New Year's Eve

Happy (?) New Year!

We are being "treated" to a spectacle of dysfunction and incompetence in Washington, DC that is simply breathtaking.  I am not sure if they are trying to destroy the country but with friends like this, who needs an enemy?

Congress seems determined to walk the country off the fiscal cliff and both parties are to blame. The good news is that the federal government is closed on January one so they cannot really do any damage.  The bad news is that they won't vote until January 2, if at all.

Say hello to more taxes, bigger deficits and another recession, if you believe we ever left the last one.

Hope and change?

Please, Democrats and Republicans alike, just shut up.......

Time to call the British and see if they will take us back as a colony.

Merry Christmas!

The world hasn't ended....

As you probably guessed, the world has not ended.  Nonetheless, there are still plenty of other problems.  Now, before we tackle those, someone drag Hillary Clinton into the Senate so she can testify about what happened to the consulate in Libya on September 11, 2012.....

End of the world?

Site of next year's Super Bowl...

If the Mayans are right and the world ends, it was nice knowing you.  My only regret is that we did not get to see Hillary Clinton squirm in a Congressional testimony  First, she claimed she was "busy", followed by stomach virus and now fainting from a concussion.....yeah, we believe her......

If the world does not end, she better recover fast.....

Here is a Christmas wish---honesty in Washington.....

Alea iacta est!

Haas stands guard by the mailbox...

Alea iacta est!

Latin for "The die is cast!"

Suetonius writes this is what Caesar uttered while crossing the Rubicon in defiance of the Roman Senate.  No, I am not plunging the Roman Republic into civil war.  All the applications are sent and now everything is out of my hands.  Some of the PhD programs may be long shots but as the Great Gretzky once said, "You can't score if you don't shoot at the goal!"

As Tom Petty once said, "The waiting is the hardest part."

I wonder how I can work that into a dissertation......

Thanksgiving Day Weekend!

Often translates into Haas Thanksgiving Football Weekend!

The day after Thanksgiving is usually the day of the Backyard Brawl between Pitt and West Virginia but with the Mountaineers running off to the Big 12 (or 13? Or 14?) and Pitt leaving for the ACC next year, the future of the Brawl is uncertain.

Nonetheless, there was football on Friday when the East Carolina Pirates and Marshal Thundering Herd both suffered from defensive amnesia.  The battle in Greenville, NC resembled a cross between tennis and basketball and even went into overtime.  In the end, ECU won by the incredible score of 65-59.

Saturday saw Pitt host not West Virginia but the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers.  Pitt got the win, 27-6 and improved their record to 5-6.  A win over South Florida would put them at .500, which is better than I thought they would do.

On Sunday, Canada had her Super Bowl.  The hometown Toronto Argonauts dismantled the invading Calgary Stampeders 35-22 and the Grey Cup gets to stay in Toronto...until next year.

Then my Steelers stank worse than rotten turkey, loosing the ball eight (!) times and handing Cleveland (!!) a 20-14 victory.  The Steelers are not the same without Big Ben.

Since the UFL fell apart and the Las Vegas Locos are no more, I replaced them in my football continuum with the Carolina Panthers.  The Panthers, suffering through a bad year, walked into Philly with a 2-7 record, harassed the Eagles on their home field, and walked out with a 30-22 win.

3-1 this year and the cats, yet again, stole food off the table.  Of course, I would have given to them anyway but they are not that patient!

Happy Thanksgiving!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Running around the block

I was running around the block this afternoon around twilight.  Sunset is an interesting time...there is something magical about it.  In NC, the sky turns almost orange.  In Pittsburgh, I remember looking up at a gray sky and seeing the sun poke through and turn the sky orange and then red before vanishing.  In Canada, you see the same thing but then (in Spring and Summer), you see the Northern Lights.

Dusk, or twilight (not to be confused with that horrible vampire/werewolf movie), is a good time to look back at the day and to think about tomorrow.  Fortunately, it is Saturday, so I don't have to think too much....it hurts....LOL

America rewards failure...

I remember a screaming headline in a British newspaper after the 2004 election that shouted "How could 50 (or 60?) million Americans be so stupid?".  After the election last night, I find myself wondering the same thing. Even more depressing is the fact I would have asked that question no matter who won.

Still, gas prices are horribly inflated, money is being printed out of thin air, and unemployment is still too high, and there is the looming specter of the "fiscal cliff" that neither party seems to be interested in avoiding.  So why would Obama win?  The counter question is, of course, would Romney have done anything different.

Those questions are going to be answered one way or the other fairly soon.

I don't have a lot of faith in our government.

I hope it proves me wrong but I don't see it happening.

Happier post next time---I promise!

At least the election phone calls are going to stop.

Fencing with the GRE

I took the Graduate Record Exam today to try and improve my all ready impressive verbal score of 80%.  Despite a computer that crashed twice, I did quite well--80% AGAIN!

It is a great score but I was trying to aim higher.  Willie Parker immediately came to mind and suddenly I understood how he felt after his second Super Bowl.

In Super Bowl XL, he ran for nintey-three yards, seventy-five of them coming on the longest run in Super Bowl history.  Three years later in Super Bowl XLIII, his statistical contribution was 20 carries for 53 yards.  What did not show up on the stat sheet was the fact that he carried the ball for the hard yards, the third and two an third and three that kept drives going.  He did not score against Arizona but his team still won the game, which is all that mattered.  Still, you would like to score a touchdown.

It did not happen but Fast Willie Parker got a second Super Bowl ring.  Not bad for an undrafted free agent! 

