Adriano Celentano...sei un grande!

Italian politics...always entertaining

I reworded Silvio Berlusconi's song, "Meno male che Silvio c'e' (Thank goodness for Silvio), in light of the recent stalemate in selecting a new president of the republic.  I would translate the words into English but it wouldn't rhyme then, would it? ;)

Graphic design

All modeled and rendered in Blender 2.66

The chess pieces were modeled using splines, object modifiers and textures in the latest version of Blender.  Once a complete set is designed, it's off to the 3D print shop for the prototypes, from which rubber molds will be made for cold cast, polyresin chess sets.  After a few tweaks, I'll be sending this picture to my online store.  For links to my stores, visit my Youtube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/iuliusCamillus

La prova del cuoco - Spaghetti alle vongole

IRS or KGB?

Although I always render unto Caesar from the sweat of my brow, I don't think it's appropriate for a government agency to troll social media for tax dollars.  It's not as if they're looking for serial killers.  Shameless ass wipes!

IRS trolling social media sites.

Fuzzy Logic (2-24-13)

One of the latest slight of hand diversions from the Obama administration is gun control.  Right on the heels of the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre, the magician-in-chief was in true form with the Rahm Emanuel -never let a crisis go to waste- playbook.  The right to keep and bear arms is in the second amendment of the United States constitution, no doubt about it.  But nothing pleases this president more than the handful of nut jobs insisting that AK-47s qualify as home defense...or as protection from an oppressive government.  If the government comes at you with the full force of it's military hardware and personnel, does anyone really think an AK-47 is going to make a difference?   A false argument making the rounds is that Hitler banned Germans from owning weapons.  Weapon possession in Germany was actually banned by the Weimar government before Hitler ever came to power;  so much for some shoot yourself in the foot advocates of the second amendment.

I'm willing to bet that most of those advocating for the right to keep and bear military assault weapons would be the first to drop to their knees when the ATF showed up at their front door.
These are the same crackpots who are currently sounding histrionic alarms over domestic drone surveillance, as if they never heard of police helicopters that fly over our neighborhoods tracking down fugitive criminals.  I guess if the surveillance is remotely controlled as opposed to actively piloted, it's an invasion of privacy and another step towards oppressive government.  Obama loves useful idiots.

If Obama Had a Gay, Illegal Immigrant, Football-Playing Son Who Looked Like Trayvon Martin | The Philly Post

If Obama Had a Gay, Illegal Immigrant, Football-Playing Son Who Looked Like Trayvon Martin | The Philly Post

Guess Who's Birthday it is Today?

Yes, that's right!  It's Benny Hill's birthday today.  Benny was born this day, January 21, 1924.  What?  You were expecting someone else?  I think we should celebrate this day every year to honor a great man who brought laughter into the lives of many.  Benny Hill will always be our king ;^)

Fuzzy Logic (1-12-13)

Why is the news media obsessed with Lance Armstrong and other athletes who use chemicals to boost their performance?   Has anyone come out against protein shakes for bodybuilders or Campbells hearty beef stew for football players?  And let's not forget psychological assists either.  I'm convinced the Philly Phanatic has given the mediocre Phils an unfair advantage in home games just by being an annoying and distracting pain in the ass.

Apart from the chemical, psychological and alimentary boosts athletes use to gain the edge, we now have limbless runners using carbon-fiber prosthetic legs, arguably an advantage in sprints.  But western literature is replete with examples of the hero -a mere mortal- getting an assist from prosthetics; everything from magic swords, magic rings and magic cloaks and helmets.  We need only look to Wagner's operas and Tolkien's books, both filled with examples of the hero employing these unfair advantages against their opponents.

As for chemical assists, I reference Richard Wagner's Siegfried opera.  Where would Siegfried be if he had not inadvertently tasted that drop of dragon's blood?  It saved his Teutonic ass!  I hear Alberich went straight to Bud Selig and filed a complaint.  I guess we won't be seeing old Sigi in the hall of fame any time soon.


I'm willing to bet that your average NASCAR racer is popping something to keep him alert and focused for 200 laps of left-turn monotony.  In a 24 hour Le Mans race, do you honestly think there are no drivers popping uppers?  If it stops them from slamming into a wall, is that considered an unfair advantage over their non-medicated opponents?

Fact is, everyone loves a winner and everyone loved Lance Armstrong and Barry Bonds when they were winning;  in sports, that's the bottom line and the money maker.  I'll chalk up the staged outrage to America's obsession with hypocrisy.  

Now what about Viagra and Cialis?  Why should us honest guys, who rely on our native skills, have to compete with a seventy-five year old millionaire for the attentions of a young, busty blond on a Carnival cruise ship?   We struggling heroes might have to commission Merlin to whip up a money potion for us in the galley.  See you on deck for that killer cocktail honey ;>)

Gerard Depardieu didn't chose America...

http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/010413-639471-russia-offers-tax-asylum-to-soaked-millionaires.htm

Russia's 13% flat income tax is such a great idea, you can bet we will never see it in America. After all, the purpose of our "progressive" tax system is so politicians in Washington can manipulate the finances of industry and of the American people. I'll take Vladimir Putin over Barack Hussein Obama any day.

Happy New Year !

The Mayan calender was wrong so have one more on the house ;^)

Merry Christmas!

Celebrate...

For God so loved the world...

In Christian mythology, King Herod slaughtered innocent children just to get his hands on God's son.  As the fable goes, Jesus escaped harm, so the only parents grieving were those of the slaughtered children not protected by the almighty. 

The grieving parents in Newtown Connecticut will never see their children again, but they pray to a God who saw it all go down, and let it happen.  I guess it's only human to seek consolation from the supernatural when faced with unbearable suffering and loss.  For the parents' sake, I sincerely hope their faith sustains them.

On countless occasions, as God gazed down upon the massacres of innocents, he would say to himself, "there but for the grace of God goes God."  Upon further reflection he would think to himself, but I am God you idiot!

I'm beginning to think that the rookie atheist argument, questioning how a loving and merciful god could allow suffering, is probably a stronger refutation of Christianity than the sum of all scientific and historical arguments.  I used to think it the weakest.

  

 

Sage Advice for Republi-cants

Okay, you were trounced in this past election, your pundits got it wrong and your party is in shambles.  I'll offer you some essential advice for resurgence,  and political mayhem to boot.   Although the advice I give you may sound facetious, I assure you it is your only option.  Results may vary depending on your grasp of reality and your willingness to engage in Realpolitik for a change.
  
