The National Party Times

Something New

2011-06-30T06:29:00.000-07:00

I have been posting on The National Party Times for over three years. Like most things, I feel this has run its course. As I explore some other more collaborative outlets for my poor writing skills, I will probably stop posting here.

While the new potential projects are likely to be less introspective (and hopefully better written -- I really am a Photoshop guy after all), I will miss exercising my personal experiences and thoughts into words. (See: The Hawaiian Tour Guide Part I and Part II.) I will also miss trying to convince everyone how damn smart I am.(See: More Thoughts on Bill Gates -- via Milton Friedman.) I will also miss the guest posts. (See: I think Mark Twain knew what he was doing by Brother Dan; What the Heck is a Duck Fart? by Budsy Jean; or Sarah Palin is a twit! by Marna.)

Thanks for sharing some of your time with me over the last three years. It has been fun. Now it is time for something new.

US Housing Remains In The Toilet

2011-05-31T10:42:00.000-07:00

A headline on the BBC today states that "US house prices [are] below 2009 low”. In fact, according to the report by the people who put together The Case-Shiller housing index, “Home prices continue on their downward spiral with no relief in sight.” (Great chart here.)

Since the market started its decline in 2006, why are we still here? More importantly, why are things not getting better? The answer is really quite simple. Nobody knows where the bottom is. Until people are comfortable that we have found the bottom, things will not improve.

So what is stopping the market from finding the “real” bottom? Government “stimulus” has made everyone wary of jumping into an artificially propped-up market. Like taking a “hair-of-the-dog” drink in the morning to cure a hang-over from the night before, “stimulus” has failed to fix anything. In the end, it has only made things worse, increased debt obligations, strung out those who can least afford it and prolonged the pain.

The answer? John Papola said it best in a FB post this morning, “Let em crash and find a real bottom. Fake stimulus is like an afternoon shot of espresso. It gets you through the evening, keeps you up way too late, and makes tomorrow even worse than today.”

And consider this, if the government is so concerned about helping the poor and really wanted everyone to have access to affordable housing, why is it fighting to keep prices artificially high?

A better tomorrow means finding the real bottom in this housing market. That won’t happen until people are satisfied that government meddling is no longer artificially propping up prices.

Niall Ferguson on Democracy vs. The Rule of Law

2011-05-20T12:49:00.000-07:00

Recently, I was listening to a BBC Radio show called Start The Week with Andrew Marr where he interviewed Harvard History Professor Niall Ferguson about how the West came to triumph over the empires of the East, and whether that ascendancy is in permanent decline.

In the interview, Ferguson defined 6 “killer apps” that made the West dominant: competition, science, the rule of law, medicine, consumerism and work ethic.

In further research about Ferguson’s killer apps, I found that one blog listed ‘democracy’ in place of ‘the rule of law’. They are wrong. In fact, in the previously mentioned interview, Ferguson himself said, “For me the rule of law is more important than democracy, per se. It is more important on how you keep politicians under legal control than how you elect them or choose them.”

Democracy is over-rated. More importantly, we do ourselves and our society a disservice by equating democracy with the rule of law. After all, many tyrants have come to be through popular election. Rights on the other hand, transcend the popular vote. As for the concept of majority rule equating justice, we only need to remember the old saying (often wrongly attributed to Ben Franklin, so I will borrow from Marvin Simkin): “Democracy is not freedom. Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to eat for lunch. Freedom comes from the recognition of certain rights which may not be taken, not even by a 99% vote... Voters and politicians alike would do well to take a look at the rights we each hold, which must never be chipped away by the whim of the majority.”

From my view, science, medicine, consumerism and work ethic can be found in many societies, but it is really competition and our system of justice -- although often bastardized by political influence -- that define the West’s truly unique “killer apps”.

When Our Heroes Were Not Steroid Users

2011-05-18T11:21:00.000-07:00

The great Harmon Killebrew passed away this week. At the time he retired from baseball in the 1970’s, only Babe Ruth had more home runs as an American Leaguer.

He now rates 11th on the all-time MLB Home Run List. As I have frequently stated, he would still rate higher than that if we eliminated the Steroid Era players. Referencing The Steroid Era blog as my source, let us do just that: eliminate the steroid-enhanced players and see where Harmon Killebrew would stand:

First, here is the list:

1 Barry Bonds 762
2 Hank Aaron 755
3 Babe Ruth 714
4 Willie Mays 660
5 Ken Griffey, Jr. 630
6 Alex Rodriguez 621
7 Sammy Sosa 609
8 Jim Thome 591
9 Frank Robinson 586
10 Mark McGwire 583
11 Harmon Killebrew 573

Now, here is the list without the steroid-laden crew (Since this is a thought exercise and carries no claim of exact accuracy, I omitted those implicated along with those who have admitted steroid use.):

1 Hank Aaron 755
2 Babe Ruth 714
3 Willie Mays 660
4 Ken Griffey, Jr. 630
5 Jim Thome 591
6 Frank Robinson 586
7 Harmon Killebrew 573

So in the record books Harmon may be number 11, but when we remove the asterisks, he moves up to number 7.

Thanks for the memories Mr. Killebrew.

...and say hello to The Babe for me.

Keynes vs. Hayek Round Two

2011-04-28T15:05:00.000-07:00

Who knew a recipe for success could include two skinny white guys playing dead economists in a ten-minute hip-hop video?

EconStories strikes again. Creators John Papola and Russ Roberts have created a masterpiece follow-up to their original video, Fear the Boom and Bust.

With as much economic education as you can fit into a ten minute music video, Fight of the Century: Keynes vs. Hayek Round Two is sure to surpass the over two million views the original has garnered on YouTube.

The guys playing Keynes and Hayek? Billy and Adam.

Edutainment at its finest.

John Berryman Couldn't Fly

2011-03-30T04:11:00.000-07:00

I have had the wonderful opportunity to see the Hold Steady four times. I have even had the chance to chat Minnesota Twin’s baseball with lead singer Craig Finn. (I think Rod Carew or Harmon Killebrew is the best Twin’s players ever. He preferred Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbek -- at least that night.) Mr. Finn also recounted meeting his real hero at a Twin’s game, former Replacement’s singer Paul Westerberg. (He was really short.)

Although I have always been sucked into The Hold Steady’s tunes by Tad Kubler’s straight-forward power chord guitar playing, Craig Finn’s lyrics frequently haunt me -- especially one song in particular: Stuck Between Stations.

I don’t know poetry. I don’t understand it. And until this song came out, I didn’t know who John Berryman was.

I stumbled upon this old interview, published on the Paris Review site, taken from the original issue published in the winter of 1972. In it, among other things, Berryman explains his life as a poet and poetry in academia. (“It’s a harmless industry. It gets people degrees. I don’t feel against it, and I don’t feel for it. I sympathize with the students.”) He was asked to rank the poets of his day. (“...most of these characters are personal friends of mine, and you just don’t sit around ranking your friends.”) But even more interesting were his thoughts on what it takes to be a truly great poet:

“My idea is this: The artist is extremely lucky who is presented with the worst possible ordeal which will not actually kill him. At that point, he’s in business. Beethoven’s deafness, Goya’s deafness, Milton’s blindness, that kind of thing. And I think that what happens in my poetic work in the future will probably largely depend not on my sitting calmly on my ass as I think, “Hmm, hmm, a long poem again? Hmm,” but on being knocked in the face, and thrown flat, and given cancer, and all kinds of other things short of senile dementia. At that point, I’m out, but short of that, I don’t know. I hope to be nearly crucified.”

John Barryman never lived to be crucified. On a cold morning in January of 1972, he threw himself off the Washington Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The devil and John Berryman
Took a walk together.
They ended up on Washington
Talking to the river.
He said “I’ve surrounded myself with doctors
And deep thinkers.
But big heads with soft bodies
Make for lousy lovers.”
There was that night that we thought John Berryman could fly.
But he didn’t

So he died.
She said “You’re pretty good with words
But words won’t save your life.”
And they didn’t.
So he died.

He was drunk and exhausted but he was critically acclaimed and respected.
He loved the Golden Gophers but he hated all the drawn out winters.
He likes the warm feeling but he’s tired of all the dehydration
Most nights were kind of fuzzy
But that last night he had total retention.

These Twin Cities kisses
Sound like clicks and hisses.
We all tumbled down and
Drowned in the Mississippi River.

We drink
We dry up
Then we crumble to dust

From: Stuck Between Stations by The Hold Steady

No poetry for me.

Freedom Packages

2011-03-23T07:28:00.000-07:00

The Daily Show - America's Freedom Packages
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Again, I ask, what is the difference between Obama and Bush? Bush must be laughing his ass off.

Americans and Poverty

2011-02-24T11:17:00.000-08:00

The bad news is that poverty sucks. The good news is, at least if you are an American, you have never likely seen it, much less experienced it personally.

According to a map I received in our last issue of the National Geographic Society, the top 25% of people in the world make just over $12,000 a year. That means the poorest Americans on average are still some of the wealthiest people on this planet. Would you rather be one of the poorest people in America, or would you rather be "wealthy" in Bangladesh?

Poverty is relative. Americans have been socialized into believing they have a right to whatever they want, regardless of their economic condition. Thus in this country, what we call poverty is more likely conditions associated with over-extended debt than anything resembling dirt-floor subsistence living. I am guessing that if we spent a day with the average Cambodian, we would spend more time being grateful for what little we may have (glass half full) and much less time being obsessed with the wealth of others (glass half empty).

While many will have us focus on the gap between rich and poor, shouldn’t the real focus be on the poor and the conditions they live under? Are they improving? Or are things really getting worse for America’s poor?

Jealousy may get us to focus on what others have obtained -- thus making us feel they (the “rich”) have been “stealing” from us or are under some moral obligation to share their wealth with us, (whether that is willingly or by the coercive force of misguided legislation). As Americans, we tend to be oblivious to the fact that 95% of the rest of the world would gladly change places with the poorest among us. To them, WE are the rich people. Do those from foreign lands have the same moral standing to make claim on the wealth of average Americans? How much is too much? Who gets to decide that?

One of the most common mis-perceptions in economics is the idea that wealth is static: if someone has something, it must then cause me to have less. But this is contrary to reality. Wealth is created via the productivity of people, not just through the distribution of existing resources. (For example: personal computers didn’t even exist several decades ago. Now there are millions and millions of them. Not only has this progression made computer producers wealthy, it has also made their users more productive, making them wealthier as well.) The creation of wealth makes everyone better off.

And while the paychecks of athletes and movies stars may seem outrageous to the majority of us -- especially in comparison to teachers and firemen, the success of the former did not create the poverty of those on the other end of the scale. In fact, in many ways, the exact opposite can be argued. The more ultra-wealthy people there are in a country, the higher the standard of living for the poorest of that same country. In other words, we shouldn’t be considering redistributing the wealth of the richest among us, we should be trying to create conditions that promote the successful creation of MORE wealth.

As Economics Professor Steven Horwitz recently pointed out in an article titled The Poor Are Not Getting Poorer: “One look around at even the bottom fifth of American households today - where children are watching cable TV, surfing the Web, or chatting on cell phones while Dad takes free generic medicine and Mom heats something up in a microwave - shows the poor are hardly getting poorer.”

Yes, this “Great Recession” has been extremely painful, but we, as Americans, still have much to be thankful for. More importantly, we need refocus on creating more wealth and not worrying about who has too much.

More Thoughts on Bill Gates (via Milton Friedman)

2011-02-09T12:59:00.000-08:00

Recently, in an internal company blog, I responded to a question regarding what role a company’s profit plays in its pursuit of corporate social responsibility. The question centered around information gleaned from an article in The Economist.

Consistent with other things I have blogged about in the past, here was my response:

Let me start with a thought experiment.

After decades of successfully building businesses, Bill Gates is a billionaire many times over. Now he wants to use large portions of his wealth to the betterment of Africa. How does he best serve this goal?

One, he can give away his money through various charities, or two, he can do what he does best, build more wealth by creating more businesses.

Think of how many thousands and thousands (and thousands) of people who have successful careers directly tied into the technology businesses Bill Gates has created. He is directly -- and indirectly -- responsible for putting food on the tables of virtually every IT person on this planet, (not to mention multi-millions of others who happen to use a PC in their daily work life). Therefore, is he being “responsible” by giving his wealth away? Or would Africa (and the rest of the world) be better off if he just continued to do what he is great at, creating more technology and building more businesses? I would argue the latter.

Considering the question of what defines socially responsibility is the proverbial equivalent of the “give a man a fish” versus “teach a man to fish” question. Both are good, but one is better.

Wealth is not static. Wealth grows exponentially. Wealth is the building block that creates more wealth. And while “giving” may instinctively seem more altruistic, I would argue, “building” is the much more effective (and responsible) method for Bill Gates to successfully meet his goals. Bill Gates should do what Bill Gates does best. No matter how much money Bill Gates “gives” away, his work in the business world will forever remain his greatest contribution to humanity. And while being socially responsible may include both “giving” and “building”, the “act” should not be confused with the “results”. The latter (building) will almost always give better results. It perpetuates more building.

Making a profit is at the core of being socially responsible. Anything hindering that goal is counter productive to helping others. And taking it to the individual level, all responsibility begins with personal responsibility. When the flight attendant explains the safety procedures before your next flight, she will tell you that: “in case of emergency, put your air mask on first before helping others.” So it is in life. Take care of yourself first. This is what makes you able to help others.

(This goes beyond “financial” profit, by-the-way. For instance, this explains why something like work/life balance is so important. It is not only in the employee’s best interest, it is in the longterm best interest of the employer as well. After all, someone who takes care of himself is in a much better position to help others than someone who burns out.)

Perpetuating and maintaining profitability is the single most important factor allowing a business and/or a person to take on social responsibility in the first place. In fact, that is why [our company’s] value number eight: Earn a Reasonable Profit, is the most important value.

Without it, the other seven would not exist.

Skydog -- The Movie

2011-02-08T07:49:00.000-08:00

Duane Allman died on October 29th, 1971 at the ripe old age of 24. Despite Skydog’s short time on this earth, Rolling Stone Magazine would later list him as one of the greatest rock and roll guitar players of all time, second only to Jimi Hendrix.

Even though I grew up within walking distance of the Canadian border, it was difficult to go very long without hearing the South’s greatest band, the Allman Brothers blasting out of every older kids’ eight tracks inside their muscle cars. Unfortunately, I did not purchase my own copy of the classic Eat A Peach album until I reached adulthood. And, not unlike Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew, it would take me another dozen years or so of listening to it before I fully appreciated it.

Today, I can not listen to this without wondering how different today’s American music would be if we had had a few more decades of Duane’s influence.

There is an interesting twist to the final chapter of Duane Allman’s story. Duane Allman died in a motorcycle accident, crashing into the back end of a truck. Legend has it that the name of the album containing his final contributions, Eat A Peach, was derived from the crash. Supposedly the back end of the truck that ended Duane’s life was carrying peaches. Cool story...if it were true. Actually, according to snopes.com, the name came from a quote Duane made when asked by a magazine interviewer, what he was doing to help the revolution. His answer, “...every time I am in Georgia, I eat a peach for peace.”

Considering his father was murdered when he was a child, the adventures he must of had growing up with little brother Gregg, the incredible people he did session work with, his meteoric rise to fame, and the final, tragic crash that ended it all -- this legend’s short life would be great material for a movie.

I think Mark Twain knew what he was doing

2011-01-31T14:48:00.000-08:00

It can really be fun writing a column in this era of political
correctness and the absurdities that fall within that subject. There
are just so many of those absurdities out there that the subject
matter appears to be never-ending.

The latest of which is the rewriting of Mark Twain’s Huck Finn.
I can understand that there are those out there who do not approve of
Twain’s use of “The N-Word”, but we need to remember that in the
time this literary treasure was written, the use of the word was
pretty much universal.

But aside from the embarrassment, anger, or disgust that Twain’s use
of the word may cause some people, there are also First Amendment
issues with making changes to the work, especially when the author is
no longer around to defend his choice of language. Guarantees of
freedom of speech and freedom of the press come readily to mind here.

The book was first published in England in 1884 and in the United
States the following year. And for over 125 years it has been
recognized as one of the great American novels.

Now, all of a sudden, we have a great need to fix a novel which many
believe was written as a scathing look at racism in this country.
Changing the dialogue in Twain’s masterpiece will not only diminish
the impact of the satire, but take something valuable away from the
basic story itself - the vernacular of the southern antebellum society
of the 1860’s, the people of the time period in which the novel is
set.

All of this commotion over the language used in the book,
specifically the terms “injun” and “nigger” is nothing new. It
was criticized back when the book was first released, and even more so
as we moved into the 20th century, primarily because of its “racial
slurs”. Now, it seems, we are going to change the two words in
question to “indian” and “slave”.

I don’t know about you, but somehow I don’t believe that changing
those two words in the Huck Finn novel is going to do anything to curb
racism in the United States today. And it is certainly not going to do
anything to enhance the original satirical intent of the novel.
All this brings to mind another question.

Just who is it that determines our minds are so delicate that we need
someone to filter what we are reading, hearing or seeing?

I tend to see this attack on American literature as an infringement
on the rights of, not only the author, but also on me, the reader. I
like to think that I possess enough basic intelligence to recognize
satire when it lies before me, and I take offense at someone other
than myself attempting to protect my “sensibilities” through this
or any other form of censorship.

The purpose of the change is to try and get the book back on reading
lists in the classrooms where indignation over the terms used has
caused it to be banned. But a book that has stood as an American
classic for the past 125 years, probably needs very little help
remaining on the reading lists of those who value literature for the
sake of literature. Those who would ban it have trouble seeing
beyond their own prejudices, and project those prejudices on to the
rest of us. And if they, those who would see it banned, hold enough
sway with their local school boards and administrations, it will be
banned from some classrooms.