Today I did not push my 80% verbal score higher but it was still a great score.

Like Willie, I recognize it as a win even if I did not get to the endzone.

A win is a win is a win.

One week to go!

In one week, we will finally have an end to this bitter, vicious election.  There are clearly two different visions being offered for the country's future and neither candidate generates an electric buzz.  It, once again, seems to be a choice between the lesser of two evils.

President Obama has a list of failures longer than my arms and a $16 trillion deficit along with high 8% unemployment (supposedly 7.9% last month but that figure appears murky...).  He keeps blaming Bush (justifiable) but W has been gone for four years.

On the other hand, people like Romney put us in this hole.  Unfortunately people like Obama have made it worse.

Add in the odious conduct of the TSA, forced purchase of ObamaCare, and a general lack of competence and abundance of scandals, Obama is clearly a failure.  I cannot see why any liberal would champion such a candidate. Yet, the closeness of the race indicates an uneasiness with Romney.

Obama is chomping at the bit to raise taxes.  Combined with his tendency to blame others for his failings, it is easy to envision a scenario where America goes off the fiscal cliff, suffering automatic tax hikes because Obama will blame others for not agreeing to them in the first place.  A Romney administration, once elected, may plead agreeing to tax increases out of necessity.

Either way, there does not seem to be a lot to be excited about.  It may not matter who wins on November 6.

The path Obama has set is clearly the path to ruin.  Romney might have learned what not to do by watching Obama over the last four years. His business experience will tip the scales slightly in his favor, at least in my eyes.

Tepid endorsement of Romney......

Hopefully it works out.

Libya and the election

SecState Hillary Clinton, a month after the attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens, accepted full responsibility for the lack of security. 

Now what?

Is she going to be fired for negligence?  Will she be publicly excoriated?  Will anything be done at all?

Naturally, some say she is doing this to take the heat off the President who is caught in a tight re-election bid and there may be some merit to that argument.  Now the New York Times says the White House is considering a strike on Libya for retaliation.

Aside from the odd Regan-sounding plan circa 1986, the question is WHY is this appearing in a newspaper?  Anyone at the White House ever hear of "Operational Security"?  And why is this coming a month after the Ambassodors' death? 

Sometimes you really wonder if we should not ask Britain to take us back as a colony....

Nobel Peace Prize---why bother?

This week the Noble Peace Prize was given to the European Union.

This week, the world saw that the Nobel Peace Prize is a joke.

The European Union "won" this prize by "promoting peace and stability in Europe."  Wrong.  The prize for that accomplishment goes to NATO.  All the European Union is doing is trying to force the economically stronger members into constantly bailing out weaker members who are living well above their means while contributing nothing.

The alleged "superstate" is built on sand and it is beginning to falter. It is also taking a more regulatory tone and acting in a most undemocratic manner.

In other words, the European Union is going to turn into the Soviet Union.

But it will collapse before reaching that point.  Like its Soviet predecessor, it has too many internal contradictions that will one day tear it apart.

Besides, every member of the Europe is in debt to Germany...so guess who the real power in Europe is.

If there is no one worthy of giving the Peace Prize too, just leave it vacant for a year.  That is better than cheapening it and making it a laughing stock.

Presidential Debate 2012

At first I was going to title this entry "Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber" but after watching the debate last night, I had to admit that Mitt Romney decisively defeated Barack Obama.  It was obvious from the beginning the Republican nominee, regardless of what anyone thinks of him, came prepared and ready to do battle.

Obama, without his teleprompter, looked lost and at times, distracted.  He spent a lot of the debate looking down and it was clear he wanted to be someplace else.  This is what happens when you try to defend indefensible policies that have clearly failed.

 I am not sure if Mitt Romney is the answer but he is not Obama.  That might be his greatest strength.  In a moribund economy with $4 a gallon gas prices, 8%+ unemployment, little to no growth, and haunted by the specter of a looming fiscal cliff replete with tax hikes added with vanishing hope along with a chaotic foreign policy, that might be all he needs.

Our Anniversary!

September 27, 2008--Michelle and I were married!  Time for pizza, muffins, and fish sticks! :-P

Middle East in chaos...again

The Middle East is in chaos....big surprise....Yes, that was sarcastic. Not only is the Middle East in chaos but so is Greece, soon to be followed by Italy and Spain, Moslem communities in Western Europe, and even on the east side of India all the way to Indonesia and the Philippines.

US foreign policy again acts in its usual limp wristed way after the profane murder of the ambassador to Libya. Meanwhile, US soldiers have been shot at, and shot back at, their alleged Afghan allies, Iraq had done nothing to stop Iranian overflights to Syria, and the Arab Spring has degenerated into attacks on Americans, prompting the evacuation of diplomatic personnel from many of the regions countries.

In other words, America is running away.

All this will do is embolden the enemy, Some say we should not be there in the first place.  They might be right.  So, why do we continue to send foreign aid to those countries that clearly hate us? Especially when there are so many people here at home who need help.

If we are going to leave, then turn the aircraft carrier battlegroups and Tomahawk missiles loose and give them a reason hate us.  It is better to be feared than held in contempt.

Have you seen any Chinese embassies attacked?

Or Russian?

Those countries have a history of hitting back at terrorists.  No terrorists are going after Russian and Chinese targets and only terrorists with a death wish will shoot at the Israelis.

Let them hate, so long as they fear...

