Edgardo Block
@edgardoblock.bsky.social
Personal account for personal comments, which are solely my responsibility and no one else’s.
Argentina-born American, transport infrastructure professional. Started the very empty @evalpavement.bsky.social.
Argentina-born American, transport infrastructure professional. Started the very empty @evalpavement.bsky.social.
Pinned
Well, I’m going to play “Battle of the Chopin waltzes.” We* will play with 16 of them; 14 recorded by Dinu Lipatti and two more of my choosing. Lack of a voting app on bluesky means we’ll just do this by hand. I will pin this thread and add a link to each vote.
Rules for playing: +
Rules for playing: +
February 13, 2026 at 4:13 AM
Connections
Puzzle #977
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟨🟪🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
Puzzle #977
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟨🟪🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
February 13, 2026 at 3:51 AM
Connections
Puzzle #977
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟨🟪🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
Puzzle #977
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟨🟪🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
Brazil 2002 omg!
Netherlands 74 (via legend)
Ajax 94/95
Arsenal with Henry/Pires (Wenger)
The Klopp Liverpool
Real Madrid (BBC, Zidane, CR, Ancellotti, Ramos)
2018 France
Netherlands 74 (via legend)
Ajax 94/95
Arsenal with Henry/Pires (Wenger)
The Klopp Liverpool
Real Madrid (BBC, Zidane, CR, Ancellotti, Ramos)
2018 France
February 13, 2026 at 2:00 AM
Brazil 2002 omg!
Netherlands 74 (via legend)
Ajax 94/95
Arsenal with Henry/Pires (Wenger)
The Klopp Liverpool
Real Madrid (BBC, Zidane, CR, Ancellotti, Ramos)
2018 France
Netherlands 74 (via legend)
Ajax 94/95
Arsenal with Henry/Pires (Wenger)
The Klopp Liverpool
Real Madrid (BBC, Zidane, CR, Ancellotti, Ramos)
2018 France
Man United with Beckham Scholes Giggs Neville Ferdinand and later CR7
1970 Brazil (via legend - did not watch but still)
1982 Brazil - the last Romantic era futebol
Argentina 86, 78, 22 (I loved the 2006 team too)
The Spain of 2008-2012
Italy 1982, 2006
1970 Brazil (via legend - did not watch but still)
1982 Brazil - the last Romantic era futebol
Argentina 86, 78, 22 (I loved the 2006 team too)
The Spain of 2008-2012
Italy 1982, 2006
February 13, 2026 at 2:00 AM
Man United with Beckham Scholes Giggs Neville Ferdinand and later CR7
1970 Brazil (via legend - did not watch but still)
1982 Brazil - the last Romantic era futebol
Argentina 86, 78, 22 (I loved the 2006 team too)
The Spain of 2008-2012
Italy 1982, 2006
1970 Brazil (via legend - did not watch but still)
1982 Brazil - the last Romantic era futebol
Argentina 86, 78, 22 (I loved the 2006 team too)
The Spain of 2008-2012
Italy 1982, 2006
From my reply but pointing to the head skeet.
Great teams I have watched
the AC Milan of van Basten, Gullit, Baresi Costacurta and company (late 80s) (I don’t even like AC Milan)
Barcelona through the Rijkaard+Guardiola+Vilanova era
( Ronaldinho Henry Iniesta Alonso and Messi Puyol Pique)
… +
Great teams I have watched
the AC Milan of van Basten, Gullit, Baresi Costacurta and company (late 80s) (I don’t even like AC Milan)
Barcelona through the Rijkaard+Guardiola+Vilanova era
( Ronaldinho Henry Iniesta Alonso and Messi Puyol Pique)
… +
A question: My sense is that in Soccer, the best club teams tend to have more talent than the best international teams, something that doesn’t seem to be true in other sports.
Is that just a product of my relatively limited understanding of soccer, or is this a real thing? And if so, why is that?