More’s the pity.

But don’t diminish the work to satisfy the vocal few. The work
stands on its own merits. Just by attempting to ban it, they are
engaging the discussion that the original work intended. To change it
would stifle that vital discussion.

Since it was written, the book has continued to stir the controversial subject
of racism. Just that fact alone should be enough to leave things as
they are. As time passes we are becoming more and more reluctant to
tackle an issue such as racism aloud, and tend to squelch anything
that might provoke that discussion, hoping it will go away. This
appears to be just one more case of that.

Fact is, unless you bring the subject to the forefront and beat it
down by confronting it, it will just sit festering in the background
awaiting a new opportunity to raise its ugly head.

I believe the terms “injun” and “nigger” to be offensive, not
only to those to whom the terms may be directed, but also to anyone who
believes racism to be an evil. But I also believe that if we keep
shoving the subject under the bed where no one can confront the evil,
it will never go away.

Banning two words in Twain’s classic novel can have a more detrimental
impact than you might suspect.

(I wrote this as a column for the 2-3-11 issue of NSN, but the subject of censorship pisses me off so much I thought I'd throw it in front of a few more people)

Taleb Again

2011-01-28T12:25:00.000-08:00

I quote other people often. For one, I find quality quotes concise, interesting and obvious truths about things we often overlook. The other reason is, well, I am not all that original. After all, it is much easier to sound smart than it is to think. Some would call this intellectual plagiarism. I simply consider it edification of someone wiser. Either way, stealing quotes is not something I will be giving up any time soon, especially now that I have the latest book from Nassim Nicholas Taleb scheduled to show up in my mail box next week.

The Bed of Procrutes is a self-explained book of philosophical and practical aphorisms. From the few I have perused, I reckon these will be a bit deeper than what you would find in Poor Richard’s Almanac and maybe even a bit wittier than some of those Mark Twain penned. Either way, if his last book is any indication, I will be re-reading it multiple times.

A sampling, the first three from the first page:

The person you are the most afraid to contradict is yourself.

An Idea starts to be interesting when you get scared of taking it to its logical conclusion.

Pharmaceutical companies are better at inventing diseases that match existing drugs, rather than inventing drugs to match existing diseases.

Thought provoking. Look forward to reading the rest of it.

And yes, I expect I will be quoting from it often. (At least whenever I feel the need to sound smart.)

Being Older Equates To Being Happier

2011-01-26T09:14:00.000-08:00

It seems, when we are young, we spend all our time trying to live up to other's expectations. When we get older, we get past that.

According to an excellent article in the Economist, The U-bend of Life, regardless of how most people view aging, getting older is actually a good thing. As the article points out:

The greyer the world gets, the brighter it becomes...

Ask a bunch of 30-year-olds and another of 70-year-olds which group they think is likely to be happier, and both lots point to the 30-year-olds. Ask them to rate their own well-being, and the 70-year-olds are the happier bunch....

Although as people move towards old age they lose things they treasure—vitality, mental sharpness and looks—they also gain what people spend their lives pursuing: happiness...

Having just been around that U-bend myself, this all seems pretty relevant.

While I was of college age, my oldest brother related something to me that has stayed with me all these years. He said that when I went to my ten year high school reunion, I would waste most of my time trying to impress everyone with how successful and cool my life had become. Then at my twenty year reunion, I may do more of the same, but to a lesser degree. Then, by the time my thirty year reunion came along, I would no longer give a damn and would actually be more interested in just being able to spend time with old friends. Although, I have always seen the logic in his observations, until now, I never realized how incredibly accurate they are.

I am finding that U-bend to be a real thing from my perspective. After a rough patch a few years ago -- the traditional "mid-life crisis", I suppose -- the last couple have been the absolute best years of my life. Stranger yet, even though I am now on the back forty, I am unusually optimistic that even better ones are yet to come.

Halloween 1992 Jerry Garcia

2011-01-25T10:12:00.000-08:00

I just stumbled on this Jerry Garcia remake of Warren Zevon's Werewolves of London.

On a whim, I bought a plane ticket to Oakland so I could spend Halloween of ‘92 with Jerry Garcia. It was his first show since recovering from a heart attack. I met my friend Brad and a van load of his tribe from Seattle. I didn’t have a ticket for the show, but Brad was able to barter for one in the parking lot once I got there.

I hung out with a girl from Japan. I met her in the top row of the Oakland Coliseum and promptly dragged her down to the front of the stage. She was out-of-place, all dressed up, obviously having no clue about the Dead or their cultural following. She spoke very little English. I wore a t-shirt that read: “We are the people your parents warned you about.”

I was a wonderful ambassador.

Fun times.

The Mentally Ill And Terrorists

2011-01-10T03:22:00.000-08:00

Like most twisted logic, there is always a large dose of truth in emotional diatribes. So it is with Keith Olberman’s recent rant about the “politics” behind last week's very tragic Tucson shooting.

As someone who has little political sympathy with Sarah Palin, I find it odd to come to her defense, but I find it disturbing that a political commentator would use this tragedy to rail against his own political enemies. News flash: Sarah Palin may or may not be an idiot, but she did not commit this crime. This event was committed by a deranged young man, not a “domestic terrorist” (unless of course, you believe there is an organized military movement to liberate American grammar).

I am sick of both sides using the word “terrorist” to describe anything that has to do with their opponents, and using this tragedy to try and tie this to Sarah Palin or any other politician for that matter, is simply sad. (Never mind that one of the deranged young man’s favorite reads was the Communist Manifesto. I highly doubt you will find that on Palin’s favorite reading list -- assuming she reads, of course.) Saying Jared Lee Loughner is a voice for anybody -- other than maybe Sirhan Sirhan, John Hinckley Jr., or Mark David Chapman -- is ludicrous.

And when Olberman gets it right, that there is too much violence in American society today, he completely ignores our government’s fascination with this activity. Violence is tragic no matter where it is committed and regardless of who is committing it. While scanning Facebook, one poster got it right when he said he “wishes everyone in America would pay as much attention to the women and children our foreign policy is murdering every day as they are over this horrible Arizona massacre. It’s easy to empathize with birds of a feather, I realize. But that doesn’t make it less hypocritical. Everyone person on this earth has a right to live free and peacefully.” (But then again, by pointing this out, maybe I am using this tragedy for my own political ends.)

In the end, giving this tragic event more meaning than it deserves is not only uncalled for, it is dangerous. As a great Op/Ed piece from the WSJ put it:

Ponder the implication of this. A deranged soul shoots a public figure and we are supposed to change our political discourse and rule certain people and opinions out of bounds based on whatever incoherent ramblings Mr. Loughner published on his website?

Every two years we hold elections so that sane Americans can make a judgment on the policies of President Obama, John Boehner, tea party candidates and so on. ...[Yet,] we are supposed to put that aside and assess what a murderer with a mental illness has to tell us about the state of American politics, government and our national dialogue.

This line of argument is itself an attack on democratic discourse, and it is amazing that it even needs to be rebutted. Taking such an argument seriously will only encourage more crazy people to believe they can trigger a national soul-searching if they shoot at a political target. We should denounce the murders and the murderer, rather than doing him the honor of suggesting that his violence flows in any explainable fashion from democratic debate.

[...] Mr. Obama can lift the level of public discourse by explaining the reality of Mr. Loughner’s illness and calling out those on the right and left who want to blame the other side for murder. That would be a genuinely Presidential act of leadership, and it would have the added advantage of being honest about the murders in Tucson.

My sympathy goes out to the victims of this senseless tragedy.

Tumbling Into Art

2011-01-06T07:09:00.000-08:00

Sharing. What a concept, especially filtered through the eyes of an artist.

Someone shared a post from this blog somewhere along the line and it has since become part of my daily browsing routine. It also introduced me to tumblr, which I find very interesting, especially the sharing part. I am usually late to new and cool things, so I am guessing this has been around awhile, I just wasn’t paying attention.

Anyway, Looking for the Magic is a great example of tumblr's sharing aspect. This blogger’s entries are full of great photography, concise posts and best of all, well selected reposts.

Want to see blogging as art. Spend some time here. It is becoming a daily habit for me.

Don't Look Now, Here Comes Inflation...

2011-01-05T14:03:00.000-08:00

A headline on the BBC today read: World food prices at fresh high, says UN

This can’t be so. After all, if our Expert Central Bankers are fighting deflation, how can inflation be a problem? (For those of you who do not know me too well, I am being sarcastic.)

I love that the UN attributes the problems to the weather and that the BBC perpetuates this notion. The truth is all famines are political.

So what are we really seeing? When Central Banks print money, the first to be hurt are always the world’s poorest. Inflation starts at the bottom and works it’s way up. Trillions upon trillions of “new” fiat currency is working it’s way into markets thanks to our numerous “stimulus” packages. And when you have more and more money chasing resources, the resources seem more “scarce” than they really are.

Think of it this way. There are three guys stranded on an island. One has a dollar. One has a five dollar bill. One has a spare Big Mac in his back pocket he is willing to sell. How much does he sell that extra Big Mac for? Obviously, he would sell it to the guy with the five.

Now what happens if the guy with the dollar discovers he has a one hundred dollar bill he forgot about. How much does that Big Mac sell for now? Obviously, now that he can out-bid the guy with the five, that Big Mac is not going to get purchased for anything less than that.

In this example, the Big Mac didn’t change, money did. And although scarcity matters, most people do not see the role money plays. Yet, fiat currency is the key ingredient when creating inflation stew.

And a nice big batch of inflation stew has been brewing.

Today, the simpletons in the media continue to report that rising food prices are due to floods in Australia, as if there are not floods somewhere every year. Tomorrow, they will report that rising energy prices are due to restrictions in the Middle East, as if there has not been chaos there for decades.

The truth is not that complicated, but we ignore it, or worse, we buy into the “official” story.

Just remember, with what our Central Bankers have done -- and regardless of how it is presented -- inflation is coming. Let’s just hope it is not the “hyper” variety.

Jim Rogers, Adventure Capitalist

2010-12-24T05:26:00.000-08:00

I am currently reading Adventure Capitalist, by Jim Rogers, a favorite investment guru of mine. Traveling around the world in a modified Benz in 2003, Jim Rogers describes his journey through the lens of someone seeking environments conducive to free exchange. In other words, the more free a location is of government and/or military coercion, the more desirable it is as a potential investment opportunity. His perceptions on cultures and governments are eye-opening.

...and I am only sixty or so pages into it.

So far, they have entirely covered Europe. They have spent time listening to the Grateful Dead while cruising down one of the world’s best highways in Turkey -- an American made artifact from the Cold War. They have had dinner with American ex-pats in Central Asia -- men incapable of making it on Wall Street during the booming nineties who now have cushy government jobs touting the world about "American capitalism”. From there, they went on to deal with the uninviting mafia-type culture of the “new” Russia and viewed the repercussions of seventy years of Soviet central planning. The ecological disaster that once was the Aral Sea may take another seven thousand to heal. Once a source of an eighth of all fish in the Soviet Union, it now supports no life, drained dry by Soviet-built dams. Jim also describes being the first human being to drive across China three times. (Rogers wrote about an earlier travel in another book Investment Biker.) The incredible changes that have occurred in the short time between his trips are astonishing.

The interesting thing about travel is that our preconceived notions are almost always different than our perceptions once we have actually been there. Unlike most travelogues, I have found his perceptions of Asia to be very similar to those I have from my trips there, so I look forward to his views on the rest of the world.

Like I said, I have just begun this great read. If you like adventure, travel and a unique perspective, this is great stuff. I am guessing I will be elaborating on it more in the future.

One Trillion Dollars (Times Fourteen)

2010-12-01T12:39:00.000-08:00

Yes, I talk about debt too much. Maybe I am obsessed -- after all, I do have a widget displaying our national debt on this very page -- but eventually, a day will come when even our government will no longer be able to ignore it.

According to this from the BBC, a presidential panel set up to help trim the US budget deficit is finally calling for steep spending cuts and tax rises. Unlikely to happen of course, but at least the elephant in the room is no longer being ignored.

The article shares a great quote from Honeywell CEO Dave Cote's US Chamber of Commerce speech last month. Here is an extended version:

And how much is a trillion dollars? How do we put that into perspective? We work with millions and billions... but how to explain a trillion dollars to someone and how much that is? This is the best way I have found to get across the enormity of a trillion dollars. If you had spent a million dollars a day, every day, since Jesus Christ was born 2010 years ago, you would still not have spent a trillion dollars. And by 2021, that will be our annual interest bill alone!

There are only three ways to get out of debt: 1) Do the right thing and pay it back; 2) Be ethical, admit you are over-extended, default and declare bankruptcy, or 3) Cheat your debt holders, counterfeit currency and pay back your debts in worthless notes.

Only two of the above choices are ethical and legal, but which one do you think our government will choose?

Thoughts on Bill Gates and His Money

2010-11-21T08:35:00.000-08:00

I am an Apple guy, but even I can recognize Bill Gates’ real contribution to society. He, along with others, took a technology only affordable to the richest of companies and helped make it accessible to ordinary individuals. The world’s obsession with the wealth Bill Gates has accumulated from this is even more interesting than his actual story. Not that his story is boring. (In fact, if you have Netflix, check out Triumph of the Nerds, a dated, but fascinating three part 1996 PBS series that chronicles the start of the personal computer business.) But more importantly, how we view his wealth says as much about ourselves as it does him.

First, there is the question of whether he deserves it. The genius of Bill Gates is that he started a multi-multi-billion dollar company based off a software he didn’t even create. He purchased it for around $75,000. What made Bill Gates was his vision, taking the creation of others and repackaging and re-purposing it to fill a need, albeit a far greater need than even he envisioned. Ideas are what create wealth, but even ideas are only ideas until they are actually implemented. The man who created that software had no idea how big his creation could possibly be. Fortunately, Bill Gates did. Therefore, his wealth is proportional to the things he created, the foundation of an entire industry.

The second thing I find interesting about his wealth is how everyone seems to have an opinion about it. When average Americans look at someone who is better off than themselves they seem quick to talk about economic “fairness”. But the fact that Bill Gates has more money than any one man could ever possibly need does not give anyone the right to think they should have access to it or any kind of authority in redistributing it.

I am reminded of a conversation I once had with my Chinese friend Vincent, who questioned American “greed”. When the average Chinese gets by fine with an annual income of around $3,000, why would any American need to make more than $30,000 a year? After all, he mused, any more than that just means you are filthy stinking rich. It is all a matter of perspective, I guess. Either way, Vincent or anyone else has no more right to my “excess income” any more than I or anyone else has to Bill Gates’.

We spend too much time worrying about what other people have. In fact, it makes us miss the forest for the trees. As Economist Donald J. Boudreaux has aptly pointed out, if a time traveler from the 1700’s were to visit the Gates’ household today, he would marvel at the same things you and I share in common with Gates:

...a good guess is that the features of Gates's life that would make the deepest impression are that he and his family never worry about starving to death; that they bathe daily; that they have several changes of clean clothes; that they have clean and healthy teeth; that diseases such as smallpox, polio, diphtheria, tuberculosis, tetanus, and pertussis present no substantial risks; that Melinda Gates’s chances of dying during childbirth are about one-sixtieth what they would have been in 1700; that each child born to the Gateses is about 40 times more likely than a pre-industrial child to survive infancy; that the Gateses have a household refrigerator and freezer (not to mention microwave oven, dishwasher, and radios and televisions); that the Gateses’s work week is only five days and that the family takes several weeks of vacation each year; that each of the Gates children will receive more than a decade of formal schooling; that the Gateses routinely travel through the air to distant lands in a matter of hours; that they effortlessly converse with people miles or oceans away; that they frequently enjoy the world’s greatest actors’ and actresses’ stunning performances; that the Gateses can, whenever and wherever they please, listen to a Beethoven piano sonata, a Puccini opera, or a Frank Sinatra ballad.

In short, what would likely most impress a visitor from the past about Bill Gates’s life are precisely those modern advantages that are not unique to Bill Gates–advantages now enjoyed by nearly all Americans.

Again, how we view wealth is all a matter of perspective.

Now having said that, like everyone else, I also have an opinion about how he should spend his wealth. I would never seriously question the merits of The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation -- because, as I pointed out, it is their money to do with as they wish. On the other hand, while many people look on with admiration at their great philanthropy, I do have to wonder, is this the best application of their wealth?

Bill Gates is one of the greatest capitalists that has ever lived. He helped create a product that didn’t exist a generation ago, one that many today could not imagine living without. In doing so, he has played a large part in the creation of millions of jobs, made hundreds of thousands of people wealthy, and increased the production of our entire society. No matter how many billions he may give away in his lifetime, this will always be his greatest contribution. The most philanthropic thing Bill Gates could do with his wealth would be to continue doing what he does best by staying in the business world and creating more wealth.

From Shanghai to Karlstad (Minnesota, that is)

2010-11-19T06:49:00.000-08:00

While visiting Shanghai a few years ago, I had a conversation with a Chinese tour guide. He asked me what I did for a living and I explained how I touched up pictures all day that went into magazines. He didn’t quite get it until we happened to drive by the Ritz Carlton. Then I proudly explained how my name was in every room of that hotel, more precisely, in the publishing credits at the front of every Ritz Carlton in-room magazine. We had a good chuckle about how I am almost famous.