In Remembrance

9/11 Memorial

September 11, 2001 was an event no one on this entire planet is going to forget.  The memorial on site is grand and solemn and dignified but some feel it may be too much.  Might it be more fitting to have a green patch with trees along with a granite plaque of the victims names?  Perhaps a piece of quiet and peace in the middle of the world's busiest city instead of a $700 million dollar "complex"?

These are some questions that have been raised. How you feel is, of course, up to you.

I have the story from yahoo.com for your consideration:

http://news.yahoo.com/wtc-memorial-magnificent-steep-price-132938429.html

Stupid Human Tricks

If you want to see people acting like complete idiots, check out either, or both, the Republican and Democratic National Conventions.  Watch a couple of minutes and stomach a speech or two and you come to one conclusion:  Aliens not only will not make contact with us but absolutely refuse to do so.  I would not be surprised to learn that this planet is under some sort of extra-terrestial quarantine.

I saw a little bit of the both and concluded it was a waste of time.  The DNC is about three hours away in Charlotte, NC so that catches a little more of the local coverage and I found it ironic that the Democrats decry "corporate greed" (rightfully so...) but had planned on having their candidate's nomination in Bank of America Stadium.  In fact, having their convention in Wall Street South seems a little hypocritical. 

On the other side, Mitt Romney is shouting about "fair share" of taxes when he is clearly a creature of Wall Street.

It would be great to see George Washington or Teddy Roosevelt return but it does not look like that is happening this time around.

Sometimes you feel like you should flip a coin in the voting booth. When you look at an out of control government spending money like a fleet of drunken sailors, crippling unemployment, constant trial ballons about higher taxes, and increasing poverty, it is clearly time to change course.

Unfortunately, voting for the other guy has the same feel you have when you throw a Hail Mary pass....

What is it with Penn Staters?

When Michelle and I were on the NYTO trip, we saw several cars with Penn State stickers on them.  I saw a couple of people with Penn State shirts.  This morning I saw a car with a huge "We are Penn State" bumper sticker on it.

Why do would they continue to cheer for this school in such an over the top manner, especially after the administration clearly covered up crimes against children?

If these Sandusky crimes had happened at Heinz Field and the Steelers had covered it up, everything I owned that said "Pittsburgh Steelers" would have been in the garbage.

Are they that blindly devoted?

Am I missing something?

Maybe they don't want to abandon their school in its darkest moment.  Maybe they would argue it is not fair to take it out on the players or team that had nothing to do with Sandusky.  They may also say that Penn State is making amends.

Maybe but it does not feel like it.

Back into battle!

The new school year starts tomorrow!

I have my master's degree but in order to take the next step towards the PhD, I need some "formal" training in both Latin and Ancient Greek.

Latin is pretty easy, especially if you have any experience in Spanish or Italian.  Ancient Greek is not too bad if you have a lifetime of experience in the modern language.  The words are different but the language is still constructed and built the same way.

Just when you thought it was over, it never ends! LOL

Freedom from Fear

 Yes, this is a hate crime.  A political extremist deceides he does not like what someone says and he tries to silence them through violence.  Naturally, because he is a far left wing nut (not that the idiots on the far right are any better...), you do not hear much talk from the media about this being a hate crime.

Still stupid, still unacceptable, and still deserving of a jump off the back of a plane without a parachute.

The link to the story is here for your consideration




http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/family-research-council-shooting-hate-crime-210123530.html

Syria in the news

Maybe it is a late entry in the Arab Spring chapter of Middle East history or it might be a spasm that leads to nothing but getting a lot of people killed but Syria's recent troubles are starting to draw attention from the world's leading powers.

No one seems interested in intervention unlike the case with Libya last year so that is at least one good development.  A billion dollars and several months of uncoordinated air attacks resulted in the replacement of Khaddafi with what appears to be the North African version of the Taliban.  NATO and the US appear to want to avoid running down that road again.

Plus there is no oil.

Syria is essentially the property of the Assad family and they have dealt with revolts before though not for a while (1970) and Israel has been an active enemy for all factions to unite against.  The Israelis are staying quiet this time and there is a big battle brewing in Aleppo.  That might be the turning point in what many are correctly calling a civil war.

Russia and the US have been at loggerheads again and this crisis has them on opposite sides.  Russia is sending arms and perhaps money to Bashir Assad while the US is providing moral support to the rebels while attempting to ascertain who they are exactly.

At least it is an improvement over last year's badly thought out Libyan adventure.

It is hard to say definitively what will happen if the Assad dynasty falls but Middle Eastern history seems to indicate an answer of "not much."

If Libya is any guide, some other conservative government will take power and it will certainly be anti-Israeli.  They will probably use the Israelis as a scapegoat to unite the country but I don't think they will try to take back the Golan Heights...at least not immediately.  In other words, it will be hard to tell the difference between the current Syrian goverment and any replacement.  Assad may even offer amnesty and include the rebels in the government.

As is often the case in the Middle East, any change is usually an instance of "meet the new boss, same as the old boss."

Chicken Sandwiches

There were a lot of people at Chik-FilA

Actually, there was a horde of people at every Chik-FilA....

The CEO of the unabashedly Christian company did not make "anti-gay" comments.  When pressed for an opinion, he stated he simply did not not support the position of gay marriage and reiterated that his franchise did not discriminate.

