2 on 0 and other mad goalie skills. 1st game in net for Jeff. Needs to work on those loose rebounds. But then again, so did Ryan Miller against the Panthers...
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Goal!
Hockey is fun. Here's video of Jake's 2nd goal of the game. His first, also the game's first, was a breakaway from his own blue line. Went 5 hole on the goalie. Got an assist later on. Not bad for just starting to skate 8 months ago. House league hero.
Look for #31 - playing center.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
Turning the Queen Mary
I stand by everything I've written over the last 2 years. In fact, the reason I don't have more recent posts is because the situation hasn't changed. Titanic. Iceberg. Full speed ahead.
The whole world -- not just U.S. Americans -- has decided the best way to solve intractable debt and glutted supply is by promoting demand among over-saturated consumers via massive new borrowing and investment in infrastructure that fosters more supply.
Even Germany now seems to recognize it is over-leveraged. Still waiting for that apology, Klaus.
Bonus coverage on Terrorism (prophesy at it's best, people) and the Environment (jury's still out, but I stand firm).
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
Still with a T
$44,000 per citizen. That's what you owe.
Figures on government spending & debt below (last six digits are eliminated). The
government's fiscal year runs Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.
Total public debt subject to limit Aug. 19 13,310,379
Statutory debt limit 14,294,000
Total public debt outstanding Aug. 19 13,363,228
Operating balance Aug. 19 230,177
Net interest fiscal year 2010 thru July 185,248
Net interest same period 2009 167,706
Deficit fiscal year 2010 thru July 1,169,071
Deficit same period 2009 1,266,963
Receipts fiscal year 2010 thru July 1,752,541
Receipts same period 2009 1,739,949
Outlays fiscal year 2010 thru July 2,921,612
Outlays same period 2009 3,006,912
Gold assets in August 11,041
Friday, July 23, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Misery and Gin
Memories and drinks don't mix too well
And jukebox records don't play those wedding bells
Looking at the world through the bottom of a glass
All I see is a man who's fadin' fast
- Merle
Sunday, July 18, 2010
No Way Out - The Sequel
So here's the answer to my post below.
So what do you know? There are ways of tracking which country issued a Euro note.
And what else do you know? Currency speculators like George Soros are already shunning Euros issued by Malta, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Greece and Ireland in favor of those from Germany & Belgium.
I guess some Euros are created more equal than others.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Bad Poetry on the Other Side
Whatever the world demands from me
I can't give anymore
It's always more
even when I've given everything
I can't afford the woman I love
I can't afford the kids I made
I can't afford the society in which I live
I can't afford the world at large
Do not confuse afford with money
though I have no more of that
You take without asking
Accept with out gratuity
It shall be easy drink
though the scenery may change
from being ever shuffled around
by the men with the gold
So drink some more
I'll love them all
I'll drink even more
I'll hate them more than I did before
I quit
Monday, June 28, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
No Way Out
There's been increasing chatter about real potential for the Euro to fall apart. Greece is effectively getting bailed out by Germany -- indenturing Greek citizens to fiscal austerity in order to repay Teutonic bondsmen.
Meanwhile, Germans are rightly asking why their national savings -- generated by hard work and modest pensions -- should be used to fund Aegean excesses like 14-month pay, retirement at 54, and dishonest accounting. Who leaves the Euro first is anyone's guess.
But my question is how anyone leaves the Euro.
The pragmatics are mind boggling. Assume the Euro dissolves. What do you do with the newly obsolete notes in your pocket?
Quick answer is take them to the bank and exchange them. Okay. But for which currency?
If the Euro falls, you're left with drachmas and d-marks and francs and guilders and pesos and lira, oh my! The Greek drachma would most assuredly go down faster than a Thebian soldier boy. Meanwhile, the Deutschmark would instantly ascend to Ayrian superiority.
Keep firmly in mind the exchange rates are frozen "irrevocably" by decree of the Maastricht Treaty:
* 1 Euro = 1.95583 D-marks
* 1 Euro = 340.750 drachma
It's a no-brainer. If I've a pile of Euro notes, I'd exchange them for the currency on the rise.
