MMA Regulations

In general, I am not in favor of government regulation of pretty much anything, since most of the time the rules don't make sense or favor certain parties, and/or are written by people that don't know what they are talking about. What you see below is our fight team head coach taping the hands of one of our fighters. As an aside, we had three fighters in there Saturday night and went 3-0, with two knockouts and one submission.
I have been backstage many times with the fighters, but there was never anyone watching or looking around. The woman dressed in the black is a state of Wisconsin inspector. She was making sure that the taping of the hands was legal.

There are rules now on how you can tape hands - the most important being that you can tape between the knuckles, but not over them. This disallows the "casting" of your hand, which effectively turns it into a club.  The regulation tape is only 1" wide.

After the hands were taped, the inspector signed the tape. Then the glove goes on over the taping, and that is taped as well - and the inspector watched me doing this and signed off on that too. After you are taped and signed, no fighter was allowed to leave the locker room area without having an inspector escort (typically to the restroom, or to the cage to inspect for footing and the flex of the fence).

In the old days, none of this happened. We just taped the hands, one of the guys running the fights would glance at it, and that was that. There were no locker room regulations, or anyone from any authority back there. The inspectors also checked everyone's shorts and one guy had to cut some laces off that weren't able to be tucked away.

The pre-fight meeting was better too. The referee clearly explained all the rules (there are many more than you think) to the fighters and the coaches and corners.  The promoter of the fights also said that no taunting of the opponent would be tolerated, and that if you did taunt, you would never appear on the card again.  And that went for coaches and seconds as well. Celebration, OK - but taunting, no way.

Security was also tighter. I had to show my "seconds" license from the State of Wisconsin to receive my passes to enter the locker room and to be cageside. By the way there is no test to be a second. Just fill out a form and send in $40.

As I mentioned in the beginning of the post, I typically disdain the government getting into stuff like this, but every single person there from the State knew exactly what they were talking about, knew the rules, and were extremely professional and helpful. There were a lot of questions since this was the first time a lot of us had seen a state presence such as this and all were dealt with fairly.

The fighters have to go through a much more rigorous testing to get their license;  blood work, doctors inspections and more.

MMA is huge and getting bigger every day. I think that a set, established, group of rules is a good thing for the sport, and will help keep idiots out of the ring and out of the way.

Monday Morning Blues

Castillo de San Marcos

While organizing my old photos I came across 2007 pictures from a visit to Castillo de San Marcos, a fort in St. Augustine, Florida. The fortress was built by the Spanish as part of the time they occupied Florida.

The fortress is of the typical "bastion" type. I am not an expert in this era so I relied on wikipedia which had a nice description. Apparently the grades were built so that cannon would be more effective aiming downward as attackers neared the fortress.

Here is a view of one of the cannon pointed out towards the ocean from which attackers may arrive.

This is a view of the fort itself with the courtyard in the middle.

There were many cannons at the fort. The cannons weren't all from that fort; some were donated from Spain or other museums. This is a four-pounder.

Here is a 16 inch mortar.

Note the fine detailing on these cannon. Very interesting.

Miller Lite Technology Arms Race

Whenever I talk to Dan one of his key issues is "how can I pour piss-water Miller Lite down my gullet faster?"

Well Miller Lite has answered his call with a "new" technology that does just that, called the "Punch Top Can". Basically you are just shotgunning a beer, like you'd see someone do over at Drunk Bear Fans (and shoot beer all over themselves to boot, which is hilarious).

One more reminder - if you don't check out that video at Drunk Bear Fans of those girls shotgunning a beer and shooting it all over themselves you are really missing out.

Mmmm mmmm good.

What Happened to Spring?

March was apparently warmer than April for the first time in about 100 years.  We had a fantastic St. Patrick's day and a great Sox opening day (in early April) and then the whole month just went down the crapper.  It has been very cold but at least it hasn't been cold with wind and driving rain (the only type of weather other than complete blizzard that keeps me out of the "cheap seats" up at the Bears game), and I guess we got a bit of sun here and there.

Regardless of baseball affiliation I took this photo a while back looking at my relatives' flowers in mid March and all the plants were just doing great.  I hope that all this cold weather doesn't set them back too far, but it hasn't had a hard freeze at least and that seems very remote now that we are heading into May.

Damn Ash Borer

I was recently out at my parents' house in the suburbs of Chicago and they had recently taken down a couple of large and old Ash trees in their back yard.  This is a view of another (likely) dead tree off in the distance.

Apparently this bug came into the US from Asia and, based on their name, does a very good job of boring into ash trees (the larvae) which kills them.  Surprisingly enough (for me, at least) the State of Illinois has a pretty comprehensive web site detailing the Ash Borer threat right here.  From the site:

Native to Asia, the Emerald Ash Borer is an exotic beetle that was unknown in North America until June 2002 when it was discovered as the cause for the decline of many ash trees in southeast Michigan and neighboring Windsor, Ontario, Canada... No bigger than a penny, this green menace has wreacked havoc on millions of ash trees in the Midwest and if not controlled it could wipe out the ash tree species in North America. The adult beetles nibble on ash foliage but cause little damage. The larvae (the immature stage) feed on the inner bark or cambium layer which is the crucial layer between the bark and wood of ash trees, disrupting the tree's ability to transport water and nutrients. Emerald ash borer probably arrived in the United States on solid wood packing material carried in cargo ships or airplanes originating in its native Asia. 

From looking around the site a bit, there apparently isn't too much that you can do about the nasty critters.  You can pre-inject insecticide into your ash tree to try to prevent them from infesting the tree in the first place but that appears to be about it.  I am far from an arborist, however, so don't take my advice.
While based on my super-simple knowledge of trees the "Ash" tree isn't viewed as a particularly valuable type of tree for your yard, it is sad to me to see the trees I grew with all coming down so fast.  

Two Great Things That Go Great Together

I thought of that old jingle for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups when I saw this combination of my favorite source for "news" The Onion and a flyer noting that Illinois is the only state without concealed carry laws in the nation.

Pelican New EP

Pelican is a Chicago based metal band that plays all-instrumentals (OK, there was one song out there with vocals) that doesn't rely on guitar solos or shredding. Their songs are also in a "major" key and aren't drop-tuned down like many other metal bands. Their songs also often take a long time to build up and there are many nuances that you hear after repeated listens. I am a huge fan of Pelican and eagerly awaited this new EP. There are 4 songs on the EP - one is kind of an art-noise throwaway, one is an OK acoustic song, and there are two "typical" Pelican songs. This is the "faster" song and there is another slower one that is great, too.



Here is a live performance of that same song from a fan's camera - but it is very good.