For some reason, the mayor of Boston Thomas Menino felt compelled to shoot his mouth off about not allowing the chicken franchise to come to Boston.  With such an anti-business climate, why would Chik-FilA want to?  Taxachusettes  has a way of chasing out business with taxes and enough regulations to choke a horse.  Then Rahm Emmanuel declared that Chik-FilA did not have "Chicago Values".  This from a guy who has the foulest mouth the White House ever saw?  The the mayor of San Francisco bluntly warned that "the nearest Chick-FilA is forty miles from here.  I strongly recommend that they come no closer."

Get over yourselves....

Everyone of these cities is bankrupt--morally and financially.  They could use anyone brave (or stupid) enough to invest there.  And what business is it of any elected official to check anyone against some ideological checklist?

The people voted with their feet and flooded Chik FilAs everywhere.  It was not a statement against gay marriage.  I don't care what two loving people do in their own home.  It was a statement against incompetent and corrupt power-hungry, self-serving Nazi wannabes trying to run other people's lives while their cities sink in chaos.  You can try distract people all you like but the problems are in front of them and are going to go away.

As a friend of mine said, "Just for a second I almost forgot the crippling unemployment and $16 trillion debt."

Go eat a chicken sandwich and enjoy the day.

And get some exercise!

NYTO trip

"New York- TOronto trip" just in case you were wondering....

Last week, Michelle and I ventured up to New York since she had never been there.  We stayed in North Bergen, New Jersey, which turned out to be a pretty neat place!  New York is it's own world.  Michelle and I marched through Manhattan in the 100 degree heat that followed us up there. I wanted to go to Wall Street but Michelle said "I don't know how you will react in the presence of such evil.", so we vectored into Tribeca.  After surveying NYU and Columbia, we went west across the state of New York.  I had no idea that Western New York was so big!  After spending the night in Buffalo, where my Penguins shirt attracted a lot of attention, we crossed into Canada with no problem and headed straight for Toronto. 

Toronto has a lot of slums.

I was shocked.  I don't remember seeing so many the last time I was there.  We went to Greektown, ate some gyros and Hamilton was our next stop.

Hamilton never looked good but now it looks like Detroit. 

We went to Ivor Wynn Stadium where I played briefly as a Tiger-Cat and walked into and out of the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame without paying a dime.....no one was there to collect the admission fee, so.....there.  We drove around McMaster University and headed back to the US  border...and waited in line for nearly three hours.

When we got to the border, the patrolman basically waved us through and it was back across Western New York but on a more southern trajectory.  We spent the night in Towanda, PA and in the morning we saw lots of small, creepy little towns that looked like they belonged in an M.Night Shamalian movie.  Western Maryland is isolated and hilly and a good place to disappear in and we were in Virginia before we knew it---and saw the worst traffic jam ever on I-95.  We got out the map, and found VA-1 running parallel to it and off we went leaving all of that behind.  Into NC and after navigating through a thunderstorm, we were home.

The cats demanded to know where we had been all week but after some cold cuts, all seems forgiven...Michelle all ready wants to go back to New York and so do I. 

Did not get a chance to get on that subway!

In Memorial for Colorado victims...

Making friends and influencing people...

Today the US Secretary of State's motorcade was pelted with shoes and tomatoes in Cairo.  Hillary Clinton must of been cringing in the back seat because it is hard to believe that the Arab Spring has led to a Moslem Brotherhood state that takes $1.3 billion in US aid but clearly hates Americans.  The Libyan version of the Taliban is running things there and fortunatley Tunisa has always kept to itself.  Only in the Middle East can one try to help an turn things turn from bad to worse.....Of course, lecturing someone on how to run their country does not help relations.  If it makes anyone feel better, the Romans, Byzantines, Turks, and a number of Moslem caliphates have had the same problem.

The story for your consideration from Yahoo:

http://news.yahoo.com/clinton-talks-democracy-head-egypt-army-142600571.html

The future of football

Everyone who knows me knows I love football.  But I am worried about the future of the game.  The NFL is going to face a slew of lawsuits involving concussions over the years.  The best defense the league will have is something along the lines of "we were working with the knowledge and equipment of that time."  Seems true enough but it appears commissoner Roger Goodell, not that well liked by anyone apparently, appears to be hoping the issue disapears. 

It won't.

The wholesale change in the rules in the middle of the 2010 season indicates that the NFL knows something more about concussions and helmets that it says it does but that is another matter, perhaps involving a judge and jury.

The real problem is steriods and performance enhancing drugs.

Human beings are not supposed to be 350+ pounds.

This is what is causing injuries so catastrophic that many players won't let their sons play the game.

The answer is to not only ban steroids but actually enforce the ban.

Declare an amnesty for this year.  Have the players declare, freely and without penalty, what they have been taking and give them a year to clean themselves up.  Next year, enforce the rules with weekly drug tests and start handing out suspensions without pay and watch what happens.

Is this painful?  Certainly but it is better that what is coming down the pike.  If Roger Goodell and the NFL wants to stick its head in the sand, they are going to get hit by a truck.  It does not have to be that way.

Meanwhile, there might be more rule changes coming and I predict the NFL is going to look a lot like the CFL in a few years.  Would that be such a bad thing?

At least the players in those games are going to be able to remember their names the next day...

Happy Canada Day!

Happy 145th Birthday, Canada!

Wild week in DC...

It was a lunatic week in Washington.  First, the Supreme Court upheld but then declared Arizona's immigration law unconstitutional in one breath, leaving everyone with the impression that their side had won.  On one hand, the Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy declared that despite "understandable frustration" on the part of Arizona, immigration law remained a federal duty.  On the other hand, cops in Arizona were free to question anyone about their immigration status. 

