Confessions of a Buddhist Anarchist

Mao & Guevara- Two Biographies

2011-05-11T17:38:00.000-04:00

I recently finished reading two excellent biographies, "Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life" by Jon Lee Anderson, and "Mao: The Unknown Story" by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday. These books examine the lives of two of the most important figures of the 20th century and offer an unflinching look at their upbringing, rise to power, impact on the world and ongoing influence on the nations of Cuba and China. Regardless of your opinion of these individuals, both books offer a compelling read.

Guevara comes across as the more accessible character. The profane, cigar smoking, asthmatic, alternately lazy and tireless doctor turned revolutionary with a passion for the ladies is a fascinating character. Mao elicits very little sympathy as an asexual opportunist quite willing to throw his comrades under the bus for political gain. Guevara seems genuinely concerned about his fellow guerrillas and the peasants they encounter versus Mao who sells out his own troops by feeding intelligence to the enemy when it benefits his cause and starves millions during his consolidation of power (I have to add a caveat that one of the authors of the Mao biography writes from a Nationalist Chinese perspective so their is some inevitable bias in the work.)

I highly recommend both books.

The Final Countdown

2011-05-11T10:18:00.004-04:00

According to the ebible people, we have 10 days left until the world ends. Unfortunately for the San Jose Sharks, the end is coming too late to postpone game 7 of their NHL playoff with the Detroit Red Wings. The individual behind the doomsday claim is Harold Camping, civil engineer, radio maven and repeat offender in the world of failed prophecies and prognostication.

My interest in this is not that I think the world is going to end- it is going to end, we are all going to end, all things are impermanent. My fascination with the subject is what happens if they are wrong ? Will there be some pronouncement that it was all allegory, that they didn't mean an actual doomsday but rather some type of rebirth, cosmic cycle or God knows what ? On the other hand, I sincerely hope that they result isn't some type of mass suicide among believers that have invested so much in this theory only to see it evaporate before them.

Spiking the Ball

2011-05-11T09:42:00.003-04:00

The recent demise of Osama Bin Laden set off an eruption of ball spiking, fist bumping and back slapping across the U.S. Loud cries of "we got him" permeated the 24 hour media cycle as the President took credit for the operation that killed him, the Republicans took credit for the interrogations that led to the intelligence that killed him, liberals suddenly became pro-military and conservatives whined that pictures of the body were not released. In my hometown, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall tweeted his views on the subject and was subsequently shredded across the Internet as a no-nothing athlete that would be better off just keeping his mouth shut.

A couple of observations. I believe that this sense that "we" got Bin Laden has been fostered by a long war which has impacted very few Americans. Despite this lack of direct experience, the majority of the citizens of this country seem to feel they have some personal stake in the war. This is a view not far from the American sports fan who proclaims "we" won the Stanley Cup, the World Series or the Super Bowl when their favorite team wins a championship. In this case they apply this logic to SEAL Team 6, the new American fan favorite. In a land of commercialization and virtual experience, one can even bop on down to the local Game Stop to pick up a copy of "SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALS" for Playstation 3 and shoot virtual terrorists all afternoon long. I wonder when the Pakistan expansion pack is coming out ?

It is easy to be pro-war when that war is being fought by volunteers and the mainland is not being subject (with the exception of 9/11) to the horrors of war. The families of those doing the fighting are obviously affected, as are those that lost family members in the 9/11 attacks, but what about the average American ? Sure, they profess their pro-military position with bumper stickers and public pronouncements that they support our troops, they thank veterans for their service but when it comes to the actual heavy lifting they are noticeably absent. On one of our local radio stations, the morning conservative hosts crow about shooting Bin Laden and meting out justice as if they had fast roped into the compound in Pakistan during a station break- for all of their bravado, could they shoot somebody in the face ? One wonders.

As for Rashard Mendehnall, the kid was eviscerated by the same social media that spread his thoughts. Do I agree with him about his 9/11 conspiracy theories ? Nope. Does he have the right to say them ? Absolutely. Should he give up his career of carrying the rock for the Steelers and start a new one as a journalist ? Probably not. That being said, he seems like a spiritual young man that is asking some tough questions about death and killing that the average person doesn't want to look at. No matter, when he scores his first touchdown next season he will be forgiven by the masses- at least in this part of the country.

Fish on a Dish

2011-05-11T09:34:00.003-04:00

I heard a strange gurgling sound last night, a sound like choking. No need to worry about a family member or pet I mused- it is just the annual spring ritual of the San Jose Sharks imploding in the NHL playoffs. Like the melting of snow and the return of birds from the south, San Jose is once again working on an epic collapse after leading Detroit 3 games to 0. When San Jose won to go up 3 to 0, I chuckled. When my wife asked why I was laughing, I said "it is just going to make the collapse so much more devastating to watch." With the series tied 3-3, the stage is set for the Wings to eliminate the Sharks on Thursday night and move on to play Vancouver in the Western final.

Dalai Lama Comments on Death of Bin Laden

2011-05-09T09:51:00.002-04:00

Los Angeles Times article titled "Dalai Lama suggests Osama bin Laden's death was justified." I'm not so sure that's what he meant, but take a look for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

Anarchist Pig- A Silver Bust or Buying Opportunity ?

2011-05-08T18:46:00.007-04:00

Last week's brutal implosion of silver prices was truly breathtaking to witness. A strong rally in the U.S. dollar against the Euro was precipitated by rumors that Greece was set to tell the E.U. to pound grape leaves and issue its own currency. By issuing a new currency, the Greek government would be free to attempt to devalue itself out of its current economic train wreck.

My best guess is that the Greeks are merely playing economic chicken with the E.U. (in a friendlier version of North Korean nuclear chicken) and will not abandon the Euro. The short term news will pass and the underlying problems of the U.S. economy, among them weak employment numbers, no consensus on cutting spending and the continuing expansion of the money supply will set up silver for another move higher. Short term selling pressure could drive silver as low as $ 32.50 an ounce, which would signal a buy in my opinion. As always, don't rely on anything I say and do your own analysis.

The Raid

2011-05-05T15:56:00.004-04:00

The nighttime raid carried out by the U.S. Navy's SEAL Team 6 in Abbottabad, Pakistan will be studied for generations as one of the greatest special operations missions in history. By leveraging the massive U.S. intelligence system, mission planners were able to locate the safe house which was being utilized by Bin Laden deep inside Pakistan. Instead of obliterating the target with drones or cruise missiles, the SEAL Team was inserted by helicopter in a direct action operation to either kill or capture the U.S. Public Enemy No. 1.

In a mere 40 minutes, the inserted team was able to complete its mission and egress from the target area despite a mechanical problem with one of their helicopters. That helicopter was reportedly destroyed to deny any technical treasures on board to the Pakistanis who might have been tempted to sell them to their friends in China. As audacious as the raid itself, the act of flying the teams into and out of the target area, apparently undetected and unmolested by Pakistani air defense assets also points to the capability of the pilots and crew that ferried them in and out. Given that President Obama is making an appearance at Fort Campbell, Kentucky to meet and thank the members of SEAL Team 6, one has to wonder if the helicopter unit involved was the U.S. Army's elite 160th SOAR which is based there.

From what can be gleaned from the media reports, this was apparently a relatively small mission with very little room for error. The SEAL Team was brought to the target area in only a few helicopters and possibly without a larger security force on the ground to block any reaction from the local Pakistani garrison. While air assets were probably on call to assist if necessary, the team instead had to rely on completing the mission quickly and exfiltrating with speed before the locals were stirred up enough to try to interfere with the attack. Due to the lead up in intelligence work, the team benefited from the time necessary to study and train within a mock-up of the target house which enabled them to move quickly and decisively towards completion of their mission.

The media story regarding the death of Bin Laden seems to change on a daily basis. He was killed with a weapon, reaching for a weapon or after he surrendered depending upon which story you want to believe. A commentator on Fox News this morning went into a long harangue about why Bin Laden should have been taken alive - all convenient Thursday morning quarterbacking from the comfort of a nice television studio.

Could Bin Laden have surrendered and been executed ? I suppose it's possible. The SEAL team commander may have made the decision based on the fact that he already had one helicopter in trouble and the possibility that they would have to fight their way out through a force of Pakistani military units and unhappy civilians. Why take the risk when you can effectively accomplish the mission at that moment ? It's equally possible that Bin Laden tried to grab a weapon since capture for him would be as unappealing as it would have been for Hitler back in 1945.

The fact that the U.S. violated the airspace of a sovereign nation without (wisely) tipping off the Pakistanis to the plan, points to the amount of resolve necessary to execute the mission, diplomatic consequences be damned. The margin of error was tremendously small- what would have happened if the Pakistanis had reacted faster on the ground ? What if the Pakistani Air Force, which apparently scrambled fighters after the raiders departed, had shot down one of the helicopters ? What if it the entire mission was a dry hole and Bin Laden was not in the house ? What if Bin Laden had been tipped off and prepared an ambush for the U.S. forces ?

I have to give credit to President Obama for giving the go-ahead on a mission that had so many potential ways to go wrong quickly. I would surmise, however, that nearly 10 years of constant war has sharpened the capabilities of the SEAL Team, the various intelligence agencies that were involved, and the helicopter unit that ferried them to such a fine point that the mission was less risky than it would have been before the war.

Did "We" Really Get Bin Laden ?

2011-05-05T15:42:00.004-04:00

I spent a couple of days thinking about the recent raid on Osama Bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan. Unlike the paid professional media which needs to spout instantaneous comments on everything which happens in the past 10 minutes, I have the amateur's advantage of actually thinking before I speak or write. I'm going to post a couple of my opinions on the recent events in Pakistan since I have quite a few things to say from different angles.

The raid itself will go down in military annals as one of the most audacious and well-executed operations in history. The reaction of the American public to the death of Bin Laden has been interesting to see- chest thumping jingoism and showings of unity (the "we" in "we got him") which I think are the result of the U.S. fighting a war which really doesn't involve 95 % of the general population.

The reaction of the left and right wings of American politics were as disappointing as they were predictable as each side tried to take credit and out do each other in the political theater. Add to all of this the odd kabuki theater of Bin Laden's funeral at sea, Native Americans being upset over the code name used for him and the questions regarding the pictures of his body, and we have a potent mix of news to comment on.

Has ET Phoned Home ?

2011-05-04T11:38:00.003-04:00

There has been quite a bit of buzz on the Internet about a National Security Agency document which implies that the NSA intercepted, and deciphered, signals from an extraterrestrial source. The fact that the document is located on the NSA's website makes the story a bit more intriguing than the typical UFO stories that we are inundated with on a daily basis. UFO believers have been quick to point to the document as proof that extraterrestrials exist and the government has known about them for decades. Although I believe that the universe is so vast that it is probably teeming with life, I'm not so sure that this document is the bombshell that others make it out to be.

First of all, the document in question was allegedly published in the NSA's Technical Journal. Many government agencies publish these types of documents, both classified and unclassified, to share information within their confines and with other external agencies. The document refers to an earlier volume of the Technical Journal, which is not shown, and herein may be the answer to the question. It is entirely possible that the code in question was merely an exercise or contest put out by the agency for its code breakers to solve, perhaps on the page after the one announcing who was bringing potato salad to the next agency picnic. For those that see this as implausible, take a look at the code sculpture that has been a focus of interest at the CIA's headquarters since 1988.

The Royal Wedding - Tribal Style

2011-05-04T11:28:00.002-04:00

Here is a report from the island of Tanna (part of the nation of Vanuatu in the Pacific) which relates that the Yaohannen tribe will soon be celebrating the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Nothing too odd about that, I admit, but the strange part of the story is that the tribe actually worships William's grandfather, Prince Philip, as a deity. Apparently the tribe has been anxiously awaiting his promised return to their island for the past 30 years.

A Day at the Ball Yard

2011-05-03T09:00:00.001-04:00

I've recently come to the conclusion that I'm getting old. I turned 44 years old in March and am starting to see the symptoms that I am basically at the mid point of my life- creaking knees in the morning, an ever expanding waist line and, most surprisingly, a new affinity for baseball.

When I was kid growing up I occasionally went to a Pirates game with my dad and was usually bored silly by the second inning. While my dad would watch games on television, and listen to them on the radio while working in the garage or the back yard, my attention span was limited to asking what the score was and then moving on to something more interesting. Even during the glory days of the 1970's when the Pirates won two World Series, my commitment to the team never went beyond collecting the occasional baseball card. I just couldn't see the fun in watching a game on a sunny day when you could be playing baseball or run-down with your buddies in the neighborhood.

Over the past couple of years, a strange thing started to happen. It began gradually as I tuned in to watch entire games on the television and listen to them on the radio in the car. While I usually went to only one or two Pirate games a year, my attendance suddenly skyrocketed to three or four games despite the fact that the team was working hard on an 18 year losing streak of record proportions. I concluded something had indeed gone horribly wrong as I caught myself checking game box scores on a daily basis and worrying about the performance of individual players.

My first game this year was a couple of weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon. I took this picture from my seats (I invested in a 5 game package this year) looking down the first base line. No, this picture was not taken long before or after the game, it was taken in the sixth inning. Note the preponderance of empty seats vs. the scattered attendees (there were around 4,000 people at the game so the stadium was about 10 % full.) The game was against the Washington Nationals (we lost, of course) and in all fairness to the Pirates it was Easter Sunday so that could have affected attendance a bit.

Despite the loss, it was a nice afternoon out and it occurred to me that I really have never had a bad experience at a Pirates game. The fans were mostly comprised of families, nobody was drunk and out of control and the Nationals fans in attendance were at worst politely ignored. Contrasting this to the "Mad Max" atmosphere at Steelers games and the beer fueled youth at Penguins games only made me appreciate it more. A teenager caught a foul popped into our section and then promptly walked down the steps to hand it to a little kid sitting with his parents. Along with the 6 or so other people in my part of the stadium, we gave him a polite round of applause for a very classy move.

Perhaps this was the key to my new found love of baseball- I am simply getting old and crotchety and completely intolerant of the drunken escapades witnessed at other sporting events. Sitting in PNC Park watching the Pirates lose on a Spring afternoon was far more appealing to me than freezing my ass off in Heinz Field and watching the Steelers win. I closed my eyes for a moment of Buddhist mindfulness and enjoyed the moment- the birds singing, the crack of the bat and braying of the men selling beer and popcorn. I think I've found a home for the next 40 years.

It's the End of the World as Far as They Know It

2011-05-02T08:57:00.003-04:00

I was recently motoring on Interstate 70 south of Pittsburgh when I noticed a group of RV's heading towards me in the opposite lane. They were festooned with graphics stating that the world was going to end on May 21st, 2011. A little bit of internet research pointed me to the website of an organization known as ebiblefellowship. Through a convoluted system of mathematics and bible study, these people believe that we all have less than three weeks to live.

I love eschatology- the numerous theories throughout history regarding the end of the world, the failure of these theories to come true and the aftermath when they don't. The human need to try to pin a date on the end of existence holds endless fascination for me and I have to admit I really like these ebible people- no parsing of words or pussyfooting around here, they are predicting a date certain which beats the 2012 crowd by a full nineteen months. They are so certain that we are going to be vaporized that they even helpfully end their organizations calendar on the 20th with their final appearance in Philadelphia, PA (one can only hope that if the world ends, it starts in Philadelphia.)

While reading the group's website, I asked my wife if she knew the world was going to end in less than three weeks and what we should do. She said we should take a trip to Europe. Hmmm, I wasn't expecting that one. I don't know if the world is going to end in three weeks, three days or three million years. Frankly, I don't care. I only hope that if May 21st peacefully passes into May 22nd, the followers of this group don't do something stupid to themselves. Better to just say they forgot to carry the three and they were off by a few thousand years.

Anarchist Pig- All That Glitters is Silver

2011-04-30T08:00:00.001-04:00

Back in January I made some comments regarding gold, silver and the wisdom of holding some precious metals as a hedge against inflation, currency devaluation and the plain stupidity of the people running this country. Since I wrote that article, gold has rocketed to over $ 1,500 an ounce and its cheaper cousin silver is within striking distance of doubling in price. Recent comments by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and our seemingly clueless President have merely confirmed my belief that holding some physical metal is probably a good idea.

There are times when I wonder if Barak Obama rubs his hands together and does his best Simpson's impersonation of Montgomery Burns when the cameras switch off- "Excellent" he mutters to Bernanke filling in for Waylon Smithers, "our plans to drive the U.S. economy into the ditch are working better than expected." My suspicions about the Community Organizer in Chief were confirmed when he came out swinging against oil traders, speculators and other malcontents who were artificially driving up the price of oil- all while completely ignoring (conveniently) the fact that the U.S. dollar is dropping like a rock causing the prices of commodities (gold, silver, oil among others) to march steadily higher. I'm not a Harvard educated economist but even my rudimentary understanding of finance tells me that when you are printing dollars by the truck load, you are undercutting your own currency and prompting inflation.

Besides a weakening dollar, metal prices are driven by fear. I think there is now a real disconnect between those within the Washington Beltway and the other 99.99 % of the country that have the uneasy feeling that no matter how we rearrange the deck chairs, the Titanic is about to roll over and sink. While the government crows that inflation is barely noticeable, a loud buzzer went off in the back of my head when I recently paid $ 7.00 for two uncooked chicken breasts and $ 15.00 for a small/medium bottle of laundry soap. I walked out of the store with $ 67.00 worth of groceries that I swore would have cost half of that a year or two ago. The politicians just don't get it and the same can be said for the establishment media that labels all of this a speculative bubble. When silver last spiked it truly was for speculative reasons as the Hunt brothers attempted to corner the entire market. This time around, I see more than enough fundamental problems with the U.S. economy to justify the price appreciation.

So what's a hard working American supposed to do ? I do recommend picking up some physical metals, especially on price dips, but not betting the family farm on it. I've been telling family that anyone with cash in the bank needs to be highly tuned to what is happening to the dollar and fully prepared to move those dollars into other assets if the devaluation accelerates. Real estate if you can afford it, or maybe just the new fridge or washer/dryer that you've had an eye on. If the drop in the dollar accelerates, you might as well spend it while you can get something for it. Call me unpatriotic, but one move I made was to invest in a bear dollar inverse ETF (it appreciates as the dollar falls) which has given me a nice return- perhaps I should send a thank you note to Mr. Obama.

I have done some research into opening overseas accounts denominated in foreign currencies but the account minimums and accompanying red tape make this a far more daunting exercise than I expected. Over the past couple of years, our dear government has quietly made it far more difficult for foreign banks to accept us a depositors. I never considered this course of action because I wanted to avoid paying taxes, only because I wanted to protect the money that I have worked very hard to earn. Only an idiot would screw with the IRS- I read all of the IRS statues on reporting foreign interest accounts etc. but it was all a moot point when you can't open a foreign account in the first place. I would avoid dabbling in Forex accounts (you would do better at the dog track) but converting dollars into hard currencies through banks might not be a bad idea. I would stick with currencies from nations with strong current accounts- Norway, Australia and Canada all look good based on their strong raw material and commodity production.

When Kukris and Hand Bags Meet

2011-04-29T12:30:00.008-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I was up late battling a cold and watching television. As so often happens in the land of 300 channels there was absolutely nothing on worth watching. I was mindlessly switching programs when one of the home shopping networks caught my eye. The two young women acting as spokesmen were proclaiming the virtues of Ghurka fine leather goods- handbags, wallets etc. My ears pricked up at the name and also at the company logo which looked suspiciously like a pair of crossed kukris- the famed fighting knife of the Gurkha Regiments.

Being a former soldier myself, I have always been impressed with the history and reputation of some of the best soldiers on the planet- incredibly tough, loyal and brave men that have served in the Indian and British armies for generations. A recent news story (scroll down on page that is linked) about a retired Gurkha fighting off a mob trying to attack a girl in India only confirmed my admiration for these people. For the Gurkha communities in Nepal, the Army has remained the occupation of choice and young soldiers have been the prime export of these tough hill people. Why on earth, I wondered, was a company making hand bags capitalizing on their name ? More importantly, were they paying anything for the right, or at the very least supporting the charities that assist Gurkha veterans ?

I'm going to do a bit of digging to see if I can find anything out.

A Royal Wedding

2011-04-29T11:01:00.003-04:00

Thank goodness its over. After months of endless media build-up and breathless commentary, Prince William and his new bride are hopefully enjoying themselves and looking forward to a happy life together. I'm not so jaded and bitter that I'm going to make snide comments about the newlyweds or the lavish ceremony that sent them on their way. I'll save those comments for my fellow Americans.

While watching coverage over the past few weeks, I needed to smack myself in the head a few times and remember that my ancestors fought a revolution which ejected this inbred bunch of Germans from our political system. Even the English seem bemused with the American fascination with all things royal- would we have been happier if we lost at Yorktown ? By its very definition, royalty should clash against the deeply held American beliefs in success by hard work, not by birth, and a rejection of a class system comprised of Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses ruling by divine right. These people belong in Disney World, not in positions of authority.

My favorite rejection of the concept of royalty spoken by Michael Palin in Monty Python's Holy Grail-

"Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony."

Farcical indeed. The Royals are a remnant of a not so pretty time in history when generations of men and women, with the implied and direct support of the church, subjugated the majority of humanity in a system that transferred the labor and production of the many to benefit the few (things having only improved slightly over the past couple of centuries.) For some reason, many Americans are attracted to the fairy tale veneer of royalty with little thought to the system of brutality and subjugation that it represents. In the absence of our own royal family sponging off the public dole, we are eager to elect substitutes in their place- the best example being a bunch of Bog Irish from Massachusetts that briefly held the Presidency and numerous other state and federal offices.

Then again, perhaps my assumption that Americans hold the values of hard work and self determination is fundamentally flawed. Perhaps the vast majority of Americans would prefer to be governed by a royal family- the majority of eligible Americans don't vote anyway and a government based on primogeniture would enable us to spend less time worrying about how we are governed and more time on important subjects like "American Idol." Maybe the British royal family never went away- they are just biding their time as generations of welfare, poor education and PlayStation imposed laziness make us ripe for them to take back what was once theirs.

Spewing Bullshit

2011-03-22T17:29:00.003-04:00

The tragedy of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan has been difficult to watch. Families ripped apart, widespread death and injuries, villages and cities destroyed. My heart goes out to the people of Japan and I wish them strength and hope through this most difficult time.

I reserve, however, no such sympathy for the media.

Let's take a look at the word "spew." For those such as myself raised in America, "spew" held a special place in our hearts and was usually spoken to reflect on the prior night's drinking of alcoholic beverages- "I spewed all over my room" or, from my own library of moments I hope are never brought up in Congressional hearings- "Holy shit, I think I spewed all over an ATM on College Avenue."

"Spew" I believe, holds a special place in the mind of the average American frat boy, or sorority girl, that are the backbone of the creaking, decrepit and extinct U.S. media system.

While listening to radio and television coverage of the nuclear disaster that followed the earthquake, I began to hear a drumbeat of the word "spew."

Don't believe me ? Well, try not to spew while you read these nuggets-

From the NY Times- Spewing Steam

The LA Times- Spewing Radiation

The Guardian- Spewing Steam

The Nashua (New Hampshire) Telegraph- Spewing

Time Magazine- Spewing Radiation

CBS News- Spewing Radiation

Huffington Post- Spewing Radioactive Death

I'm too lazy to refer to them all, Google it yourself.

I wish I got paid to spew my bullshit. These supposed journalists operate within a closed system, bouncing their stories, bylines and main points back and forth. For the love of God, buy yourself a new adverb.