 

Pelican is coming to Chicago on Friday, June 29th at Lincoln Hall.  I will try to go.  There are a couple of opening bands but tickets are an amazingly low $15.  I don't know how they can make a living since bands nowadays make most of their money off touring.  At this price I hope they don't end up owing money to the bar like it happened in the Blues Brothers.

Carl's Random Music - "Push The Tempo"

I saw this video on TV in Europe while traveling many years ago and it is hilarious. Also a decent song.

Please Go To the Milfflin Street Block Party and Get Drunk and Stoned Out of Your Mind

Every year it is the same shit.  The Mifflin Street Block Party has been going on for ages here in Madison but this year we have a new twist.  More on that in a second.

Per that source of all knowledge carnal wiki, the Mifflin Street Block Party started here in Madison back in 1969 as a Vietnam protest.  Since then it has just turned into a huge beer bash, complete with bands.

The city hates this crap, as it costs lots of cop overtime money, and on occasion we have a riot.  The 1996 riot was the biggest and best known one.  A bonfire was set to combat the cold weather, and a fire truck came in to extinguish that.  Beer bottles and other assorted crap were tossed at the fire engine and the cops came in with riot gear to bust up the party.  Other smaller incidents happen every year.

If the city and university would just let it alone, it would probably fizzle out over time.  But this year the UW Dean of Students decided to chime in with her absolutely mind numbing plea to the students:


I am sure that Ms. Berquam's outrage over the Mifflin Steet Block Party re Cinco de Mayo is of utmost importance to the kids that will be at the party (lol!).  And I am also sure that Ms. Berquam didn't have the same sense of outrage when she was marching around the square last February seeing all of those (insert tyrannical depot here) = Walker signs.

Honestly, there are approximately two Mexican people that go to UW - I know this because when we attended the UW vs. Nebraska game last fall, Carl and I were two buoys of relatively sober sanity bobbing in an enormous ocean of drunk Caucasians.

That aside, if I was in kollej again and saw my dean of students making this video (honestly I really had no clue who the dean of students was/did when I was in kollej) I would be making a BEELINE to the PAR-TAY!

So by making this stupid video Berquam has brought a TON of attention to the bash and I am sure it will be fantastic for all involved.

Of course we already have parody videos:


As one astute commenter said at the comments of the above video (there are MANY hilarious comments), this remix will be played at EVERY house party at Mifflin.

You may note that Berquam's original video was taken down, and that the new video is a re-upload.  A sign that Berquam doesn't understand that the internet is forever.

If you click through to the Isthmus article there are some hilarious tweets about it too.

Have fun everyone!  I won't be anywhere near the place.  But if I was 20 years younger I would be.  In spades.

Some Things Never Change...

I was watching the highlights of the White Sox vs. Oakland last night (a 3-0 shutout by Jake Peavy) when I witnessed a familiar, comforting sight... a vast array of green, empty seats in Oakland. When Dan and I attended a day game a few years back in Oakland and saw our totemic skull tattoo man = Baltimore the place was almost entirely empty, with vast portions of the upper deck seemingly permanently covered with a tarp.

For last nights' game not only were the upper decks empty, but pretty much the entire stadium seemed vacant, with a smattering of folks directly behind home plate. It is amazing to me that MLB leaves a franchise in that crumbling stadium in Oakland with the 3 fans who regularly attend (it reminds me of that Family Guy clip when they ask the single WNBA fan in the stands why he likes the league). Even the dimmest of the dim can see that broke-down Oakland can't support an MLB franchise - they can barely support their legal pot growing businesses. While other cities invest hundreds of millions in new stadiums even "Moneyball" can't save the A's. They need to pack it in and sell that franchise or somehow invest in a gleaming new ballpark where the fans from the nice side of town (I'm kidding) can buy large, expensive luxury boxes like they do everywhere else.

In general baseball's slow pace is not exactly luring in the next generation of fans, who grew up on football and basketball and now NASCAR and UFC. It is amazing to contrast the short, sharp entertainment value of UFC vs. the pleasure of spending hours and hours watching a game in a cavernous stadium where not much happens. But I'm sure that those that run MLB will come up with a plan that unites the fans and injects passion and intensity back in the game. Not.

Estate Sale

A few blocks up the road from where I live there was an estate sale last weekend.

The deal with these for those who don't know, is that you hire a company to advertise and create interest in the sale, come into a house, tag everything up with prices and try to liquidate the stuff. In exchange, the company gets a cut, of course. This particular estate sale was very well attended.

The road that I live on had cars parked all along it for the majority of the time that the sale was open. I think that more people have taken up this type of thing as a hobby. I can certainly see the appeal of getting something for cheap and re-selling it on Ebay or Craigslist or wherever. And most (all?) of these transactions, I would assume, go under the radar of the tax man.

This particular house was of some interest to me since it was the Frau Becker's house. I had a passing acquaintance with Frau Becker - she always had a little dog of some sort and she walked it in the neighborhood. When I was outside doing yard work or whatever, we always had a little light conversation. A nice lady. I asked my wife about the sale and assumed she had moved away. My wife told me that Frau Becker died a few years ago from ovarian cancer. Sad news, that. I suppose the husband finally died too, and that was the reason for the sale.

While I wasn't close to Frau Becker, I knew her. So yesterday when I sauntered down to the sale to see what was left, it was sort of like seeing part of her that I didn't know about.

So many chemicals and lubricants. There was a nice, barely used lathe in the basement that they were selling "dutch auction" style.

Lots of airline glassware. The Frau flew first class back and forth from the homeland, it appears. And kept the glassware. Or do you get that for free up in the front of the plane?

She kept sewing kits from all over the place. You know, the little free ones that you get in hotels? I imagine the Frau came from a depression time where you kept pretty much everything you could.

Matchbooks.

Maps from every country of Europe.

A mass of costume jewelry here, a pile of magazines there.  I imagine the good jewelry was sold elsewhere by the family.

Lots of old books - in German. Those don't do me any good.

Unwritten post cards.

An old HP laptop battery.

The dresser where Frau Becker used to keep her clothes.  The dressers were quite nice but I didn't dare bring home a piece of furniture without the express written consent of my secretary of interior decorating (i.e. the wife).

It was an interesting half hour that I spent in Frau Becker's home. I had never attended a sale like this and it was a neat feeling to be able (yea, encouraged) to rifle through someone's personal effects. Since I knew the Frau, I was a bit creeped out, but not too much.

I may attend a sale like this in the future. I wonder if I will think about the deceased the next time. I am sure I will - that is the historian in me.

I was reminded of a great lesson. In the end, it is all crap that you can't take with you. It was good for me to get that reminder.

Cross posted at ChicagoBoyz.