First thing, the fiscal cliff.  Forget about saving the wealthy a tax hike.  Go along with the Democrats and stiff those rich bastards.  After all, the wealthiest Americans live in California and New York state; both vote Democrat in every election.  Besides, the rich didn't pony up for you and it's about time Obama's Hollywood supporters, and Bruce Springsteen, get to be patriotic and pay more taxes.   Listen to Bloomberg radio and you'll even hear rich Wall Street gurus show a casual indifference;  it's only the climate of uncertainty that worries them, not tax hikes and onerous regulations, both of which they can afford to hire teams of lawyers and accountants to handle.  So why knock yourselves out

Next, try changing the name of your party to the Democratic-Republican party;  not only will the name change bring you back to your anti-Federalist roots, it will also mean you are the party of Jefferson, and not that war mongering, big government, civil liberties trampling Lincoln.  But also consider the confusion the name change causes on election day, when the ignorant masses mistakenly punch your chad because the first thing they see is the word Democratic in your party name.  Statistically speaking, it could make all the difference in a tight race, and it's guaranteed to work particularly well for you in places without indoor plumbing, like Polk County Florida.

Also, please ditch the moral principles and core beliefs already.  Forget about abortion, birth control and the war on drugs.  Instead, embrace the former two and oppose the later.  Abortion and birth control will slow down your changing demographics problem,  and legalizing drugs will render many a college student D.O.A.  after the Jay-Z, get-out-the-vote concert in 2016.   Important reminder:  Stick with the pro-gun platform!   Most anti-gun liberals vote democrat, but many democrats own guns; they enjoy hunting and are sometimes known to engage in violent altercations in sports stadium parking lots.  You can't lose supporting the 2nd amendment: It's macho, it's American, it's Ford pickup truck tuff.  These aren't your European variety socialists you're up against.

Don't worry about angering your base either;  you no longer have one.  Evangelicals didn't show up for you at the polls and many of them voted for Obama.  Now you'll no longer suffer the embarrassment of having to pretend you're a Creationist.  Just think, smug liberals like Bill Maher and Jon Stewart will no longer use your whacked-out religious utterances as comedic fodder.  You'll be free to embrace legitimate science and come off looking like you graduated from Harvard or Princeton instead of the Back Water Theological Institute for Biblical Innerancy.

Forget about the national debt too; it was all important in 2008 because Bush was president, but evidently,  it's no longer a problem.   China is investing heavily in our resurgent real estate market which means they're not particularly troubled by our deficit spending.  Since China is our new money tree and the majority of voters don't care, why go out on a limb and risk pissing off the trough feeders?  Have you ever met a woman who was attracted to a penny pincher?  Women vote and they do love a happy spender.

And please forget, once and for all, America's so-called mission in the world.   Nothing pulls in ambitious suckers like a power vacuum, so let Russia and China deal with genocidal regimes and religious fanatics.  Worried about Obama's military budget cuts?  Don't bother!  Let Obama's career military stooges deal with that.  Instead, hearken back to president Eisenhower's admonition about the military industrial complex and score big points with liberals who like Ike*.   Obama's messianic complex will eventually get us into another war and I'm sure the Prez can handle it with a scaled down air force and navy...it's called the draft.  Send your sons to ride out the war in neutral countries like Brazil, Switzerland....or Congress.

On immigration, just come out for amnesty for all illegals, their children and their extended families - even the ones doing hard time in Soledad prison.   You're not going to convince the audience of Sabato Gigante that the southwestern states aren't provinces of Mexico.  If you can siphon away half the Hispanic vote, you can mitigate your vote fraud loses from cities like Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Chicago.

I hope it helps ;>)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*NOTE:  Liberals also like Ike because the income tax rates were so much higher in the 50's, and we had lots of tax money to build big carbon foot-print highways that accelerated global warming....


 

  

Pass me the hand towel Colonel Rufio.

Congratulations American voters...you had one last chance to make it right and you F@#Ked yourselves again.  No worries here...I've got my back;  now take care of yours...if you can.

The Undecided Country.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, November 6, out of our gourd 2012, we find out if there are enough Americans left who are worthy of the name.  Sad to say, even if Mitt Romney squeaks out a narrow victory, it will probably only delay the inevitable decline of the American experiment.  This election should not be a dead heat.  Given Romney's opponent, Barack Hussein Obama, this election should be a GOP landslide.

You can't blame the politicians or the liberal media for the past four years; the blame rests squarely on the shoulders of the American people for electing this president to begin with. This election's absurdly close margins doesn't bode well for the nations future.  True, an unbiased media - which we don't have - is essential for democracy to work, but if a plurality of the people are lazy and willfully ignorant, then democracy never stood a chance to begin with.

I wouldn't even hazard a guess as to who wins tomorrow;  if I were to do that, I would probably lose the shirt off my back.  In a way I'm glad I can't intuit the mind of the American voter;  possessing that ability would signify that we share the same circadian rhythms, and I would find that an affront to my very being.

Tomorrow night I will play Pontius Pilate, hands poised above a cistern of water.  I will either wash my hands of the great American unwashed, or make like Falstaff and pour a frosty mug over my  head.

Snookered by Chris "Snooki" Christie.

A big shout out to Chris Cristie - New Jersey governor and key note speaker at the GOP convention - for making it into the useful idiots Hall of fame.  Past members include senators John McCain and Arlen Specter.  This year's inductee also wins the Sybil award for carrying two voices in his head simultaneously: The GOP convention speech voice, painting Obama as the most incompetent president since the Planters peanut, and the Hurricane Sandy voice, praising Obama as a genuine Jersey shore hero, and the pinnacle of check's-in-the-mail, presidential competence.      

The Governor's embarrassingly, effluviant praise of Obama was bad enough, but his churlish eruption at the mere suggestion that Romney might visit the garden state was a real head scratcher. [“I have no idea, nor am I the least bit concerned or interested. I have a job to do in New Jersey that is much bigger than presidential politics. I could care less about any of that stuff… If you think right now I give a damn about presidential politics, then you don't know me.”].

Oh damn Chris, you're right!  We don't know you from Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi after that histrionic hissy-fit sans cocktail and fist pump.

Some speculative excuses for Governor Christie's Sybil moment include:  He's an emotional guy and just lost it after seeing the devastation of his childhood, Jersey shore haunts - can you hear strains of "Glory Days" muffled by the sound of the chopper blades?  He was prioritizing the need for New Jersey to get federal FEMA funds - and that requires an Obama flyover and ass kiss in flagrante pudendus?  Chris Christie was just being an adult and giving credit where credit is due...rising above politics - Oh my, here's another maverick politician who knows the boundary between politics and weather disaster photo-ops coupled to FEMA cash.

Tripping a guy you're campaigning for right before the finish line (see national headlines) begs for a simple, non-convoluted explanation.  Chris Christie is not above politics, not even in a disaster situation and his motives are irrelevant.  The effect of the governor's words and actions is a net minus for Romney and a net plus for Obama.  That's all you need to know.  Governor Christie may yet learn that betrayal might serve his short term political ends, but leave him out in the cold when he finds himself betrayed in turn.  The late Arlen Specter learned that lesson the hard way when he was kicked to the curb by the Democrats in 2010, after he had served his purpose.