So would you, as would Greeks and Italians and Spaniards. More importantly, so would people like George Soros -- bankers, currency speculators, arbitragers, scam artists (all pretty much the same thing anymore). The run on the German Treasury would be epic.
And untenable.
Far more Euros would be exchanged for D-marks than had been contributed to the common currency.
My guess is that the German government has already asked this question to itself and is figuring out a way to freeze foreign exchanges. It'll be easy to trade money already in German-owned bank accounts. But the money in circulation will be a problem. German citizens and legal residents will probably get first priority. The bureaucracy involved in proving the money is your own will be cumbersome:
* How much are you exchanging?
* How did you get so much?
* Have you received any Euros from outside Germany?
* When?
* How much?
* From whom?
* For what purpose?
* Will the exchanged money be leaving Germany any time soon?
* If so, when?
* How much?
* To whom?
* For what purpose?
Multiply this by 16 factorial (permutations of differing exchange rates, currency prospects, ease of tranferring, loopholes in national rules, etc) and you've got a BIG FREAKING PROBLEM.
Mark my words: Honest people will get screwed. Criminals will profit. Chaos all around.
Enjoy your weekend!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Uh, Never Mind...
...Sorry for the inconvenience, expense, and upheaval. We weren't wrong, mind you. But everything is just fine.
UK authorities had closed airspace because it had been absolutely, positively determined that no amount of volcanic ash is safe to fly through. Concentrations above most of England peaked at 200 milligrams / cubic meter. They are currently well under 100.
British Airways and other airlines that sent up test flights (without passengers, just pilots & engineers) found no damage to any of their planes. The UK government has now released standards that say it is permissible to fly through ash concentrations up to 2,000 milligrams / cubic meter.
So everything was alright all along.
-----------
Seen last night on BBC (interview with UK Transport Minister):
TV presenter: Why were standards set at absolute zero up until this morning?
Minister: Because that's what the deeply studied mathematical models told us.
TV presenter: But now there is real-world, empirical evidence that prove some ash is okay?
Minister: That's what the airlines and aircraft manufacturers have suggested.
TV presenter: But you now have a standard more than zero and far greater than what's currently in the air.
Minister: Yes, well we've studied the results of their test flights and agree it can be done.
TV presenter: You say the models had been deeply studied for years...
Minister: Yes, deeply studied. We had considered the scenario for many years.
TV presenter: ...then why had no one thought to run a jet engine for several thousand hours on the ground while blowing volcanic ash at it.
Minister: Well that would be a very expensive test.
TV presenter: Certainly not the 1.1 billion pounds lost to the economy in the last week?
Minister: ....crickets chirping....
Gotcha journalism isn't very objectionable when the interviewee can't even figure out he's been gotten. Nor especially when the interviewer doesn't really intend to get anyone. Just asks the next logical question.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Scenarios
Okay, here's the situation: Tuesday flights were predictably cancelled yesterday from Heathrow. Delta re-booked me for Saturday. The agent initially said he had space for Friday but when he tried to confirm, all he uttered was, "Oh dear." Friday vanished in the blink of an eye.
So it's Saturday. By way of Amsterdam. Amsterdam, Holland. Now, I know what you're thinking. And if you're not thinking what I think you should be thinking, you will soon. But first, some additional background.
The UK air traffic control authority (NATS) has been by far the most cautious of anyone in this volcanic eruption. Eurocontrol - the Continent's analogue to the FAA - has been easing restrictions both due to dissipation of the ash cloud AND petitions from the airlines. There is much criticism that both agencies have overreacted to the situation.
British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France, and KLM have all put up test flights -- at multiple altitudes for prolonged periods directly through ash fields -- and have reported no danger and no damage to equipment. BA & KLM even sent their CEO's along for the ride in their very first runs.
Moreover, it has been noted that world standards are much looser than Europe, though not considered less safe. For instance, if this had occurred in the USA there would have likely been initial delays/cancellations/closures. But, operations would have resumed within hours to a couple days at most.