Is that just a product of my relatively limited understanding of soccer, or is this a real thing? And if so, why is that?
February 13, 2026 at 2:00 AM
From my reply but pointing to the head skeet.
Great teams I have watched
the AC Milan of van Basten, Gullit, Baresi Costacurta and company (late 80s) (I don’t even like AC Milan)
Barcelona through the Rijkaard+Guardiola+Vilanova era
( Ronaldinho Henry Iniesta Alonso and Messi Puyol Pique)
… +
Great teams I have watched
the AC Milan of van Basten, Gullit, Baresi Costacurta and company (late 80s) (I don’t even like AC Milan)
Barcelona through the Rijkaard+Guardiola+Vilanova era
( Ronaldinho Henry Iniesta Alonso and Messi Puyol Pique)
… +
The top teams, when they are really special, can probably do this much more often, and I believe it would be great to have these dynasties play so we could test this. I’m going to quoteskeet to just put out a list of great teams.
February 13, 2026 at 1:41 AM
The top teams, when they are really special, can probably do this much more often, and I believe it would be great to have these dynasties play so we could test this. I’m going to quoteskeet to just put out a list of great teams.
You can add Spain to the top group, too. More generally, these top international sides develop when the teams have been playing together in a system, or “school.” I particularly enjoy (= suffer) watching these top teams that represent an entire generational effort to learn how to play like that..+
February 13, 2026 at 1:41 AM
You can add Spain to the top group, too. More generally, these top international sides develop when the teams have been playing together in a system, or “school.” I particularly enjoy (= suffer) watching these top teams that represent an entire generational effort to learn how to play like that..+
proper tres leches
February 13, 2026 at 1:13 AM
proper tres leches
Like, seriously, Warren Buffett could have just funded the NSF budget for a few years and called on others to do it “ideally.”
February 12, 2026 at 9:04 PM
Like, seriously, Warren Buffett could have just funded the NSF budget for a few years and called on others to do it “ideally.”
Clearly. But I don’t know that anyone has rallied the decent philanthropists to fund research in the “ideal way,” and there is a sentiment or allure of “legacy for good” that I think could stir them to action on this front.
February 12, 2026 at 9:02 PM
Clearly. But I don’t know that anyone has rallied the decent philanthropists to fund research in the “ideal way,” and there is a sentiment or allure of “legacy for good” that I think could stir them to action on this front.
ugh there is an extra period in that “hire someone” sentence. But it also hurts to read the rest of it, so, clarifying, “the funder needs to be kept away from decisions on (what, how to) research.
February 12, 2026 at 8:58 PM
ugh there is an extra period in that “hire someone” sentence. But it also hurts to read the rest of it, so, clarifying, “the funder needs to be kept away from decisions on (what, how to) research.
I know this is idealistic / iconoclastic but start from that ideal state and bring it back to implementability.
February 12, 2026 at 8:54 PM
I know this is idealistic / iconoclastic but start from that ideal state and bring it back to implementability.
The private, public, or non-profit group should be blind to actual research. They should just hire the researcher where they have a topic they want to advance on. for a product or business model, etc…
February 12, 2026 at 8:54 PM
The private, public, or non-profit group should be blind to actual research. They should just hire the researcher where they have a topic they want to advance on. for a product or business model, etc…
I think it’s too much to ask the researcher to make that call (except where obvious)… +
bsky.app/profile/edga...
bsky.app/profile/edga...
I won’t excuse anyone because I don’t know the particulars but this weekend makes a strong case for HIGHLY EXPANDED public funding of research, with independence*. And If private individuals or firms want to fund research, let them come to the researchers with hands full.
February 12, 2026 at 8:54 PM
I think it’s too much to ask the researcher to make that call (except where obvious)… +
bsky.app/profile/edga...
bsky.app/profile/edga...
no offense at all, and kudos for reading!
