Guard Dog

Now reading We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson. If you like US History & Baseball it is definitely worth a look. Also reading Among Others by Jo Walton. I think you guys might like this one. It's a little sci-fi with a little modern fantasy. I just started it but it is very unusual. It sort of reminds me of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell only not as cumbersome.

My dog Leah passed away in her sleep this morning. She was fifteen years old. She came to me as a foster dog with fear issues seven years ago when I lived in Florida. I was fostering dogs for a private South Florida rescue organization then. Apparently she spent the first eight years of her life chained to a tree being mistreated by neighborhood kids. I don't know how she came to the rescue group but after working to boost her confidence and get her weight and health back to normal (she was terribly malnourished) she became a normal, happy and playful dog. Anyway she was so attached to me I decided to go from being her foster home to her forever home. She was a great girl and lived half a happy life at least. I am sad she is gone but I am also very happy and very blessed to have known her at all.

1) Big time 2) The majority of the worlds manufacturing so there is a lot of demand 3) Which also drives up the price of the finished goods and consequently the mark up percentage 4) This will happen. To quote Aristotle "Nature always finds the mean" this is true in investing as well. There are two kinds of commodity investor, real speculators who are following the demand and yeild, and those like myself who are hedging against instability elsewhere. Once the markets and national economies even out the prices of these things will drop as buyers rediversify. The trick is to understand when to buy in and when to get out. 5) True but if you are taking your research seriously this really should not sneak up on you. 6) Always a danger. Investing is inherently unsafe and not for the faint of heart.

No I definitely would not recommend buying gold now. At some point the price WILL correct (as long as the world economy does not collapse) and it will finally settle back around $900 or so. What I was driving at was the value of investments that have worth independent of currency fluctuations and do not represent a liability that may not be repaid. If I bought US savings bonds and the dollar collapses, those bonds are worthless and the investment is lost. If I bought stocks and the company goes bankrupt, odds are the investment is a total loss. A commodity will never be worth zero. Thats why their trading price skyrockets in times of economic crisis. When GW Bush began talking about massive cash infusions to banks in 2008 I knew the wheels were about to fall off. Don't get me wrong, I do not think the US or any other country will implode, we will all see the back side of this if, and only if, the governments of the world realize the root cause of the issue and correct their business model. Winston Churchill once said "Americans will always do the right thing, once they've tried everything else" I think that will prove true of all of us. My focus has been on how to protect my own assets during whatever comes and that has been behind the advice I've given here, and elsewhere. Now, Krezack has been harping on the wonders of the Australian economy, and it is one of the strongest in the world. Why? They are a worlds leader in export of raw materials and have a very small (by comparison to the other big nations) industrial market that exports finished goods. So the value of their resources is the key to their success. Their main exports are wheat, gold bullion, iron ore, tin & nickel. What are these things? Commodities, which as we have discussed are heavily traded and a little overpriced. Not a bad thing for the folks down under. However, they are also running a deficit in the 50-60B, range because their government is spend happy too. A manageable deficit in good time can be a crippling one in tough times and something like 69% of all Australians are employed in a service industry (which suffer dispropotionaly during economic bad times) so there is potential there for trouble. Their national debt is still only like 8% of GDP so while it is something they need to watch but nothing to be concerned about now. For the moment they are doing a good job running their house. Of course Australia will always be a prime location for tourisim and that never hurts. Heck I'd like to go one of these days.

I've been saying for a few years now (and practicing what I preach) the smart move for all of us as individuals is to reduce or even eliminate all investments that represent a liability for someone else (stocks, bonds, etc) and focus on something with real value like commodities, real estate, etc. In 2008 I sold off all my stocks and mutual shares and bought gold. That has turned out to be a smart move to say the least. Gold is way over priced now. In reality it is worth about $900USD give or take. It's trading at $1700 and hit $2k last month. The reason it is doing this is unlike currency it was intrinsic value. The US dollar, Euro, Yen may all become worthless someday. Probably not but possibly yes. Gold will never be worthless so it is a safety hedge as well as an investment. The same is true of Silver, Copper, or any other real commodity. Yes a collapse will come and it will be bad. But a recovery will follow assuming we don't start fighting each other again. Devaluaing currency as a means of monetizing debt is a recipie for disaster and that does appear to be the way Greece, Ireland, and others may go if the other EU members cannot or will not bail them out. But even bailing them out is throwing good money after bad if they continure the same flawed economic model. The truth is, if we want our way of life and standard of living to survive then all governments in the EU and the US will need to embrace some serious austerity measures. We need to ask our governments for less. And then they need to tax business and investment less. That will encourage the one thing that WILL save us all, economic growth.

