Month: September 2014

Robert Redford, the famous movie actor was an acquaintance of my father. It came about when my father was the superintendent of Deer Creek State Park, a few miles from Redford’s Sundance Ski Resort, and my Dad really liked him for making his ski resort remain a low-impact operation. I met Mr. Redford on several occasions during Ski Patrol testing and training exercises that I conducted at his ski area, and I was impressed with his dedication to conservation practices and his knowledge regarding environmental issues affecting our region.

My favorite photo of Mr. Redford portraying Jeremiah Johnson (a real Mountain Man) from the film of the same name. In the background is Redford’s Sundance Ski Area. Johnson was also called ‘Liver-eating Johnson’ locally in Utah because he ate the livers of his would-be Indian assassins to create fear in the others.

Mr. Redford has long been a champion of environmental causes that urge humans to live in harmony with nature, and he has put his money where his mouth is. And, the causes he supports largely revolve around solving urgent and pressing issues with Man vs. Nature.

But most environmental organizations, with a few exceptions like the semi-terrorist group ‘Earth First’ fall short of the true scope of the task facing humanity: the transformation of our technical and industrial society to painlessly mesh with the planet’s web of life. By this I mean careful consideration of resource use, limiting the encroachment of society on the eco-niches of other species, and devising sustainable living practices for the long term. The first thing we need to do is to educate everyone to the fact that Mother Nature never intended the human race to exceed the natural bounds of our habitat.

We, as humans, have no special rights to the planet. We are simply one species of many, with our own unique survival skills and adaptations. But, unlike other species, we have the brain power and knowledge to understand our position in the web of life, and our potential for destroying it through uncontrolled growth of our population, and excessive consumption of natural resources. I’ve blogged about this before, but it bears repeating:

The clock is ticking, and the time to make these wrenching changes to global societies is NOW. We cannot afford to shrug off the problem for future generations to deal with. It will require painful readjustments to our global value systems and beliefs, and many personal sacrifices. We no longer have the luxury of promulgating quaint regional social structures and political systems, or religious beliefs and practices that have a negative impact on the world’s ecosystems and our precious web of life.

Here is a thought experiment you might find interesting: There is a lot of talk (including mine) that proposes saving humanity by leaving the planet in spaceships. Well, it won’t change a thing until we change our ways. A ‘Spaceship’ colony can only carry so many crew and passengers. The hydroponic gardens of food plants, the labs that grow artificial meat, and the plumbing systems for water, waste disposal, and so forth max out if this shipboard population expands at all. In addition, even though it starts out as a sterile environment, the E.Coli in our gut WILL EVOLVE over time. Here is the danger: http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/e-coli-infection-topic-overview

So, the refugees from Planet Earth must live in a very controlled and unforgiving environment. Everyone on board must pull their weight and perform their duties if all are to survive. The word, ‘Freedom’ will have to be redefined. Scofflaws and excess humans will have to be ejected into space, and the crew members may still go ‘extinct’ from disease. What I am getting at is we already live on the ‘best’ spaceship we can possibly have, and we had better bite the bullet and make the hard changes needed to establish homeostasis. It will be easier to learn how to do this here on earth, instead of hoping we can do it inside a metal cylinder or an asteroid. This is ‘change’ we can all believe in. But, we need to learn what to do quickly. It starts with you and me. In the final analysis, it is what we do as individuals that matters the most.

After reviewing available products available to the general public, I purchased one of the finest self-defense handguns in the world (in my view). Coming from a family rich in the traditions of big game hunting, law enforcement, and military service, I decided some years ago to obtain a concealed weapons permit. Why? Because of the increasing activity of local drug gangs, violent and desperate illegal immigrants, and the adage that “you don’t need a gun, until you really need one, and quickly”. But mainly, it was because I realized that the course of old age (in my case) included becoming more cranky and unforgiving and at the same time withering away physically, diminishing in stature and stamina.

This could be a lethal combination for me in these troubled times, and I was determined to even the odds in any violent confrontation with some young tough. As my body is now skinny and emaciated compared to the days of my youth in the Strategic Air Command when frankly, I was an Apollo whose image could have been stamped on Greek coins; I had to conduct an exhaustive search for a handgun that I could actually conceal on my person, access rapidly, and fire accurately.

It also had to be reliable, easy to reload quickly and have sufficient firepower to bring down a flock of gang members decisively. I would rather kill them all in a firefight in one sitting than shoot one and depend on the police to go after the rest later. Well, here it is. It is very expensive ($908+ tax & shipping) compared to a Glock, and it’s the same 9mm caliber and can fire the same high-powered hollow point tactical rounds (1400fps hot load). But it is smaller, lighter, thinner, and can actually slip in the front pocket of my jeans or running shorts without the tell-tale bulge. 

My Kahr PM9093N with the standard 6+1 magazine and night sight 

    I had to wait months for the delivery, as this weapon has become a favorite of spies and undercover cops around the country, and when I got it, I was dying to see how accurate it was with the three-inch barrel. So, I called my neighbor who is a retired SWAT team trainer and asked if he would take me to the cop’s firing range to get some practice with it. Not knowing my background with firearms, he snickered for a moment, and then agreed, saying he needed a little comic relief. The snickering continued when he saw the gun, and we compared its size to his massive police-issue Glock and the even bigger .45 he was issued when he was in the Army Rangers. He decided to bring both guns to the range, and when we got there, he proceeded to set up his target about five meters away. I set mine up at about twice or more the distance, a range I was used to shooting with my old S&W .357 Magnum revolver.