Anarchist Pig- Gold Fever

2011-01-12T09:00:00.000-05:00

It seems to me that anytime I turn on the television, I am bombarded by commercials and infomercials selling two services- tax defense against the IRS and companies selling gold and other metals. I'm not sure what the combination of these two trends mean other than the fact that the world is going to hell and I watch too much TV. Many people in the U.S. are in debt to the government and can't pay what they owe and many others are worried that the credit of the government is now at junk status and it can't pay what it owes either.

Boy do I miss Billy Mays.

Let me say that although I'm a big fan of conspiracy theories (UFO's, Big Foot, Bermuda Triangle, the Cubs never winning the World Series) I'm not one of the drones eagerly following Glen Beck's lead and loading up the garage with bullion- I don't think that I'm going to need shave gold shards off of coins to buy toilet paper after the world ends in 2012. I do believe, however, that there is real danger in our fiat money system which is nicely summed up in this paper written by Ludwig von Mises in July, 1953.

Once decoupled from gold reserves, our paper money system is supported by nothing more than the psychological hope that everything is going to be okay- the currency equivalent of sunshine, lollipops and unicorns. If you really want a good reason to stare at the ceiling fan in the middle of the night, think about what all of your monetary assets (cash, savings, maybe some retirement funds) are comprised of- electronic ones and zeros on some server someplace. Now, combine that thought with the electronic "flash crash" of 2010 and a government that needs to print billions of dollars to pay the interest on the trillions of dollars it borrowed to plug holes in the ever increasing federal debt- another $ 600 billion in "quantitative easing" (a nice euphemism for "printing money") was announced yesterday on top of the $ 1.7 trillion to date. Buying some silver, gold or even platinum seems to be a prudent idea and here are some of my thoughts (and experience) on the subject.

First off, let's start with the disadvantages to investing in metals (Note- for the purpose of this post I'm talking about real metal i.e. coins and bullion, not metal miner's stocks, ETF, mutual funds etc.) Unlike many other investments, metal is not going to pay you interest or any type of dividend while you own it- it's going to sit quietly in your desk, your safe or bank and rise and fall with the market price. The other disadvantage with owning metal is liquidity and the difficulties that may arise when the time comes to sell it. Although you think your shiny 1 ounce silver dollar is worth $ 29.00 (because that's the price of silver at the moment you want to sell it) you are entirely at the mercy of what a prospective buyer wants to pay- remember that they will have to pay a discounted rate in order to make a profit when they sell it. Finally, you can't walk into a 7-Eleven and plonk your ounce of silver on the counter loudly announcing "a round of slurpees for everyone" to loud applause-it is not going to be accepted as currency except at face value (which is $ 1.00 dollar, and you're an idiot if you spend it for that.) Remember, liquidity problems will also expand exponentially with the size of your chunk of metal so ease off the 100 ounce silver bars and start out with 1 ounce coins cowboy.

Okay, so why would you want to own some metal ? Well, there are quite a few reasons. First, unlike stocks, bonds or other investments there is no credit risk tied to your asset- a gold coin, for example, is not going to go bankrupt or be worth $ 0.00 at some point in the future. Next, metal prices rise in times of economic and political uncertainty and goodness knows we have plenty of that going on right now. Once the wheelbarrows of money from the Federal of Reserve dry up, all of that money sloshing around in the system will probably lead to increased inflation and loss of value in terms of the U.S. dollar- both good things for metal prices. Finally, there is an issue of privacy when you own metal. I actually like the fact that metals don't pay dividends or interest simply because that means I am not receiving annual forms to file with the IRS and state taxing authorities. The very fact that they are physical assets means they are portable and can be quietly given to family members (i.e. children) at some point in the future unlike stocks and bonds which have a long paper trail.

So, you might be ready right now to charge out and buy some metal. How do you do it ? Unless you live on a desert island, I recommend avoiding the Internet and dealing with a local metals broker or coin shop instead. The Internet is fantastic for doing your research and getting a good idea of how much your investment is going to cost, but I generally don't like buying metal online for two reasons. First, online companies are going to charge you much more in terms of transaction costs than a local dealer because they need to add shipping and shipping insurance to your purchase. Second, my general rule is not to buy metals unless I have some idea of the reputation of the seller- a coin shop that has been in business in your town for 25 years is probably a safer bet than an online company located a couple of time zones away.

When you decide to buy some metal, you need to consider what type you want to purchase (I'll limit this to platinum, gold and silver) and in what form (again, for brevity we will limit this to coins or bullion.) All metals have their own advantages and disadvantages as investments in terms of supply, industrial and personal (jewelry) uses which you can easily research online. I invest in all three to give my group of metals a little bit of diversification- platinum, for example, is more sensitive to industrial cycles because of its use in the automotive and electronic industries. I also invest in both bullion and coins for the following reasons. Bullion purchases (such as 1, 10 or 100 ounce bars) generally give you the best purchase price in terms of being closest to the global market price at that particular time. Again, do your own research, but the most important thing with bullion is to insure that the bar has been stamped by one of the refiners listed here at the London Bullion Market Association as being acceptable for delivery in the world market. These pedigree markings show a prospective buyer that the bar is acceptable in terms of weight and content although they will probably want to do further testing because of the amount of fraud in the bullion market. Because of fraud concerns, coins are much more difficult to forge and are therefore more easily sold. The main thing to remember with coins is that you will be paying a premium above the market price of the metal due to numismatic value or demand. I also want to note that we are not talking about investment grade coins (rare coins that are graded and sometimes "slabbed" inside of acrylic containers.) That is an entirely different animal that I am not experienced with.

Here's an example of premium when buying a coin. At the time I am writing this, a gold 1 ounce eagle is selling here at Kitco (a great website by the way) for $ 1458.54 while the price on the world market for 1 ounce of gold is $ 1,382.50 (note at the same time, a one ounce bullion bar is selling for $ 1,407.50 which is closer to the market price.) The coin is selling at a premium of $ 76.04 or 5.5 % above market while the bar is selling at a premium of $ 25.00 or 1.8 %. Both products contain one ounce of gold but the bar is actually refined at .9999 while the coin is .9167 fine- a microscopic difference because the coin needs certain alloys to be cast. Another thing to remember is to save your money. Again, looking at the Kitco pricing (which is typical) shows how sellers punish the little guy. While our one ounce gold eagle is selling for $ 1,458.54, a 1/10th ounce eagle is selling for $ 165.90- sounds like a great deal right ? Not so fast. Simple math tells us that the 1/10th eagle is priced at a rate of $ 1,650 per ounce which is a whopping $ 267.50 or 19.35 % above market price. Instead of rushing right in to buy 1/10th of an ounce of gold, it might make far better financial sense to buy 5 ounces of silver which is priced closer to market price.

So, like any investment there are pros and cons to owning metals. I wouldn't cash out all of your savings and buy some but a couple of ounces bought over a couple of years is probably a good idea. Again, do your own research and make sure you are dealing with a reputable seller.

Personality Test

2011-01-11T16:13:00.002-05:00

Well, because of the last subject I posted about I decided to take an online personality test.

I think it was pretty close in the result which states that I'm a Protector (ISFJ) of the Guardian type personality-which along with my 18 Constitution, 18 Wisdom and band of dwarf followers, enables me to confront evil wherever it exists.

News Flash- Word Choice Reveals Personality Traits

2011-01-11T14:03:00.003-05:00

I found this article about word choices used by bloggers to be somewhat interesting-

"A University of Colorado researcher's behemoth word search in the blogosphere has found that bloggers' choices of words reveal their personality traits."

Huh...really ? I take back everything I ever said against public funds supporting higher education.

Here's another startling observation from the author of the study-

"People who blog write alot and write often."

Snide comments aside, what does my choice of words say about me ? Wow, that could be one scary path to go down. I'm proud of the fact that I think my blog (and my mind) is so completely all over the place that it can't be neatly defined by anyone- or am I being delusional ? Now I'm paranoid.

When Governors Attack.....

2011-01-10T09:05:00.006-05:00

Did anyone else see our esteemed former Governor Ed Rendell on 60 Minutes last night ? Apparently, he's a bit touchy when faced with questions regarding the human cost of the Commonwealth's support of the gambling industry-

While I can't disagree with his opinion that the media is comprised of simpletons and idiots, a longer cut of the interview showed Rendell presenting the argument that people are going to gamble anyways, so why not in casinos that are paying tax revenue to the state ? Maybe we should apply the same logic to crystal meth- hey, people are going to do it anyway, why shouldn't the state get a cut ?

I have to applaud Leslie Stahl for (finally) making the point that the casino tax "revenue" is actually comprised of losses which are being paid by our own citizens. The citizens that pay these losses are usually the ones that can least afford to do so- the elderly, the poor and those addicted to gambling.

As I recounted in an earlier post in 2009 , Pennsylvania controls both liquor and gambling. When the state government takes over prostitution, it will give the mob a serious run for its money.

RIP Gerry Rafferty (1947-2011)

2011-01-09T07:41:00.001-05:00

Scottish rocker Gerry Rafferty died of complications from alcoholism last week at age 63. I have quite a few of his tunes loaded on my I Phone and have enjoyed his music for many years. Beyond the obvious "Baker Street" which was a top 10 hit and favorite of radio stations around the world, a listen to any of his other songs reveals a talented songwriter and musician that has left us far too soon. Rock on dude, rock on.

Instant Karma's Gonna Get You....

2011-01-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

Thai Buddhist Council chides monks for BlackBerry chatting.

Dead Birds, Dead Fish & Dead Minds

2011-01-07T11:54:00.004-05:00

Breathless news reports about dead birds, dead fish, turtles and crabs seem to be popping up around the globe lately. When I saw the first report about thousands of red wing blackbirds dying Arkansas, my first response was to mutter "the 2012 crowd is going to love this." Sure enough, thanks to the immediacy of the Internet and its ability to allow know-nothing idiots (like me) to chime in with their opinions, I read everything from bible thumping believers that the end is near to conspiracy theorists blaming HAARP, the New World Order and every other nebulous explanation you can think of.

As I have stated in earlier posts, I really don't have much patience for eschatology. Trying to foresee the unforeseeable, rather than living in the here and now, seems like a tremendous waste of time to me. I also resent the fact that that many authors (just check out any book store shelf on 2012) are making a quick buck by capitalizing on public fear and ignorance. The recent reported animal deaths, coupled with a public primed to hear the message of doom, made for a powerful cocktail which was helpfully mixed by the world's media.

A step back from the story, and about 5 minutes worth of research, reveals that wildlife die offs such as these are not only common place but remarkably prevalent. In the U.S. alone, a quick examination of these incidents (see historical information from the USGS National Wildlife Health Center here) shows that many of our animal friends live lives that are nasty, brutish and short. This whole episode is a wonderful example of how the human mind will process and filter information to fit the belief system in which it operates and reject any explanation that offers an alternative.

The Curious Case of Captain Honors

2011-01-06T14:52:00.004-05:00

The recent revelations that Captain Owen Honors, Captain of the USS Enterprise, produced and starred in a series broadcast to the ship's crew has provoked a firestorm of press coverage. The vignettes which were shown while Captain Honors was Executive Officer of the ship, included female sailors showering together, foul language (gasp), masturbation and a great deal of homoeroticism- I will exercise great restraint from creating all of the easy Navy jokes that can be made from this episode, and will instead concentrate on the media coverage that it has produced.

Within days of the story breaking on the 24 hour news cycle, over 3,000 articles were written about Captain Honors and his escapades. How a Naval Academy graduate, trained fighter pilot and combat veteran would be stupid enough to think that he wouldn't be hoisted from the nearest yardarm in this age of political correctness is beyond me. I don't know if he should have lost his command for all of the reasons given by the Navy- conduct not conducive with command, etc. but I think he was definitely guilty of being a dumbass. The predictable press coverage included articles supporting his loss of command, while others included input from former Enterprise sailors supporting him (including one gay one.) In an odd twist to the story, actress Glenn Close piled on because some footage was used in one of the videos which she provided. (Note to Captain Honors- if you see any rabbits boiling on your stove, it might be best to un-ass the A.O.)

I think many military veterans such as myself would look at this story with a sense of bemusement. Sure, Captain Honors exhibited bad judgment in producing this sketches but I think that anyone who has served in the military can also see an officer trying to provide some entertainment to his crew- a crew comprised mainly of 18 and 19 year kids, far from home and alternately living in an existence of extreme boredom and absolute terror. It seems odd that the very people that want a military to protect them with acts of extreme violence would then seem confused that the people they employ to carry these acts out on their behalf do not conform to their own happy, quiet world back here in the states. At a time when the nation is at war, many seem to want their warriors to conform to the soccer mom ideal.

(Okay, I have to admit the urge to let go with a Navy joke. Anyways, on with the story.)

It also seems odd to me that this episode has produced so much press coverage and ignited a public debate which falls along predictable political lines- the right wing supports the Captain and wants him reinstated, the left wing says he needs to go and points to this an example of why gays should be allowed to serve in the military. As usual, I have a different view. Why isn't the debate about why we are spending $ 500,000 per year per Soldier, Sailor, Airman (excuse me, Airperson) and Marine deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq ? (figures from The Economist.) Why aren't the hard questions being asked- why, for instance, are the Pakistanis not being held accountable for their collusion and assistance (through their support of the Taliban) in the deaths of American servicemen ? Why is the U.S. supporting a corrupt regime in Kabul with little hope of ever governing the country ?

Why ? Because these are hard questions. For the life of me I can't see how Captain Honors' raunchy videos endangered American lives- unlike the actions of those elected to put them in harms way.

The Buddha on Debt

2010-11-19T07:39:00.003-05:00

From "In the Buddha's Words- An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon"-

"And what, householder, the the happiness of freedom from debt ? Here, a family man is not indebted to anyone to any degree, whether small or great, he experiences happiness and joy. This is called the happiness of freedom from debt."

As the Bible says, there truly is nothing new under the sun. Given the current debt situation of the United States, the individual states that make up the Republic and the average American household (not to mention Ireland, Portugal, Greece...well, let's just say the entire world is in hock) these words written over a thousand years ago are as relevant now as they were then, if not more so. Having been deeply in debt, then out of debt, then back in debt and now finally (hopefully) permanently out of debt, I can say that the Buddha was correct in his statement. Drowning in debt leads to despair, stress and depression- being clear of debt leads to freedom, happiness and a lighter view of the world.

In America, the deep debt of the average household was brought on by a consumer driven society where material possessions are used to judge the character and value of the individual- who has the biggest house, the best car, the coolest vacation house. I see this scene play out repeatedly when interacting with parents at our kid's sporting events- despite the financial crisis that has engulfed as all to some degree, the talk is still about who is buying a new house in which upscale neighborhood, who bought a 2011 model year SUV etc. It all reminds me of the scene where the orchestra kept playing on the deck while the Titanic sank. My personal belief is that this behavior is driven by a deep sense of insecurity and lack of self esteem. A person with a healthy view of the world should not care what others think of his or her home or car, and shouldn't judge others on the same basis.

Hopefully, on both the world and individual scale, people have wised up to the personal and national destruction that a debt driven economy has brought upon us. People are saving more, shopping at cheaper stores and generally adopting the spending habits of our parents and grandparents who still carried memories of life during the depression. My prediction is that we will survive this economic crisis only have our own children and grandchildren fall into the same trap. After all, our parents and grandparents didn't know what they were talking about either, right ?

Terrorists, Anarchists and Quakers, Oh My !

2010-09-30T17:17:00.004-04:00

The recent revelations that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania paid a company known as the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response for weekly terror briefings has been alternately comical and worrying. On one side, our esteemed Governor Ed Rendell was full of righteous indignation when he learned that over $ 100,000 in taxpayer money was paid for reports that targeted Pennsylvania citizens- everyone ranging from anarchists to tea party members in an operation that was so wide ranging that nobody can really accuse them of playing favorites. As I’ve said before, I really admire the Gov and his ability to spin absolutely any situation to his advantage- brushing aside the fact that it was his administration that hired the company in the first place, he promised that their contract would be immediately broken (leaving out the fact that it was a one year contract due to expire in October anyway.)

This is a perfect example of one of my earlier posts which highlighted the outsourcing of intelligence by the government to private companies. Why spy on your own citizens when you can pay your fellow citizens to do it for you ? Some information on the company suggests that employees posed in chat rooms to gain information on assorted miscreants in Pennsylvania and passed this information on to law enforcement. It's all so very East Germany circa 1975.

If you have some time on a rainy Saturday afternoon, you can read all of the reports in their glory here. I have to say that I read quite a few of them, and even as a former Army intelligence analyst I’m really not sure exactly what the hell is going on. One of my favorites cites a threat by Al Qaeda to use hot air balloons in IED attacks overseas while noting how balloons are poorly secured around the U.S.- the large lake between the source and the target might be a slight obstacle one would think. Other reports mention such totally bad ass, militant organizations like the Quakers. Another one of my favorites involves potential reaction to the Arizona immigration debate spilling into the Pirates-Diamondbacks game at PNC. This completely breaks the rule of intelligence regarding knowledge of your area- nobody goes to Pirate games anymore.

I don’t know if this company is actually employing a whole cadre of analysts (their website and reports even hint at intercepted communications, translation and "closed" intelligence sources) or a couple of guys hitting Google all day long and selling their product to gullible idiots like the ones running our state. I’m amused by the response by those who take positions contrary to the popular ones in our state and feel like they are being targeted- hey, welcome to my life. They seemed shocked and genuinely hurt that our state government would employ a company to spy on them, pay them and then run the other way when the whole operation was exposed. It was all fun and games until Leviathan actually hit back, wasn't it ?

The only genuine hurt I felt was after I read all the reports and realized I never appeared in them.

Not even once.

Bastards.

First Game- Consol Energy Arena

2010-09-29T17:55:00.012-04:00

My first game experience at Consol Energy Arena last evening was an enjoyable one. I met up with my brother at Cafe Fifth Avenue which is about a 9 iron shot away from the new arena and had a couple of beers and some wings. Cafe Fifth, like our other favorite pre-game haunt Souper Bowl, won the jackpot when the new arena was built literally accross the street from them. If you're travelling from out of town, I highly recommend both places but be sure to get there early if you want a seat. I've never seen any problems with fans from other cities except for one Caps fan that hurled all over the Souper Bowl bathroom before a Sunday afternoon game a couple of years back.

Heading up 5th Ave. towards the arena-

Up the escalators. Amazing how much more open these are. The old ones at Mellon Arena felt like you were going up to the 2nd floor in your grandma's house.

Malkin scores the opener, view from our seats in 116. Crosby sat out but it was a good chance to see some of the younger guys. My favorite, Goligoski, was out there and looked very sharp carrying the puck through the neutral zone. Kane played for the Hawks, as did Brian Campbell (another favorite) and big John Scott- they show Scott at 6'8" on the roster, he looked like 7'8" on skates.

One strange new twist to the Pens is the introduction of a group of youngsters that have the job of entertainment and ice crew. I don't know if Mario is trying to scrimp on costs because of the new arena, and is trying to consolidate expenses, but both of these roles used to be clearly defined- one group consisted of young hotties who pranced around the arena, the other was made up of grizzled guys who trundled out onto the ice during breaks to clean up around the crease. Unlike the old ice crews that wore shoes with ice cleats, these kids were wearing skates and skated out onto the ice with shovels and buckets. The big difference was that the old ice crew did their job quickly and efficiently. The new ice crew was an outright cluster fuck.

Here is my pic of the "ice crew" coming off-

I'm going to make a prediction here- this venture, no doubt dreamed up by somebody on the Penguin's marketing staff, is going to get the hook in about 2 more games. First, one of the blond girls (who apparently has a twin that was out there with her- eliciting comments from my brother that will go unpublished) nearly ran into Hawks goalie Alec Richards with her shovel. Richards gamely skated out of her way without smacking her with his stick but had to be wondering what perverted sequel to "Slap Shot" he had skated into. Second, and more ominously, I saw some pretty scolding looks from the linesmen and ref which roughly translated as "get your ass off the ice you are holding things up." Since it was a pre-season game, I can sort of see this sliding by- come regular season, I wouldn't be surprised if its being discussed in Toronto.

I'm in a Maine State of Mind

2010-09-27T19:55:00.004-04:00

Rush hour commuting is always painful, especially on Mondays, and particularly awful on rainy Monday mornings. I boarded the train this morning with a dozen of my fellow wage slaves for the slog into Pittsburgh, downtrodden commuters pushing ear buds in, burying their faces in their papers and steeling themselves for another day at work. I was particularly depressed because although I was commuting to work in Pittsburgh, I was deeply in a Maine State of mind.

You see, less than 48 hours earlier I had been sitting on the edge of the pond where our family home is located, enjoying sunsets such as the one I snapped to the left. Days were spent working on the house, and getting it ready for winter, but you really can't call it work when the loons were singing, ducks were quacking and a large golden eagle meandered down the lake looking for something to eat. Throw in a lovesick bull moose calling forlornly for a girlfriend, and it was a relaxing week to say the least. No cell phone reception, no phone in fact, no television or internet- just a quietly burning fire, the gentle lapping of the waves on the shore and the haunting cries of the resident loons. I gamely took a bag of books to read, and ended up reading none of them because I was in bed asleep around 8 pm every night. Up early for breakfast and then endless, but enjoyable, hours of scraping old paint, adding new and getting the plumbing system drained and ready for the brutal Maine winter to come.

I felt sorry for my fellow passengers this morning. At least I have such a place to reset my soul once in awhile. The deep quiet of the north woods makes you realize just how completely we complicate our lives with 24 x 7 cable news, I Phones and all of the other accoutrement's of life today. It is a good thing to unplug and enjoy the simple joys of a sunny day, the incredible colors of autumn (which is a good month ahead in Maine,) a quiet paddle in a canoe and the entertainment provided by the local wildlife. I browsed through the pictures on my phone repeatedly with a smile on my face, completely oblivious that we were nearing my stop. I quietly packed up my gear and headed out into the madness of the city streets.

Memory Row Week- 2012 & The End of the World

2010-09-24T10:18:00.001-04:00

I have to admit, I really enjoyed writing this piece and have enjoyed discussing it even more. Some follow-up comments are at the end.

I was listening to some REM yesterday when I began to wonder why it seems like every time I turn on the television, I am bombarded by end of the world programming- The Nostradamus Effect, Life after People, Lost book of Nostradamus....why not just tune in for a whole week of Armageddon programming as advertised by the History Channel ? Just can't get enough ? It is rumored that a television series based on the recent blockbuster 2012 is being considered as a replacement for Lost. I usually enjoy watching the History Channel, Discovery etc. with the kids because they have some pretty good shows that are a bit more educational than Sponge Bob or Ren and Stimpy- okay, maybe not Ren and Stimpy but you get my point.

Recent programming, however, makes me wonder if blocking both porn and the History Channel might not be a bad idea. My older son (age 9) has been pretty upset about the whole end of the world media blitz that we are being subjected to and he has every right to be so. After all, when you are 9, the prospect of being vaporized before you turn the ripe old age of 12 has to be pretty upsetting. It reminds me of another kid that was always worried about the end of the world- me. When I was my son's age, it wasn't television that pushed the whole end of the world agenda, it was a book "The Late Great Planet Earth" by Hal Lindsey that my father read and then rather absentmindedly decided to share with the whole family. Armageddon, nuclear war, revelation all mixed up into a potent cocktail that scared the living hell out of me. (I'm happy to note that my old friend Hal is still making a living peddling his bullshit as evidenced by his rather snazzy website. Despite the fact that he was completely and utterly wrong in his assertion that the world was going tits up in 1981, 2012 has breathed new life into his career from what it looks like.) Seeing my son so upset really pissed me off so I decided it was time to sit down and talk through what he was thinking.