Playing in Photoshop is a wonderful way to make a living. But processing thoughts and writing them down is my mental release. It is not the act of writing I like. After all, my spelling sucks, my grammar sucks, and my sentence structure often makes no sense. It is the process of condensing my thoughts into words that I love. I do pictures for a living, but writing is my hobby. That is why I do this blog. Although few people read it, that is not the point. Writing is an exercise to give voice to those crazy thoughts that occasionally wake me up at three in the morning. They say people who don’t dream will eventually go crazy, that dreams are a way for our minds to purge all the nonsense swimming around in our brains. Well, I guess that is how writing thoughts into words works for me. It keeps me from going crazy.

So last week when my brother Bubba felt it worthy to use my post-election blog post in his weekly newspaper column, it reminded me of my conversation with my driver in Shanghai. I may have my name in the publishing credits of every in-room magazine in every Ritz Carlton in every major city on this planet, but seeing my words in a small weekly newspaper in northern Minnesota was every bit as thrilling. Thanks Bubba.

What Voters Want Voters Never Get

2010-11-12T02:25:00.000-08:00

There was a somewhat insightful opinion post on the Baltimore Sun site after the election that I gleaned from a friend on Facebook. In it, the author accurately points out the unrealistic expectations of what we expect our government to provide us.

An excerpt:

After devoting long minutes to careful analysis of Tuesday night's election returns, I now know what Americans want:

We want roads and bridges that are always in good condition but do not require tax money for upkeep.

We want world class schools with teachers who are so dedicated that they will work for minimum wage. (Note: the best one should be in my neighborhood)

We want 60-inch plasma TVs that cost $200 and are produced by workers in Ohio making at least $30 per hour.

We want our military to win every war, every heart and every mind, everywhere, at no cost in lives or money.

He then goes on to site another half dozen or so similar points. Curiously, there is an obvious topic missing: healthcare. No where does he mention something about how we want world-class healthcare and we want it for free. Ask an American how much he spent on his flat screen and he will gladly brag about it. Yet that same soul will complain to no end if he has to spend a dime of his own money on his own well-being.

...but I digress.

I give kudos to the author for recognizing how out of whack our expectations are of what government can "provide". Yet he seems to ignore the possibility that maybe government shouldn't be providing any of these things.

Americans have lost the realization that our government was not created to "provide" for us. It was created to protect us so that we may actively pursue providing for ourselves. Instead, we have been conditioned to believe that our right to vote gives us license to steal from each other, ignoring that no matter how just we see the cause we vote for, stealing is still stealing. We take turns at the government trough, thinking that a 51% majority gives us the right to steal from the other 49%. We look to government to "provide" us all our wants and needs, then get mad at "the other side" when they do the same thing.

It brings to mind the old quote,

"Democracy is nothing more than two wolves and a sheep deciding what to have for dinner."

And although I can agree with Mr. Nachlas when he says:

Personally, I want leaders who will tell us frankly that all these things are not possible, that the blessings of infrastructure and education given us by our fathers are wearing out.[...]I want leaders who will tell the truth: that there is no free lunch.

I have to respectfully disagree when he says:

I want thinkers who can paint a picture of a greater America that could exist in 50 or 100 years, and then unite us with a roadmap to get there. I want America to have a shared vision and an understanding that we all benefit when we all contribute, and that we all suffer when we demand only for ourselves.

The simplistic notion that we can elect "thinkers" who can plan our future is exactly what got us here in the first place.

Let's do a quick thought exercise. Think back one hundred years -- no let's just do fifty -- say 1960. What "thinker" could have painted the world we live in now? I cannot even begin to touch on the millions of social changes, innovations and conflicts that have complicated our world since 1960. Who then would have accurately envisioned the wars in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, the attacks of 9/11 and how that completely changed our world view, the rise of the personal computer, smart phones, the Internet, Google, Intel chips, flat screen TVs, Oprah? No one.

Our world is too complicated to be centrally planned. When we expect our government to "deliver all these things", we can only expect -- no, do I dare say -- we only deserve what we get.

When we expect the government to "provide" for us, we get stupid things like governments declaring Happy Meals are illegal. Then we are surprised when our elected officials think they have the right to decide who can marry who, or what consenting adults can do, or what plants people can cultivate. Indeed, the list of their involvement in our lives becomes endless. And we give it to them every time we vote for them to "provide" for us. As Americans we used to be productive, innovative, independent. Now we have become a nation of leeches taking turns sucking off the government teet.

Again, I end with a quote from the great French "thinker" Frederic Bastiat:

"Men naturally rebel against the injustice of which they are victims. Thus, when plunder is organized by law for the profit of those who make the law, all the plundered classes try somehow to enter -- by peaceful or revolutionary means -- into the making of laws. According to their degree of enlightenment, these plundered classes may propose one of two entirely different purposes when they attempt to attain political power: Either they may wish to stop lawful plunder, or they may wish to share in it."

We have obviously chosen to share in it.

I want America to have a shared vision and an understanding that we all benefit when we all take responsibility for ourselves and stop trying to use the voting box as a way to enrich ourselves. We need to stop participating in legal plunder. Until then, we all suffer when one side wins an election -- and it doesn't matter which side that is.

The BCS vs A Playoff System

2010-11-04T04:26:00.000-07:00

This has been a crazy year for college football. According to a great blog by ESPN’s Ivan Maisel, since the inception of the BCS in 1998 only twelve teams have played in the twelve BCS Championship games. Of those twelve games, four SEC teams have gone undefeated, winning half of them.

Oh, how things have changed. As of today, none of those teams are in the top five. According to Maisel, it ain’t looking good for the traditional power houses. “In the era of the BCS Championship Game, only three teams have climbed from outside the top five 10 weeks into the season and into the final game. All three are SEC teams -- No. 8 Florida in 2008, No. 7 Florida in 2006 and No. 9 LSU in 2003 -- and all three won the championship.”

With only one SEC team in the top 10 (#10 LSU), it looks like things are going to wrap up differently this year. Is the world really ready for a Championship game potentially containing the Horned Frogs, the Utes, or the Broncos?

I can already hear the annual lament starting: when will the BCS be scrapped and a playoff system installed? I am with them. The BCS bowl sites could still be used for the final rounds, eliminating their financial worries. And teams that don’t make the playoffs could still play in traditional bowl games. With a sixteen team, five week playoff system, the season would still be virtually the same length, ending somewhere in mid January. And, most importantly, the Championship would be decided on the field, not by computer or some voter’s whim.

It would be more exciting, more revenue generating, and down-right logical. Oops. Logical. That’s why it will never happen...

A View of the World Via The Window of Africa

2010-10-13T09:47:00.000-07:00

How we view the world --and all things in general -- is often inaccurate, distorted, biases and/or, at the very least, incomplete.

Here is a great example. Although I can't vouch for the accuracy of this graphic, it does a nice job of exposing our tendency toward what the creator defines as "immappancy."

As someone with a social science degree, I am a bit ashamed to admit that I would have visualized the US as larger than shown here.

The Parking Lot

2010-09-22T07:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have to admit, I am somewhat of a bigot -- at least when it comes to fat people and parking lots. I have this thing about going to places with big parking lots. I detest sitting in my car waiting for people to back out, or dilly-dally as they move their carts, or cringe as they park in the middle of the road, waiting ten minutes for some slow poke to get in their car so they can take their spot.

This is why I park in the first available spot. I don’t care if it’s a half a mile away from the store. I don’t care if it’s over one hundred degrees outside. I park as far away from the entrance as possible.

Besides, the closer you park, the fatter you are. I am not making this up. The next time you are sitting in your car at the store, just watch for yourself. It is an amazing phenomenon. And I always wonder, do these people even realize this? Ironic, isn’t it? The people who are the most in need of a little extra exercise tend to be the ones that drive around for a half an hour so they can park six spots closer to the front door.

Look, I can in no way be considered thin, but just on this observation alone, I am walking the length of the parking lot.

Only in LA

2010-09-21T07:18:00.000-07:00

Okay. Do I have this right? The future ownership fate of the Los Angeles Dodgers is presently at stake in a high profile divorce case. The owner’s ex is trying to lay claim to the team even though she signed a prenuptial agreement.

Her defense? She didn’t read it.

Actually, that may be over-simplifying it. But this blog, dodgerdivorce.com, gives the day-by-day court proceedings if you want a more in-depth analysis. Fun stuff if you like dirty laundry and wallowing in other people’s misery.

By the way, can you guess the ex’s previous profession? You know, the one that is using ignorance as her defense against a signed prenup? Yes, she was a lawyer.

Only in LA...

My Friend's View on 1070

2010-08-04T03:50:00.000-07:00

I am occasionally asked about my opinion on 1070, Arizona's controversial immigration law. In fact, I have been in a few "discussions" on Facebook about it. It is a subject that doesn't work too well in that format, though. One or two lines isn't enough to explain it very well. Explaining my position takes some time and length and I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Before I do, I thought I would share this from a friend. Although his history is quite different (and more interesting than my homogeneous rural upbringing), outside of the conflict he feels on the subject, much of his reasoning falls in line with mine.

Hopefully, I will get around to writing my thoughts on the matter soon. In the meantime, take this wonderful perspective into account:

I've been digging with a tiny shovel lately. After the national events of the last 10 years I've rolled back quite a bit: too stressful. I have generally been avoiding political discourse on facebook as working in the public sector, I am concerned that it could cause me some professional heartburn at some point.

Honestly, I have not read the bill, but my S.O. has and I trust her interpretation.

This is probably going to bounce around a bit so bear with me.

Some background: I'm a Phoenix native. I did not realize it at the time but I grew up in a lower income neighborhood (there were worse) and went to a fully integrated inner-city high school.

In my youth, I was aware of illegals, generally known as "wetbacks" even though there is no river on the border. I don't think there were any at my grade school. The "Chicanos" or Mexican Americans or whatever they were called then (I called them Robbie or Pablo or whatever) got really mad if they got called wetback, because they were from HERE. Of course some of my Anglo friends called them that because they didn't like people that weren't Anglo. (Interesting side note: Anglos and Hispanics all called Joe at Joe's market a chink)

Once I got into high school, there were probably some illegals in the mix, but the only ones I knowledgably ever came into were the dishwashers at Bill Johnson’s Big Apple where I bussed tables for a short time. They taught a few of us some choice words in Spanish usually by calling us it. The Anglo and Black staff would occasionally yell “la migra” just for fun and watch them all run out the door opposite where the yelling was coming from.

The high school was a bit tumultuous, usually along racial lines, and I was a victim of racial attacks on several occasions, and I had some friends at a neighboring, more Anglo school that precipitated violence in the other direction.

A few years after high school, I went into the construction trades, specifically, painting. On the job sites, only 2 trades had illegals, landscapers, and plasterers (but usually only the stucco plasterers on the housing tracts).

Jumping now to present day:
I live in the neighborhood where Pruitt’s Furniture is. About 5 years ago, along Thomas road near the Home Depot was “day laborer central” on any given morning there would be 200+ day laborers in front of the Home Depot, and probably several hundred more along Thomas between 40th and 32nd street. Sheriff Joe started some round ups, some left. [My S.O. was] at ASU working on her bachelor’s then her master’s degrees. We went to a few city zoning/planning meetings one of which some executives from Home Depot were there, wanting to put in a “new mini-urban Depot at the old Toys-r-us location at 7th and Camelback. The conversation quickly turned to “not if it becomes like your 36th and Thomas store.” The reply was “we are aware we have a problem there.” A time later the signs went up, some of the laborers left, some just moved over by the Wal-Mart, some moved up the street to the 7-11.

Now, where does this put me? Conflicted. I’ve lived around immigrants of one generation or another all my life; I’ve been around racism all my life. Immigrants I can live with, most of the time. Racism I have no stomach for.

Now, as I previously discussed, there is no way that hundreds of humans can get together in those numbers for any length of time, before problems arise, whether it be just litter or if it escalates to violence. Additionally, it was quite obvious that there was not enough work for the amount of people looking for it, and this was before the housing bubble burst.

Meanwhile, the illegal immigrants come in via traffickers that seem to be expensive and abusive, preying on their fellow humans. Those traffickers more than likely have colleagues that also traffic drugs. I’ve lived here all my life and I know, without a doubt, that lots of drugs come through Phoenix from Mexico. Then there is that boogeyman “terrorist” that could come through a border like a sieve.

I’m conflicted about this bill because I am certain it has it’s roots in racism, but parts of it go after “those traffickers.” I’m conflicted, because if I support it, I can see myself getting lumped in with racists.

There’s the emotion, now some practicality:

Is this enforceable? Do our local law enforcement departments actually have the resources to follow through with the requirements? I doubt it.

Will this actually save money on the bilked medical bills etc. vs. the lawsuits that are sure to result? I doubt it.

Will this actually change anything? I doubt it. It certainly won’t get any incumbents out of office in November that supported it, nor, in other districts remove those against it.

Part of me thinks something needs to change, and I would rather it not be my cushy environment. I would like to see “those traffickers” go away. I would like immigrants to come in, but in smaller numbers, and so we know whom they are and that they want to work, raise families, and be grateful for the opportunity and not to sell our kids cocaine and heroin.

Most of the time though, this bill feels like being given a piece of notebook paper to cure the flu I might have. Sure, I might be able to blow my nose with it, but not very well, and it certainly is no cure.

For many, this bill seems to be a distraction to what the problems actually are. Californians seem to be loudly screaming “that’s racist” while they have some pretty heavy security on their southern border. My recent trip through California took us past 4 Home Depots where there were zero day laborers at any of them. Methinks they want those illegals to stay, or at least be filtered through AZ. None of those boycott leaders that I heard invited them into their community, nor petitioned the feds to send their border security resources to Arizona. I find that just damn hypocritical.

For others, the best thing to come out of this is open discussion of the real issues. The legal immigrants that I work with tell me that the process to become citizens is a 10-year process, and full of hoops to jump through. That seems excessive to me. One of them shared a story about their dad loosing or misplacing his green card. It took him 6 months to get a replacement. These things need to be streamlined.
Other items:
Corrupt Mexican government, still
Failed war on drugs, still

Here are some steps that might start to fix things:
Raise the quota for immigrants from Mexico.
Cut the wait for citizenship red tape.
Start looking at Mexicans living in heavy drug cartel violence areas as refugees.
Legalize pot, not decriminalize, legalize, regulate and tax.
As far as the corrupt Mexican government, I’m not sure where to begin there, but pulling a tooth or 2 out of the cartels might be a good place to start.

History Repeats

2010-07-30T10:09:00.000-07:00

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak for me.

-Martin Niemöller (Germany circa 1940)

First they came for the illegal immigrants, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not an illegal immigrant.

Then they came for the Hispanics, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Hispanic.

Then they came for those with foreign accents, and I did not speak out --
Because I had no foreign accent.

Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak for me.

-Dane Nordine (Arizona circa 2010)

Off To The Next Bubble

2010-07-19T11:58:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the doom and gloom, but I have lost patience with those seeking hope and those regurgitating rah-rah political platitudes about re-surging American greatness. I over hear conversations all the time about how our economy seems to have turned the corner. Things are getting better. Perception is reality, after all. If we wish it hard enough, maybe it will be true. In all things, we believe what we want to believe, what is convenient, what suits us best. Confirmation bias makes us instantly recognize those things that confirm our beliefs and subconsciously ignore those that contradict. So goes the economy.

The improvements in our economy remain nothing more than mis-perceptions because we ignore these simple truths: our economy is based on debt rather than equity; we concentrate too much on spending rather than producing anything of value; and, we ignore that real value is created from intelligent labor, not a printing press.

It is becoming obvious we have learned nothing from our past bubbles because we ignore how they came about in the first place. Therefore, we are destined to repeat them.

We want things to get better. Unfortunately, we spend so much time trying to convince ourselves that things are better without recognizing the errors that got us here in the first place. Rather than fix anything, we would rather create another bubble -- this time in the US Dollar -- and rebuild our economy on more false premises, rife with new forms of malinvestments. I greatly fear this new bubble will dwarf our preceding tech bubble and housing debacle.

As a country and a society, we have a choice to make: we can take our current path and delude ourselves that it is possible to borrow our way to prosperity, or, we can take the more difficult path and recognize that we must roll up our sleeves, spend less, pay off debt, save more, and use our labor to produce things of actual value.

It scares me that some of the smartest are betting against our ability to make the right choice. As Nassim Taleb put it recently in an interview with the guardian.co.uk: “I also have an exit strategy that others don’t: I make bets against US Treasury bonds. People lecture Greece about debt, but the Greeks are not in debt in comparison with America; in America debt is uncontrollable.”

Unless we are willing to recognize that our love affair with debt is creating our next bubble, we, as Americans, may have seen our better days.

The Whigs -- Black Lotus

2010-07-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I am real excited to be off to see the Whigs (with the Hold Steady) in Santa Fe this week, so I put together this cheesy video as part of my self-training in Adobe After Effects. It is pretty stripped down and basic, but I gotta' start somewhere. I figure I will redo it as I advance.

Fun stuff. I obviously have a lot to learn, though...

Happy Fourth of July.

Is Digital As Green As We Think?

2010-06-30T11:34:00.000-07:00

This article that Nicole put together for our company’s intranet gives a great example of how we often assume something to be true without giving it a second thought:

“Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.”
“Sign up for paperless billing, help the environment and save trees.”

In the ongoing quest to be green, these types of phrases are seen daily. And as a publisher of various print publications, McMurry deals with clients everyday looking to go digital, not just to save money, but to improve their image with the community as an environmentally conscientious organization.

However, a recent article on MediaShift, a PBS website dedicated to the “digital media revolution” shows a very different point of view on the paperless topic and asks the question, “is it possible that digital media could be more destructive to the environment and a greater threat to trees, bees, rivers and forests in the United States than paper-making or printing?”

