SWCAMBORNE

“When you don’t understand, think. If you still don’t understand, ask.”

Unknown

1972 was the last time that an anti-war candidate for President met a less anti-war candidate for President. And Richard Nixon beat George McGovern in a rout.

Gottlieb lost in 1971

Popular sentiment during that summer seemed to be against the Vietnam War and polls showed that McGovern would win, but when people went into the voting booth they were more likely to choose the guy with the “secret plan to win” than the one who said we had already lost. The lesson to be learned is that people are more patriotic in the voting booth than they are in public opinion polls.

Baseball players spit. It is part of the ritual. They all used to chew tobacco so spitting was a requirement. Now it is part of the tradition and if it doesn’t change it will kill the game. Spitting when you are 50 or so feet away from someone at a game is not to gross. A player spitting during a radio broadcast of a game is hardly noted.

Spitting on TV is disgusting but not horrible. But spitting in a close up on HDTV is beyond disgusting and enters the realm of “please don’t make me watch.” The pictures are so vivid you can see the color of the spit. We don’t want to see this and people will tune out to avoid seeing it. By the way public spitting is against the law.

Can baseball save itself? Can players change a deep seated behavior? Think about this: basketball players in a much more strenuous sport don’t spit. It is time to stop spitting and save baseball.

Here is a prediction:

The lead paint in toys recalls will turn into concern about all older toys. Many parents and grandparents will discard all old the the old toys that they have. As a result there will be higher than usual purchases of new toys this years. But because of increased inspections for flaws the supply chain will be less full than usual. As a result prices will stay firm and toy manufacturers and and retailers will make more money than expected.

This prediction will be testable in January 2008

Nurit and I had dinner with Cindy and Harvey Richmond on Sunday night. Cindy was a college friend of mine and we reconnected in April of this year. Harvey and I were in the same fraternity and competed to see who was the poorest member.  I promised in my blog posting in April that I would buy some of her art. She, Cindy Packard Richmond is a very talented artist and on this trip we were able to buy two of her paintings.

An oil of some garlic that I loved

And a pastel of a marsh that Nurit loved

We went to their beautiful suburban Washington DC house

and chose two painting we liked right off their walls. It felt like a very in-crowd thing and perhaps a bit illicit.

We then went to a very nice restaurant, name to follow when I remember it, nearby and Cindy bought dinner. The food was excellent and the company was even better.

Life is good.

Master of the Universe

Yes that is a picture of me at the top of Mt Wilson. On Friday the 31st of August I climbed to the top of Mount Wilson and back.

It was about 19 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 4750 feet.

The weather was perfect for hiking. I started out at 6am with my usual supplies for a walk to Henninger plus an extra 4 liters of water and some snacks.

Dawn on the trail

I had hiked about an hour above Henninger a few weeks ago and thought that I was within an hour of the summit of Mt Wilson. I was off by an hour or two.

Not there yet

The round trip took about 10 hours and at the end I was tired but still had enough energy to go over to Huntington Hospital and visit Gary D. More on that story later.

This was going to be my first of several full day hikes in preparation for climbing Mt Whitney in September but fate has intervened. Gary D’s illness and the delayed completion of our remodel mean that I have run out of time. I’m going to put my name in the lottery for next year and will keep working on this goal. Stay tuned.

In this brilliant letter one British politician uses sarcasm to point out how ridiculous another politician’s policy is:

Rt Hon David Miliband MP
Secretary of State,
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA),
Nobel House
17 Smith Square
London SW1P 3JR

16 May 2007

Dear Secretary of State,

My friend, who is in farming at the moment, recently received a cheque for £3,000 from the Rural Payments Agency for not rearing pigs. I would now like to join the “not rearing pigs” business.

In your opinion, what is the best kind of farm not to rear pigs on, and which is the best breed of pigs not to rear? I want to be sure I approach this endeavour in keeping with all government policies, as dictated by the EU under the Common Agricultural Policy.

I would prefer not to rear bacon pigs, but if this is not the type you want not rearing, I will just as gladly not rear porkers. Are there any advantages in not rearing rare breeds such as Saddlebacks or Gloucester Old Spots, or are there too many people already not rearing these?

As I see it, the hardest part of this programme will be keeping an accurate record of how many pigs I haven’t reared. Are there any Government or Local Authority courses on this?

My friend is very satisfied with this business. He has been rearing pigs for forty years or so, and the best he ever made on them was £1,422 in 1968. That is – until this year, when he received a cheque for not rearing any.

If I get £3,000 for not rearing 50 pigs, will I get £6,000 for not rearing 100?

I plan to operate on a small scale at first, holding myself down to about 4,000 pigs not raised, which will mean about £240,000 for the first year. As I become more expert in not rearing pigs, I plan to be more ambitious, perhaps increasing to, say, 40,000 pigs not reared in my second year, for which I should expect about £2.4 million from your department. Incidentally, I wonder if I would be eligible to receive tradable carbon credits for all these pigs not producing harmful and polluting methane gases?

Another point: These pigs that I plan not to rear will not eat 2,000 tonnes of cereals. I understand that you also pay farmers for not growing crops. Will I qualify for payments for not growing cereals to not feed the pigs I don’t rear?

I am also considering the “not milking cows” business, so please send any information you have on that too. Please could you also include the current Defra advice on set aside fields? Can this be done on an e-commerce basis with virtual fields (of which I seem to have several thousand hectares)?

In view of the above you will realise that I will be totally unemployed, and will therefore qualify for unemployment benefits.

I shall of course be voting for your party at the next general election.

Yours faithfully,

Nigel Johnson-Hill

Thanks to Matt B of Holdtrade, UK for sending this on to me.

The market is not fair to everyone in the short run but central planning is not fair to anyone in the long run.

In a beautiful ceremony at the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles on August 19th I was presented with the plaque above for my web site and writing in support of the Mexican people.

I gave the Consul, Ruben Beltran, an original map showing the US Mexico border in 1841.

Thanks to Joel G for organizing the event and for his continued good humored support of my efforts with regard to immigration.

Read the press release.

“There are no bad ideas.”

Simon Burrow