John Pacheco

New Year Planning Resources

2012-01-22T13:37:00.010-06:00

If you’re still pondering your New Year resolutions, or for that matter floundering with your New Year resolutions, here are some oldie but goodies that might help.

This is a simple version of a skeleton for planning:
John Pacheco Blog, Jan 2011-
Tee Up in life, but first know where you want to hit to.

Here are 3 posts from the Harvard Business Review Blog Network:

Heidi Grant Halvorson, Feb 2011-
Nine Things Successful People Do Differently
(Oddly enough drinking alcohol and feeling sorry for yourself isn’t one of the 9 things.)

Tony Schwartz, Jan 2011-
A 90-Minute Plan for Personal Effectiveness

Tony Schwartz, Jan 2011-
Six Keys to Changing Almost Anything

Finally “IamINC” is a free site that helps with goal planning and execution by using help and advice from mentors you invite. I haven’t used it, but I’ve read some positive reviews of it.

-John P.

Year End Investment Ideas- Dogs of The Dow Revisited

2012-01-07T09:00:00.009-06:00

Here are some year-end 2011 stock purchases I made and a brief summary of my reasoning.

2011 was a good year for dividend paying stock. I believe the main reasons for this was that people sought safety from:
A) The uncertain U.S. business environment created by Obama’s regulatory over reach.
B) The pull-down stress of the now gigantic U.S. Government Debt
C) The looming European sovereign debt crisis.

Investors also looked for yield outside of traditional fixed income (bonds) because:
A) The Fed’s near zero interest policy
B) The downgrading of U.S. debt
C) The altered perception of risk in bonds after the Obama Administration shafted car company bondholders in favor of his union cronies.

This success of dividend paying companies also meant that the old “Dogs of the Dow,” Strategy did well for a second year in a row after many years of underperforming.

For the uninitiated, the Dog’s of the Dow Strategy says that investors should start the year by buying the 10 highest yielding stocks of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. A stock’s dividend yield increases in proportion to stock price decrease, which means you’re buying the dogs (hence the name). The goal of this strategy is to collect your dividends while the laggards (hopefully) come back strong in the coming year.

In 2011 the Dog’s Strategy returned approximately 10.7% (pre-dividend), with a total return of approximately 16.7% (including the dividends).

By contrast the S&P 500 finished the year flat with a loss of approximately .003%, with the 100 lowest yielding stocks dropping an elevator-shaft worthy 8.6% (according to the Wall Street Journal).

The problem with the Dog’s of the Dow is a complete lack of diversification as you limit your “stock universe” to the 30 stocks of the Dow. As a result most experienced investors, when using the Dogs technique, expand the stock universe to include companies outside the stodgy Dow; which is what I did to arrive at my end of year purchases.

My EOY Purchases:

Caterpillar (CAT)- Bought at $91.79
Off its 52 week high of $116 due to (I believe short term) dip in earnings, but should benefit from 3rd world construction and pent up building demand from US recession. Dividend of 2%+, plus stable balance sheet. I've been lusting over this stock for most of the year.

WisdomTree Equity Income Fund (DHS)- Bought at $39.96
ETF- The Wisdom Tree Equity Income ETF is a dogs lookalike, but with more than 300 stocks. Health-care and consumer staples firms have the heaviest portfolio weightings, at 19% apiece. The fund has returned 2.2% from its June 2006 inception through the end of October 2011, double the return of its benchmark, the Russell 1000. It costs $28 a year per $10,000 invested and yields 4.1%, based on trailing 12-month dividend payments.

Vanguard High Dividend Yield (VYM)- Bought at $42.41
More than 400 stocks, yield 3.1%. Consumer staples are 20% of the portfolio and industrial firms are 15%. This dogs alternative has fees at $18 a year per $10,000 invested.

SPDR S&P International Dividend ETF (DWX)- Bought at $45.59
The SPDR S&P International Dividend ETF offers overseas dogs exposure. Australia, the United Kingdom and Germany together make up just over one-third of the portfolio, and telecoms and utilities together have a 47% weighting. Recent declines in European stock markets have left the fund with a dividend yield of more than 7%. Expenses are $45 a year per $10,000 invested.
Of all EOY investments, I believe this one has the highest risk.

Microsoft (MSFT)- Bought at $25.26
Cash rich, sitting on $57.4 billion in cash, AAA rating, 3.22 yield, off 52 week high, 10%+ return per share in earnings.

Energy SPDR (XLE)- Bought at $69.60
Traditional Energy is a no-brainer sector as energy demands will continue to increase globally, and "alternative energy" continuing to be a pipe fantasy. 42 Holdings can be viewed at: http://www.sectorspdr.com/spdr/composition/?symbol=XLE

Gold SPDR (GLD)- Bought at $150.95
Has more money actually invested in gold than another gold investment I already have (which took some cash position), hence potential for higher return. Gold has dipped from it's high in Aug 2011 yet I believe it faces good prospects due to damaged US currency & Euro, as money flees to perceived safety of gold.

My Ideal Scenario during this December search was: EOY of year dump of market plus recession makes value stuff an even better buy. After New Year, market rebounds slightly just out of reflex by May/June. Obama polls low as election nears and finally loses, market rebounds significantly.

This didn’t quite happen, as the market didn’t dip as much as I had hoped for EOY, but I still the pulled the trigger on the above investments.

Of course if your goal is long-term return, I want to reemphasize that no approach or money manager beats the index. Of the indexes, I prefer the Wilshire 5000 (Total Market Index) as it represents the broadest index for the U.S. equity market and contains the all-important small caps, which the S&P 500 Index doesn’t have.

-John P.

Disclaimer: Please note this is a hobby blog and is NOT meant as investment advice.

Gipper, in his case dog means "one heck of a good looking guy."

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T20:48:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas from Rancho Pacheco!

The Willful Destruction of our Energy Grid

2011-12-06T10:03:00.007-06:00

Obama’s EPA reckless dismantling of our energy grid is the subject of this WSJ editorial.

http://on.wsj.com/tQMCOM

“NERC predicts another 36 to 59 gigawatts will come offline…depending on the "scope and timing" of EPA demands. That could mean nearly a quarter of all coal-fired capacity…According to the report, ‘the nation's power grid will be stressed in ways never before experienced’ and reliability depends on building new power plants to cover the losses. But the electric industry has only three years to comply..(meanwhile) many other destructive rules are in the works.”

It’s a twofer in damage. By destroying an important piece of our national infrastructure he-
1. Effectively reduces the U.S. to a third world status. Once infrastructure falls behind, it's hard to play catch up. It's like your health. Once you get diabetes or scar-tissue from your first heart attack, it's all that much harder to stay in shape and maintain health. Ditto electric production plants. They take a long time to build and require huge capital investments.
2. Dramatically drives up the price of our electricity (for both home use, and for the power-cost passed on to us from consumer services and products).

Just what our economy needs right now. N'est-ce pas?

JP

Everyone should have one...

2011-11-19T07:58:00.003-06:00

I thought I would show you the entrance to my secret mountain fortress. (It has a Picasso in the vestibule.)

Actually it's the Pacheco Centre, at Boulevard Pacheco in Brussels. The photo was sent to me by a friend currently working in Belgium with the comment, "Wow; is there any place you're not part of the scene?!"

“Apparently not,” would seem the answer.

-JP

Project Mercury Stamps

2011-10-22T21:54:00.018-05:00

I just added these four 1962 Project Mercury stamps to my collection. They are not particularly valuable, but I like the unique American achievement they represent.

Project Mercury was the first U.S. manned spaceflight program. It had a very basic goal of putting an astronaut into orbit and then bringing him back down safely.

Scary, scary, stuff when you consider-

NASA knew next to nothing about the effects space would have on an astronaut.
They were using extremely volatile Redstone and Atlas rockets, which were famous for blowing up during launch.
The Mercury “Space Capsule” was little more than a tin can with untested re-entry technology.

Imagine the job description: “Needed: Person to sit inside tin can with questionable life support, on top of highly volatile rocket that could blow up at any second. If by God’s Grace lift off is successful, applicant must be OK with knowledge that re-entry heat-shield and parachutes may not work.”

The patriotism and courage Alan Shepard demonstrated on May 5, 1961, when he rode that first American tin can into space, is awe-inspiring.

Oh, and of course to give credit where credit is due, similar Kudos to Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin who flew one month before Shepard, becoming the first human being to fly a tin can into space.

-JP

Below- In this NASA photo, Alan Shepard is shown being hoisted aboard a U.S. Marine helicopter after his successful mission. His Freedom 7 Mercury capsule can be seen just below him.

American Airlines- Time to Re-Think Process

2011-10-15T11:54:00.017-05:00

(Photo Right: A "Tramp Chair" used by police departments to encourage tramps and vagrants to move on. It’s disturbing to think how much in common it has with a modern day air travel.)

My wife and I just experienced the declined state of American Airlines firsthand.

Pre-Flight

My wife booked the flight on American because she was in a hurry, and mistakenly thought Southwest, the low cost provider, didn’t fly the route. (The trip was a sudden business requirement.)

After she emailed me our flight info, I checked, and found that Southwest did fly to that airport, and that Southwest would have been 33% cheaper. However, since the tickets were non-refundable we were committed.

I also noticed the seats were in the rear of the aircraft, and then checked to see about upgrading them to first-class using points from our personal account. “No problem.” I was told by a surly call center agent, I would just have to cash in 68,000 “Advantage” points AND pay American an additional $300 dollars.

68,000 points and $300 cash? OK that idea didn’t go far.

Before the flight, by way of apology, my wife went back into the AA system and “upgraded” our seats to “preferred seats” to the front of the aircraft for about $23 each.

Outgoing Flight

The morning of our outgoing flight, the first thing I noticed was the absence of anything resembling an organized queue at the American Airlines check-in. All the self-service kiosks were at an odd angle, and there were no feeder-rails for a line. As I sleepily stumbled through the kiosk process with the help of a detached American employee, I figured out I was being asked to pay an additional $25 for my bag. I looked at the AA employee; he just shrugged and avoided eye contact.

As I “agreed” to the $25 fee for my bag, the kiosk screen also generously offered me the opportunity to upgrade to first-class for $45 for the first leg, and $90 for the second leg. “Hey John, remember the $300 and 68,000 Advantage points we previously asked for? We were just kidding about that.”

After printing out a luggage tag, we waited around for a few minutes trying to find an employee that would actually take the bag. Apparently taking the bag, or touching the bag in any way shape or manner was not in the kiosk guy’s job description.

After check-in, as we went through security that morning, I remember thinking TSA seemed like a model of efficiency and politeness compared to the American Airlines desk.

Once aboard, as we settled in, it quickly became obvious there was nothing “preferred” about our seats. There was absolutely no leg-room; and when the passenger in front of my wife reclined, my wife was forced to contort herself into a cartoonish manner * as she attempted to work with her laptop literally just inches from her eyes at a drooped angle.

For my part, I quickly came to the realization that the frame rail for the seat in front was mounted exactly where my left foot should go. I also became painfully aware that my worn-down-seat had no lumber support and no padding left in it. I remembered what I had once read about police “tramp chairs,” and using my Vulcan-like mental discipline, tried not think about the two hours in front of me.

Return Trip

The night before our return trip, my wife proudly announced that she had gone online, and for a fee, had changed our seats to the exit row, and that I had an aisle seat.

At the airport, I noticed the American Airlines counter had the same un-organized cluster problem as the Austin counter. Once I finally elbowed my way in front of a kiosk, I was once again given the opportunity to upgrade at the last minute to first class for $135. I looked at my wife, “Aisle exit row, right?” My wife smiled back with confidence, “Right!” So I once again passed on the last minute upgrade, and once agreed to pay $25 for the tenacity of actually having luggage.

However once onboard, we quickly realized we had been had by American. We were not in fact in an exit row. We in the row behind the exit row. My wife’s window seat, had no seat in front of it, so technically her left leg actually could be stretched out slightly, but her right leg was restricted by the exit hatch. If she moved her right leg forward, it would hit the metal frame of the hatch, and she would suffer hypothermia of that foot.

Since it was the return trip, and my Vulcan mind-discipline was weakening, I succumbed to the inevitable and agreed to pay AA an additional seven of my hard earned dollars for a small bottle of Scotch.

Post Trip Thoughts

I remember a time when American was one of the better airlines. It was our preferred airline on our yearly business trips to New York City and to Vermont for family vacations. That is no longer the case.

My gut feel is that they’re trying to compete as a low cost provider, and they can’t win that battle. (Southwest pretty much has that niche mastered.) Unfortunately, American can’t compete as a premium airline either. Not with uncomfortable worn seats, zero leg-room, indifferent or angry employees, poor operational procedures, and continual nickel-and-dime huckstering of customers for illusionary “better” seats.

I don’t pretend to fully understand all the problems a complex concern like American has- the labor issues, the impossible logistics ranging from fuel prices to flight schedules, and complex cost of working capital- but I do have a humble suggestion for the check-in process.

One: If nothing else, go back to feeder lines and clearly marked entry points to the queue. A bunch of people rudely elbowing each other to get in front of a kiosk is no way to start a flight. It creates needless hostility, which is then channeled to the employees, which then creates a feedback loop.

Two: For innovative solutions, consider contacting MBA programs at different universities and inviting them to study your check-in procedures and related customer services, and then have them provide re-engineering options. Sometimes, a fresh eye can provide new insights.

I would recommend that participation would be limited to:
• Second-year MBA students and their professors.
• Students that had actually been business travelers prior to entering the MBA program.
• American Airlines employees who have worked check-in and customer service positions.

The University whose re-engineering concepts were accepted would get publicity for their program and maybe some sort of cash award.

Finally as I finish up, I wonder if I’m being fair to American Airlines and whether I’ve overlooked anything positive to mitigate the criticism of this post.

There is one thing that left a favorable impression with me. During boarding, American allows uniformed military personnel to board the aircraft at the same time first-class-passengers board. I liked that. I liked that a lot.

-JP

* Note: My wife wants the reader to know that she is NEVER cartoonish. Rather, “Dignified adaptation to undignified situations,” is her motto.

Pablo Picasso, Woman Seated 1908

Related Article of interest:
“If American Airlines was a seat, it would be a middle one in coach, sandwiched between two behemoths, pledged as collateral for a loan.”
-Middle-Seat Syndrome at American Airlines, WSJ Article October 3, 2011

"Boarding an airplane can be a bit like the after-Christmas sale at Wal-Mart. Passengers jockey to get better positions in line as gate agents bark commands. On board, the aisles become clogged with travelers stuffing luggage the size of a fourth-grader into overhead bins."
-Airlines Go Back to Boarding School to Move Fliers Onto Planes Faster, WSJ Article July 21, 2011

Bad Changes in the LL Bean Sportsman Luggage, Large Pullman

2011-10-03T21:35:00.007-05:00

I’m deeply conflicted about the LL Bean large Pullman I received today (pictured left). Both my wife and I have complete Sportsman luggage sets. My large Pullman developed zipper problems, and I was told by LL Bean they couldn’t repair it, however they would replace it under their “guaranteed to last” policy. Since none of the other luggage, with equal miles, has developed any problems I had no compunction about taking them up on the replacement offer. Today I got the replacement, and I feel my old bag was superior for the following reasons.

First, the new large Pullman doesn’t have a separate mesh pocket in the top lid like my old one did. As a business traveler this is where I stored my ironed slacks and pristine shirts, and kept them carefully segregated from shoes and other items in the main compartment. The separate mesh compartment also made it easier to pack and access cold weather gear at my destination before leaving the airport, like my Barbour. Make no mistake; this was a major benefit/feature item for me.

The second thing I noticed is that the bag is slightly smaller than my old bag and not as strongly reinforced on the sides. This is not evolution. Combine this size and quality shrinkage with my missing mesh compartments, and you’ve basically taken a piece of very smart luggage, and converted into nothing more than another generic box with wheels. Sometimes, it’s OK not to change things.

The third thing is an important indicator in six-sigma customer service. The Sportsman Pullman I returned was embroidered with my initials, the new one was not. I feel the LL Bean of old would have caught that attention to detail. (Also, I did mark the initial boxes on the return form.)

On the positive side:

One, LL Bean did replace an item under their guarantee policy. Many companies today would not have done so, or made me run through many more hoops in order to activate a return.

Two, they’ve kept the distinctive external appearance of the luggage. When you see it on the luggage carousel, you know it’s LL Bean. The boys in R&D have been smart enough not to mess with this feature. (Marketing 101: If I buy a Jag, I want it to look like a Jag, not a Ford Taurus.)

-John P.

Below, the old good design with the mesh and separate internal compartments. (My wife's Large Pullman.)

My Chocolate Lab is unimpressed with the new dumbed-down design; basically a generic box with wheels. My wife thinks it's just a way to make the luggage cheaper to produce, and increase their squeezed margins. She pointed out that shoe bags were included in the old LL Bean "premium" product. I'll probably have to shop around for some luggage cubes.

"All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward."

-Ellen Glasgow

Bastrop Fire

2011-09-07T21:58:00.009-05:00

These are photos taken from Facebook showing the devastating Bastrop Texas fire.

Looking at this photo, one gets a sense of what Mount Vesuvius must have looked like to the Romans in Pompeii. The smoke plume is visible from space.

There were a total of 3 large fires in the Austin Central Texas area over the Labor Day Weekend. For our part my wife and I were lucky. Our home was threatened by the Pedernales fire, which was controlled by late Sunday evening when the winds finally died down. At that time they had approximate 100 firefighters working on our fire, and 250 firefighters working on the Bastrop fire. Had the winds not died down, or had the fire jumped south of the Pedernales River, our story could have wound up very differently. We did have our suitcases packed, in case we had to evacuate; and I was particularly touched by the kindness of friends who called and offered their homes to us.

Below is the Bastrop smoke behind the Austin Skyline.

Bishop Vasquez from the Diocese of Austin, issued a statement asking for prayers and donations for #centraltxfires : http://bit.ly/onqxKZ.