Wow. If I want to go out loaded I had best get started drinking.

I know what you mean. Earlier this year I was on the way to work when I heard on the radio it was the 20th anniversary of the beginning of Desert Storm/Gulf War. I almost wrecked. How could that be so long ago when I remember all that so clearly? You know it never occurred to me that in a lot of our discussions on teh Gulf a lot of people I'm talking to don't remember the firt Gulf, let alone Iran-Iraq. Huh. Today I was teaching about the Crusades and religious fervor, and I tried to use Al-Queda as an example of fervor. Way too many kids gave me blank stares. I'd say half of them had no idea what I was talking about. There response to me was "We were only 2 when 9/11 happened!" One of my co-workers daughter house/dog sits for me when I'm on the road. The first time she did it she was asking about my Marine Corps stuff (I have my medals, marksmanship badges, etc in a display frame on the wall). I told her I got them in the Gulf War. She asked Iraq or Afghanistan. I laughed and said neither. She really knew nothing about it. Then I realized, she is seventeen! She was not even born then! That made me feel older than dirt.

Good riddance. Let's hope the Who did not have it right: "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss". But they probably will.

I know what you mean. Earlier this year I was on the way to work when I heard on the radio it was the 20th anniversary of the beginning of Desert Storm/Gulf War. I almost wrecked. How could that be so long ago when I remember all that so clearly?

I did not say it was good or bad (although in my opinion it is every bad). I just stated it was a fact. And it is. Since he has been in office he has been nothing but discourteous and even antangonistic at time to the Brits. Obama's father was a British subject and he hated the British. I believe that has colored Obama's world view.

Thank you Gents! @Calax: You bring up an excellent point. It's easy to properly characterize actual historical characters in historical fiction because so much is known about them. It's even easier to mischaracterize the fictional characters, making them "men out of time" with modern values and reactions. It is what seperates good historical fiction and crap. Definitely something to watch for. I guess it's impossible to craft a Civil War story that does not touch on slavery in some way but I'd prefer to keep it to a minimum and focus just on the events of the Border War. @Wals, it does ring a little close to Heart of Darkness/Apocalypse Now doesn't it? There is some historical backing however. After the Lawrence Massacre Quantrill and his raiders were becoming a real embarrasment to the Confederates. And a real liability since he was not responding to orders and was even raiding Confederate towns as far as Texas by war's end. He lost control of his own men before the end and fled east where he was captured in Kentucky. Some of his men would not make peace and fled to Mexico, others became outlaws, most notably the James Brothers and the Youngers. Anyway, I'm still tweaking the concept and all of your feed back and ideas is most appreciated! If you guys think of anything else please do not hesitate.

Correct me if I'm wrong here but isn't the All Blacks in the World Cup Final a little like the Yankees in the World Series, it's sort of where everyone expects them to be? I love the Maori war dance they do before every match. Very cool. Speaking of rude gestures and angry faces, how come the Yankees don't do this before matches? They don't need to, there are enough "rude gestures" coming from the fans in the stands.

Correct me if I'm wrong here but isn't the All Blacks in the World Cup Final a little like the Yankees in the World Series, it's sort of where everyone expects them to be? I love the Maori war dance they do before every match. Very cool.

