Long Time no Hear…

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Unbelievably, my last bog post—a quote—was way back in October! But then again, it's that time of year when everything gets ridiculously busy followed by a few weeks of absolute quiet (I'm talking about work here). In addition, I had a fairly bad cold over Thanksgiving and lost my voice for almost two weeks; I'm still trying to get rid of that last little bit of it that's hanging on in my chest.

So what exactly have I been up to, you wonder? Well, pretty much the ususal. The exception was Anime Vegas over the Veterans Day weekend which was lots of fun (and lots of work) as usual. I'm proud to say that our annual Charity Auction—this year to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society—set a record at $6,019.00, nearly double last year's take. I had the chance to see old friends again and make some new ones, and as part of the Guest Relations staff it's always a blast meeting our visiting voice actors and others.

Another big thing that happened is that I'm exiting the market. on “Black Friday” I sold my last remaining shares in Amgen and have used the procedds to wipe out around 30% of my non-mortgage debt. I only have a couple of small mutual funds left to go before the end of the year. Why? I have very little faith in the economy, stock market or political situation in the country, especially following the disastrous presidential election results. It's only going to get worse, so cashing out while taxes are lower and market prices are reasonably high seems like a good idea. Paying down debt is helping to ease my mind and hopefully pave the way for other big plans in 2013. Next big project will be to start selling all my worldy possessions…

Finally, just yesterday I receive my Brydge+ keyboard for iPad and it has greatly simplified doing lots of text work on the go. In fact, I'm writing this post sitting at Egg Plantation in Newhall, CA, where I've just finished lunch. I'm attaching a quick photo below, but expect an actual review of this wondrous piece of technology in the not-too-distant future.

 

Politics Make Us Worse

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Many believe greater political participation is the path to both prosperity and virtue. But they’re wrong. Increasing the sphere of politics instead leads to bad policy and increased vice.

So this is an excellent essay by Aaron Ross Powell from the Cato Institute. He couldn’t be more correct. Our nation–indeed, the world–is awash in political BS. So much so, that people in general and politicians in particular can’t even seem to see straight anymore.  Everything has to have a political dimension? Why in the hell? And shouldn’t politics be about more than which team wins, whatever the cost?

My favorite part is the final sentence:

The only way to better both our world and ourselves—to promote good policies and virtue—is to abandon, to the greatest extent possible, politics itself.

By extension, then, we need  less and not more government since politics is government’s stock-in-trade…

Max

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At 10:45 this morning, I lost my last feline companion after 19 years together. It wasn’t unexpected, but it came altogether too suddenly…

In June 1993, I decided that it wasn’t right being the only living thing in my house, confirmed bachelor that I am. So I took a trip down to the West Valley Animal Shelter to find a kitten. I very nearly picked Max’s tan, orange and white sister from the litter of six–but the little orange one seemed more lively and interested. So Max came home with me, my first of two cats. He had an orange swirl pattern on his side and when he curled up for a nap he looked just like a little cinnamon bun…

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Today’s Quote: Krauthammer

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“What does Dan Cathy stating his opposition to gay marriage that is different that is incongruent with the position that the president of the United States, Barack Obama, held six months ago on the same issue?  He was opposed to gay marriage.  Does that mean for the first three-fourths of the presidency, he was a bigot?”

— Charles Krauthammer

Exactly. If you’re a lefty Marxist like the president, you get a free pass. And why does everything have to be politicized anyway? I eat at Chick-fil-A because they have tasty food, excellent service and reasonable prices. Life is far too short for irrelevant BS like this.

Today’s Quote: Prinz Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein

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“[people] have to free the state from all the unnecessary tasks and burdens with which it has been loaded during the last hundred years, which have distracted it from its two main tasks: maintenance of the rule of law and foreign policy.”

–Prinz Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein from his book The State in the Third Millennium

I came across this quote recently while rekindling my longtime interest in the Principality. I think it’s quite fascinating coming from one of the only remaining actual ruling monarchs in the world. More here from a Wikipedia article:

“Prince Hans-Adam II has written the political treatise The State in the Third Millennium (ISBN 9783905881042), which was published in late 2009. In it, he argues for the continued importance of the nation-state as a political actor. He makes the case for democracy as the best form of government, which he sees China and Russia as transitioning towards although the path will be difficult for these nations. He also declared his role in a royal family as something that has legitimacy only from the assent of the people. He stated that government should be limited to a small set of tasks and abilities…”

I’m seriously going to have to buy and read his book.

Today’s Quote: Madison

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“A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive will not long be safe companions to liberty.”

–James Madison

Yet another prescient quote from one of the greatest of our founding fathers. Just wait and see if he was right or not when unmanned drones start being routinely flown over the US now that it seems OK for the President to have a “Kill List”…