Please keep the people of Bastrop in your prayers, as they continue to deal with this tragedy.
-John P.

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Last chance for white bucks? men's stuff part seventeen

2011-08-31T17:40:00.011-05:00

Labor Day is almost upon us, and so every good man asks himself the yearly question: Is it OK to wear my white bucks beyond the traditional end of summer?

The official answer would appear to be yes. I’m told that the 17th Edition of Emily Post's Etiquette, gives the go-ahead for wearing white after Labor Day.

Here in Central Texas the question may be non sequitur as we have only two seasons: summer, and summer will be right back. Because of this my wife is of the opinion that, in Texas at least, the deadline should be extended to Columbus Day.

So I'm leaving my white bucks out, at least for a little while longer. At worst I may be considered an unpolished eccentric by traditionalist, at best I may get my photo in The Sartorialist blog. ;)

-JP

"...he knew that to be careless in dress and manner required more confidence than to be careful. But carelessness was for his children."
- Winter Dreams, F. Scott Fitzgerald

PS- But you might want to start thinking about waxing your Barbour if you haven't done it yet. The wax is easier to work with while the weather is still warm.

Texas Bird Baths

2011-08-16T21:27:00.010-05:00

Here in Central Texas, sometimes people’s cattle get loose and cause some interesting interactions.

Edwin, a friend who lives in the area, sent me the photo above and the snaps below in an email entitled, “Some Visitors to Our House.” With his permission, I’ve posted them here on my blog. I thought they did a great job of showing the beauty and charm of living in the Texas Hill Country.

Below, a very dramatic shot of a cardinal taking his daily shower. Showers are important in this heat.

Unfortunately, we're currently suffering a drought, so it's not unusual for deer to steal a quick sip from the birds.

Despite the drought, we have seen an unusually large number of hummingbirds lately. Not too long ago, we had one wander into our back-screened-in porch, and Sue had to gently shoo it out using an open umbrella.

Of course not all our visitors are cuddly.

Edwin, thanks for the great snaps and permission to share them on my blog.

-John P.

Summer Relief (It's all in the mind...)

2011-08-03T21:35:00.003-05:00

Here is “Paris with Snow,” by Luigi Loir (1845 - 1916) to help you cool down from the summer heat.

Motivation

2011-07-09T13:48:00.005-05:00

Another Exciting Guest Blog Entry
By
The ‘Lil Woman

There was a family of young birds, swallows I think, learning to fly in our front yard yesterday. One of the little guys tried to fly through our closed front door, became dazed from the impact, and finally grabbed onto some molding on the door for a quick breather before soaring off again.

Another less daring nestling (pictured above) grabbed onto the arm of a chair on the front porch and just stayed there…for hours. Mom kept flying onto the porch trying to flutter him into movement. His siblings came over and teased him about being a wuss. But his response was adamant, “NO WAY! I’M NOT LEAVING! YOU CAN’T MAKE ME GET ON THE SCHOOL BUS!”

Concerned that it was getting dark, and that he wouldn’t be able to find his nest, John snapped the latch on the window behind the bird to make some noise, and off he finally flew.

The moral of the story is that sometimes we all need a little kick in the tail feathers to get moving.

-SP

(Photo by SP)

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-02T22:18:00.019-05:00

Happy 4th of July!

I once heard a college professor say, “If you’re born in the U.S., congratulations, you’ve won the lottery.” He went on to explain why from a statistical probability standpoint a person is more likely to have been born a poor peasant in China or some other 3rd world country.

To this day, we’re a country that people are willing to risk life and limb to get to. No other country on the globe offers the opportunity for happiness and self-direction that we have, and we should ponder that as we celebrate our independence day.

The second thing that we should ponder is the sacrifice that our right to be self-directed free men has cost, and the people who have paid it.

The top painting is called “The Prayer at Valley Forge,” by Arnold Friberg. It depicts George Washington in deep prayer during the winter of 1777 – 1778. At that time, many believed the American Cause to be lost. The mighty British had almost destroyed the American Army, and what remained of our Continental Army was in tatters, sickly and thoroughly demoralized. And yet, the improbable happened, and what Cornwallis called “defeated rabble” won, establishing the beginning of the world’s first country based on the premise of natural law.

In my opinion anyone who seriously studies the American Revolutionary War, and the chain of improbable events that lead to its success, can’t help but ponder divine intervention and American exceptionalism.

The mid photo of this post shows soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge; and the bottom photo shows a paratrooper from the 503rd Infantry Regiment (ABN) in a present day Afghanistan winter. I inserted these photos to show that the spirit of Washington’s Valley Forge Army continues. As a country we should be proud that we still produce these type of men.

Lastly, I’ll mention this. Tonight my wife and I decided to attend Saturday evening mass and were introduced to a very interesting young man working on his Boy Scout Eagle Project. For his project, he is sending care packages to every service man and women of the local parish who is deployed in either Iraq or Afghanistan. These care packages include basic care and toiletry items, as well as an iPod with preloaded Catholic material, well wishes from our community, and uplifting motivational stories recorded by recently returned veterans.

Bien fait! I say.

-John P.

1928 two-cent U.S. postage stamp.

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
-John Adams

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Tony Young Sentenced for Ponzi Scheme

2011-06-29T23:03:00.011-05:00

Philly.com reports that Tony Young was finally sentenced.

Philly.com, Chester County Ponzi schemer Young gets 17 1/2 years
“Young, 40, could have made a comfortable living had he simply invested the millions of dollars people entrusted to him, U.S. District Judge Juan R. Sanchez said, 'but this was not enough to satisfy this man's greed' and his desire to be ‘a polo-playing country gentleman.’”

Mr. Young’s crime was defrauding the Chester County Pennsylvania polo crowd out of approximately $20 million through a hedge fund Ponzi scheme. And while admittedly $20 million is nowhere near the billions Bernie Madoff made off with, I found Tony Young’s story interesting all the same.

To become familiar with Tony Young, please read, “The Schadenfreude Goes On, part two”

-JP

(top photo from Philly.com)

There is no economic recovery, none, keiner!

2011-06-07T22:09:00.032-05:00

Speaking in today's patois, I think people are starting to “freak,” about our economy. I mean really "freak."

People are looking around for any sign of a recovery and aren’t seeing it. Government assurances that things are getting better ring false with every pricey fill-up at the pump, every trip to the grocery store, and every jobs report.

So I will state the obvious here, there is no economic recovery. And Pollyanna statements from our neophyte president to the contrary won’t change that reality.

(Point 1) The most blatant concrete sign of an economic catastrophe in the making is at the gas pump. In 2009 when the media claimed recovery had begun, oil averaged $54 a barrel. Since then the price has doubled. We no longer have to wonder whether we’ll face inflation. It’s here. And I won’t belabor the point of how the price of oil affects everything because of transportation and energy cost.

(Point 2) Which leads directly to the second direct harm we are being subjected to- Food price inflation. While we are being browbeaten by Biden about “summers of recovery,” our food prices are climbing at levels not seen since the 1970s. (Ironically this most harms the very people the Democratic Party claims to cherish, the working poor who can’t afford to pay $4 for a box of Fruit Loops.)

(Points 3,4, 5, 6, and 7) Now let’s add Depression-level-unemployment, a bad housing market, plummeting household incomes, depressed consumer confidence, and debt so staggering that according to Princeton Economist Alan Binder, “At some point (the Treasury) could wind up brooding over horrible questions like these: Do we stop issuing checks for Social Security benefits, or for soldier’s pay, or for interest payments to the Chinese government?”

For people who think Binder is exaggerating, I would point out that our currency has already suffered dramatic loss. In the middle of 2009, the dollar was hovering at about $950 per gold ounce, it is now at about $1,544 per ounce. (And yes I know Richard Nixon took us off the gold standard, but it makes the point.)

In his WSJ column, Daniel Henninger noted:
“It is sometimes unfair to tag presidents with blame for an underperforming economy. Not this time. This president made conscious policy choices during a deep recession to reorder vast swaths of American industry. Strong-performing economies need clarity. Barack Obama has given ours indecision stretching to the horizon. And economic growth, like a long gray day, sits still below 3%.”

Peggy Noonan, in her column, was more succinct in her judgment of Obama. She simply wrote, “He made it worse.” She believes, "He made it worse," will be his defining historical footnote.

Putting aside Obamacare for a moment, the so-called stimulus did in fact make it worst.

Most of the stimulus was aimed at public sector jobs. A public job is a good thing for the person who gets it, but a bad thing for the rest of us because it takes five jobs in the private sector to generate the taxes to pay for that public sector job. And if the private sector doesn’t produce those jobs, then we’re just like a pizza shop that keeps adding employees and overhead without adding to its pizza sales.

As “The Economist,” stated, “People in the private sector are only just now beginning to understand how much of a banquet public-sector unions have been having at everybody else’s expense.” (Jan 2011 issue, pg 9, “The Battle Ahead”)

It’s not rocket science, and it’s not “coordination failure,” as some liberal apologists for this administration are now claiming.

Private companies are rationally holding on to their cash reserves because they’re unsure of what’s going to happen. The one thing they’re sure of is that they have an anti-business President who wants to tax and regulate them at every turn. Obama has failed to provide a predictable environment for businesses to make decision in. Under these circumstances, companies are not going to add to their payrolls or seek expansion.

People on the other hand, without jobs, or facing uncertainty in their own employment are not going to spend their money. They’re going to hold on to it and make sure they can make their mortgage payments and feed their families.

And so I now ask you to consider this, can you afford to stay on the sidelines and not become involved in the political stewardship of our country?

Like most people, I had always concluded that our American economy could withstand any blow and recover, but I think the time has come to get some grown ups in our elected offices and to begin to make some hard choices.

-John P.

Cheri Jacobs, The Hill: Double Dip Deniers
"Far from calming our fears, the president’s nervous state of denial sends chills down our spines with the depth and breadth of its naiveté and dishonesty."

Jonah Goldberg, LA Times: It's Obama's economy, stupid

"The economy goes splat while the MSM chases Sarah's bus."

Heritage Foundation: "Here Come Obama’s ‘Necessarily Skyrocketing’ Electricity Rates"

“President Obama’s infamous words—saying electricity rates will “necessarily skyrocket” (under his central planning) …are set to come true. Just ask the market…EPA’s train wreck of energy regulations leaves a complicated and expensive mess of new requirements for U.S. power plants…average U.S. retail electricity prices in 2016 would increase by about 12%, with regional increases as much as about 24%.”
-

My love affair with watches, men's stuff part sixteen

2011-05-30T16:45:00.012-05:00

My love affair with watches began in the 4h grade when I received my first Timex wristwatch. I remember carefully synchronizing my Timex with the school bell so I could count out the seconds for the end of the day, or secretly timing events with the sweep second hand.

In Junior High, for Christmas, I received my second watch. It was a digital Texas Instruments with red LED. You had to press the button to display the time, and the red numbers were so dim you couldn’t make them out in daylight, but it didn’t matter. In my mind I was James Bond. I had seen Roger Moore wearing the Hamilton Pulsar in the 1973 movie Live and Let Die and I thought digital was the height of cool. From there, my watch collection just began to expand; and today, it’s not unusual for me to strike up conversations with fellow watch aficionados on airplanes or social situations.

My love affair with time pieces continues. Below are three posts I wrote about my favorite watches from my collection:

The Seiko Professional Divers Watch, men's stuff part ten

The Hamilton Jazz Master, men's stuff part eight

The Rolex Submariner, men's stuff part three

(Photos- The top photo is what my Texas Instruments Watch looked like. Sadly that watch disappeared years ago, so the snapshot is just off the net. The lower photo however is my actual Rolex Submariner in its case.)

WatchTime Magazine - This is, in my opinion, the best watch publication for people wishing to learn more about the watch industry. Unlike many other watch magazines, WatchTime is extremely well written. It doesn’t just have a lot of pretty photographs or rewrites of company marketing copy.

Portero.com – This is a legitimate site for collectors wishing to buy or sell their watches.

-JP

Why the Lent Unplug?

2011-05-02T22:53:00.010-05:00

An anonymous person commented: “Hope you had a happy Easter. Ok now, time to start blogging again...we're waiting Mr. P :)”

OK, I’m back and perhaps I should explain why I unplugged for Lent.

About 2 years ago, my wife and I both gave up television believing it to be a large time waster. However recently we noticed that our time online had grown, and that we were also downloading a lot of movies. In short, the Internet had replaced the old bad habit of TV. We saw Lent as a good time to change that behavior pattern.

I still used the Internet for work related items (research, dictionary.com, etc.) but I didn’t surf, participate with social sites like Facebook, or download any movies. (We did allow ourselves one movie night per week.)

Was there a benefit to this? The short answer would be yes. Our time became more productive and my main concern that we wouldn’t be caught up on news events proved groundless. During Lent, our news came from our hard-copy-subscriptions to the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg Businessweek, talk radio (both Limbaugh and NPR); and on Sundays I reverted to my old habit of buying the Sunday New York Times.

For recreation, I also read more books than I usually do, including “The Idiot” by Dostoyevsky which I had been meaning to get around to.

The photos on this post are from another source of battery charging during Lent. Just before Easter we took a brief vacation and visited my brother-in-law Robert in Malibu California. He has a beautiful house by the ocean. He was a gracious host, and we’re very glad for the visit. We even got to take in a Dodgers game.

"John, how did you turn on those fountain thingies in Robert's pool? And more importantly, how do you turn them off?"

My wife insisted I post the picture above. She said I laugh & giggle all the time, but that I'm rarely photographed doing it.

Heart in the Sand

The End

Unplugging for Lent

2011-03-08T20:07:00.002-06:00

I'll be back after Easter.

(Artwork, Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper)

Pausing to Pray, A Lenten Devotional for Busy People

2011-02-22T22:21:00.009-06:00

OK warning, shameless family promotion coming up.

Just in time for the beginning of Lent (Ash Wednesday is March 9th); my wife’s cousin Sarah Chichester compiled this small portable booklet, “Pausing to Pray,” a “Lenten Devotional for Busy People.”

It’s intended as a convenient easy-to-carry aide for prayer, devotional thought, and introspection. Think of it as hip-pocket-training for the soul. The 65-page-booklet contains a short excerpt from the Dairy of St. Faustina for each day of Lent and a brief meditation on the excerpt written by a Marian priest.

You can pack it anywhere on your person, and pull it out when you have a moment in your busy day. Upon reading the short daily excerpt, you can build your own prayer and daily conversation with God.

It begins on Ash Wednesday with a call for silence (from distractions) in our heart and soul so that we can hear God’s voice in our life; and leads us to contemplation of God’s infinite love and mercy on Easter.

Think about it, for the price of a hamburger and fries, you can have a convenient structured guide for your Lent daily prayer. It’s available through marian.org, or Amazon.

Good Job Sarah!

-John P.

Repeal on ObamaCare Has Begun!

2011-02-05T11:08:00.013-06:00

Must Read of the Week: I know everyone has focused on the court decision, but on Wednesday, the Democratic Senate killed their first provision of the health-care Frankenstein mistake. Kimberley Strassel writes about the beginning of the end for Obamacare in her Wall Street Journal Potomac Watch Column.

Here's a summary:

This past week 34 Democrats joined with Republicans to repeal the 1099 provision that saddled business with the mandate of reporting annual purchases above $600. The original idea behind this fiasco was that the Democrats needed funds to pay for their Frankenstein monster, and thought they would squeeze an additional $17 billion from business, never mind that it was a crushing bookkeeping mind-numbing task. (I mean if you’ve never run a business, how would you know that right? It’s like the electric cars the left pushes for, which are going to be run by magic, and not our electric power grid fueled by oil and coal plants.)

Among Strassel’s more cognizant points-

1. How the 1099 provision first mysteriously appeared in the 2,000-page miscreation, and how no Democrat claimed authorship.

2. How Harry Reid, knowing he was unable to stop another vote, “deputized” Democrat Debbie Stabenow to steal the Republican bill by Nebraska’s Mike Johanns and cynically brought it to a vote. “Thus does the leadership that wrote the offensive provision, voted for it, and defended it, now take credit for exterminating it.” Strassel writes.

But I would argue that the plagiarizing of the bill by Reid and Stabenow is OK. In golf we have a saying, “It’s OK to win ugly.” I’ve had bad tee shots rocket straight into the woods, hit a tree and bounced back onto the fairway only to stop inches from the cup. The scorecard for that hole still reads 2.

-JP

"Fore!"

We Have A Watch Labrador

2011-02-03T21:59:00.013-06:00

Another Exciting Guest Blog Entry
By
The ‘Lil Woman

We have a Watch Lab. As a young dog, Nancy could hear cars and visitors from a long way off, and would bark vigorously and loudly to alert us to the threat. Although she would turn into a wiggling pup if Ferocious Intruder were to actually come into the house, she took her duty as Watch Lab very seriously. We never trained her to do that, and sometimes it got on our nerves, but she considered it her job.

Well, Nancy is 12 years old now, and a little slower to respond. This morning, the UPS man actually made it all the way up to the door and rang the bell before she sprang up and barked. Though slower, she still takes her responsibility very seriously and looked a little indignant about being caught off guard. "I WASN’T NAPPING! WHO SAID I WAS NAPPING?!?"

And lately, our other dog Henry, who doesn't otherwise bark unless he's very happy, has started to issue a low "woof" at Nancy when someone comes up, as if to say, "Pssst!! Wake up!" She then jumps up and gets to work, and all is well with the world.

So a young pup turned into an old dog, but her personality didn't change much. She just got a little sweeter, and our house got a little more peaceful.

-SP

Nancy, with Bear, on the job.

Poem- An Old Dog is the Best Dog, Felix Dennis

Golf Anyone? Puzzle

2011-01-31T14:25:00.004-06:00

Sue finished a second puzzle.

This time it was a 500 piece Ravensburger Puzzle depicting a Black Lab puppy with some (Callaway?) golf clubs.