Monday Morning Blues

Bad Bets

When we went to Reno for the Super Bowl weekend, Carl and I placed some longshot bad bets on the game. For the Super Bowl you can bet on almost any stat imaginable. The very worst bet was placed by Carl, who put I think $20 on the TOTAL score being below ten points. I think he got 200 to 1 on that crap bet. Carl, correct me if I am wrong on the bet but I think I am close. Well, today on InTrade there is a proposition - Scott Walker as the VP. As of right now it is a .7% chance. Yes, seven tenths of one percent. As an aside, Walker is a 65% favorite to win re-election in the recall election. Which bet above is worse? Hard to say.

The Value of College

Yahoo! had a recent article titled "1 in 2 New Graduates are Jobless or Underemployed". From the article:

While there's strong demand in science, education and health fields, arts and humanities flounder

The article discusses the "plight" of an individual with a college degree who is working as a barista at Starbucks because he cannot find employment in his chosen field (note - is "barista" a masculine or feminine term, or neutral?) And what was this individuals' major? CREATIVE WRITING.

I often contemplate what someone with that major thinks their job opportunities really are out there in the world. Let's see...

- You could use your skills to write something, like this blog, for instance (and cash in all the nickels you will receive, maybe)
- You could go to Hollywood and try to write for a show or screenplay (good luck - the competition is ferocious)
- You could try to write that serious book that is in your head (uh... and there is a 1 in a billion chance that it will sell enough copies, should it be published, to feed you for even one month)

I'm not saying that creative writing isn't interesting, fun, or could lead to pay that could sustain your life. I just don't think that you need a DEGREE to do this, and if you are "banking" on this out of the gate, then you are in for some very likely serious hard knocks in the cash flow area. Also, it isn't clear to me that "creative writing" as a degree is necessary to be a "creative writer". I would be interested to hear of a single popular author or even widely read blogger or screenwriter that has a degree called "creative writing". Since I must admit that I am not sure even what "creative writing" is I looked it up at trusty old wikipedia and here is their definition:

Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems. Writing for the screen and stage, screenwriting and playwriting respectively, typically have their own programs of study, but fit under the creative writing category as well.

Who would you even send a resume to for "creative writing"? If this definition was true, you aren't sending it to any newspapers or technical writing firms (there are a lot of computer specifications being written) or even ad agencies; I don't think that most screenwriters hire underlings and certainly the big film studios don't hire you out of college and train you. The article goes on to explain what is likely obvious to most readers:

College graduates who majored in zoology, anthropology, philosophy, art history and humanities were among the least likely to find jobs appropriate to their education level; those with nursing, teaching, accounting or computer science degrees were among the most likely.

I can't imagine that these findings are a surprise to anyone. If you don't have connections, you are better off getting a practical science-based or business-based degree (you can put computer science in whatever bucket you want) to get your foot in the door in business or in government. It IS true that many, many people started out with liberal arts degrees and rose to the top (often becoming lawyers) - but many of those that DID rise (in recent years) already had massive connections and were able to get in to elite graduate schools or careers like investment banking where only the most elite can apply. When you eliminate the liberal arts programs from elite Ivy-league or private universities from the mix (like Northwestern), getting a liberal arts degree from a non-elite school is going to leave you marooned in your job hunt. Probably 90%+ of liberal arts degree holders that are graduating now come from these non-elite schools (just a guess), so those are the ones likely "underemployed" or working as a barista somewhere.

What is surprising to me is that this is a surprise to anyone, at all.

Cross posted at Chicago Boyz

Tobacco Free!

Four weeks ago today...and counting...


Not as hard as I thought it would be.

Meet my new habit.

April 22 2012 - Earth Day

Happy Earth Day Everyone!


Let's all do our part.

Perfect. Just Fvck!n’ Perfect.

Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Phil Humber threw a perfect game today.


I tuned in during the bottom of the third, right after mowing the lawn.

This was much more than a perfect game. Humber literally owned each and every batter during the time I watched.

What an incredible performance!

Never have seen anything quite like it.

Honored to have watched it live.

Awesome.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot.

Cubs Suck.

Saturday Night Sixties

It’s Saturday night again. Time to relax. Let’s set the wayback machine for the 60’s, my favorite decade.

Pour yourself a big, stiff cocktail. Put a thick vinyl platter on the turntable of the hi-fi and gently drop that needle.



R.I.P.

Carl's Random Music - Crazy Video

There is a new video by a popular female rapper (I won't mention her name anywhere in this post because we don't want that type of traffic) where she has a video that is hard to believe is real, but from the accounts I can find on the web, is actually real. Unlike some Hollywood stars who are rumored to not do their own stunts that is her riding atop a car on two wheels (doing her nails). Now that is a video that grabbed my attention.

Also these guys that "skate" alongside the car with the door open - I don't know what it is called but am too lazy to look it up - but that's off the hook too.

Here's the actual video - I have to admit I find the song pretty catchy too.

The Abstract Concept of "Work"

Once I was having a conversation with a friend after a few drinks and he said

What would the business world be like if it really was the way it appeared on soap operas?

On soap operas business is a clandestine, cloak and dagger operation. You are forever opening drawers for obscure documents while the other guy isn't there, thinking about conspiracies, and flirting / sleeping with one another. People have large offices, secretaries, and complex relationships with everyone they encounter.

And very little actual work seems to get done.

When I was growing up everyone I knew had a job of some sort. You started out mowing lawns and shoveling snow, and girls babysat. Some people in rural areas (we weren't near fields) de-tasseled corn, which could be a brutal job out in the hot sun. When you were 16 you graduated into a new type of job, a more formal job with an actual boss on a payroll and with a paycheck, in retail or at a fast food restaurant or something like that. You worked during the school year, and then you worked a lot during the summer, and you worked during spring break (if you could). When you were back from college in the summer you worked too, or stayed on campus and found some sort of job there, instead.

Now kids don't get jobs at nearly the same rate for a variety of reasons - they have a lot more homework than we did, and parents want them to focus on school as the highest priority. Plus the minimum wage is higher now, and the retail and fast food jobs are often going to full-grown adults that need the work in this economy. For whatever reason, I see a lot less kids (16-20) that seem to be potential full-time college student candidates doing actual work when I am out shopping or elsewhere in the type of jobs I used to work.

But instead there are many more TV programs that appear to show work. The most prominent is "The Office", which actually has many more truthful elements of actual work than the traditional soap operas. The divide between management and staff is more obvious, and the staffers reflect their stereotypical personas (the semi-autistic or boring accountant, the pretty secretary, the beaten-down HR worker, the semi-optimistic sales staff, and those hangers on that have somehow survived rounds of layoffs but you can't quite figure out what they do), while the actual workers are in the basement, moving paper with a forklift and having a culture of their own. The general spirit of the office is the absolute minimum level of competence and business skills to keep the organization afloat, with a chimerical camaraderie of forced meetings and boring encounters. There is a continuous focus on the head office and corporate, which is certainly realistic, since change do derive from the top often with little knowledge of what is happening "on the ground".