Before screaming out an emphatic, “No way!” the article is definitely worth a read. The author, Don Carli, is not out to deter the reader from using digital media as may first be suspected or assumed. What he is suggesting is that consumers should be more aware and informed about the energy sources for both digital and print, rather than making assumptions and uneducated decisions.

The article goes on to show how the energy used by digital media technologies can be as destructive in its creation as cutting down trees for paper. In the article, Carli points out that in the U.S. alone, electricity consumption by data centers has doubled from 2000 to 2006 and will likely double again by 2011. With coal mining and coal-fired power plants still being a major source of electrical power in the U.S., digital media and its ever-increasing use of that electrical power are thus, substantial contributors to deforestation, loss of wildlife and pollution in the U.S.

In fact, while print media has been in the spotlight for “killing trees” for years, leading printer and paper manufacturers to initiate sustainable forestry, renewable energy projects and environmental performance certification, digital media and the energy consumed to manufacture and use it has gone virtually unchecked.

So, check out the article and become more informed about what going paperless and using digital products more frequently may mean for the environment.

Story submitted by McMurry Senior Production Manager Nicole Dean.

Netflix: Run Fast and Stay Focused

2010-06-28T08:33:00.000-07:00

A year ago, my household decided to eliminate cable television.

There were several reasons for this: One, if we kept it, we would feel obligated to watch it or else we would feel like we were wasting money. Two, eliminating it would remove clutter and unnecessary noise, allowing us to read more. Three, although we would miss access to certain channels, we wouldn’t miss 95%+ of them. Four, we decided to explore experiencing life more. TV is an opiate. It’s influence needed to be reduced. Five, much of what is on -- news, dark-themed shows, political talking heads, etcetera -- has negative psychological effects and little positive return. And six, it would save us some money.

It wasn’t easy. Although we can obviously still get the local channels, we miss the plethora of college football on Saturdays and the total baseball coverage during the summer. Luckily, we have some great sports bars within walking distance of our house and not having cable creates a great excuse to visit them. (Of course, that eliminates cost savings as one of our goals.)

The elimination of cable doesn’t mean we gave up on TV as an entertainment medium. With Internet, we still have access to things like Hulu and programing direct from networks’ sites. We also have Netflix.

Oh, the beauty of Netflix. Although they claim to be a secondary source for entertainment, we are finding they have become our primary source. While we constantly have the dvd-by-mail thing going on, we have found there is more than enough instant access to streaming content, all for the same nine dollar a month fee.

They are big and are only getting bigger. Check out this incredible breakdown of how Netflix sees their business model evolving. They have totally wiped out Blockbuster -- and, contrary to their claim of not wanting to become the primary source provider -- may end up being just that for people like us who don’t feel the need to be plugged into the ‘great opiate’.

At some point, we found it redundant to have cell phones AND a home phone. The home phone went away. In the same way, we have now accidentally stumbled upon the unnecessary duplication of our entertainment suppliers. By avoiding the pay-per-view model and ad supported content, we have discovered Netflix’s simple low-cost strategy fits our needs just fine.

Bye-bye cable, hello Netflix.

Protecting Cyberspace

2010-06-26T05:40:00.000-07:00

Freedom sucks. Let’s get rid of it.

...and let’s start with the Internet.

According to an article on the PC Magazine website this week, The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously approved the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010 (S. 3480) which now moves to the Senate floor for a full vote. The article states: “The bill is an over-arching cyber-security measure, which would, among other things, create an office of cyberspace policy within the White House, which would be led by a Senate-appointed director. It would also create a new center within the Homeland Security Department, which would implement cyber-security policies.”

Hooray! A Cybersace Czar! Now we are safe! (BTW - How many Czars do we have now? Isn’t it ironic that “Czar” is synonymous with totalitarian authority borrowed from our Russian comrades, and that we now have more “Czars” in our government today than the Russians ever did in their entire history?) Only the government would come up with the idea of a top-down authority figure to oversee a system that beautifully evolved around no centralized structure.

The Homeland Security put out their own propaganda combating the notion that this bill would give the President a “kill switch”, going so far as claiming: “Rather than granting a “kill switch,” S. 3480 would make it far less likely for a President to use the broad authority he already has in current law to take over communications networks.”

Really? They are claiming this bill would “restrict” the President’s authority? That would be a first. The President already has "broad authority...in current law"? Why create a bill then?

And what in the world would ever give them the idea that government bureaucrats could administer directions in an emergency better than the private sector that actually created those systems?

In fact, in the previously mentioned propaganda piece, the government even admits: “For too long, the federal government has failed to adequately account for security when procuring information technology products and services. S. 3480 would require the government to develop a strategy to consider security risks in information technology procurements. It would be similar to efforts already under way at the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security.”

The bill would “would require the government to develop a strategy to consider security risks”? They haven’t already been doing that?

They openly admit they have been inept at securing their own systems and their solution to that is to have more control over security in the private sector?

Look, risks do exist. That is the inherent “problem” with freedom. Unfortunately, as usual, our government uses fear to create yet another all-encompassing knee-jerk reaction that does more to destroy the very liberties it claims to protect.

Government already has the authority to protect assets already under it’s own control. Maybe it should work on taking care of them first before it starts giving itself any more authority.

Protect the power grid. Protect federal sites. But hands off the private sector in the name of protecting us. Protecting the free flow of information by controlling it is not freedom.

Venture Capitalism Made Easy

2010-06-25T15:15:00.000-07:00

Once in awhile, I like to follow up on the Kiva project I have been working on since 2007. The non-profit site Kiva.org has made it easy for me to fund entrepreneurs from around the world, twenty-five dollars at a time.

I loan them money. They pay me back. I re-invest it to others.

I am currently on pace to fund my 70th venture by the end of this year. Although this really is charity considering I don’t get any interest in return for my backing, I do have the option of pulling my funds out rather than reinvesting them. I don’t see myself ever doing that, though.

Yes, I may be a dirty rotten capitalist pig, but it is just too much fun seeing the poorest people in this world pulling themselves up by their own hard labor. It is even more fun knowing I am playing some small role in it.

For more info on how you can help change the world one person at a time, go to Kiva.org.

Monsters of Folk

2010-06-24T10:52:00.000-07:00

A week or two ago, I asked a friend when I could expect to see another My Morning Jacket album. She said it will be awhile since the lead singer Jim James is busy with his other project, Monsters of Folk.

After giving their album a listen, Wow!, what a project it is. Although there is “folk” in their name, iTunes classifies it as “country” and allmusic.com claims it is “squarely in the “classic rock” camp.” In other words, there is some cross-over likability here.

I will have a tough time picking just one song of this solid album for my year-end favorites mix come December .“Whole Lotta Losin” comes on like a Traveling Wilburys mover. “Sandman, The Brakeman And Me” is a bit slower, but down-right perfect. With the production and James on lead vocals, “Losin Yo Head” has a MMJ feel to it -- just what I have been missing. “The Right Place” has the country-twinge of 70’s rock. And “His Master’s Voice” reminds me why I was so captivated by the power of simplicity captured on The Cowboy Junkies’ breakthrough album The Trinity Sessions so many years ago.

Most of the stuff I like and listen to does not have the wide appeal this does. In other words, get it. You won’t be disappointed.

Henry Hazlitt's Economics In One Lesson

2010-06-20T17:54:00.000-07:00

The lesson of Henry Hazlitt’s book Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics is based on the premise of unintended consequences, or more precisely, that “The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups.” In other words, economic policies are driven by a desire to “help” one group while ignoring the effects those actions have on all other groups.

The first chapter explains the lesson. The remaining chapters apply them to potential policies.

In this age of economic uncertainty, this 60-plus year old book remains relevant. Take, for instance, this snippet. It is impossible to do so without thinking about the trillions of tax dollars our government has dumped into poorly run businesses like GM and AIG and squandered "stimulating" industries in general:

“It follows that it is just as essential for the health of a dynamic economy that dying industries should be allowed to die as that growing industries should be allowed to grow. For the dying industries absorb labor and capital that should be released for the growing industries. It is only the much vilified price system that solves the enormously complicated problem of deciding precisely how much of tens of thousands of different commodities and services should be produced in relation to each other. These otherwise bewildering equations are solved quasi-automatically by the system of prices, profits and costs. They are solved by this system incomparably better than any group of bureaucrats could solve them. For they are solved by a system under which each consumer makes his own demand and casts a fresh vote, or a dozen fresh votes, every day; whereas bureaucrats would try to solve it by having made for the consumers, not what the consumers themselves wanted, but what the bureaucrats decided was good for them.”

This book is short -- only a couple of hundred pages -- and simple to understand. It should be required ready for every high school student. Nix that. It should be required reading for every American. In fact, the world would be a better place if every politician read this book before ever considering any legislation, economic or otherwise.

The Classical Liberal

2010-06-19T00:25:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest tectonic shifts in my thinking occurred several years ago with the discovery of Nassim Nicholas Taleb ’s book The Black Swan. Indeed, it was actually one of the first things I posted about in this nearly three year old blog.

There were so many take-aways from the book, that it is impossible to list them all here. In fact, if you are interested in researching it, I recommend purchasing the audio version so you can continually revisit it. I am constantly reviewing it and pick up something new from it every time that I do.

One of Taleb’s greatest insights is the recognition that people tend to believe in what is convenient, not what is necessarily true. We adopt things that confirm our biases and ignore those that contradict them. People believe what they want to be true, trivializing and ignoring every fact that does not fit that paradigm. As humans, we have an incredible capacity to deceive ourselves. It is how we comfort ourselves from the very random and scary world in which we live. Likewise, we tend to argue to be right, not to discover truth.

Recognizing this has changed my entire world view. It has opened me up to constant change. I now recognize that I know much less than I think I do. It is very humbling. The evolution of my political beliefs are a great example.

Political labels are dangerous. Everyone tends to have a different definition for them. But by my own definitions, over the years I have gone from a hard-core left of left liberal (while in a political argument with my father during my college days, he once called me a “communist”), to a mainstream Democrat, to a paleo-conservative independent, to a Libertarian. But that is not where it ends. Last week, I recognized another evolution in my thinking.

Several months ago I ran into John Papola’s “Fear The Boom And Bust”, a rap video about John Maynard Keynes and F. A. Hayek, two of the great economists of the 20th century. Recognizing I had the same admiration for Hayek and Austrian Economics as Papola, so I started reading his blog, But What The Hell Do I Know...

I immediately recognized we have a similar thought process. (I may be a bit more light-hearted, though. I doubt you will ever find music reviews, guest blogs or favorite recipes on his blog.) As Papola states: “I’m blogging as a way to work out my thoughts and hopefully get useful criticism that will help me be a better thinker and a more open person. Much of my reading and writing is about economics, but I ultimately believe that ethics are the core of any social discussion. So this really is a philosophic and educational exercise.”

That brings me back to Taleb and my search for truth. Because I like to “engage” in discussion rather than “argue” politics, I am adopting Papola’s political “label”. Although I remain a registered Libertarian, I would now call myself a Classical Liberal. As Papola states: “I generally prefer “Classical Liberal” as a label since it provokes questions and lacks the baggage of “conservative” or even “libertarian” in some ways.... for now. I’m open to change as I learn and grow. I simply ask that you, the reader, not ascribe to me any ideas that I haven’t put out there directly. Guilt by association is lame hackery.”

So as I also continue to “work out my thoughts” on this blog, remember, if we are discussing politics, I am not here to “argue”. Engage me, but be prepared to carry out your thoughts to their logical conclusions. Also be prepared to recognize that the way you want the world to be may not be the way the world really works. I am here to learn and discover through inquiry and skepticism what truths I can stumble upon. In doing so, I am prepared to be wrong. I hope you are, too.

The Health Food Project

2010-06-15T08:46:00.000-07:00

This week I had this fun project to assemble. One of my Art Directors needed an image with assorted fruit and vegetables for an article on eating healthy. After gathering assorted stock images, here were her instructions:

• Take out apple or apples to the left.
• Add peaches to replace apples. If some apples stay, and you just change their texture, I’ve provided you with an image of the top of a peach.
• Add to background on left (textured wood background).
• Add to carrot stalks. I’ve added a couple carrot images to the folder if that’s helpful.
• Add green beans. Please play with images to make them appear as natural as possible.
• Take out ultrasound image.

Here was the results:

Pancetta Stuffed Peppers

2010-06-09T08:43:00.000-07:00

My girlfriend gave me a Pampered Chef 7” Santoku knife for my birthday, so I asked her to pick something for me to cook so I could do some chopping. She knows I like stuffed peppers, so she searched for some recipes online to “guide” me and I re-engineered them to come up with my own variation. Since it turned out better than most of my experiments, I figured I would share it here:

INGREDIENTS:
1/3 cup jasmine rice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup minced carrots
1/4 cup celery
3 bell peppers (in my case: two green, one red)
1/4 pound ground beef
1/3 pound pancetta
3/4 cups marinara sauce (I include my home-made version here)
1/8 cup red wine
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 slices American cheese

DIRECTIONS:
1. Prepare marinara sauce: Saute a quarter cup chopped onion and one large chopped clove of garlic. Add one cup of fresh peeled tomatoes slightly pureed, one quarter cup of fresh chopped basil, a pinch of parsley and simmer until it reduces down to a relatively thick sauce, about twenty minutes.
2. Cook rice. I use a rice cooker so I don’t have to baby sit it.
3. Then, get started on your stuffing mixture: Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Saute carrots and celery. Add pancetta, then ground beef, cook until browned and crumbled; drain off any excess liquid, and return to heat. Add marinara sauce, wine, and red pepper flakes. Stir in rice. Add cream and half of the Parmesan cheese. Simmer a few minutes more, allowing for most of the liquid to reduce.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
5. Par boil Peppers for two minutes. Remove and rinse in cool water to stop them from over-cooking. Place peppers in a shallow baking dish, and fill with stuffing mix.
6. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from oven at about 25 minutes and cover peppers with American cheese, sprinkling remaining Parmesan on top. Bake five more minutes or until cheese starts to brown.
7. Serve hot, preferably with a couple of cold Sierra Pale Ales.

Next time I think I will use Brother Jim’s suggestion and try grilling them...

Lies and American History

2010-06-07T11:46:00.000-07:00

I love books that not only expand what I know but also challenge what I believe. Lies My Teacher Told Me does just that. I suspect my political and economical views differ greatly with the author’s, but in this great book, James W. Loewen presents a case against the textbooks currently used in our high schools that goes far beyond ideology.

As I discuss in this blog frequently, people tend to believe in what is convenient, not what is true. Well, as someone formally trained as a high school history teacher, I have to admit it seems we also teach that way as well.

Our collective-minded education system presents American history to our children as a mindless series of over-simplified white-washed myths conveniently excluding any information that seemingly denigrates or contradicts the larger-than-life propaganda that textbooks tend to perpetuate.

Amongst many other valid observations, Loewen explains that by presenting American history as a series of endlessly boring preordained facts, students don’t see the conflict of ideas, the evolution of thought or the alternatives that could have come into being.

For instance, one example the author uses is the treatment of Columbus. Columbus did not “discover” America. Obviously, Native Americans were here first, but evidence also points to the likelihood that Asians, Norse, Phoenicians and even West Africans set foot in the Western Hemisphere long before Columbus arrived. The author goes beyond pointing out the obvious ethnocentric influence of our education system. The notion that the “winners” write the history, after all, is nothing new.

Also contrary to popular myth, Columbus was not an altruist voyager looking to discover new worlds for the betterment of mankind. He was driven by the same thing we all are. He sought greater wealth. His search for gold made him an intolerant racist tyrant and he used his religious piety to justify raping, murdering and enslaving thousands of Native Americans.

The author points out that these facts do not condemn Columbus in their own-right. He was not the “original” slave-trader, after all. What complicates the story is that Native American and African cultures were already dealing in slaves themselves. Like all of us, Columbus was a product of the times he lived in. Rather than hero-ize him or vilify him, he should be presented with all the facts, allowing student to see him for who he really was, accomplishments, warts and all. Students -- and you and I -- should be allowed to make and discuss our own conclusions.

This is the whole point. History is complicated. It is not as clean and politically correct as our indoctrination machines would like it to be. While simplifying it and “cleaning” it up may be easier than dealing with it honestly, unfortunately, for most high school students this also makes it instinctively untrustworthy and unchallenging as well.

My main qualm with the book is it’s sub-title: “Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong”. While the premise of the book is right on, the book contains “examples” of inaccuracies. “Everything” would require an encyclopedia-sized collection of volumes in order to even begin scratching the surface. And although some readers may have problems with the author’s obvious liberal-bent, the facts he presents are undeniably eye-opening and discussion-worthy regardless of one’s own perspective.

This book provides a great starting point for a discussion of what and how we teach and learn American history.

What I Do For A Living

2010-06-04T11:58:00.000-07:00

Libertarians and Oil Spills

2010-05-25T09:59:00.000-07:00

I received a note from my friend Hanad today: "I'm curious, what would the libertarian solution to the BP oil spill be? Trying to figure out how problems like this would be solved."

My response:

It is a very fair question. Here is the “short” answer.

The easiest way to "figure out" the libertarian response to any question is by starting with a couple of the core tenants of libertarianism: 1.) personal responsibility, which includes the acceptance of the concepts of self-ownership and personal property rights and, 2.) the concept that government’s sole purpose is to protect the individual rights and properties of it’s citizens (notice I did not say “organizations” or “groups” -- which is whom the Republicans and Democrats represent -- but I digress...).