Then Chief Justice Roberts called an audible and the Court upheld Obamacare while declaring the federal government could not mandate anyone to purchase anything, somehow seeing this monstrosity as a tax when its supporters said it was not.  Regardless, three states and counting have said they will ignore the Supreme Court and the increasing idiocy it supports.  Mitt Romney immediately announced that if he wins in November, he will repeal this mess.  Other congressmen have said they will break it down and repeal it part by part, which seems a better strategy.  Either way, it is not going to last.

Once again, how about go to socialized medicine?

Then Attorney General Eric Holder was held in contempt by Congress.  Despite an attempt by some in the media to make the vote seem like a straight party line affair, it soon came out that seventeen Democrats voted with their Republican counterparts to demand an answer to the moronic circumstances surrounding Fast and Furious.

Then a disaffected soldier gunned down his superior officer during a mass safety briefing at Fort Bragg.

Then a major heat wave has struck the East Coast and the thermometer outside says it is 106...

Never a dull moment but at least the Canadian Football League 2012 opener is tonight!

Is everyone in the Attorney General's office a nut case?

I have been waiting for the Supreme Court's ruling on ObamaCare but I am betting they are waiting until the very last Friday in June to reveal it....

In the meantime, I read about the contempt of Congress charge levied against Eric Holder.  I think it is deserved considering an operation he oversaw went haywire and led to the death of an American citizen.  If he refuses to cooperate, he should have the cuffs slapped on him...end of story.

And this guy is the highest ranking law enforcement offical in the United States....and you wonder why the American people hate their government....

I read the story and about the exchange between Congressman Daniel Issa and Eric Holder.  I asked myself, "When is the last time we had someone sane in the Attorney General's office?"

Between Janet Reno's wandering mind and Tom Ridge's attempt at a singing career and this current fruitcake, I am wondering if the Justice Department should not just be converted into a holding cell or better yet, serve the public as a take out pizza store.

Never mind...I can see a food poisoning epidemic breaking out....especially if "Fast and Furious" is any indication.

Is Romney the answer?  I don't know but can he be worse than the current set of idiots in DC?

Look at that picture again and tell me what you think.....

Ancient Greek and Latin

I am preparing for the PhD pursuit by studying both Ancient Greek and Latin.  Ancient Greek has the same basic structure as its Modern counterpart but the words have changed in 2500 years.  Like its modern day version, Ancient Greek has a dizzying number of endings you have to keep straight.  Lifelong experience with Greek helps but, remember, the words are still different.  It is interesting to know that is the language spoken by Miltiades and Xenophon and company...

Latin never died out.  It just evolved into Italian, Spanish, French, Romanian, and Portuguese.  No, I did not forget Catalan on the east side of Spain but I am not wandering into that debate!  Aside form the weird habit of placing the verb at the end of the sentence, Latin is not that difficult.  Again, there are a bunch of endings to memorize for the verbs but if you know Spanish, you see the link.

Back to Greece--Modern instead of Ancient--and the elections they are holding today.....but instead of 480 BC and battles against Persians, I am in 2012 AD watching battles against bankers.

I am not sure which is more vicious...

Thoughts on Wisconsin recall election

The state of Wisconsin is holding a recall election of its governor, Scott Walker. Although this seems to be a Wisconsin-specific event, the entire nation is watching.  There might be some ripple effects or maybe even none.  That might be why everyone is watching....

One thing everyone has noticed is the absence of the President.  Former president Bill Clinton seems to have taken the lead on the Democratic Party effort.  It is a win-win situation for him.  Success diminishes the current president he clearly dislikes and if the recall effort fails, he was there trying when Obama was not.

It is hard to say if this election is any harbinger of the November but it is noteworthy that no one is asking Obama to show up at his/her/its (hard to tell sometimes...LOL) election headquarters.  It looks a lot like the Republican campaigns of 2008 when no one wanted to be within a mile of then President Bush.

If History does not repeat itself, it certainly rhymes.

Why no one trusts the stock market...

Yesterday, the world's media financial headlines shouted that stocks soared because of the 117th solving of the Greek debt crisis even though Spain's economy is collapsing and its leading bank is begging for a bail out.  The investors on Wall Street decided to shrug off the looming disaster in Spain and focus on the fairy tale of a debt resolution in Greece.  The index went up 140 some odd points.

Today, reality hit.  Greece is (or rather has been...) in chaos and the talk of tossing Greece out of the Euro Zone is getting louder.  Spain's bond yields are well past the danger zone of 5% and crept past 7%.  The market plunged and the gains from yesterday were lost and even oil fell $3.
 

Appearances may be paper mache but reality is a uranium depleted tank shell.

Even Goron Gekko must be dismayed.

You run into the same problem with crony capitalism that you have with socialism: eventually, you run out of other people's money.

You are better off taking your money to a casino in Atlantic City....

...the food is better.

Greece leaving EuroZone?

...Or possibly being thrown out.

After nearly 180 million euros in bailouts,  two and half years of chaos, draconian austerity measures and budget cuts, the EU may finally be thinking about the unthinkable--a Greek exit from the Euro Zone. 

Given the austerity cuts the government in Athens was considering, Greece might be better off leaving the European Union on its own.  The elections produced, for all practical purposes, a five way tie between parties that are opposed to the austerity measures that are requiring some people to pay to come to work.

Sorry, membership in the European Union is not worth that.

Greece might want to look to Iceland for inspiration.  Two years ago, Iceland threw out its government, defaulted on debts, and the Icelandic economy is starting to recover.  There is no painless option but returning to the drachma seems to be the least objectionable.