As an aside, have you noticed that since Katrina, hurricanes have become political dynamite for Republicans, whether in office or not?  On the other hand, tornadoes and wild fires have so far remained mysteriously apolitical in the eyes of the lame stream media and other opportunistic lefties, looking for a hook to hang their victim narrative on.  If Mitt Romney were president today, he could wade through hip-deep, shark infested waters in the lobby of the Sands Casino and the headline would read, [President plays slot machines while Atlantic City Drowns].

Addendum:  RINO New York mayor, Michael Bloomberg, just endorsed Obama for president.  Wanna see my shocked face?  (:O

Professor Obama's Teachable Debate Moments.

Let's go over our notes, shall we?

A) Professor Obama's - key points:

1. Criticizes Romney for outsourcing and having off shore bank accounts while not seeming to know or care if his pension fund invests in China and the Caymans;  dittos for the green energy companies WE bankrolled that went bankrupt already. 
2. Accuses Romney of not wanting pay equity for women but pays his white house female employees 18% less than the male cronies he shoots hoops with in the oval office waste paper basket.
3. Claims we're drilling for oil - now more than ever - and laying enough oil and gas pipeline to circle Michele's ass 7 times.
4. Says he saved Medicare since he looted it to the tune of $760 billion to fund Obama care.
5. He's proud of Obama care .... wait a minute!....he's not talking about that these days.  Wonder why.
6. Brags about GM and saving a handful of over paid union jobs while exempting them from Obama care; GM is headed for bankruptcy once again.  Talk about sustainability. 
7. Took the blame for the 9/11 attack on our embassy in Benghazi, a full 24 hours after Hillary took one for the team by accepting the blame for him.  What a gentleman to admit he missed key security meetings because he had more important things to do, like hang out with Jay-Z, Letterman and Woopi Goldberg.
8. Boasts about killing Bin Laden and decapitating Al-qaeda, while blaming an obscure Youtube video for sparking Jihadist attacks on our embassies that resulted in four dead Americans.  Not to worry, debate moderator, Candy Crowley, was riding shotgun for the POTUS with a quick fact check she had to walk back a day later.
9. Claims Romney's elimination of some tax deductions for the rich is a tax hike on the middle class.  Of course!  It's so obvious!  How could I be so blind?  I mean, was there any doubt? ;-)
10. Accuses Republicans of  "waging a war on women" because an Obama supporting college student, Sandra Fluck, wants the rest of us to pay for her party pills and the day glow, purple, tickler condoms her Fluck buddy forgot to pick up at the pharmacy.

Good, now I'm ready for the quiz on November 6.  I hear lots of voters took the quiz early in many states.  I guess they were so smart, they didn't need to review the lecture notes.  Have I ever told you that universal suffrage is highly overrated?

ROMNEY - RYAN 2012....YES WE CAN!

ROMNEY - RYAN 2012....YES WE CAN!

Starry Night.

City generated in Blender 2.63 using particle physics and textured building models.    This could use some street lighting but Blender was behaving rather badly....I'm working on it.  I think the illuminated Geisha billboard adds something to break up the monotony though.  (Click to enlarge)

Redefining Marriage: Pandora's Box.

Looks like the hot topic -read distraction- of the day is gay marriage.  Perfectly timed to keep the lame stream media, and Fox News culture warriors in topical form - Barack Hussein Obama's politically timed, bully pulpit endorsement of "marriage equality."


Despite Obama's sagging poll numbers over Obamacare, class warfare, record national debt, anemic economic growth and unemployment cemented above eight percent, Obama pulls the gay vote card from his sleeve; yet another puff of perfumed smoke rises from the alter of Hope and Change.

No wonder the Obama operatives floated the Joe Biden -gay marriage- hot air balloon just days before the messiah's declaration of evolutionary enlightenment on the issue.  The Hollywood 1% PERCENTERS quickly followed up with a vapid, George Clooney fund raiser for the Tolerance-in-Chief. 

There's nothing worth recapping about the president's money grubbing extravaganzas, courtesy of tax payer funded, Air Force One shuttle flights to $10,000 a plate dinners.  We're all footing the bill for round two of the grand messiah tour, but if you don't recognize a Chicago style, political stunt when you see one, then you just might be eligible for a fifth of Stoli and a pack of Newports on the way to the polls.

I hear some conservatives say they are against gay marriage, but for civil unions.  Isn't marriage a civil union?  If you're for civil unions for gays, then you might as well endorse gay marriage.  I'm not coming from a religious perspective but I just can't stomach religious people who tout their principles while engaging in legal sophistry in order to avoid being called homophobes...whatever that means. 

I hear liberals define gay marriage as marriage equality.  In order for there to be marriage equality, marriage must first be redefined to include same sex couples.  I don't know what the code of Hammurabi says about marriage, but I do know for a fact that the civil institution of marriage, in all it's particulars, has been relatively consistent and unyielding over thousands of years, polygamy being the exception in Bible world.

But more importantly, and not outside the realm of legal consideration, the issue of marriage equality may not be a settled issue until polygamists and polyamorists also have their day in court.  One man or woman married to multiple partners of both sexes and vice versa.  The pagan Greeks and Romans may have condoned gay marriages during their decent into cultural decadence,  but even then there were critics who saw it for what it was and not some commitment to social justice.

Inevitably,  gay marriage will be universally accepted outside the Islamic world, and I have no idea what the implications will be for redefining the family, but I'm sure the legal profession will profit from the multitude of divorce, alimony and child custody cases; the permutations are deliciously mind bending.  There's profit to be had here if you're a divorce lawyer...or just some hack community activist-cum-Preezy of the United Steezy.

Senator Marco Rubio for Vice President!

Romney-Rubio 2012?  Imagine a young and dynamic Marco Rubio in a debate with that gasbag, gaffe machine, Joe Biden.    Let's see...this presidential election could end up as Robert Young and Ricky Nelson versus Erkel and Grandpa Munster.  Did Grandpa Munster wear hair plugs and was Erkel a dog-eating socialist?  Never mind.  I was actually tempted to label Romney and Rubio, "Chico And The Man".  Yeah, never mind ;^)

Another Kangaroo Court, Courtesy of the Usual Suspects.

Trayvon Martin,  an innocent victim of a white racist?  George Zimmerman was actually described as a 'white Hispanic' by the New York Slimes.  If he had found a cure for cancer, he would be just plain Hispanic.  We've been down this road before with the usual cast of race-bating clowns, from the president on down, along with the lame stream media's manipulation, like using photos of 'little Trayvon' that are 5 years out of date.  
By every indication, this shooting was a case of self defense attested to by witnesses.  Trayvon Martin wasn't a victim or a nice young man and this case does not even merit attention outside of the community in which it took place.  But that didn't stop the great unifier, president Barack Hussein Obama, from reprising the black victim narrative; remember the Louis Gates bad behavior incident a few years back? When's the beer summit in the Rose Garden?

It's surreal to hear this Trayvon case described - even by so-called conservatives, who recognize the scam - as a tragedy.  The real tragedy would have been the long list of future victims claimed by 'little Trayvon'.  As for this so-called tragedy, I'm popping the cork.  And what's more ridiculous than the hoodie vigils held by manipulative politicians and activists, who claim they're honoring Trayvon's 'legacy'?  What exactly is his legacy outside of assault and battery?  Someone tell me where I go to purchase a legacy for keeping my nose clean.