It’s from a print by artist Phillip Crowe called “Drive for Show, Putt for Dough.” I saw the puzzle at the store, and added to her Christmas loot as it had two subjects close and dear to my heart- Labradors and Golf.

Click here to see her previous puzzle-“New Wonders of the World.”

Tee Up in life, but first know where you want to hit to.

2011-01-18T22:05:00.013-06:00

I remember the first time I seriously pondered time management skills and goal achievement planning. It was in high school and a teacher was telling the class that her simple plan for achieving a goal would work regardless of the goal. It was your basic skeleton- 1. Have a Goal 2. Make Plan 3. Work the Plan. The implication was that this was the road to success and happiness.

I remember thinking that she was wrong, partly because she didn’t include any provision for testing the morality and desirability of the goal. It seemed to me that unless you spent some serious time in evaluating the desirability of your goal, you could easily wind up wasting a lot of time and energy, or worst, wind up achieving something truly dreadful with your life. (Yes Virginia, there are moral absolutes and you ignore them at your peril.)

If you haven’t sat down and figured out what you want for yourself in 2011, and over the next five years to twenty years; I would encourage you to take the time do so this month. The start of a new year is always a good time for introspection.

Below is my version of a simple skeleton for planning. Please feel free to use it or modify in any way you find useful. I still think the key to goal setting is self-awareness. If you have that, the planning and execution are simply journeyman skills, skills that can be acquired as you learn.

“Whatever you do, do it with all your heart and might, for soon the night cometh where no man works.”- Ecclesiastes

I. Set Goal(s)
Know what you want. This requires self-awareness.

What you want should be moral, consistent with who you are, and realistic given your time and resources. What are the unintended consequences associated with this goal?

Conduct a realistic analysis of your environment, your capabilities, strengths and weaknesses. Seek counsel from people you trust or who have been successful in your goal area.

Tell the people you love what you’re up to.

II. Plan
Set deadline(s) - a goal without a deadline is meaningless.
Allocate time and resources
Internal- Provide for production capacity and production within yourself.
External- Provide for CE (communication) and C3 (coordination).
Establish Benchmarks and Review Periods.

III. Execute (self mastery)
Take daily/weekly Action towards your goal.
Keep yourself honest and track of your time and activities.
Review and Evaluate the effectiveness of your actions, and change approach as required.
If it's a long-term goal, periodically ask yourself if you still want it.

If you think about, most things come down to what we want and how we execute. It seems to me that a little time spent evaluating both these things is a good thing.

-JP

Scotch Whiskey Blind Tasting

2011-01-03T21:07:00.018-06:00

Christmas 2010 was a rich bounty. I received a bottle of Glenmorangie 12 year old Scotch from my brother in law Ernie ( Thanks Ernie! ), and a bottle of Macallan 18 year old from wife ( Thanks Sue! ). Sue got the gift idea of Macallan from her other brother Joe who has been a Scotch devotee for quite some time.

After Christmas Day my wife suggested a blind tasting, which included a bottle of Laphroaig 10 year old already on hand. Here are her (edited) notes from the evening’s entertainment. They are attributed to each specific Scotch Whiskey after the blind was lifted:

Labeled as A, and the first entrant, Glenmorangie 12 year old-

Me: Very smooth. Smooth start, smooth finish. No distinctive smell, maybe a hint of orange.

Sue: Less overwhelming than other Scotches. No burn.

Me: Almost like a high quality blended. Sheep Dip Scotch comes to mind.

(Comments that follow are after opening up the Glenmorangie with a thin small ice cube)

Sue: Opens up with the sliver of ice. Very good. Tastes different with ice.

Me: Tastes completely different when opened up, goes from smooth to complex. It could help take the nicotine edge off a strong cigar, like one with ligero as the filler. A "civilizing" influence.

Labeled as B, and second tasting, Laphroaig 10 year old-

From Sue’s written notes: John took a brief time out to smell and savor his win. He obviously recognized it as Laphroaig before even tasting it.

Me: Very peaty. You can tell the peat comes from an island. Strong start, smooth finish.

Sue: Smells like your clothes after you’ve spent a day burning brush. Has a certain burn to it. A bit overpowering for my taste. Opens up quite a bit with just exposure to air.

Labeled as C, and the third in the tasting, Macallan 18 year old-

Sue: Orange smell. Slightly peaty. Strong start, lingers nicely.

Me: Drinking it neat didn’t do it justice. When opened with a tiny sliver of ice, the flavor increased dramatically. Very rich flavor.

Sue: Complex, but polished.

Sue’s final Verdict on all three Scotch-Whiskeys:
Macallan- drink it neat.
Glenmorangie- drink it with ice.
Laphroaig- undrinkable

John’s final Verdict on all three Scotch-Whiskeys:
Both Macallan and Glenmorangie are best when opened up. Neat doesn’t do them justice. A small piece of ice is all that’s needed for this. Adding more water than that would be a crime. They're both excellent Scotches.
However, Laphroaig remains my favorite although it is best left to true Scotch aficionados; girly men need not apply.

-JP

"So say we all."

-Colonel Tigh, BSG

(Photo top: For Scotch drinking, I have a set of simple unadorned Stuart Crystal tumblers. I like their solid heavy feel.)

Goodbye 2010! Hello 2011!

2010-12-31T21:50:00.018-06:00

I'll be starting the year by going to the driving range, and finally trying out my new Taylor Made Burner Driver. Santa was very generous this year.

-JP

Above, my favorite photo of 2010, Tiger Woods hits a chili dipper and whacks the camera.

Merry Christmas 2010!

2010-12-24T22:35:00.011-06:00

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. "
-Luke

Photos: Christmas lights at nearby cosmopolitan Johnson City (population approximately 1,200 people). For the Christmas Holiday, Johnson City lights up with over one million lights in its town center. It’s fun to walk around, drink hot cider, and run into neighbors who also made the drive.

Merry Christmas from the Texas Hill Country!

-JP

Christmas is Here! 2010

2010-12-19T21:33:00.012-06:00

Houston, we have Christmas.
Our 2010 fruitcake has arrived!

It’s a holiday tradition for us that Christmas is only officially here when we receive our Christmas fruitcake from my brother in law, Robert.

Thanks Robert!

At the same time the fruitcake arrived, we also received a gift basket from a neighbor, so we’re well stocked with Christmas goodies for the week.

Note the stealth Labs stalking my first slice of fruitcake below. They remind me of the topiary animals in Stephen King’s book The Shinning. In the book, every time Jack Torrance turns around (while outside doing yard work) the Overlook’s topiary animals seem to be moving closer in to him, stalking him. Like King’s topiary animals, my Labs also only move in on the fruitcake when I’m not looking.

For my second piece, I wisely moved into my office.

PS- Not to worry, after I finished, they each got their own slice. At Christmas, when the train comes in, everybody rides.

-JP

Election 2010 Kudos

2010-12-11T21:16:00.010-06:00

We did good.

I think we can all look back at our hard work for this election and be pleased with the results. We can even take a small breather from politics as we prepare for our holiday season and ponder the important things, like faith and family.

But what we can’t do is to assume that our work is done.

Apathy and none involvement got us into this mess. We can’t afford to turn away once again from out stewardship responsibility to our country. We have to monitor the newly elected politicians and keep them honest, and we have do the heavy lifting for 2012 just as we did for this election.

If you’re like me, this is the time you evaluate how well you did in the past year in regards to your goals and time management, and begins to ponder your plans for the following year. I would ask you to consider putting down some political stewardship goals. Even one action per month would be worthwhile. And no it can’t be something as bogus as signing on online petition. I mean real tangible action, like attending a local government meeting, donating money to worthwhile candidates & organizations, and most importantly volunteering your time.

As we monitor and keep the newly elected Congress honest, here is a partial wish list I will suggest-

1. Undo Obamacare- Repeal it. If you can’t repeal it, dismantle it. If you can’t dismantle it, de-fund it. That single piece of legislation was the biggest legislative mistake of our lifetime, and it was rammed down our throats.

2. De-fund whatever hasn’t been spent on the so-called Stimulus Act. (The need for this action isn’t rocket science.)

3. Don’t extend unemployment benefits, yet again. If Congress does extend them, then the money must be appropriated (literally) from other federal money being spent in that state in hard dollars for the fiscal year. No Enron accounting tricks.

4. De-fund NPR, PBS, and the NEA. If they want to exist let them compete in the open free market. It’s one thing to watch a liberal news network, it’s another to have my tax dollars pay for it.

5. Let us keep our Edison light bulbs. I can’t say enough on this subject. Forcing us to turn to compact florescent light bulbs (CFLs), which are filled with mercury and produced in China, is beyond stupid. Besides, I don’t cotton to waiting three minutes for my light bulb to reach full brightness.

And finally

6. Congress should not be exempt from the legislation they pass or be allowed to insulate themselves from the society they serve. Examples-
-The Speaker of the House, and indeed all of Congress, should be forced to fly commercial. They should not have access to military aircraft. Any use of privately loaned aircraft should be documented and clearly posted on their official government web page (who provided the private jet, estimated cost per hour of the aircraft, and why it was used and how many times it was used)
-Congress must go through TSA procedures like the rest of us, even if they have an armed escort.
-Their retirement should be Social Security and 401k contributions like the rest of us.
-Ditto health insurance.

Get the picture?

My best wishes to you for this Christmas and for the coming year.

-JP

Pre-Election Must Reads

2010-10-28T15:28:00.010-05:00

Today’s must read from the Wall Street Journal-

“Barack Obama put the Democrats in the position of forever redeeming a fallen nation rather than leading a great one.”
A Referendum on the Redeemer, by Shelby Steele

And in case you still need another inspiration to vote, here’s an article from Bloomberg-
Employers in U.S. Start Bracing for Higher Tax Withholding

It's main point: "For a married couple with an income of $80,000, that would drain an extra $221.48 in withholding from a semi-monthly paycheck, according to calculations by the Tax Institute at H&R Block. Married individuals earning $240,000 a year would lose an additional $557.78 to withholding in a single semi-monthly paycheck."

That is non-trivial; about $22k over four years for the $80,000 a year couple. Plus they will be facing significantly higher health insurance costs.

Any questions?

It's going to take a long time to undo the damage this Congress has done.

-JP

(Art top right is Picasso’s Les Demoiselles D Avignon, which seemed appropriate to the post given Obama's "bad faith" view of America as described by Shelby Steele.)

Laphroaig Vids, men's stuff part fifteen

2010-09-26T21:29:00.012-05:00

I stumbled upon these vids and wanted to share them with fellow Scotch whiskey affectionados.

Julie, from Le Gourmet TV, visits Whisky Live in Toronto and talks to master ambassador Simon Brooking from Laphroaig. They discuss tasting techniques to better appreciate Scotch whiskey, and the things that make Laphroaig Scotch unique.

One of the interesting points made is that the peat from the different regions of Scotland gives scotch whiskey different flavors. With Laphroaig the peat from the island of Islay (pronounced eye-LA) imparts an influence from the sea, including seaweed. Compare that with the peat from the highlands which is more coniferous (pine like).”

This last vid below is a visit to the Laphroaig distillery on the island of Islay (from the TV show Modern Marvels).

Visit the Laphroaig Scotch Whiskey Home Page.
Their site explains their history, including info on their royal warrant which they received in 1994 from the Prince of Wales. Islay is an island located west of the Scottish lowlands.

Read how I'm a Scottish landholder thanks to Laphroaig.

Visit the The Scotch Blog

Visit the Glenrothes Scotch Whiskey Home Page.

This is my "second" favorite Scotch now that I can't seem to get Glenn Keith in the U.S. Glenrothes is from Speyside (northern coastal east highlands), which I believe also holds a royal warrant.

-JP

November, 'Tis the Season (no limit)

2010-09-22T21:14:00.001-05:00

The Schadenfreude Goes On, part two

2010-09-05T14:23:00.022-05:00

With all the media attention that went to Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, other smaller players haven’t received as much media attention as they might have otherwise received.

Below is a Fortune Magazine article that covers the story of Tony Young, a young man in a hurry, who successfully infiltrated the tightly-closed-off-polo-set by playing a mean game of polo, claiming a pedigree as a trust-fund heir, and an MBA from Emory University.

As he established himself in “one of the last bastions of the old-money equestrian lifestyle,” he started Acorn Capital Management (a hedge fund), and began investing the money of his newfound friends. As a young man in his thirties, he also began to live a lavish lifestyle similar to that of his clients.

Then one day, the SEC showed up and filed civil fraud charges against him. To everyone's surprise, federal regulators alleged that he was stealing the polo-set’s money in a scheme similar to that of Bernie Madoff’s. As the investigation continued, his background stories unraveled and he proved to be decidedly different than that of the manner-born-pedigree he had affected.

The Fortune story also has a hint for anyone wishing to do a fast social climb into the polo set- To learn polo quickly, buy a horse that is already trained to follow the ball. You can take it from there. (The Jaeger Lecoultre Reverso is optional.)

A Scandal Rocks the Polo Set- Fortune Magazine, November 23, 2009
“Among the swells who winter in Palm Beach, Tony Young was known as a brilliant investor from an old Southern family. Then the SEC showed up, and his façade began to crumble.”

Tony Young Pleads Guilty-Southern Chester County Weeklies, July 21, 2010
“A man once known as having a sterling reputation among the exclusive equestrian and financial community of the greater Unionville community, pleaded guilty Tuesday to single counts of mail fraud and money laundering in connection with a $35 million fraud scheme.”

Click here for “The Schadenfreude Goes On…” part one
The story of Dina Wein Reis, a middle class Jewish girl from Brooklyn who “duped” major U.S. corporations out of millions of dollars, and then used the money to move to Manhattan.

(Photo top left, Fortune Magazine; Photo bottom right, Philly.com- Tony Young leaves court after pleading guilty.)

The Fed Speaks Newspeak, and it's Doubleplusungood

2010-09-02T07:29:00.022-05:00

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's assessment of his options on our economy and what we can expect:

"Each of the tools that the FOMC has available to provide further policy accommodation–including longer-term securities asset purchases, changes in communication, and reducing the IOER rate–has benefits and drawbacks, which must be appropriately balanced. Under what conditions would the FOMC make further use of these or related policy tools? At this juncture, the Committee has not agreed on specific criteria or triggers for further action.."
-August 27, 2010; while at the Kansas City Fed’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Best old-English (non-Newspeak) translation I was able to find:

"You're hosed. While there are things the Federal Reserve can do, none of them will help. If they did, we'd have done them by now. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some hot chocolate waiting for me in the lodge."
- Donna Trussell, Politics Daily

Washington Post Article: Economist Christina Romer serves up dismal news at her farewell luncheon
Gist of article- Christina Romer, Chairman of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, admits "our bad on the economy," and heads back to Berkeley where reality won't intrude on her academic theories.

Proctor & Gamble Faces Interesting Challenge

2010-08-22T16:20:00.011-05:00

Here’s a shortcut to understanding a key element of corporate strategy. Early in the game, a company decides on a pricing strategy based on one of two basic choices-

Strategy One, Product Differentiation-
The product is differentiated, it’s special; and because it’s special it can charge a premium price. This strategy also relies on brand loyalty. Think luxury items, or premium brands.

Strategy Two, Absolute Cost Advantage-
The company has a unit cost advantage over the competition and as a result can sell the product cheaply and still make money. Think generics or basic staples.

But what happens when you’re forced to adopt both strategies simultaneously? Or change mid-stream?

That’s the problem that Proctor & Gamble CEO Robert McDonald is facing today. How does Proctor & Gamble win back lost U.S. frugal shoppers who have switched to cheaper generics, while at the same time penetrating foreign markets now dominated by rivals like Unilever and Colgate-Palmolive?

To maintain its domestic numbers while increasing international market share, P&G is facing the hefty cost of selling cheaper while increasing its advertising costs. (Remember GM? Anyone? Anyone?)

This WSJ article by Ellen Byron does an excellent job of covering the quandary currently facing P&G; as it attempts to introduce product-innovations domestically, while boldly attempting to penetrate Brazilian markets at the same time.

WSJ Article- P&G Chief Wages Offensive Against Rivals, Risks Profits

-JP

Disclaimer- I own PG stock.

Top Illustration- Michael Porter's Five Forces of Competitive Framework

Shakespeare Redux

2010-08-22T15:29:00.005-05:00

From Shakespeare’s King Henry IV- Second Part-

Falstaff: Boy!

Page: Sir?

Falstaff: What money is in my purse?

Page: Seven groats and two pence.

Falstaff: I can get no remedy against this consumption of the purse: borrowing only lingers it out, but the disease is incurable.

Modern Day-

“Well, people when I say that look at me and say, ‘What are you talking about? You’re telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt?’” Biden said. “The answer is yes, I’m telling you.”
- Vice President Joe Biden

A Study in Contrast and a Commitment to 12 Civic Actions

2010-08-17T07:54:00.006-05:00

An acquaintance posted this on Facebook, and I wanted to share it with a wider audience. The problem with the current vacuous congress is made crystal clear in two minutes.

If it moves you, don't just get angry but take action; between now and November, put down at least one action-task on your weekly schedule to help elect new representatives to congress. That’s a commitment to at least 12 civic-actions, whether it be picking up the phone, posting a yard sign, volunteering for a campaign or making a small donation- the point is do something. I would strongly argue that doing nothing is not an option at this point, remember that’s what got us to this dire situation.

John P.

"Conditions are never just right. People who delay action until all factors are favorable do nothing."
-William Feather

From the LA Times- “Obama now blames poor job numbers on congressional inaction. Wait! His party runs Congress”

Review on "The Snowball, Warren Buffett and the Business of Life" by Alice Schroeder

2010-07-28T15:08:00.011-05:00

While reading this book, I was struck by the similarities between Buffett's self-absorbed obsessive behavior and the dysfunctional behavior of people suffering from Asperger's Syndrome (like fellow value money manager Dr. Michael Burry in this Vanity Fair article). The bottom line is that I've become convinced that A)- people can't replicate Buffett's value approach because he is a little "off-kilter," and B)- despite his monetary success, Buffett is to be pitied because his investment obsession deprived him of a lot of the simple joys most of us have with family.