While discussing our imminent demise at the hands of planet X, avenging angels or a return of the Smurfs, I taught my son about Occam's Razor "entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem" which is a lovely little theory to apply to situations like this. What is more likely- a) The Mayans were able to predict the future and identify the exact date the world is going to end. b) The media has found out that pushing Armageddon sells lots of advertising so they are throwing together programming that supports this conclusion. Congratulations, if you chose "b" you are a rational human being. If you chose "a," please get back to work on your bomb shelter and tinfoil helmet.

What is it in the human mind that just loves predicting our fate ? I think eschatology, prophecy and all of that fun stuff is simply hardwired into our brains. I saw an interesting show the other night on PBS (actually Armageddon free, which was nice) where a scientist noted that we are only species that worries about the future. Zebras, for example, have been observed being attacked by a pride of lions, escaping and then nonchalantly munching grass 5 minutes later a short distance from the lions that chased them in the first place. Unlike the zebras, we constantly worry and obsess about the future- money, our jobs, our families, the economy, the weather, our kids etc. Add a pinch of special effects, a cup of Mayan prophecy that I don't think anyone has actually read, a dash of Nostradamus and the human brain starts accelerating into a brick wall.

Time to throw on the brakes. I think that the prospect of the world ending December 21st, 2012 holds some appeal, especially for those that are living miserable, unfulfilled and unhappy lives. A date certain for destruction somewhat alleviates us of the drudgery of getting up for work, dragging ourselves to our jobs, dealing with the boss and waiting for the next paycheck. What's more scary than December 21st, 2012 ? December 22nd, 2012 when you awake with an Armageddon party induced hangover, stare at the cold December sky and realize that making photocopies of your ass at work the day before probably wasn't the best idea.

"A-ha" you say, "you won't be laughing when you die on December 21st, 2012 !" Guess what cupcake, we are all going to die. I think that the avoidance of the subject of death in modern Western civilization has led to a generation of people that think they are going to live forever. I'm going to die, you're going to die, we're all going to die. "Strive diligently, for all things must pass" were the words of the Buddha and they are as relevant now as they were over 2000 years ago. I don't know if I'm going to kick off on December 21st, 2012...or maybe 2011...hey, I've got good genes I should at least reach 2050 unless I'm a total loser. Car wreck, heart attack, cancer, plane crash, who knows ? All I know is that I'm going to die at some point and I'm fine with that fact. Try meditating on that fact sometime. It makes life even better.

As the clock continues to tick down to December 21st, 2012, the media drumbeat goes on. The plethora of doomsday television shows and books continues to roll off the assembly lines, proving once again that nothing sells as well as potential disaster. You can take your pick of 2012 theories- magnetic pole shifts, mysterious planets slamming into earth, asteroids, demons, UFO's and somebody out there will sell you their theory on it and how to survive it.

Here's my theory and I'm not charging you a thing for it- it's bullshit, pure and simple. I'm beginning to think that this mania is tied to our fat and lazy existence here in the U.S. I seriously doubt that hungry people in Africa are agonizing over this or citizens in not so fun places like Iran or North Korea are worried that Planet X is going to slam into us in a couple of years. Our easy consumer driven lifestyle has created a demand for artificial fears- since we no longer have the primal fight/flee response sitting in Starbucks, we now have to replace the lion chasing us with maniacal theories to scare ourselves and remind us of our own mortality.

I would like to propose a bet with any 2012 proponent out there to put their money where their mouth is. I will pay them $ 100 cash money, right now, on the wager that nothing will happen in 2012. In return, if nothing happens, they will pay me $ 200 on January 1st, 2013. If you are completely sold on 2012, this is a no brainer- you get to enjoy $ 100 during your final days on earth, and know that it's a sucker bet for me since neither one of us is going to be around to collect my winnings when it all comes to a crashing end. Terms and conditions apply, subject to approval by my legal staff.

So come on people, are you gonna get your $ 100 and party like its 2011 ?

Memory Row Week- The World That Never Was

2010-09-23T09:00:00.000-04:00

I finally picked up a copy of this book and will be reading it on vacation this week. I'll post a review when I get back.

"The World That Never Was- A True Story of Dreamers, Schemers, Anarchists & Street Agents" by Alex Butterworth. 2010. Pantheon Books.

Book review by Stuart Christie, The Guardian.

Sounds like a good read. I'm going to pick up a copy. The book is available on pre-order for June 15th, through Amazon.

An interesting observation from the review-

"The main story, however, is of the penetration of these groups of often naive utopians by the sinister functionaries of the secret state whose job it was to protect the status quo: the policemen and spymasters who lurked in the shadows seeding uncertainty and dissent, cultivating tensions, beguiling with deceits, and luring credulous and impressionable idealists into committing crimes they may never have otherwise conceived."

History has indeed shown that idealists and revolutionaries are often long on ideas and short on proper counter-intelligence techniques !

Memory Row Week- Funeral for a Soldier

2010-09-22T09:00:00.000-04:00

I wrote this article in May 2010 about the death of a local soldier in Afghanistan. My comments are at the end.

Last week, a soldier killed in Afghanistan was laid to rest in a small town near where I live. By coincidence, my son goes to elementary school in the same town and met the soldier a few years ago when he stopped by to visit the children. By all accounts the soldier was an all American type of kid- well liked by his neighbors, a good athlete and respected throughout the community. I picked up my son at school the day his body was brought back to town and the children had lined the streets waving small American flags as the hearse passed by. The light poles were adorned with yellow ribbons and the town had turned out in a show of unified sympathy you only see in small town America.

For a 10 year old, my son asks some pretty tough questions. "Why did he die ?" he asked, followed by "Are we winning the war ?" The local news had covered the story in print and on television and it led the six o'clock news for a couple of nights so it became a running discussion between the two of us. I struggled to explain the war in Afghanistan to my son, the nuances of counter insurgency, the difficulty in defeating a group of guerrillas vs. a standing army. During my time in the Army I had been an intelligence analyst while serving in the Ranger Regiment. My job was reading intelligence reports regarding the Soviets and their invasion of Afghanistan- how they operated, their tactics and techniques and then condensing them for dissemination to the three Ranger battalions for what we thought was an inevitable hot war in Europe. Back then I gained a grudging respect for the Mujahedin and their ability to bloody the Russian bear. Little did I know that the seeds that would eventually lead to Al Qaeda, Bin Laden and 9/11 had been planted.

So why did he die ? The interviews with local citizens on television mostly addressed that question with the answer that he died "defending our freedoms" and "protecting us." I'm not so sure about that. I'm pretty sure that he died first and foremost, as soldiers have for generations, for his comrades and his unit. Grand geopolitical strategy was probably not going through his head in his final battle- he was probably looking out for his buddies and doing the best he could to stay alive. Although I tried to make the case in my head that he died protecting us here in America, I just couldn't make the mental jump that would connect the Taliban and scattered Al Qaeda forces to a direct threat against me and my family. Thinking that through made me feel horrible- he didn't need to die for me and my family, we would have gladly taken the remote chance of a Taliban-Al Qaeda attack on Pittsburgh if it mean't he was safe and sound.

Did he, and over 1,700 other coalition soldiers, die to bring freedom to Afghanistan ? I'm not too convinced on that score either. This wasn't like U.S. troops rolling into Paris or Holland during World War 2. Afghanistan was never really a country in the traditional sense, even during the best of times. Tribalism, war lords financing private armies through the drug trade and various religious factions just don't fit the profile of a country begging for liberation. The U.S. and its allies have suppressed the Taliban to a large extent in many areas of the country but its likely that once the U.S. pulls out the result will be an immediate slide back into its quasi feudalistic former self.

I'm still struggling with the answer. The U.S. invasion after 9/11 made sense- root out and destroy Al Qaeda and those responsible for harboring them. On that count, it is widely agreed that the operation was a success. Al Qaeda, which some reports show as having no more than a couple of hundred members in the country, has been dispersed and generally hunted down. I highly doubt that they have constructed some super secret underground facility in the mountains and are working on a nuclear bomb that will soon go off in the U.S. It is more likely that they are living like moles, reluctant to venture outside and risk being vaporized by a drone attack. If they no longer pose a direct strategic threat to the U.S., why is the Department of Defense adding thousands of new troops into the mix and billions more in funding ? Forget the money for a minute- most importantly, why is our most priceless asset (our troops lives) being spent on this hell hole ?

My guess is that it comes down to money. Billions of dollars for procurement of new weapons, logistical support contracts, beans, bullets and everything else that a modern army consumes. Congressional districts that rely on defense plant spending, corrupt leaders more worried about their own political skins versus those of the troops in the field. Al Qaeda and the Taliban, no larger than a German infantry division in World War 2 (at best) are on the receiving end of the full economic and military might of the U.S. I'm sure that some accounting geek at the Pentagon has examined the grim calculus of death and figured out that every dead Taliban was killed at the cost of about $ 1.5 million to the U.S. taxpayer. An elephant stepping on a gnat isn't even an appropriate analogy to the imbalance between the amount of military and economic horsepower being thrown at the situation.

So, why did he die ? I still don't know, maybe somebody out there can help me figure it out.

Since I wrote this article, the command of U.S. forces in Afghanistan was changed by an article in Rolling Stone, and a massive leak of documents regarding the war has been released. Over 285 coalition troops have been killed since then, many more wounded and billions of dollars have been pissed down this black hole. I am still very pessimistic about the future of Afghanistan and the prospects for the coalition forces to defeat the Taliban. Unlike the U.S. and allied forces fighting at the end of a very long supply line, the Taliban are fighting in their own back yard with access to protection across the border in Pakistan. Most importantly, they have the advantage of time- they can simply wait out the Americans, force the Afghan government to the table after U.S. forces withdraw and create their own state within a state. When the war transitioned from pursuit of Al Qaeda to building a new Afghanistan, the war was effectively lost- not by the forces on ground, but the elected ones playing geopolitics in Washington D.C.

Memory Row Week- 2010 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Review

2010-09-21T09:00:00.000-04:00

I wrote this article back in January after we purchased our new 2010 VW Jetta TDI. My update is at the end.

Last weekend, we finally traded in my Nissan Pathfinder for a new vehicle. The old girl had 147,000 odd miles on it, the exhaust system was falling off and it was doing annoying things like shutting off when I applied the brakes too hard. As if to make the point that it really didn't want to go to the big recycling plant in the sky, it died at the largest intersection between my house and the dealer where we had been looking at cars the week before. After a bit of swearing, pleading and pounding on the steering wheel, it wheezed into the dealer's lot and gracefully expired as it coasted into a parking spot.

After weeks of test drives, visiting dealers and doing some research, we settled on the 2010 VW Jetta TDI (diesel.) I've always had a sneaking love of German cars, born of racing AFX cars in the basement, reading racing magazines and dreaming about flying down the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans in a Porsche 917. My first German car, a used 1998 Audi A6, sealed this love affair and also confirmed everything that my engineer father thought of them- "over-engineered and over-priced" he would fume at the dinner table. Being an engineer he just couldn't see any point of designing anything beyond the functionality of an engine, four wheels and a steering wheel. The Audi was like dating a beautiful, temperamental woman. When it worked, it was an absolute blast to drive, luxurious and absolutely bulletproof when driving way beyond the safety limits on a snowy highway. When it bitched and was in a snit, it was horribly expensive to fix, cranky and temperamental. At one point I actually owned two Audis as I re-built a 1991 Quattro V8 which I bought for $ 3,500 cash but that's a story for another day.

Anyways, in the rush to build green vehicles with great gas mileage, Volkswagen has gone back to the future in the TDI. Years of building diesel vehicles (and testing them on the racetrack in Audi's TDI program) has yielded a vehicle that seems to do the impossible- get great gas mileage and yet be fun to drive. Many of the problems that hounded diesels in the past such as engine noise, wet and cold start issues ("don't call me when it's four degrees out" huffed my dad) have been eliminated. The interior is very well appointed, functional and the fit and finish is nice and tight. Turn the switch to the first position, wait a second for the glow plug light to go out and the 4 cylinder diesel rumbles to life.

4 cylinder you say ? No power you think ? Wrong again. Although the engine only generates 140 horsepower, it also pushes nearly 230 pounds of torque to the front wheels. Mash the pedal, wait amount for the turbo to spool up and the beast punches you back into your seat (rumor has it that Audi's new electric sports car will generate over 1,000 pounds of torque.) This is no breadbox with batteries stuffed into every nook and cranny, it is 3,600 odd pounds of solid German iron that makes me shake my head everytime I see a Prius. Although diesels have never really caught on in the US the way they have in Europe, Volkswagen may have finally come up with the right package of fuel efficiency, power and luxury to make more car owners take a serious look at vehicles like the TDI.

So far, so good. The car now has 19,900 miles on it after enduring two very long trips- one to southern Texas, another to northern Maine. As the engine is now broken in, the mileage from the little diesel continues to impress. During the trip to Texas, I averaged 48.5 mpg and slightly less during our summer trip to Maine. One thing that took getting used to was wondering if the fuel gauge had broken- on long highway trips, it barely budges. Getting nearly 700 miles of range out of a 14 gallon tank forces you to think differently about your trip- no more saying to the kids, we'll take a break when we stop to fuel up since that can literally be a few hours away. Despite the fears of my father, we have had absolutely no problems starting the car even during the extremely cold winter we had in Pittsburgh.

Mechanically the car has had no issues except for the hood shocks needing to be replaced. Although this gave me shudders concerning German reliability, they were replaced at no charge under the car's warranty. I am also liking the fact that the diesel only needs to have its oil changed every 10,000 miles and this is covered at no cost as well. The car rides well, is a blast to drive and the Satellite radio and I phone hook up are a godsend on long trips. On the downside, it can be a bit noisy inside the cabin during long trips and the seats aren't that well suited for marathon trips. Still, I can't complain. For a little less than $ 25,000, the car has been an absolute bargain.

Memory Row Week- Home Grown

2010-09-20T09:00:00.001-04:00

I wrote this article last Spring as we began our foray into trying to build a deck garden. My follow up comments are at the end.

I constantly daydream about living off of the grid. My thoughts are filled with a hand built house on some acreage in the wilderness, solar power, a big garden and smokehouse full of fish and game living free of the annoyances of modern life. "Mother Earth News" has replaced "Playboy" in terms of my fantasy reading as I eagerly read articles about really cool projects like building alcohol fuel stills.

Reality, usually in the form of a conversation with my wife, soon comes crashing back in and dispels these visions of grandeur. I did, however, take a recent small step towards self sufficiency by planting a deck garden. Whether or not this venture yields anything worth eating remains to be seen, but we have been happy to see the seeds sprout and the plants starting to grow above the top edge of the planters.

For around $ 10 bucks worth of seeds, we planted lettuce, spinach and a good assortment of herbs (cilantro, dill, chives, parsley and basil- I suggested another more profitable herb but was met with an icy stare of disapproval from my spouse.) I built the planters out of cedar boards and bolted them to the deck rail which proved prudent after a couple of severe storms roared through our area. I drilled holes in the planter bottoms for drainage and we filled them with a layer of rocks at the bottom to also help the roots from getting waterlogged. The three planters are all 4' long and cost about $ 40 total to build.

Update- Our deck garden was very successful and the amount of food we produced was far beyond my expectations. For about $ 10 worth of seeds we had multiple harvests of herbs including parsley, cilantro, basil and chives. We started our tomato and pepper plants here and then transplanted them to my in laws garden- the production we received was incredible. We processed most of the tomatoes into sauce and salsa and now have every square inch of our freezer filled with containers.

The peppers turned out great as well, although very hot. The lettuce and spinach did not do well at all and we will probably not plant them again next year. I think the problem was in the depth of the planters on the deck and the weather in the spring was too warm for them to get going properly. We were able to use produce from the garden in just about every dinner over the summer and it has saved us a great deal of money. For next year, I am working on getting back up to speed on canning and looking into building a rain retention and diversion system for our back deck. Using diverted rain water not only makes environmental sense, it makes economic sense as well.

Memory Road Week

2010-09-19T09:00:00.001-04:00

This week I will be heading 20 hours north of my current location to do some work on my family's house in Northern Maine. Rather than let a week go by without anything for you to look at, I'll be re-posting some of my past articles along with updates to the stories. I hope you enjoy them and have a peaceful and prosperous week.

Taking the Hot Dog

2010-09-17T09:00:00.003-04:00

During the great famine in Ireland, there arose the saying "Taking the Soup" to describe Catholics who denied their faith and became Protestants in order to get something to eat. I'm not sure that this is 100% historically accurate, and it could just be an apocryphal story, but I guess it could make sense given the situation- faced with starvation, and even worse the starvation of our children, who wouldn't sign up with the team that was giving away free food ? A few days ago, we awoke to a very colorful door hanger on our front door knob offering a free hot dog if we attended a local church fair.

Maybe there really isn't anything new under the sun.

Two things in life make me very nervous- clowns and proselytizing. Maybe I was approached by a proselytizing clown on the playground as a youngster, who's to say. I became a Buddhist as essentially an unrestricted free agent- I found a faith that dovetailed nicely with my own view of the world and where I want to end up. Nobody approached me, harangued me or dragged me to the Sangha kicking and screaming. I merely did my own years of research and made the decision on my own. My Buddhist beliefs are intensely personal and I feel that I greatly benefit from them in my life. That being said, I would never, and have never, approached a friend, family member or stranger and told them I had this great conversion that they needed to try as well. Just as importantly, I have retained a deep respect for other faiths and those that follow them- nobody has all of the answers and the only thing I know for sure is the limits of my own ignorance.

I've had my share of experience with front door religious recruiters over the years- earnest, well scrubbed Mormons, serious looking Jehovah's Witnesses and just plain old good folks out trying to get new members for the local church. Anyone coming to my front door is treated with respect, an invitation to have a cup of coffee (or juice for the LDS guys) and I'm happy to hear them out and take their literature. After a few minutes they realize they are dealing with a born again Buddhist who is asking too many obscure questions, they glance at their watches and head for the door. One gentleman pointed out that I was going to Hell unless I converted to his faith, right then on the spot. I genuinely admired they guy for his ability to get right to the point and thanked him for stopping by.

What has always confused me about religions that come to your front door is based on this simple argument that I always fall back on- "If your faith is so strong, so all encompassing and all knowing that I should switch my beliefs, why do you need to go door to door in order to spread it ? Shouldn't it be self evident ? Why are you out on the street effectively selling your faith ? If your particular brand of faith is so strong, the people must be pouring through the doors on Sunday morning, right ?" For the missionaries, I know there is the component of trying to save my soul in order to justify their actions. My soul is just fine where it is, thanks. "How's yours ?" It is very rare to have one of these people actually engage in a two sided conversation and it becomes apparent that they are merely rattling off a script that they are trying to follow. They aren't making the rounds because they are interested in intellectual discourse- they are on a mission and if you're asking too many questions, you're just slowing things down.

These conversations usually end with polite goodbyes and a hand shake. I actually read whatever literature is left, because I'm always interested in different faiths and views of the world. Who knows, maybe someday I'll switch faiths again. Come to think of it I'm getting hungry....now where's that flyer ?

Afghanistan's Buddhist History

2010-09-16T11:41:00.002-04:00

An interesting article from the Wall Street Journal about an attempt to rescue an important Buddhist archaeological site in Afghanistan.

938MEMDCJEST

Howard Stern vs. Sirius

2010-09-16T09:39:00.005-04:00

I have enjoyed listening to Howard Stern for many years on terrestrial and satellite radio. For me, the Stern Show is a guilty pleasure like Scotch Whisky- something I enjoy but am not really sure is good for me. While many people dismiss Stern as nothing more than a foul-mouthed boor, you start to realize over time what a genius the guy is when you listen to him every morning (or it just might be a media version of the Stockholm Syndrome.) Putting aside the locker room humor, fart jokes, midgets and strippers for a moment, I truly believe that Stern conducts the best interviews in media- period. He has an uncanny ability to disarm and get more out of his guests than any other show host on radio or television. Throw in his dysfunctional cast of characters and you have a mix of entertainment that I happily pay for with my Sirius subscription.

Over the past few weeks, Stern has begun the rumblings that many of us heard before his switch to satellite radio. His 5 year deal with Sirius ends in January 2011 and he has made it pretty clear that he isn't enjoying the treatment he has received of late in terms of negotiating a new deal. Stern has an enormous ego, and a loyal legion of fans, and has only half jokingly proposed that Sirius change its name to Stern. He has made dark hints about taking his show elsewhere by leveraging the new technologies that have emerged over the past few years. These technologies effectively eliminate the middle man (i.e. Sirius) between the provider of content (Stern) and the consumers of that content (his audience.) If I owned shares in Sirius, I would be seriously be preparing to sell my position- fast.

Sirius stock has been dead money for years. Despite the merger with XM, and the rapid increase in subscriptions (due to Stern and free trials of the service in new vehicles) the company has yet to post a profit. When Stern joined the company in 2006, revenues for the year were $ 637 million. By 2009, revenues had increased to $ 2.47 billion- and the company still managed to post a net loss of $ 343 million. Still, for some reason hope still springs eternal. S&P put out a "Buy" rating on the shares on September 11th, 2010 while citing "uncertainties with Howard Stern's contract negotiations" as a potential risk to the shares. I think a better sentence would have read- "Howard Stern has Sirius by the short and curlies- and he knows it. If he leaves, this boat sinks."

To put it simply, Sirius needs Stern far more than Stern needs Sirius. In a matter of a few weeks, Stern could simply build an alternate location for his show to broadcast from and distribute the content via live internet streams, podcasts, pay per view and whatever else becomes available over the coming years. Instead of needing the massive capital investment that Sirius had to make in terms of satellites and equipment, he could probably be up and running on a relative shoestring. His fans, including myself, would happily pay $ 5 or $ 10 bucks a month for this type of content and Stern could probably do something in 30 days that Sirius never could- earn a profit.

New technologies are killing the old dogs of media and although satellite radio seems like the future, it could just be another victim on the list that includes newspapers, radio stations and magazines. All of these sources were merely the vehicles through which media content flowed- now that the channels for this information have become quicker, better and more personalized, the big dinosaurs of yesterday are essentially doomed. Consumers are becoming more discerning and demanding content that is customized to them, not the other way around. Why would I put myself through 30 minutes of Katie Couric, including commercials, when I can get my news on my I phone from the sources that I like and trust ? For me, Couric's inane babbling is content that has no value to me- I wouldn't even take it if it was free. Other people might pay for it, who knows ? The new media will ruthlessly expose companies and individuals that have rested on their laurels and reputations for far too long.

Book Review- "UFOs Generals, Pilots and Government Officials go on the Record" by Leslie Kean

2010-09-15T09:41:00.003-04:00

I've had a strong interest in the subject of UFO's (more recently coined "UAPs"- Unexplained Aerial Phenomena") for many years and recently read an excellent book which is the subject of this article. Unlike many books and television programs on the subject, Kean's work is scholarly, well researched and contains a series of pieces written by men and women who have held very high positions of authority in military and civilian agencies around the world. The consensus of these opinions is that UAPs are real and operate with technology that is far beyond anything we have developed.

As I'm writing this, I can see my reader's collective eyeballs rolling skyward in skepticism but please stick with me for a moment. For individuals that have some done some reading on the UAP phenomena, many of the cases presented here are familiar- the silent black triangles reported by thousands of Belgians in the 1980's, the dogfight between an Iranian fighter and UAP over Tehran, Rendlesham Forest, the Japanese cargo plane over Alaska etc. What makes this book different is that the author has the format in which to expound on these stories, interview witnesses and present a very compelling case vs. trying to compress and cram the same information into a television documentary.