So it brings me to considering the potential scenarios. Saturday is a long way off in this scheme of things. Much could change in the meantime. The situation is very fluid. We are currently seeing Europe open and spot service in the northern UK. The South -- including Heathrow -- remains closed officially until at least 1900 tonight. And now NATS is backtracking on some of these re-openings.
Let it be known: I am totally down with flying home safely. And I am not entirely comfortable with notion of loading into a plane over the North Atlantic with nothing but abrasive particulate above and icebergs below. Moreover, KLM is not a paragon of patience in the face of delays due to natural phenomenon. (Note: I would be flying on KLM, Delta's air partner).
But, this could last indefinitely. See how the ash cloud in the maps below is ever present, even spreading. When the Snapshot was taken, there were still no transatlantic flights operating north of Spain (which, by the way is absolutely jammed with travelers like myself seeing it as the only operating alternative).
Even under the most ideal flight plan you have to fly through an ash zone before assuming a southern route. Assuming they don't just say "We're fine. The northern corridor is faster, cheaper to operate in the thinner air & shorter polar route." I am completely unsold on the virtue of companies losing millions of dollars per day.
So now, the scenarios. All include the assumption the volcano keeps erupting and winds don't change significantly so as to disperse the cloud.
a) Stay and wait. By Saturday, UK airspace may be deemed safe enough to allow take offs.
Advantages: No additional chaos (packing/unpacking/
hauling baggage/travel), good facilities & local transportation,
London rocks.
Disadvantages: UK airspace may not re-open. Still have
connection in Amsterdam (don't like all those up & downs).
Boredom. Frustration. Festering.
b) Train to Amsterdam. Negotiate with Delta to drop the Heathrow-to-Amsterdam segment and just get me home on Saturday with the rest of the itinerary. Stay in hotel at or near Schiphol Airport (AMS).
Advantages: Off the Island. Better (though not guaranteed)
probability of flying from the Continent. LEGAL DOPE!!!!
Disadvantages: Still no guarantee flights will operate.
Unsure if Delta is willing to work with me (but you gotta believe
I'd be helping 'em, right?). Still have ash zone to fly through.
No current hotel availability (though that's gotta change as
flights resume). Upheaval. Expense.
c) Elsewhere on Continent. Negotiate with Delta to find an alternate airport in Spain, Italy, Southern France, Greece, etc. Hell, I'm considering Tangier and Cairo at this point!
Advantages: No longer locked on an island. Far more airports
to choose from. The ability to view activity as action.
Disadvantages: Major uncertainty about hotel, train, and
rental car availability. All airports are backlogged - might
turn out to be an out-of-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire situation.
MAJOR EXPENSE.
At this point, I'm leaning toward option B, but won't likely be able to mobilize until tomorrow or Thursday at the earliest. Will not go without a confirmation from the airline that this is kosher and a confirmed hotel room reachable to the AMS airport.
Then, and only then, will I relax with a fat spliff. And a Stella. And this ashtray...
Monday, April 19, 2010
Happiness is a Warm Gun...
...Bang bang, shoot shoot...
Warhol at the Tate (that's floor to ceiling - not 4 ft tall pylons on floor)
Friday, April 16, 2010
'til Tuesday
Hush hush
keep it down down
volcanic ash carries
And I'm still stranded...'til Tuesday. The worst part is my camera battery is dead. So no more pictures...
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Atlas Shrugs Evermore
I recommend clicking the play button, then reading the article in a separate window. Perspective does us all a bit of good...
F*&k!
Airport HELL today.
I spent 3 hours just trying to check in for my flight out of Heathrow. Delta Airlines' computer system apparently had a major melt-down and couldn't verify the security screening information customers were providing. Therefore, no boarding passes could be issued. Quoth I, "But that's what you do."