Alice Schroeder does come off as a bit sycophantic in portions of the biography, but in the end, she does do a credible job of giving account of Warren Buffett's life, both in a good light and in a bad light. I'm finished with the book and I highly recommend it for anyone wishing insight into what makes Buffett tick. However anyone wishing to know more about his quantitative modeling- rather than just bio info- would do better to read "Buffettology" by Mary Buffett which covers some of his basic value models.

Disclosure: Even though I am a Graham-value investor who likes to coattail-ride, I've always found Warren Buffett distasteful at a visceral level. For example his latest action of deliberately and publicly disinheriting some grandchildren because they were adopted strikes me as particularly petty and disdainful. I realize this view puts me in the minority.

-John P.

Word of the Day- Ubiquitous (can mean cool)

2010-07-09T16:37:00.008-05:00

U·biq·ui·tous [yoo-bik-wi-tuhs]
–adjective

Definition- Existing or being everywhere, esp. at the same time.

Use of ubiquitous in a Sentence-
“By the early 1990s, the Bloomberg terminal was becoming ubiquitous.”
-Alice Schroeder, The Snowball Warren Buffett and the Business of Life

What Alice Schroeder fails to mention in that sentence is that "ubiquitous" plus "Bloomberg machine" can also mean cool.

During my time as a stockbroker with Merrill Lynch in the 90s, Bloomberg machines were a status symbol. If you had one of these terminals on your desk or credenza, it meant you were in the “in group,” one of the “cool” fast moving heavy hitters. Even if you never used it.

-JP

Keynesian Failure

2010-07-04T09:59:00.007-05:00

Happy 4th of July dear reader!

As we celebrate our nations holiday today, it’s important that we pause and consider the well being of our country and responsibility to our country as we near November's election.

As our economy struggles, more people are faced with joblessness, and our politicians seem oblivious to our outrage, I ask you to invest seven minutes on the imbedded video below. In seven minutes, it explains the fallacy of Keynesian stimulus plans and how the executive branch and congress are crashing our economy.

Articles-

"When Rep. Russ Carnahan held a town hall meeting at a community college in Missouri on July 20, he tried patiently to explain that ObamaCare not only would be deficit-neutral, it would save money. They didn't shout him down, they laughed."-Peggy Noonan

Obama Says Stimulus Worked, Created Jobs…Here’s a Reminder of the Waste,
by Warner Todd Huston

With the US trapped in depression, this really is starting to feel like 1932,
by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

-JP

Black Tie Debate

2010-05-27T20:43:00.014-05:00

In the WSJ clothing advice column, Ask Teri, a young Belgium man writes in that he is visiting New York for six weeks, didn’t pack a dinner jacket, and now finds himself attending a wedding where black tie is requested. He doesn’t want to rent a tuxedo, as he prefers to wear his own clothes, and wanted to know if he could simply wear a black suit to the wedding.

The columnist, Teri Agins, replied that it was a legitimate alternative provided the black suit was in good repair, of modern cut, and he paired it with appropriate shoes and accessories. She also allowed that the envelope was being pushed on black tie, but warned against pushing the envelope too far.

Two immediate reader comments strongly disagreed with her advice stating among other things, “black tie means black tie.” But as luck would have it, I’m facing a like situation with an upcoming dinner and decided to add my own two cents into the sartorial debate. I commented-

“I actually face a similar situation. I just accepted a dinner invitation (at a nice hotel) for a church function celebrating the 25th anniversary of ordination of our parish priest. While logging it into my calendar, I noticed “evening attire” at the bottom of the invitation, and I haven’t owned anything that formal since the 90's tech boom. Like the young man in the article, I think the idea of “renting” clothes to be tacky at best. I also don’t cotton the idea of spending three thousand dollars for a decent black tie ensemble in today’s economy.

Fortunately I live in Austin Texas and I’m comfortable with the idea of wearing a black suit. While I’m normally a devout traditionalist, I think black tie is an area where some bend can occur based on context.”

I recently looked at some dinner jackets at Brooks Brothers and was pleased to see that their cut did in fact resemble a black suit, and dispensed with much of the dandy flair of past versions. Like most men of my age, I have deeply feared skeleton in my closet. I’m sure that somewhere, someplace, somebody has photos of me as a kid in a 1970's blue tuxedo. Now THAT defines clothing faux pas.

-JP

English Cut Blog- Brit Savile Row tailor, Thomas Mahon, blogs about men's clothing and his practice. Thomas makes frequent trips to the U.S. (New York, Chicago, Atlanta, & San Francisco) and recently introduced an apprenticeship program where customers could order suits from his apprentice at reduced pricing.

Brooks Brothers- If on the other hand you want American off the rack, you’d be hard press to find a better value for a dinner jacket.

(Painting- Son of Man by Rene Magritte)

LPGA Christina Kim, Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes

2010-05-23T17:33:00.014-05:00

From this weekend’s Wall Street Journal-

“It's worth noting, as always with Ms. Kim, what she was wearing Monday night: a low-cut black sheath dress, spectacular jewelry and lacy, high-strapped, 4-inch René Caovilla heels which must have cost at least $1,000 when she bought them in Dubai last December. "They've even got sparklies on the bottom," she told an admiring cluster while demurely balancing on one shoe to show off the sole of the other. A few minutes earlier she had smashed a few 250-yard drives smashed on the range at Chelsea Piers, just behind the party room, wearing said impossible shoes.”- John Paul, May 22, 2010

Smashing 250 yards in high heels? After reading that, I don’t know whether to give up golf, weep, or drink a beer in an effort to shore up my shaken masculinity.

-JP

(Christina Kim photo from WSJ article.)

Flashback to DINFOS

2010-05-22T22:33:00.015-05:00

I’ve been drafted to write content for the North Hays Republican Group Website.

I’m working on a straight news story of their last meeting and I’m having flashbacks to my time at DINFOS, the military’s journalism school, which used to be at Ft. Benjamin Harrison. I remember having my copy returned with big ugly red-grease-pencil marks all over it by ruthless editors.

Only now my editor is my wife, who is both webmaster and PR person for NHRG. Even at age four (photo left), she had a certain stern- journalist je ne sais quoi.

-JP

North Hays Republican Group on Facebook

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Finally! Aliens!

2010-05-14T16:53:00.018-05:00

My wife sent me a link to this U.K. Telegraph article on the Voyager 2 Spacecraft and the commentary-“FINALLY! Aliens! I've been waiting my whole life for this. All I can say is, it's about time.”

The article states that a German character, Hartwig Hausdorf, believes the U.S. Voyager 2 Spacecraft has been taken over by alien intelligence. His belief is based on the fact that Voyager 2 is now sending “strange messages that are confusing scientists.”

Of course the fact that Voyager has been in space for thirty-three-years, and could be simply breaking down and transmitting gibberish, apparently never entered Hartwig’s mind.

A real point of scientific interest is that Voyagers 1 and 2 are the most distant space probes in history. They’re traveling fast at approximately 38,000 and 35,000 miles-per-hour (about 20% the speed of light); and at a distance of approximately 10.5 billion miles, they will shortly leave the solar system’s heliosphere (according to NASA).

The heliosphere is a “bubble” in space composed of stuff being blown out of the sun (by the solar wind) against the cold of interstellar space. When you leave the heliosphere, you have in effect left the solar system.

Another interesting thing is something called the termination shock. The termination shock is the point within the heliosphere where the solar wind stops pushing out at supersonic speed (becomes subsonic) and causes compression, heat, and magnetic changes. One reference stated that Voyager 2 actually passed through termination shock five times. Apparently the termination shock line fluctuates due to changes in the Sun’s output.

I’m not a rocket scientist, but perhaps going through that boundary five times may have caused some of Voyager's components to become fried and this explains the gibberish transmissions.

Of course if it is aliens, then please read my prior post, "Cleverly Disguised Lizards Bring Hope and Change."

(The top illustration is the work of Franco Brambilla. He is an artist who adds sci-fi material to old postcards. The two other illustrations are from a NASA page.)

From the UK Metro: Man hit by six meteorites is being 'targeted by aliens'

Cleverly Disguised Lizards Bring Hope and Change

2010-05-12T21:19:00.019-05:00

Just got caught up on this week’s V episode. (Cleverly disguised Lizards come to earth to turn us into soylent green and bath products; and begin by ingratiating themselves to the masses by offering free universal health care.)

This week they stage a “hate crime” against themselves and threaten to leave Earth (along with all their free goodies) unless their “dangerous” political opponents are stamped out. They also get an ambitious network “journalist” to slant the news and become their key media advocate- “Something must be done!” the news hack cries out while on the air, “To protect our wonderful alien benefactors from these tea party hooligans.”

As far as I can tell, the only difference between this sci-fi show and reality is that the Lizards in V don’t face November elections (drum roll please).

Above, Lizard space armada comes to Earth to convert us into protein-energy-bars, and high-quality Roger & Gallet French body soap.

-JP

There's a New Blog in Town!

2010-05-06T22:03:00.006-05:00

I’m happy to announce that there’s a new blog in town- Suzanne Pacheco.com (does the last name sound familiar?)

It’s by “an aspiring writer who wants David Frum’s old job at American Enterprise Institute.”

The blog is split between two halves; one side is an aggregator of news and commentary, while the other side is original content written from a conservative point of view.

The latest report covers Sara Palin’s visit to Austin on behalf of Heroic Media, with a follow up post on the poor quality of coverage by various Texas newspapers from the viewpoint of someone who was actually in the audience. Apparently no “media passes” were issued and some news outlets balked at actually having to buy a ticket and having $50 to $100 of their dollars go to a pro-life group. Interestingly enough, these are the same publications that editorialize that pro-life taxpayers, such as myself, should have no qualms about my tax dollars going to abortion groups like Planned Parenthood.

You can also follow Suzanne on Twitter or RSS Feed. So get your cup of coffee, check out SuzannePacheco.com, and let’s all help Suzanne land that job at American Enterprise Institute!

-John P.

The Duck Behind the Man

2010-04-09T19:25:00.003-05:00

This is the duck I keep in my office. I’ve received some emails asking about him, and I thought it was high time the world got to know him.

Paper Doll

2010-03-28T20:48:00.011-05:00

(Paper Doll is a short descriptive essay I wrote years ago and had forgotten about. I recently found it while tidying up some bookshelves.)

The park seemed as black and white photograph. The day was cold and cloudy. Every now and then, a gust of wind would toss some dead leaves about and people walking through the park would pull their faces into their coats. No children laughed in the empty playground. No birds sang in the dormant trees.

At the north side of the park, away from the street, away from the bustling shopping crowds, a bench sat silently. Approaching the bench, an equally silent figure moved. She was an old woman. While others shielded their faces from the cold with their coats, scarfs and ski masks, the old woman exposed hers to the elements, showing no outward signs of discomfort. The face itself was brown, leathery and wrinkled. As if the old woman consistently exposed her face in such a manner to the elements. Despite this, no casual observer could fail to notice that it had once been beautiful; perhaps in younger years, perhaps in other times. Now, only the knowledge of her former beauty remained.

Little of her hair showed. In the manner of old women, she wore a scarf tightly over her head. What little hair did show was grey.

On her thin frame, she wore a heavy rumpled grey workman’s jacket. The jacket was worn, with tears, and gave the more the impression of a heavy backpack as she stained to bear its weight with each sluggish step. The white long bony fingers of her left hand tightly clutched shut the jacket just below the neck. Her right hand carried a weather beaten shopping bag that had “Woolworth’s” written on the side with faded logo. Occasionally, she would allow the bag to drop down to the pavement, then she would drag it.

Her scuffed black shoes moved slowly, but with purpose. Her dark eyes never wavered from the bench.

The bench was made of wood with an iron frame securing it to the ground. The wood was discolored with age and splintered. The iron frame’s silver paint was chipped and peeling. The wind had wrapped sections of newspaper around two of the legs. The newspaper flapped as the wind increased or decreased. Beside the bench, a granite water fountain stood. The fountain had the remains of an “Out of Order” sign posted on its side. It looked as if someone had unsuccessfully tried to scrape it off. Dried weeds surrounded the bench and fountain.

The woman reached the bench and sat down, carefully placing her shopping bag down between her knees so that it wouldn’t tip over. She closed her eyes as though resting from the excursion of walking to the bench. Slowly, her breathing relaxed. She hummed to herself, as she sang the words in her mind-

“I’m going to buy a paper doll that I can call my own.
One that other fellows cannot steal.
And all those flirty, flirty, guys
With the flirty, flirty eyes
Will have to flirt with dollies that are real.
When I come home at night she will be waiting.
She will be the truest doll in all this world.”

Memories came with the music. Real or imagined, she couldn’t distinguish anymore. In her mind, she saw people dancing in formal wear in an elegant ballroom. Wasn’t Jim dashing? Or was it Bill? So many years, so many years, she thought and wistfully smiled. She no longer felt the cold, or the occasional bursts of wind against her face.

-John Pacheco

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Time to get to work, no whining zone

2010-03-22T12:48:00.022-05:00

Just as the he Stamp Act of 1765 began the first major push back against England by the American Colonies, it is my hope that yesterday’s health care vote will spark a similar backlash to kick out the current Congress and sitting President. The severe agency problem that exists today between Congress and the people who elected them has become the political equivalent of an affective disorder, a pathology.

To that end, I saw a hopeful sign today. On Facebook, Bart Stupak’s page was down to about 2,100 fans, while Dan Benisheks’s Facebook page (Stupak’s Congressional opponent in the Michigan 1st District) shot up to over 16,000 fans. But as I said on another website, it’s going to take more than typing on computer keyboard to undo the damage done yesterday. It’s going to take volunteer time, effort, money, and a healthy dose of worn shoe leather. In short our fat and happy country is going to have to step outside its comfort zone and make commitments; and this may not be a bad thing.

Which brings me to fact that there are 13 days left in Lent. For Roman Catholics, it’s not unusual to give up something (or commit to some action) for Lent. Many Catholics mistakenly believe that the sacrifice of giving something up is supposed to remind them of at sacrifice that was made for them by Christ. And while this is partly true, the deeper reason is that the discomfort should lead to some deeper introspection as to why we are feeling the discomfort. Our parish priest believes that 99% of people are addicted to something. We numb ourselves with alcohol, television, web surfing; or even positive things like going to the gym or taking care of others. When we give up the numbing device, we feel discomfort; and that discomfort is good because it tells us that something is wrong or missing, and we are then forced to figure out what it is. It cleans out the cobwebs and forces us to figure out what is important. In my case, this Lent season has left me with the disturbing realization that time is shorter than I thought and that I am not utilizing my days as fully as I should.

My hope is that yesterday’s fiasco, of having a major change to the social contract forced down our throats, will have an introspective effect on people who would otherwise be happy to stand on the sidelines and let others do the heavy lifting.

I would argue that this is not the time for middle-road solutions, lazy effort, or worrying about being liked. So speak up at social functions, find some candidates to help, stuff envelopes, man a phone bank, and give money. The original thirteen colonies forced the mighty British Empire to repeal the Tax Act. Surely we can do the same with this health care debacle.

-John P.

“In politics the middle way is none at all.”
- John Adams

“I have no idea what Bart Stupak was thinking. Perhaps he couldn’t endure the pressure on him, on his staff, and, most intimately, on his family. Perhaps he lacked an appreciation of the power he had to hold up the president’s signature legislation for the sake of the unborn and then got entranced by the pats on the back he got from leadership for saving their day, which he very likely did. A Democrat who wanted to vote for universal health care, in the end, Stupak proved himself the cheapest of dates. He traded all this power — power that had Nancy Pelosi screaming at a pro-life Democrat on the House floor Sunday — for a mess of pottage: for a farce of an executive order that holds no power over the codified statute of Obamacare…

Realize that the truth of this bill can’t be hidden forever: Soon, the farce that is the executive order Bart Stupak agreed to will undergo the analysis of more observers than just the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Politics may well wake up the party leadership. If it doesn’t, politicians of conscience are going to have to walk. “Pro-life” is just talk if you’re a vote for Nancy Pelosi as speaker and a vote for the most radical embrace of abortion by a branch of the federal government since Roe v. Wade.

In other words, for the moment, “pro-life Democrat” is a category that doesn’t really exist. As for the pro-life Democrat “no” votes left standing alone and useless last night, God bless them.”-
Michigan’s Cheap Date, by Kathryn Jean Lopez
National Review Online

“We got to this point solely because over the past few generations, Americans have forgotten the values that have made America distinctive and great. Even the "Greatest Generation" failed to communicate them.

In a nutshell, they are what I call the American Trinity: "In God we trust," "Liberty" and "E Pluribus Unum." The left has successfully made war on all three -- substituting secularism for God and religion in as much of American life as possible; substituting equality (of result) for liberty; and multiculturalism is the opposite of "E Pluribus Unum."
People who do not understand American ideals , especially small government, now dominate our schools, our entertainment media and our news media.”-
It's a Civil War: What We Do Now, by Dennis Prager
Townhall

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Stop the Pending Disaster

2010-03-19T21:16:00.008-05:00

When it comes the this weekends attempt to ram a horrid piece of legislation down our throats (HR 3590), Jeffrey T. Kuhner said it best in his Washington Times Op Piece:

"Mr. Obama is willing to devour his presidency, his party's congressional majority and - most disturbing - our democratic institutional safeguards to enact it. He is a reckless ideologue who is willing to sacrifice the country's stability in pursuit of a socialist utopia.

The Slaughter Solution is a poisoned chalice. By drinking from it, the Democrats would not only commit political suicide. They would guarantee that any bill signed by Mr. Obama is illegitimate, illegal and blatantly unconstitutional. It would be worse than a strategic blunder; it would be a crime - a moral crime against the American people and a direct abrogation of the Constitution and our very democracy.