Since many kids don't have jobs or actual contact with formal managers, shows like "The Office" do in fact color their view of the traditional workplace. While many kids can understand what is obviously real and what is obviously fake, the "accoutrements" of power (secretary, an enclosed office, a conference call relationship with corporate) seem relevant. Certainly living in the "cube farm" is not a good fate, sitting at a communal table or small beige cube adjacent to obnoxious, dopey or deranged co-workers is to be escaped at all costs.

An abstract concept of "work" and "management" unhinged from "actual work" or "actual management" appears to be at its highest in the (wealthy) Arab world. This excellent article in Bloomberg describes the job situation for young adults in Saudi Arabia.

Today, all three still live at home, get pocket money from their parents and are jobless in Riyadh, capital of the world’s largest crude oil exporter. When the three Saudi men met each other in school 11 years ago, they dreamed that by the time they had reached their mid-20s, each would have a well-paid job, a house, a new car and maybe a wife

Most of the work in Saudi Arabia is actually done by guest workers or expatriates. The "dirty" work of construction, domestics, etc... is done by fellow Arabs from countries that aren't sparsely populated and endowed with natural resources, and the "thinking" work of managing and running businesses is done by expatriates from around the world. The article goes on to explain how young adult Saudis don't want to work in supermarkets, construction, or as cashiers. They want the jobs that they see on TV - the managerial jobs, sitting behind a desk, in a climate controlled and first class office building.

“In my previous job, I used to sit at a desk in my own office,” he says. “I want the same standard of work.” Abdullah, who has a high school diploma, says he has been offered “bad” jobs: as a waiter, security guard and cashier.

The interesting part of this is that the Saudis want those jobs without any sort of skills that would make them relevant in the wider, competitive world. They have a concept of what "work" means and this abstract concept is completely unhinged from any sort of skill building or "work your way up from the bottom" mentality that could support it on a larger scale. This is the ultimate abstraction of work; routine, office tasks with demanded accoutrements that have no bearing on the underlying economy or added value of goods or services.

Cross posted at Chicago Boyz

Sports "Journalism"

So what, exactly, does it take to get a degree, much less a job, in the field of sports writing? I simply have no idea. As we have chronicled in excruciating detail over at Fire Everybody, Dan Pompeii (who we call the "idiotic grinning skull") has no clue, yet still holds a cush job in the Tribune sports department. Today I read this chunk of drivel from Graham Watson at Yahoo Sports. The TITLE of the column is stupid right out of the gate:

Tim Beckman tries to start a real rivalry between Illinois and Northwestern

Tim Beckman, for those who don't know, it the new Illinois football coach. And he isn't starting anything. He is adding fuel to a fire that has been burning brightly for GENERATIONS. We play our hated in-state rival every year. Up until recently it was for the coveted "Sweet Sioux" trophy.

Well, with all of the recent elimination of injun mascots and the like, Sweet Sioux got deep sixed. All is not lost though. Illinois and Northwestern now play for the Land of Lincoln trophy. I have to admit, this is something that the powers that be got right. Trophies need to be simple and symbolic. This one is fantastic.

Sure, Zook got fired, but we have kept the hat for the last few years and I will never forget absolutely hammering Northwestern at Wrigley Field a couple years ago and will always have a place in my heart for Zook for that memory. And at least Zook didn't leave our program flat on its back like several other coaches. How about this from the article:

But Northwestern, and I say this with as much respect as possible, is not a football school. It's an academic institution that plays football. And while there have been some good seasons in Northwestern history - it was 10-2 in 1995 , the lack of consistency makes it difficult for anyone to really consider the Wildcats a real rival or even a contrived one.

This is just plain ol' dumb. Over the past decade and a half, NU has resurrected itself with two fantastic coaches, smart players who are drilled incessantly and know their systems inside and out, and are very well conditioned. At the end of the quarters they all run to the other end in unison instead of sauntering like all of the other teams. They are consistently going to bowl games and winning the majority of their contests every year. NOBODY thinks of NU as an automatic win anymore. I would wager that Graham Watson hasn't seen NU play in 20 years - AT LEAST. Graham Watson is one of these guys that thinks that if your program doesn't get to a BCS game every year there is no success. Worse yet, he remembers the Northwestern program of old that lost almost every game it played. THAT WAS TWO DECADES AGO. So Graham, enjoy your paychecks for doing nothing of value whatsoever. I will continue to enjoy our biggest rivalry with our most hated rival. This is a good job by Beckman fanning the flames of rivalry - he is showing all the signs of being a great coach for the Illini in the future.

Arthur...

...is looking good.  Too bad we had him turned into a steer - he could have been a champion bull.  Oh well.  Clicky for ENORMOUS detailed photo.

Camp

We have three fighters from our gym that will be featured on the Madtown Throwdown a week from Saturday. They are all amateurs making their debuts. We have a fourth fighter who was ready but they couldn't get him matched up. He will be fighting in LaCrosse in a month or so I have heard.

Most people do not understand what it takes to properly train for a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight. Let me try to explain it to you.

These guys have trained in kickboxing, jiu jitsu, wrestling, and conditioning for almost four months, five days a week. One third of their year has been in fighter camp. They have had to watch their intake (food and drink) and carefully monitor that for the weigh in next Friday. If you don't make your weight, you don't fight.

The next time you watch a UFC fight, remember what these guys went through over the last several months for your entertainment. You may appreciate it more. I get extremely upset when someone who perhaps gets knocked out is razzed by the crowd or whatever. Most have absolutely no idea what it takes just to get in that cage, much less to win.

So how have I been involved with this latest batch of fighters? Deeply.

Every Monday and Wednesday I have been putting the fighters through padwork and conditioning. While one guy works pads with me, the other three were doing conditioning drills that I set up. I also ran sparring drills for kickboxing. If there was an odd man, I would jump in and spar with them.

Have you ever held pads for eight or ten straight rounds for fighters kicking and punching their hardest and then perhaps sparred a few rounds? I didn't think so. Well let me tell you, it is an intense workout for the padholder as well. Good padholders are a dime a dozen. Great padholders, like me, are hard to find. Yes, I will just go ahead and say that I am a great padholder. I have embraced this part of the art like nobody else at my gym and surprise my instructor at times with the intensity and types of drills I put the fighters through. But even holding pads correctly it is a rough ride training fighters. I am full of bruises and bumps right now and will be very happy when these fights are over. I am going to take some time off to heal up and get myself together for my black sash test later this year.

