Álvaro La Parra-Pérez
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alvarolaparra.bsky.social
Álvaro La Parra-Pérez
@alvarolaparra.bsky.social
2.2K followers 2K following 2.6K posts
Too economist to be a historian. Too historian to be an economist.
My expressed ideas here are usually the slaves of some defunct economist, and my employer is alive and not an economist.
Missing home, wherever that is.
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alvarolaparra.bsky.social
Reading the article about the free-birth cult, and I’m gonna take a long break to recover from this paragraph
www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
Friends say Saldaya often took her ideological cues from her business partner. After Norris-Clark decided she did not believe in gravity, Saldaya announced she was no longer "round [Earth] committed". When Norris-Clark said she no longer believed in germ theory, Saldaya told friends she did not wash her hands. When Norris-Clark said she no longer identified as a feminist and wished to submit to her husband, Saldaya quietly stopped marketing the podcast as "radical feminist".
November 23, 2025 at 9:53 AM
alvarolaparra.bsky.social
Train stations
Estació del Nord (Valencia) Atocha’s long distance’s exit
November 16, 2025 at 9:42 AM
alvarolaparra.bsky.social
This, written by Robert Nozick 36 years ago, is probably very useful to think about AI “creations”
Could there be mechanical and straightforward rules which will guarantee genuine creation and which we would have no trouble following! Making the unlikely supposition that such rules are pos-sible, there would now be a dilemma. The rules guarantee producing things that are valuable and that appear new to others, but if what we produce comes by the conscious application of these (mechanical) rules, it will not count as being creative. Do we actually care about creativity, though, or are we only concerned about the resulting (apparently) new and valuable prod-ucts? With regard to others, it may seem that only their products can matter to us; think of our attitude toward consumer goods. Yet our experience of Beethoven's string quartets would be diminished if we discovered he had stumbled upon someone else's rules for musical composition, which he then applied mechanically. We would no longer have the sense that something was being communicated to us, something he knew and felt profoundly. No longer could we marvel at the act of composition, or see the works as evidencing a human ability to transcend circumstances.
November 14, 2025 at 6:55 PM
alvarolaparra.bsky.social
“Actuarial reasons” is Franco’s Spain “the biological fact,” I see
It's going to be a fight that's going to unfold for a while, because Donald Trump — either for actuarial or constitutional reasons — is not going to be around forever. People are already trying to figure out what the post-Trump right looks like. And this is one of these early
November 13, 2025 at 3:59 PM
alvarolaparra.bsky.social
In retrospect, a coffee that defines itself as having “notes of tobacco” should have been an obvious red flag
coffee label reading: AROMA INTENSITA MEDIO SCURS MEDIUM DARK ROAST NOTE AROMATICHE DI TABACCO, CANNELLA ED AMARETTO NOTES OF TOBACCO. CINNAMON AND AMARETTO COOKIE
November 11, 2025 at 6:59 AM
alvarolaparra.bsky.social
Abstract We show that subjective assessments of employee "potential" contribute to gender gaps in promotion and pay. Using data on 29,809 management-track employees from a large retail chain, we find that women receive substantially lower potential ratin despite receiving higher performance ratings. Differences in potential ratings account for approximately half of the gender promotion gap. Women's lower potential ratings do not reflect accurate forecasts of future performance: women subsequently outperform male colleagues, both on average and on the margin of promotion. We highlight two mechanisms driving the gender potential gap: strategic retention and stereotyping.
November 10, 2025 at 11:22 PM
alvarolaparra.bsky.social
yup
Concierto de Tiersen hoy
November 10, 2025 at 7:15 PM
alvarolaparra.bsky.social
My pump says today I’ve been above target -0% of the time, which obviously is way better than 0%
Time in target 92 % Time below target 7,9% Time above target -0%
November 6, 2025 at 3:14 PM
alvarolaparra.bsky.social
www.sltrib.com/news/2025/11...