By the time the truth leaks out - in convenient driblets of course - the accused will be doing hard time, courtesy of Eric Holder's civil rights gestapo.  If I were George Zimmerman, I would be on a plane to Rio.  I'd take my chances in a Taliban court over the politically correct in-sensibilities of a media brainwashed kangaroo jury and the unlimited resources and zeal of the DOJ.  Run George run!...before the Black Panther party collects on their bounty.  Justice?  It doesn't fit the narrative.

How's this for a 'hate crime'? 

How's this for tragedy? 

Addendum (7-14-2012):  Well Hallelujah!  Looks like they cleared George Zimmerman of any racial motivations!  Will wonders never cease in our America.  If it had been the other way around, sweet, little Trayvon would not have had that legal hurdle to clear, and George Zimmerman would be dead from a bullet fired by Trayvon, after he pulled the gun from George Zimmerman's holster.  For someone who should never have been arrested and charged in the first place, George Zimmerman is facing so-called justice in America today.  Free George Zimmerman Now!

Listen To This Man already...

Listen to this Illinois primary victory speech. Wake up America and put this man in the White House!  Don't double down on stupid and don't listen to the bed wetters who claim they weren't satisfied with any of the GOP candidates.  If you can't pick one after 20 debates and a baker's dozen of them on the stage, then you're either an idiot or a liar...and Jesus will hate you ;)

Belgian Babe of the Year.

This inspiring young lady is not only hot, she's brave.
Vive la Belgique....Leef lang Vlaams!

http://www.libertarianrepublican.net/2012/02/anti-burka-babe-of-week.html


http://www.theblogmocracy.com/2012/02/10/flemish-freedom-party-vlaams-belang-supports-women-against-islamization/

Breaking News!

North Korea files lawsuit against U.S. government for copyright infringement of their Kim Jong-un "beloved leader" statue.

Mitt Romney 2012!

The Left's Answer to the Tea Party....The Pee Party!

Finance and Banking 101.

This video was shared with me on Facebook by an Italian friend of mine who works as an investment broker in Italy, not far from my home town.  She is very successful and has clients throughout Europe.  The video is in English with Italian subtitles.  I would say it's worth more than a semester or two of a finance and banking course at the university level.  It's a bit long but well worth watching. 
Grazie Ornella!

Jesse - the boob - Ventura

Jesse Ventura is more than just an ex-wrestler and failed former governor of Minnesota, he's also host of a conspiracy theory show on cable;  you know, 911 was an inside job; G.W. Bush shredded the constitution; the Illuminati control the world banking system.....etc.   Jesse's latest carnival act is refusing to stand for the pledge of allegiance.  Ventura railed against America after a judge threw out his lawsuit against TSA for patting him down at an airport.  Jesse proudly proclaimed his new found lack of patriotism and said he would even raise a clenched fist in protest during the singing of the national anthem at sporting events.  He also  threatened to move to Mexico!  Yea Jesse, Mexico is the bastion of human rights and freedom.  When are you leaving?

Some of us know this is just an act, no different than his days as a feather boa wearing bad guy on the wrastlin' circuit.  The loudmouth's latest drivel is just a publicity promo for his cable program.  I'm sure he'll be hitting the Daily Show and Bill Maher's show on his latest self-promotion tour.   After all, self promotion is what Jesse Ventura does best, which actually makes him a ton smarter than his idiot head admirers, who compared to Ventura, don't have a pot to piss in.

America is becoming a crazy place to live but it's not because of the TSA, Homeland Security or the actions of our former president to secure the safety of our citizens.   Ironically, it's our enduring constitutional freedoms that make it possible for opportunistic, nut jobs like Jesse Ventura to live the good life, all the while duping his dumb ass acolytes into crazy paroxysms of persecution and panic.  Don't worry, Jessie ain't goin' nowhere as long as he's laughing all the way to the bank.

ADDENDUM:  Kudos to Navy Seal, Chris Kyle, for punching out Ventura for badmouthing the war in front of Iraqi war vets.  

Sci-Fi Poster Project - A Slight Detour.

 

This poster depicts a scene from the cyber-punk, sci-fi novel, "Accelerando", by Charles Stross.   Amber Macx and her crew upload to the Field Circus - a craft the size of a coke can, made of Computronium - and venture two light years to the brown dwarf star Hyundai +4904/-56 where they encounter the Wunch.  I can't righlty call this poster "Minimalist".  A friend has described my work as Art Deco and I must agree with her assessment.  I love Art Deco!

Minimalist Design Posters...continued.

Minimalist poster inspired by Peter F. Hamilton's Commonwealth Saga:  "Pandora's Star" and "Judas Unchained."   Here I am depicting the Compressed Space Transport (CST) technology - invented by tech entrepreneurs, Nigel Sheldon and Ozzie Isaacs - used for traveling throughout the 400 planet Intersolar Commonwealth.  Specific design elements inspired by A.M. Cassandre's famous Nord Express poster of 1927. 

Minimalist Graphic Design Posters: Sci-Fi Novel Series.

This is the first in a series of minimalist posters I am working on.  The series will consist of locations mentioned in my favorite science fiction novels.  Pictured above is the planet Faber Eridani - home to Elmira Spaceport - in Jeffrey A. Carver's novel, Eternity's End.   I will be selling these posters in different sizes, suitable for matting and framing. Check back soon for further details on where to purchase.  I am planning my first exhibition featuring these posters at a local library.  Concept inspired by Chicago graphic designer and illustrator, Justin Van Genderen, who did a Star Wars series of minimalist posters.

Ten Years After 9-11

 I really hope we stop being a nation of mourners. Starting a year from today, we should observe 9-11 not with prayers, hymns and tears but with a military parade in midtown Manhattan with throngs of cheering crowds chanting U.S.A.  I would rather see angry Americans burning effigies of our enemies instead of James Taylor strumming a guitar or some cleric preaching a weepy sermon.  It's time to deprive the enemy of the satisfaction of witnessing the annual cry-a-thon.

Jacqueline Kennedy Memoires - Trashes MLK.

Oh my!  Looks like the iconic wife of the icon of Camelot had uncomplimentary things to say about America's synthetic patron saint MLK. We know that King's FBI records are sealed up in a time capsule at the request of the King family - as the family grows progressively wealthier off the franchise - so it's refreshing to see this come out while we are still six feet above the soil. Reverend Abernathy's unsavory revelations about MLK were met with much hostility when released in the Eighties and most likely will Jackie Kennedy's too. Any chance of King's FBI tapes going viral on Youtube? That would be awesome!

Jackie Kennedy's Memoirs to be released!

Another Night, Another Dream...

...another day, another year, another...Labor Day?  Einstein proved that time is relative and political campaigns prove that there is nothing new under the Sun.  No obsession Du Jour for this blog entry.