Of all of the accounts in the book, my favorite is that of wave of sightings in Belgium as recounted by Major General Wilfried De Brouwer of the Belgian Air Force. At the time of the sightings in late 1989, De Brouwer was a Colonel acting as chief of the Operations Division of the Air Staff of the Belgian Air Force. De Brouwer explains in this part of the book how thousands of Belgians, including significant numbers of police and military personnel, reported large, silent black triangles floating over the countryside. Some of this UAPs were photographed (analysis is included in the book) and triggered the scrambling of Belgian F-16's in pursuit which proved fruitless against the performance of these strange vehicles. For the Belgians, members of the NATO Alliance, these sightings were very distressing- large aerial vehicles were moving in their air space without authority and with impunity. De Brouwer made inquiries with NATO allies, including the U.S., and was assured both officially (and privately) that they were not new technologies being tested over Belgium.

I really enjoyed this book because it doesn't stretch out into the rampant speculation that usually surrounds the subject. It doesn't attempt to answer who is driving these things, where they are from or what their intentions are- despite the thousands of books on the subject of dubious quality that claim to know what's really going on. Rather, it focuses on hard data- aerial and ground radar returns, pilot reports, government studies and briefings and observations made by police, governmental and military reports either published or obtained through the FOIA. Kean provides nearly 300 end notes to reference the materials and interviews she sifted through to build her case.

Later in the book, Kean demonstrates how the U.S. government position on the subject has been markedly different from those of other nations. Unlike the French, who released the recent COMETA report, and English, who released their MOD studies on the subject, the U.S. has taken the familiar tack of denying everything and adding ridicule to those that bring up the subject- a strategy implemented decades ago. If you have seen a news report on your local station it usually includes a smiling reporter and the X-Files theme playing in the background. Kean's straightforward writing, and the quality of the material she works with, effectively demolishes the argument that any of these sightings can be laughed off. With her background as a journalist, and backing of her major publisher (a division of Random House) this book has already made a significant splash on the UAP subject.

Whether a skeptic, believer or solidly on the fence (like me) this is an excellent book that I highly recommend. I rate it a solid 8 out of 10. Regardless of your position on the subject, I am confident that you will find the book eye-opening and thought provoking. Along the same lines of solid research, I also highly recommend the James Fox documentaries, which Kean assisted with- "Out of the Blue" and "I Know What I Saw" both available on DVD.

The book's website.
Available on Amazon.

The Little Grape of Wrath

2010-09-14T06:24:00.003-04:00

I started getting a sore throat over the weekend but it didn't seem like a big deal. The kids are back at school and have been fighting colds with their classmates, and I thought it would just run its course and go away. Yesterday at work, I noticed that I seemed to be breaking out in cold sweats, chills and was having trouble swallowing- on top of that I was short of breath. I work at a job that keeps me moving on my feet all day long, so the shortness of breath was the thing that started to worry me. Not wanting to take any chances with what I thought was strep throat, or even worse the big heart attack I keep warning the kids they are pushing me towards, I decided it was time to go to the local Med Express.

I don't know if you have these types of establishments where you live but I think they are the greatest invention since canned beer and sliced bread. Instead of calling your regular physician, and hoping they can squeeze you in the during the next 8 to 12 months, you simply walk in these places, tell them what's wrong and get seen in a matter of minutes. My doctor is a great guy who I really like but I limit my visits to him to stuff like routine physicals- I have no doubt I could call him with a collapsed lung, or partially amputated arm, and his receptionist would ask if I could hold off coming in until 2011.

Like most incidents of adversity, whether great or small like this one, I even had a brief moment to quietly meditate on some Buddhist mindfulness. In this case, because the reception area was extremely busy and noisy, I simply closed my eyes for a minute and reflected on how fortunate I was to have access to excellent medical care when compared to the vast majority of souls on this planet. No matter what the problem was, I was confident I would be quickly patched up and back out the door.

The doctor took a look in my mouth, said something like "hmmmm", took another look and furrowed her brow. "Have you had any trouble breathing ?," yes I replied, "well typically you would want to go the ER at the hospital for something like this." It seems I had a raging case of Uvulitis (the Uvula is the little thingy that hangs from the roof your mouth at the entrance to your throat and means "little grape" at least according to Wikipedia) and it was so swollen it was partially blocking my ability to breath and swallow- which would account for me drooling all over my shirt at lunch. So, I got a shot of steroids in the butt to take down the swelling, some more oral antibiotics and steroids and was sent home with strict orders to go to the hospital if I couldn't breath- sarcasm obviously not being part of the medical school curriculum I just kept my reply to myself and headed for the door.

Old Airplanes Never Die

2010-09-13T09:00:00.000-04:00

I took this picture over the weekend at the Pittsburgh Air Show. This is a C-47 transport, the second oldest of its type that is still flying. What makes this aircraft so special in historical terms is that it actually dropped elements of the 82nd Airborne on St. Mere Eglise, France in the early morning hours of June 6th, 1944. D-Day.

I stood by the aircraft while my wife and kids were inside a KC-135 tanker that was on display so I had a few moments to reflect on the reaction of the crowds as they walked by. More than a few kids tugged on their mom and dad's sleeves as they spotted the cooler, more modern F-16's, F-18's and a myriad of other sleek jets that stood by. Some asked their parents what the plane was, but they were at a loss for words- some old thing they muttered as they walked past. What a shame. As far as examples of living history go, nothing among the 50 or so aircraft parked on the ramp even came close.

After their tanker tour, I grabbed the boys and walked them to the C-47. "THIS" I said jabbing my finger in its direction "is the most important airplane on this entire airfield." We were able to go inside the aircraft, through the jump door on the left, and I explained how 55 odd years ago, a group of very brave men strapped parachutes, equipment, weapons and a myriad of other gear to themselves, flew across the English Channel and parachuted into the darkness of the early morning of June 6th, 1944. Standing in the back of the plane, so small and cramped compared to the relative luxury of the C-130's and C-141's that I parachuted out of, I was nearly overcome with emotion. Small groups of young men, who had barely begun to live, volunteered to hurl themselves out of aircraft over enemy occupied ground to defeat Fascism and destroy the worst evil that the world has ever know. Knowing the fate of many of the young paratroopers who jumped over St. Mere Eglise only made it more emotional- some were hung up on electrical and telegraph poles only to be shot by the Germans, one famously on town's church steeple who watched the battle unfold beneath his feet.

I daydreamed for a moment, and imagined the night before after the first day of the air show. I thought of all of the other aircraft, circled around the C-47 as it creaked and turned, sat on its tail and said to a bunch of wide eyed, youthful jets- "You know the difference between a fairy tale and a war story ? The fairy tale starts off with 'Once Upon a Time.' A war story starts with 'This is No Shit."

A Great Bird App

2010-09-12T16:45:00.003-04:00

I'm an amateur bird watcher- not too obsessive beyond my time in the woods and watching birds at our feeders. The Peterson Guide to Backyard Birds is a nice, cheap (inexpensive) app that I started using on my I phone. For $ 2.99 you get a lot of stuff. It has some great pictures of birds for identification, samples of sounds from the various species, and a checklist (based on different regions of the U.S.) to mark off the birds and dates on which you spotted them. For times when you are out of the woods there is also a nice quiz function which tests your ability to identify different species by sight and sounds. During a hike last weekend, my wife and I were treated to an old growth oak forest that was absolutely saturated by Pileated Woodpeckers which I have to rank as my all time favorite bird.

Burn Baby Burn

2010-09-10T13:07:00.003-04:00

An article from the Guardian regarding the role of social media and the internet in propelling the aspirations of a Florida based preacher to burn a copy of the Koran. I heard a similar discussion regarding this issue on the BBC this morning and the general consensus is that the internet for better, or worse, has given nut cases such as Pastor Terry Jones a global audience for extreme positions such as his. Contrast, for a moment, what would have happened if Mr. Jones had made his thoughts known in 1970, or even 1980. The story might have picked up some local media attention, perhaps a wire story on the AP, but it could never have flashed around the globe in a matter of seconds as happened now. Since internet access, mobile phone availability etc. have increased, technology has ensured that an equal number of nutcases holding exact opposite positions as Mr. Jones were able to get the news at nearly the speed of light.

The predictable result of this story has been an escalation of Muslims now threatening to burn bibles, more Christians threatening to burn Korans and everyone threatening to burn a few Jews (just kidding, at least for now.) The mixture of religious extremism, hair trigger emotions and the technology to deliver hate in nanoseconds has suddenly shrunk the world from a very big place to a nasty, crowded, little one full of tribal and sectarian violence. You could argue that the internet, instead of a tool of enlightenment and education, will help the human race rush to extinction at a much faster rate than would have been expected.

On a side note, who cares if a Koran, Bible or Torah is burned ? Can't the world's great religions survive such barbarism ? Do these people really think that God, whom they believe to be the creator of ourselves and our universe, is somehow upset that one of his favorite primates decided to burn a book ? The absolutely unhinged response to the burning of symbols, whether they be flags or religious tomes, is to me a sign of deep insecurity, not of strength in one's beliefs.

"A ha, you say, what would you do if someone burned a pile of Buddhist books in front of you ?"

I would just shrug and thank the torch bearer for demonstrating the cornerstone of my beliefs-

Everything is impermanent and all things must pass.

Let's Go Saints !

2010-09-09T08:17:00.004-04:00

This evening, the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings play the opener for the NFL season. It will be a replay of last year's NFC Championship and will feature two of the marquis quarterbacks in the game, Drew Brees and Brett Favre. More importantly, it will mark the day where my 43 year allegiance to the Pittsburgh Steelers ends, and I set off in support of a new team. As some of my long time readers know, I made my feelings known about Ben Roethlisberger's off field antics last year and my disgust for him, the Steeler's ownership and organization. My wife joined me in this boycott of our hometown team, as have many others, and we settled on the Saints as our new adopted team. We may come back to the Steelers someday, but as long as Roethlisberger is on the team, it ain't gonna happen.

For the first time in many, many years I will not spend many of my Sunday afternoons, and a couple of Monday and Thursday evenings, sitting in Heinz Field. No more tailgating with friends before the game (and after,) enjoying the incredible atmosphere on a sunny afternoon, or snowy winter night. Nope, I'm going to be in my living room watching the Saints. As a born and bred Pittsburgher it was pre-ordained that I would be a Steelers fan, but they have broken the faith and showed their true colors over the past year. It's difficult for fans from other cities to understand how deeply the Steelers are ingrained in this city, how much we are tied to this team. It is therefore even more difficult how strange I feel in knowing that I won't be watching the Steelers this year and could frankly care less if they lose every single game. My buddies were shocked by my decision- probably like a Jewish kid telling his parents he wanted to be a priest- but they mumbled that they understood and hoped I would come to my senses.

Out with the pierogies and kielbassa, in the with the po' boys and crawfish. Let's Go Saints !

Them's Fightin' Words Son

2010-09-03T09:42:00.006-04:00

In an interesting side note to the ongoing Iranian nuclear drama, France has warned Iran to quit making disparaging remarks about the wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. No, this isn't from The Onion- you can read more about it here. The diplomatic row was apparently sparked by the world's foxiest First Lady, Carla Bruni, who voiced her opinion on the death sentence by stoning of Sakineh Ashtiani. The Iranian newspaper Kayhan called Ms. Bruni a prostitute who deserved to die.

Ouch.

I don't think it's very nice to call a man's wife a whore- I especially don't think its' very bright when that man is President of a nuclear armed power (no, not like the Iranians building one out of "Nuclear Weapons for Dummies"- the real stuff.) Say what you will about the French, they are the only people probably as bat shit crazy as the Iranians when it comes to affronts to personal honor.

This sorry episode just screams with story lines- the beautiful wife of the French President who has, let's be honest, a bit of a past vs. a bunch of sexually repressed mullahs in Iran living somewhere back in the 1100's. She is the the Euro uber MILF and they despise her for it and everything she stands for. As a strong, independent woman she threatens them to their very core. The fact that she is beautiful just adds insult to injury- they hate what they can never have. Okay, perhaps I'm getting too Freudian here.

Forget Sarkozy, Carla might just bitch slap Ahmadinejad on her own.

Going to the Dogs

2010-09-02T08:00:00.002-04:00

I want to get a dog. I grew up with dogs, love dogs and feel that a dog would be a great addition to our family unit- after all, every little boy should have a dog, right ? Despite my best arguments, pleadings, whining and general bitching, my wife has shot down the subject each time that I have brought it up. She’s not a dog girl, she’s a cat girl as evidenced by the three freeloading felines that lounge around our house (okay, to be honest one of them was mine before we were married but at least he catches the occasional rodent.) I can see some of you rolling your eyes right now. Just be a man and go buy one, right ? I actually thought that plan through a couple of times but kept coming back to visions of me and my new pooch sleeping in a tent in the woods behind my house. Besides, it needs to be a family decision since a dog is a big commitment in terms of time, exercise, vet bills and everything else that comes with owning a pet. So, I was resigned to daydreaming about one day, someday far in the future, taking my imaginary dog for a walk in the woods.

Unfortunately, something happened to make my case.

We live in a quiet suburban neighborhood where nothing much ever happens, at least until a week or so ago. Neighbors of ours had their home broken into in the middle of the night by a gang of four- two broke in, two were waiting in the car. The scariest thing about the incident was that the family was sleeping in the home at the time. The intruders, apparently driven by drug addiction, were caught by the police after the owners woke up and phoned the police. Fortunately, nobody got hurt but the incident shook us to the core. It also reminded me that a few weeks before, being a very light sleeper, I had awakened at around 3 AM to the sound of a car slowly cruising our neighborhood.

Suddenly, my wife seemed a little more interested in the whole dog idea. I have two weapons in the house. I keep a loaded magazine in a drawer by our bed and one of the rifles (an AR-15 carbine) under the bed in a locked case. I have no doubt that I can quickly load the weapon and shoot an intruder (or intruders) inside of my house- the mechanics of it are muscle memory, the result of training and practice. The question of whether or not I could actually shoot somebody, however, is a big one for me. The Karma risks of killing another human being are just too great for me to discount and the potential risk to my family are also worrying- a 5.56 mm round could easily penetrate our home’s walls and endanger everyone else involved. I suppose one of our cats could serve some defensive purpose but that would involve throwing them at an intruder and they aren’t very aerodynamic.

So, we are back to the dog. I have settled on either a German Shepherd or Shiloh Shepherd (an American variant of the German Shepherd.) Big, strong, alert and loyal seems to be made to order for our requirements of a good family pet that is also loud and imposing enough to scare off the occasional crack or meth addled intruder. A curious thing I have noticed while looking at different breeders has been the requirement for filling out applications to buy the dogs, giving references etc. These are steps I never had to take in having a son, yet dog breeders seem hell-bent on examining every aspect of your life to see if you are qualified to buy one of their dogs. In the old days, it was look in the newspaper, drive to the local farm and drive home with your new puppy. I suppose it is for the best. The breeders want to make sure their “children” are brought up in good homes. If only humans were so careful.

Tony Blair- Man of Action

2010-09-01T15:17:00.002-04:00

In other news today, Tony Blair, former English Prime Minister, admitted to OCWI (Operating a Country While Intoxicated) and also called for attacking Iran if it developed nuclear weapons. I'll leave it to you to draw your own connections between the two stories.

Iran & Musings on Insanity

2010-09-01T14:27:00.004-04:00

I like to listen to Podcasts during work and have recently been enjoying Dan Carlin's "Hardcore History" and "Common Sense" programs. Both shows benefit from Carlin's rapid and sharp delivery and I especially enjoy how he pillories politicians from both parties equally. On a recent show he made an observation that nicely fit some of my own thinking lately, namely that if the U.S. attacks Iran we will have a final, and very clear, indication that the leadership of this country is insane.

Turn on Sean Hannity on any given night and I can almost guarantee that a reference to stopping Iran's nuclear ambitions will come up. It isn't only the right wing that is beating the war drums- our dear leader, President Obama, has also (sort of) reversed his earlier statements on a nuclear armed Iran in 2009 (he hinted that it might be acceptable) to those he made in 2010 (he hinted that it might not be acceptable.) With a full on drubbing of the Democratic party on tap for the fall midterm elections, the possibility grows that the President just might move forward militarily to shore up his own dismal approval ratings.

War with Iran would be an entirely different animal than war in Iraq and Afghanistan. First of all, Iran is a large country- at nearly 640,000 square miles in area it is larger than Iraq and Afghanistan combined. In fact, if you combined those two countries you could also add in France (actually, not a bad idea when you think about it) and Iran would still be larger. It is one of the 20 largest countries in the world and with 68,000,000 people is also one of the 20 most populous. The scale of the country makes it far more difficult in terms of targeting, and hitting, what is probably a very long list of military, communications and other infrastructure targets. It also makes it easier for the potential target of all of these massive air strikes, the Iranian military and government, to find places to hide and ride out the attacks.

Let's back up a second. Why exactly would we attack Iran in the first place ? Supposedly, the threat of a nuclear armed Iran is so frightening to Washington that it would justify a very nasty war that would produce far more casualties than anything we have seen in Iraq and Afghanistan. I can somewhat see the Israelis point of view- as a much smaller nation, diametrically opposed to the Iranian regime, a group of nuclear armed mullahs in the neighborhood is probably somewhat unsettling. But what strategic threat would a nuclear armed Iran pose to the U.S. ? If we are so worried about unstable regimes having nuclear weapons when are we going to bomb Pakistan ? How about next week ? Pakistan has the weapons in their bunkers, a massive humanitarian crisis from recent flooding and an intelligence agency that has actively worked against our efforts in Afghanistan. Throw in a big dash of unemployed young men living in poverty, whipped into a frenzy by religious zealotry, and you may start wondering why they don't start reworking the targeting maps.

As I have argued in previous posts, I say the best thing to do to the Iranians is let them have the bomb. Let them realize how utterly useless it is to throw billions of dollars down the drain to develop and deploy one of these expensive paperweights. The Iranians will quickly learn that MAD isn't just a magazine and that any use of nuclear weapons would result in their country being blasted back into the stone age. I don't agree, either, that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would be in some great rush to use the bomb once he got it in his hands. Like all despots I would imagine that he knows its better to be a living despot than a dead one.

A war in Iran would quickly escalate into something far beyond what we have experienced in Iraq and Afghanistan. Any strike on Iran would result in their Hezbollah proxies attacking Israel from Lebanon- which would result in Israel invading Lebanon while fighting the Iranians, which could draw in the Syrians, which could draw in the Russians, which could...well, you get the picture. The U.S. military has been stretched by fighting two wars and the prospect of the even crazier North Koreans threatening to start something with their neighbors to the south. You want a nightmare scenario ? Imagine the U.S. fighting the Iranians, cleaning up in Iraq, fighting in Afghanistan and the North Koreans suddenly deciding that it would be a great time to take advantage of the situation.

The U.S. is in the midst of one of the worst recessions in its history, the Federal debt has ballooned to unimaginable levels and I believe that the real unemployment rate lies a few dozen or so points north of what the government claims. Fighting an unecessary war, killing more of our best and brightist and inflicting violence against a population that is young and actually quite pro-American is insane. Better to let history run its course and hope that another series of uprisings similar (and larger) to those in 2009 topple and consign Ahmadinejad and his fellow religious nutcases to the ash heap of history where they belong.

Send in the Clowns

2010-08-19T08:06:00.000-04:00

The recent debate over the proposed mosque/cultural center near Ground Zero in New York City has made me even more pessimistic about the future of this country- if that's possible. My anger over the issue has nothing to do with the proposed plans but rather with the political circus that we have been subjected to.

After seeing President Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich babbling all weekend on television I'm seriously confused how a country of over 250 million people can claim that our best and brightest are our leaders. Seriously, we are not talking about the varsity here. Americans are some of the brightest, hardest working, inventive people on this planet yet our elected leadership would be hard pressed to run the midnight shift at a Waffle House if they actually had to work for a living.

The arguments for and against the proposed building are not easily defined by party lines. Rather, like most things in politics they are based upon political survival and opportunism. President Obama did his usual routine of coming out with a statement (in support) and then back-pedaling in follow up statements to further define what he thought the public actually wants to hear. Harry Reid, who as a Mormon should know a little bit about religious bigotry, came out against the plan because he is in a dogfight for his job in the upcoming elections. Nancy Pelosi, never missing the opportunity to get her mug on television, is of course calling for investigations. On the right wing, like two vampires that just won't go away, we are treated to Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich jabbering away with their usual jingoistic garbage.

Newt Gingrich ? Is this the best that the Republicans can dredge up ? Sorry, but the guy turns my stomach. The same guy that had an affair while married to his first wife, dumped her and married the mistress, then had another affair, dumped the ex-mistress turned wife and married the mistress (I think I have that right, either way its giving me a headache.) At the same time he was running around with his pants around his ankles he was leading the impeachment charge against fellow reprobate Bill Clinton. Like the masochist that I am I often listen to Sean Hannity on the way home from work. Gingrich is a frequent target of Hannity's ass smooching as he refers to him as "Mr. Speaker" and hangs on his every word as he discusses his latest worthless book. Now that he is on satellite radio, I wouldn't be surprised if actual on air fellatio is in the offing.

The November elections are not going to change the course of this country. The expected landslide will only replace a bunch of worthless Democrats with a bunch of worthless Republicans. Real change would involve frog marching both houses of congress to Lafayette Square, pelting them with rotten garbage and then running them out of town with bayonets. Next, randomly replace every member of Congress with citizens chosen by lottery. Silly you say ? Many attorneys I know marvel at the conscientious service given by juries comprised of every facet of our society which are chosen in exactly the same manner. I seriously doubt they could do any worse.

First Visit- Consol Energy Arena

2010-08-18T10:44:00.002-04:00

During an open house for season ticket holders, my son and I visited Pittsburgh's brand new arena over the weekend.

Our view from section 116 is at the left. Stop by and I'll buy you a beer. The odd bend in the glass is actually one of the new side entrances for the Zamboni and would be closed during a game. I hope.

The place is impressive to say the least. I'm no architect but I appreciated the way they nestled the massive structure into a relatively small parcel of land in downtown Pittsburgh- part of one side is curved to make way for the grand old structure of Epiphany Catholic Church and the arena uses the elevation change from front to back with a system of glass walls and escalators to highlight the view of the city.

Once inside, I was struck by the "new arena smell"- sort of like buying a new car. No old Igloo funk of stale beer and popcorn here, at least not yet. I made a point of trying out the new bathrooms and was amazed to see actual urinals instead of the old troughs that consumed millions of gallons of processed brew during hockey season. On a safety note, I was glad to see the wide open concourses, stairs and escalators that should make exiting a game a whole lot less exciting with 15,000 of your closest friends. While coming and going, the Penguins preserved the neat touch of hanging local high school hockey team's jerseys on the wall and added local amateur teams as well. There is also lots of interactive displays for the kids and touch screen displays that highlight Penguin players of the past- if they are still working in a year, I'll be amazed.

The ice surface looked great, as would be expected, and I marvelled at the completely clear Plexiglas and unmarred dasher boards. As usual, the Penguins organization went out of their way to make everyone feel appreciated and had all of the concession stands open. My son and I spent an hour in our new seats eating hot dogs and marvelling at the place. He even managed some time on the new jumbo tron (or whatever they call them these days) as the camera man happily obliged him hamming it up for the relatively sparse crowd (the open house lasted 8 hours- we, of course, were waiting in line when it opened.) Thankfully, he agreed after much protesting that morning that he wouldn't wear his Montreal jersey.

Let's see what can I say negative about the place...

