Off to Visit Mother Russia

  Blog entries will be few and far between (perhaps even nonexistent) over the next couple of weeks.  I’m taking my 3 boys to visit my brother in Moscow.  (My brother James Pettit is currently the Consul General at the Moscow American Embassy).

Access to a computer for blog entries will be fleeting–much of my time to be spent doing quality control of the local vodka, and my continuing search for a Russian mail-order bride.

Back in mid-July with pictures!  (But check periodically–I might get some free time…)

Little known Russian fact: Vladimir Putin has a black belt in judo.

Don’t get me wrong…

…I don’t like terrorists any more than the next guy.

But the whole Guantanamo prison situation (into its 4th year without trials–golly, without even charges) has been making me increasingly uncomfortable.  As you’ve heard, the US Supreme Court agrees.

For one thing, I was a little unclear on the pros and cons with respect to the continued detention without charges.  Then along came Stephen Colbert to explain it for me:

A World Cup Article for Math Majors

  Here is an interesting article regarding application of Game Theory to penalty kicks.  Links to a scholarly treatise on the subject, and a link to a video of a notorious penalty kick in the 1994 World Cup that cost Italy the championship.

Read it for when you need to know whether to dive right or dive left.

Forgive Me: Going for the Cheap Laughs Again…

Aw, c’mon–it’s FUNNY!

Comic Book Heaven

  One of the first things I wrote about on this blog was my nostalgia for old comic books.  I stated that the comic book companies were missing the boat by not putting out DVDs with those old comics that we Boomers grew up with, and mentioned that MAD Magazine had done so years ago.

Lo and behold you can get 40 years worth of the entire X-Men catalog now on DVD for about 40 bucks.  (Don’t worry, boys, I already ordered it for you.  Um, can I read them too?)

I’m not a big X-Men fan–not sure I’ve even ever read one.  But, Lordy, if they ever get around to putting out all of the old DC Comics–Superman, Batman, Aquaman, etc.–I’ll be retiring that much earlier.

I know I sound nerdy here–I’m not one of those guys with a stack of comics lying around the house encased in plastic.  Matter of fact, I don’t own a single comic book.  (Thanks to Mom!)

But to have all of them, every issue, as close as my computer.  Goodness…

“The Cult of the Suicide Bomber”

   “Suicide Barbie”

I just watched this documentary hosted by former CIA agent Robert Baer (upon whom the George Clooney role in Syriana was modeled).  I’m not giving it a “star rating”, because it was not that kind of movie.

Very interesting though, and recommended.  Mr. Baer has incredible access to the families of the bombers, Middle Eastern military and religious leaders,  and others.  I was unaware of the extent to which the “martyrs” are celebrated on billboards which appear to be everywhere.

Watch it and let me know what needs to be done to put an end to this.  Praying that our One True God kicks their One True God’s butt doesn’t seem to be getting it done…

 

This Month’s Stock Pick!

 Without all that much enthusiasm, I’m going with Valley National Gases, Inc. (VLG).  Read about it here.

It’s hard to have much enthusiasm lately for the market.  It’s been a nasty couple of months that has actually impacted me enough that I’m sure I’ll have to push my planned year-end retirement back a ways.  I’m still up 7% for the year (DOW only up 2% and NASDAQ down almost 5%), but I was getting spoiled there for a while…

“As recently as 1956, 400 members of Princeton’s graduating class went on to serve in the military. In 2004, nine graduates did so.”

You can write your own article about that.

Story here.

(Whether you loved or hated Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, you had to wryly appreciate the segment where he was asking the Congressmen to sign their children up to serve in the military…)

When Men Were Men

Ladies and Gentlemen: The Brothers of the Delta Gamma Chapter of Alpha Sigma Phi before Nintendo was even invented and we had to make our own fun.

This was one of the few moments of sobriety during last weekend’s reunion.  (Well–the guy in the back middle wasn’t all that sober, come to think of it…)

Plans are already in the works for another reunion next year. 

Ya shoulda been there…

World Cup–Now That the USA Is Out…

  Um–I can’t remember what I was going to say–but it was something about why I like Brazil…

For more reasons (like this one) to keep watching World Cup Soccer, check out this site.