Just enjoy this Fritz Lang inspired video by the Real McCoy.

Of Preacher Men and Straw Men.

Of all the gadgets I spend money on, the ones I get the most use out of are cheap, little radios; I'm seldom far from a radio. There was a time when I could tune into the New York megawatt stations on a $10.00, made in China receiver, just by orienting the radio at the right angle and height. Not any more.

Because of the glut of religious stations on the AM band crowding out the signal, I'm now limited to KYW 1060 News Radio when I hit the porcelain throne. Try tuning in the New York stations and you get static. Even listening to local stations like WNTP 990 News Talk, and you get screaming preacher leakage if the radio isn't oriented in exactly the right position. Try turning the dial between local stations and you get wild paroxysms of Hallelujahs and Amens.

I get tired of fiddling with the radio dial while I'm reaching for the Charmin so occasionally I'll listen to a broadcast from the First Abyssinian Church of the Apostolic Basement Fish Fry, quite literally for shits and giggles. The other day I heard Pastor Thomas B. Bullshitin railing against the theory of Evolution. I listened in amusement as Pastor Tom, graduate of Lincoln Tech Divinity School, set up a series of straw Men arguments, essentially attributing fallacious tenets to Darwin's theory, then knocking them down with a mix of corn pone humor and an abysmal lack of knowledge, a lethal combo that sits well with a hope starved and ignorant, inner city audience.

The Straw Man fallacy was only one of many weapons in the good pastor's arsenal of scientific insights; they also included ad hominem arguments, arguments from ignorance (ad ignorantiam), appeals to authority, begging the question, circular reasoning, arguments from incredulity...and don't forget that other great tool of science pedagogy - screaming at the top of your lungs. Here's a medley of pastoral brilliance, culled from a variety of broadcasts.

..."they'll tell you that evolution is...uh..uh..uh... making everything better, that one day we'll become...uh..uh....
that mankind is uh..uh...on the road to perfection....uh..uh..uh...but things today is gettin' worse than when we was comin' up.....
....ever since they started teachin' our kids...uh..uh..uh..that they came from monkeys..uh..uh..instead of the hand of the creator..uh..uh..uh...drug use is on tha rise and teenage girls is havin' babies outside of wedlock...
...scientists claim to have all the answers but they still can't ...uh..uh..uh..tell us how we got here....and they want you to...uh...uh...uh..believe that all this just happened by accident! 
....now we gots evolutionists tellin' us that there's no such thing as morality...uh..uh...uh...that it's all down to genetics...that we can't control our behavior...
...the bible tells us that God knew us in the womb...uh..uh...but ever since they kicked God out of the classroom and started teachin' our kids that ..uh..uh...we came about by random mutations of atoms...uh..uh...millions of babies are killed in abortion clinics each year.....
....Lenin, Hitler and Mao believed in evolution..uh...uh.. and they killed..uh..uh..uh....hundreds of millions of people world wide to promote Darwin's theory....
...they claimed they found the missing link between apes and men..uh..uh..uh....somethin' called Piltdown Man..uh..uh..but it turned out to be a hoax...Hallelujah!
...professin' themselves to be wise they become fools....uh uh uh..."

......Amen to that preacher man!

Addendum ( 7-27-2011 ): 

While channel surfing on my brand new LED HD TV yesterday,  I came across Pastor John Hagee in the middle of a tirade against Evolution....here's how it went:

"They want you to believe that a tadpole took a billion years to crawl out of the water, then another billion years to crawl up a tree and hang by it's tail, and then they tell you it's your grandfather." ....[obligatory elicited snickering in the audience of sheeple]....
Then the pastor went on to say: "I believe Gawd took a handful of clay and breathed life into it....and that's how I got here". ....[obligatory applause and cheering in the audience of sheeple]....then he went into an escalating cadence of screamed professions of faith....[followed by the obligatory - put-reason-on-hold - orgasm from the audience of sheeple]. 

Sure pastor, your theory sounds so much more plausible.

I recently asked a friend from Barcelona what he thought of the average American's ignorance concerning Evolution and he told me that in Europe, they can't comprehend our lack of knowledge on something so basic and so well established as (Macro) Evolution.  He also found it strange that so many Americans also take bible stories like Noah's flood seriously.   My friend has since returned to Spain with his medical researcher wife and two preschool children; he assured me his kids would get a far better education in Spain. No F#%K'n Shit.

Also read:  Bible Logic 101: A Blundering Deity & A Sick Story

Fuzzy Logic ( 6-25-2011)

* Great news on the Afghan front: This week, Barack "Alexander the Great" Obama, sounded the retreat to Persepolis for a few rounds of golf, to be followed by a declaration of victory.  Naturally, the Taliban will immediately lay down their weapons and become respectable citizens in that great Afghani Democratic tradition.  Don't expect the career generals, both outgoing and staying, to question the field marshal's military expertise; or is that political expertise?  So after 10 years of dead and maimed American soldiers, a stroke of the pen will signal "mission accomplished".  Can't wait to see the Fight'n Phils playing a good will exhibition game against the Sharia Laws in Kabul stadium.

* Speaking of sports, how about that riot up in Vancouver last week after the Canucks lost to the Bruins.  It's a good thing none of those Canuck fans got hurt, what with all those riot cops running roughshod in the streets.  Ever wonder why police can shoot someone who gets cornered robbing a liquor store, then reaches for something in his pocket, but they can't use live ammo on thousands of rampaging looters and arsonists who cause millions in damage and are a clear public danger?  Am I missing something?

* More great news!  Prices are going down at the pump ever since the International Energy Agency (ITA) decided to release 2 million barrels of crude oil a day from emergency reserves for the next 30 days.  Obama, being a citizen of the world, is happy to contribute 50% of that as the Europeans contribute 30%.  Of course, Libya was producing 1.2 million barrels a day before the U.S. and NATO initiated their new diplomatic initiative with Gaddafi.  In fact, Libyan oil production will most likely remain offline for the rest of the year...at least.  But not to worry.  When Summer is over, prices will shoot right back up to $4.69/gallon, leaving American voters with happy Obama memories of that thousand mile road trip for just $3.87/gallon; sure beats making substantive energy plans that extend beyond the vacation season.  Who wants to talk about drilling for oil in Alaska when all you want to do is forget that last cold winter by spending two weeks in a trailer park grilling weenies, swatting mosquitoes and watching your piggy kids cannon balling into lake Aromapoopoo?

* Once again, Philadelphia school district super, Arlene "save the chilr'n" Ackerman, got her $38 million for failing Philly schools on the backs of homeowners via another property tax increase of 4%; this is the second property tax increase within a year.  The alternate proposal, of raising a few cents tax on an ounce of soda, was met by well funded opposition from the soda vendors, along with dorm-bug college students and other assorted idiots who claimed a soda tax would hurt the poor...I kid you not.   Now our little scholars can still afford to drink their breakfast beverage of choice, get free bus fare to the fight club and a gratis enrollment in the "Bright Futures" program for the perpetual illiterati (see the urban dictionary).  Most of the tenured pension thieves sitting on our city council voted for what they called a courageous political decision for "our children's future."  To paraphrase the sperm donors who give us such outstanding students to work with: Yo! dey  ain't my muthaf*#kin' chilr'n!