Well, I have to admit I'm a bit peeved at the "yuppie creep" that seems to have infected the NHL, and other sports. I realize that the Penguins are a business that needs to earn money and therefore catering to the yuppie crowd makes economic sense. Still, the special club seating and gourmet food offerings kind of make me shake my head. I also firmly believe that the yuppie fan, the highly paid young executive sitting in the stands with his shirt and tie still on for work (and Penguins jersey over top, which by the way looks completely gay) is not the kind of fan base you want. They are the first ones to abandon ship when the team hits an invariable downturn and starts to lose. Once the "coolness" wears off for the new arena, and the Penguins hit a slump, he will be off to find a better place to be seen.

"A-ha !" You exclaim, "you must be a rich bastard to be sitting so close to the ice." Actually, I'm not. My budget priorities are a bit difficult to understand, but in the midst of my business failing and a mortgage foreclosure a few years back, I made sure that my season ticket payment went in first. Thankfully, my otherwise sane and well grounded wife grew up with a family that had season tickets since the early 70's so she understands the immense hole we put ourselves into on an annual basis in order to afford this luxury. Call it bread and circuses if you must, but I never get tired of going to a game, drinking a beer (or three) and watching some hockey.

As an Anarchist I should rail against the use of tax revenues to build this barn but my view is that it is money well spent. Unlike most tax revenues which are wasted on worthless projects (and worthless bureaucrats) the new arena will be an asset to the city that millions of people will use over the next 50 to 75 years- hockey fans, concerts and shows, conventions etc. The money that built the arena was paid to local workers and craftsmen who built it, and the arena will help to keep Pittsburgh from sliding to even great irrelevance on the national and international scene.

Welcome Back my Friends to the Blog that Never Ends

2010-08-17T10:31:00.003-04:00

After some time off enjoying the summer, travelling with family and immersing myself in the Digha Nikaya (The Long Discourses of the Buddha,) I decided it was time to get back to blogging. I read an article about the millions of blogs that came out charging at the outset and slowly petered out over time and will forever inhabit cyberspace in sort of a suspended animation. I didn't want my blog to end like that.

I have to admit that when I posted my last story in June about my friends in the state revenue office calling to visit, I was feeling very burned out and discouraged. How do you fight the state when nobody really cares ? Well, some of you did care and I appreciate the comments and emails that I have received in support. As long as one person will stand by me, I will continue to try to expose the fascist bully boys (and girls) for what they are- intellectually lazy and morally shiftless cogs of the state.

Also, I'm going to take a whack at actually being a journalist. I have a couple of articles in mind about current events that will incorporate interviews from experts in their fields. Imagine that, a blog with original content ! Hopefully you will continue to stop by and tell your friends about our discussions here. In the meantime, on with the show.

Building the Prisons to House Ourselves

2010-08-17T10:03:00.003-04:00

After reading a recent article in The Economist about the high rate of imprisonment in the U.S., I looked up an essay written by a Federal judge that was referenced in the article. In the essay entitled "You're (Probably) a Federal Criminal," Judge Alex Kozinski confirmed something that I have suspected for many years- an unholy alliance of out of control politicians, judges and a populace screaming of justice has created a vast labyrinth of Federal regulations that many of us probably break on a regular basis without even realizing it. The maze of Federal regulations is so dense and vast that a team of researchers from the Congressional Research Service gave up trying to count the number of separate offences currently on the books.

Federal regulations permeate everything we do in the modern world- the materials in our homes and cars, the paints, soaps and solvents we use, the food we eat, our ATM cards and bank accounts, our jobs and businesses etc. Like an immense fishing net, it is a fair bet that at some point you broke a Federal statute that could have landed you in the big house. While it is unlikely that you would ever be prosecuted for these transgressions, the real danger is when they effectively pile on one of our fellow citizens. In one of his examples from his essay, Kozinski notes how businessmen bringing lobsters into the U.S. using the incorrect type of shipping containers, soon found themselves in deeper trouble as money laundering charges were tacked on (they put the money in the bank, thus triggering Federal banking laws.)Any minor Federal violation, coupled with banking or mail fraud, can quickly escalate into serious prison time.

Who do we blame for this mess ? I'm afraid its every one's fault- left and right, Democrat and Republican, conservative and liberal. I suppose Anarchists can't be blamed since we have been calling the system rubbish for many years, but I digress. Right wing politicians and judges who want to appear tough on crime have caved into their constituencies by increasing penalties, adopting three strikes regulations and calling for ever greater regulation. On the left, the environmental movement (among others) realized some time ago that they could make their policies much more effective by adding the threat of the Federal stick to their carrot. The net result is a massive Federal bureaucracy built to support Leviathan- clerks, agents, judges and staff, field investigators etc. that are wholly dependent upon the system staying just the way it is.

Next time you hear a politician ranting about how they are going to make you safer by stiffening penalties, or environmentalists calling for oil company executives to be thrown in the slammer, ask yourself how punishing others effectively chips away at your own freedoms. I fear that it will be too late when we realize that building more prisons to house "them" was effectively done to house "us."

The Empire Strikes Back

2010-06-13T11:18:00.004-04:00

"Cue Scary Darth Vader Music"

I apologize to my readers for not being around last week but I was pre-occupied with another matter. Last Sunday, my wife, our children and I returned from a long weekend in Toronto. The trip to Toronto was a lot of fun and coincided with my son playing in his final hockey tournament of the year (thank goodness.) We had a great time visiting some of the landmarks of that immense city and enjoyed watching the high level of competition that the Canadian teams my son played against provided. A side trip to Niagara Falls was wonderful, as always, and I must admit that I never get tired of seeing the power and majesty of that incredible natural wonder.

Then we arrived home.

I was going through our mail when a business card fell out of the pile. I picked it up and was shocked to see that it was from an agent of the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. "What the fu..." I muttered and put it in my pocket. There was no note, no letter, nothing written on the back of the card. The message was clear- we were here and we were looking for you.

Since it was Sunday night, the stress was heightened considerably. I couldn't call them to see what was going on since no self respecting state bureaucrat would be working on a weekend. I slept fitfully that night and spent most of the morning from 3 AM on wide awake, wracking my brain to see what could possibly be the problem. I always file my taxes, always pay what is due. I may not like it, but I'm smart enough not to give these thugs reason to come after me.

First thing Monday morning, I emailed the agent and passed them the name of my tax attorney. Owning my own business, I have used the same tax attorney/CPA for years. I called my attorney and spoke to him about it. He was amazed that they would send somebody to my house since he knew as well (after all, he does my accounting) that all of my paperwork and payments were spotless. We didn't hear anything from the agent until Tuesday morning.

The state claimed that I had failed to file 3 years of corporate tax returns. No, my attorney said, my business is organized as an LLC and I filed that way correctly for the past 3 years. Yes it's basically bullshit admitted the state agent, but we need those 3 years of corporate returns anyways. So, my attorney drew up the forms, I signed them and $ 450.00 dollars of his expenses later, I am once again squared up with my friends in Harrisburg.

A couple of points to ponder. This was an infinitesimally small tax matter when compared to what the state is trying to collect from other businesses and individuals. Would such a small matter warrant sending an agent to my house or is there something deeper going on ? Has my vocal opposition to the Stalin like tactics of the Department of Revenue triggered this episode ? I'll leave it to the reader to draw his or her own conclusions. If my writings were the impetus for this little episode of state intimidation, I feel totally justified in stating that my rights as a free citizen of this state and country have been violated. Sending an agent to your house is so much more invasive and intimidating than a certified letter or phone call- they are invading your space and the message is clear that they know where you live.

I didn't post for a week because I had an internal debate on whether this is even worth it. What's the point of trying to stick up for the downtrodden, the dispossessed and the victims of state tyranny when nobody seems to give a damn ? Why stick my own neck out and invite state retaliation when 99.99 % of the sheep inhabiting this state and country are more worried about the new I-Pad than the steady destruction of their civil liberties ?

I run Google Analytics to see where my readers come from in terms of city, state and country. I do it for no other reason than it is fun to see that I have readers in places as varied as Finland, Quebec and all over the United States. Interestingly, I get a great deal of activity from Pittsburgh which is where I live. Most of my friends and family don't know I have a blog which can't account for the steady readership that I get from the city. Maybe it's the local office that the revenue agent works out of. If so, I'd like to thank all of them for reading my blog on the public dime.

I guess I write this blog for people like you Mr. Revenue Agent so that maybe, someday, you will see the evil criminal organization that you need to investigate most isn't the one around the corner- its the one that signs your paychecks.

How a truck restored my faith in America.

2010-06-02T13:50:00.005-04:00

I drove down to a friend's ranch in Texas last week for a get together of former and current Army Rangers. I had a great time, as I always do around other Rangers, and enjoyed the camraderie, Texas barbeque, beer and lots of stories. At the end of the gathering, I followed a buddy who needed to drive an Army 2 1/2 ton truck (affectionately known to generations of soldiers as a "Deuce and a half") he had recently bought at government auction to Dallas. The purpose of getting to Dallas was to leave the truck with a company that would transport it to his home in the northeast. I was following him as a support vehicle in case he broke down (which was a definite possibility as the truck was nearly 40 years old) and because it didn't have a license plate etc.

We plotted a course on backroads to avoid highway patrols on the busy Memorial Day weekend and slowly worked our way north for the next nine or so hours. Taking the back roads always makes your journey slower, but much richer in terms of actually seeing the towns and people along the route. Since I had never really been around much of Texas, it was a real treat to see the change in elevation and terrain as we headed out from the flat and desert like south, through the hill country and up to Dallas.

About 30 minutes into our journey, we got our first wave. A big semi truck came roaring towards us in the opposite lane and the driver waved with a big smile on his face. A few minutes later, another car came towards us with the same result. Wow, I thought, people in Texas are sure friendly ! It then dawned on me- they weren't waving at our ugly mugs, they were waving at the truck. It was the first of literally hundreds of waves and smiles that we saw during the rest of our trip. Even the policemen we saw (which easily could have busted us for the truck not having brake lights, turn signals etc.) just laughed and waved as the beast rolled through their towns. The best part of the trip for me was when we passed a retirement home and a couple of elderly gentlemen absolutely beamed as the truck roared past. My guess was that they were veterans and the old truck stirred some memories of far away places and the time when they were young, strong and old age seemed impossibly far in the future.

Spending 9 hours in the car behind gave me plenty of time to think. How could a 40 year old truck built for war, bring so much pleasure to so many people ? Since it was Memorial Day they probably thought we were coming or going to a parade but I guess in our own way, it was a parade of one. I spoke to the owner about the truck and how many of these vehicles are just scrapped. I was really glad that he had bought it and was going to restore it to its former glory. The people weren't just waving at a truck, they were subconciously waving at the generations of soldiers that drove the truck and paying homage to their service and sacrfice. For veterans, I'm sure the truck stirred memories of war but also some of the good memories that they carried from their service- the lifelong friendships and brotherhood, the sense of honor, duty and loyalty to each other.

The truck triggered good memories for good people. Good, honest hard-working Americans that we passed just stopped in their tracks and smiled- toddlers, kids, grown men and the elderly. We passed everything from palatial multi-million dollar ranches to small shacks with a couple of goats and a cow in the front yard. They were all scraping out a living in an unhospitable climate through hard work and sacrifice. It just reinforced to me that it isn't the government that makes up this country, its the people like the ones that we passed.

After our journey, we dropped the truck off. I know it's just a piece of equipment, but I swore that it looked like it was smiling. Maybe it was just the 103 degree heat. Then again, maybe it really was.

Rumors of War

2010-05-26T08:54:00.005-04:00

A slightly optimistic piece from the BBC regarding the recent flare up on the Korean peninsula. Perhaps the analysis is correct and this is just another incident that both sides will use to adjust their diplomatic and military stance against each other. The relationship between North and South Korea is so dysfunctional (primarily due to the actions of the North) that it almost seems routine that the North can sink a South Korean vessel (and kill over 40 sailors) and only face economic consequences.

I don't think Kim Jong-Il wants war. Although the North could inflict horrible damage upon the South, including direct artillery bombardment of Seoul, any conflict with the South and its allies would result in the destruction of the existing regime. Yes, the U.S. is currently fighting wars all over the place but the combination of allied air superiority, logistics and technology would eventually wear down and decimate the North's vaunted million man army. I think we would also see a surprisingly quick internal overthrow of the regime by the disaffected populace and military units once things started heading the wrong way.

Other analysis I have read opines that Kim Jong-Il ordered the ship attack to firm up his leadership within the regime and help pave the way for the eventual succession of his son. Over the years, Kim Jong-Il has acted like a spoiled child, throwing temper tantrums in order to focus world attention on him and allow him to then negotiate concessions from the South and the U.S. This time, however, he may have finally overplayed his hand.

If you liked the television ad, you're gonna love the one on the radio !

2010-05-25T06:00:00.000-04:00

Following on the heels of the now infamous television ad that I blogged about recently, the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue is now running a radio commercial that is even more offensive. I heard the ad yesterday on a local Pittsburgh station and found a recording of it here. Ignore the comments posted in the background, they are the authors opinion. However, the subtitles at the bottom are the same as the ad that I heard (the narrator's voice is the same as well so I'm assuming whoever captured this recorded the actual advertisement.)

It's basically the same carrot and stick mix of penalty forgiveness and intimidation but with the added sound effects of ringing door bells and door knocking. The implied threat is quite clear once again- we know who you are, where you live and we're going to be paying you a visit. These lines from the ad were the ones that stuck with me the most-

"This is a great deal and you'd be crazy not to take them up on it, you mooch, because after June 18th, you are going to be one very unhappy criminal, which by the way, you are."

Pot calling the kettle black anyone ? Are you kidding me ? The very bloated bureaucracy that sucks the blood out of the citizens of Pennsylvania is now accusing them of being mooches ? Listen up my fascist friends, the people who owe the state taxes are typically business owners that, unlike most of the employed sheep in this state, don't have government mandated withholding that quietly sucks off the fruits of their labors.

As a business owner myself, I can tell you that writing a check out of your bank account on a quarterly basis really puts the issue of paying taxes in sharp focus- it makes you start doing crazy things like wondering where exactly all of the money is going and what you are getting in return. It makes you do dangerous things like question the fat bureaucrats that sit on their ass all day without producing anything of benefit for their fellow citizens. It makes you question things like how we are one of only 3 states that still has state owned liquor stores- not, as they say, to control access to liquor, but rather to keep thousands of useless state political hacks employed.

The hypocrisy here is just incredible. I wrote my state senator without any effect and, incredibly, except for some other websites and blogs it seems that the vast majority of my fellow citizens are completely clueless about the subject or wholeheartedly endorse the state's position which has been sold to them- they are being cheated by these no good malcontents who are "mooching" off of them. Us vs. Them- it's all so very North Korean, don't you think ?

I honestly don't know why I even blog or complain about this. The citizens of this state, and this country, have received the government that they deserve. They have given up their own personal liberties and ignore their responsibilities to protect their fellow citizens from the overreach of government. They are nothing but lazy, unthinking masses, content to watch "American Idol" and debate the latest "Apprentice" at work rather than the clear and present danger presented by the shitheads like this that populate our government.

Dalai Lama Condemns Capitalism

2010-05-24T13:29:00.006-04:00

During a recent visit to New York, the Dalai Lama condemned capitalism and declared that he is a Marxist at heart. Although he spoke out about the injustices of capitalism, he was also quick to point out the benefits of living in a free western capitalist society (free press, independent judiciary) vs. the real world application of Marxism by authoritarian regimes (such as China.)

I didn't read anything too earth shattering here and it seems that the Dalai Lama's position is pretty much in line with every college student that ever sat around a dorm room discussing the differences between capitalism and Marxism (the only difference being that he probably wasn't high at the time.) Sure, Marxism seems to be the perfect way to bring a just society into being but, in practice as history has repeatedly proven, human beings are by their very nature competitive and unwilling to be jammed into neat little boxes. When the state has tried to force Marxism upon the people, the result has been terrible tragedy and loss of life.

I used to spend a lot of time on anarchist web sites in various discussion group but have ended that practice due to the fact that most of the "anarchists" that I was debating were actually closet Marxists and communists (I also found it amusing that these "anarchist" discussion groups had the most draconian guidelines regarding what could, and could not, be posted.) There was no balance to their positions since they were primarily supporting leftist causes and opposing anything from the right. As an individualist anarchist I oppose the state, whether left or right, but I might as well have been arguing with my cat for all the good that did. I think capitalism is a corrupt, nasty and brutal system but I also think it's the best choice available when taken in its purest form.

As for the Dalai Lama, I certainly admire the guy and have read a number of his works. Many of my non-Buddhist friends believe that as a Buddhist I must worship him, but I just patiently explain that Buddhism has many schools of thought. The Dalai Lama is the revered leader of Tibetan Buddhism, but as an adherent to the Theravada school, I consider him nothing more than a good man worthy of respect. My gut tells me that as a leader on the world stage, he has to carefully walk a narrow path to support his people in Tibet and if he needs to throw an intellectual bone now and then, so be it.

Daily Dharma

2010-05-24T08:34:00.002-04:00

Here are two verses from the Dhammapada that I have pondered a great deal as of late-

"Greater in combat
Than a person who conquers
A thousand times a thousand people
Is the person who conquers himself." (#103)

"As a smith does with silver,
The wise person
Gradually,
Bit by bit,
Moment by moment,
Removes impurities from himself." (#239)

Both of these passages address the need for self reflection and improvement done on a consistent basis. I have been trying to improve certain aspects of my life (more on that to follow) by meditation and study and have found these two gems to be a wonderful bit of foundation to build upon.

Lysander Spooner - No Treason

2010-05-19T13:27:00.003-04:00

I just finished reading Spooner's "No Treason" in print form (also available in its entirety online) and have to admit to being impressed by his argument that we are governed by a constitution of no authority. Spooner was a man of many talents- entrepreneur, abolitionist, proponent of individualist anarchism and philosopher. In addition, he was well known in his home state of Massachusetts as an excellent examiner of real estate titles which is something near and dear to my heart as it is how I make a living. "No Treason" isn't a difficult read, in fact you can quickly get through it in an afternoon although a second, and third, reading is necessary to pick up some of the nuances of the work. Spooner's language is clear and concise as he lays out a devastating attack on the very document that rests at the heart of the American system of government- the constitution.

The impetus for the work was the Civil War. Although Spooner was a staunch abolitionist, he was attempting to make the case that the South had legally seceded from the United States and that the leaders (and soldiers) in the southern cause, could not be legally tried and executed for treason. Spooner's argument rested on two pillars. First, the constitution itself (which names treason as a capital offense) was itself invalid because it was never consented to by the citizens alive at that time (or today, in fact.) The document was not properly executed, signed and assented to and would not pass muster as even a simple contract (in this argument I see Spooner's background as an examiner of real estate titles coming to the forefront.) Moreover, when the constitution was ratified, it was not ratified by the entire population since it excluded blacks, women and non-property owning whites. Second, since the south gave proper notice to the north of its plans for secession, and did not hide its intentions, it was therefore hypocritical of the north to ignore the fact that the declaration of independence clearly made the case for the populace having the right to secede from a nation that no longer represented their interests.

The number who actually consented to the Constitution of the United States, at the first, was very small. Considered as the act of the whole people, the adoption of the Constitution was the merest farce and imposture, binding upon nobody.

The women, children, and blacks, of course, were not asked to give their consent. In addition to this, there were, in nearly or quite all the States, property qualifications that excluded probable one half, two thirds, or perhaps even three fourths, of the white male adults from the right of suffrage. And of those who were allowed that right, we know not how many exercised it.

Spooner discounted the theory that we were all taught in school, that the north fought to free the slaves, and instead saw the influence of big business and war profiteers as driving the north towards inevitable conflict (does any of this sound familiar ?) In addition, once the war began the authority of the government no longer rested on the consent of the populace, it rested on force.

On the part of the North, the war was carried on, not to liberate slaves, but by a government that had always perverted and violated the Constitution, to keep the slaves in bondage; and was still willing to do so, if the slaveholders could be thereby induced to stay in the Union.
The principle, on which the war was waged by the North, was simply this: That men may rightfully be compelled to submit to, and support, a government that they do not want; and that resistance, on their part, makes them traitors and criminals.

I find Spooner's arguments to be pretty thought provoking and I wouldn't be too quick in dismissing his works. Are we as citizens of the U.S. bound by the constitution ? Did the men who ratified the constitution have the right to bind their descendants to this document ? If not, what does that mean ? I'm not a legal scholar, but I would imagine that Spooner's position supports the view that the constitution is an evolving document (should it be ratified by every generation ?) rather than an absolute authority that can't be modified. If the constitution has no authority, the entire bedrock upon which the government rests is nothing more than quicksand and it has no right to assert control over any part of our lives. Food for thought to say the least.

Home Grown

2010-05-18T14:32:00.008-04:00

Reality, usually in the form of a conversation with my wife, soon comes crashing back in and dispells these visions of grandeur. I did, however, take a recent small step towards self sufficiency by planting a deck garden. Whether or not this venture yields anything worth eating remains to be seen, but we have been happy to see the seeds sprout and the plants starting to grow above the top edge of the planters.

A Grim Milestone in Afghanistan

2010-05-18T14:28:00.002-04:00

The New York Times reports that 1,000 American soldiers have now been killed in Afghanistan.

"On Tuesday, the toll of American dead in Afghanistan passed 1,000, after a suicide bomb in Kabul killed at least five United States service members. Having taken nearly seven years to reach the first 500 dead, the war killed the second 500 in fewer than two. A resurgent Taliban active in almost every province, a weak central government incapable of protecting its people and a larger number of American troops in harms way all contributed to the accelerating pace of death. "

Once again, I ask for what.

Ed Rendell, Governor of Pennsylvania, Defends Orwellian Commercial

2010-05-17T10:25:00.003-04:00

I blogged earlier about a disturbing commercial being aired by the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Recently, our soon to be thankfully booted by term limits governor, appeared on Fox News to defend this abomination. I gotta hand it to old Eddie, he can spin better than any politician out there, and half way through this interview he even had me convinced that this type of blatant intimidation of the populace is a great idea.

Rendell uses the same excuse that officials within the Department have been saying- that the commercial is targeted at the 3 % of the population that didn't pay their state taxes, not the other 97 % of the sheep that meekly hand over a portion of their hard earned wages to the black hole known as our state government. I disagree. The original ad was clearly meant to intimidate both those that owe money and the rest of the population that might think of getting out of line. The message of the ad was clear- the government is all seeing, all knowing and watching everyone.

In the interview, Rendell floats the excuse that although he approved the ad, it was based upon a "focus group" that recommended it and, in fact, thought it was not harsh enough. One wonders who made up that focus group, perhaps retired Stasi officials who were on a bus trip in central Pennsylvania or, more probably, a bunch of Department of Revenue employees who showed up to watch the commercials in exchange for a free lunch. As for the commercials that didn't make the cut (the Gov stated that the ad that was aired was the least offensive) one wonders what they showed. Perhaps cruise missiles hitting delinquent tax payer houses ? Children being sold into bondage to satisfy tax liens ?

I realize that this ad was aired in Pennsylvania but it is obviously symptomatic of the entire country and the rise of abusive, invasive and completely out of control government. Somewhere in the past, our "leaders" began to perceive themselves as omnipotent and above the power of the citizenry- a new ruling class instead of servants of the people. Many of the parasites that inhabit the bureaucracy have never held real jobs, never employed people, and never created anything remotely beneficial to their fellow citizens. Make no mistake my fascist friends, we're watching you too.

The worlds oldest hockey stick

2010-05-14T06:48:00.001-04:00

Last post about hockey until next year, I promise.