It would open Mr. Obama, as well as key congressional leaders such as Mrs. Pelosi, to impeachment. The Slaughter Solution would replace the rule of law with arbitrary one-party rule. It violates the entire basis of our constitutional government - meeting the threshold of "high crimes and misdemeanors." If it's enacted, Republicans should campaign for the November elections not only on repealing Obamacare, but on removing Mr. Obama and his gang of leftist thugs from office."

While impeachment is improbable, I believe that every attempt has to be made to stop this awful runaway train before it crashes on Sunday; and/or to reverse its damage in November if the Democrats do carry out their banana-republic-tactic to pass it.

Click here to find your Congressman.

Click here for current List of "Undecideds."

Code Red Site

Washington Congressional Switchboards to Call:

877-762-8762, or 202-224-3121, or 202-225-3121

"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them...

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."

-Thomas Jefferson

Orange, Orange, Orange

2010-02-28T20:45:00.007-06:00

I’ve given up and accepted orange.

My high school colors were orange and white, and I really, really, didn’t care for the colors. Casual clothing wise, I've always been a navy blue or forest green polo shirt with khakis kind of guy.

Then, in Army basic training, the uniform collar tabs for my training company were orange. (Hmm, odd coincidence.)

Then, I earned my undergraduate degree and Regular Army Commission from the University of Texas at El Paso whose colors were- you guessed it, orange and white.

Then graduate school at…Syracuse, otherwise known as “The Orange Men.”

So I give up. My next Hermes tie is going to be orange.

-J.P.

PS- OK, Canada won the gold in hockey. But Syracuse won in basketball. So I can live vicariously through that.

"The Illusion has become real."

2010-02-25T20:48:00.000-06:00

“Buddy, it's not a question of enough. It's a zero sum game, sport. Somebody wins and somebody loses. Money itself isn't lost or made, it's simply transferred from one perception to another. Like magic. That painting cost $60,000 10 years ago. I could sell it today for $600,000. The illusion has become real. And the more real it becomes, the more desperately they want it. Capitalism at its finest.”
-Gordon Gekko, movie Wall Street

Above Painting- Andy Warhol’s Green Car Crash which reportedly sold for just under $72 million in 2007. Not a bad return, when you consider that Warhol’s paintings reportedly sold for as little as $1,500 in the mid 1960s. (I had reason to remember the painting's exorbitant sale recently. I had Facebook discussion about Lady GaGa's commercial success and a friend compared her appeal to Andy Warhol's avant-garde.)

About a year ago, I passed on an opportunity to buy a painting I liked because the bidding had gone to slightly over $3,500. Since then, I haven’t been able to shake the feeling that I’m going to regret my lack of action at some point in the next twenty years.

-JP

Journalism 101- "The mob of mindless miscreants..."

2010-02-17T09:30:00.017-06:00

Now this is news writing!

Check out this lead paragraph from a news story at philly.com-

“A flash mob of 150 teens slammed into Center City yesterday afternoon like a tidal wave of stupidity, flooding the streets with chaos and fear.”

The lead, the first paragraph of a news story, is supposed to have the basic elements of the story- who, what, where, when, and maybe* the why. This lead definitely delivers.

The second paragraph is called the bridge. The bridge is supposed to make the transition for the reader from the lead to the rest of the information and draw him into the story. Once again the writers delivers-

“The mob of mindless miscreants gathered at the Gallery mall about 4:45 p.m. for a fight that police suspect may have been arranged earlier in the day on the Internet, police said.”

For the full story by Gloria Campisi and David Gambacorta of the Philadelphia Daily News, click here. Enjoy.

-John P.

(* The 'why" is tricky as the “news” reporter is not supposed to insert his or her opinion into the news story and editorialize. Something we all now never happens, right?)

DINFOS "Trained Killers"- The Defense Information School is the DOD training school for all military journalists. I attended DINFOS when it was still located at Ft. Benjamin Harrison.

Top photo- The original "mob of mindless miscreants" from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Monster lizard ravages east coast!

2010-02-11T11:45:00.008-06:00

Les Nessman (News Director WKRP): Monster lizard ravages east coast! Mayors in five New England cities have issued emergency requests for federal disaster relief as a result of a giant lizard that descended on the east coast last night! Officials say that this lizard, the worst since '78, has devastated transportation, disrupted communication, and left many hundreds homeless!

Johnny Fever: Monster lizard?

Les Nessman: The wire service never lies!

Johnny Fever: Les, the "B" is out on the printer! It's monster blizzard!

More monster lizards possible -U.S. could have extended winter into March, according to the National Weather Service. From philly.com

How climate change fanatics corrupted science from Detroit News, detnews.com

Top photo from "The Sartorialist" blog. Life Rule #43- "No one looks hip or cool while trying to stay warm."

Photo below- Monster Lizard on his day off when he's not ravaging the east coast. Not a bad type once you get to know him.

An old dog is the best dog- poem

2010-02-09T13:19:00.012-06:00

An old dog is the best dog,

A dog with rheumy eyes;

An old dog is the best dog

A dog grown sad and wise,

Not one who snaps at bubbles,

Nor one who barks at nowt,

A dog who knows your troubles,

A dog to see you out.

An old bitch is the best bitch,

Not pups to fetch your sticks;

An old bitch is the best bitch,

Not one to teach new tricks,

Not one who's up and leaping,

But one whose coat is grey,

Leg's twitching while she's sleeping

In dreams of yesterday.

-Felix Dennis

Both photos are of H, my oldest Lab. He’s the arch nemesis of “Harvey,” a squirrel who lives in our front oak trees, and occasionally brings us gifts of some of Harvey’s insufficiently speedy relatives.

Felix Dennis the author of the poignant poem is a bit of an odd duck. He writes poetry but is best known as a successful magazine publisher and has written an odd assembly of books and pamphlets ranging from the death of Bruce Lee to how to get rich.

-JP

Laird John

2010-02-02T21:30:00.008-06:00

I’m a Scottish Landholder. As a friend of Laphroaig (Scotch), I just received one square foot of the Scottish Isle of Islay through a lifetime lease (plot #419647). If I show up to the Laphroaig Distillery, I can collect my rent- one dram of Laphroaig Scotch per year.

(OK- The official definition of Laird is land-OWNER, but by other looser definition a Laird can be just a landholder so work with me here.)

Did I mention I love Scotch?

-Laird John

(A Laird (pronounced /ˈlayrd) is a member of the gentry and is a heritable title in Scotland. In the non-peerage table of precedence, a Laird ranks below a Baron and above an Esquire.)

The Pacheco Sage Grouse Theory

2010-01-29T21:34:00.014-06:00

Good news, Gordon Gecko is back!

“Money Never Sleeps,” the sequel to Oliver Stone’s 1987 Wall Street is due out in April. The photo left is from Vanity Fair (nothing like a little pre-opening publicity).

Wall Street is one of my favorite movies. My wife once joked, “What? We only own one DVD copy of it? What if something were to happen to it?” And while I’m looking forward to seeing the sequel, I’m also painfully aware that sequels rarely match the original.

I was thinking about the movie Wall Street a lot last fall. My wife suggested we take Investment Analysis, as part of the iMBA at Syracuse, and I agreed. And so I plodded through the classic textbook “Investments,” by Bodie, Kane, and Marcus relearning stuff I had learned in the 90’s as a broker at Merrill Lynch (and had since forgotten).

If you haven’t read the textbook, I’ll save you 990 pages of reading and give you its major point- Don’t hire a money manager, but rather buy the S&P 500 index or better still the Wilshire 5000 Index. That's it, Finis.

The book through a series of equations and statistics argues that money managers can’t beat the S&P and only grow fat off your fees- and yes that includes the managers of the so-called no-load funds. The textbook makes its case by arguing efficient market theory and certain statistical assumptions.

It’s not a bad conclusion*, except that I don’t accept efficient market theory as being the primary determinant in stock pricing.

“Reason rules the smallest part of man, and that which is the least interesting.”
I forget whose quote that is, but I often find it true. And so it is with stock prices. The equations and statistical models are often just the justifications for our actions after the fact.

"Blue horseshoe loves Anacott Steel..” or The Pacheco Sage Grouse Theory

For active portfolio management my personal preference has always been to use the pre-screening of other people to define my universe selection. There is precedence for this in nature, as described by Richard Conniff in his book, “The Natural History of the Rich,” as he compares the mating habits of the Sage Grouse to human behavior-

“The more other females see a particular male mating, the more they line up to mate with him- often five or ten of them in a day. They don’t seem to give a damn whether he has desirable traits or not. Mate-copying by itself makes him a hot item…In other words, females may choose a male by either of two strategies: They may go through the process of rigorous scrutiny we call courtship, or they may simply imitate the mate choice of other females as a shortcut for finding desirable males.” Pg 237

In other words, we can define a universe, and do a lot of number crunching and read a lot of charts, or (like the female Sage Grouse) we can simply piggy ride off the pre-screening of somebody else. Merrill Lynch has a program called Consults in which people (with a minimum investment of $100,000) can hire a professional money manager that would normally be out of their reach. (Most of these managers have minimums in the millions.) While a broker at Merrill, the bulk of my client’s assets were invested with the money managers in this program, and as a result I could see on my screen what they were doing in real time.

For customers that wanted me to run their portfolio I would simply limit my universe to the stocks being actively pursued by this group of money managers and then screen those stocks for the particular objectives of the client’s portfolio. But the screen that had the highest weight was the amount of money the money managers had put into it (as a percentage of their overall portfolio percentage). Stocks new to the universe were given the largest weight. This was a very good indicator of stock price appreciation success. As soon as one manager picked up a stock, the other managers (like the female Sage Grouse) would also jump on it and inflate the stock. I could then ride the initial wave and look like a genius to my clients.

Admittedly this success made me a little cynical about analysts and stock research. In the original movie Wall Street, the antagonist Gordon Gekko tells the idealistic Bud Fox:

“You're not as smart as I thought you were, Buddy boy, Listen hard - don't count on Graham and Dodd to make you a fortune, everybody in the market knows the theory, ever wonder why fund managers can't beat the S&P 500? 'Cause they're sheep -- and the sheep get slaughtered…I got twenty other brokers out there, analyzing Charts. I don't need another one. Talk to you sometime...”

And like Bud Fox, I find it hard to argue with Mr. Gekko.

-John P.

*Disclaimer-
Look, I don’t think indexing is a bad idea. On the contrary, if you don’t have the time or the resources to do real time management of your money, indexing (as part of a reasonable asset allocation plan) is an excellent way to control your risk return. It’s true that most managers can’t beat the S&P, and hidden fees can seriously effect your returns over a twenty year time period.

All I’m saying is that if you are going to practice active management of your funds, realize that the “tide” of the market is going to be a more determinant factor that any quantitative model you set up.

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The Great Sock Robbery

2010-01-26T21:55:00.008-06:00

In a surprise move G steals the sock!

N starts to react to her lost sock. (H just looks on, knowing better than to get involved.)

But before she can, G quickly heads for the bed!

Master of the sock.

N retrieves another sock she had stashed and proceeds more carefully this time.

-FINIS

Things We've Learned, part two

2010-01-16T21:11:00.011-06:00

(Photo left- My wife as a child learning how to ride a bicycle from her brothers. Note her dubious demeanor.)

In 2007, while taking a coffee break from the last of the Christmas errands, my wife and I talked about the things we’ve learned from life since our undergraduate days. I wrote them down on a paper napkin and later posted them in this December 22, 2007 blog entry. This Christmas I revisited the question and asked friends for their input. Here’s a sample of some of the responses:

On Cost-

Everything will cost more than the original estimate.

“Free” is the most expensive word in the English language.

It’s never the initial purchase cost that gets you; it’s the ongoing maintenance.

On Decisions-

In both business and personal stuff always measure the opportunity cost.

The cost-benefit analysis is not optional.

Every action has both an intended consequence and an unintended consequence.

Every decision usually comes down to time, money and your moral compass.

On People-

Good manners are more important than you think.

You can be efficient with things; but you can’t be efficient with people.

If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and walks like a duck- It’s a duck! Don’t rationalize it.

If you want to know what someone is about don’t listen to what they say, watch what they do.

People who make bad decisions in one area of their lives are prone to make bad decisions in other areas of their lives. It’s best to avoid such people.

Facebook Comments from friends on Things We've Learned original 2007 post-

Amy-
“Here's one I've developed after years serving on volunteer committees, and in observing and writing about local government in minutes or as news, and observing state and national government... and maybe human nature in general, and this era in particular. I think it's what makes me a conservative, erring on the side of status quo and inaction, and respecting the law of unintended consequences.

‘Just because it's a good idea doesn't mean you should do it.’

(You could qualify it with "necessarily" after "doesn't".) I think we have become a bit spastic, lurching around looking for solutions, trying new things, advocating for this and that, "fixing" things, thinking Change is automatically Good. I would like to see a revival of public service that is stewardship, recognizing and preserving and maintaining the good that already exists (however imperfect), and the work of others that have gone before us.

Calvin Coolidge: ‘Four-fifths of all our troubles would disappear, if we would only sit down and keep still.’

As for your number 3, I agree and would suggest you remove "company" because it's true for all visions and mission statements. Like at schools. When his company was developing a mission statement (or was it a vision), my dad said, "It should just say 'To make money.'"

My daughter just reminded me of another thing I say a lot: ‘It doesn't matter what you say, it matters what you do.’"

Elizabeth-
“Oh yeah! I almost forgot one of the family favorites here in my house is: ‘It ain't about how hard ya hit, it's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward.’”

Sari-
“#3 is spot on, "company vision" is an oxymoron and putting it into a statement doesn't change that. #11 is situational, I'm betting that nod will cost you plenty if you are at a Sotheby's auction.

Important thing I've learned:
I will never regret what I didn't say to the extent that I regret what I did say. (over and over again, as I am thick skulled and the lesson doesn't always stick)

In the end the material stuff will never, ever have the value of true friends so invest your time wisely in life.

My father really was the smartest man I know, he taught me the first two things on my list.”

Suzanne-
“Always test your backups, and make sure you can actually restore them.”

“Avoid Clutter”

“Never wear a red shirt if you're going shopping at Target.”

- JP

(Photo right- Putting bunny ears on a high school friend. Nothing is actually being learned here. I just like the photo.)

Christmas is Here! 2009

2009-12-23T21:39:00.007-06:00

Our 2009 fruitcake arrived today!

It’s a holiday tradition for us that Christmas is only officially here when we receive our Christmas fruitcake from my brother in law, Robert.

Thanks Robert!

Below, the remains of the first two slices.

Below- three Labradors encamped and anxiously awaiting the remaining crumbs- which I'm happy to say they did share.

-JP

Man Made White Sock Damage- Science or Hoax?

2009-12-20T11:28:00.008-06:00

We’re all aware of the recent Copenhagen Conference in which world leaders met to try to stop the so-called growing danger of man made global warming; but now we have an even more pressing and important event to announce- The Texas Hill Country Conference on Man Made White Sock Damage.

Despite ongoing scientific observations and conversations- white socks in the Pacheco Household continue to lose their elasticity. This is a tragic phenomenon which left unchecked will force all the white socks in the Pacheco Household to droop. Modest proposals to stop the stretch folding of the socks have gone unheeded by my spouse and drastic action must now be taken to stop this sock disaster. Some fear it is already too late and new socks will have to be purchased, but together, WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

STOP THE DROOPING OF WHITE SOCKS- STOP THE STRETCH FOLDING STORAGE OF WHITE STOCKS NOW!

Because a white sock is a terrible thing to waste.

-JP

Slowly the real culprit reveals herself.

Night Time Landscape

2009-12-18T22:04:00.003-06:00

I just received an early Christmas present.

It’s a Sydney Original on canvas from my young niece in Vermont. In the enclosed note she jotted in her finest hand, “I think of it as a night time landscape.”

I plan to hold on to it, and let it appreciate. I figure if I’m cash strapped in my old age, I can auction it at Sotheby’s. In the meantime it will hold a place of honor in my home office.

Thank you Sydney!

Uncle John

-

Gold Diggers of 1933- "The long lost dollar has come back to the fold"

2009-12-10T21:34:00.021-06:00

One of the key films from the Great Depression, Gold Diggers of 1933. (Apropos..?)

"Gone are my blues,
and gone are my tears.
I've got good news to shout in your ears
The long lost dollar has come back to the fold
With silver you can turn your dreams to gold!

Oh! We're in the money, we're in the money;
We've got a lot of what it takes to get along!
We're in the money, that sky is sunny,
Old Man Depression you are through, you done us wrong."

With all the money Congress is spending, you would think “We’re in the Money” (as sung by Ginger Rogers above) would be their song, except for one thing- they’re doing all the spending with red ink. These guys are writing checks we can’t cover.

The Daily Crux- Bankruptcy of the US?
"It's one of those numbers that's so unbelievable you have to actually think about it for a while... Within the next 12 months, the U.S. Treasury will have to refinance $2 trillion in short-term debt. And that's not counting any additional deficit spending, which is estimated to be around $1.5 trillion. Put the two numbers together. Then ask yourself, how in the world can the Treasury borrow $3.5 trillion in only one year? That's an amount equal to nearly 30% of our entire GDP. And we're the world's biggest economy. Where will the money come from?"

Politico- Democrats to lift debt ceiling by $1.8 trillion, fear 2010 backlash
"Democrats are preparing to raise the federal debt cieling by as much as $1.8 trillion before New Year's rather than have to face the issue again prior to the 2010 elections."

-At best we're looking at a severe weakening of the U.S. Dollar and an incredible burden on an already weak U.S. Economy with all this mad debt. Part of the problem is that people’s minds can’t wrap around the largeness of the numbers. The multi-trillion dollar financing by the treasury doesn’t feel real to the average American. When they hear the numbers, their brain triggers a non-input device and starts going- lalalalalalal, and quickly changes channels.