And don't elect bankers for governmental positions!

And of course, don't spend money you don't have.

What will happen with the rest of the Euro Zone?  It is hard to say.  Italy and Spain are starting to have the same problems that Greece is having and those two countries are not only larger but are the twin pillars of the EU's Mediterranean flank. 

The drama in Europe might just be starting....

Kronia Pola

Happy Name Day for anyone named Constantinos, Constantine, Kosta, or Dino!

Yesterday was interesting for many reasons--we had a small fire in one store but fortunately no one was hurt.  I read about protesters going to Chicago for the NATO summit because the G-8 summit had been moved to Camp David (sounds like someone was nervous...) and I watch with disbelief as the Los Angles Kings (!) advance towards the Stanley Cup Finals.  Of course, Greece is about to be thrown out of the EuroZone but we can tackle that tomorrow!

Enjoy the Feast Day of St Constantine even if your name is Fred!

May 12

The Twelfth of May is always a big holiday on the Haas calender.  The defeat of the Citadel and the beginning of the collapse of the moronic radio station I used to work at briefly.  Today I eat pizza and cookies and still found time to run two miles at a pretty decent pace. 

I have a year to get ready for the PhD program...wherever that might be.  I need to strengthen my knowledge of Latin and Ancient Greek and the best option looks like another year at either UNC, UNC-G or back at East Carolina.

It is looking like East Carolina again but that is fine with me. I know the people there and it is the same distance as the other places.

More commuting....ugh.....

As Thucydides once said, "He who has been though the most severe school wins."

Now I have to say it in Ancient Greek!

Never, never, never a dull moment!

I now have a Master's Degree

Today, I received my Master's Degree in History from East Carolina University!

It did not seem like three years but this day finally arrived.  It did not seem like three years (calenders don't lie...) because I enjoyed every moment of it. My only regret is that I live about two hours in every direction from anything interesting...Two hours from ECU, two hours from the beach, two hours from Charlotte and the mountains, etc... It would have been nice to hang out some more with my classmates but sometimes you have to play the cards you are dealt with.  I made a 4.0, so I must have played them well.

The next step is the PhD but that will come in August 2013.  I have to brush up on Latin and learn Ancient Greek, which is nothing like the modern language.  I have no idea where I will go for the PhD but I will worry about that tomorrow...tonight I am celebrating. 

I have been studying Latin since the thesis defense on April 2 and I will get to Ancient Greek in a couple of weeks so the PhD quest is all ready underway.....all I can say is "Tomorrow began yesterday..."

Please get rid of these idiots....

It has been a busy week for the Transportation Security Adminsitration.....terrorizing a four year old girl, harrasing another girl on crutches with cerebral palsy, assaulting a congressman and now attempting to respond to charges of agents accepting bribes to let drugs through.

Nothing says "we lost the war on terror" like watching uniformed US government employees trying to rip a terrified four year old girl out of the arms of her parents.

It is time to get rid of these idiots.

Corrupt, incompetent, and obviously hold the American people in contempt.

I have had hard core Republican friends who are stress "law and order" finally admit this organization needs to go.

I don't know where it went wrong.  The TSA was launched in the aftermath of 9/11 with nothing but goodwill.  Airport security was despertely needed and the TSA seemed like the perfect tool for the job.  Now we have perverts with no background checks performing searches that now meet the common law definition of sexual assault.

Get rid of them. Let the cops handle this.  They know what they are doing.  TSA morons don't have the brains to pick their noses.

Raven Rock

Yesterday, Michelle and I went up the road to Raven Rock. Yes, I notice the irony of the name but I am sure it was named that well before that team from Baltimore came into existence.

We hiked along the trails and put in a good five miles. I don't know how long it took and I doubt any Force Recon unit would have felt us breathing down its neck but I think we did pretty well.

Sometimes we homo sapiens forget we are animals too so it is a good thing to go out into the woods far from cities and maybe other humans. Back in the 1700s, an explorer named Lawson set out from Charleston, SC and worked his way up to the vicinity of Chapel Hill, NC and sailed down the Cape Fear River to what is now Wilmington. I looked out from the overlook and wondered what he thought when he was drifting down the river.

On the whole, I would have rather been at Mantinea but you have to take what you can :-)

Wandering around in the woods with Michelle thinking about colonial explorers and ancient Greek battles...Not a bad way to spend the day!

Just another day.....

Friday the 13th is just another day....of course, it is the perfect time to pay taxes! I do not look forward to that at all but I might as well get it done now. I also received notification that my thesis has been officially approved but my advisor is in France....

Maybe there is something to this day...LOL It will be all right....don't worry. But if you carry a cross around, no one will blame you!

Happy Easter!

Western version anyway....LOL Orthodox Easter is next week!

Thesis Successfully Defended!

On April 2, 2007, I gave Michelle her ring in front of Heinz Field. Five years to the day, with Michelle looking on, I successfully defended my thesis, "Overcoming the Spartan Phalanx". Naturally, my internet crashed for two days.....I guess to keep me humble...

PhD is next!

Happy Greek Independence Day!

Happy Greek Independence Day

EPA gets bodyslammed

An overreaching dictatorial federal agency claimed it could not be taken to court was and lost badly in a unanimous 9-0 decision. Reading the story will make you angry and wonder if you are living in the United States of America or the Soviet Union. The Supreme Court got one right for a change. Hopefully they do again with that Obamacare horror in June.

The story, from CNN, for your consideration:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/21/us/scotus-property-rights/index.html

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Everyone is Irish today!