In hindsight, Hale said, she wishes she had thought to ask the woman's name, or run after her to get more information for the woman's family. "Honestly," she said, "I was shaking so hard I didn't feel like I could walk." Hale and others who witness ICE arrests do have rights, said Ellie Menlove, the director of policy for the Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. "You do have rights if you want to help," Menlove said. "So, the first thing that we would suggest you do in line with your First Amendment rights is to try to record the interaction on your phone from a safe distance." Regardless of whether bystanders film an ICE encounter, Menlove suggested they collect identifying information about the arrest, like agents' license plate numbers, badge numbers and what arresting agents say to the detainee. She advised witnesses to write down everything they heard and saw during the arrest, too. Bystanders also have a right to be in the same place as agents making an arrest if it is a public space as long as they don't interfere with ICE's actions, Menlove said. Witnesses, if they are so inclined, can also interact with the person being arrested, including asking them how to contact their family, getting their name or reminding them of their rights, she said. Given that ICE officers do not have to identify themselves to bystanders as they make an arrest, and sometimes wear masks as they do so, Menlove said witnesses are within their rights to call 911 if they suspect a criminal abduction is taking place. A bystander to an ICE arrest should not interfere or obstruct agents, the National Immigrant Justice Center, an immigration advocacy nonprofit, said in a guide. Making physical contact with or hitting ICE agents is not allowed. Menlove also advised bystanders to remain calm and refrain from escalating the situation further. "ICE misconduct can't be challenged on the street or in the field in real time," she said. "So, just keep that in mind, and we place an emphasis on recording what you're seeing." If ICE agents ask witnesses to step back, Menlove urged calm compliance. If thr
November 1, 2025 at 6:47 PM
alvarolaparra.bsky.social
Casa de México (Madrid)
Altar de Muertos, cabaret style Caterina from close Wall with several skulls Cool Catrina from close
October 25, 2025 at 4:05 PM
alvarolaparra.bsky.social
“We must give the final blow”

Antifa, 1936

Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid
Propaganda poster from the Spanish Civil War with a man holding an axe and stepping on the neck of a dragon that has a swastika at the tip of its tongue
October 24, 2025 at 10:36 AM
alvarolaparra.bsky.social
Esto, de la newsletter de @andresgl.bsky.social, es un argumento muy relevante para los que vivimos la situación estadounidense muy de cerca.
Problema complicado de coordinación y, si se me apura, hasta de provisión de un bien público.
Hablábamos de todo esto el sábado por noche, después de una de las mayores movilizaciones en todo EEUU contra un presidente. Y mientras hablábamos vimos el vídeo elaborado con IA difundido por Trump Truth Social, en el que bombardeaba con excrementos. Y en medio de todas estas reflexiones, esta amiga contaba que en otra cena similar hacía unos días con conversaciones semejantes, una mujer respondió con vehemencia a sus compañeros: "No os podéis marchar, no os podéis rendir". Esta mujer argumentó: "Mis antepasados fueron esclavos en este país, y yo me he ido a vivir cerca de los campos en los que ellos trabajaron de forma forzosa. Mis antepasados han sufrido en esta tierra y han entregado mucho sufrimiento por este país para que ahora vosotros os marchéis, nos abandonéis y se lo regaléis a Trump y los suyos". El razonamiento resultaba impactante: una persona que viene de una familia de esclavos reivindica la sangre derramada por su familia en EEUU como ejemplo de sacrificio por un país y una vida mejor para luchar, para seguir luchando y dar la batalla contra el trumpismo, en lugar de optar por la vía del exilio.
October 22, 2025 at 7:54 AM
alvarolaparra.bsky.social
Initial hours with my first artificial pancreas (closed-loop insulin pump). It’s been very messy and worse than a typical day with the manual pump that I used for years, but of course there is a learning curve (both for the algorithm and for me). It’s gonna be an interesting experience.
Graph showing my blood glucose levels (dots) and delivered insulin (blue line). Significant and persistent hyperglycemia between 14h and 17h.
October 20, 2025 at 7:54 PM
alvarolaparra.bsky.social
Utah

www.standard.net/news/2025/oc...
Former state Sen. Steve Urquhart, who served in the Utah Legislature as a Republican from 2001-2016, was also in the crowd. He recalled believing years ago that any forces seeking to undercut democracy would come from the political left, but said he now feels differently. "Guess I was wrong about that one," Urquhart said. He added that concerns about safety were on his mind before the rally. "Should we go, should we mask up? What should we do?" Urquhart recalled thinking. "When the administration is actively saying it's targeting its opponents, that's frightening."
October 19, 2025 at 7:11 AM
alvarolaparra.bsky.social
Lástima que un jugador tan fino para saltar líneas y avanzar se dedique al vulgar e intrascendente pase horizontal (o peor aún: a tirar balones fuera) en lo realmente importante
elpais.com/deportes/fut...
Extracto de entrevista a Frenkie De Jong: P. ¿No cree que hay determinados casos en los que sí es necesario hablar? Por ejemplo, en el caso de Palestina. R. Los futbolistas tienen la plataforma de llegar a mucha gente, pero eso no los convierte en líderes de opinión. Por supuesto que cada uno puede opinar de lo que quiera. En el caso de Palestina, del que usted me habla, yo sé la situación. Puedo hablar con mis amigos de la situación. Pero no tengo suficiente información como para hablar públicamente.