Mark Presley of Berwick, Nova Scotia posesses what he believes to be a 170 year old hockey stick. A rigorous series of tests including dating of the wood and family records seems to show that this may indeed be the case. Presley's claim comes after that of Bobby Rouillard of Quebec who claims to own a considerably older hockey stick dating from the mid 1600's. Rouillard is so convinced of the authenticity of the stick that he has offered it for sale on Ebay for $ 1,000,000. Although the Ottawa Citizen's article seems to dispute Rouillard's claim in favor of Presley, I see it (along with Johnstown Chiefs great Denis Lemieux) as nothing more than the typical conspiracy formented by les cochons Anglais.

My initial examination of the pictures leads me to believe that rules regarding blade size were not enforced in the 19th and 17th centuries although I am sure that the NHL is at this very moment working on rule changes to address the use of antediluvian equipment in league play. More importantly, correct dating of the artifacts will probably tell us with some certainty when the first high sticking offense was commited, and when the first player was forced to sit under a tree for two minutes and feel shame.

Les Glorieux ruin yet another date in Igloo history

2010-05-13T11:41:00.007-04:00

Last night, the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2, knocking them out of the playoffs and considerably moving up the tee-times for the Pens players. Although it was an awful loss for the Pens, it does provide some nice historical continuity- since the Penguins will be playing at a new arena next year, it was the last Penguins game to be played at home. Interestingly enough, it was Montreal that defeated the Penguins in their first home game on October 11th, 1967 (Habs won 2-1.) I was seven months old at the time and can't recall that game very clearly, but the game last night has been burned into my psyche.

I actually have great fondness for the Canadiens. My family is originally from northern Maine, not far from Quebec, and I have spent a great deal of time on both sides of the border over the years. Montreal is one of my favorite places to visit and I look forward to spending more time in La Belle Province. That being said, I am a true homer and it was painful to watch the superstar laden Penguins being dismantled by an older, smaller and, on average, less talented team. The operative word, however, is team. Montreal's forwards played with a ferocious back check that stacked up the faster Penguins at the blue line and any Penguin who ventured near the Montreal crease was quickly smothered by Montreal's defense.

To paraphrase P.J. O'Rourke, old age and guile once again beats youth, innocence and a bad haircut.

So, I'll be cheering for Montreal for the rest of the series. I think they are balanced enough to make it all the way. I also have to cheer for them because they have my all time favorite sports mascot- Youppi. Youppi is the only sports mascot to have served in two leagues (he started out as the mascot for the now defunct Montreal Expos) and the only one, as far as I know, that has been ejected from a professional game. Youppi was thrown out of a Dodgers game in 1989 for annoying the hell out of Tommy Lasorda, something I have always greatly admired.

Funeral for a Soldier

2010-05-13T08:00:00.002-04:00

Last week, a soldier killed in Afghanistan was laid to rest in a small town near where I live. By coincidence, my son goes to elementary school in the same town and met the soldier a few years ago when he stopped by to visit the children. By all accounts the soldier was an all American type of kid- well liked by his neighbors, a good athlete and respected throughout the community. I picked up my son at school the day his body was brought back to town and the children had lined the streets waving small American flags as the hearse passed by. The light poles were adorned with yellow ribbons and the town had turned out in a show of unified sympathy you only see in small town America.

For a 10 year old, my son asks some pretty tough questions. "Why did he die ?" he asked, followed by "Are we winning the war ?" The local news had covered the story in print and on television and it led the six o'clock news for a couple of nights so it became a running discussion between the two of us. I struggled to explain the war in Afghanistan to my son, the nuances of counter insurgency, the difficulty in defeating a group of guerrillas vs. a standing army. During my time in the Army I had been an intelligence analyst while serving in the Ranger Regiment. My job was reading intelligence reports regarding the Soviets and their invasion of Afghanistan- how they operated, their tactics and techniques and then condensing them for dissemination to the three Ranger battalions for what we thought was an inevitable hot war in Europe. Back then I gained a grudging respect for the Mujahedin and their ability to bloody the Russian bear. Little did I know that the seeds that would eventually lead to Al Qaeda, Bin Laden and 9/11 had been planted.

So why did he die ? The interviews with local citizens on television mostly addressed that question with the answer that he died "defending our freedoms" and "protecting us." I'm not so sure about that. I'm pretty sure that he died first and foremost, as soldiers have for generations, for his comrades and his unit. Grand geopolitical strategy was probably not going through his head in his final battle- he was probably looking out for his buddies and doing the best he could to stay alive. Although I tried to make the case in my head that he died protecting us here in America, I just couldn't make the mental jump that would connect the Taliban and scattered Al Qaeda forces to a direct threat against me and my family. Thinking that through made me feel horrible- he didn't need to die for me and my family, we would have gladly taken the remote chance of a Taliban-Al Qaeda attack on Pittsburgh if it mean't he was safe and sound.

Did he, and over 1,700 other coalition soldiers, die to bring freedom to Afghanistan ? I'm not too convinced on that score either. This wasn't like U.S. troops rolling into Paris or Holland during World War 2. Afghanistan was never really a country in the traditional sense, even during the best of times. Tribalism, war lords financing private armies through the drug trade and various religious factions just don't fit the profile of a country begging for liberation. The U.S. and its allies have suppressed the Taliban to a large extent in many areas of the country but its likely that once the U.S. pulls out the result will be an immediate slide back into its quasi feudalistic former self. (Side note- for a little more on the barbaric nature of this country read this article from Canada's Ottawa Citizen about how Canadian forces witnessed the systematic rape of young boys by the Afghan police and were powerless to stop it.)

I'm still struggling with the answer. The U.S. invasion after 9/11 made sense- root out and destroy Al Qaeda and those responsible for harboring them. On that count, it is widely agreed that the operation was a success. Al Qaeda, which some reports show as having no more than a couple of hundred members in the country, has been dispersed and generally hunted down. I highly doubt that they have constructed some super secret underground facility in the mountains and are working on a nuclear bomb that will soon go off in the U.S. It is more likely that they are living like moles, reluctant to venture outside and risk being vaporized by a drone attack. If they no longer pose a direct strategic threat to the U.S., why is the Department of Defense adding thousands of new troops into the mix and billions more in funding ? Forget the money for a minute- most importantly, why is our most priceless asset (our troops lives) being spent on this hell hole ?

My guess is that it comes down to money. Billions of dollars for procurement of new weapons, logistical support contracts, beans, bullets and everything else that a modern army consumes. Congressional districts that rely on defense plant spending, corrupt leaders more worried about their own political skins versus those of the troops in the field. Al Qaeda and the Taliban, no larger than a German infantry division in World War 2 (at best) are on the receiving end of the full economic and military might of the U.S. I'm sure that some accounting geek at the Pentagon has examined the grim calculus of death and figured out that every dead Taliban was killed at the cost of about $ 1.5 million to the U.S. taxpayer. An elephant stepping on a gnat isn't even an appropriate analogy to the imbalance between the amount of military and economic horsepower being thrown at the situation.

So, why did he die ? I still don't know, maybe somebody out there can help me figure it out.

Daily Dharma

2010-05-11T16:34:00.003-04:00

I was reading Fronsdal's translation of The Dhammapada today while riding the train to work this morning. One particular verse reminded me of a conversation I had with my dad shortly before he died-

Gray hair does not
make one an elder.
Someone ripe only in years
is called "an old fool."
It's through truth,
Dharma, harmlessness, restraint, and self-control
That the wise one, purged of impurities,
Is called "an elder."

We were talking about politics and his point was the difference between wisdom and intelligence. Plenty of politicians have a great deal of intelligence, if Ivy League backgrounds are the measure, but the fact that they earned such academic distinction in no way guaranteed a commensurate level of wisdom. As we have seen in many cases, this is a recipe for disaster.

Happy Mothers Day

2010-05-09T19:01:00.002-04:00

Happy Mothers Day. If you're a mom or grandma, I hope you received the love and recognition due to you for having the toughest job in the world.

Pittsburgh Named Most Livable City

2010-05-05T11:32:00.008-04:00

My hometown has once again been named America's most livable city. After reading the article I have my doubts that the authors actually visited Pittsburgh and suspect that it might have actually been written by our convention and tourism authority.

Before you pack up your belongings, kids and pets to move to my beloved hometown, let me fill you in on a few things the article doesn't mention. After reading my take on this hell hole, you may just want to stay safely within the confines of Cleveland, Kabul or wherever you call home.

1) The weather sucks. No, I mean it really sucks. We get more annual rainfall than Seattle and when it isn't raining, it is cloudy. Sunny days are so few and far between that we actually have a local phenomenon known as "sun glare" that can slow down rush hour. Imagine waking up and hearing the traffic report that states you are going to be late to work because it is sunny outside- no, you can't imagine it because you live in a normal part of the world that gets more than 35 minutes of sunlight per year.

2) The average citizen is 87 years old. We have the oldest population in the United States. Go ahead and look it up if you don't believe me. The reason our vaunted crime rate is so low is that geriatrics are unlikely to commit robberies and murder (except when Matlock was cancelled.) Forget about doing anything quickly. True frustration is standing behind one of our grey panthers at the grocery store as they explain to the clerk they want their ham "shaved, not chopped or sliced, I want it shaved 1/8 of an inch thick, you cut it too thick last time, more like half an inch and Irving didn't like it but we are on a fixed income so we had to eat it...." Oh for fucks sake lady, just grab your god damned ham and get out of the way.

3) Our infrastructure is horrible. Many people around the world are unaware that Pittsburgh was carpet bombed during the 2nd world war by both Germany and Japan. Their bombers left massive craters on strategic structures like our 3,224 bridges and overpasses. I tried to make my case at the Hague that Germany owed me for a broken tie-rod and shock absorber and am still eagerly awaiting the outcome. As the old saying goes, the shortest distance between two points in Pittsburgh is under construction.

4) We have some of the highest taxes in the country. Part of the benefit of living in America's most livable city is also that you get to live in America's least livable state. When you become a citizen of our Commonwealth ("common" being a tip off that the state is going to share all of your income with your fellow citizens) you get to establish a direct deposit account so that everything you make can be quickly and easily deducted to pay for school taxes, local property taxes, local wage taxes, state income taxes, state sales tax, fuel taxes, county taxes and whatever else they have thought up since I started writing this. Very quickly, you come to understand that this equals 115 % percent of your income so you need to take a second job, which only puts you in the hole deeper.

5) Nobody actually lives here. You know why our real estate is so affordable ? Because half of the homes are on the market. Anyone with any sense in their head is packing up and running for the exits. The city is broke, the county is broke and the state is broke. Last one out of town, turn off the lights. What is the best graduation present for a new college grad ? A plane ticket (or a bus ticket, whatever works for you.) As soon as my kids leave the house at 18 for college, prison or wherever they are headed, we're off to New Mexico, which by that time could actually be part of Mexico.

Still want to move here ? Don't say you weren't warned.

More on the Orwellian PA Tax Commercial...

2010-05-05T09:32:00.002-04:00

Although the mainstream media (not surprisingly) remains mute about the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue commercial I mentioned earlier, the blogosphere is heating up with articles about it. I like this one. The author makes the claim, as others have, that the people that produced the commercial used an actual map to show where the alleged tax dodging malcontent "Tom" lives. Needless to say, the actual residents of the house aren't too happy and I hope they sue both the producers of the commercial and the state itself. Another interesting assertion from the article is that the state spent $ 3,000,000 of our dollars to pay for this little slice of arrogance and intimidation.

The author notes how tone deaf the government of Pennsylvania must be as to the sensitivity of people to government intrusion and surveillance. The really don't get it.

Obey the State - We know where you live.

2010-05-03T17:00:00.000-04:00

The morally, and financially, bankrupt government of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has produced and aired the above commercial in an effort to collect tax revenues. I saw this creepy commercial yesterday while watching a local network in Pittsburgh and nearly fell out of my seat. The ad shows a satellite reticle zeroing in on a Pennsylvania citizen's home who owes the state money with the slightly veiled threat that the state "knows who you are." The robotic female voice says "nice house, nice car" but "what's not so nice is you owe $ 4,212 in back taxes."

Oh you arrogant fascist bastards.

I find it incredibly offensive and hypocritical that a state government that wastes tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars of our hard earned wages would spend the money to produce this garbage. Who authorized this commercial ? Who produced it ? Is this how the government of the state views its citizens, as serfs that can be intimidated and shoved around ? Here's a better question- why is the state so deeply in debt ? Why is the capital of the state (Harrisburg) on the verge of bankruptcy ? Who are the idiots (of both parties) that have spent this state into financial disaster ?

I'm so pissed off right now that I could spit nails. This is a prime example of the arrogance of power and its abuse by the bureaucratic goons that run this state. The media and government whine about the rise in anti-government sentiment in this country and then they produce crap like this ? What do the expect ?

You shove people, they will shove back.

The commercial I would have written would have gone like this. I would have filmed it with Ed Rendell dressed in a clown suit and holding a balloon-

"Hi, I'm Ed Rendell, governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. We realize that most of you are working really hard, and sometimes multiple jobs, to make ends meet and might have come up short on the confiscatory taxes that we take from you. If you could please send us a little bit of cash so I can plug this pesky billion dollar hole in our state budget and keep lots of my political friends employed, I would greatly appreciate it. Hugs and Kisses, The Gov."

I wouldn't have even charged them to produce it. As soon as I'm done here, it's off to the phone to start calling some of the political hacks that represent my district.

Of Mice and Women

2010-05-03T09:00:00.000-04:00

My wife is one of the most stable people I know- practical, incredibly intelligent, not prone to getting freaking out in a crisis, in short, everything that is a good counter-balance to me. So, it was with some concern that I walked in the door a few days back and was met with a stammering mess. "What's wrong ?" I rushed in the door as I saw the look on her face. My mind raced- fire, somebody in the family is sick, somebody died, nuclear attack warning on the television ?

"Mouse !" she cried, "the cat was playing with a mouse."

For some reason, my otherwise stable wife has a deep primordial fear of rodents. Nothing can set her off like the appearance of one of these otherwise harmless little creatures. We're not talking nasty NYC city 20 pound sewer rats- we're talking about the cute little field mouse variety.

My wife pointed into the living room where our youngest, and biggest, cat Whiskers was patrolling the room. Whiskers is a big Maine coon that we picked up in Maine a few years back. Although he leads most of his life in a sedentary haze, when mice make their appearance he suddenly decides it's time to earn his keep. "Where is he ?" I asked the cat, apparently forgetting he's not a dog or any other creature that would care what his owner had to say when I spotted a lump of fur on the carpet. I bent down and picked up a piece of mouse about the size of a large marble- it looked like hamburger with some tufts of hair and a small bone protruding from the side.

"Here's a piece of it, Whiskies must have winged him" I said helpfully to my wife. She looked ashen. "It must have crawled away, oh my God it's injured and it's going to crawl off to do or maybe into our bed...." I stopped her short. "Don't worry, it couldn't have gone far and I'll find it." Whiskers was licking his massive paws, looking completely unconcerned that a wounded, bleeding mouse missing a large proportion of its rib cage was at this moment crawling around the house.

For the next 45 minutes I checked every room in the house, used a flashlight to check every nook and cranny where it could have crawled off to. I told my wife I couldn't find it, she said keep trying, so I kept looking. Finally, I told her it probably crawled off to die outside using the same path it used to get inside. That seemed to mollify her and she went back into the basement.

A few seconds later after offering my hypothesis, it became obvious why the cat was unconcerned about the location of the mouse since he know all along where it was. I noticed Whiskers making all the motions of a cat about to hurl a hairball and then out it came- the mouse. It actually hit the floor as a mass of blood and fur with it's four little paws splayed out to the side and the tail sticking to the rear, appearing like a high diver that jumped into a pool with no water.

"Found it !" I gleefully yelled to the wife.

The cat, none the worse for wear, immediately started rubbing my leg. It was dinner time after all.

Prohibition & the poisoning of American citizens.

2010-05-02T10:22:00.003-04:00

For all of you that feel my misgivings about the government are paranoid and unfounded, here's an eye-opening article from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette that relates how the U.S. government was responsible for the deaths of over 10,000 citizens during Prohibition.

From the article-

"Doctors were accustomed to alcohol poisoning by then, a routine of life in the Prohibition era. The bootlegged whiskies and so-called gins often made people sick. The liquor produced in hidden stills frequently came tainted with metals and other impurities. But this outbreak was bizarrely different. The deaths, as investigators would shortly realize, came courtesy of the U.S. government."

But that was then, this is now you argue. Well, the size, scope and power of the current federal government dwarfs its former self in the 1920's. It has permeated the daily lives of all of us in a myriad of ways, it watches us, it tracks us and it confiscates the fruits of our labors at the barrel of a gun. Every aspect of our daily lives is regulated by faceless bureaucrats in Washington D.C.- what we buy, the cars we drive, the jobs we toil at to pay our masters- at what point do we collectively stand up and shout "enough ?"

The government will continue to kill in the same oblique manner as it did in the 1920's though it will now do it through the massive bureaucracy of the new health care programs, the push for smaller less crash resistant vehicles and a variety of other new regulations headed for all of us. Always remember that Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot and every other power mad nut case in history could only achieve their evil goals with the assistance of large, well run, fed and funded bureaucracies- just like the one we have now. All it needs is the right psychotic to throw the switch.

NHL Playoffs

2010-04-30T15:43:00.004-04:00

A guy walks into a bar and asks the bartender for an Ovechkin.

"What's an Ovechkin ?" asks the puzzled bartender.

"Oh that's simple" says the guy, "it's a white Russian without the cup."

Can Buddha Help your Short Game ?

2010-04-27T13:04:00.002-04:00

A good article from the Wall Street Journal regarding professional golfers looking at Buddhism to help them with their game.

When the zoo drops you, you know you're in trouble.

2010-04-23T10:15:00.002-04:00

In a further sign of his sagging popularity, the Pittsburgh Zoo has replaced a graphic of Ben Roethlisberger with one of Penguin great Mario Lemieux. Also, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reports that he will be undergoing a battery of tests to try and figure out what is going on inside his head-

'The goal is to determine the extent to which Mr. Roethlisberger's violation of the league's Personal Conduct Policy during a night of bar-hopping in Milledgeville, Ga., was attributable to some underlying psychological, behavioral or neuropsychological disorder, and to map out a plan for intervention, psychologists say."

I'm glad the experts are on it- I just thought he was a self-absorbed asshole with a massive sense of entitlement.

Zen & the Art of Youth Ice Hockey Tryouts

2010-04-22T12:15:00.009-04:00

Spring is a season of rebirth, the beauty of plants and trees sprouting buds and leaves, woodland creatures and birds looking for mates, longer days, soft rains and sunshine- in short, I hate it. Spring for me means an event is going to occur that will trigger 96 hours of anxiety, madness, hope, elation and dreaded disappointment. It’s time once again for my son to tryout for his hockey team.

My kid is 10 and is by all accounts a very good player. He’s big and strong for his age, a good skater and has been complimented many times by his coaches for his work ethic and ability to follow instructions. He’s playing on a select team right now, sort of like an area all star team, and scored a game winning goal in Toronto a few weeks back. So, based on his ability and past performance, he should easily make his regular amateur team, right ? We will know tonight at 5 pm if he made the top team or if he has to try out again next week for the 2,3 or 4 team for his age group.

Going into tryout season, I told myself that this year was going to be different. I didn’t care what team he made, it’s all irrelevant and the main thing is that he is getting lots of exercise and having fun. “Impermanence” I kept repeating to myself over and over. I was calm, relaxed, my mind open and free…right up to the point where we were in the locker room getting ready.

“Keep your feet moving” I implored to my son, “stick on the ice, keep your head up” I mumbled, “look at the size of these kids, take it to them” I whispered so that none of the nearby parents could here. “Remember body position, use your size around the net” I continued “you’re faster than anyone in this room.” My kid looked at me thoughtfully for a moment and then said “Dad, why are you so nervous ? I’m not nervous.” With that, he went back to playing his handheld Nintendo, half his gear on, half of it strewn about with the confidence of a 10 year old version of Clint Eastwood.

“Because !” I wanted to yell, “this is serious business, this is a huge commitment in terms of time and money for this family, you need to take this seriously, the people picking the team are not your regular coaches, they don’t know you, jeez it smells in here, don’t you remember when I was your age and I got cut from a team and…..” With that, I caught myself surrounded by a thick wave of guilt. “Just do your best” I muttered and walked out of the room.

I walked up into the stands and sat down with the dozens of other neurotic hockey parents. There are 15 roster spots on the team and 34 kids are trying out. 19 kids are going to be disappointed, 19 sets of parents will be screaming and bitching that the process wasn’t fair, their kid is awesome, how could you do this to us. I could be one of the 19. You could read the body language of the parents in the stands as their kids were on the ice- twitches, winces, clapping, head in hands, smiles. Sort of like an immediate feedback loop tied to their kid's performance. I was trying to stay under control, barely, and limit my outward anxiety to a furiously bouncing knee and nervous facial tics.

Hockey parents are a different breed. I sneer at soccer practice when I hear a parent complaining about the $ 30 registration fee (wouldn’t even buy one glove) and the fact that they have to practice on Saturdays at 9 AM (try 6 AM when it’s snowing.) The season starts in August, and doesn’t really wind up until June. 3 or 4 practices a week, games, tournaments, another night, another rink- the entire family is soon walking zombies who’s lives are slaves to the hockey schedule on the fridge. Hundreds of dollars here, thousands of dollars there…pretty soon it adds up to real money. I've paid hockey bills before the car payment, before the mortgage payment, sold stuff to pay for fees in the bad times. Any rational person would look at this from the outside and label it madness. They're probably right.

I tried to think about why I was acting this way. I think it has to do with wanting the best for our kids, not accepting that they are anything less than handsome, brilliant and incredibly athletic. We try to shelter them from disappointment, hurt and judgment and keep them close to us for as long as possible (sort of like The Buddha's father, but I digress.) It seems incredibly unfair that some stranger can judge them, rate them, categorize them and place them on a team just on the basis of watching them play for a couple of hours. But then again, isn’t that how life works ? Life can be brutal at times, incredibly joyous at others- up, down, sideways and always impermanent.

My kid came off the ice and I met him in the hallway to the locker room. He was drenched with sweat, a huge smile on his face and his big blue eyes flashing. “How do you think I did ?” he asked. “It doesn’t matter buddy, I said. You did your best and I’m very proud of you no matter what.”

I think I need to write that down for next year.

Nature's Fury

2010-04-21T09:52:00.002-04:00

Stunning photographs of the volcano in Iceland. The shots of the volcanic generated lightning are eerily beautiful.

Big Ben & The Court of Public Opinion

2010-04-21T08:32:00.006-04:00

Although Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was recently cleared of sexual assault charges by the District Attorney in Ocmulgee County, Georgia, he may be facing a much tougher group of prosecutors as time goes on- the court of public opinion among Steelers fans. Slowly, but surely, I am beginning to see a chorus of voices in blogs, articles and article comments in the Pittsburgh area that are debating what the ultimate outcome of his actions should be- keep him, trade him or even cut him.

Two of the largest pro-Ben groups in the past few years have been women and children. Women wearing # 7 jerseys at Steelers games were a very common sight as they showed their support for this young handsome mega-star with millions in the bank and athletic talent to burn. I'm not a psychologist, but I think there was a good deal of post-adolescent high-school quarterback type crushes going on in the 'Burgh. Naturally, these women that had children passed this adulation on to their kids and little # 7 jerseys began springing up all over the place (my house included.) Big, strong, clean-cut and seemingly pious (if praying and gesturing to the heavens during games was any indication) who wouldn't want their little rugheads to look up to Big Ben ?