Time to leave...

After the horrific news of a lone US serviceman going on a nighttime rampage, killing sixteen civilians, nine of them children, it has become obvious it is time to leave. First, there was the inadvertent burning of the Koran that resulted in rioting that killed 30 people. Six US service people were shot by their supposed Afghan "comrades" after that incident.

Then came this tragedy. We may never know what happened completely but what we do know is bad enough. No one in Afghanistan will ever trust Americans again.

It has been 11 years since the United States invaded Afghanistan. The Afghan army still cannot operate on its own, Harmad Karzai clearly can't stand us and Osama Bib Laden, harbored, yes harbored, by our alleged ally Pakistan, is dead.

We have done all we can do. Afghanistan is, and always will be, a basket case.

Enough American blood and treasure has been spent. Tine to leave and no will think twice if any US soldiers spit on the ground as they leave. Let our armed forces personnel come home to their families.

What about Afghanistan?

Let the idiots kill each other.

Spring FORWARD, Fall BACK!

I could shout about gas prices and how Obama 2012 looks just like Bush 2008 but I am pretty sure you see enough of that.....

Daylight savings time approaches and the Sunday after is always fun as no one arrives anywhere on time and store open at wrong times and clocks are off for a week!

Remember....Spring FORWARD, Fall BACK!

Not too much happening right now as I am getting ready for the thesis defense and all the idiotic last minute stuff that happens but we are getting it taken care of. Inch by inch, foot by foot, yard by yard. That reminds me....

Why are we not using the metric system? All based on 10 and a lot easier to convert.

Kind of random post this week but I have a lot to do.

At least it keeps me off the streets!

US intelligence agencies conclude.....

....that Iran is not, I say again, not, constructing any nuclear weapons, though for some reason the story says "bomb." The reactor that attracts so much attention on Iran's southwest cost is not being used for military research, US intelligence agencies conclude. Granted, there is a capability to do so since the Iranians are engaged in nuclear research but there is no military applications as yet.

So why continue to surround and harass Iran? Such behavior only pushes them towards military applications. The answer may well lie in an attempt to once again drive up oil prices with the aid of a manufactured "crisis".

Has Iran shown a history of imperial aggressiveness? Yes, it has. But it is not doing so at the moment. Nor can they.

Iran's economy is not that strong. They are surrounded by the US military in Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, and the Persian Gulf . Iranian threats to Israel cannot be carried out because the US, and probably Israel, can knock the missiles down before they come close. Furthermore, Iran's relationship with Hamas has fallen apart so Iran's ability to strike at the Israelis is degraded even more. Unfortunately, there are still Iranian proxies in southern Lebanon but can they seriously damage Israel? Even their best effort in 2006 could not seriously damage Israel nor has any meaningful attempt repeat the effort.

Oil traders (maybe "traitors" is a better spelling) continue to harp about an Israeli preemptive strike on Iran. Have they looked at a map? Does any Israeli airplane have that kind of range to get there and back? And somehow, I don't see Jordan or Kuwait giving permission for overflight and even Iraq would not allow that, especially considering their experience in being on the receiving end of an Israeli strike back in 1981.

When these same speculators shout about Iranian efforts to shut down the Hormuz waterway, remember, Iran has a small navy that the US Fifth Fleet can destroy within a day. Also remember that when Saddam Hussein began blowing up oil wells in Kuwait during the Gulf War in 1991, oil prices did not move.

Who are the real villains here?

All these threats only reinforce the "Americans are coming to destroy Iran" propaganda Tehran feeds its people. And it suits the purposes of those seeking to steal more from the American people. And the sad thing is is that the morons in Tehran might actually be less of a threat to America.

Pic from CIA World Fact Book

Story for your consideration from New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/25/world/middleeast/us-agencies-see-no-move-by-iran-to-build-a-bomb.html

Now he's worried about gas prices?

Gas prices are heading for $4 a gallon by the end of next month. On a much faster pace that the 2008 spike that led to this horrific economic situation. Back then, Candidate Obama railed against the White House (justifably) for not doing anything to allieviate the situation. Now four years later, prices have leaped from under $2 to $4 and President Obama has done nothing. In 20o8, he called for a comprehensive energy plan. In 2012, after vetoing the Keystone oil pipeline project, he is calling for a comprehensive energy plan.

So what has he been doing for four years?

Everything a politician uses the world "comprehensive", they sound like used car salesman.

That is because that is what they are.

Congress has a 9% approval rating.

You are better off talking to a used car salesman.

So much for "Hope and Change"

The story from from USAToday.com for your consideration:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2012/02/obama-mocks-gop-on-gas-price-issue/1#.T0ajUvmD-QY

Why not just default?

When I look at Greece's debt problems and the measures they are taking to "solve" it--more debt and massive cuts in the minumum wage--I wonder why they just don't default and start over. The debtors are not getting their money back and the country's continued membership in the European Union is just going to drag the whole thing down.

The EU has spent over $320 billion to try to keep Greece afloat. Meanwhile Portugal and Ireland are in trouble and two large economies, Italy and Spain, are in the same, sinking, boat. Will the EU shell out more money to keep them out of the red for a few months?

Better to take the medicine and start the road back to recovery.

When a country is facing 20% unemployment and has to suffer austerity cuts that result in 20% cut in wages, default and going back to the drachma makes a lot more sense.

Could it mean the end of the Eurozone.

Probably.

Didn't look like it was working that well anyway.

On this day....