October 17, 2025 at 10:06 PM
alvarolaparra.bsky.social
The closing paragraph of Boix’s “Democratic Capitalism at the Crossroads” is a good explanation of why (so perhaps add a deepest political scientist’s voice, too)
Today, technological innovation appears, be it in the old industrial core or in the developing periphery, as a sharp double-edged sword of uncertain ef-fects. It could end up benefiting the majority directly, as it did in the past. But it may not. For that reason, the role of politics has grown in importance to make sure it does. At the national level, that requires sustaining democratic institutions, blocking the formation of closed elites, maintaining well-functioning markets, and compensating losers. At the global level, it calls for a coordinated response to manage the geographically heterogeneous impact of technological progress and to foster mechanisms (especially migration to the most prosperous economies) that ensure the gains of automation reach everyone.
October 17, 2025 at 8:58 AM
alvarolaparra.bsky.social
The calls for October 18 all over the world are requiring some tweaks, given the local circumstances. Spain:
“About this event Please join Americans and allies in Madrid, Spain for a NO TYRANTS protest on Saturday, October 18th. We've communicated our concentración to the authorities as taking place in Puerta del Sol from 12-1:30pm. More information to come as it's confirmed! Note We are branding this rally as "No Tyrants". Please do not bring any signage against kings to the rally.” Highlighted: “Note We are branding this rally as "No Tyrants". Please do not bring any signage against kings to the rally.”
October 12, 2025 at 9:46 PM
alvarolaparra.bsky.social
Samuel L. Jackson gunpointing someone (sorry: my movie culture is really low) in Pulp Fiction. Below, text reading "Where's my Nobel Peace Prize"?
October 10, 2025 at 9:00 AM
alvarolaparra.bsky.social
Amén, Zerocalcare. A ver si de una vez borramos de la faz de la tierra la preguntita “¿Y para cuándo el bebé?”
Sarah, personaje de las historias de Zerocalcare, diciendo en “Será todo para mí”: “Y, SOBRE TODO, RECUERDA LA SAGRADA LEY DE LAS CONNERSACIONES SOBRE LA PROCREACIÓN AJENA. QUE REGULA LA CONVIVENCIA CIVILIZADA CON QUIEN NO TIENE HIJOS. POR LO GENERAL, HAY DOS POSIBILIDADES. O LOS QUERÍA Y NO HA PODIDO TENERLOS. Y ENTONCES NO TIENES QUE AMARGARLE LA VIDA. O NO LOS QUERÍA. Y ENTONCES NO TIENES QUE AMARGARLE LA VIDA”
October 9, 2025 at 2:56 PM
alvarolaparra.bsky.social
🤷🏽‍♂️ 🤷🏽‍♂️🤷🏽‍♂️
Big jump in googke trends for “insurrection” in the last days
October 8, 2025 at 7:25 PM
alvarolaparra.bsky.social
Funny sequence of skeets on my timeline 🙃
Thread about the abuse of “excellence” in academia followed by Defector’s skeet “Jack Grealish has rediscovered his excellence”
October 7, 2025 at 4:44 PM
alvarolaparra.bsky.social
To no one's surprise, they picked the maximin option for the GOP's lead in districts www.sltrib.com/news/politic...
Table showing the partisan lead by district for the 5 proposed maps. The most competitive district in option C is District 3 with an expected R+6 (the other options had most competitive district at R+0.7, D+0.7, R+1.5, and R+2.2)
October 6, 2025 at 3:48 PM
alvarolaparra.bsky.social
9:16 am
View from a window. Laundry drying in several balconies
October 5, 2025 at 7:59 AM
alvarolaparra.bsky.social
Bonmatí, Putellas, Graham, Guijarro, Paredes, Coll… ¡allá estaremos! 💙❤️
Entrada para el Atlético vs Barça Femení del 12 de octubre a las 12
October 3, 2025 at 3:46 PM
alvarolaparra.bsky.social
Chef’s kiss, Sowell, chef’s kiss
Similarly, those who want to see more women working in Silicon Valley cannot know what inescapable costs must be weighed by women contemplating the prospect of working there. These costs may be especially high for women who have young children to care for, and who know that not being there when their child happens to need them cannot be made up by arranging "quality time" after work, despite how much such glib rhetoric may sound good to others. Women who are either mothers, or contemplating becoming mothers, also know that interrupting their career for a few years, due to child-rearing responsibilities— in a place like Silicon Valley, where fast-moving technological changes can leave them far behind when they later return to work— may not be a promising career prospect in the long run. In a freely competitive labor market, the amount of pay required to compensate some women for all such considerations might be well in excess of what it makes sense to pay anyone for the particular job to be done.
October 2, 2025 at 9:47 AM