Back in the 70’s liberals had a T-shirt slogan that said, “What if they threw a war, and nobody came?” Well an updated version of that could be, “What if the U.S. Treasury threw a bond sale and nobody came?” As the Daily Crux points out, we’re going to borrow approximately $3 trillion in short term debt, in an international bond market which is already saturated with U.S. debt. And even if the Treasury places the debt, what about the interest payments? (Or the "vig," as Tony Soprano would say.) Either way, it doesn’t look good for our currency. The causality here really isn’t rocket science.

I used to poke fun of people who kept gold Krugerrands hidden underneath their mattresses, but maybe it’s an idea whose time has come. (That and to replace the hopelessly irresponsible leadership in Washington.)

JP

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's new 200-seat, USAF C-32, Boeing 757 Jet, “She has it because she can,” according to Lucianne. The sense of entitlement of these people is staggering. (Photo Courtesy of Lucianne.com )

Obama- The One Trick Pony (and it’s not even Keynesian)

2009-11-29T23:19:00.033-06:00

"He's a one trick pony
One trick is all that horse can do
He does one trick only
It's the principal source of his revenue
And when he steps into the spotlight
You can feel the heat of his heart
Come rising through
See how he dances
See how he loops from side to side
See how he prances
The way his hooves just seem to glide
(but) He's just a one trick pony (that's all he is)"
- Paul Simon, 1980

On Power Line recently, Dr. Paul Rahe eloquently articulated some thoughts and concerns that had been brewing in the back of my mind about our fledgling President- the gist of which is that his talent limited to giving speeches with a teleprompter. It’s probably the best political synopsis I’ve read on the shortcomings of the current administration and their obvious inability to govern.

Below are five key paragraphs of Dr. Rahe's observations-

“Now comes the reckoning. For Barack Obama seems to be a one-trick pony. He is very good at delivering a speech if he has a teleprompter at hand, and the first and even the second time that you hear him, you will be impressed. If you bother later to read and re-read the speech you will perceive its emptiness. But few will do that, and by the time that they do, it will be too late.

That is one problem. The other is that Obama's one trick cannot often be played. As we have seen over the last few months, as he has tried to play this trick over and over and over again, the more we see of him, the less we are impressed. Franklin Delano Roosevelt never held his fireside chats more than three times a year. How many times has Obama demanded airtime from the networks in the last ten months? I shudder to think.

There is a third problem. Once in office, presidents are judged more by what they do than by what they say and how well they say it, and Barack Obama is in the process of doing a great deal of harm. His "stimulus" bill was a transparent act of grand larceny, stealing from the future in order to enrich Democratic Party constituencies now. His unlawful handling of GM and Chrysler defrauded the bondholders, rewarded the intransigents in the UAW who were largely responsible for the auto-makers' decline, and made it harder for American corporations to borrow money.

And every version of the health care reform that he backs threatens to bankrupt the country and force us to raise taxes on a grand scale. If investors remain on the sidelines, if employers are reluctant to hire, and if, in consequence, the economic recover is anemic and virtually jobless, it is to a considerable extent Obama's fault.

The simple fact that he has done nothing to rein in a patronage-mad Democratic congress is a sign of his fecklessness as President. As David Ignatius points out in today's Washington Post, in 2010, there is going to be hell to pay -- especially in Democratic strongholds with especially high unemployment, such as Michigan, Nevada, Rhode Island, and California.”

For the full Power Line writing Click Here. It's worth reading in its entirety.

I recently told a liberal acquaintance that I never thought I’d see the day when a sitting President (of either party) would make me pine for the rogue Bill Clinton, and yet, here it is.

Apparently some liberals are feeling the same odd Obama effect. The liberal blog HillBuzz recently posted (surprise, surprise) a Thank You to G.W. Bush for his protection of our country from Islamic Terrorism during his tenure, and a rebuke to the current President. (In private discussion, the growing and anxious Democratic mantra is now, “Hey, don’t blame me, I voted for Hillary.”)

“Curiouser and Curiouser!” Cried Alice (and apparently everybody else when it comes to this President).

-JP

WSJ Article, The Arabs Have Stopped Applauding Obama, by Fouad Ajami-
“The crowd may have applauded the cavalier way the new steward of American power referred to his predecessor, but in the privacy of their own language they doubtless wondered about his character and his fidelity. "My brother and I against my cousin, my cousin and I against the stranger," goes one of the Arab world's most honored maxims. The stranger who came into their midst and spoke badly of his own was destined to become an object of suspicion.”

Peggy Noonan, He Can't Take Another Bow (Nov 30,09 column)-
"There is the growing perception of incompetence, of the inability to run the machine of government. This, with Americans, is worse than Mr. Obama's rebranding as a leader who governs from the left. Americans demand baseline competence. If he comes to be seen as Jimmy Carter was, that the job was bigger than the man, that will be the end."

-

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-27T10:35:00.009-06:00

An interesting thing happened on my return Southwest flight just before the holiday. Upon arrival back in Austin, the stewardess asked us all to remain seated and allow the military personnel to off load first. She then said, “Soldiers, the aisle is yours!” and people started to applaud them and high-fiving them as they got off. It was a nice thing to see.

Also prior to boarding the aircraft, I noticed an older woman going around asking soldiers something and then nodding and jotting something down on a notepad. After the fact, I asked one of the soldiers what the lady had asked and he told me she asked his name so that she could pray for him. Sure enough, when I looked to the side where she was now sitting, I saw her praying with a rosary.

So on this Thanksgiving Holiday, take heart. There is hope, and know that the world has not completely lost its values. (At least in Texas.)

JP

Reader's Question on Barbour Jacket Smell

2009-11-15T21:34:00.016-06:00

I received this question on my Barbour Beaufort Jacket Post-

“Hello John,  

I am having a bit of trouble with the smell of my Barbour Beaufort. It was a hand-me-down from my father. The problem is it smells musty. I can't seem to think this is the wax smell you've talked about. Do you have any ideas on how to diminish or even eliminate the stench? I personally do not mind but I do find my friends distancing themselves from me whenever I choose to wear it. Could Barbour help with the odor? Also could you further the information on the Barbour facility to me because I'd like to extend the arm length and might as well get it rewaxed?  

Thanks,  Ian”

Ian, the Barbour Beaufort waxed jacket does carry its own distinctive smell, which some people find unpleasant and describe as musty, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard it described as a “stench.”

Of my two jackets, my older the one, the Sylkoil Classic Beaufort Jacket probably has the greater propensity to generate a musty smell, but I find the odor dissipates once I clean it with some ice water and a sponge and re-wax it. (That's the jacket I'm wearing in the upper left photo.)

So here are some possible solutions to the musty smell you’re describing (remember it’s a long distance diagnoses) -

1. Use a sponge and some ice water to wipe down the jacket a couple of times and allow drying in the sun while unzipped and draped over a patio chair. The ice water hardens the wax and allows the sponge to pick up the dirt. By squeezing out the dirty water from the sponge, you should be able to judge how much dirt you’ve picked up and how much is remaining on the jacket. Leaving the jacket to dry in the sun will allow it to be aired out, especially if draped unzipped with the inside also catching some air.

I wouldn’t recommend applying new dressing until you’re sure you’ve done a good job of removing some of the old dirt layers which could have worked themselves into the old wax. I strongly suspect that’s what’s causing your smell. (By using multiple sponges during the cleaning you could also peel away some of the old contaminated wax which would also help.)

My guess it that you would have better luck with this approach in summer when the warmer temperatures would allow the existing wax to become more pliable; and you may find you have to go through this cleaning and airing out process several times. (In the Army we used to do this cleaning and airing out with our tents, and it was always a pain.)

2. Worst comes to worst, you could simply wash the jacket in a washing machine with clothing detergent, but that would more than likely strip off all the wax. Once you do that, you can’t re-wax it again. Any wax applied would more than likely just bleed off. I have run into people who have made that choice.

3. For help from Barbour service, repair and reproofing, if you’re in the U.S., I would recommend you do it through the Orvis Flagship Store in Manchester, Vermont. In my experience, they have the strongest working relationship with the Barbour Repair Shop, which is located in the neighboring State of New Hampshire.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard of them addressing the smell issue, but I do know that they can help with alterations, which includes adding sleeve length. Their contact information is-

Orvis Store
4180 Main Street, Historic Route 7A
Manchester, VT 05254
Phone: (802) 362-375

(A word of warning, they’re not quick, even if you send it during spring/summer expect a lengthy wait.)

If you’re not in the U.S., I would visit the Barbour website and see what information you can garner on stockists in your country or perhaps consider sending the jacket directly to Barbour in Great Britain. Their address is-

J. Barbour & Sons Ltd Customer Services Simonside South Shields Tyne & Wear NE34 9PD

On their website they ask that you include your phone number, and explain that turn around could be 10 weeks. They also have a form that lists their prices in British Currency.

4. The one thing I wouldn’t do is to hose it down with an outside hose as I’ve seen some bloggers suggest. If the dirt causing the musty smell is embedded into the old wax dressing, the water pressure wouldn’t be enough to dislodge it; plus impurities in the outside water connection could do additional damage to the jacket.

I hope you are able to salvage the jacket. Items passed down from one’s father are always precious.

Regards,

John P.

PS- Barbour Marketing should really, really, send me a check.

For step by step re-waxing instructions, click here.

Veteran's Day 2009

2009-11-11T07:49:00.009-06:00

“It’s easy to mouth empty pacifist platitudes while under the protection of the U.S. military. The real test of pacifist notion is whether the caitiff would utter the same empty rhetoric as say a Polish-Jew circa 1933; or as a burkha clad woman in a stadium who is about to be shot in the back of the head for crimes against Allah.”
Excerpt from a comment I posted on another site where liberals were bemoaning the absence of a “Diplomacy Day,” or “International Peace Day.”

On this Veteran’s Day, special kudos to the United States Marine Corps which just celebrated its 234th Birthday. The You Tube clip above is from one of my favorites, “The DI” a 1957 classic movie starring Jack Webb. It contains great dialogue that captures the essence of the USMC-

DI (Jack Webb): Rodriguez! If you were completely surrounded this morning by an enemy force of 500 men, what would you do?!

Rodriguez: Kill them Sir!

Once while at NTC (National Training Center), I chided a Marine NCO for not having a close air support contingency in his op plan. He looked up at me, smiled and said, “Sir, real men don’t need close air support.”

Well OK then…

For clips on the USMC birthday, visit citizen-journalist Amy Kane’s Blog.
Warning, you may get a little teary eyed while watching the clips.

-JP

Photo Below- An old photo I recently found. That's my old pal Darren and myself circa 1989. I posted the photo on his Facebook wall with the comment, "Hey Darren, remember these two good looking young guys?" We went through the same commissioning program and were both prior service. Darren just recently retired from the Army.

Some things are just too obvious…

2009-11-10T21:29:00.003-06:00

Nancy Pelosi and the dems ram their health care bill through the lower house on Saturday night, and on Monday everybody shorts the dollar and the price of gold shoots through the roof. Call me silly, but I think there is a causality there.

Cau⋅sal⋅i⋅ty [kaw-zal-i-tee]
–noun, plural -ties.
1. the relation of cause and effect: The result is the same, however differently the causality is interpreted.

Ob⋅vi⋅ous [ob-vee-uhs]
–adjective
1. easily seen, recognized, or understood; open to view or knowledge; evident: an obvious advantage.

Christmas Gift Ideas (Cont.), men’s stuff part twelve

2009-11-03T22:08:00.006-06:00

The Orvis Men’s Catalog had a cool one of a kind item gift for the man who has everything, a fully restored 1962 Land Rover.

The Orvis Catalog described it-
“There are few places this car can't go and few places it hasn't been. Built in 1962 and then customized by Martin Walter Ltd. for extended travel, this Series IIA 109 traveled the world in the early part of its life, from Great Britain through Europe into Asia and Africa. It survived hurricanes and the ravages of time and eventually ended up in the hands of Lanny Clark, a man who devotes himself full-time to the restoration of these timeless vehicles on his farm in Vermont. His reputation in the Rover world is stellar, and this car has gone through a complete frame-up restoration to its original condition and is ready to go anywhere. Imported.”

Despite an asking price of $65,000, the restored Land Rover has been sold.

When I was with 12th SF Group, I knew a Staff Sergeant who had a similarly restored Land Rover. Despite a Dona Ana and White Sands Missile Range policy prohibiting privately owned vehicles, it wasn’t unusual to see his Land Rover at drop zones or company FTXs. He had a rifle rack in the back for his Ruger Mini 14 Ranch Rifle; and he loved to take it out to the desert.

During Desert Shield, I had use of a new Land Rover and can attest to the great handling of these vehicles in hostile environments. My Rover was able to maintain speeds of 80 miles per hour on open desert, and was invaluable as I scouted locations to build supply yards or the staging of helicopter sling loads. Unfortunately just before kick off for Desert Storm, I had to turn it for a conventional CUCV Blazer, and I’ve been emotionally scarred ever since.

-JP

Enervation- (definition) to deprive of force or strength; destroy the vigor of; weaken.

2009-10-24T12:12:00.025-05:00

This is making the rounds on the internet and was sent to me by a friend.-

"This is a very sad story about a bear. Everybody should heed the warning to not feed wildlife because they become dependent and cannot forage for themselves anymore.  

The photo above captures a disturbing trend that is beginning to affect US wildlife. Animals that were formerly self-sufficient are now showing signs of belonging to the Democratic Party as they have apparently  learned to just sit and wait for the government to step in and provide  for their care and sustenance.

The photo above shows a Democrat bear in Montana patiently waiting for his stimulus package check so that he can buy potato chips."

(Meanwhile, all his friends are busy catching salmon in a stream approximately 400 meters from where he sits.)

To hear a related humorous, albeit sad, example of human enervation click below-

The above audio clip disturbs me when I think of the concept of Imago Dei; and how the person being interviewed corrupts and degrades the premise which is vital to self governance.

Imago Dei- (definition)
"Latin for 'image of God,' this concept denotes the theological doctrine that human beings are made in the likeness and image of God, usually referring to the human intellect, the capacity for moral decision-making, and the ability to rule over creation as "created co-creators" and stewards of the gifts of God. In Catholic theology, this doctrine is the foundation for other foundational principles and concepts such as human dignity, the sanctity of life and stewardship."

JP

The Road to Serfdom, by Friedrich Hayek

Fiftieth Anniversary Edition is now available through Amazon. This book along with Dr. David Schauer, a professor I had as an undergraduate, formed my views on Economics. (He was a monetarist and his classes contained a lot of stuff from Milton Friedman.) More recently, I revisited Hayek's ideas through a class with Dr. Peter Koveos, Syracuse University.

Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand

Like The Road to Serfdom, also an oldie but a goodie and still in print. (In Mad Men, this is Bertram Cooper's favorite book.)

Peggy Noonan, WSJ article- "We're Governed by Callous Children"
"The new economic statistics put growth at a healthy 3.5% for the third quarter. We should be dancing in the streets. No one is, because no one has any faith in these numbers. Waves of money are sloshing through the system, creating a false rising tide that lifts all boats for the moment. The tide will recede. The boats aren't rising, they're bobbing, and will settle. No one believes the bad time is over. "

Girly Men hikers repeatedly push emergency button and irritate rescue crews. A third rescue crew finally says, “Enough,” and throws their weak-minded butts on the helicopter.

The Seiko Professional Divers Watch, men's stuff part ten

2009-09-29T21:56:00.020-05:00

If I had to choose one watch from my collection for endurance and serviceability, this Seiko Divers would be the watch. It’s been with me in multiple environments- in deserts, in forests, in saltwater and freshwater, and in the cold of both the Korean DMZ and Alaska. I was also wearing it in 1986 when I broke my leg on the worst airborne jump of my military career. My ankle required some metal implants to repair it, but the watch was hardly scratched.

Today, its roughest mission is to the gym.

It’s a quartz watch, and the second hand begins to mark off two-seconds intervals when the battery needs changing. It’s waterproof to 200 meters or approximately 656 feet (which means it can go places you can’t go); and has a unidirectional rotating bezel, with the first twenty minutes highlighted in bright red. The day-date is at the three o’clock position, and the day can be set in either English or Spanish. The crown, located at the 4 o'clock position, has a crown guard.

I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve replaced the flat rubber bracelet, and despite its age, the luminous hands and markers are still visible in low lighting. I have had the jeweler offer to switch out the scratched bezel, but I like the memories the scratches represent. Remarkably, the crystal is unscratched.

Today, Seiko offers many versions of this watch in both quartz and mechanical models. Despite the fact that some watch aficionados look down upon them, I highly recommend them. They’re durable, inexpensive and don’t have to be babied. (I actually had a case of 5.56 ammunition dropped on mine once, without damage.)

Seiko's most recent technical accomplishment was the development of a space watch for billionaire Richard Garriott that was worn during a space walk outside the International Space Station.

And while strolling down memory lane, here’s the oldest watch in my collection. It’s the Timex I wore in Army Basic Training right out of high school. I remember I bought it with the intention of it being a disposable watch; but miraculously it’s still with me. It not only survived several Army schools, but it also outlived several so-called G-Shock watches and an untold number of GI issue field watches. Today, I still use it while clearing and burning brush or doing outside work. I think every true watch enthusiast has at least one Timex in his collection.

This last photo is of my father’s last field watch, which I inherited after he passed away recently. During my Army career, he developed a fondness for OD Green field watches. As a result I would always buy him a new field watch for Christmas from the PX. When I left the service, the tradition continued and I would always include a field watch with his Christmas packages when he needed a replacement. He loved to putter and work outside and was very hard on his watches. This Orvis version of the GI watch is one of two field watches in my collection. Prior to end-of-year, I need to clean it up and replace the strap which is very worn due to dad’s continual outdoor use.

Update: Below is my father's Orvis field watch after I cleaned it up and placed a new NATO Nylon Strap on it.