But this is how I fight. I am too old and have too much responsibility to risk a broken nose or whatever, so I pour my heart, breath, sweat and soul into our fighters to do my fighting for me. I call it "fighting by proxy". I know our warriors will do well next Saturday. They are SO ready.

They better be. I am one of their coaches and I wouldn't have it any other way.

It Isn't Business as Usual

Barry Ritholtz put up an interesting post this past weekend. He attended some lunches and dinners with the heads of some start up companies. I am encouraged about what he had to say. Here is the money, italics mine:

The youth of America are full of ideas and energy. They don’t give a shit that their parents fucked everything up — they are going to steam roll over the old order and replace it with one of their own. They understand that future is not about the past. They know that they are a business of one, that no company or government is ever going to offer them economic security. They are their own team, brand and idea factory.

There are lots of things people are rightfully upset about — I lost my voice ranting last night about eejit economists who think the crisis was caused by “predatory borrowing” (it wasn’t). But that’s not what is going to be propelling us forward.

Don’t look to DC — the political debates there are laughable. Its like watching two different T-Rex debating who gets to eat the dead plant eater unaware of the the giant asteroid hurtling their way. Their argument gets resolved when the asteroid turns their summer into nuclear winter.

The old order, the political hacks and hangers on, the whiners and recession porn stars and permabears — the dinosaurs — all have no idea WTF is coming their way. They are going to be mowed down like so many extinct species before them. They cannot see the asteroid hurtling their way from the deep black depths of space.

The Future of America is coming. It is not being driven by Goldman Sachs or the GOP or Obama. That’s old school, the old order, yesterday. It’s coming, and coming sooner than most people imagine.

When you get run over, don’t say you weren’t warned . . .

While I think Ritholtz ignores some of the roadblocks along the way that will slow down and possibly derail this new breed, such as old school politics and the like, I agree with his thrust in general.

My generation - the Gen X ers, and those who are coming after us have received a pretty raw deal, perpetrated upon us by the Boomers. We realize that there will be no Social Security at this pace, even though our weekly paychecks are deducted for it. We understand that there are millions of people who have enormous salaries and benefits for pushing papers across the desk of a DMV, and we resent it. Now that we are starting to have kids, we are teaching them that there is NO REASON to rely on the government for ANYTHING and that they are on their own. And that we vote accordingly.

I agree with Ritholtz - some of the new tech and other things coming down the pipe are going to blow the old guard away. We can organize a rally very quickly with thousands of people with a simple Facebook page. This is just one example. The dinosaurs better get ready. Because it is coming. It may take a decade or two, but it will be here before you know it.

Cross posted at ChicagoBoyz.

*the Ritholtz piece has some very good comments on it

Man Vs. Goose

A few days ago I was walking along Wacker Drive which is along the Chicago river at the Orleans street bridge when I looked up to see a Canadian goose just a few inches from my face!  He was staring at me at "eye level" and his mate must have set up a nest down below (there is a ledge, or it could even be at the water level) where he was guarding her against trespassers.  I jerked back (those birds are mean) but he didn't even flinch.  Later I walked over to where I could get a view (from where the bridge crosses the river at Lake Street, where the "L" runs above the street) and zoomed in with my camera and he was still there, annoying some of the thousands of commuters walking past the spot that morning.

Eventually he must have grown tired of facing down crowds of people and being so outnumbered and they found another nesting spot because I haven't seen the goose for a couple of weeks.  In this rare case, man beat the Canadian goose.  Usually they win by not migrating and pooping everywhere.  This article sums up these annoying pests.

Monday Morning Blues

Carl's Random Music - Deftones "Mein"

Dan's got his Monday Morning Blues and Gerry's got his Saturday Night Sixties so I am going to start a Carl's random music list that will come out periodically and randomly.

Before working out at the gym I loaded up my iPod Shuffle (can't believe the thing still works, it is all banged up and bent, and it cost me all of $50 several years ago) on "genius" where you pick a single song and it picks a mix of songs from other groups that are similar.  I like this better than my old way of doing things which basically meant I'd grab an album by a band and load it onto the shuffle but more times than not I was sick of the songs 2 songs in.



A band that I like a lot are the Deftones.  They are kind of a metal band and kind of a sonic experimentation band in that they have a typical "flat" sound.  I have seen them live and even as a fan after a while I'd had enough screaming and the wall of sound.  This is often the type of band that I grab an album and throw it on the shuffle and I am shufflin' forward after only a bit.

But I hadn't listened to this song "Mein" from their 2007 album "Saturday Night Wrist" (one of the first albums I bought digitally, having held out longer than most and was still buying physical CD's until recently) as a stand alone (not in a shuffle full of other, similar Deftones songs) in a while and was quite taken with the tunefulness of this song.  There is a lot in here and if you didn't know it was the Deftones you might be humming along in a bit.  They definitely have the soft / loud / soft thing going kind of like The Doors in their own way and I find them to be an interesting band.

2001 Monolith at Lincoln Park Conservatory

The "monolith" from 2001 is now appearing at the Lincoln Park Conservatory!  

OK for those science fiction buffs out there I realize that the monolith in my photo doesn't have exactly the same "classic" dimensions as the monolith in the 2001 movie. But the black color, smooth texture and the falling water give it the same "feel".

Saturday Night Sixties

It’s Saturday night again. Time to relax. Let’s set the wayback machine for the 60’s, my favorite decade.

Pour yourself a big, stiff cocktail. Put a thick vinyl platter on the turntable of the hi-fi and gently drop that needle.



IF you are paying your 'fair share'...I am very disappointed in you.

Chicago White Sox Homo Opener 2012

Yesterday was my first live Sox homo opener in 59 years of life. When Carl wrote with an invite a few months ago it was a no-brainer to me. Sign me up.

Turns out, it far exceeded any expectations.


From the parking lot attendants to the stadium staff and security we were treated not as customers or guests but as friends. The weather was nothing less than perfect. The tailgate went like clockwork.


We usually snag a spot 100 yards away from the SW entrance. We never have a pass for that lot but the MILF lovely lady who runs it named Donna allows us to take a prime spot since we’re serious tailgaters who show up five hours early to set up. Besides, she can’t resist my undeniable charm. Thanks babe.


How about venison chili and a stiff eye-opener for breakfast?

After entering the stadium the bro faked a knee injury (he has the scars to prove it) and we were personally escorted by a security official into the bowels of Comiskey to an elevator near the team locker room. He gave us a guided mini-tour and was as gracious as could be while we rode up in style. Friendly. Fun.


I never experienced this level of hospitality at a professional level sporting venue anywhere, ever. Well, I must say that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a close second for cheap skanky scenery.


What a contrast from the Chicago Park District union slime at Soldier Field Bear games where every honest paying customer is treated as a potential criminal or public income opportunity.