* I like Ron Paul.  I'm sure he represents his Texas district quite well and he does resemble every one's favorite grandpa; the only problem is, he will never win a primary, let alone a general election for president.  Now that the wars are winding down and more and more Republicans are souring on nation building, I think the winner of the Republican primary should announce Ron Paul as their pick for secretary of the treasury.  I'm curious to see how many of his Bush bashing, anti-war supporters will take to his Libertarian fiscal policies.  Ron Paul would make a great secretary of the treasury and I'm not being facetious when I say that, but I have little respect for most of his supporters, especially the ones who you know supported him just to bash the last administration.   Then there's Rand Paul, Ron's son, who I'm happy to say, also resides in the Republican party; there's a reason for that and I'm guessing it's got nothing to do with the makeup of their respective political districts.  Anyone who is a true Libertarian would never run as one in a presidential election and they most certainly wouldn't run as a Democrat.
There's no need to buy a new front tire when all your missing are a few lug nuts.  But just try telling that to the lug nuts who support him.  Life is full of ironies. 

Palin - Bachmann 2012! ...

Train Tunnel Test Animation - Blender 2.57

Just a preliminary animation test run which took nearly 5 hours to render.  Someone buy me a super computer.  I would like to thank Andrew Price of www.blenderguru.com for the great tutorials.  Andrew is one cool Aussie!

Train Tunnel - 3D Animation Project.

Train tunnel and tracks I modeled in Blender 2.57 for an upcoming short animation project.  Final touches will include detailed trains rolling down the tunnel with flashing signal lights. 

Train tunnel and tracks I modeled in Blender 2.57 for an upcoming short animation project.  Final touches will include detailed trains rolling down the tunnel with flashing signal lights. (Click on picture for larger view)

Fuzzy Logic ( 6-11-2011)

* A Syrian student wakes up one morning as says to himself,  "I think I'll twitter all my friends and have them meet me at the Israeli border to protest their occupation of the Golan Heights."  Israeli soldiers warn: "Cross the border and your dead!"  Of course the students cross the border and get themselves killed.  Instead of committing suicide, I would have caught a movie that morning or planned a lunch with friends at the Kebab Bistro and Tapas Grill on East Burqa boulevard.  Just call me crazy.

* Democrat congressman Anthony Weiner get's caught twittering his weiner.  Yes, another schmuck politician who thinks women will melt at the sight of his bare chest and genitals.  Between evangelical closet cases, toilet stall toe tappers, congressional page boy pinchers and liberal narcissists twittering penis pics, one can only be thankful that the vast majority of our politicians are only interested in raping the American tax payer.

* What is it with the liberal media's demonization of Republican vice-presidential candidates?  First it was Dan Quayle, then it was Dick Cheyney and now it's Sarah Palin.  Not surprisingly, they skipped Bob Dole's veep pick, Jack Kemp; political campaigns are so much more civil when the opposition is sure you're gonna lose.  But to be fair to the liberal media, at least they're digging up all the dirt they can on Al Gore's veep, John Edwards, albeit eleven years too late.  You see, they just wanted to make sure they got the story straight, that's all.

* Can anyone tell me why we still have a NATO?  The Warsaw Pact is dead and gone and Russia is just another European trading partner.  It seems that NATO comes in handy when Britain, France and Germany need to take out a troublesome trade partner like Libya's Muammar Gaddafi.  I think Slobodan Milosevic was another uncooperative trade partner that required NATO's special brand of diplomacy.  We could save a lot of money by just hiring organized crime to conduct the strong arm tactics.  If the dictator won't sign the trade agreement, Mr. Corleone is a man who always insists on hearing bad news immediately.

* What's this about China becoming the leading economic power in the world in 2015?  How could that happen during the second term of our messiah, Barack Hussein Obama?!  We're Americans dammit and we're gonna do the American thing when the going gets tough!  We're gonna file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy!  If I owe you a million dollars, I'm in debt to you.  If I owe you 15 trillion dollars, you're in debt to me.   Relax, I know Obama can do this.

The MultiPlane Camera - Old School Animation, Disney Style.

Ever wonder how cartoons were done before computer technology. In this video, they show you how it was done at Disney in 1957.  Actually, today's computer generated animation uses the same principles, albeit utilizing software for digital matte paintings and 3D modeling and animation; all this at a relatively low cost using a machine that sits on a desktop.

Two dimensional animation is still alive and well, despite the growing popularity of 3D animated films. Japanese anime cartoons range from the simple to approaching cinematic quality. One of my favorite cartoons is Cowboy Bebop, which can be seen on the TOON Channel's adult swim air time. It's a sci-fi themed anime with detailed visuals and Mickey Spillane plot lines. If old Walt knew the content of some of these Japanese cartoons, he wouldn't be too pleased, but I think he would appreciate the production values.

Sarah Palin: Could She Win?

If Sarah Palin entered and won the Republican primary, she would be our next president. I don't have much confidence in the other candidates except for Michele Bachmann but you can't defeat a media manufactured rock star like Obama with a clarinet player from the Lawrence Welk orchestra.

Obama may be the least qualified president in American history and the worst at that, but he's also young, black and hipster, knows how to flash those pearly whites for the photo-op, and sells snake oil to white independent voters like a modern day Elmer Gantry.   Sarah Palin is eminently more qualified to be president and would even rival the great Ronald Reagan, where she elected, but she's also young, attractive, down to earth and smarter than her critics in both parties...and she's a rock star.

One good clue -the only clue you need- as to Palin's viability in the general election is the tell tale antics of the lame stream media.   More perplexing to me though are the smarmy and snooty Palin critics in the Republican party.  I predict that any candidate that these checker pants Republicans support in the primary would lose to Barack Hussein Obama;  are these guys worried that Palin would lose....or win?

I want to see a sucker free primary election this time around. I hope we can ditch the loser mentality that country club Republicrats and Conservalib, cocktail party pundits roll out every four years.  We don't need no-namers and milk toasts facing down the the king pin of Chicago Crip politics, we need a genuine American woman who kicks ass like a girl, especially since the men can't seem to fight like men anymore.

My dream ticket? Palin - Bachmann 2012!

Reality check:  Mitt Romney will end up winning the primary and I will of course support him with all the ferocity of a Donald McGillivray coming down the hill but I just wish someone would mess up his hair and spill some hot dog mustard on his starched, white shirt. 

Some more Vector Art with Freehand MX.

I had fun with this Pac Man promo poster.

Is this Dilbert's new boss?

I cranked out these illustrations in the now defunct, Macromedia Freehand MX. It's old school vector art software that still gets the job done.  Even though the tools are limited compared to Adobe Illustrator's tool set, you can still create amazing art with simple shapes and path manipulation. 