As I came back to the firing line, he said, “You know, most gunfights occur within 10 feet of you and your adversary. You should train at the distance that I set my target at.”

“I just wanted to see just how good this short barrel is.” I replied

We both fired off a clip, me with my Kahr, and he with his Glock. My little gun did not kick nearly as hard as I expected, and we went out to inspect the targets. He had a group neatly over the heart area of the target. I had a wider grouping, but they were all head shots. He looked at me with new respect. “Where did you learn to shoot like that?”

I said, “Oh, my Dad taught me how to shoot when I was a kid, and the Air Force taught me about the .30 carbine in boot camp.”

I put 100 rounds down range that day without a jam, although the Kahr manual cautioned that it might jam in the first two hundred round ‘break-in period’. I’m very happy with my purchase. The best thing about this weapon is that it is double-action and does not feature a safety that you have to worry about.

Someone seems to be living in a fantasy land, and is headed for big trouble. I won’t name names, but I suspect this person spends a lot of time reading and rereading Nicolai Gogol’s 1835 novella, and is actually morphing into an instance of Tarus Bulba, the main character in the book. You be the judge:

Reinforcing this speculation is an in-depth article I read this morning about the rewriting of history taking place and being spoon-fed to an unsuspecting, confused, or perhaps exhausted population:   http://www.defenseone.com/threats/2014/09/how-russia-revolutionizing-information-warfare/93635/?oref=defenseone_today_nl 

When I mentioned all of this to a friend of mine who is a psychiatrist, he suggested that his behavior might instead be associated with repressed urges related to his recent banning of homosexuality in the country. Well, his efforts might be better spent on dealing with the global environmental crisis that is about to make us all extinct. The last thing we need is another war that consumes vital and irreplaceable resources while further polluting the air we all breath with greenhouse gasses, smoke, and perhaps, radioactive particles.

Of course, the problems of ISIL and revolutions in the Middle East and Africa are creating more immediate problems with the environment, and these will not go away easily; especially if Israel and Iran get into a shooting war. Nothing good will come from these insurrections; they are extensions of conflicts that started millennia ago. And let’s not forget the Asia region. China is the poster child for bad decisions related to industrialization, and regional conflicts rooted in disputes that started centuries ago. It seems we never learn from our mistakes. And, the USA is not above the fray. We have so mismanaged the wonderful untouched landscape of North America that the entire midsection of the country has lost its topsoil, and we have polluted the great glacial lakes, and drained most of the underground aquifers of their precious potable water. Severe droughts are now promoting huge and sometimes uncontrollable fires that are ravaging the Western states of the country.

We are all equally guilty for allowing this to go on. We must demand of our governments worldwide that they quit fooling around with political and religious differences, and start bailing out the leaking boat of humanity. We have to be relentless in our demands because the consequences of “fiddling while Rome burns’ are final, and our coming and going as a species will be recorded as a minor layer in the geological record.   

I have to confess that since I transitioned into semi-retirement, I have learned to day-trade stocks successfully. This is actually a curse because it robs me of time for doing more important things such as fly fishing for trout. Be that as it may, I watched the rollout of Apple’s Watch, and was amused from several aspects, not the least being the corporate imitation of Steve Jobs doing his thing. It was actually sort of creepy, but my interest in the potential technological leap overcame my skepticism. You see, I can claim to be an expert in the business of digital watchmaking and marketing (see my LinkedIn profile). At the same time, I watched my several computer screens track the real-time moves in the company’s stock. At the opening today, it surged to new heights, only to drop back down after the rollout.

Why? In my view it was perceived as another clunky gadget, somewhat better than the other ‘Smart’ watches being offered by various manufacturers in Europe and Asia. Now, there is no doubt that Apple will sell a ton of these things because they are promoting the perception that is a ‘Cool’ product. And, at the piece point, it is not a bad deal—if you’re a nerd. But folks, HERE is a Cool product, more like Dick Tracy’s device, and it was a hot seller in 1946:

And, here is a Hitachi design that I think is far more elegant than the Apple product, but still a personal accessory that only a nerd could love:

I don’t know if this was ever prototyped  

With my own business, I helped make the LCD watch a practical time keeping device but, in trying to OEM the product to traditional watchmakers in the USA and Switzerland, I learned an important lesson: Watches are largely a sub-set of fashion jewelry. It wasn’t until the Japanese copied our original designs and perfected them, that mass marketing brought the price down into a range where the average person could afford them. And, who wears a digital watch nowadays? I submit that it is only those who cannot afford a Rolex or even better, the offerings of Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, and Patek Philippe. I guess time will tell (to make a bad pun). In closing, I believe it won’t be too long before a device in the form of a brain implant will be available that supersedes Smartphones, Google Glass, and similar products; but the jewelry will remain, including the humble wristwatch.

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No special educational certificates are required for  a candidate with an outstanding track record, and no disclosures of personal matters beyond criminal and security background information will be necessary. However, honesty, a dedication to truth, forthrightness, and skill in playing Chess or Poker are mandatory requirements. Lawyers need not apply.

In particular, the candidate will have the ability to frequently communicate situations, outcomes, and choices clearly to the population, and motivate popular action when required. He or She shall identify for the people those problems that are intractable at present or those that require further study, and those that are amenable to near-term solution. The successful candidate will then present a detailed action plan with timelines to the people within 60 days of assuming office.

Candidates who are self-sufficient and agree to forego salary, retirement, health, and other special benefits will be given special consideration.