Can you eat a Credit Card ?

A recent article in The Daily Mail highlights how cash strapped Brits are relying more heavily on credit to buy daily necessities such as groceries. More interesting was the chart showing the increase in the price of grocery items (9.45 % according their numbers) which dovetails nicely with my own experience when buying food.

I recently commented to my wife that growing fruit and vegetables is probably far more profitable (and legally acceptable) than marijuana. This was based on the sticker shock I experienced when buying some blueberries and crackers at the store. Two things struck me. First, blueberries could be the new crack cocaine for local gangs to begin selling in our area. Second, the physical size of many of the things we buy (such as cracker boxes and Girl Scout Cookies) are shrinking while their price increases. The Mail's article citing 9.45 % price inflation is not far off from the rumored real U.S. inflation rate of 8 %.

Let's face it, whether the politicians and bankers want to slap a pretty name ("Quantitative Easing") or not on the massive printing of new money, all of that cash sloshing around the system will eventually drive up the costs of commodities and create inflation. We are currently witnessing the U.S. political theater that comes about when the price of gasoline rises- Republicans blame Democrats, Democrats blame Republicans. I blame them all.

This is not a U.S. centric problem, however, and the loose money policies of the old European regimes are just as much to blame as the U.S. Decades of fatal political and economic decisions based on preserving power, rather than doing the best for the citizenry, have bankrupted the system. Even the Economist recently showed its ire by kicking Argentina out of its weekly statistics section for playing fast and loose with the figures they submitted. If nations are now blatantly lying about the real rate of inflation in their economies, who knows what lurks under the tip of the ice burg ?

Adios February

Many people have phobias but I think my primary one is among the strangest- I have an intense dread of the month of February. February is a strange month, sort of shoehorned into the calendar and bridging two far happier times of the year. On one side, we move from the holiday months of November and December (here in the U.S.) which abound with family time, good memories and good cheer, and then into January and the hope, joy and optimism of a new year. On the other side of the bridge we have March, with the first hint of Spring, warm weather and blooming trees and flowers which promises sunshine and deliverance from the depths of winter. To get between them, however, I must cross the four week mine strewn bridge known as February.

Ah yes, February. The graveyard of broken New Year Resolutions, boring television and the listless doldrums of the NHL season. Bad things have always happened to me in February- business related, family related you name it. To make it worse this year, the creators of our calendar managed to extend the agony by adding the additional Leap Day. The supposed holidays of the month are a joke, including the rampantly commercialized Valentine's Day and President's Day. I think most Americans would prefer we swapped a day off in February for one in June or August, but who am I to say.

I tried to research a phobia for February but was unsuccessful. Sure, all of the usual suspects were there- spiders, open spaces, Friday the 13th, Newt Gingrich...but I couldn't find one addressing one so broad to 'X" out an entire month of the calendar. Crazy though I may be, if I'm going to have a phobia, I'm going large or going home. So, I spent the night of February 29th drinking a glass of whisky (okay two, or was it three ?) firmly convinced at multiple times that evening that a car would hit my house, or a piece of space debris or a wayward North Korean missile...but nothing happened. February 2012 passed in relative peace. With any luck Mr. February, if the Mayans were right, I'll never have to face you again you miserable bastard.

The Final Countdown

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.

The Royal Wedding - Tribal Style

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 Royal Wedding

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.

Personality Test

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

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.

Afghanistan's Buddhist History

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

938MEMDCJEST

Burn Baby Burn

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 !

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

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

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

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.

First Visit- Consol Energy Arena

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

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.

Rumors of War

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.

Zen & the Art of Youth Ice Hockey Tryouts

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

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

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

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.

The Future & Buddhist Vegan Militias

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.