John P.

Click here for my review of my Hamilton Jazz Master.

Click here for my review of my Rolex Submariner.

Click here for- Seiko Divers Watch Forum

The Schadenfreude Goes On…

2009-09-27T22:08:00.017-05:00

In case you didn’t get enough drama and entertainment from the business pages during summer, here is an interesting article from Fortune Magazine (entitled "The alleged grifter who duped corporate giants"). It deals with something we seldom think about- the movement of consumer goods through unauthorized distribution channels. Fortune Magazine’s James Bandler and Doris Burke explain-

“(Dina) Wein Reis was what is known as a "diverter," a player in the little-known but large gray market in which consumer goods are bought and sold in channels unauthorized by manufacturers. Diversion is not necessarily illegal. But the way Wein Reis did it was fraud, prosecutors allege.”

“For sheer dollar damages, her alleged thievery cannot come close to matching that of Bernard Madoff …But what she is accused of doing was fabulously brazen; she had the temerity to sting some of the world's biggest corporations -- not just once, but again and again.”

What struck me was a) the amount of hard work and coordination that went into the enterprise and b) Dina Wein Reis’s willingness to court publicity of her personal life. Prior to the legal melt down, her lavishly furnished Manhattan townhouse was actually featured in Architectural Digest. Most people in her position would have shunned the daylight. (If you want to see over the top Manhattan kitsch in a way only a middle-class Jewish girl from Brooklyn could pull off, you really must check out the photos.)

The Fed’s have since raided the townhouse and seized most of her property. One FBI agent described her home as so full of bling and loot as, "King Tut's tomb." I'm not sure when her trial is scheduled, but you can purchase a copy of her fraud indictment on Amazon for approximately ten dollars. Some light reading to keep you entertained on your next flight.

-JP

(Photo Above- of Wein Reis by Fortune Magazine.)

Update from The New York Post, dated May 19, 2011-
NY socialite Dina Wein Reis pleads guilty to fraud charges
“A New York socialite pleaded guilty Thursday to a federal charge that she duped corporations out of millions of dollars. Dina Wein Reis, 47, softly answered, “Guilty,” when U.S. District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson asked her how she pleaded to a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.”

-

iMBA Fall 2009 Residency

2009-09-10T21:03:00.019-05:00

The fall Whitman iMBA residency was fun and it was great to see our Syracuse friends again.
(Snapshot left- initial reception at the Sheraton)

This semester we’re taking Managerial Accounting with Professor Alex Thevaranjan (who prefers to be called Coach T by graduate students); and Investment Analysis with Professor Ravi Shukla, an engineer by training but now a PHD in finance, who is very passionate about trying to make sense out of the randomness of the market.

Managerial Accounting is focused on internal information that facilitates decisions about the future. It uses projection tools to sift out relevant information and identify risk and return before decisions are made. (By contrast Financial Accounting is after the fact and aimed at telling a story to people outside the company, usually investors.)

The second course, Investment Analysis, deals with the analytical methods to portfolio management. It touches on the different approaches to investment- Ad hoc (intuition), Bigger Fool Theory, and systematic approaches. It also addresses the different asset classes and diversification methods. One of the interesting subjects we discussed during the residency was the way poor quality mortgage securities infiltrated the US economy and produced last years economic melt down.

On the first day of classes, the faculty announced some changes during a town hall meeting. Future residencies will be shorter by one day to lessen the burden of travel, and as a result, classes will be extended from 90 minutes to a full two hours per day. The other major change involves new students. Previously new students were only required to start together with Financial Accounting and Strategic Management during their first semester. After that, they were free to choose their classes based on preference and availability. Now the school will try to keep students together in a cohort group for a longer period (I think it’s the first three semesters).

Students near graduation will be allowed early registration, and additional courses may be added in May to facilitate areas of concentration.

The bad news announced was that costs are going to continue to go up, an average of six percent per semester, despite the current state of the economy. This was an issue as many students complained that their employers were no longer reimbursing their tuition, as companies cut back on benefits. We also noticed the iMBA group looked smaller, possibly due to job losses.

During our week in Syracuse, we visited all our regular haunts- Lake Onondaga, Joey’s Italian Restaurant, Kitty Hoynes Irish Pub; and visited a few new places. We drove up to Lake Ontario for the first time, went hiking at Highland State Park, ate clams at the Clam Bar (on Brewerton Road) and shopped at a charming farm market called Ontario Orchards (in Oswego).

I want to also express special thanks to Dennis Hay, of Joey’s Italian Restaurant. After a very favorable experience last year, we postponed our 19th wedding anniversary dinner by about a week in order to celebrate it at Joey’s. Once again, my wife had flowers waiting for her at the table, and once again we had a great flaming desert of strawberries cooked in brown sugar and butter, yum. Kudos to Joey’s.

John P.

Professor Alex Thevaranjan (PHD in accounting) and myself after class. (Professor Ravi Shukla is in the top photo, fourth from the left.)

Me, Sari and Craig at the Whitman iMBA town hall.

Sue by some flowers at Highland State Park.

At Kitty Hoynes Irish Pub after hiking all afternoon at Highland State Park.

Click here for more information on the Syracuse University Whitman School of Management iMBA program.

-JP

Geo F. Trumper on Facebook, men's stuff part nine

2009-08-26T21:34:00.011-05:00

Geo F. Trumper, considered by many to be the apex in men's wet shaving gear, has posted a link to my wet shaving post on their facebook page.

-JP

Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum

2009-08-15T20:00:00.000-05:00

Today, we spent the afternoon visiting the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library in Austin. We hadn’t visited the Library in a number of years and wanted to see what had changed.

The LBJ Library is located in downtown Austin on a 30-acre site on the UT campus. The ten story building is modern monolithic in design and has visitor exhibits on the third, fourth, and tenth floor. The other notable feature is that it has a five-story glass encased view of the actual archives, which visitors can see, from the Great Hall on the fourth floor. It was dedicated on May 22, 1971.

Sue and me in front of LBJ’s Presidential Limo, a 1968 stretch Lincoln that was used in both D.C. and Austin.

There is also an animatronic LBJ that tells humorous stories from LBJ’s speeches. One of them goes something like this:

"A little boy was praying for his Momma. She was a poor widow and was having trouble making ends meet, so the little boy wrote a letter to God: "God, I'd be mighty thankful if you would send Momma a hundred dollars to help out." Well, his letter wound up in the postmaster general's office. And the postmaster was so moved by the letter that he took twenty-dollar bill from his pocket, put it in an official Washington D.C. Postmaster General envelope and sent it to the widow. Two weeks later, he gets another letter from the boy addressed to God. The letter thanked God for everything and the great help that the money provided. It also asked for another hundred dollars with this added caveat- “Only please God, this time send it direct. Last time it went through Washington and they withheld eighty percent.”

Photo Below-Sue in front of the LBJ storyteller. She thought it was creepy, the way the eyes moved and the hand creaked when it moved. In her own words:

“I found him kind of creepy, especially the eyes. I thought, what if you were accidentally stuck in the museum after they locked up for the night? Say you were studying in the archives and lost track of time. And A-LBJ started to move and talk, when nobody was around to trigger his motion sensors! And he didn't tell his funny stories but instead said stuff like, 'I don't take kindly to strangers snooping in my private papers.' Then the lights go out. And you run for the doors, stumbling around in the dark, only find the doors are locked from the outside! Then you hear a squeak from behind you...”

The Library had a section on the Vietnam War. Here I am in front of the Special Forces (SF) display. The beret on display has a 5th Group SF Flash on it; I was in 12th Group (1985-87), which no longer exists.

A view of the archives.

According to the visitors brochure, "The library houses 45 million pages of historical documents, 650,000 photos, one million feet of motion picture film, and 5,000 hours of recordings from the public career of Lyndon Baines Johnson and those of his close associates."

If you’re in Austin, and up to the drive, you can also go to nearby College Station and visit the George Bush Presidential Library at Texas A&M. My wife and I visited it about two years ago and it was also pretty cool.

On the other hand, if you find yourself in the Los Angeles area we highly recommend the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley California. That library has the old Air Force One airplane from the Reagan era and the "Gipper" sweater of Notre Dame fame.

Finally the G.W. Bush Library is getting off the ground and will be located in Dallas (approximately four hours from Austin). Sue and I are looking forward to visiting that one when it gets up and running.

-JP

The return of Mad Men

2009-08-10T20:58:00.017-05:00

I thought of Mad Men as a guilty pleasure, like a jelly donut, then I looked around and found out everyone liked it too.

In the September issue of Vanity Fair, Bruce Handy wrote the following reasons to like the show:

“If you like high modernism, narrow lapels, bullet bras, smoking, heavy drinking at lunch, good hotel sex, and bad office sex, (then) this is the series for you..”

He left out really, really, cool argyle socks.

Third season premiers this Sunday, August 16th, at 10 eastern on AMC. If you want to watch it with an Old-Fashioned in hand (series lead character Don Draper's drink of choice), Esquire Magazine was kind enough to publish the recipe.

-John P.

(Photo RIGHT- The guy with the cool argyle socks is veteran actor, and Tony Award winner, Robert Morse. Casting the man who defined the lead role in “How to Succeeded in Business Without Really Trying,” as founding partner Bertram Cooper was a stroke of genius.)

Is Cash for Clunkers a Subsidy for Foreign Car Brands?

2009-08-05T14:26:00.012-05:00

My wife had actually figured out that “cash for clunkers” appears to be a subsidy of foreign car brands over domestic brands before the media started harping on it. While the Obama team has withheld data on the program (probably out of embarrassment), an initial run of the numbers is possible. On this LINK to our business blog you can see the quantitative trends.

As Professor Yitzhak Fried from our Syracuse (Whitman School of Management) MBA program always said- “Everything has an intended consequence, and an unintended consequence.” And please don’t get me started on the environmental impact of purposefully trashing existing running cars for the government rebate and a new car.

-JP

August 11 Update- This link sent to me by an MBA cohort, Sari Signorelli has some numbers on the "Top Ten 'Clunkers' and New Car Buys." Not surprisingly, less than half of the new car purchases are domestic brands.

August 14 Update- The Financial Times also published an article speculating that Clunkers for Cash could merely be cannibalizing off future car demand. Something very similar happened in approximately 2003 when GM started the rebates and zero-financing pricing wars.

August 17 Update- The Financial Times, "Cash-for-clunkers boost Japanese car sales"

Madoff Schadenfreude Part 2

2009-08-02T23:07:00.015-05:00

According to the WSJ, the other shoe has dropped in the Madoff Ponzi scheme case. Irving Picard, the court appointed trustee in charge of recovering funds for Bernard Madoff’s victims is now suing Madoff’s wife, Ruth Madoff, for approximately $44.8 million.

“Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee, alleged that 68-year-old Ruth Madoff "knew or should have known" that vast sums of money she received from her husband's investment firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, rightly belonged to the firm and to her husband's customers.”

“’For decades, Mrs. Madoff lived a life of splendor using the money of (Madoff’s) customers,’ Mr. Picard said in a lawsuit filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. ‘Regardless of whether or not Mrs. Madoff knew of the fraud her husband perpetrated at (his firm) ... she received tens of millions of dollars from (the firm) for which (the firm) received no corresponding benefit or value and to which Mrs. Madoff had no good-faith basis to believe she was entitled.’"

Of course the problem is that Ruth Madoff has already given up her rights the bulk of the cash she had withdrawn (just prior to Bernie Madoff’s arrest), and has already agreed to sell the marital real estate assets in Manhattan, Long Island and Palm Beach as part of restitution for investors. In an agreement with federal prosecutors she was allowed to keep about $2.5 million in cash. Not chump change, but not anywhere near the $44.8 million Picard is seeking.

I am also not aware of anything preventing individual investors from bringing civil litigation directly against her. In which case, the $2.5 million could disappear almost overnight in attorney fees. Finally there have been reports that she is having trouble finding a place to live, as she is persona non grata in Manhattan and some buildings have refused her.

Whether you feel sorry for her or not, one thing is certain, she is about to undergo an extreme adjustment in her standard of living.

-JP

Read
Madoff Schadenfreude Part 1

(Photo ABOVE- Ruth Madoff is shown in an AP photo leaving a correctional facility after visiting her husband Bernie Madoff in April. Photo BELOW LEFT- Ruth and Bernie Madoff in happier times while at a desert party in Mexico- Rex USA. Photo BELOW RIGHT- The Madoffs on the yacht of real-estate tycoon Norman Levy. Vanity Fair)

Best Advice

2009-07-26T16:12:00.004-05:00

Every year, Fortune Magazine has an issue where business leaders discuss the best advice they’ve received. That got me thinking about my life, and what I could claim was the one single best piece of advice I’ve ever received.

Here’s my answer- I joined the military right out of high school for the college money. I really had no other incentive; but to my surprise, I took to the military like a fish to water and did very well, very quickly. What I had anticipated as a drudgery had instead become a pleasurable experience.

While still a private, a crusty old Sergeant Major stopped me and stared at me intently. He then asked me, “Pacheco, you love the Army don’t you?” Up to that point I hadn’t really consciously articulated the thought, but after a moment’s consideration I replied, “Yes Sergeant Major, I guess I do.”

He then leaned into me and said, “Well don’t fall in love with the Army Pacheco, because the Army won’t fall in love with you.”

It took a while for the full meaning of that advice to sink it, but has been one of the most useful tools of perspective anyone has ever given me. No matter how much overlap there is, there will always be conflict between the objectives of your employer and your own enlightened-self-interest. You should never make the assumption that your interests and those of your organization are one and the same. You should never have the expectation that an organization will reward you for loyalty or self-sacrifice. Simply put, there are too many variables, both external and political for the equation to be that simple. At the end of the day, you have to keep your eyes wide open and do what’s right for yourself and your family. That’s your burden, and that burden cannot be delegated or entrusted to another earthly power.

Do what’s right by your colleagues and customers to earn your wages, but don’t overlook to do right by yourself in the day-to-day process.

-JP

The Tall Ship Cuauhtemoc

2009-07-19T09:12:00.005-05:00

The print version of the WSJ had a photo of the Mexican tall ship Cuauhtemoc sailing into San Francisco on Monday July 13th. Unfortunately the photo wasn’t available online, but the photo I’ve posted here of the Cuauhtemoc arriving in Japan is essentially the same. When she enters a harbor, the crew stands on the yards and sings greeting.

The WSJ reported:
“The barque Cuauhtemoc sailing along the city-front in SF in the '05 Tall Ships Challenge. Built for the Mexican Navy as a training vessel for its cadets, she was named for the last Aztec emperor who was imprisoned and executed by conquistador Hernán Cortés in 1525.”

The ship apparently travels all over the world as a sort of good will ambassador and permits tours once in dock.

Emperor Cuauhtemoc’s name meant, “descending eagle,” which is perhaps fitting, as he was the last legitimate ruler of Tenochtitlan. The painting below depicts Cortez torturing him. Cortez wanted to know where the last of the Tenochtitlan’s gold had been hidden. Cuauhtemoc insisted there was nothing left of the national treasury and maintained his royal bearing and dignity through the pain. Eventually in frustration, Cortez had him hanged; however, Cauahtemoc's bravery made him a folk hero and his name lives on.

Legend has it that Cuauhtemoc will return in the era of the Sixth Sun and reseat the Mexica as the rightful rulers of the Cem-Anahuac (or “One World” as the Aztec Empire was known).

“You tell me then that I must perish
like the flowers that I cherish.
Nothing remaining of my name,
Nothing remembered of my fame?
But the gardens I planted still are young-
The songs I sang will be sung!”
- Huexotzin, Prince of Texcoco

The Torture of Cuauhtémoc - A 19th Century painting by Leandro Izaguirre

The Great Gatsby

2009-07-16T22:50:00.004-05:00

One of the nice things about summer reading is that in addition to new stuff, you can revisit some old books that you haven’t read in years and see them with a new perspective.

This weekend I started re-reading Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. It’s one of those books you’re forced to read in school, to which your adolescent reaction is invariably a bored “Huh?” But as you get older, you begin to appreciate the nuances.

For a little humor try this passage describing the scene at one of Gatsby’s over the top parties-

“I was immediately struck by the number of young Englishmen dotted about; all well dressed, all looking a little hungry, and all talking in low, earnest voices to solid and prosperous Americans. I was sure that they were selling something: bonds or insurance or automobiles. They were at least agonizingly aware of the easy money in the vicinity and convinced that it was theirs for a few words in the right key.” (Sounds suspiciously like some of the parties I attended during the dot com bubble.)

And finally for those readers who haven’t read the book and just want the nickel-tour-summary so that they can discuss it, here it is-

“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- the smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made….”

Regurgitate that summary, and you’re sure to get an A.

-John P.

PS- For the record, and at the risk of getting beat up via email, I do think The Great Gatsby is the only good book Fitzgerald ever wrote.

Summer Puzzle

2009-07-13T22:33:00.006-05:00

Sue just finished her puzzle. It was a box of confusion to which she gave order. (I helped. I proudly placed three of the pieces into place.) What’s interesting is that she hadn’t shown any interest in puzzles before, and yet decided on impulse to tackle an incredibly difficult one containing 2000 pieces.

Below, the box top photo of the puzzle, it was a Ravensburger puzzle called, “New Wonders of the World.”

It's the Fourth of July!