February 12, 2026 at 12:50 PM
no offense at all, and kudos for reading!
as the US Civil War.)
February 12, 2026 at 11:47 AM
as the US Civil War.)
Following different logic and situations, with Paraguay in particular developing a model that went against the grain and ended up in conflict with Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina in the Triple Alliance War (1864-70) that devastated its population (the same order of magnitude of deaths… +
February 12, 2026 at 11:47 AM
Following different logic and situations, with Paraguay in particular developing a model that went against the grain and ended up in conflict with Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina in the Triple Alliance War (1864-70) that devastated its population (the same order of magnitude of deaths… +
Paraguay and Uruguay were part of the Viceroyalty of the River Plate but over time went their own way from Buenos Aires.
February 12, 2026 at 11:43 AM
Paraguay and Uruguay were part of the Viceroyalty of the River Plate but over time went their own way from Buenos Aires.
but, as he laid out in a sort of farewell letter to Peru, he thought the people should elect their own leaders (there is an amazing “farewell letter” to Peru (which I saw at the NY Public Library 3 yrs ago) to this effect, and he retired to France.
February 12, 2026 at 11:43 AM
but, as he laid out in a sort of farewell letter to Peru, he thought the people should elect their own leaders (there is an amazing “farewell letter” to Peru (which I saw at the NY Public Library 3 yrs ago) to this effect, and he retired to France.
San Martin (instrumental in Argentina, Chile, and Peru independence) assembled an army in Argentina and crossed the Andes into Chile and then took the independence fight from there to Lima via the sea. He was more of a military figure though he was 1st President of Peru… +
February 12, 2026 at 11:43 AM
San Martin (instrumental in Argentina, Chile, and Peru independence) assembled an army in Argentina and crossed the Andes into Chile and then took the independence fight from there to Lima via the sea. He was more of a military figure though he was 1st President of Peru… +
small point - there are two “pan-South American” liberation figures who worked in concert, Bolívar and San Martín - four Bolivarian countries eventually (Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia), three emerging from the Gran Colombia and Bolivia.
February 12, 2026 at 11:43 AM
small point - there are two “pan-South American” liberation figures who worked in concert, Bolívar and San Martín - four Bolivarian countries eventually (Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia), three emerging from the Gran Colombia and Bolivia.
If starfruit count, then Chile, Brazil, Venezuela, Suriname have them. Ecuador Paraguay Peru and Bolivia have them in a meta way, via a coat of arms or similar in the flag that has them.
Paraguay has a different seal front and back.
Colombia, Uruguay, Argentina, Guyana do not.
Paraguay has a different seal front and back.
Colombia, Uruguay, Argentina, Guyana do not.
February 11, 2026 at 9:49 PM
If starfruit count, then Chile, Brazil, Venezuela, Suriname have them. Ecuador Paraguay Peru and Bolivia have them in a meta way, via a coat of arms or similar in the flag that has them.
Paraguay has a different seal front and back.
Colombia, Uruguay, Argentina, Guyana do not.
Paraguay has a different seal front and back.
Colombia, Uruguay, Argentina, Guyana do not.
Related q, is there a must-click article there?
February 11, 2026 at 4:07 AM
Related q, is there a must-click article there?
what are the chances John Bolton is the only one who realizes something true that no one else sees? (my reaction whether to read a monthly Atlantic article when I get just one click)
Write down the p for that, subtract from 1, which is the chance he’s pushing his world view, and click elsewhere. +
Write down the p for that, subtract from 1, which is the chance he’s pushing his world view, and click elsewhere. +
February 11, 2026 at 4:07 AM
what are the chances John Bolton is the only one who realizes something true that no one else sees? (my reaction whether to read a monthly Atlantic article when I get just one click)
Write down the p for that, subtract from 1, which is the chance he’s pushing his world view, and click elsewhere. +
Write down the p for that, subtract from 1, which is the chance he’s pushing his world view, and click elsewhere. +