Concurrently, a volcano exploded under a glacier in Iceland this morning. It's cast an ash cloud progressively further over Ireland, Scotland, northern England, the Midlands, and finally the South. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8621407.stm
Because of Delta's stupidity, our 9:15 AM flight didn't begin boarding until 10:45, though everyone knew to get situated and seated quick. LHR had been announced to close at 12 noon. They quite literally saw it coming.
Yet when noon came, were still sitting at the gate; alternatively being told the flight was cancelled, no wait! the flight might go, oh so sorry we are indeed cancelled. Which also meant everyone on board was the absolute last of the entire grounded UK flying population to be able to scramble for a hotel room. All booked.
Look, I've loved this trip. And I further acknowledge a volcanic eruption is beyond Delta's ability to control or predict (although I counter we never should have been so late as to become cancelled). But this morning I was very ready to get home, play with the kids, watch some playoff hockey, chill American-style.
Instead, I am booked at the Quality Hotel / Slough (pronounced like "Ow! This f$cking situation hurts my f*cking head"). Until Saturday! At nearly 200 bucks a night! Plus tax. Including -- but not limited to -- 15% VAT. Oh well, better get used to that. It's coming to the US soon. (Man I am pissed. Even gratuitously worked in a way to trash Obama because of Delta's incompetence and a freakin' volcanic eruption.)
And quality is exactly what it's not.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
Breakfast & Bed & Counting Sheep
The Full English breakfast...
...at the Kings Head Hotel
...while the sheep remain inside their pen across the road.
Old Weathertop
Climbin' up on Solisbury Hill
I could see the city lights
Wind was blowin
Time stood still
A bunch of hobbits started duking it out with a bunch of wraiths
It's actually called Roseberry Topping, located not in the Shire but a shire -- North Yorkshire to be precise. But it does remind me either of something out of the Lord of the Rings or a Led Zepplin album cover, which is pretty much the same thing. To top it off, the sign at the bottom says the hill was sacred to Odin, Norse god of war.
Anyway, I got into England on Sunday, went for a little hike up a very steep hill (320 meters from base). Business thru Wednesday. Driving is a trip. I've warned everyone I meet to stay off the roads this week. That whole left side thing with roundabouts everywhere. With a stick to boot!
Good thing I don't have to drive up any hills though. Right Mucous?
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Flakes
Well my toilet went crazy yesterday afternoon
The plumber he said, "Never flush a tampoon."
This great information cost me half a week's pay
and the toilet blew up later on the next day.
- Frank
Monday, March 29, 2010
Hoo-whaa
Bring me my bow of burning gold
Bring me my arrows of desire
Bring me my spears O! clouds unfold
Bring me my chariot of fire
- William Blake
Monday, March 22, 2010
Water World
Addendum to previous post. Ironic that population densities are greatest in some of the most water-scarce areas.
PLUS: He who has water will command power in the coming decades.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
It All Boils Down to Water
Beijing is yellow - with dust. The annual spring sandstorm ritual is particularly bad this year, blanketing entire provinces from the Western interior through to the Southeast. Standard stuff.
But one thing in particular drew my attention:
The sandstorms underline the environmental degradation investors identify as one of the long-term constraints on growth...
The government has spent millions of dollars on projects to rein in the spread of deserts, planting trees and trying to protect what plant cover remains in marginal areas.
But the battle is being fought against a backdrop of rising average temperatures and increasing pressure on water resources after three decades of booming growth.
I am not a firm believer in Anthropomorphic Global Climate Change*. But I do believe Earth's resources are becoming strained. And China's confrontation with reality will be epic due to both its massive population and heretofore utter disregard for environmental concerns.
Their deserts are growing because folks are cutting down trees and sucking water out of ever-deeper wells. Meanwhile, industries and individuals alike are polluting rivers and streams with waste, fertilizer runoff, and toxic debris.
Look, I'm not one to criticize. The US has it's own issues with oil. But very simply, clean drinking water just isn't a priority for the Chinese. If it were, you could drink tap water in the nation's capital (municipal pop. 17.5 million). Or Shanghai (14 million). Or Chongquing (31.4 million) Or Chengdu (11 million). Or Jilin (4.5 million). Or Datong (3.1 million). Or Fushun (1.2 million).