What a contrast from Wrigley Field where obnoxious 20 something urban drunk punk fans and inebriated corn-fed hoojies from Iowa will always spoil the day with public urination, projectile vomiting and uncontrollably screaming “WOOOOO”. And those are just the women.


On Friday we had front row seats AND the Sox beat Detroit!! What a treat.


Detroit has to be the most contendable (is that a word?) team in the AL (thank goodness we didn’t face Verlander) and the new Sox convincingly kicked their ass. What's not to like?


Jake Peavy looked like the guy they said he could be. Outstanding performance. Viciedo is our new big thumper. Watch out. De Aza is a lightning bolt of a leadoff man. Wow. Cuban shortstop Alexi Ramierez is a superstar waiting to happen. His seemingly impossible double play with Beckham was the game saver. Incredible. Close a few holes Adam Dunn in the lineup and this team could be a serious playoff level contender barring injury. No shit.


Thank you Mr. Reinsdorf. You are the finest and classiest pro sports franchise owner Chicago ever had. Having class never goes out of style.

And a special thanks goes out to Carl for putting this event together. This game meant virtually nothing in the long run, but one that will be hard to top for a total entertainment value.

Around Chicago April 2012

A view of Trump and the IBM building on a clear spring day.

A view of the Aon building (they are moving to London, by the way) and the new Prudential Tower at night.

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The flag being unfurled at the Chicago White Sox opener.

The bridge to the new wing of the Chicago Art Institute.

Cross posted at Chicago Boyz

I Got Wood

This is the time of year to replenish the woodpile. Many yuppie types will wait until October and pay over $200 for a face cord of unseasoned oak to burn in their trendy fireplace.

Suckers.

Can’t remember the last time I spent money on firewood. I refuse to pay for firewood. It must be over twenty years since I did. And if I did it was nothing more than a few bucks.

Unseasoned wood will not burn well and will create a dangerous chimney condition. By the time you learn that, it’s too late.

We prefer a real wood fire while others opt for that gas log thingy thing. When laying out plans to build the country bunker, our contractor did all he could to steer us into installing a crappy gas log fireplace. We refused.

The trees that were cut to provide an opening for our foundation provided five years worth of firewood and plenty left over to give to friends and relatives. There’s something rewarding about cutting trees, seasoning the wood and finally burning it in the house. They say wood warms you three times.

Me? I have a three-stage firewood system. I built a framed woodpile and covered it with a cheap Menard’s tarp.


On the left side is old wood, possibly three years old. That side should be empty now but due to the mild winter there is plenty left over. This will become backyard or campfire firewood. It will get used to roast marshmallows, weenies or just add a smokey aroma to a warm summer evening near the backyard deck that keeps mosquitoes away.

On the right is wood I ‘found’ last year.


Note the visible cracks in the grain. This is classic seasoned wood, wood that has been protected from the elements for over one year. This is perfect burning firewood. It’s wild cherry to be precise. This is what will keep my ass toasty warm on cold winter nights next year.

Our last home had a Vermont Castings stove. It actually heated our small cape cod style house. Here in Valpo our bunker is way to large to be heated by one wood stove so we opted for the wood-burning fireplace.

Here is some more free wood that was cut by the state highway folks to build a fancy intersection a few blocks away. This is how we get wood. Free wood. We ‘find’ it.



I made a few trips on the John Deere with the cart attached and loaded up on this newfound free wood. I did not need to cut down the trees or slice the logs into 16-20” sections. All I had to do was pick it up and bring it home. Free. Thanks Mitch. You’re my man.

This batch of firewood will sit under my tarped wood frame and allowed to season. It won’t be ready next year but in the following year it will toast my lazy tuckus on a cold winter afternoon while watching NFL football.

Planning ahead. It’s the kind of thing we do out here, where we cling to our guns and our religion.

Stuff Athletes Like

I am a fan of stupid websites, and one of my favorites is Stuff White People Like . It is about, well, stuff white people like. There are many takeoffs on the site but you get the drift.

Not related, there is a quote that goes "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".

So what do these two paragraphs above have in common? Well, it is estimated that 80% of all athletes go bankrupt within five years of the end of their careers. Why is this? Stuff Athletes Like and doing the EXACT same thing that athletes that came before them did and ended up bankrupt (the insanity quote).

So, what is Stuff Athletes Like anyway? In no particular order, Athletes like the following (this list is certainly not the end all):

• Jewelry
• Cars/Autos
• Enormous houses
• A "posse"
• Expensive clothes
• Getting arrested
  
• Gambling
• Getting divorced
• Big child support payments, typically several different mothers/children
• Making it rain in the club
• Car dealerships and other doomed businesses
• Not paying taxes
  
• etc.

Basically we have a few categories here. Hard assets that lose at least half of their worth the second they are purchased, hangers on, standard wastes of money (i.e. making it rain), and the never ending crush of child support payments.

I am not a person that thinks I should tell others what to do with their money. But it is absolutely amazing to see someone squander millions and millions of dollars when history (even very recent history) shows that those "who came before" engaged in the EXACT same behavior and are now broke as a joke. Just look up Alan Iverson or Latrell Spreewell.

If the pro leagues really gave a damn, they would hire or have a team to try to explain to the athletes that after getting their brains beaten in for five years or so, IT IS ALL OVER AND YOU WILL NOT EARN MUCH OF ANYTHING AFTERWARD. You can even pull the bk reports from famous athletes from off of the web and show them to current athletes. Some might listen. Many won't.

Oddly, by not giving the athletes counseling, the leagues are creating a de facto "circle of money".

• Local Caddy or Lambo or Ferrari dealership purchases season tickets
• Athlete performs and gets paid from this money
• Athlete purchases car from said dealership
• Athlete gets career ending injury and is broke
• Local Caddy or Lambo or Ferrari dealership purchases more tickets
• Cycle repeats

So in some respects the season tickets are a very good investment for some businesses.

Monday Morning Blues

NYT Article on Emerging Market Bond Mutual Funds

Recently I wrote about ETF's for international bond funds that are denominated in local (non US Dollar) currencies.  The NYT in their Sunday edition had a mutual fund report (they still segregate mutual funds from ETF's, even though they are generally substitutes for one another) that discussed a similar tactic called "Emerging-Market Bonds Quench a Yield Thirst".  This article is focused on emerging markets (like Brazil and China and the Asian countries) rather than the developed markets that those ETF's target.

If you are interested keep reading below the fold.

Saturday Night Sixties

It’s Saturday night again. Time to relax. Let’s set the wayback machine for the 60’s, my favorite decade.

Pour yourself a big, stiff cocktail. Put a thick vinyl platter on the turntable of the hi-fi and gently drop that needle.