Well, hell hath no fury like a bunch of pissed off women. Big Ben's first mistake, a motorcycle crash without a helmet or motorcycle license, was passed off as unfortunate but nothing more than a youthful screw up. Strike two, sexual assault allegations in a civil suit, unnerved many of his followers but it could be dismissed, they asserted, due to the financial angle of the plaintiff and the "he said, she said" aspects of the case. Unfortunately for her, the plaintiff did not cut a very sympathetic figure. Strike three, however, was a too much for even the hardiest yinzer to bear- the creepy predatory nature of the charges, the sense of entitlement, the role of the bodyguards (one an off duty state trooper,) and the pattern of events that, unfortunately, seemed to have been practiced before. Moms who once sported pink Big Ben jerseys on their young daughters were now forced to think about their own kids being caught in the same situation.

Already, groups have begun campaigns to mail his jerseys back to the Steelers, and in some cases, fans are actually burning and disposing of them. Even Steelers fans, it seems, can only tolerate so much loutish, frat boy behavior.

Anarchist Pig Investment Advice for April 20th

2010-04-20T09:00:00.001-04:00

As I mentioned in my last Anarchist Pig update, I liked the prospects for Citigroup (NYSE: C) and was in position for a good jump after earnings were released on April 19th. Citigroup was, of course, battered by the financial meltdown and could rightfully blamed for precipitating the crisis itself. Still, I'm not here to point fingers, I'm here to make money.

My strategy was to go long on Citigroup shares so I opened the position about a month ago by purchasing 500 shares at $ 4.14 per share. At the time, Citi's book value of around $ 5.00 made this a compelling value play and I also felt that the bank's new management was making good strides to streamline their business groups and return to profitability. A few weeks after taking the long position, I further reinforced my optimism by buying 10 call contracts on the strike price of $ 4.00 expiring in September 2010, and 5 call contracts on the strike price of $ 5.00 expiring January 2012. Currently, these positions have yielded the following returns-

500 Shares Long + 17 %
Sept. 2010 call options + 62 %
Jan. 2012 call options + 22 %

Overall, this was a pretty risky bet on Citigroup. Not only was I long on shares, I also took option positions that could have been rendered virtually worthless. The call options clearly show how when you are firm in your decision they can accelerate returns above and beyond the underlying share value.

At this point, I will probably take profits on the September 2010 options position and move that money into the January 2012 options position. I am making this move because I remain very bullish on Citigroup and will also retain the 500 shares that I am long on. My personal opinion is that if you can get in at anything less than $ 5.50, you should enjoy solid returns provided you can endure the inevitable dips and panics that come with owning a battered company this one.

Next week, I will review how I sold covered call options on my position in American Rail Car Industries (ARII.) When my position in ARII reached a profit of nearly 100 %, I sold a covered call option contract because I felt it couldn't go any higher- problem is, the damned stock price has done just that !

Anarchist Pig Investment Advice is just that- advice. I am not an investment advisor, broker or investment professional and if you use this advice, you are using it at your own risk. If you take my advice, you need to do the research to see if it supports your investment goals. In other words, if it doesn't work out, don't fucking call me.

If only air to air combat was really this cute...

2010-04-19T09:00:00.000-04:00

Here's an interesting Chinese video from YouTube. I'm not sure what the underlying message is, but it is fun to watch. It follows the story of a Chinese J-10 fighter and its quest to hook up with an aerial tanker only to be thwarted by the evil imperialistic Americans or something like that- I especially liked the Pulp Fiction inspired soundtrack with Kool & The Gangs "Jungle Boogie" playing as the American B-52 and F-22 escorts rudely cut in line to fuel up.

"Fat drunk and stupid is no way to go through life son"

2010-04-19T07:00:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned in an earlier post, 21 year old Matthew Clemmens (pictured above) allegedly vomitted on an 11 year old girl at a recent Philadelphia Phillies baseball game. (Editors Note- Yes, I know it seems redundant to mention that it was a baseball game but this blog now has international readers. Anyways, on with the story.) Inevitably, numerous follow-up articles are now coming forward including a defense of Matthew from his uncle. I can certainly understand family loyalty, but the defense offered by John Gonzalez of the Philadelphia Inquirer is a little harder to, errr, choke down. Mr. Gonzalez points out the massive media conspiracy that has labeled Philadelphia fans as boorish animals more interested in drinking and fighting than actually watching the game-

As we all know, Philadelphia has a reputation for harboring and enabling lawless savages masquerading as fans. The Clemmens arrest only added to that stereotype and allowed lazy, brainless outsiders to lump us all together thanks to the sins of a single cretin.

As the old saying goes, within every stereotype lies a grain of truth.

Mr. Gonzalez's defense of the Phillies and their fans sounds a bit like the excuses offered in 2009 after a fan was beaten to death following a game in Philadelphia-

"The vast majority of fans act well at games, act well outside of games. And are cordial with opposing fans, but it's a select group of knuckleheads that take it a little too far and then give the whole city of Philadelphia a bad name."

At what point do the excuses stop ?

I'm sure that life has become a living hell for Matthew Clemmens and I hope that this incident causes him to take a hard look at himself. That being said, if it wasn't Matthew becoming the poster child for barbaric behavior in the stands, it would be some other lost soul at some point doing something equally stupid. Although personal behavior and accountability are the issue here, we can't discount the Animal House atmosphere at many professional sports venues these days. The free for all, alcohol fueled atmosphere fosters and nurtures this type of behavior.

I don't know if some sociologist will ever do a study, but I just can't remember going to baseball games in my youth and seeing people tailgating in the parking lots. Sure, some people may have had a grill going and were enjoying a few pre-game brews, but nothing like the binge drinking frat boy free for all that you need to navigate on the way into the stadium. I'll say again that this problem is not just present in Philadelphia- it has spread to many other towns and sports.

Then again, is it really a big societal problem or am I just getting old ? Perhaps a bit of both.

Among the Barbarians

2010-04-18T10:09:00.004-04:00

Setting a new low for classless Philadelphia sports fan behavior (an incredible feat needless to say) 21 year old Matthew Clemmens allegedly (intentionally) vomited on an 11 year old girl at a recent Phillies game. Although the report does not say the reason for the spew attack, it can be inferred that the young girl committed the horrible crime of actually wearing another team's jersey to the game. The girl's father mentioned that they were sworn at before the incident and had beer thrown on them causing the young kid to cry- something that all parents reading this blog can understand would be a really painful thing to see. Fortunately for the offender, the girl's father (a tough looking police captain) didn't beat the living hell out of him although his mug shot does show him sporting a nice shiner.

Well, you say, that wouldn't happen in a great city with a great sports tradition such as....Pittsburgh ! Oh nay, nay. It does happen and I've seen it happen. I've seen it happen to such an extent at Steelers games that after many years of buying 3 or 4 games a year off of a friend, I am sitting this season out. I'm sick and tired of trying to go to a game and having to endure thousands of blind drunk "fans" hurling obscenities at the opposing team and fans, their own team and each other. I'm revolted by the parking lot tailgating scene that is starting to look like something out of "Mad Max" with rampant binge drinking, vomiting and fighting. I made the mistake of taking my 9 year old to the Steelers-Oakland game last season and instead of enjoying an afternoon out, was forced to explain why otherwise responsible people feel the need to get drunk out of their minds in order to watch a game.

Now look, I'm by no means a priss. I like to drink beer when I'm at sporting events (before, during and after) and enjoy hanging out with my buddies as we enjoy the ups and downs of our local teams. Having a mild buzz and sitting in the stadium or arena can be an enjoyable experience. What I don't get, however, is how people can pay a great deal of money to buy their tickets so they can get blasted in the parking lot and pass out in their seats. A more logical plan would seem to be save the money, get blasted at home and pass out on your couch but, hey, who am I to judge ?

The other problem at sporting events, particularly Steelers games, is the underlying nasty vibe that you get (even if you are wearing Steelers gear.) The crowd seems very edgy, very drunk and in need of just one little spark to completely lose it. On many occasions I've bumped into a member of the Steelers nation, said "sorry" or "excuse me" and been met with the classic "fuck you" hissed through beer sodden lips. I've seen fist fights break out over people having their feet stepped on, cutting the line at the bathroom (because they badly need to get rid of that 6 gallons they drank in the parking lot) and reacting to insults real and perceived. Something about putting on a Steelers jersey and drinking heavily before noon can turn a nerdy bank vice president into a raving lunatic ready to fight anyone, and everyone, that gets in his way.

So, I'm sitting this one out. I'm tired of worrying about getting punched, kicked or shoved while trying to actually watch the game. In fact, I'm so tired of Steelers nation that I'm not even going to watch them on television. Screw 'em, the team and their fans have become a damned disgrace. No more hero worship for women beaters and sexual predators. You want me back in your stadium ? Clean up your act. You can start by cutting a few big names on your team. Next, reign in the zoo in the parking lot and quit quietly looking the other way at underage binge drinking, public exposure and drunk driving. Pull season ticket holder's tickets if anyone using theirs gets out of line and make them pay a fine of $5,000 to get them back with money going to charity. Do these things and I might just come back. Maybe.

When in doubt, just get more people to gamble.

2010-04-16T09:00:00.001-04:00

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported recently that State Representative Paul Costa (D-Wilkins) has proposed legislation that would enable the state to plug a massive hole in the transportation budget with tax revenues gained from the legalization of video poker machines. Mr. Costa’s idea is further proof that once the barrier to legalized gambling was broken in Pennsylvania, the flood of casinos, proposed casinos and now gambling machines permeating local neighborhoods that many predicted has come to pass.

Anyone who has step foot in bar in Pennsylvania has seen these machines for years. Although signs might warn that they are merely for entertainment, not gambling, any regular customer quickly learns that he, or she, can receive payment from the bartender if they win. As such, the machines occupied a place of legal limbo for many years- the state would make the occasional raid on an establishment and confiscate machines if gambling was observed, but mostly just looked the other way. Now that Pennsylvania, like many other states, is faced with massive deficits, lawmakers are turning to gambling in order to close the revenue gap. Pennsylvania has gone very quickly from a state that had little legalized gambling (mostly off track betting) to one that has approved a raft of new casinos, planned casinos, and now legalized machines in non-casino locations.

From my point of view, I could care less if people gambled or not. Although I consider it a waste of time and money, I have to admit to filling out the occasional March Madness bracket and buying a powerball ticket when the prize amount reaches ridiculous levels. Live and let live, as long as it isn’t hurting me. My opposition arises, however, when it appears that the state is taking a lazy shortcut to raise revenue (instead of, God forbid, cutting the state budget) that preys primarily on the poor and elderly. Who will be the primary customers for video poker machines in bars ? Professionals ? Tradesmen ? No, it will primarily come from down and out people drinking in the middle of the day and praying to hit a jackpot big enough to get them through the end of the week. State sponsored and approved gambling is the ultimate regressive tax being paid by people that can least afford it. In many cases because these people may also receive public assistance, their gambling revenues provide the ultimate means of recycling- money from taxpayer “A” is given to taxpayer “B” by the state “PA.” Tax payer “B” blows the money on gambling and the money is returned in the form of gambling machine taxes back to “PA.” The state “PA” then uses said tax money to build an even larger bureaucracy to monitor gambling in the state and passes another hefty chunk to assorted political strap hangers and flunkies in the construction business who are contracted to fix our decrepit infrastructure.

While we are at it, let’s quit using the euphemism “revenues” when it applies to gambling. They aren’t revenues, they are losses. Money lost by citizens who can’t afford to lose anything. Although we like to think they are just the occasional customer that enjoys playing a machine while drinking a beer on a Saturday afternoon, we need to admit that the primary customer for this type of enterprise is the degenerate gambler (quite possibly an alcoholic to boot) that is blowing everything he or she has on the slim hope that they will hit it big. Quite often, the degenerate gambler is in turn stealing from friends and family, or their place of employment, in order to support their habit. Families are destroyed, relationships shattered, children are neglected- hey, but at least we can fix more potholes on I-80 (the grand old lady of Pennsylvania highway construction incompetence.)

I think the legislature should next consider offering our fellow citizens their own player's cards so that they can qualify for a massive state funded buffet in Harrisburg.

Happy April 15th

2010-04-15T11:39:00.005-04:00

Lysander Spooner on Taxation

2010-04-14T08:51:00.003-04:00

I have been reading quite a bit of Lysander Spooner's works lately. He was a 19th century abolitionist, anarchist, proponent of natural law and entrepreneur- sort of a civil war era renaissance man. When I read Spooner, the words seem to jump off the page and his arguments are clear and easily followed- unlike the muddied and mind numbing treatises of many European anarchists. Spooner's philosophy of individualistic anarchism is also culturally more aligned with my background and upbringing and favors a pacifistic spread of ideas through debate and education rather than by the gun and revolution.

In honor of tax day tomorrow, here is an excerpt on taxation in the U.S. from Spooner's "No Treason." Spooner compares the methods of tax collection by the state with the methods of the common highway robber. Not surprisingly, the robber comes off as a more sympathetic character-

"It is true that the theory of our Constitution is, that all taxes are paid voluntarily; that our government is a mutual insurance company, voluntarily entered into by the people with each other; that that each man makes a free and purely voluntary contract with all others who are parties to the Constitution, to pay so much money for so much protection, the same as he does with any other insurance company; and that he is just as free not to be protected, and not to pay tax, as he is to pay a tax, and be protected.

But this theory of our government is wholly different from the practical fact. The fact is that the government, like a highwayman, says to a man: Your money, or your life." And many, if not most, taxes are paid under the compulsion of that threat.

The government does not, indeed, waylay a man in a lonely place, spring upon him from the roadside, and, holding a pistol to his head, proceed to rifle his pockets. But the robbery is none the less a robbery on that account; and it is far more dastardly and shameful.

The highwayman takes solely upon himself the responsibility, danger, and crime of his own act. He does not pretend that he has any rightful claim to your money, or that he intends to use it for your own benefit. He does not pretend to be anything but a robber. He has not acquired impudence enough to profess to be merely a "protector," and that he takes men's money against their will, merely to enable him to "protect" those infatuated travellers, who feel perfectly able to protect themselves, or do not appreciate his peculiar system of protection. He is too sensible a man to make such professions as these. Furthermore, having taken your money, he leaves you, as you wish him to do. He does not persist in following you on the road, against your will; assuming to be your rightful "sovereign," on account of the "protection" he affords you. He does not keep "protecting" you, by commanding you to bow down and serve him; by requiring you to do this, and forbidding you to do that; by robbing you of more money as often as he finds it for his interest or pleasure to do so; and by branding you as a rebel, a traitor, and an enemy to your country, and shooting you down without mercy, if you dispute his authority, or resist his demands. He is too much of a gentleman to be guilty of such impostures, and insults, and villanies as these. In short, he does not, in addition to robbing you, attempt to make you either his dupe or his slave.

The proceedings of those robbers and murderers, who call themselves "the government," are directly the opposite of these of the single highwayman.

If you would like to learn more about Lysander Spooner, and read more of his works, I highly recommend going here.

Movie Review- Hot Tub Time Machine

2010-04-13T09:00:00.002-04:00

I fondly remember the 80's. For me, it was the decade in which I entered my teens and enjoyed all kinds of new experiences- driving for the first time, high school, prom, joining the Army and going to college. These ten formative years also encompassed many important firsts in my life- first time I got laid, first time I almost died of alcohol poisoning, first time in a strip bar, first time I woke up drunk in the bushes beneath a Holiday Inn sign....well, you get the point. The 1980's covered by life from age 13 through 23 and looking back with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, were some pretty damn fun years. No responsibilities, at least until I was in the Army, then no responsibilities right after that when I went to college besides dragging my ass into class at the crack of noon.

Since I heard that Hot Tub Time Machine was based on a group of friends travelling back into time to this most holy of decades, I persuaded my wife to go see it on our first night out without kids in about 50 odd years. It was crude, sophmoric, obnoxious, juvenile and really, really funny. We both enjoyed it immensely from wardrobe nods to the neon clothing of the 80's to the soundtrack that made me drift back to days of yore. Hearing "Safety Dance" at one point in the movie brought back a wave of nostalgia that is probably similar to a Woodstock veteran hearing "Purple Haze." John Cusack and Craig Robinson were excellent as two of the three friends but it was Rob Corddry as Lou, the semi-suicidal alcoholic manic depressive who steals the show. In a line that all guys loyal to their idiot friends will understand, Cusack and Robinson describe Lou as "he may be an asshole- but he's our asshole."

All in all, a good film. Next time I go to the movies (probably around 2025) I'll post another review.

RIP Upper Big Branch Miners

2010-04-12T16:07:00.005-04:00

A good piece from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette regarding the recent mine disaster in West Virginia and the public perception of miners and the mining industry. The author is correct that it only seems when disaster strikes that the public appreciates the sacrifice of miners, their communities and families. Like many other poor states that are rich in natural resources, West Virginia, and Appalachia in general, has been raped for generations by greedy corporations that have scarred the land and exploited the populace as labor for this incredibly dangerous profession. Like the very coal itself, the profits of their labor has been exported away from their communities and enjoyed instead in far away places like Wall Street. If you can find a copy, I highly recommend viewing Harlan County USA, an excellent film on the 1973 miners strike in Harlan, Kentucky to put it all into perspective.

They Read Me ! They Really Read Me !

2010-04-11T13:14:00.000-04:00

Despite the fact that few, if any comments are posted here (except for my old pal The Snick who lives in the land of coffee, grunge music and chicks with hairy legs) I found out this week that lots of people actually visit this site. Through the wonders of some analytics software, I found that people from 14 different states, and 5 foreign countries, actually visited this site since Wednesday. I also found out that my visitors spend between 5 and 9 minutes reading my ramblings and most of the new users found my blog through search engines. More amazingly, most of my visits are from repeat users. So, thanks for stopping by. Visits to this site lead to advertising revenue that I donate to Buddhist charities so every click counts.

Anarchist Pig Investment Advice for April 10th, 2010

2010-04-10T12:50:00.005-04:00

As part of my blog, I am going to start posting investment advice based upon my own portfolio. This may surprise some of my readers because how could a blog by a Buddhist Anarchist possibly include investment advice ? In my mind, it's simple. Strong personal finances equals liberty and independence and the ability to generate income, which in turn, can be used for more beneficial uses such as helping others.

So, knowing that some of my readers trend a bit more towards the radical side, my first investment tip should be right up their alley. In my portfolio, I bought the following bond and have been enjoying a nice return on it of late-

Venezuela, 10.75 % 9-19-2013
CUSIP ID # 922646BJ2 (this is the identification for this bond.)

Simply put, this is a bond issued by the government of Hugo Chavez that you can buy on the open market through any brokerage account. As of yesterday, Friday April 9th, this bond was trading at around $ 982.50. Since the bond yield of 10.75 % is based on the face value of the bond, $ 1,000.00, you actually receive a yield of 10.94 % if you buy at this price. The bond pays semi-annually, and the coupon payment you receive is $ 53.75 twice per year for simply owning the bond. I hold this bond in an IRA making the deal even sweeter because the fascist bastards at the IRS can't get their mitts on it until I retire.

The downside is that this bond is considered near junk status by the investment community and is rated B2 by Moodys and BB- by S&P. Even though the coupon payment is fixed at 10.75 %, the underlying price of the bond could fall causing a loss in the original investment. You need to have some courage to make an investment like this, but I am confident that rising oil prices will benefit Venezuela and reduce the likelihood of a default on their debt.

This week, Citigroup reports earnings and I will comment next week on the call option strategy that I put into place this week under the assumption that their earnings will improve. If they don't, I will be drinking heavily and will probably not post anything at all.

Dislcaimer- Anarchist Pig Investment Advice is just that- advice. I am not an investment advisor, broker or investment professional and if you use this advice, you are using it at your own risk. If you take my advice, you need to do the research to see if it supports your investment goals. IN other words, if it doesn't work out, don't fucking call me.

Review- "The Buddha" on PBS

2010-04-10T09:00:00.002-04:00

I was looking forward to the premiere of the new PBS film "The Buddha" the other night after seeing the previews for it. Written and directed by David Grubin, narrated by Richard Gere and a whole cast of experts including the Dalai Lama, it seemed like it was going to be an enjoyable two hours of television. Usually after watching a program I can very quickly tell if I enjoyed it, or I didn't. This is one of the few cases where I'm still not sure.

Writing, producing and editing a program like this can't be easy. Condensing all of The Buddha's teachings, impact on civilization and examination of Buddhism today into two hours is a daunting task. If you're not a Buddhist, imagine trying to do the same thing with Jesus and Christianity- what to leave in, what to leave out while working against a defined time limit for the show. Unfortunately in the sake of brevity, a lot of stuff is going to be over simplified, rushed or omitted. Still, you would try to concentrate on the main points, provide a sense of reference for that time in history and offer some insights on how these beliefs impact people today. Whether because of poor editing, writing or directing "The Buddha" largely accomplished these goals but lost me at many points along the way.

I have a friend that is not a Buddhist, he's a good Christian and will be so for life. Still, he thought the show sounded interesting so he tuned in to watch it and we talked briefly about it a couple of days later. He was completely confused. While he learned something during the show, namely a little bit about The Four Noble Truths, Buddhist views on existence etc., he was mightily confounded by the constant cut aways to a yoga master doing contortions of extreme effort, Indians washing themselves in the Ganges and other vignettes of Indian life. I was confused by this too and I consider myself moderately well read and practiced on the subject. If the point was to show a setting for the story, and what life might have been like in India in ancient times, it succeeded but the point was labored to the extent that my friend thought such yoga practices, as well as ascetic sacrifice, were required of Buddhists.

Overall the film seemed to jump around a bit and was difficult, at times, to follow. Then again, I could have just been tired and my mind was wandering. Another omission from the show which I think would be an especially important point for non-Buddhists would be in explaining the different schools of belief instead of the giving the impression that the Dalai Lama and Richard Gere speak for all Buddhists.

One program that covers the subject of the life and teachings of The Buddha which I highly recommend is The Story of India which also aired on PBS in 2009. Michael Wood is an excellent guide and narrator for the BBC documentary which was beautifully filmed and very well written. Episode 2 "The Power of Ideas" includes a long segment on The Buddha, his teachings and his times and you can watch a brief clip of it here.

The Future & Buddhist Vegan Militias

2010-04-10T09:00:00.000-04:00

A very interesting view of the future written by Reihan Salam in Time Magazine.

I really enjoyed this article. Salam sees the convergence of technology, energy costs and an emerging view on education as fundamentally transforming our society into one that (except for the technology) would probably be rather familiar to our ancestors. One can already see this transformation taking place in places like Detroit where thousands of abandoned homes, which once housed the massive labor force required for the car industry, are being torn down and redeveloped into other uses including urban farms.

"The cultural battle lines of our time, with red America pitted against blue, will be scrambled as Buddhist vegan militia members and evangelical anarchist squatters trade tips on how to build self-sufficient vertical farms from scrap-heap materials. To avoid the tax man, dozens if not hundreds of strongly encrypted digital currencies and barter schemes will crop up, leaving an underresourced IRS to play whack-a-mole with savvy libertarian "hacktivists."

Salam also makes the point that the federal debt implosion that I fear is coming might actually be a mixed blessing which weans our society off the government teat and returns us to a more individualistic society which relies on the support of neighbors rather than taxpayers-

"Look at the projections of fiscal doom emanating from the federal government, and consider the possibility that things could prove both worse and better. Worse because the jobless recovery we all expect could be severe enough to starve the New Deal social programs on which we base our life plans. Better because the millennial generation could prove to be more resilient and creative than its predecessors, abandoning old, familiar and broken institutions in favor of new, strange and flourishing ones."