Considering these concepts, let us apply them to the facts. The owner of the oil rig, Transocean and BP, who leases it, are responsible for all damage that their actions have caused. So what is the libertarian position on this? Simply put, anyone who can prove that they or their property has been harmed should be compensated by the perpetrators.

Will that happen? No.

Why? Because our government is going to “protect” Transocean and BP.

According to the New York Times, the companies will have to compensate people and businesses for things like property damage and lost business revenue, but that there is a law that currently caps BP’s liability to $75 million and Transocean’s liability to about $65 million.

Why do such caps exist? Essentially, according to the LA Times, government is artificially “stimulating” oil company off-shore drilling by “protecting” them from such damage claims. “Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said caps could be an important incentive to keep the private sector exploring for energy resources.”

But what does this government “stimulating” and “protecting” really do? It creates a moral hazard much like what just occured in the mortgage industry when government stimulated and protected that industry with artificial liability limits.

As a blog on the Libertarian Party site states:

“These kinds of artificial liability limits distort the markets, and basically create “moral hazard” by encouraging companies to act in riskier ways than they would otherwise. If BP’s well causes damage to property, then BP should be fully liable for all of the damage. It is BP’s responsibility to “make whole” whoever gets damaged.

If Congress hadn’t limited BP’s liability, it’s likely that BP would have acted differently. Knowing that a spill could cost them billions, BP might have demanded additional safeguards for their well, or tested their safeguards more thoroughly. These choices would have been expensive, but they might have prevented the huge costs that the spill area is now facing.

BP has said that it will pay all “legitimate claims,” even if they go past the liability limit. The problem is that when it comes to property damage, a court should decide what “legitimate claims” are, not the offending company!”

In my view -- and I think this may also be the general libertarian view -- if Transocean’s and BP’s actions caused the damage, they should be held liable, even if it means they are sued out of existence. Ironically, all the Republicans and Democrats can argue about is how much Transocean and BP should dole out in damages, rather than concentrate on the real issue, making whole those common citizen's that have actually been harmed.

On the other hand, let’s consider what would happen if that rig had been “government owned”. How likely would it be that anyone would be able to successfully seek damages if that where the case? Since government's tend to act outside the law, I would argue that no one would have been made whole...or worse yet, they would have been made whole with my money.

Now, an even more interesting question to me is this: Who owns the oceans? Or the moon, for that matter? I tend to lean toward John Lockes’ views on this one, but it sure makes for an interesting thought experiment.

Laurie Anderson is a Virus

2010-05-24T14:44:00.000-07:00

...or, at least she is as resilient as one. This video from Laurie Anderson is over twenty-five years old, but her new album Homeland, is due out June 22nd.

New Tools To Help Me Blog More Often

2010-05-18T15:51:00.000-07:00

I have blog post ideas. The problem is, I tend to forget them before I have a chance to sit down to write about them. Evernote.com to the rescue. Evernote is a free site that “gathers” your notes, documents, screen captures, pictures, audio files, web clips, online receipts, etc. You can access this service from most any device, making it very handy to compile something while it is freshly in front of you. Then, when you need to reference your ideas, there you be. I just signed up today, so only time will tell how much I use it. I will let you know.

I have blog post ideas. The problem is, I can’t write as fast as I think. MacSpeech Scribe to the rescue. Scribe is a Mac-centric software which allows you to create text documents directly from spoken-word audio files, thus fore-going the arduous task of trying to recapture your thoughts after-the-fact. Besides, I type like a forth grader, which means I usually lose my train of thought long before I make it past the first sentence. Now this software costs about $150 bucks, so I will need to contemplate it’s purchase for awhile, but I will be real surprised if I don’t talk myself into it.

Well, there you have it. Blogging made easier. We will see how it all works out...

Becoming Indispensable

2010-05-13T05:19:00.000-07:00

Managers are very important. They tell people what to do (they are babysitters), and they tell people what they want/need to hear (they are politicians).

Business structures built on the manager-run environment are becoming antiquated. Top-down business structures are too slow and anti-dynamic to run efficiently in today’s rapidly changing world. When the economy was based on factories, this was okay. Companies run by baby-sitters and politicians worked in an environment were workers were replaceable, compliant, docile cogs. Now that those jobs have been commoditized and moved into more efficient offshore work places, the modern American company must change or become irrelevant.

Seth Godin makes this point in his latest book, Linchpin. People need to make a choice: try to remain “a faceless cog in the machinery of capitalism” -- the old “factory” mentality, or become a “linchpin”, an emotionally invested owner of “their own means of production, who can make a difference, lead us, and connect us.”

To bring value to American business, today’s worker must become their own leader.

As Godin so aptly puts, “we have gone from two teams (management and labor) to a third team, the linchpins...The death of the factory means that the entire system we have built our lives around is now upside down.”

Nowhere is this more evident than in the field of education. For decades, we have been teaching people to be followers -- cogs in the “old” system. That must change. We need to teach people to become leaders -- people capable of acting independently of “babysitters” and “politicians”.

As Godin puts it, we are teaching kids to: “fit in, follow instructions, use #2 pencils, take good notes, show up every day, cram for tests and don’t miss deadlines, have good handwriting, punctuate, buy the things the other kids are buying, don’t ask questions, don’t challenge authority, do the minimum required so you’ll have time to work on another subject, get into college, have a good resume, don’t fail, don’t say anything that might embarrass you, be passably good at sports, or perhaps extremely good at being a quarterback, participate in a large number of extracurricular activities, be a generalist, try not to have other kids talk about you, once you learn a topic, move on[ ]...Are we building the sort of people our society needs?”

And according to Godin, what they should teach in school: “Only two things: 1. Solve interesting problems, 2. Lead.”

As always, Godin has written another book worth reading.

Bad Government Policy? Follow The Money

2010-05-12T08:13:00.000-07:00

Money is influence and nowhere is that more true than in politics. In fact, if you want to see where bad policy decisions reign supreme, look no further than this list of influence peddlers. When you can’t compete fairly in the market, buy “regulation” to protect your interests. According to opensecrets.org, the top ten largest lobby groups of the past ten years were:

AT&T Inc
American Fedn of State, County & Municipal Employees
National Assn of Realtors
Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
American Assn for Justice
Goldman Sachs
National Education Assn
Laborers Union
Service Employees International Union
Teamsters Union

Check here for the whole list: www.opensecrets.org

There are some other interesting facts to show up on this list.

One, anyone who tells you that unions have no influence anymore need to see this list. The money says otherwise. Six of the top ten lobby groups are government and private unions. We are turning into Greece.

Two, contrary to popular myth, the political porkers feeding off this cash tend to be Democrats, not “big money” Republicans. The Republicans are virtually split with Democrats on getting cash from AT&T and the National Assn of Realtors, but there isn't a clear pro-Republican lobby group until number 15 on the list, The American Medical Assn.

Now, to be fair, I distrust Republicans every bit as much as Democrats, so we should be every bit as worried about the communication, housing and medical industries as we are about the education and labor sectors. After all, pigs are pigs regardless of what political party trough they feed from.

Third, I find it surprising Goldman Sachs is way down at number six on the list. I guess they don’t have to buy government policy when so many of their former employees are now government hacks. Why buy what you already own?

Too Small To Do A National TV Ad Campaign?

2010-05-11T14:49:00.000-07:00

Think again. Google continues to change our world, now by allowing anyone to buy national TV advertising. I grabbed this fascinating Slate video from a post by one of my Facebook friends:

iPad, uPad, we-allPad

2010-05-10T09:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I had the privilege of spending the weekend with the Apple iPad. We have a loaner program going on at work, allowing employees to spend some time with the new gadget. Most of the reviews have been pretty good.

I also found it a very enjoyable way to consume content, especially books and magazines.

I do have issues, though. I don’t think it is something I would take to the beach with me or generally want to keep track of when traveling. And after being on a computer for ten hours a day at work, I find my eyes need a break from screen fatigue. So I don’t currently have a dire need for such a device.

I have other misgivings as well. Many of the things I like about the internet are Flash-based and the iPad does not support Flash. Apple may have good reasons for this, but that does not change the fact that Flash is every where. For instance, I went to Hulu.com to check out some movies, but no-could-do since their site is Flash-based.

I also find the whole App Store concept some-what annoying. I went to my Pandora page, but couldn’t use it on the iPad until I loaded the “App” for it. Since this iPad was not mine, I could not do so. Why do we need apps for things that we can easily link to directly through the host’s website? This seems to be more about marketing "apps" on Apple’s part than something built for consumer efficiency-of-use and convenience. (But that just might be me ...and besides, I am all for marketing. That is how I make my living.)

Also, $500? Really? Look, I am an Apple fanboy. I love all things Apple and I expect to pay a premium. But with all the current limitations, no killer app, and first edition sticker price, I will be waiting. Honestly, I find it amazing that over one million of these things have already been sold. I, for one, probably won’t get one until it’s price is way less than half of what it is now, or until it finds a killer app that makes it indispensable. Although I have owned over a dozen Apple products over the last two decades, this one is pretty low on my radar right now. Maybe in a couple of years...

Really my problem may be what I didn’t take home with me this weekend. I left my laptop with the IT guys so they could load the Adobe CS5 Master Suite. The Master Suite contains Adobe Photoshop® CS5 Extended, Illustrator® CS5, InDesign® CS5, Acrobat® 9 Pro, Flash® Catalyst™ CS5, Flash Professional CS5, Flash Builder™ 4, Dreamweaver® CS5, Fireworks® CS5, Contribute® CS5, Adobe Premiere® Pro CS5 (with Adobe OnLocation™ CS5 and Encore® CS5), After Effects® CS5, Soundbooth® CS5, and more. Now those are some killer apps...

I just hope Apple and Adobe can kiss and make up. I would hate to see more of their hardware and software become less compatible.

Bachman Turner Overkill?

2010-05-07T14:52:00.000-07:00

Okay, so maybe you haven’t been waiting twenty years for this, but never-the-less, they are back.

Overdriveless, Randy Bachman and Fred Turner are making their return.

Honestly, on first thought, I sometimes wish some of these old guys would just go away, but after listening to a free download of “Rock and Roll Is The Only Way Out,” a song off their upcoming album, I am not really sure what to make of it.

Great stuff? Not.

Fun? Well, yes, actually it kind of is.

I have to admit by thirty seconds into this thing, I couldn’t help but grin. Although, it is the same old predictable sound, there is no doubt they do sound “just like kids when school gets out.”

The upcoming album is due out in September 2010, but some tour dates come first. In fact, according to their website: “Bachman & Turner will be kicking off their world debut in June 2010 at the Sweden Rock Festival alongside some of their contemporaries including Aerosmith, Guns n’ Roses and Billy Idol.”

Debt Is Slavery, Part XXIV

2010-05-07T12:03:00.000-07:00

In his book, The Black Swan, Nassim Nicholas Taleb tells the story of the turkey.

The turkey lives every day believing the world is as he sees it. Every day, the turkey wakes up and is greeted by a benevolent leader who graciously cares for him, houses him and feeds him. The benevolent leader goes out of his way to make sure this turkey’s every need is met. Now from the turkey’s perspective, this has been reality for his entire existence. So why would the turkey ever think tomorrow would be any different? But unbeknown to the turkey, tomorrow is Thanksgiving.

I can’t help but believe this is how most Americans -- members of the greatest debtor nation in the history of the world -- view debt. And the worst perpetrators of this line of thought is our very government.

I know that about every twenty posts or so, I harp on this idea that debt is slavery, but I see people so blindly excepting debt as “normal” that it disturbs me.

Although I disagree with Stefan Molyneux on many things, his video from Freedomain Radio puts our national debt into an interesting perspective:

The Hold Steady - Heaven Is Whenever

2010-05-04T13:57:00.000-07:00

The new Hold Steady album came out today. On my third listen already.

For a band that likes to call Brooklyn home, they sure do like to sing about hangin’ in Minnesota. In fact, on this one, they start right outta’ the gate on the opening track, The Sweet Part Of The City:

Back when we were living up on Hennepin, she kept threatening to turn us in. At night she mostly liked us... We were living in the sweet part of the city. The parts with the bars and restaurants.

And later on We Can Get Together there is:

She said Hüsker Dü got huge, but they started in St. Paul. Do you remember “Makes No Sense At All”?

Besides making me a little homesick for Minnesota, The Hold Steady are one of the few bands that get my off my butt and out to see live music. The other band capable of doing that is The Whigs, who my girlfriend and I jammed to last month in Scottsdale. I had a chance to chat with Whig’s lead singer Parker Gispert at that show. When I told him about of having met The Hold Steady’s lead singer Craig Finn at a show a couple of years ago, Parker replied the two bands were planning on touring together for awhile this summer.

When I got home, I checked out the tour schedule. No Arizona dates.

I wonder if my girlfriend could be talked into road-trippin’ to Denver and/or Santa Fe the second week in July?

Steve Jobs On Apple's Dissing of Adobe's Flash

2010-04-29T08:46:00.000-07:00

I am an Apple fanboy. I am also an Adobe fanboy. Ever since I left my Scitex Workstation behind a decade and a half ago, I have lived in a world where Apple and Adobe seemed like twins. Adobe’s software has always been an elegant fit to Apple’s hardware.

The beautiful world of technology is always evolving in unpredictable ways. Change is painful. Growth is painful. And sometimes it can cause a riff or two.

While many people have thought it was only a matter of time before Apple touch-screen products like the iPad would become Adobe Flash friendly, that time now appears unlikely to ever arrive. Here is a very open response Steve Jobs posted on the Apple website, stating six reasons their touch-screen products will never be Flash-friendly: Thoughts on Flash by Steve Jobs.

He starts with: “Apple has a long relationship with Adobe. In fact, we met Adobe’s founders when they were in their proverbial garage.” And ends with: “Perhaps Adobe should focus more on creating great HTML5 tools for the future, and less on criticizing Apple for leaving the past behind.”

Regardless of what you know or how you feel about the technology in question, it is all the stuff in-between that makes this is a fascinating read. Love him or hate him, the diatribe is an intimate insight into the mind of one of technologies’ greatest entrepreneurs.

The Three Modes of Exchange -- Part Two

2010-04-21T07:28:00.000-07:00

In a previous post, I talked about the two ways to voluntarily part with your property, charitable giving and free-trade. In this post, I am going to explore the more common method: theft.

No matter how “justifiable” the need or cause, taking something from someone else against their will is wrong. It is theft.

In fact, government, by it’s nature is an organization whose very existence is wholly sustained by involuntary coercion. Government produces nothing. It can only take and redistribute resources. For instance, no government has ever “produced jobs”.

The only job a government can “create” comes into existence by taking resources from it’s citizens and redistributing them (inefficiently) to other sources. Redistribution is not the same as creation. In fact, this by it’s very nature implies that something else had to be sacrificed in order to bring it into being. In economics, this is known as opportunity cost.

Now let’s examine how government “pays” for what it “creates”: taxation.

Taxation is theft. This is the most obvious form of involuntary coercion. Don’t believe me? Don’t pay your taxes and let’s see what happens to you.

Now some people would say taxes are a good thing. After all, they pay for schools and roads and libraries and parks. I frequently even hear people say, “I am glad to pay taxes for such things.” Good for you. That does not change the fact that this form of exchange is involuntary.

We often get sidetracked with “what” government is spending our money on. Maybe a new light rail system is a good thing, maybe it is not. It doesn’t matter. The real question should be, “who decides?” Your money and/or property is taken from you involuntarily to pay for whatever program is the latest whim.

Which brings me to the “rule of mobs”.

If my neighbor has something I want, I would never think of just walking over to his house and taking it. For some reason though, we find it okay to do so in other ways. For instance, let’s consider someone who doesn’t want to pay for their own healthcare. They can convince a “majority” to vote for it, thus passing legislation requiring you to pay for it.

Just because the majority wants your property to pay for “their” just cause does not change the fact that the action they are committing is theft.

We now live in a society where the mob rules. If the mob wants to send your sons and daughters to Iraq, the mob does so. If the mob wants to make you pay for it’s pet projects, the mob makes it so. In this kind of society, you have no property rights. Your property belongs to whoever is in the majority.

Ultimately, a truly free society can only exist where everyone respects the rights of every individual, where a person is seen as responsible for themselves and where their personal property is respected. A society where coercive force is randomly accepted is neither free nor just.

Do we want a society ruled by the whims of whatever group is in the majority? Or do we want a society that recognizes -- regardless of what group is in the majority -- all men are created equal, that they are all endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights? Ownership of oneself and one’s own property is at the core of protecting the rights of all.

The North Star News Now Offering Online Version

2010-04-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

Well, my family’s old newspaper, The North Star News -- which was sold over a decade ago, but is still edited by my brother Bubba -- has finally joined the ranks of the new internet age. The North Star News, which serves the upper northwestern corner of Minnesota, now offers an online version for subscription.

It is amazing how newspapers have had to adapt and change, sometimes leaving a wake of laid-off editors and beat writers. Transforming from a print-only pub and getting online to compete with every yahoo blogger like me has not been pretty, especially for the bigger daily papers.

For the more localized small weeklies, the internet seems more inviting. There is less competition, fewer sources for people to get their local news. There also seems to be less demand for up-to-the second updates that the dailies have to dispense in order to compete with other timely outlets like television and the internet.

If you are from my old neck of the woods, check it out here. If you choose to subscribe, make sure you select the correct paper, as parent company, Page1Publications is heading into new territory, offering all four of it’s regional newspapers online on the same site.