Hilarious Quote

I was watching the TV show "Metal Evolution" (now I am going to have to watch all the shows online, too) when I heard a quote so funny I almost had tears running down my face.  They had an interview with Gary Holt of Exodus and he said (on the topic of his band "selling out" to the record company)

If I had to do it all over again I'd just keep writing songs about killing people

Researching Foreign Bond Funds (ETF's)

Over at Trust Funds for Kids I wrote a long article on researching foreign bond funds (ETF's). If you are interested read more below the fold. Recently I have been evaluating my total portfolio in terms of US dollar exposure.

$9 / Gallon Gas in Italy - And The Effect in the US

Recently Bloomberg had an article about Italian gas prices exceeding $9/gallon.

Austerity measures introduced by Prime Minister Mario Monti’s government have pushed Italian gas prices to the highest in Europe, an average of 1.82 euros per liter, or $9.17 per gallon, with taxes accounting for about 54 percent of the total,

The article goes on to talk about how this price increase impacts ordinary Italians just attempting to get around and go to their job.

The Italians hit hardest by higher gas taxes are those like teacher Cioni -- working people who live in areas poorly served by public transportation.

Even in the US, where taxes on gasoline are high but do not comprise 54% of the total cost like they do in Italy, driving now requires actual trade-offs as you near $5 / gallon gas. In the suburbs of Chicago you typically drive long distances during the normal course of the day. For instance it is over 30 miles from the Chicago loop downtown to Naperville each way. Since you probably will be driving around a bit when you get there, it is reasonable to think that you might burn 3-4 gallons of gas depending on traffic and mileage, along with $5 in tolls (depending on the route you take). If you figure that gas is $5 / gallon, then that round trip just cost TWENTY DOLLARS. Note that this analysis doesn't consider the wear and tear on your car... this is just the incremental cost of the journey.

I remember growing up that $20 was a lot of money. You could live for a few days with $20 in your pocket (just the occasional fast-food meal, some gas, etc...). Now you spend $20 EVERY TIME YOU GET IN THE CAR. This type of taxation does severely punish the "working" poor. It doesn't punish the poor who aren't working nearly as much, because they can take the laborious time to use whatever public transportation is available. The working poor, on the other hand, are essentially "on the clock" and if you are near or a bit above minimum wage you are probably taking home maybe $10 / hr after taxes. Thus the trip from Naperville (or a nearby suburb) to and from Chicago just took up TWO HOURS of your working time.

A family member who lives in Naperville talked about a neighbor who works at a popular (casual) restaurant in the city as a waitress and I started doing the math in my head... the money would have to be significantly better than from a local restaurant just to make up for the difference in gas prices and tolls alone.

I expect that over time gas prices at this level will significantly impact car-buying behavior.  When I purchased an Altima in 2010 (which I subsequently sold to a family member because it was too big for my parking garage and accumulated wear and tear) I bought a 4 cylinder engine, which made me seem like a minority on the highway because everyone else seemed to have a 6 cylinder.  However, the 4 cylinder engine (which is fine for a cruising car like the Altima, it isn't a sports car after all) gets better gas mileage which will pay off very quickly with gas at $5 / gallon.

I expect that kids learning to drive will begin to associate driving with a very high marginal cost - i.e. each time you get in the car, money is flying out of your pocket.  When I started driving insurance costs were the big barrier, followed by the price of the car and then gasoline.  Thus once you bought and insured the car, you might as well drive it. Behavior that lasts a lifetime often begins when you are first starting out, so those that are starting driving today might view it as an occasional luxury or something to do as a necessity rather than as an activity in the normal course of life.

For the working poor, high gas prices tied to high taxes (especially in Europe) make their lives much more difficult because it cuts right against their take-home pay and often they need to drive to reach their jobs.  Since the poorer individuals often live far from where the jobs are located in the service sector (i.e. downtown Chicago is where a lot of night life is but the cheaper housing is often in the far-flung suburbs) this will limit their opportunities to local employers which could cut their opportunities significantly.

For younger people starting out, the incremental cost of a trip will make driving a much more "thoughtful" experience and trips will often be combined or deferred altogether.  Since habits you develop as a teenager often stay with you for many years or even a lifetime this could cause a seismic shift in behavior, away from driving.  Whether that is good or bad depends on your position; it certainly hurts the vitality of the economy because for most parts of America public transportation is not convenient, reasonably priced, or even available.

Cross posted at Chicago Boyz

Victoria beer has a "Long History Of Existence"

One of my favorite business phrases comes from Hoover's "defense" of the Animal House fraternity when he says that they have a "long history of existence". Apparently this is the basis of Victoria Beer's strategy for launching this Mexican beer into Chicago, as well.

The Boys Of Bummer

Baseball is back and I am ready. I think.

Yesterday was opening day at Wrigley where the Cubs blew another easy win against the Nationals. It is hard to resist publishing my annual two word comment. CUBS SUCK.


Or do they? Could this team surprise even their own fans?

I am surprised how many Cub fans seem to have finally wised up. Blind optimism is a Cub fan’s general attitude going into opening day but this year I see little optimism in my observations. Can Cub fans finally be turning into skeptics instead of the doped up and drunken rainbow and unicorn navel gazers of the past?

With a relatively new owner, new G.M. and field management they could be as entertaining as watching a CTA bus immediately after an accident has occurred.

You know the story. A CTA bus has three passengers on board after having a violent collision with an out of control taxicab. When the first responders show up there are suddenly thirty passengers on board holding their necks waiting for personal injury attorneys to show up.

I watched the Cub game yesterday on and off. It was a pitcher’s duel most of the way. That will be the last Cub game I will watch until they play the White Sox in May.

The White Sox open today in Texas. To be honest I don’t think they will do any better than .500 this year. Then again, Sox fans know how to temper their enthusiasm better than Cub fans. Expect the worst and hope for the best.

The 2012 Sox are as questionable as the 2012 Cubs. Both teams were ripped apart in the offseason, the Cubs more than the Sox. Both Zambrano and Buerhle are in Miami with Ozzie. We will miss Buehrle more than the Cubs will miss Zambrano. Ozzie? He needed a change of scenery. Robin Ventura as our new field manager is a head scratcher. Oh well. We are still stuck with expensive sluggers that can't slug. The pitching rotation is suspect and the bullpen shaky. Onward we go.

I will watch the entire pre-game, game and post-game because I have nothing better to do this afternoon and it has become a semi-retirement tradition. Playing on the road against Texas isn’t the way I would like to see the season open. If we win it will be pleasant surprise.


Next Friday will be the homo opener in Chicago v. Detroit (yikes!) and we will be there. I have never been to a White Sox homo opener so looking forward to the game and a tasty little pregame tailgate.