I'm just outlining an idea for a writing project and I would like opinions on the concept. The story is set in the summer of 1863 and begins in Vicksburg MS during the American Civil War, just after the battle of Gettsyburg. Vicksburg is the HQ of the Army of the Trans Misssissippi commanded by Gen Kirby Smith CSA. Understanding the implication of the loss at Gettysburg Smith is anticipating an order to begin a move north (a historical fact). However with Grant beginning to move down the Mississippi Smith feels compelled to "take in hand" the quasi-independent forces such as Quantrill's raiders and ascertain the truth about that "unfortunate business" on the Kansas-Missouri border. He orders a young cavalry second lieutenant (the protaganist) to travel to Missouri, find Quantrill and join his raiders and report on their movements and evaluate their potential effectiveness as a fighting force if Quantrill were to be removed. And if ordered to do so, assasinate Captain William Quantrill. The protaganist, as yet unnamed, will be of Irish descent and educated at the Citidel in South Carolina. The story will follow some of the bloodiest events of the "western war" including the Lawence raid. It is a charachter study on Quantrill as much as anything because I've always found him to be an interesting and complex character. A little like Conrad's Mr. Kurtz, a leader whose refinied charisma conceals a very dark nature. The kind of man whom even good men will follow in doing despicable things. These are just the ideas rolling around in my head. Any opinions or feedback are greatly appreciated.

I started a new writing project today. I was so in to it I did not even realize what time it was until the first round of NFL games was almost over. Now I'm sitting down with a big glass of grapefruit juce (Kurt Vonnegut did this) and I'm diving back in. Hopefully I'll have a rough outline tonight.

Maybe he didn't want to go down in history as the first defence secretary to lose a war to Argentina over the Falklands? You guys sold off your navy and such at some point in time, didn't you? Well, as I said before that really depends on the USA. I don't think anyone can say for sure who Obama/Clinton would back if the Argentine _government_ invaded. I stress government because I fidn it hard to believe that the normal people of Argentina woudl want t ogo to war over a scrap of land where the inhabitants freely vote to be British. I've noticed the Obama admin has a definite anti-British bias. But don't worry, we'll solve that problem for you guys next year.

Nobody deserves what he is going through. Especially Tarna. I know we're all praying for/thinking of him.

My house has Pergo flooring over concrete substrate. Pergo is an artificial laminate that looks like wood but cost less, is less durable, not much less expensive, absorb liquids (like dog piss), and really should not be used by anyone. Next year I'm tearing it out and maybe going with cork or a real wood flooring. @Gorth, you have definitely been around the block.

Jumping back to Sci-Fi for the first time in a long while, now reading Joe Haldeman's Forever War.

I actually skimread a copy of that a while back. I know what you mean. Is it not also massively outdated? It's not that old, just has very little substance. I imagine Rosen thought he was writing a latter day Walden (he even quoted Thoreau a few times) but it was a huge miss.

I know 19th century houses in the US isnt' necessarily common, but I thought homes built from wooden materials was? Just curious, being Scandinavian I couldn't imagine living in something that wasn't made out of stone. I thought you were an Aussie?

I remember a show on this a short time ago. A guy did a one month fast food only for three meals a day, gained no weight and his cholesterol & triglycerides remained the same. Obviously he was smart about what he ate but all the fast food joints serve menu selections that are not too terrible. Salads, grilled chicken, etc.

Apparently Canadians are poor marksmen! http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2011/10/12/v...ng-standing-up/

Two spaces is still the rule in a some environments. I'm thinking specifically of court filings in many jurisdictions-- judges have a lot in common Old-school Professors. To thoroughly change the subject, the personal issue I had mentioned a couple weeks ago in this space is resolved, and not in a particularly happy manner. By the time we got to the follow-up/second opinion last Monday, the little guy's heart had stopped beating. We had a good amount of warning that this was a likely outcome, and we take some solace in that unhappy resolution now is greatly preferable over an unhappy resolution 3 months from now. The associated medical stuff (induced labor, delivery, recovery from such) has also all gone well so far. But, of course, we're still sad about the whole thing. We've had a lot of family around, which has helped. And my admiration for Mrs. E has only increased with how well she has handled all of this (her immediate family too-- those folks rock). So sorry to hear this Enoch. Prayers to you and Mrs. E.

Barbarians! @Guard Dog: Different lines of work, yet parts of it sounds strikingly familiar. High risk interesting projects versus the less glamorous ones that ensures you can pay rent in any foreseeable future. I like the first ones better, my employer the latter High risk sounds awesome until it doesn't pay off. Thats part of the fun. If you screw up, you're royally screwed (been there, done that) and if you succeed, you feel so very much alive (been there, done that too) I hear you. I've had a lot of the former and a little of the latter, just enough to make you believe it's possible. But, I've got until the end of the year to decide. I can't make a move before then for a few reasons. Anyway, I'm on the road to the Big Easy at 0500 tomorrow so good night all.