The Three Modes of Exchange -- Part One

2010-04-19T14:03:00.000-07:00

There are only three ways one can part with their money. The three modes of exchange are very simple: one can give things away through unconditional voluntary charity; one can willingly take part in trade/exchange/barter; or one can have something taken away from them through theft or collusion.

The first mode, charity, is very interesting. One may not receive anything material in return for their voluntary giving, yet, there is a payoff: the warm fuzzy feeling of having done something good in the world, the afterglow of gratitude.

The second mode, free trade, is essentially the accurate definition of capitalism. This oft-maligned concept is frequently mis-represented today, as detractors try to misrepresent it as the source of greed and corruption. More on that later.

The third mode, theft, is the defining concept on which our modern political/economic system is built: taking from one source and giving to another, usually in the name of “good”. As the old saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Yet, no matter what the ends, I would argue theft is still theft.

The first two modes are voluntary and require all parties involved to participate freely without coercion or use of force. The third mode is only achieved through use of force. People are required to relinquish their property or be punished.

There are many fallacies that can be exposed by these three simple definitions of exchange.

Let’s start with charity. In reality everything we do, we do for a reason. Everything we do, we do because we profit from it, including charitable giving. People who are very philanthropic are so because they find reward in it. The very definition of success is the recognition that, no matter what one may acquire materially, it is all meaningless without gratitude.

Charitable giving is the outward display of this gratitude. We share with others because of our recognition that we, ourselves have more than we need and are grateful for it. Some people mistakenly feel guilty when feeling good about giving. They shouldn’t. Ultimately, giving has two winners, the giver and the receiver. I would argue that is a good thing.

Essentially, those that give do so because they are happy with their lives and those that don’t, are not. Although we need more happy people in this world, that still does not change the fact that what is yours is yours. What you chose to do with what you have is your voluntary choice.

Our second mode, free trade, is often mis-defined. Free trade is, by it’s very definition, free. There is no coercion. Two people chose to exchange their property of their own free will. So why do people hate capitalism? I would argue that they don’t. They just have an incorrect definition of what capitalism is.

In free trade, there is risk and reward. Am I getting my money’s worth? Will I like my end of the bargain? Is this exchange beneficial to me? Those are choices individuals have to make. These choices require personal responsibility. These choices also require we suffer the consequences, good or bad.

Unfortunately, we try to allay that responsibility by getting someone else to “regulate” our interactions. Doing so makes free trade no longer “free”. Trying to mitigate risk creates a hybrid between control and free choice.

What we often fail to realize is that risk is good. Risk is what creates fear. Fear is what keeps us from making bad choices. Fear is what “regulates” our greed. Therefore, capitalism does not create greed. Regulation meant to diminish risk creates greed. The elimination of risk creates an artificial barrier to fear, fear that would normally hold the expansion of greed at bay.

Yet, why do so many people incorrectly associate capitalism with greed? I think it is a simple case of believing what we are told rather than thinking it through for ourselves. It is easier to subjugate to someone else’s regulation than to think for ourselves. Rather than be personally responsible for them, it is easier to convince ourselves that free choice is a bad thing.

Which brings me to the third mode, our new modern American way of exchange: involuntary coercion, better known as theft.

That will be part two.

Spark

2010-04-15T10:41:00.000-07:00

With all the Internet and video McMurry does, it is hard to believe some people still think of us only a magazine publisher...

Here is a video highlighting some of the work done by our latest acquisition, Spark, a New York City based video production company.

These guys are too cool...

The Whigs Latest Video

2010-04-13T10:16:00.000-07:00

I haven't seen them since the summer of '08, but I have my tickets for their Scottsdale show on Thursday. I am ready...

Frightened Rabbit - Nothing Like You

2010-03-26T14:49:00.000-07:00

Some bands start great and coast. Some bands start great and only get better. Scotland's Frightened Rabbit's latest album The Winter of Mixed Drinks is the latter.

Buy it, drive fast and play loud.

Shout Out Louds -- New Album Out Today

2010-02-23T06:45:00.000-08:00

This I Don't Believe

2010-02-14T03:37:00.000-08:00

This I believe. Generally speaking, people are stupid. They tend to base their beliefs on superstitions, ill-conceived notions, and poorly rationalized half-truths.

In a search for inspiration, I picked up This I Believe - The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman. Derived from a NPR series, the book originated from the resurrection of a 1951 Edward R. Murrow radio program of the same name and contains short essays by average and famous people trying to condense their personal core beliefs into a couple of hundred words.

Some of the essays are from the original 1951 series and some from a project NPR put together.

Although I am only half way through, thus far, the book has presented only a few profound glimpses into the human intellect. Very few.

The best one is the first one, Be Cool To The Pizza Dude by Sarah Adams. She presents the pizza delivery dude as a charming example of why we should follow the Golden Rule. I will probably be a bit nicer to other people because of it. (But, I have to admit, I was already biased toward this behavior. I was once a pizza dude myself, having worked for Domino's while in college.)

Unfortunately, most of the other essays were slop. Even some of the more famous authors like Albert Einstein came up pretty lame. He called for “the establishment of a planned economy coupled with an education toward social goals.” Really? Social and economical engineering? That is what he believed in? Isn’t that what the Soviets and Nazis were all about? We need to have the smart people tell the dumb people how to live. That qualifies as enlightened thought?

Anyway, I won’t be wasting any time on This I Believe II. Although, I do have to admit, I will be taking a peek at it in the bookstore. The second edition contains a couple of pages of -- I am guessing -- brilliant insight put together by professional skateboarder Tony Hawk. The rest I will bypass, venturing a guess that there will be very few life-changing revelations to be found.

The Stills Are In A Holding Pattern

2010-02-11T07:05:00.000-08:00

Forming about a decade ago, The Stills have honed an arena-friendly anthem-based rock that is infectious and best played loud. With the release of 2008’s Oceans Will Rise behind them, and the acclaim of being the only multi-winner at the 2009 Juno Awards -- the Canadian equivalent of the Grammys -- what’s next for Montreal’s The Stills?

Well, after making an inquiry of their label, Arts & Crafts, apparently, not much. The only response I received was, “Nothing new to report. The band is playing a show in late February in Vancouver during the Olympics and they’re currently working on their next record. writing, demoing... No idea of release date yet.”

Well, here is hoping that one of Canada’s rising bands can keep up the momentum. In the meantime, we will have to keep Oceans Will Rise on heavy rotation. Here is one of the gems off that disc, I'm With You:

-dane
As posted for noisecake.com

Greg Mortenson's Stones Into Schools

2010-02-08T14:30:00.000-08:00

The latest book to get checked off my to-read list is Stones Into Schools by Greg Mortenson, the follow-up to Three Cups of Tea.

While Greg Mortenson’s first book was about how a failed attempt to climb K2 turned into the fulfillment of a promise to build a school in Korphe, Pakistan, Stones Into Schools is about how that original mission progressed into the establishment of The Central Asia Institute and it’s incredible involvement in helping to establish over 130 other schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

My fascination with Mortenson’s work comes from many directions, namely my love for a great adventure story, my undying belief in the importance of education and my admiration for the power of a single individual.

The advancement of mankind takes place when good ideas win out over bad ones. This advancement does not occur through the use of a proxy -- in this case, the actions of our own military. Gaining compliance from the rest of the world at the barrel of a gun will never stop terrorism. Terrorism will only end when we, as individual American citizens, engage the world directly and independently, with sincere compassion for everyone’s well-being.

This book shines as a prime example. Greg Mortenson dodges the bureaucracies on all sides and, with the help of donations from common, every-day individual American supporters and a rag-tag team of Central Asians on the ground, manages to traverse all obstacles.

Greg Mortenson is an adventurer, humanitarian, educator, and a little bit crazy, but the team he has assembled on the ground in Central Asia is even more interesting, making this follow-up even better than the first. Stones Into Schools is heart-wrenching, thrilling and down-right satisfying. More importantly, it is a guidebook on how we can change the world one little girl at a time.

Who Was That Kid?

2010-02-08T08:47:00.000-08:00

Watching The Who’s Super Bowl Halftime show, it was impossible not to recognize founders Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey. It was also difficult not to watch the guy stealing some of their spotlight in the background. Who was that “kid” playing drums?

With Keith Moon and John Entwistle having moved on to rock and roll heaven, replacements have had to fill their spots for some time now. Not so much the “kid” at 44, drummer Zak Starkey, son of famous dad Ringo Starr, has actually been with them since 1996.

Starkey received his first drum kit from his idol, original Who drummer Keith Moon. He then built his career as a steady session player for bands like the Icicle Works, the Waterboys, and the Lightning Seeds, did some time as a member of the reformed Steve Winwood led Spenser Davis Group, pounded sticks for Oasis and even did some work with ex-Smiths Johnny Marr.

It never ceases to amaze me how the rock and roll world is so intricately webbed.

The Wonderful World of Hockey Dino

2010-02-08T06:25:00.000-08:00

Some people may find this odd, but I have a few “friends” on Facebook that I have never met. I really have no problem justifying this. When you look down your list of status and news feed updates, I am betting you find all kinds of interesting stuff like what your friends had for lunch or some animal that needs saving in Farmville.

That is the number one reason my friends who aren’t really my friends are my friends on Facebook.

They are interesting and add some depth to my Facebook world.

Case in point: Hockey Dino.

After stumbling onto his blog through a recommendation from a friend I was directed to his Facebook page as well. Hockey Dino writes about “Truth, Sports, Liberty, Chicks”, then adds great observations about other interesting cultural phenomenons like collecting belly button lint.

This guy is hilarious.

His Facebook page is a good time as well. His status updates are littered with interesting and often off-kilter questions and frequently receive thirty to sometimes well over one hundred equally interesting responses.

He will throw in questions like: “Can you list the things that make you jealous?” Or, “Can you describe your life with a six word sentence? Here’s mine: My mind is an open book.” Or -- one that prompted over one hundred novel length responses -- “Should the wealthier members of society be forced to pay through taxation, for the poorer members?”

Looking to add some quirky, funny, interesting and at times thought-provoking spice to your social media life? Look up Hockey Dino.

There are Two Kinds of People in the World -Part 1

2010-02-07T10:36:00.000-08:00

Change is neither good nor bad. It is only certain.

George Carlin may have had it right when he said, “No one knows what’s next, but everybody does it,” but how we “do it” differs radically.

There are the pessimists, those that see change as an evil encroachment on their tried and true ways. They are reactive, only complying at the very last minute when they have no other choice, which, of course, is usually the least effective time to do so.

This includes entire industries like the railroads. As Jason Jennings pointed out in his book Less Is More, “if the railroad companies had recognized they weren’t in the railroad business but in the business of transporting people and goods, the airlines today would have names like Union Pacific and Santa Fe.” Instead, they marginalized themselves by ignoring change.

This lack of embracing change also applies to individuals like myself, who on multiple occasions stayed in jobs literally to the very end knowing full well that technology had passed my employers by. Yet, when the doors closed I still had the audacity to exclaim, “whoa is me, poor me,” knowing all the while that deep-down I had seen it coming, ignored proactive action, and was, therefore, responsible for my own predicament.

Then there are the optimists, those that recognize the opportunities that change presents. They are the proactive, the ones that believe they can benefit by paying attention and jumping on the wave.

This list includes obvious big-time innovators like Bill Gates, who purchased a poorly engineered computer operating system for around fifty-thousand dollars and turned it into a multi-multi billion dollar computer software mega-giant. He didn’t even develop the software himself. His innovation was recognizing it’s importance and distributing it to the world.

Those who proactively react to change also include ordinary people like your neighbor who gave up her dead-end office job. Recognizing that coffee was more than a fifty cent morning beverage, she turned it into a livelihood, creating a local social gathering spot where people meet all day long to sip variations of the roasted bean juice and play on their computers. And although many may have recognized it, she took that extra step and risked implementing it.

Change happens. As Seth Godin points out in his new book Linchpin, “This is either a huge opportunity or a giant threat. Revolutions are frightening because the new benefits sometimes lag behind the old pain.” The key then is in ignoring the fear and recognizing the opportunity.

There are two kinds of people in the world, those that reactively and begrudgingly comply to change only when they have to and those that proactively use change to their advantage. Pessimists see change as painful; optimists see change as beneficial. Recognizing this, we can avoid becoming the former and learn from the latter.

Sade Adu Soldiers On February 9th

2010-02-06T09:15:00.000-08:00

"I only make records when I feel I have something to say. I'm not interested in releasing music just for the sake of selling something. Sade is not a brand," so says Sade Adu in the biography section of her band's home page. So after a ten year hiatus and after releasing only five other studio albums in their twenty-five plus years together, album number six, Soldier Of Love, is set to be released February 9th.

Although she graces the cover of her new album with the same beauty of '92's Love Deluxe, she now comes across bolder, stronger, more determined and resolute. Here is the first single from the album, the title track, Soldier of Love:

-dane
As posted on Noisecake.com

The Features Get Some Solid Backing

2010-02-05T08:08:00.000-08:00

The Kings of Leon’s album Use Somebody may have taken top honors as Record of The Year at the Grammys last week, but their influence is growing in other areas as well. Last year, they went into a joint venture establishing a new record label allowing them some leeway in signing and promoting bands they favor. First up was fellow Tennesseans The Features.

Some Kind of Salvation is the second full-length album by The Features and was originally self-released before getting backing from The Kings of Leon’s new label, 429 Records. The album also shares KOL’s Grammy-Award winning producer, Jacquire King.

Check out their latest:

Now with a stronger backing for their latest album, hopefully the band will get some extra light shown on their incredible portfolio of older material as well.

Wooden Heart remains my favorite.

-dane
As posted on Noisecake.com

GM Ready For A Comeback

2010-02-04T09:09:00.000-08:00

As US automaker, Government Motors, is having it’s investigative wing -- The US Transportation Department -- look into new brake problems that have been discovered in the Toyota Prius, GM’s Board of Directors -- The US Congress -- prepares to dictate terms to Toyota on whether they can continue to operate in the United States.

Asking to remain anonymous, a spokesmen for Government Motors was quoted as saying, “We’ve got ‘em right where we want them. With the full financial backing of the US Government, we were able to dismantle any real competition from Ford, since Ford has to actually worry about who they make loans to and we don’t. After all, our loans are backed by the US taxpayer and their's aren’t.

Now with the full backing of the US Congress, we will be able to use the safety angle to destroy any real competition from Toyota, as well.

Capitalism was too annoying with all that pesky competition to worry about, but now that industry has joined hands with government, we can finally dominate the market with our new-found consumer-friendly fascism. With these obstacles out of the way, GM is finally set to rebound and dominate the market.”

Shout Out Loud's New Album Out February 23rd

2010-02-03T20:12:00.000-08:00

Shout Out Louds, the ebullient Swedish pop faves, are gearing up for their next move. The Stockholm natives are scheduled to release the first single from their upcoming album, Work. The first single “Fall Hard” comes out February 2nd, followed by the release of the full album February 23rd, then a North American tour in May, beginning in Wasington DC and working their way across the country to California.

For those unfamiliar with the band, the peppy, yet moody vocals of frontman Adam Olenius often reflect the Cure’s Robert Smith and their material can be as bi-polar as well, effortlessly bouncing between pure joy and down-right depression.

Their website has a link to the first video from the upcoming album, Fall Hard. Also, here is a free download link for another track, “Walls”.

Until you have full access to the new stuff, check out “Tonight I Have To Leave It”, the first video from their last album, 2007’s Our Ill Wills.

-dane
As posted for Noisecake.com

Benjamin Zander on music and passion | Video on TED.com

2010-02-01T14:44:00.000-08:00

This is probably the most worth-while twenty minutes I have spent so far this year. Benjamin Zander is the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. My friend Marna passed this video along to me. Worth a watch, lessons to be learned -- even if you have no interest in classical music.

Benjamin Zander on music and passion | Video on TED.com

Debt -- Why The Economy Will Get Worse

2010-02-01T12:19:00.000-08:00

Is our economy turning around? Despite what Obama and the Democrats would like you to believe, and despite what minor tweaks the Republicans want to throw in -- even if they could -- don’t believe it. Remember, none of these people saw any of this coming, much less were properly explain it. Why would you listen to them now?

Politicians are only capable of telling people what they want to hear, not doing the hard work of examining the problem at it’s root causes. Therefore, we continue on the same course. When the only solutions offered to fix our debt problem include more spending -- not less, how can any sane person expect things to get better?

In the last decade, we have had a tech bubble and a housing bubble, and now, get ready for “another ‘Grand’ bubble,” warns Texas Representative Ron Paul. “The next event will be a “dollar” crises...The addiction to easy credit and deficit defies a wise political solution. Politicians are incapable of delivering the message of frugality, common sense and sound money.”

Indeed. It does not take an economist to figure out what happens when you flood the market with more and more money. Things may seem to be turning a corner, but don’t be fooled. Until our politicians reign in the Fed and stop the printing presses from flooding the planet with US Dollars, our economic future will continue it’s downward spiral.

Also, don’t fall for the so-called economic indicators that point to a supposedly recovering economy. Government and consumer spending do not equate to economic growth. Until our economy actually sees the value in actually producing something, real growth will not happen.

With more money and more borrowing, of course our spending has gone up. Spending borrowed money is not indicitive of an economic recovery. As individuals, we know we can not borrow our way into wealth. Why would we think the government can transcend this economic fact?

There are only three ways to fix our over-exuberant, debt-based economy: 1.) Do the responsible thing and pay down our debt, 2.) Default on our ever-growing debt, or 3.) Print more money.

Which choices do you think your elected officials are going to make? Don’t expect option number one. That would require politicians to not only reign in the spending on the programs that get them elected, but would also require them to ask you to be responsible for your own actions as well.