Whole Foods and Dan's Farm

Recently I was walking through Whole Foods purchasing (very expensive) meat ingredients for chili when I noticed the sign on their meat counter with their "principles" listed for customers. I thought I'd compare them to the conditions I found when Dan put me to work on his farm. 1) No crates, no cages, and no crowding 2) Enriched environment 3) Enhanced outdoor access 4) Pasture centered 5) Animal centered

I'd have to say that with my (microscopically small) farm experience based on Dan's farm he blows these criteria out of the water. There's plenty of room for everyone and they are outside when they need to be and indoor when they need to get warm. They have a nice pasture and I'm not sure what "animal centered" means but I was certainly centered on animals when I saw his big cows and horses right next to me as a city-slicker. Of course Dan has no problem selling his beef or his eggs should he choose to do so anyways but it never hurts to stay one step ahead of the "competition".

Monday Morning Blues

Why Tomorrow's Craven Politicians Will Save Us (Maybe)

Today governments across the United States are facing budget shortfalls caused primarily by making promises in terms of pensions and benefits to workers that no longer are supportable. Recently I was in California and I saw this sign in a bathroom at a popular tourist attraction.

The key concept to understanding how we got into this predicament is the word "craven". Here is the official definition per Webster:

lacking the least bit of courage : contemptibly fainthearted

Politicians lacked the courage to stand up to public sector workers, predominantly the unionized ones like teachers, firefighters, and policemen, because negotiating with them seemed to be all downside:

1) If they are angry, they can go on strike, disrupting schools, hospitals and essential public services
2) They are voters (predominantly Democratic) and represent a (mostly) unified voting block that is prepared to petition to achieve their goals in the media (which is usually sympathetic to their cause, since they are mostly Democratic, too)
3) Many of them (Police, Firefighters, and to some extent teachers) present sympathetic postures to the public; fighting with them is a no-win situation (even if you win, you lose)
4) Their army of retirees often are still local and also vocal and organized and prepared to demonstrate as well, although they are not in a position to block essential services

Thus the "craven" route was simply to capitulate - write up promises to TODAY's government workers and RETIREES and then just "kick the can" into the future to the date when those promises came due. Today's politicians won't be there when the bills come due (Daley most famously sold off Chicago's assets, signed long term unaffordable deals for labor peace, and walked off into the sunset) so this fits their short term strategy to a tee. However, in the near term, I think that politicians' inherent "craven" behavior will work in REVERSE, giving us an opportunity to tackle the root cause of the problem. How do I come to that (preliminary) conclusion?

It is simple - there are really only two solutions available for politicians today (in places like Illinois, California, and Detroit, where it is literally collapsing) and in the near term in more well run or well funded places:

1) Raise taxes AND cut services drastically to pay for union benefits and pensions
2) grab a hold of the problem, cut payments to today's workers and retirees and cut their benefits and costs, thus leaving more dollars for services TODAY and the opportunity to AVOID tax increases

So let's say that you are a politician running for office in a few years - what do you promise constituents?  You have to promise #2 - that you won't cut services today and won't raise taxes - or you won't get elected.  I'd love to see people run for office on a platform of #1 and get elected - it won't happen.  Now what will actually happen a lot is that politicians will promise #2 but do a variant of #1 to get elected (because it is VERY hard to take on the entrenched unions when you come into office) - but then the financials will collapse further and they will be FORCED into making a harder choice, or they will come up for re-election and be drummed out of office.

Soon the EASIER or "more" craven approach will just be to get elected on a basis of reducing government costs on the backs of existing workers and retirees and chopping compensation to avoid raising taxes or reducing services.  Thus the entire process that led to our current debacle will operate in reverse, with bad consequences and subsequent demonizing for government employees as the root case of the issue.

Government workers, especially unionized ones, will see many victories but a long term defeat on all these issues.  In the end sympathies won't be enough to offset the crippling taxes and immense service cuts that are necessary to pay for past politician promises.  The politicians will side with the majority, who will have to reform the system, even though this reform will be rocky and filled with failures and vitriol.

Politically craven behavior, which dug this grave, will work in reverse.  This is a hope, at least.

Cross posted at Chicago Boyz

Reasons To Quit

It’s been twenty years since the last time I quit smoking. Back then it was a similar situation, I had a hellacious flu and slept for sixteen hours a day for two weeks. One puff would cause a one hour coughing jag. I easily lost any interest in smoking.



After that my resistance to nicotine lasted two to three years. Then I discovered fine cigars. Soon I was inhaling fine cigar smoke. Fine cigars cost a lot of money. For health and financial reasons I went back to lite filtered cigarettes (follow that logic). Been there ever since.

During the past year I have marked dates on the calendar, the dates I would quit smoking. Usually it was on a Monday. Problem is, I always had an eraser. Put it off until tomorrow, next week? Why not? No worries.

My main motivation to quit was health concerns of course, and my recent bout with the flu with its tobacco induced side effects smacked me down hard. Probably due to my age.

For a long time I looked into the easier ways to quit such as over-the-counter assistants in the form of nicotine patches or gum. My M.D. gave me a prescription for Chantix but I never filled it. None of this crap works for me because these remedies ain’t cheap and they offer no guarantee. Using a crutch isn’t my style.

The only way for me is to just quit and suffer. Tuff it out. Hard core. Cold turkey. I’m going through that right now.

My frugal nature also helps motivate me out of tobacco dependence hell. Every time the price for a pack of smokes went up I would say that’s it, I’m quitting. But it never worked. Smoking was too enjoyable for me so I always managed to cough up (pun intended) the extra cash.

Not long ago I came up with my ultimate motivation to quit smoking - state and federal taxes.

The federal tax rate is now $1.01 per pack. The Indiana rate is $0.995 per pack (as far as I know there are no local county or municipal taxes on tobacco here in Porter County IN like Cook County IL has). Rounding it off that’s paying $2.01 per pack just for taxes.

Locally the cheapest smokes go for $4.45 per pack. Do the math,

I smoked anywhere between1-2 packs per day depending on my mood and location. Working on a contract job on location and stressed out would limit my puffs while being idle and happy and carefree lifted any limits.

Financially, what do I gain?

$3084.25 per year not counting BIC lighters, holes in my clothes, car seats, furniture, and carpeting.

$3084.25 would cover all my fishing and hunting expenses for one year plus money to offset the inflated cost of fuel as well as tossing in a few rooty tooty fresh and fruity breakfasts at Denny’s before each trip.

Here’s the best part.

What does the government lose because I decided to quit smoking?

$1467.30 per year.

I am sick of paying more than my ‘fair’ share to an out-of-control wasteful government. Sofuckyou.

At noon today it will have been seven days since I last smoked a cigarette. It’s much harder than I thought it would be after seven days.

Man, I sure could use a Marbie 100 right now. Just to take the edge off.

But I won't.