Keep Amazon and All Internet Commerce Tax Free!

For those of you who enjoy shopping at Amazon.com as much as I do, be aware that politicians in D.C. and even individual states like Pennsylvania, are talking about taxing internet commerce.  Amazon is truly an American success story so let's make sure our greedy, tax hungry government stays out of our internet commercial transactions in perpetuity. Write, fax, call or e-mail your congressman and tell them...

 

...NO TAXING INTERNET COMMERCE EVER!

Check out my favorite fiction and non-fiction that I've read over the years, along with item reviews I've written at....

My Amazon Profile Page

Asteroid Field: Done in Blender 2.57

All mesh and physics modeling and animation done in Blender 2.57 by Vincenzo Ferretti.  Music track titled "Alone in Space", courtesy of Maverlyn Darkstar at Newgrounds.com (Thank you Andrew Price for the excellent tutorial). 

Genius is Alive and Well.

Ada Byron Lovelace

New technology is creating a DIY revolution in desk top manufacturing; barely 25 years ago, it was desk top publishing.  Genius is alive and well in the 21st century and tech geeks like Limor Fried and Nathan Myhrvold are paving the way for spectacular inventions along with whole new business models.  Today there is no shortage of visionaries who think outside the box, but unlike past visionaries like Leonardo DaVinci, today's prodigies have the technology and the materials to realize their visions.  From the arts and sciences to tech savvy entrepreneurs, this century may prove to be the most prolific nursery of genius in the history of the world.  Check out the interview with Limor Fried in this April's Wired Magazine. Limor  runs a New York based company called Adafruit Industries; she is truly a modern day Ada Byron Lovelace.*

Q&A: Open Source Electronics Pioneer Limor Fried on the DIY Revolution

* Ada Byron Lovelace was the daughter of the English Romantic poet, Lord Byron.  She was a mathematical prodigy, privately tutored, who collaborated with Charles Babbage on his Analytical Engine -a machine never completed- for the express purpose of solving polynomial equations and other complex problems.  Ada Byron Lovelace is credited with writing the world's first computer algorithm for the Analytical Engine, for which she was inspired by the patterned punch cards of the Jacquard loom.  The modern computer programming language, Ada, was named for this visionary daughter of Lord Byron.  It would take nearly 100 more years for Ada Byron's and Charles Baggage's project to be fully realized, for what they were working on was yet to be invented.

Suggested Reading for the Illiterati.

To the anonymous nose pickers who send me incoherent, hate spewing rants about my posts: You will never see them published on my blog. I don't indulge ignorant, under educated morons; I just hit them again. Click the link below for reading material suitable for your level of education. Come back real soon.

Stick to what you know.

Thank you President Bush!

 Thank you President George W. Bush for laying the groundwork that made this day possible.  Thank you for putting in place an intelligence infrastructure that made it difficult for Bin Laden to operate freely.  Thank you George Bush for putting up with the naysayers and political snipers and never seeking personal credit for keeping America safe.  Thank you for taking it to our enemies while enduring the insults from political opportunists and constitutional alarmists who bore false witness against your sincere and effective efforts.  Today your promise to bring justice to our enemies was fulfilled and your yeoman's work was rewarded. America owes you a huge debt of gratitude. Thank you Mr. President!

The Great Christopher Hitchens on the Jesus Myth.

If you think the Old Testament is full of holes, then the New Testament is a warehouse of Swiss cheese.  Not even 2000 years of Christian apologetics can salvage this myth.

Nevertheless, it takes a true intellectual giant like Christopher Hitchens to shine the light of reason in a subterranean vault of conformity, ignorance and superstition. 

In the second half of this video, Mr. Hitchens gives some examples of the blatant fraud that passes for truth among those who were never taught critical reading skills or chose not to take a course or two in comparative religions.

I'm not sure what's worse, willful ignorance or the truncated educations most Americans receive at the pre-college level.

 

Happy 50th Anniversary Tovarich!

Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space.

Radiosity Room: 3D modeling-rendering project.

I was going for a hi-tech room with a video screen on the right and instrument panels along the walls. (Done in Blender 2.49 using radiosity settings, mirror reflections, transparency and discombobulation script for wall panels)

Baby Boy Goes To War.

Looks like Baby Boy Barry found his own war.  Well, sort of.  The president's "kinetic operation" in Libya is yet another purloined page from the Clinton administration's foreign policy manual; shall we call it Kosovo redux or brazen hypocrisy minus boots on the ground?

The list of accomplices looking to get in on the Libyan action is gleefully heralded by the whore news media, while we who remember history know full well that without U.S. and British sanction, aerial bombardments of neutral countries are still considered war crimes.  

As during the three months of the Kosovo bomb-a-thon, it's hard to stomach the daily progress reports from career, military stooges on missiles launched, bombs dropped and targets neutralized.   Are the NATO war criminals protecting civilians by bombing those still loyal to the Libyan leader?  And since when do Gaddafi's tanks qualify as targets when enforcing a "no-fly zone"?  If only tanks could fly.

The naked aggression against Libya is nothing less than regime change brazenly camouflaged as a humanitarian mission.   The excuse for regime change in Kosovo was the ridiculous charge against Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic of attempting genocide against Kosovar Albanians.

Obama's flimsy claims against Muammar Gaddafi are even more ridiculous than those against Serbia. Libya is in the midst of a civil war - Obama knows that.  But since America's anchor troll and top contender for QVC hostess, Katie Couric, hasn't spoon fed that info to her audience, chances are that most of them will never figure it out.    

So tonight the Boob Tube Republic gets another passionless, nose-in-the-air apologetic from the Demosthenes of the teleprompter, Barack Hussein Obama.  Half the country will know he's lying because his lips are moving; unfortunately for future American foreign policy, only a handful of us because we remember the mad bombers of Kosovo: Jack Straw; Richard Holebrooke;  Madeleine Albright and Mary Robinson.

It's quite understandable that few people would remember the key political players in the killing of thousands of innocent Serbians;  after all, Mary Robinson wasn't dancing with the stars or shooting college hoops these past two weeks.

To the blissfully Alzheimered:  Keep paying more to feed the gas guzzler while your president destabilizes the Middle East and sends American jobs south by investing in Brazilian offshore drilling - China's invested...and so am I (EWZ Shares MSCI Brazil Index Fund).

Long Live The Great Louis Rukeyser

No matter how The Street was doing, Louis Rukeyser always maintained a calm, reassuring confidence in the market.  Even before I understood anything about stocks and investing, I  enjoyed watching Wall Street Week on Friday nights, just to hear Lou's sing song summary of the week's trading.

Even the market crash of 1987 couldn't dampen Lou's trademark dry wit.   Louis Rukeyser always gave you an unflinching reportage, but with a dose of humor and wink of the eye; I got the impression he was saying, "I'm rich and feeling good about it too."  I especially enjoyed Lou's annual Christmas season reviews of new products coming on to the market;  he would have them lined up on a table, picking them up and making funny quips about their usefulness.