They won’t do that. They are too busy telling you that you can have your cake and eat it, too. Afer all, that is the very definition of what politicians do.

The Whigs -- New Album March 16th

2010-01-30T13:23:00.000-08:00

Name the greatest band to ever hail from Athens, Georgia. Ok, ok — maybe it is REM, but who is second?

If you live in an American city with more than twenty thousand people in it, whether you know it or not, you have probably had an opportunity to see The Whigs. If you missed them, shame on you. The Whigs are everything you would expect from a band hailing from one of the South’s greatest music cities. The Athens, Georgia trio has toured long and hard for the last couple of years — and continue to do so, and their work ethic is about to pay off big with the release their third album, In The Dark, due out March 16th.

Bold, brash and confident, The Whigs play the kind of music you hope to find at your local dingy, loud, gray cement-floored club. Although they sound nothing like Westerberg’s Replacements, they are constantly compared, probably because they convey the same energy, yet seem incredibly accessible, relevant and down-to-earth. Although their live shows are energetic, their albums don’t disappoint either. Their first two, 2005’s Give ‘Em All a Big Fat Lip and 2008’s Mission Control are the kind of albums you look back on ten years later as a chronicle of where you were when you first heard them. They are the crown jewels of your future musical biography.

If the free downloads of their first two new songs are any indicator, The Whig’s third album In The Dark holds incredible promise. In the meantime, look for them showing up to a town near you.

Check out the free downloads here and their video of “Right Hand On My Heart” here.

-dane
As posted for Noisecake.com

The Non-Initiation of Force Principle

2010-01-30T12:08:00.000-08:00

When is the use of force a morally acceptable principle?

Morally, the use of force is only justifiable when it is in the act of self-defense. Going after Bin Laden was such an action, staying in Afghanistan to nation-build is not. We have moved on from our objective, therefore, no longer have self-defense as our moral claim. If the United States is going to continue to be the world’s policeman, there should be an amendment to the Constitution saying as much. Until then, any further action in Afghanistan can only be considered extralegal.

This self-defense, “justifiable use of force” argument makes our involvement in Iraq dubious as well. No matter how fearful we are of a potential enemy, no matter how immoral they are portrayed, no matter how much their very existence may negatively effect our economy, without the moral self-defense argument, no moral justification exists for the preemptive use of force. Therefore, no matter what excuses politicians and political pundits may put forward, our continued involvement in Iraq is nothing short of immoral.

Self-defense is the only justifiable use of force. Unless someone uses force against you, there is never a justifable reason to use force against them, regardless of how one feels, thinks, or believes. Besides, you can get almost anyone to do just about anything at the barrel of a gun...except actually change their hearts or their minds.

Where else does this “justifiable use of force” argument apply?

How about closer to home? For argument’s sake, let’s say your neighbor has a really nice TV and you want it. You probably wouldn’t go in his house, konk him on the head and take it. At least most people would see that as an immoral use of force.

What if you got six of your neighbors to go with you? No. That would not make it any more right.

What if you got six hundred of your neighbors to go with you? No. That still would not make it right.

What if you won a majority in a nation-wide vote? One hundred and fifty-five million people agreed with you that you can go over to your neightbor’s house and take his TV. Sorry, that still doesn’t cut it.

Although, this is exactly how the Democrat/Republican, Left/Right paradigm operates. This modern adherence to mob rule violates the very core of our beliefs “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.”

The principle of non-initiation of force is one of the cornerstones of proponents of individual rights. The protection of individual rights is the only proper purpose of government. The use of force for any other purpose can not be justified in any civilized, moral or legal way.

Fantastic Planet

2010-01-29T07:19:00.000-08:00

Back when I was a kid -- you know, back when the world was in black and white -- MTV was a specialty channel that not all cable companies carried. For my music video fix, I had to watch a weekend variety show on the USA Network called Night Flight.

Airing in different formats from the early ‘80’s to the mid ‘90’s, the show was a montage of music videos, short films, comedy bits, B movies and rockumentaries. In fact, I think it was the first place I saw Adam Sandler a couple of years before he went on Saturday Night Live. I also remember discovering Laurie Anderson there.

But in between all the videos, I discovered the most mesmerizing and absorbing cartoon I have ever seen, the 1973 Cannes Film Festival award winning French film, La Planète sauvage. Although titled Fantastic Planet in it’s English carnation, the translation is more accurately worded Savage Planet.

The film is about an alien planet where an advanced culture adopts humans as pets. Great concept. I am guessing this is probably where Perry Ferrell’s band Porno For Pyros got the idea for their song “Pets”.

If you have some time, check out this incredible animated classic. Here is the first segment to get you hooked:

Kasabian -- The Lunatics Are Running The Asylum

2010-01-28T06:09:00.000-08:00

Taking their name from a member of the infamous Charles Manson family, Kasabian has spent a decade refining their sound, and released their third full length album last year. Named ‘Best Album’ at the British-based 2009 Q Awards, West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum has also spent some time on the top of the UK top 40 charts.

The new album is something of a concept album, each track representing a lunatic in the asylum. Rollicking and boisterous, Kasabian reminds many of Oasis, though that comparison may be more geographical than musical. That and the fact that they both can fill a stadium.

Check out "Where Did All The Love Go?" And is it just me, or is vocalist Tom Meighan's new look just a bandana away from looking like Axl Rose?

-dane
As posted on Noisecake.com

The Band That Taught Me How To Dance

2010-01-27T07:43:00.000-08:00

Devo. That’s right, Devo, the guys who invented the computer geek look -- even before personal computers were all that prevalent.

Although their name evolved from the concept of “de-evolution”, the idea that mankind is regressing not progressing, they were frequently mislabeled as proponents of the idea. Rolling Stone Magazine even labeled them fascists. Actually, their real directive was to lambaste the de-humanized conformity and sheeple mentality of American society.

The title track of 1980’s top selling album, “Freedom of Choice” exemplified their critique perfectly: “In ancient Rome, there was a poem about a dog who found two bones. He picked at one; he licked the other. He went in circles; he dropped dead. Freedom of choice is what you got. Freedom FROM choice is what you want.”

So what is next for the aging new wavers? According to the bio on their official website (http://www.clubdevo.com/ ) the band has been touring annually since relaunching their careers after some successful Lollapalooza dates in ‘96 and ‘97. Although their last studio album release was Smooth Noodle Maps in 1990, the band spent the end of ‘09 doing live shows of their classic albums, ‘78’s “Q:Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!” and ‘80’s prolific “Freedom of Choice”.

Now, with some pre-release hoopla and the backing of their major label Warner Brothers, rumors have it that the band is preparing to release their first new album in twenty years. With new material out sometime in April, Devo also promises to follow that up with a new look and a cutting-edge multi-media world tour.

Now for the part you were really curious about. The only dance move I have was stolen from this classic clip from the rockumentory “Urgh! A Music War!”. Pay special attention when it hits the two and a half minute mark and you will know my entire repertoire.

-dane
As posted for Noisecake.com

I Don't Believe In Beliefs

2010-01-22T10:31:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine recently made the comment that my religious status on Facebook is a bit confusing. Rather than a declaration of my beliefs, I have a short quote from Nicholas Hassim Taleb: “I don’t believe in beliefs.” As my friend points out, not believing in beliefs IS a belief. This is all a contradiction, after all, he argues.

I actually took Taleb’s quote a bit out of context. It was taken from an interview where Taleb was trying to make a bigger point about how we view the world around us. We use our beliefs to justify our actions. In other words, most people believe out of convenience, not out of conviction. At best, we base their beliefs on what we know, but place too little value on what we don’t know. I think Taleb’s contention is that we tend to live life, then justify ourselves. Our only reason to believe anything is strictly to explain our own existence. We make the facts fit our beliefs, not the other way around.

That is a bit harsh, actually. People often mistake this line of reasoning as atheistic, agnostic at best. Really, Taleb has always been a bit shy at divulging his own beliefs, but one clue lies in his observations that we know less than we think we do. For instance, it is arrogant to proclaim there is no God when it has been consistently proved that whatever a society believes will always turn out to be short-sighted and incomplete when viewed through the spectrum of history. A great example would be to examine Thomas Jefferson in a historical context. One of the greatest writers on the subject of liberty was a slave owner. He may have seen the irony, but given the times he lived in, he had no problem justifying his actions to himself.

We suffer from incomplete thinking. All of us. It is important to come to that self-realization. It is important to recognize that we all suffer from beliefs that are derived from incomplete facts. Atheists and theologists both have their arguments. One side may be correct, but only by accident. Neither side actually knows all the facts, only the facts that THEY know -- what they believe to be the ultimate truth. They take what they “believe” and use it as their final, conclusive argument. There are still facts to be found, new beliefs to be created.

Therefore, to say I don’t believe in beliefs is inaccurate. I simply don’t believe all the facts have presented themselves yet. This is not to be confused with relativism. I don’t believe “truth” is whatever we perceive it to be. I am more of an objective thinker, but unlike the likes of Ayn Rand, who was a devote atheist, I am aware that I don’t know all the facts. Therefore, I can not proclaim something as profound as the existence of God, one way or the other.

Believing in beliefs closes your mind to new facts. It is the very definition of dogma.

So am I an atheist, agnostic or do I believe in God? Who cares? My beliefs should not be used to confirm or deny your own. Maybe it should be said more simply; don’t believe in my beliefs. Evaluate your own beliefs and recognize where they come from, the pitfalls in using them as justifications, and that, open to new facts, your beliefs can and will evolve. The only constant is change. The only way to properly deal with change is reason.

Guest Blogging on Noisecake

2010-01-19T14:26:00.000-08:00

I spend the vast majority of my work day playing in Photoshop, so doing this blog is really just a way for me to keep in touch with my second language, English. A good writer, I am not. In fact, at times, I am a bit embarrassed about my skills, especially considering that a large portion of my friends actually make their living writing. I may be an impostor, but it is too fun, so the embarrassment takes a back seat.

Recently, I had the privilege of being asked to contribute to a new music site called Noisecake. Since I was free to write about anything, logically, I chose to chat about my favorite band, The Whigs, and their upcoming new release, In The Dark.

The cool thing about our new socially-networked society is how communication has become democratized. Everyone is a potential content dispenser. Everyone is a potential communicator. Everyone may be a connection to something new and interesting. Therefore, regardless of who they may be, when “everyone” makes a request, they need to be taken seriously.

So, when I couldn’t find an accurate release date for The Whig’s new album, I emailed my question off to the contact info I found on the Whig’s website and, to my surprise, drummer Julian Dorio responded back in minutes. Pretty cool. I haven’t even made a post yet and I am feeling like I’m some kind of Chuck Klosterman.

This music writer thing is kinda’ fun. Anyway, check out my upcoming posts on Noisecake and be sure to become a fan on Facebook.

55 Kiva Loans and Counting

2010-01-18T09:42:00.000-08:00

Several years ago, I was studying the concept of micro-lending and looking for a way to become an international venture capitalist. In November of 2006, I discovered Kiva.org, an organization that facilitates lending money to small business owners all over the world -- $25 at a time. I was hooked.

My first loan was to Ivan Tenchev, a formerly unemployed Bulgarian who started up his own refreshment stall near a cooperative market in his home town. Although he was getting by, he was hoping to expand his business by securing a $1,000 loan to purchase a grill to make “djuner kebap” (a traditional Turkish meal) and two pancake toasters. Through Kiva, I, along with 39 other people, pitched in to get him what he needed. He, in turn, expanded his business and paid us all back.

From my standpoint, it wasn’t a hand-out. It was an investment, a vested advance into the hopes and dreams of a fellow man. In other words, it wasn’t charity. It was capitalism at it’s best.

Since that time, I have made fifty-four other such loans to men and women all over the world. In three short years, I have backed a clothing retailer in Senegal, a cattle breeder in Azerbaijan, a pig farmer in Peru, a fish market vendor in Cambodia, a teacher-run co-op that supports a private secondary school in Sierra Leone, a woman starting a two-acre taro plantation in Samoa, and a woman trying to create “the number one drinking pub in her community” in Ghana -- just to name a few.

Give a woman a fish, feed her for a day. Give a woman a Kiva loan, give her the tools to feed herself for a lifetime.

Although I receive no interest on these loans, I, do get the satisfaction of seeing my values in action: Passion -- watching people’s drive to make their own lives better. Personal Responsibility -- seeing people create a better world for themselves by taking it upon themselves. Gratitude -- having the satisfaction of seeing good in the world and being thankful for it. And finally, Forgiveness, for the 1.55% of people who defaulted on my loans (I have lost less than $50 bucks -- and that was in war-torn Kenya), a small price to pay for the success of the other 98.45% of people whose lives I have touched in an incredibly positive way.

In future posts, I will expound on my Four Values. In the meantime, check out Kiva.org and have some fun being a international venture capitalist -- $25 bucks at a time.

The End

2009-12-31T08:09:00.001-08:00

Dane's Music 2009 - Part III

2009-12-25T06:45:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

I wrap up my my 2009 music list looking forward to 2010.

The most important music discovery for me in 2008 was the Athens, Georgia band The Whigs. Unfortunately, they have been touring all year and won’t have a new album until 2010. The good news is they pre-released a couple of tunes, so I include Hundred/Million to my list and hope to see more of their stuff on next year’s list.

Fortunately for me, the Whigs did their tour with a band called The Features. They have been around awhile, but were new to me. I skipped over a lot of great songs from their new album so I could include Now You Know (2009). I also had to pick a couple more from earlier material, Wooden Heart (2006) and Guillotine (2006). I have a few of their older albums to aquire yet, so you can probably expect to see another song from them on next year’s list.

Speaking of next year, have a good one and here’s to finding tons of new music to make your 2010 memorable.

Music 2009 -- Part II

2009-12-24T06:52:00.000-08:00

Obviously, some of the best music I ran into this year couldn’t fit on one simple list, but one unique tune that did make the cut was Joseph Arthur & The Lonely Astronauts’ 2007 tune Diamond Ring. It was something I found on a Paste Magazine sampler which prompted me to download the whole album.

On the other hand, some of my favorite stuff was from bands I have been listening to forever.

Echo and the Bunnymen’s Songs to Learn and Sing was in the tape deck of my ‘74 Impala when I made the move from Minnesota to Arizona back in ‘87. They released a new album in ‘09. Included from this was Think I Need It Too and Do You Know Who I Am? (2009).

Another staple in my collection is Cracker. Funny, quirky, intelligent alt/country, this stuff has been making me laugh for almost two decades. Their latest release is represented here with Turn On Tune In Drop Out With Me and Show Me How This Thing Works (2009). The latter is a song about some strange contraption that falls from space and can apparently do just about anything:

Will it make me rich, will it get me high, Will it look good with the rest of my furniture, Will it make a soft and pleasing tone at night (oh, oh, oh), Will it heal the sick, will it feed the poor, Will it give me everything I ever dreamed of....Show me how this thing works...

On the mellower side, there is another old favorite of mine that put out a new one in ‘09. David Gray is represented on the list with Stella The Artist (2009) and one from his Greatest Hits a couple years back that I had over-looked, You’re The World To Me (2007).

In my next and final post about my 2009 music list, I will wrap things up with a rundown on my absolute favorite finds of 2009.

Dane's Music List 2009

2009-12-23T13:21:00.000-08:00

Well, another year, another “Best of” music list. I put one together every year, but mine is decidedly different than most. My list is more representative of what I was listening to over the course of the year, rather than an exclusive list of what was “best” in 2009, so I include stuff that I missed when it originally came out. This year’s list is decidedly mellower than usual as well. I must be getting old.

The oldest selection on my list is Nuclear Love Machine (1995) by The Ugly Americans. I came across this while looking for something Cracker-ish. There is a great Southern feel here and this tune has some Allman Brothers sounding guitar licks in it.

The Ugly Americans were fronted by Bob Schneider. I include his 2009 release 40 Dogs on my list as well.

The next oldest tune on my list is John Mayer’s City Love (2001). I may have overlooked him in the past because he was a bit too mellow for me back then. Not so much anymore. I love the jazzy feel of this song and some great lyrics: “She keeps her toothbrush at my place, as if I have the extra space.”

Not to get too serious, I also included a great new one from Philadelphia’s Canadian Invasion, Standing on the Shoulders of the Carcass of John Mayer (2009).

Another older tune included is the Candyskins’ Monday Morning (2004). I knew these guys from their Wembley tune, but digging deeper, I cannot figure out how these guys didn’t get bigger than they did.

I have always been a Hothouse Flowers fan, but kind of forgot about them after the ‘90’s. I rectified that by finding a new one from this decade and included Your Love Goes On (2004) to this year’s list.

Another ‘90’s favorite, The Wonder Stuff, has also been rediscovered. I include Tricks of the Trade (2006). It is impossible to listen to this song without hearing Cheap Trick.

Another "older" tune is from Nik Kershaw, Already (2001).

The last song to make the list that didn’t have some kind of 2009 connection is the Shout Out Louds’ Tonight I Have To Leave It (2007). I stumbled on these Scandahoovian popsters earlier this year. They have a catchy Cure kind of sound.

Well, not to get too long-winded, I will chat about the newer stuff from my 2009 music list in my next post....

Merry Christmas everyone.

The Great "Rowdy" Roddy Piper

2009-12-22T03:45:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I wake up at four in the morning with the weirdest things on my mind. Today, it was the movie They Live, starring "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, the great Canadian pro wrestler. The movie contains the greatest six minute fight scene ever put on film. It is spurred on by Roddy's opponent's refusal to put on a pair of sunglasses. If you refuse to see anything less than Academy Award material, this movie is a must-see.