Never piss in your own well. It'll cause you big problems.
Beware that bailout.
++++++++++
* Somewhere, George Carlin is smiling. He once did a very funny bit about how simple terms get increasingly complex so as to conceal truth.
For instance, 'Shell shock' -- two simple syllables that convey everything -- became 'battle fatigue' (4 syllables) and then 'Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder' (8 syllables). Or, the CIA doesn't kill people anymore, they 'depopulate the area'.
Now, 'global warming' became 'global climate change' and has become 'anthropomorphic global climate change'. A net 6-syllable gain.
And fuzzier than ever.
++++++++++
Oh, here's the video...
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Pots and Kettles and Name Calling, oh my!
It's been a while since I really railed on the world. Let's see how this one goes over.
Now this blog has contained a good deal of commentary and analysis on the global financial crisis (GFC for you anagram-philes out there). I remain critical of current U.S. policy and its vacuous leadership. But overall, the red, white & blue will extricate itself from the situation better than many.
Part of this is due to the fact Americans are bitchy moaners who drag every disagreement into the public realm for endless debate on legitimacy of opposing facts and courses of action. This heart-on-sleeve style can lead to Chicken Little demagoguery on subjects real (health care policy) and imagined (anthropomorphic global climate change).
But the facts sort themselves out in the bright spotlight. And John Q. Public's voice is ultimately heard by leaders in D.C. who courageously follow polls toward a path of wisdom.
Back to the GFC and the rest of the world. Lately we have the crisis in Greece destabilizing the Euro to the point of potential dissolution. Their situation is bad. It screams for austerity and outside relief.
Unfortunately, Greek public service unions refuse to consider pay cuts, benefit reductions, or the possibility of retiring later than 58 years old. Creditor nations like Germany (where retirement is age 67) are loathe to use their taxes to support such profligacy and death-grip clutching at straws. It recently came to light the Greek government got Goldman Sachs to create off-book debt to make it look solvent...and be able to get more loans. Not seeing the incentive to help here.
Worse, whatever the EU's response, it only sets precedent for the rest of the porky PIGS -- Portugal, Italy and Spain -- all larded up on public debt, out-sized welfare systems, and unsustainable demographics. These dynamics -- rich state-poor state / many lazy sods-few hard workers / beggar-borrower-king / old-older-really really old -- threaten to tear EMU to shreds. I still haven't gotten that apology, Klaus. You either Jean-Claude.
And then there's China. The big, bad, fire-breathing dragon getting more belligerent in response to decayed U.S. finances. As if it had nothing to do with our situation. True, they support our finances by buying all our debt. But they were the ones who led us (willingly) down to Hell.
China is like a crack dealer who first entices a smart but malleable 7th grader with a free "taste" of unbounded pleasure and a life free of worry, then hooks him in and watches the kid waste from A-student into gutter-dwelling wretch.
So to is it with China's exports to the USA -- all made possible by a captive, inexpensive workforce uninsured by legal, health, safety or retirement protections -- and an artificially devalued currency. At first their stuff is free. Then it's cheap. After awhile, addiction takes hold and the cost to the user -- physically as well as financially --becomes impossible to maintain.
But in the case of a drug dealer he can always, uh, cultivate new clientele. China has no such option. It has built its mammoth enterprise on a single, very large addict. He goes down, you go down. Bad business strategy, Wang.
To top off that situation, it turns out that China has a burgeoning public debt problem of its own. See, somewhat counter intuitively, all those dollars flowing into the country over these many years simply encouraged the provinces and municipalities to bet on the come, err, take loans in which to invest in infrastructure, plant, and equipment. New loans are being taken to invest in rising property values, further pumping up property values.
Any of this sound familiar?
So now the prediction is China will have a debt crisis of its own within a couple years!
Then we'll begin to see how those millions of unemployed young men, spoiled as "little princes" growing up, without girls to marry handle the servitude into which they've been born in tacit exchange for an ever rising standard of living. Or how the sclerotic Communist government controls a huge & pissed off citizenry in the age of instant information. Damocles is no doubt still smiling...