Indeed, Salam notes that society could undergo a quiet, fundamental revolution as citizens decide they will not participate in a blood sucking system that consumes the majority of their effort and will instead turn to solutions that would have made Proudhon turn misty-eyed-

"Faced with the burden of financing the decades-long retirement of aging boomers, many of the young embrace a new underground economy, a largely untaxed archipelago of communes, co-ops, and kibbutzim that passively resist the power of the granny state while building their own little utopias."

Regardless of one's view of the world, we can all see that our society is headed for a transformational brick wall whether we like it or not. The old systems of massive government, the social safety net and bloated bureaucracy are simply not sustainable and people are finally waking up to the fact that they trade off in terms of taxes paid is simply not worth it. The nanny state will crumble not from political pressure, but from being starved of the revenues that allow its existence.

Hopefully, the transformation to a society such as the one described by Salam will be relatively peaceful. Unfortunately, history shows that such massive upheavals in the order of things usually result in terrible violence. Buddhist Vegan Militias- it's time to stock up on tofu and .223 ammo.

Last Regular Season Game at the Igloo

2010-04-09T19:17:00.002-04:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, last night was the final regular season game for the Penguins at Mellon Arena.

The wife and I arrived early and just soaked in the place. They had a great pre-game ceremony which featured 50 former Penguins including too many to mention here. Well, okay, it's my friggin blog and I'm going to mention my favorite as a kid, Pierre Larouche. The game itself was a near blow-out for the Penguins as the Islanders seemed content to just want to get back on the bus and get to the airport. Fans were in a festive mood, the old barn was rocking and it was a fitting send off for the old girl. Numerous post game activities kept us in our seats until well past 11 pm after which we strolled out into the chilly night. I have to admit a wave of nostalgia hit me on the way out and I felt compelled to fist bump one of the turnstiles on the way out the door.

A Tiger's Tale

2010-04-09T09:00:00.003-04:00

As the media breathlessly follows Tiger Woods' every move at Augusta, it would seem that they are missing one rather large point- not only has Tiger reportedly returned to the Buddhist teachings of his youth, he is a walking example of the suffering which was identified, and can be corrected, through the Buddha's Four Noble Truths. Even more importantly, this message applies to all humans, regardless of their faith or beliefs, as we are all victimized by the incessant need to fill the holes in our lives with things, unhealthy practices and activities.

The First Noble Truth- Suffering

Before the media broke the story of Tiger's rampant infidelities, he seemed from the outside to have it all-beautiful wife and children, incredible athletic ability, more money than he could ever need, private jet, luxury homes etc. And yet, it seems, the poor guy was completely miserable and leading a strange secret existence that included numerous mistresses, secret meetings and rather elaborate planning to move his girlfriends around the country to be available at his bidding.

The Second Noble Truth- The Cause of Suffering (Craving)

We have all seen this in our lives. Whether it is ourselves, friends or family members, we seem not to be content with what we have. Although self improvement is admirable in terms of bettering ourselves, and the opportunities it brings those that depend upon us, the craving for bigger homes, better cars, more money, better restaurants etc. is incredibly destructive. I know a number of people that bought very nice homes which would be considered palaces in the 3rd world who immediately began complaining that they weren't what they really wanted and renewed their search for the next, better, perfect home. So it went for Tiger too, I guess. At some point of living the mega luxurious lifestyle, I suppose even billionaires can suffer from craving. Got a 8 passenger jet ? Great. Now I want a 12 passenger jet. Got a 12 passenger jet ? Now I want a 20 passenger jet...and so on.

The Third Noble Truth- There is cessation from Suffering.

Ah, the good news. Even though Tiger smacked his balls into the rough, there is a way out of this endless cycle of greed, desire and craving. This merciless wheel of rebirth can be broken, suffering ended and enlightenment attained.

The Fourth Noble Truth- The Eightfold Path to the end of Suffering

They are- Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration. Through diligent perseverance and adherence to this path, the end of suffering can be attained. I will breakdown the eightfold path in future posts and try to explain how I have tried, with varying success, to work them into my life.

Look, I'm not a psychologist and I'm not judging Tiger to be a bad person because of his actions. I had the discussion with many of my friends of "well, what would you do if you were incredibly famous, rich, good-looking and had lots of women throwing themselves at you ?" More often than not, we all had to admit that the temptation would have been just a bit much to deal with. Still, being aware of the Noble Truths helps to put life into better perspective.

The recent comments by Augusta chairman Billy Payne are unnecessary at this point and amount to nothing more than piling on. “It is not simply the degree of his conduct that is so egregious here; it is the fact that he disappointed all of us, and more importantly, our kids and our grandkids. Our hero did not live up to the expectations of the role model we saw for our children." That's been the problem with heroes for millenia- they are human beings. Why was Tiger Woods obligated to live up to Mr. Payne's exacting requirements of being a role model for America's youth ? Because he can hit a rubber-synthetic ball with a piece of steel or composite great distances with incredible accuracy ? If that is what passes for hero status these days, we are all in trouble.

We are indoctrinated at a young age as we are bombarded by media advertising promising us that happiness is just over the next horizon and can be obtained by buns of steel, a new car, whitened teeth, the golf club that will change your game etc. The same media built Tiger Woods into demi-god proportions creating shoes that no mere mortal could ever fill. Maybe the best thing to come out of this is that it provides a teachable moment for all of us. I find myself telling my kids a couple of times a week "things can't make you happy" as they tell me they want an i-phone, the new Playstation, this, that and the other thing. Things are impermanent, transient and like my dad always said "never love something that can't love you back." Good advice indeed.

Civic Arena Memories

2010-04-08T08:22:00.007-04:00

Tonight marks the last regular season game the Pittsburgh Penguins will play at Mellon Arena, formerly known as the Civic Arena and affectionately known as the Igloo. My wife and I will be there sitting in our seats in section B28 hoping for a victory and reminiscing about this place that was a big part of both of our lives. Despite my threat to bring a ratchet and take the seats with us after the game, I have promised to behave and not do anything that will get us on the eleven o'clock news.

The arena was born a few years before me back in 1961. It was an engineering marvel for the time built by local companies using local materials- U.S. Steel providing stainless steel for the roof and Westinghouse the motors that would open the roof for special occasions. Originally, the arena was conceived and built for the purpose of being home field for the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera. How they thought a 16,000 seat arena could be filled by an opera in a shot and beer town like Pittsburgh is beyond me, but the Penguins eventually became the primary tenant of the building.

My earliest memory of going to the arena was when I was 4 or 5 to see the circus. I remember this was probably when I developed a lifelong fear of clowns as my older brother casually mentioned out of parental earshot that the clowns were going to take me back to clownville, or wherever the hell they lived, after the show. I went to the arena many other times over the years to see hockey games, indoor soccer games, concerts and monster trucks. Despite the fact that the majority of Penguins fans only know a championship team, I recall many, many nights of sitting through shitty hockey games with a couple of thousand other souls who received free tickets. A couple of other highlights I will remember will be playing indoor soccer there as a youth, skating with my son on the ice during one of the Penguins free skates and seeing my kid emerge from the visitor's tunnel onto the ice during a skills competition. Pretty cool.

What will I miss about the arena ? What I call the Igloo funk, a strange smell of stale beer, old popcorn and forty plus years of human b.o. that has impregnated the structure. I swear that on cold nights when they open the doors the Igloo funk rushes out like a warm embrace welcoming you back home- part pretzel smell, part wet fart, part zamboni exhaust fumes. What won't I miss ? Escalators that were built with a maximum safe load of 2 or 3 people instead of a couple of hundred trying to jam themselves into the tunnels, seats that were built with such close clearances that you are tempted to rest your beer on the fan's head in front of you and the strange lumps of unknown substances that have fossilized under the seats.

Favorite memory of the arena ? Probably the greatest hockey fight of all time only it didn't occur on the ice, it occurred on the sidewalk after the game. My brother and I were leaving one freezing night when an obviously drunk fan, wearing a suit, tie and wire rimmed glasses pounded on the hood of a car waiting at the light. He screamed at the car because they had the gall to honk at someone (that being him) crossing against the light. He looked like an attorney, at least that's what I hope he was based on what happened next. All of a sudden a petite young lady who couldn't have been more than 100 pounds dripping wet jumped out of the driver's seat walked straight towards him and punched him in the face. "Wham !" Attorney boy made sort of a yelp as his glasses flew off and his face was flushed. My brother and I looked at each other, completely stunned. "Wham, Wham, Wham" Like a diminutive version of Tie Domi she was all over him knocking him to his knees. I remember my brother yelling some advice like "pull his coat over his head" but she was content to just whack him a few more times, jump back in the car and sped off.

Ah memories. By this time next year the Igloo will be gone, replaced by the uber corporate and chic Consol Pepsi Coke Fritos Gatorade Accenture Mellon PNC CCM Verizon Arena. It's going to take another 40 years to lose that new arena smell.

Book Review- The World That Never Was: A True Story of Dreamers, Schemers, Anarchists and Secret Agents by Alex Butterworth

2010-04-07T09:00:00.000-04:00

Book review by Stuart Christie, The Guardian.

Sounds like a good read. I'm going to pick up a copy. The book is available on pre-order for June 15th, through Amazon.

An interesting observation from the review-

"The main story, however, is of the penetration of these groups of often naive utopians by the sinister functionaries of the secret state whose job it was to protect the status quo: the policemen and spymasters who lurked in the shadows seeding uncertainty and dissent, cultivating tensions, beguiling with deceits, and luring credulous and impressionable idealists into committing crimes they may never have otherwise conceived."

History has indeed shown that idealists and revolutionaries are often long on ideas and short on proper counter-intelligence techniques !

Gary Hart, Former U.S. Senator, Commenting on Anger against the Government.

2010-04-06T09:00:00.001-04:00

Gary Hart, former Democratic Senator, seen at left with his girlfriend Donna Rice (actually, that would be officially his mistress since he was married at the time,) opines in his blog about the anger driving tea partiers, anarchists and other assorted malcontents. Try to look past the irony of the blog's title "Matters of Principle" while looking at the picture of Mr. Hart and Ms. Rice relaxing on his yacht "Monkey Business" back in the mid 80's.

"Looking on from the outside, anger seems to be the glue holding together anarchists, libertarians, conservatives of various kinds, and groups harboring complex grievances."

Whew, I'm glad to see that liberals and progressives aren't angry- it must be because they have a deeper understanding of reality than we common troglodytes. Gary Hart cannot fathom anger against the government because he was part of it and it is part of his DNA. He can feign loathing of the government, lobbyists and bankers all he wants but he was a product of the system. It created him and it still sustains him through his academic position at the University of Colorado-Denver. Sorry, but I refuse to buy the whole anti-establishment vibe from a Yale educated attorney who is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

"Let’s get one thing straight: the president and members of Congress are elected by the people of the United States. If you don’t like that, there are lots of other countries where this is not the case."

The oldest argument in the book- America, love it or leave it. First touted by Nixon republicans screaming at hippies, now touted by Obama democrats screaming at anyone that disagrees with them. Hey, marital infidelity is accepted in lots of other countries, why are you still here ?

"If you are angry at Barack Obama, or any member of Congress, you are angry at your fellow citizens who voted for them."

Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. I am pissed off that a junior senator with minimal experience was anointed by the national media as the saviour of this country. I am even more pissed off that he is doubling down on Bush's' expansion of the federal government, bureaucracy, debt and deficit. I am, however, equal opportunity in my anger at my fellow citizens- anyone, or any party, that participates and buys into this system is equally insane in my opinion.

"But if this anger is something else, let’s say bitterness at a black couple in the White House, or women being more equal, or medical care for poor children, or efforts to create a more decent and humane society, then there is little we can talk about."

Oh for God's sake, here we go. Turning the argument against the opposition by labeling them as racists, or worse. (Side note- I'm reading a new biography on Mao. This sounds eerily like it came out of his playbook. Anyways, back to the article.) This anger isn't about the fact that there is a black couple in the White House, or women, or medical care you nitwit- it's about the exponential expansion of the federal government, the resources that it consumes and the self-perpetuating nature of the embedded bureaucracy. It's about the erosion of citizen's rights in this country done in the name of the war on terror, the blackmail of states by federal withholding of funds (contributed by their citizens) and the arrogance of power demonstrated by elected officials who serve for personal power rather than to serve the people.

Come on Gary, admit why you are really pissed- you got caught with a nice piece of ass, lost your shot at being President and you have been looking in from the outside ever since.

"The Buddha" Premiere on PBS, Wednesday April 7th

2010-04-05T13:27:00.002-04:00

The Buddha, A Film by David Grubin
Premiering April 7, 2010 at 8 p.m. EST (check local listings)

"This documentary for PBS by award-winning filmmaker David Grubin and narrated by Richard Gere, tells the story of the Buddha’s life, a journey especially relevant to our own bewildering times of violent change and spiritual confusion. It features the work of some of the world’s greatest artists and sculptors, who across two millennia, have depicted the Buddha’s life in art rich in beauty and complexity. Hear insights into the ancient narrative by contemporary Buddhists, including Pulitzer Prize winning poet W.S. Merwin and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Join the conversation and learn more about meditation, the history of Buddhism, and how to incorporate the Buddha’s teachings on compassion and mindfulness into daily life."

Anarchists vs. Tea Partiers

2010-04-05T11:48:00.003-04:00

Apparently some members of the anarchist community are planning counter-protests against the tea party movement on April 15th. Whether or not this event will be broadcast on pay per view remains to be seen.

I don't personally know any tea party members but from what I've read they seem like reasonable people who are completely fed up with the enormity and expense of the U.S. government. That being said, it's hard to take a group seriously that supports an airhead like Sarah Palin, the Barbie doll darling of the Republican party, or receives so much positive coverage from blithering idiots like Sean Hannity. Still, the fact that the Democrats are playing the straw-man of racism, militia violence and every other tired argument they drag out when threatened seems to indicate that they are making some impact on national politics.

The real winner in any tea party-anarchist clash would be, of course, the same government that both groups fundamentally oppose. The tea partiers will be portrayed by the left as crazy, radical racists who want to return the U.S. to the good old days of 1850. The anarchists will be portrayed by the right as subversive terrorists bent on destroying mom, apple pie and what remains of Chevrolet. Sitting in the middle will be the same smug ruling class that benefits no matter which group cracks more heads on April 15th.

Hey knuckleheads, wake up. Your enemy isn't the group across the street, it's the one residing in Washington D.C.

Majority say government is a threat to their rights.

2010-02-26T10:26:00.002-05:00

"Washington (CNN) – A majority of Americans think the federal government poses a threat to rights of Americans, according to a new national poll."

"Fifty-six percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday say they think the federal government's become so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens. Forty-four percent of those polled disagree."

Over the past few years, I have come to see the situation in this country less as right vs. left, republican vs. democrat, liberal vs. conservative etc. Instead, I began to see the real struggle of us. vs. them.

"Us" is comprised of the vast majority of Americans that get up everyday, work hard, take care of their families and do their best to make an honest life. "Them" is comprised of the bloated ranks of government bureaucrats, power hungry politicians (of all parties) who reward their banker buddies and feed at the trough of our confiscatory tax system. "Them" has remained in power by dividing and exploiting "Us" along political, economic and racial divides, keeping us blissfully unaware of the amount of power that they have quietly accumulated at our expense. Perhaps they have finally overplayed their hand, gone too far to the point where even the silent masses have awakened from their deep slumber. We can only hope so.

In Memory of my Dad 1928-2010

2010-02-25T10:12:00.002-05:00

O, all the money e'er I had,I spent it in good company.
And all the harm that ever I've done,alas it was to none but me.
And all I've done for want of witto memory now I can't recall;
So fill to me the parting glass,
Good night and joy be with you all.

O, all the comrades e'er I had,They're sorry for my going away.
And all the sweethearts e'er I had,They'd wished me one more day to stay.
But since it falls unto my lot,That I should rise and you should not,
I gently rise and softly call,
Goodnight and joy be with you all.

If I had money enough to spend,And leisure time to sit awhile.
There is a fair maid in this town,That sorely has my heart beguiled.
Her rosy cheeks and ruby lips,I own, she has my heart in thrall;
Then fill to me the parting glass,
Good night and joy be with you all.

-The Parting Glass

Survival Tips- Cold Weather Disasters

2010-02-10T13:20:00.010-05:00

As I said in my last post, I wanted to share some of my ideas on preparedness for natural or man-made disasters. Just a little bit of prudent planning can pay huge dividends in terms or enduring a disaster in relative comfort and safety versus panic and anxiety.

The good thing about cold weather disasters is that the natural ones that occur are usually predicted sometime in advance. Blizzards and ice storms rarely sneak up on a community and you will typically have 72 hours (or more) warning time. Man made disasters (such as a terrorist attack on a power system during the winter) are far more unlikely and obviously wouldn't be accompanied by a warning. So, once you hear that the mother of all snowstorms is about to bury your town, you will probably have plenty of time to dust off the old survival kit and make sure you have everything you need.

My disaster kit is broken down into categories. Some of the items are packed in Rubbermaid tubs and simply stored in my workshop. Other items are in the house and are used for other activities (such as sleeping bags.) I keep a notebook which lists all of the items in each category and the number of the items. This helps in planning without having to dig everything out.

Illumination- Living in the dark sucks, living in the cold dark really sucks. Items for illumination not only help you navigate your now dark house and property, they also provide necessary comfort and reassurance, especially for children. I have in my kit-

Maglite flashlight with spare batteries for each occupant.

2 dozen chemlights (glowsticks.)

2 disaster candles.

500 waterproof matches.

1 battery powered camping lantern with spare batteries.

Food and Water- High protein food including some with plenty of fat are best for riding out a winter storm. Remember, we are assuming that the primary source of heat in your house or apartment is not operating and that temperatures inside may easily fall below freezing after 18 to 24 hours. When temperatures fall, your body starts working harder to stay warm and your caloric needs increase dramatically. Also, it is not uncommon for public water to become unsafe to drink because electric pumps may fail at the utility company. It is very easy to become dehydrated in a cold weather situation especially if you are exerting yourself in terms of clearing snow, cutting wood etc. I have in my kit-

Cases or bottles of drinking water. Assume about a gallon per person per day to be safe. Be sure to rotate and use your stock during the year. In addition, it is a good idea to keep old 1 liter soda bottles and fill them with water as the storm approaches.

MRE (Meals ready to eat) military surplus entrees, peanut butter crackers and cookies. If you don't want to buy and pack food long-term, have a ready supply of granola bars, trail mix, jerkeys and other foods that won't spoil in a separate box from your primary food supply. Simply use and replenish throughout the year like your spare water.

A coleman type camping stove which runs on gas along with spare gas bottles. (NEVER use a fuel stove in any confined space due to the deadly effect of CO poisoning. Put it outside and cook in the snow.) Instead of pots and pans, I keep simple tinfoil pans you can buy at the store to cook with, eat out of and dispose of. Hot chow not only tastes great when you are freezing, it also does a lot to boost the spirits of everyone else around you.

Clothing and Warmth- Once the power fails, everyone should immediately put on a warm hat, long underwear etc. The loss of body heat is insidious and gradual so the best prevention is to dress quickly to keep what heat you have. Also, everyone should sleep with hats, mittens and socks on even inside their sleeping bags. Layer multiple comforters or blankets beneath the sleeping area to reduce the loss of heat through the floor if you don't have camping mattresses or pads. Ideally, in cold climates everyone in the house should have their own sleeping bag rated to at least 20 degrees.

First Aid- Being cut off and without power can magnify an injury. Our first aid kit includes the following and is ready for action year round. Be sure to check the dates on all supplies and replace as necessary.-

2 bottles of hydrogen peroxide.

2 bottles of alcohol.

Medical tape, gauze pads, band aids and bandages.

Antibacterial ointment.

Splints and bandages.

Medical scissors.

Scalpel and suture kit.

Large bottle of ibuprofen

Syrup of Ipecac.

Imodium.

1 gallon household bleach. Great for disinfecting as well as treating water if things get really bad.

Special Forces medical handbook or other first aid guide.

House Protection- If the power has been off for awhile and things are not looking very rosy, it is always prudent to shut off your water, open the faucets and any drains to empty your pipes. Broken pipes can be enormously expensive in terms of repair and the water damage it can cause. I keep another tub full of general items that would be helpful in any situation.

Work gloves.

Firestarter.

Hatchet and bow saw with spare blade.

Spare chainsaw oil.

Gas wrench for shutting off gas supply.

550 Parachute Cord (100') for use with tarps.

Large Tarps (for patching any broken windows or other storm damage)

Duct tape. Lots and lots of duct tape.

Anti-Freeze for filling toilets if you drain your water system. (NOTE- be extremely careful with this because it is appealing and highly poisonous to both children and pets.)

Communications- Having a source of news and information or just plain old music can be a great benefit when you are bored out of your skull and sitting in a cold, dark house. I keep the following in my kit and keep them separate from the household so nobody plays with them or breaks them before we need them-

A cheap little AM radio with spare batteries.

A Grundig crank radio (AM, FM and shortwave.) I love my Grundig and it has performed flawlessly for 8 years. The crank obviously eliminates the need for power or batteries and it even has a small emergency light on it. No brainer for only $ 50.00.

Make sure you can always find your cell phone car charger. We used our snow bound cars as basically giant cell phone chargers during the storm. You can also buy battery based chargers as well.

Heat Sources- We are fortunate to have a fireplace and if you have one too, half the battle has been won. Be sure to have at least a cord of dried, split wood on hand at all times. I have never trusted kerosene type space heaters and can't recommend them. Regardless of your heat source, a battery powered carbon monoxide detector is mandatory ! Even a seemingly well drafted fireplace can kill you and your family. I have begun to look at generators and it seems like money well spent. Although expensive (around $ 2,000 for a portable model) many of these systems push enough power to run the electrical components of a gas furnace and a light or two. Just be sure to run it outside- a man and his daughter tragically died here in Pittsburgh because he ran the generator in his partially closed garage.

Special Items- Everyone has different needs and issues so take a moment to think about what is critical to your safety if you can't get out of your house for a few days. This means-

Medicines.

Baby food, diapers etc. Also, be a humanitarian and store plenty to help out somebody else's baby too.

Feminine hygiene items.

Special dietary requirements.

Having the Survival Attitude- Attitude is everything and panic can kill. First off, when the power fails, the snow is blowing sideways and the wind is howling like a jet engine, you need to just take a second and focus. The good news is that most modern homes are insulated well enough that it isn't going to get really cold inside for quite awhile so don't make any rash decisions. During our recent storm, the fire department made the rounds picking up people that wanted to go to public shelters and others attempted to hoof it out on their own. Sheltering in place is usually the best decision if you are prepared. Your family is in familiar surroundings, you can take care of your pets and keep an eye on your property.

Never discount the fact that some creeps will use a disaster situation to their own advantage in terms of theft and violence. Which brings us to the final component of my disaster planning- personal protection. I maintain a rather healthy stock of ammunition as well as two assault rifles. As a Buddhist I would never want to shoot anyone and hopefully the mere threat of use would be enough to keep the wolves away from my door. Owning a firearm is a personal decision and I respect those that do not want weapons in their homes. For those that do, I highly recommend training and certification classes as well as child locks.

To summarize-

Make a simple plan with your family and buy your items over time. No need to rush out one weekend and spend thousands of dollars.

Keep certain items separate from your household items so that when disaster strikes, they are serviceable and ready to go.

Keep a list of everything in your kit so that you can inventory your gear once or twice a year, replace broken or outdated items.

Make sure everyone in your family knows the location of the kit and inventory list and the use and operation of all items in it.

Relax. With a little simple planning you can ride out the most extreme situations imaginable. Your ancestors did just fine over the past couple of thousand years and you can too.