Learning to Learn

2009-12-19T12:32:00.000-08:00

Sorry for repeating myself, but I love these "Did You Know" videos. These videos shed a light on the fact that we must be open to change or risk becoming obsolete. Learning to learn is more important than knowing, because what we don't know is more important than what we already do know. The world is about to get much crazier as knowledge expands exponentially.

Also, India and China may be the largest English speaking countries in the world, but we would being doing your children a favor by having them learn Mandarin.

The Dismantling of Tiger Woods

2009-12-10T04:32:00.000-08:00

Why are people so obsessed with Tiger Wood’s infidelities? Sure, it’s hard to turn your head away from a train wreck, but why? In large part, we tend to measure ourselves by the actions of others. We watch someone go down in flames -- especially if they seem to have it all -- and we feel a bit better about our own miserable existences.

I tend not to watch the news, so I have been able to stay away from most of the sordid details. With that in mind, my thoughts on the topic are pretty limited.

When the story broke, one of my friends made a post on Facebook about how disappointed she was with Tiger’s discretion. Another friend commented that Tiger’s wife should have seen it coming. After all, Tiger is famous and his wife obviously must be a gold digger and couldn’t have been so naïve. Tiger must have women throwing themselves at him constantly, he argued, and no man could resist that constant temptation. I have never been rich, famous, or that good-looking, so I guess I will never know.

I think many people overlook the obvious nugget in this story, though. It is the question of integrity. Tiger’s mistake wasn’t that he was sleeping around on his wife -- if people want to have a open marriage, that’s their business -- it was that he didn’t have an honest conversation with his wife going into the marriage. Granted, people can also have a change of heart during their marriage (I speak from personal experience on that one), but Tiger was too small of a man to have an honest conversation even then.

If Tiger wanted to sleep around, he should have been man enough to tell his wife, allowing her to decide whether she wanted to stay with him or not. Tiger should have been honest with her. The value of honesty doesn’t change just because fame and a large bank account are involved. If you don’t respect the most important person in your life, how can you respect yourself? And without self-respect, where is the integrity? In the toilet.

Most people think the opposite of honesty is dishonesty. Really, the more accurate antonym is chicken-shit. People who are not honest are scared -- scared of the consequences that honesty may bring. True alpha males aren’t scared. Even with all he has and all he is, Tiger was a chicken-shit. I guess that just makes Tiger another beta.

The World is Changing

2009-12-05T12:49:00.000-08:00

One of my bosses shared the original version of this video with us. This is the second in the series, but I think they may be up to 4 or 5 now. I have not verified any of the facts presented here -- and I hate sharing things without having a good feel for their accuracy -- but this is thought provoking regardless.

If you find this interesting, I recommend spending a few minutes on You Tube tracking down the rest of them...

You Weren’t Born Here, The Police Brought You

2009-12-04T06:11:00.000-08:00

I was preparing for a road trip to California recently and was looking around for something different to pop into the CD player when I ran across an old Bill Cosby bit I remember listening to with my buddy Scott when I was a kid.

I only had time to download To Russell, My Brother, Whom I Slept With, but after listening to it, the consensus in the car was that I should download more Cosby for next time. Mr. Cosby’s stuff is classic, and with a ten year old around, being able to listen to a comedian that can pull off his craft without resorting to adult language and themes is a bonus.

The truly awesome thing about this album is you can download it in it’s entirety off of Amazon for $4.95. Better still, you can just get the best part, the 27 minute title track for a mere 99 cents. Well worth your buck. Or if you are dirt cheap, you can listen to it now on iLike.

On Global Warming

2009-12-03T07:05:00.000-08:00

The politics and pseudo-science behind the issue of global warming (or is it politically correct to call it climate change?) make it almost impossible to have an opinion on the issue without “picking sides”. If you believe man is making the polar ice caps melt by using gas-powered leaf blowers, then, it is assumed you must logically conclude that all governments must join together to ban fast food hamburgers. On the other hand, if you ignore the glorious wisdom of our great spokesmen on this subject, you must be a quack. After all, who can argue with the man who invented the internet.

I have concluded -- like what the Republicans and Democrats are to politics -- so are the scientists on both side of this debate. They are all wrong.

First of all, both sides twist the data to verify their own conclusions. For every one of those charts scientists claim as conclusive evidence, there is someone on the other side that can re-configure them into opposite conclusions. On top of that, we, as humans, are very bad at determining cause and effect and are even more inept at accurately defining correlations between complicated phenomena. We also tend to arrogantly think we know more than we really do. If all the knowledge we have about global warming could fit on a grain of sand, what we don’t know would encompass the entire earth. Yet we continue to spew at facts as if we have some omnipotent insight into them.

Secondly, we ignore that every generation conjures up it’s own earth-ending disaster scenario. There was communist global domination, the population bomb, various world pandemic hysterias, and -- one that may actually still deserve some real attention -- nuclear annihilation.

We live in a dangerous world. We calm ourselves by thinking we -- or more dangerously -- our fuhrers can do anything about it. Treaties don’t work. Ask the Native Americans. It is simple arrogance to think that we can mandate away global warming any more than we can world hunger. Giving up sovereignty for safety has never worked. But fear works. Real or not, political power depends on it.

So, what to do? The science on both sides is iffy and the potential political solutions are even worse. And even if you do believe one side has the monopoly on truth, that does not mean that side's solution shouldn't be scrutinized.

How about this? Let’s all agree that we don’t know it all. Let’s not shoot first, ask questions later. Let’s not put guns to people’s heads and tell them what vehicle they can drive, whether they can travel, or that they can’t eat red meat. Let's not create new carbon taxes and regulations to stick it to the productive people of this world.

Here’s a novel idea, let’s agree that we all like clean air, water, and land and start showing some respect for those things -- regardless of where one may stand politically or scientifically. Even if you are on the side that doesn't believe man’s activity is in some way responsible for climate change, let’s be prudent and take care of our resources, stop buying crap we don’t need and casting off our used consumer goods haphazardly.

And finally, let’s stop picking sides and just do what is right in our own households. Let’s start there before using our governments to self-righteously demand others half way around the globe to bow down to our version of justice. After all, those people on the other side of the world are the ones buying up our debt, allowing us to continue our over-consumption, debt-ridden lifestyles.

We ain’t that holy.

Greatest Appetizer Ever

2009-11-14T17:16:00.000-08:00

Whenever there is a party, I request that Nicole make these. She generally makes at least 48 or so, just in case someone other than me wants some, too. I guess I have inherited my Brother Bubba's taste for spice. The Parmesan cheese creates a great golden crust.

Jalapeno Poppers

4 oz. cream cheese
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
2 Tbsp. Mayonnaise
8 medium jalapeno peppers
Shredded Parmesan cheese to top poppers

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat large baking pan with cooking spray. In medium bowl, combine cream cheese, cheddar cheese and mayo. Halve jalapenos lengthwise and remove seeds. Stuff halves with cream cheese mixture.
Sprinkle Parmesan cheese to cover (this will brown and create a cover to keep everything inside). Bake until bubbly, about 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Cranberry Chicken

2009-11-11T06:41:00.000-08:00

Variations of this Cranberry Chicken recipe can be found all over the internet, but this is the one Nicole makes at our house. The first time she said she was going to make it, I didn't think I would like it. Now I am addicted and can hardly go more than a week without it.

You can serve it with rice, noodles, or our favorite standby, mashed potatoes.

It is so simple, anyone can make it -- even me.

Cranberry Chicken

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 - 16 oz can of whole cranberries
1 cup Catalina dressing
1 package onion soup mix

Mix the cranberries, dressing and soup mix together in a baking dish. Add chicken breasts. Spoon sauce over chicken to keep moist while baking. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour.

Richard P. Feynman

2009-11-07T07:15:00.000-08:00

Recently, my sister cleaned off her bookshelf and sent me a box of random books. The first one I am working my way through is a collection of short works by physicist Richard P. Feynman called The Pleasures of Finding Things Out.

Not being all that bright myself, I can become obsessively fascinated by the thinking process of smart people. (My daily life is still influenced by Nicolas Taleb's works. See my Black Swan post from 2007.) There always seems to be some common themes with smart people (not to be confused with people who want you to think they are smart).

They are naturally humble. They have to be. They are so smart that they understand how much they don't know. That makes them humble.

They are funny. When you are smart, apparently absurdities present themselves everywhere. People, especially those that take themselves too seriously -- or think they do actually understand something they don't -- make for easy targets.

They have a skeptical outlook on anything or anyone pretending to be an authority. Anyone wearing a suit, uniform, or gown are all to be distrusted -- even disrespected.

And finally, they are more interested in truth than in being right. We mere mortals always have to have "the answers". We need to justify our existence. We need to have explanations for everything -- a why for every what. Smart people don't suffer from this affliction. Where Taleb eloquently explains that we are fooled by randomness and suffer from a need to have to make it all make sense -- even at the point of making up half-truths to placate ourselves, Feynman explains his total comfort with the unknown.

"You see, one thing is, I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong. I have approximate answers and possible beliefs and different degrees of certainty about different things, but I am not absolutely sure of anything and there are many things I don't know anything about..."

Now I am off to get a little smarter. I think I will go pick up another Feynman book, maybe Surely You Are Joking, Mr. Feynman.

Well, That Is A Deep Subject

2009-10-21T23:20:00.000-07:00

I better log on and write something before I forget my blog's password or my writing skills deteriorate beyond redemption. I missed the month of August completely and, if it hadn't been for my current bout of insomnia, I would have probably missed writing anything in October as well.

So what things of great importance have I stumbled upon in my bloglessness? Nothing really. It is just that, for some unknown reason, I tend to have little interest in writing right now and what I do have to write about seems hardly blog worthy. I guess that shouldn't stop me. I generally use this blog more as a personal journal than a useful site for the dissemination of any kind of relevant information anyway.

In fact, I am frequently reminded of a story told by a guest speaker at one of my technology networking group meetings. While many people over-hype the importance of the blogosphere as the rise of some kind of "new" journalism, he likened it to being more of a masculine version of scrapbooking. The more I think about it, the more I think he is right, except of course that scrapbooking tends to include more accurate information.

Anyway, I am off to bed for now. Come to think of it, I do have some books, movies and charity stuff to blog about, so I will be back soon. After all, it ain't scapbooking, but it's still a hobby...

Reading, Listening, Not Writing

2009-09-02T08:33:00.000-07:00

I haven’t written much lately, but I have been very busy burying myself in a cornucopia of books and audio educational information.

I am currently reading a best seller from a couple of years ago: A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. Having recently read Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, I was pressed to find another book relevant to the world outside of the central corridor of Phoenix, Arizona.

Ishmael Beah’s book is an autobiography of his life as a twelve year old in war-torn Sierra Leone, from innocent child to ruthless killer and eventual redemption. It is a great read and insight to a familiar theme. The stark contrast of innocent child versus the stark utter evil of war reminds me of other reads, in particular, The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski or even Cormac McCarthy’s novel (and soon to be movie) The Road. If you need a break from the “great” difficulties we face today in America, A Long Way Gone will help put them into perspective.

In fact, all this has reminded me of another book my Grandma Em made me read as a kid, Corrie ten Boom’s The Hiding Place. Somewhat reminiscent of The Diary of Anne Frank--and also set in WWII Europe--this book also deals with the evils of war.

I will have lots of other reading to do as well. I haven’t read a political/economic book in months. I am also looking forward to receiving my collection of books from cousin-in-law author Cindy Thomson. More on that later.

I have also been working my way through an audio Yale Political Philosophy course I stumbled on in iTunes. I whipped through Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Machiavelli, but have stalled a bit on Hobbes. I am guessing I am just losing interest because I am so looking forward to the lessons on Locke and Tocqueville coming up.

I have also downloaded a free Yale course on The Civil War, but haven’t started that yet. So much to do, so little time...

I am astounded at all the free audio podcasts and books you can find on iTunes and other places and will be chronicling more on that later as well.

The Housing Bubble Explained

2009-07-16T09:04:00.000-07:00

Clarity in decision making requires that you first accurately define the problem. When it comes to the housing bubble, no one does that better than Peter Schiff.

Episode 104. Peter Schiff: Why Was Anyone Surprised By the Crash?
(scroll down to episode 104)

In this podcast from a couple of months ago, Peter Schiff explains the bubbles (Internet and Housing) that created our current economic collapse. It is over an hour long, but if you find the time to listen to it, you will never see your home in the same way again.

This podcast has also left me scratching my head over what the current administration is doing.

How can they think they can fix something without understanding why it failed in the first place?

What happened to the grand idea of "change"?

Our current government's only answer to our economic woes is to prop up the failed policies of past administrations...

Re-inflating the bubble will not work.

Politicians Will Not Save This Economy

2009-07-15T15:29:00.000-07:00

I have often been accused of being “idealistic” and even “Utopian” in my libertarian beliefs that an individual’s self-interest can steer our economy without the superior hand of government regulation. Humankind is inherently evil, after all, isn’t it?

Greed exists in all systems. Why then do people erroneously believe that once elected to government, politicians some how become pure “angels” with no ulterior motives but to do what is right? I believe, very un-Utopian-like, that government bureaucrats are every bit as greedy as their fellow citizens, those they propose to regulate.

This clip of Milton Friedman on the Donahue Show a few decades ago goes a long way to sum up why I believe those who question my idealism are really the one’s possessing the “Utopian” view. After all, an individual’s self interest -- or greed, as some may call it -- is self-regulated by fear and and the task of managing risk. Beyond that, there are already laws to throw those who commit fraud or theft into jail, and therefore, no need for further regulation that does not directly address protecting the individual rights of others.

As for those who propose more government over site, imperialistic regulation, and czar-like central planning as a way of "stopping" greed, “where in the world do you find these “angels” who are going to organize society for us?” I am sorry to report, but these uber-human beings (who are somehow excluded from the common mortal’s desires and process no greed or self-interest) do not exist. It is indeed, Utopian to believe one person can understand, much less fairly regulate, another person’s desires.

AIG and the Blame Game

2009-07-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

A friend posted a great article from Vanity Fair about the insiders at A.I.G. on Facebook.

Though it may be accurate, the article seems to miss the forest for the trees. I can't help but feel the article blames the players, rather than the game itself. Here are my thoughts on it:

In his efforts to rightfully exonerate Jake DeSantis's role at AIG, Lewis wrongfully shifts the blame on the insecurities of Joseph Cassano. Cassano was a dupe, just a sucker unlucky enough to be holding the bag in the end. Whether AIG took on all these credit-default swaps themselves or, as Lewis points out, someone else did-- “There was no real reason that company had to be A.I.G.; it could have been any AAA-rated entity with a huge balance sheet. Berkshire Hathaway, for instance, or General Electric. A.I.G. just got there first.” --isn’t the issue now that it is time to assess blame for the “greed” that created this. These were all just players playing a game created by someone else. That “someone else” is the Federal Reserve.

And Lewis does touch on the real culprit in all this mess. “In the run-up to the financial crisis there were several moments when an intelligent, disinterested observer might have realized that the system was behaving strangely. Maybe the most obvious of these was the effects of U.S. monetary policy on borrowing and lending. The combination of the dot-com bust and the 9/11 attacks had led Alan Greenspan to pump money into the system, and to lower interest rates.” Low interest rates created the atmosphere in which these institutions had to operate.

The Federal Reserve--an unregulated, unauditable private entity, kept interest rates artificially low to “stimulate” the economy, which forced financial institutions to seek out higher risks to make profits. The only thing that can truly “regulate” greed is fear. The Fed removed that up front. Higher interest rates would have “slowed” the economy, but given financial institutions the opportunity to make their profits on more quality investments.

Now out of fear of systemic risk the government continues to subsidize this greedy behavior by backing these (“too big to fail”) bad investments. What incentive does anyone have to fear risk, knowing the government will be there to put them on life support when things go bad? If something is rotten, it should be allowed to fail. Then next time, fear will actually be allowed to do it’s job: regulating greed.

And if those in congress are truly upset by these people getting huge bonuses, they should stop taking the contribution checks THEY receive from these institutions. They are all hypocrites pointing fingers at each other. Wall Street, The Federal Reserve, and government intervention all deserve the blame for this crisis and, just as importantly, it’s future continuation. None of these groups want to “fix” anything. They all get their money from this faulty system and we, the common citizens are left paying for it.

BTW- the three biggest recipients of cash from AIG in the last election cycle? Obama, Dodd, and McCain.

http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/toprecips.php?id=D000000123

Be Independent

2009-07-04T14:48:00.000-07:00

"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect." -Mark Twain

Happy Independence Day

The Upside of This Economy

2009-07-02T07:46:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about my brother Bubba's column (and post from a couple of weeks ago) about how we spend too much time worrying about money, but I can't say I completely agree. Although it is not something to be obsessed about, neither is it something to be ignored.

Money is, simply put, a tool.

Money, when not wasted on things you do not need, is an instrument to be used to attain one's own personal freedom. In Timothy Ferriss's book, The 4-Hour Work Week, he explains people don't want to be millionaires, they want to live like millionaires. Big difference. (And more on that book on future posts -- I just started reading it.)

Like any good tool, if you want it to work for you, it must be taken care of, even respected. A great place to start? Saving. Here is a great eHow blog I stumbled upon this morning. I especially like Step One, Step Seven, and Step Ten. Check 'em out.

The best thing about this economy is that it has gotten people away from mindless consumption. People are now actually stepping back and evaluating the things that are really important.

Money is not something we should spend our lives pursuing, but something we should use to pursue the lives we want to live.

And Now For Something Really Important

2009-07-01T21:35:00.000-07:00