2009-07-04T06:50:00.005-05:00

Here's a little Thomas Paine to help put things in perspective as we celebrate this wonderful holiday (from The American Crisis)-

"These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value."- Thomas Paine

Updated version- 'Dante once said that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in a period of moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.' JFK

Pork, Bad Science, Bad Economics- All wrapped into one bill

2009-07-01T10:11:00.007-05:00

What’s a few billion among friends? I think that normally the US has a self-correcting mechanism when it comes to the harm Washington can do, but I’m starting grow concerned. Legislators in Washington are starting to look like Ruth Madoff, with her corporate Amex card, on a shameless Paris shopping spree. The Washington Times has an article detailing the latest outrage in pork bribes-

“When House Democratic leaders were rounding up votes Friday for the massive climate-change bill, they paid special attention to their colleagues from Ohio who remained stubbornly undecided.
They finally secured the vote of one Ohioan, veteran Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur (pictured above) of Toledo, the old-fashioned way. They gave her what she wanted - a new federal power authority, similar to Washington state's Bonneville Power Administration, stocked with up to $3.5 billion in taxpayer money… Henry A. Waxman, California Democrat, included the Kaptur project in a 310-page amendment to the legislation unveiled at 3 a.m. Friday, just hours before the bill was to be debated on the House floor. The amendment was packed with other vote-getting provisions, both large and small, that had been sought by dozens of wavering Democrats.”

And please don’t get me started on the entire false conceptual framework of so-called global warming to begin with. Climate change has become the new pagan religion of choice for the secular media. People who have never cracked open a textbook on paleontology are now deeply concerned about “mother earth” and the absence of a static environment. (I’m sure Australopithecus-Africanus would be deeply concerned too, if they were still around.)

Then beyond pork and false-science, there’s the issue of really, really bad economics. The gist of the so-called climate change bill is this- The U.S. is going to save the world by restricting its economic growth (in the middle of a recession and while loaded with debt), while the entire third world (most notably China and India) continues to dump pollutants at any rate required by their enlightened national self interest. Ne Ce Pa?

Of course ultimately we have nobody but ourselves to blame for the current situation. It’s true that people get the government they deserve and we as a country are no exception. As Americans, we are blessed with wealth and material comfort. (Even if your poor by US standards, please believe me, you’re rich by third-world standards.) And unfortunately people who are comfortable don’t pay as much attention as they should to events outside their daily lives. So perhaps it’s time we did start paying attention.

At the very least I urge readers to write and call their U.S. Senators to ensure this bad law never sees the light of day.

JP

The Hamilton Jazz Master, men's stuff part eight

2009-06-22T21:44:00.023-05:00

I have a new Hamilton Jazz Master Chrono, a gift from my wife on my Confirmation. It’s a beautiful watch with a classic masculine appearance, reminiscent of the 1950’s.

The Hamilton Watch Company has an interesting history. It was founded in 1882 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, but its real claim to fame came with World War II. During the war, the company stopped making watches for civilians, and concentrated all of its production towards the war effort. As a result, Hamilton became synonymous with the GI Field Watch. To this day, Hamilton carries a line of field watches and military style watches under its Khaki collection, however it is no longer American owned. In the 1990s Hamilton became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Swatch Group along with Omega.

In the past I had considered getting a Hamilton watch, but I couldn’t really get excited over the idea of field watch. I have owned too many field watches over the years.

Recently however, I noticed a collection of Hamilton watches in the window of a jewelry store and the Jazz Master Chronograph Auto caught my eye, specifically the rose gold case model. I went inside to take a closer look at it and was pleased with what I saw. The only flaw I saw was that the rose gold model came with a brown crocodile strap, and I prefer a black strap with rose gold.

That evening, I mentioned the watch to my wife and promptly forgot about it. She knew that I have been considering a new watch purchase- the IWC Portuguese Chrono, or the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso -but it hasn’t been an immediate pending decision. So imagine my joyful surprise when she gave it to me on the morning of my Confirmation along with my morning coffee. (YES!) My wife even had them switch out the croc wristband from brown to black, so if it was perfect.

I’ve worn it now for about three weeks and have been very pleased with it. It has a solid feel to it, like a quality watch should. The chronograph (stopwatch) goes up to 12 hours, which is ample time for measuring flights and daily tasks. It has a dressier appearance than my Rolex Submariner and once I adjusted and stretched out the croc leather band, the Jazz Master was a comfortable fit despite its large size. (In its thickness, it reminds me of a Panerai watch.)

On the back, it has a sapphire crystal display so that you can see the inner workings, and “Hamilton “ is etched on the rotar. The automatic wind up feature (by motion) works fairly well. I’ve only had to manually wind it a little between wears.

The crocodile leather strap is adjusted and secured via a double butterfly clasp, and an “H” is etched on the outside of the clasp.

The chronograph controls and readouts are pretty standard. The outer-upper-right button (above the crown) starts and stops the stopwatch, and the outer-lower-right button clears the time. What is normally the sweep second hand on the face, is in fact the seconds-hand for the chronograph. The normal time sweep second hand is in one of the small inner dials. The other two inner dials keep track of elapsed minutes and hours.

Because of the three inner dials, the date function is moved to just below the 4 on the face, and yet the watch face remains classically balanced in appearance. The date can be set by either moving the hours forward with the crown, or faster by pushing an indented button on the inner side of the case (by the 10 on the face).

My one caveat is that Hamilton claims the watch is water resistant to 100 meters, but I wouldn’t put it to the test. It’s definitely a dress watch. I have a hard time picturing somebody actually diving into the ocean or pool with it (especially if left on the croc wristband). I wouldn’t trust the seals on the chronograph buttons, and saltwater could easily harm the finish.

Overall, the watch is classical in design, masculine, understated, and comfortable despite its large size. It was a great gift and I’m very pleased with it. Thanks hon!

JP

“Some people think luxury is the opposite of poverty. It is not. It is the opposite of vulgarity.” Coco Chanel

SPECS-
REFERENCE: H326460
NAME: JAZZMASTER CHRONO AUTO
MOVEMENT: Swiss Automatic Mechanical ETA 7753
POWER RESERVE: 42 Hours
WATER RESISTANCE: 10 ATM or 100 Meters (But I wouldn't put it to the test.)
REF STRAP: brown croc leather # H600.326.105 (NOTE- I changed mine out for Black)

Goodbye Columbus, Philip Roth

2009-06-21T23:29:00.008-05:00

I found this old book I hadn’t picked up in years, and got reacquainted with it this weekend. This collection of stories was Philip Roth's first book, and was published in 1959.

Jewish assimilation into American society is the common theme through all the stories.

“Dress British, Think Yiddish,” is always great advice; and summer reading is always best with large quantities of ice tea.

Barbour in Facebook

2009-06-19T11:37:00.012-05:00

You can now comment on Barbour in Facebook.

For info on how to wax a Barbour Jacket, click here; for a review by me on the Barbour Beaufort Jacket, click here.

JP

PS- "How To Wax A Barbour" is the most often visited page on my blog.

South Beach Diet

2009-06-16T23:13:00.006-05:00

My wife and I started on the South Beach Diet this week. (I’m trying to bring down my cholesterol.) We’re in Phase One, which means I can’t have sugar or carbs or alcohol.

I find I have a strange longing for gummi bears.

JP

(painting- 1922, Women Running on the Beach, by Pablo Picasso)

Peter Drucker? Never heard of him.

2009-06-13T22:45:00.007-05:00

Our Official RedFlagsMadeEasy Corporate Compensation Meeting Minutes:

Perpetuum Jazzile's Africa

2009-06-09T22:36:00.005-05:00

This is Perpetuum Jazzile, having fun, and singing an a cappella version of Toto’s Africa, complete with rain storm like sounds. I like the way they scat the instrument portions. Kudos to them on a very imaginative job!

According to their Facebook page, they’re a Slovenian jazz choir and celebrated their 25th birthday in 2008.

If your taste is more towards the 70’s, click here to see them do a Bee Gees medley. Some unintended comedy in this.

JP

Separated at Birth?

2009-06-05T22:11:00.025-05:00

This is Frenchman Philippe Petain who ran Vichy France for the Germans after he surrendered the country to them during World War II.

This is Fritz Henderson, who will now run GM. He was just made the new CEO of GM by the Federal Government. Initial news reports state he “embraces change,” and looks forward to working with the Obama administration. The newly released decree is, “GM is not going out of business, it’s getting down to business.”

Of course to understand the context of this swap of ousted CEO Rick Wagoner, for the new "Government Motors" CEO is to truly understand the meaning of the French word “pis-aller.”

N'est-ce pas?

JP

PS- Maybe GM will finally sell Saab to someone who actually "gets" Saab. GM's ownership of Saab, and their failure to grasp what Saab owners want from a Saab, has been a source of frustration to Saab enthusiasts for a while now.

Confirmation

2009-06-04T23:01:00.011-05:00

After five months of meetings and homework, my Adult Catholic Confirmation Class finally received Confirmation and Communion last Saturday!

My wife and I had grown concerned about secular influence in our lives and decided to make a greater faith commitment. For me, Confirmation was the next logical choice. There was a question as to whether I had received Confirmation as an infant, and I decided to put the issue to rest.

The guy with big hat is Bishop Gregory Aymond who was a prominent critic of Notre Dame over the recent Obama commencement speech controversy. The priest to the right of the Bishop is Fr. Larry Covington who recently advised me on various end-of-life issues with my Dad.

Congratulations to everyone on a job well done!

JP

Madoff Schadenfreude

2009-05-29T22:35:00.025-05:00

The current June issue of Vanity Fair has an interesting article on Bernie Madoff.

In the article Madoff’s former personal secretary, Eleanor Squillari, provides a glimpse of the personal dynamics of Bernie Madoff, his immediate family, and the commotion that transpired upon his arrest. The Madoff news story has a little bit of everything- an engaging mountebank, the surprising banality of evil, avarice, Manhattan gossip, and an uber-large dose of schadenfreude.

The Vanity Fair website also has related articles, describing how Madoff used the “con of exclusivity,” to take peoples’ money. In a January web article, writer Marie Brenner describes-

"Madoff masked the predator in the cloak of the familiar. His clothes said London—Barbour jackets, cashmere sweaters...

Madoff had used the Studio 54 approach, the con of exclusivity. He understood the swamp of insecurities that lay underneath many of his clients’ designer clothes, their face-lifts, their need to be part of an insiders’ club. A former governor of the New York Stock Exchange had once gone to see Madoff on behalf of a client who wanted to invest. “I don’t need your money,” Madoff told him, “and I don’t discuss my investments.” Then he ushered him out the door...

We rode a decade in which people conferred special status on those who lived in $30 million apartments, leased NetJets, and filled their closets with $5,000 purses. Did Bernard Madoff see his opportunities and seize them, or did the casino atmosphere in New York spawn the ordinary man in the Barbour coat who would become the greatest con artist of all time? Madoff provided his victims with a mirage of an impossible dream house—with investments that paid 12 percent in good times and bad—and their tragedy and ours was that they believed him..."

And while restitution for the Ponzi scheme victims seems unlikely, federal law enforcement has begun the seizure of Madoff "personal" assets as well. (I'm assuming they have already seized all assets within the Madoff financial firm.)

As of this writing, I have not read of any charges being brought against his wife, Ruth Madoff, but some reports exist that she made significant cash withdrawals just prior to her husband's arrest. The New York Post reported that Ruth Madoff was “fighting to hold on to her $7 million Manhattan apartment, $45 million in cash and $17 million in bonds…
(meanwhile) U.S. Marshals have seized Bernie's $1.5 million, 55-foot yacht, ‘Bull’ from its slip in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
They also seized a 24-foot-long boat named "Little Bull," that was also moored in Fort Lauderdale.
They've also seized a 55-foot, $7 million yacht in the South of France.”

A little more schadenfreude, anyone?

Read
Madoff Schadenfreude Part 2

Memorial Day 2009

2009-05-25T15:34:00.011-05:00

Below is a comment I put on the NPR site. NPR carried the story about Specialist Boyd's exploits against the Taliban while wearing pink boxer shorts; and someone had lamented (via comment) how he “wanted to be spared the soft-delivery Memorial Day news,” and how NPR should instead “hype” a “Peace Day or Diplomacy Day…” I normally don’t get rankled by internet stuff but on Memorial Day Weekend the naive and spoiled dismissive tone of the lib comment annoyed me. My response-

My Comment-
“Even in pink boxers, Texans kick butt!

(Although I fear Specialist Boyd is going to get mercilessly kidded about the incident by his fellow soldiers.)

Today, I sometimes hear people parrot the old trite clichés, “Violence has never solved anything,” or “War is not the answer.” Actually violence has a very effective way of resolving things (ask the people of ancient Carthage), and war can often be the answer (ask George Washington); especially when threatened by arbitrary death by people with blind hatred and envy. It’s easy to mouth empty pacifist platitudes while under the protection of the U.S. military. The real test of pacifist notion is whether the caitiff would utter the same empty rhetoric as say a Polish-Jew circa 1933; or as a burkha clad woman in a stadium who is about to be shot in the back of the head for crimes against Allah. It’s good to remember that Memorial Day is not just a three-day weekend.”

John P.

Postscript- Veteran Related News- A friend in the State Department just let me know that Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry (former commander of US forces in Afghanistan) has just been named by direct Congressional Appointment as our Ambassador to Afghanistan.

I served with General Eikenberry while assigned to the JSA (Joint Security Area at Pan Mun Jom) in 1984; he was a Major then and I was the group Ammo/Demo NCO. He was a good man and a good officer, and I was always impressed with his leadership.

I remember I was promoted to Sergeant that winter, and while walking over to shake my hand he almost slipped and broke his neck on the ice. That would not have been a good thing for the United States Army.

John P.

The First G&T of the Summer

2009-05-21T22:05:00.010-05:00

Today I decided it was close enough to Memorial Day Weekend to have my first Gin and Tonic (G&T) of the summer.

I had already received my supply of California summer lemons from my brother-in-law’s back yard lemon tree, and G (my yellow Lab) was sunning himself on the front lawn. So I decided to jump the gun on the calendar and join him, with my favorite summer drink in hand.

As always, thanks for the lemons Robert!

For my perfect G&T recipe click here.

G's Life Philosophy-
“Let us drink and be merry, dance, joke and rejoice,
With claret and sherry, theorbo and voice!
The changeable world to our joy is unjust…

For health, wealth and beauty, wit, learning and sense,
Must all come to nothing a hundred years hence.”
- Thomas Jordan

JP

Lord Alfred Tennyson

2009-05-18T23:09:00.015-05:00

Finding myself in need of inspiration.
Re-reading Tennyson's poem Ulysses, I particularly like the line-"that which we are, we are."

'T is not too late to seek a newer world...

Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

-Ulysses in its entirety.

Casual Friday in Afghanistan

2009-05-17T09:17:00.006-05:00

This photo has made several news services. It’s not everyday you see a soldier fighting the Taliban in pink boxer shorts that read “I love New York.”

The news service stated Zachary Boyd, 19, was woken up by a Taliban assault on his platoon and "only had time to grab his weapon, helmet and body armour before springing into action."

“I knew he was a boxer guy. I knew that for sure. I did not know they were pink, and I didn't know they said, 'I love New York,' “ father Tommy Boyd told his local Texas radio station WBAP.

Even in pink boxers, Texans kick butt.

Follow up news story- fox news.

JP

Source of the Swine Flu Discovered

2009-04-30T06:52:00.010-05:00

This photo has been circulating on the internet and I just couldn't resist.

Below is a just released snapshot of patient zero, and the official CDC site.

CDC Swine Flu Info

Oh Canada! (And Labs, wet fur and all, are from Newfoundland)

2009-04-18T22:55:00.009-05:00

This morning my wife found out she’s Canadian.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Canada just passed a new law which “bestows citizenship to what its government believes could be hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting foreigners, most of them Americans.” The April 17 amendment to Canada’s Citizenship Act grants citizenship to the first generation born abroad to a Canadian citizen, and my wife’s mother is Canadian.

Imagine our surprise, Eh?

As part of this new tidbit of knowledge, my wife has requested that from now on I formally consult her on the purchase of any beer for the household.

The other news this morning was the weather. We had thunderstorms in central Texas and the dogs got extremely wet when I took them outside. I dried them off as best I could before bringing them in again, but they were still pretty damp when they came back into the bedroom.

Barbour has a cologne that somebody once joked must “smell like the idyllic and charming essence of wet Labradors in the back of the Land Rover.” Well I’m here to tell you that there are many adjectives to describe the bouquet of wet Labradors, but idyllic and charming are probably not it.

Below is a snapshot of my Black Lab lying down next to my bed in order to insure I get the full effect of his charming wet fur smell as I drink my morning coffee.

Incidentally, Labradors originated in Newfoundland so they were thrilled with Sue's renewed ties with Canada.

JP

A Minimalist Approach, men's stuff part seven

2009-04-13T21:29:00.017-05:00

Some blogs I follow have started a commentary on what a man should carry on his everyday person. Some men insist on being loaded for bear, others prefer a minimalist approach.

I fall more under the minimalist category, or as my wife commented, "A functional minimalist." Here are my choices and their reasons-

1. A pen, a black Mont Blanc my wife gave me for my birthday. So that I don’t have to touch the germy pens offered at restaurants or stores.
2. Business Cards & Personal Cards in a thin leather card case; because you never know who you may run into, plus they’re useful for jotting down notes.
3. Reading glasses, an unfortunate “must” since I turned forty.
4. My mobile phone, a small Blackberry Pearl, carried in my sport jacket- or left in my car, briefcase, or desk if I’m not wearing a jacket. (I dislike carrying it in my pant pockets.) The Blackberry has my complete schedule, tasks list and rolodex on it and has become a valuable tool.
5. Wallet, a thin leather money clip, containing two credit cards, drivers license, health insurance card (for the wallet autopsy by EMS) plus ones and Fives for tipping. Again, the objective is no bulk, and carried in my right-front pant pocket.
6. At least one dog biscuit. They say money can't buy you love, but a dog biscuit can.

My main predicament is always what to do with car keys. To that end I like to wear a sport coat because it makes it easier to spread the personal items around thereby avoiding bulk in any one pocket. Of course a better solution would be to have a car and driver and never touch a steering wheel again, but that’s an entirely different conversation.

(Above, G approves of my "functional" minimalist approach- so long as I keep scratching his chin. Below, my everyday gear minus the dog biscuit- which G ate just before the snap was taken.)