Lou's guests - investors and heads of brokerage firms - would give their stock and fund picks while sitting on expensive leather sofas around the coffee table.  Lou would ask his guests for their predictions and I got the impression he knew very well that no one can time the market, let alone make predictions worth a damn a few days down the line. 

I wish Lou were still around; I wonder what he would have made of the current economic situation.  Now that I have money in the market, I know I would have appreciated his show even more today.

Yellow Blobs - Soft Body Physics Simulation.

Done in Blender 2.5 with a rendering time of approximately 7 hours.  Collision setting included wind force simulation.  Ray transparency settings used on blobs and ray mirror settings on plane. 

 

Wall Street Weeks.

While watching recent events in the middle east unfold, I've come to the conclusion that my nightly routine viewing of CNN and Fox News is more than just pornographic muzak as backdrop to my dinner ritual.  At a certain point, the news, along with editorial opinion, becomes a case of deja vue all over again.  Then it dawned on me that the cyclical nature of world events would be more useful if your vocation were gambling.  Bare with me on this one.

I'm not talking about the Sands Casino in Atlantic City or Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs or even the incomparable Belle Époque casino in beautiful, disgustingly wealthy Monaco.  I'm talking stocks, futures, ETFs and equities baby!  I'm talking the NYSE, the Deutsche Börse, the FTSE and the Nikkei.   I'm talking day trading for the ultimate, prime time, skin-in-the-game experience of the world economy and real democracy in action. 

Most of us are familiar with the ubiquitous mutual fund, purchased at a reputable firm and handled by a fund manager with a sterling track record for fiduciary responsibility.  I've owned a balanced index fund for three years now and contribute from time to time but never gave the dynamics of the market much thought.  During the past two years in particular, logging into my account to view my fund's progress was an exercise in courage.  But towards the end of December, I noticed things were looking up and any money my fund had lost during the past two years had already been recovered;  by February, there was even some extra gravy on my plate.  One thing is for sure, I couldn't have made that kind of interest on a CD or in my bank's savings account. 

Out of curiosity, I delved into my balanced index fund to find out what holdings, besides the top ten, I was invested in. The number of companies - all domestic - numbered 3, 199!   My brokerage firm wasn't kidding when they said this fund was very diversified, which is why it could recover from one of the worst recessions in recent memory.  Then I thought, why do people buy individual stocks when you can have a sampling of the whole market index?  And what were those riskier mutual funds and ETFs that promised greater reward, or greater loss of hair, depending on the vicissitudes of the market.

After a little research and advice from the financial talking heads on the Fox Business channel, I decided that I needed to take some risks while holding onto my conservative index fund.  Since my portfolio didn't include foreign holdings, I opened up two brokerage accounts;  one with the investment firm managing my balanced mutual fund and another with a day trading house so I could invest on the fly and get up to the second information on all my equities.  I decided to purchase shares in several foreign ETFs,  including emerging world markets and European-Pacific markets.

Watching all those little numbers blinking on the screen can be a bit overwhelming at first but watching the red numbers with the minus signs in front of your investments can make you reach for the Maalox.  So I manned up.  Rather than panic, I clicked on a link provided by the trading house for up to the minute market news.   I'm convinced there is more written every day about the market than all the other news in the world combined.   The nice thing about reading market news is that it includes only the other news that's fit to print, or otherwise waste your time on.  I also got a lot of cool stock tips.

Opening another browser window to stream Fox business news videos, I could now listen to developments in the Middle East and possibly catch some strategic investment ideas.  When you filter out buzzwords like democracy, tyranny,  freedom and oppression, you can actually learn something.   I heard one talking head say that China owns some 95% of the rare earth metal resources in the world, those rare metals that are crucial in manufacturing our high tech gadgets and building our military hardware;  he also said they were hording these metals.  I ended up buying shares in rare earth metal ETFs and the companies who mine the limited quantities in the U.S. and Canada.

Another Molotov cocktail thrown at a tank in Benghazi and some retaliatory fire from pro Ghadaffi mercenaries;  the subject of rising oil prices comes up on another Fox news interview.  I quickly switch over to an article on energy stock recommendations.  If I'm going to be paying $4.00 a gallon to fill my ride, I at least want a little hedge in the oil market.  After eyeballing the charts, I decided to buy some shares of energy exploration companies in Norway, Russia, Brazil and Canada.  Then I switch over to my other brokerage firm that doesn't charge a fee if you buy their energy ETF, and I'm in for a few shares of the American energy sector as well.  Big, bad oil never looked so good.

Along the way I found myself looking at stocks not included in my portfolio such as IMAX, CoinStar, Ebay, Amazon and some industrial materials companies with Pentagon contracts.  I buy several shares of each. After a pitiful performance, I ditch IMAX, Ebay and Amazon, keep CoinStar and the Industrials and hunt for some pundit recommended bargain buys.  I read an article about a company that makes speech software for computers;  I buy a few shares of Nuance software co. But before I realized it, the fees for making all those trades were beginning to add up.  I swear up and down I'll just stay put with what I have already...that is until I hear about the next great investment tip.  So I go and make another bank transfer of funds into both brokerage accounts.  Can gambling anonymous be far behind? 

So what have I learned thus far?  The saying, follow the money, is probably the only true barometer of world events and the only true compass to keep you on course when the bed wetting journalists go from dour to sour.  I've come to the conclusion that there really are no "Crises", neither in Madison Wisconsin or on some dusty, blood stained street in Benghazi Libya.  If I don't control it, I don't worry about it.  What truly matters to me is whether I'm getting paid and how much.  I'll admit that fakes and hypocrites will feign shock at such a blatantly greedy viewpoint,  but measured against the demands of local government employee unions for tax payer subsidized early retirement and medical plans, their collective greed adds up to more greed, disguised as public service. 

I reserve the right to engage in this sophistry, especially in the age of Obama stimulus bailouts and government heath care opt-outs for his banking and union friends respectively.  Since I am paying my own tuition to learn how the market works, I can tell the moralizers where to take their Faux idealism:  Take it to Tripoli and run it up a flag pole in front of Ghadaffi's tent.  Good luck with that one.

Excerpt from I Claudius (Episode 10):  The emperor Claudius wants a new, larger port built for the importation of more corn to Rome during the winter months.  Pallas is exaggerating the cost of building the new port in order to protect the corn factors' investment in higher corn prices. 

Pallas:  You have money in corn, I have money in corn, lots of people have money in corn.  The more corn that can be landed in winter, the lower the price will be.  That worries me.
Narcissus:  That could be construed as a rather selfish point of view.
Pallas:  Are you saying that there's less selfishness in wanting the price of corn to be lower rather than higher?
Narcissus: There are more people who want it to be lower.
Pallas:  Doesn't that add up to more selfishness rather than less?
Narcissus:  That is sheer sophistry, one can not argue with you.
Pallas: Well let's get the engineer's report and I'm quite sure the cost will take care of the philosophical considerations.