlighted copy in my bookcase because, well...you do have to start somewhere. And sometimes discovering what you *don't like* is almost as valuable as finding out what you do like.

The Grammy list isn't much better.  Also, Phil Collins, Toto, Billy Joel...all Grammy winners, but are they the best albums? Maybe I'm risking a major flame war here, but I'm willing to go out on a limb and say they kinda....suck.

So, what, then? I think the 1001 albums list is a decent place to start. Yeah, plenty of Dylan/Beatles/et. al., but they don't claim they're *the best* albums, or even attempt to rank them, just that you should hear them (preferably before you die). But there are definitely some interesting oddities and left-field genres that might take you down other interesting paths.

I'm definitely a big Spotify user (particularly a fan of Discover Weekly and customized playlists based on what you listen to, as well the "Similar Artists" tab), but I also use AllMusic quite a bit. That can be quite helpful in finding actual albums that you might like, because it's not always helpful to say "you might also like Stevie Wonder" because, where do you start? The Motown era? The 80s? His newest album? Or what about The Beach Boys? In a career spanning 50 years, they have managed to put out some of the very best music ever made, and also some of the worst (pro-tip: Don't start with "Love You" with the BBs.)

Plain, old-fashioned curiosity is your greatest asset. There are millions of lists, blogs, and angry opinions out there. Explore a bit and you'll find your niche. Start with your inherited albums, and when you do hit upon those that really grab you, learn all about the album, the artist, other artists that inspired them, and others that they inspired themselves. 

To give you an example, David Bowie's "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars" album was one that really kicked the doors wide open for me as a music fan. Not only did I fall in love with that record immediately, but it led to so many other genres and artists. From there, you can explore other classics in the glam era like T.Rex, Lou Reed, and Roxy Music. Roxy might lead you to Brian Eno, who put out some fantastic albums of his own, and from there it might take you to ambient, electronic or even Kraut rock. Now you're getting into Can, Kraftwerk and Cluster...neat! "Ziggy" can also lead you to Iggy Pop, which leads to the Stooges and other punk/garage rock classics. And from Lou Reed, you might go back and explore the Velvet Underground, which leads all kinds of interesting places -- solo Lou Reed, John Cale, and Nico, for starters, and then...well, too many other artists to mention in this already very long post. That's not even to mention Bowie's other albums, which from 1970 to 1979 are just about perfect. And it just keeps spiraling out, on and on and on...all from one album.

Anyway, enjoy the