On this day in 1965, the Canadian flag we know and love was adopted. All around the world, this is seen as the flag of justice, peace and freedom.

Hope and Change second to Super PACs

Isn't this the guy who said he wanted to change politics as we knew it and end corruption in DC? He looks sort of like the same guy who campaigned against Super PACs in 2008, calling them a "threat to liberty."

Of course, we can also thank the Supreme Court for ruling in 2010 that corporations were people. Remember, this is the same organization that ruled slavery and segregation was legal. Sorry if I seem skeptical about their logic...

Nonetheless, the Obama flip flop on PACs below for your consideration courtesy of Yahoo news.




http://news.yahoo.com/obama-shows-weakness-super-pac-stance-change-184400868.html

Germany rising?

For the 17th or 18th time, I read in the news that stocks rallied on impending deal/hope of solving the Greek debt crisis. It is not solved and it is not going away. The Eurozone is not going to become any kind of political union or superstate. It might turn into a German vassalage though.

All of the Euro bailouts have come straight out of Germany's pocket and Chancellor Angela Merkel has said there will be no more. Germany, located in the center of Europe, and possessing the continent's strongest economy is clearly the strongest country in the faltering EU. Without Germany, there is no European Union but with or without the European Union, there will be a Germany.

Germany has the lowest unemployment rate (6.6%) in the EU, an economy that is an interesting mix of industrial and financial, and seems to be developing an interesting relationship with Russia when it comes to oil. It kind of looks like 1880 all over again when Bismarck gave the Czar loans to modernize Russia and keep them from allying with France.

Some extremists start shouting about 1939 and "the Germans are coming!" but I can't see that happening. A possible swing rightward and a resurgence in patriotism but I don't see the swastika making a comeback.

Oddly, Angela Merkel may succeed where Kaiser Wilhelm and Adolf Hitler failed. Germany may conquer Europe without firing a shot or even intending too do so. Greek, Spanish, Irish, and Italian debt is held by a lot of Germans and at some point, they will call in the markers. Deals will be made but with those come concessions. What sort of concessions will there be? I don't think the Germans are out to overrun Europe but it is looking like they will own a good piece of it.

Europe, with or without the EU, will continue to revolve around Germany. Europe's history is usually the story of a power vacuum in Germany or a Germanic attempt to expand in all directions, from the Romans to the Third Reich. Sometimes it was just migrations and others it was an attempt at conquest. Sometimes, historians hate to use this phrase, it "just happens". The law of unintended consequences can lead down roads no one even knew existed. Take a look at Europe's history in the 1860s and you will see what I mean.

I have heard from a lot of people that the European Union was formed not only to create a unified Europe but a European Germany. It might end up creating a German Europe. It just might be inevitable.

TSA messes with the wrong guy....

Senator Rand Paul had a standoff with the TSA nitwits in Nashville today. There should be a lively debate coming out of this. Please, just get rid of these pervert morons masquerading as "security" at our airports. They have never caught a terrorist and have failed every security test ever administered. They only turn Americans against each other and are an admission we have lost the war on terror.

The story from Yahoo for your consideration:

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/senator-rand-paul-detained-refusing-tsa-pat-down-161010280.html

How to lose an election...

President Obama vetoed the Keystone Pipeline Project today because he claims the deadline to consider the project had passed before the State Department could study the merits of the proposal.

What else does the State Department have to do?

The pipeline could provide thousands of jobs and help edge the US off non North American oil sources. If this government was truly interested in solving the energy problems plaguing America, they would use this as a first step while developing alternative energy. The term "alternative energy" has been around since the 1970s when then President Nixon pledged energy independence from the Middle East "by 1980." You can see how well that has worked out.

When summer arrives, we will hear the all too familiar refrain that "Americans are driving more" and the oil speculators will use that as an excuse to drive up oil prices and we will be paying $4 a gallon.

If that happens, say goodbye to any hint of economic recovery and Obama had better start dusting off the resume.

Get the commodities under control, (bring back Glass-Stegall) or this will never get any better.

pic from Splicetoday.com

Tim Tebow

What is it with the sports media and Tim Tebow?

For some reason they really seem to hate him. Some people give us the "liberal media hates Christians" angle and you begin to wonder if they have a point.

I am not the most pious person on the planet but I believe everyone has a right to worship whoever or whatever they want or not worship anything.

The sports media should focus on sports and keep it there.

His open piety can be a little tiresome at time but so are morons with drooping pants, hats on crooked and idiotic "celebrations" for things as mundane as making a catch that is not even a touchdown. Tebow, on the other hand, seems much more wholesome and could be an excellent role model in a league full of people who often end up in jail.

They have derided Tebow declaring that he was an NFL "bust" before playing a down and somehow forgetting he is a rookie and rookies can be taught to do things differently. Every game he started in 2011, elements of the sports media analyzed his every move and when he had a bad game, declared his fifteen minutes of fame were over.

Then he goes and beats my Steelers in the playoffs.

The media better get used to Tim Tebow because I think he is going to be around a while. He has Someone bigger than the media in his corner.

I also think Pittsburgh will beat him next time around.....

Pic from ESPN

Footnotes, footnotes, and more footnotes!

If there is anything more mind numbing than putting in footnotes on a master's thesis, I don't want to know what it is!

I put in, over two days, ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY of them!

Wow.....

Later today, I will put in my maps and battle diagrams and declare the project officially over.

Now, it is time to prep for the defense, and get ready for the PhD applications.

It never ends but at least you won't be bored!

Welcome to 2012!