No one in any of these situations should point anywhere other than their nearest mirror.
Except me.
Have a nice day.
Feel the Weight
Here's a pretty crazy story about that big Chilean earthquake last week. It shifted the Earth's axis by about 3 inches and "permanently" shortened the day by 6.8 milliseconds!
Says the article, it's akin to a spinning figure skater. Pulling in her arms makes her go faster.
Which makes me wonder, if the Earth is now spinning faster wouldn't that increase gravity as well? And does the change in axis make us all more unbalanced? Perhaps a downward-to-the-left pull?
Who needs drugs when there's nature?...
________
P.S. Quote of the story: "What definitely the earthquake has done is made the Earth ring like a bell." Kinda like Jaromir Jagr below...
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Jagrmeister
Jaromir Jagr, prepare to meet your meister.
Just say OV, add an L and an E. And you've got LOVE. Love watching Jagr get pummelled to the ice with his head up and practically looking straight at the crouching Russian savoring his kill. Props to Semin & Malkin for adding insult to injury.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Another Lost Weekend
Okay, you people are lucky. Oh yeah. I coulda linked frivolous ditties like Starship's "We Built This City" or C.W. McCall's "Convoy" or Jigsaw's "Sky High".
But no, I've centered on weightier numbers. Just 'cuz that's where I'm at tonight. So I give you Greg Lake.
Picking up the torch from Greg, there's the Fureys with Davey Arthur singing about more people dying in vain. Which of course is infinitely more uplifting than the Pogues "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" -- that includes the line "And when I woke up in my hospital bed / And saw what it had done, Christ I wished I was dead / Never knew there were worse things than dying."
And in keeping with the death-pop theme, there's this beauty of Nirvana covering Terry Jacks' 1974 classic "Seasons in the Sun". I like it not so much for the irony, but particularly for fact that all three bandmembers play opposite - Cobain on drums, Grohl on bass, Novoselic on guitar. And they all look totally lost. But I like that.
Shit, where's Henry Gross when you need him? "Shannon is gone, I heard she drifted off to sea..."
Puppies are great.
Monday, February 1, 2010
When You Walk Through A Storm...
...you never walk alone.
In fact, the USA walks better than most. Though I kinda want to be a Canadian. Good bacon there.
The Real Hockey Stick
That red line looks an awful lot like a hockey stick. One unfortunately based on real data...
Friday, January 29, 2010
Obama Caucuses with GOP?!?
Wait, what?
The Republican congressional caucus invited President Obama to a conclave in Baltimore today. And Obama went!
He was peppered with tough questions on jobs, public debt, and healthcare, among many other issues. And he answered them! Candidly!
Yeah, there were some jibes back and forth. But overall it was a civil meeting, where both sides got to stake their positions and air their grievances about the other side's methods. It was stunning to watch even the condensed episode on PBS's Newshour this evening.
Look, I've been pretty tough on both the President and the entire Congress. But Obama showed serious stones to walk into that group.
Mongol respect Sheriff Bart.
I highly recommend viewing the full version if you have an hour...
Monday, January 25, 2010
That's With a "T"
Let's see, total debt north of 12 trillion. Receipts around 2 to 2-1/2 trill. Expenditures at 3-1/2 t. Treasure wantonly squandered.
Figures on U.S. government spending & debt below (last six digits are eliminated).
Total public debt subject to limit Jan. 22 12,245,872
Statutory debt limit 12,394,000
Total public debt outstanding Jan. 22 12,302,465
Operating balance Jan. 22 142,454
Interest fiscal year 2009 383,365
Interest fiscal year 2008 451,154
Deficit fiscal year 2009 1,417,121
Deficit fiscal year 2008 454,798
Receipts fiscal year 2009 2,104,613
Receipts fiscal year 2008 2,523,642
Outlays fiscal year 2009 3,521,734
Outlays fiscal year 2008 2,978,440
Gold assets in September 11,041
Source: Associated Press
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