Take Me To Your Leader

Posted on January 14, 2015 by RegenAxe

Futuristic 1932 Diving Helmet

Anne and I were trying to get our daily constitutional in one day last week, when it was so freaking cold out that we elected to walk to the grocery store and back. We figured that we could get our miles in and have a warmup break halfway through the walk. As we were outbound, we passed a neighbor’s house and noticed that there was a paper box in their front yard. Only instead of being one of the normal yellow or blue paper boxes that are commonly found about town, this one was olive-green, with multicolored speckles embedded in the paint. In its window, in bright pink lettering, was the message, “I WANT TO BE YOUR PRESIDENT”, in all caps. I opened the box and took one of the white broadsheets from inside. It was too cold to read it there, but when we got to the store, I examined it further. On one side of the sheet was just the pink headline, but on the other side was a rather lengthy black and white text. It was printed in 12-point Times New Roman. Interestingly, you could see the outline of the strips of text, where individual words, phrases or whole sentences had been cut out and then pasted together, just like a kidnapper would do to write their ransom note. Occasionally though individual letters were capitalized by hand-printing, like at the start of a sentence. All of this cutting and pasting and printing had been photo copied, so that on the sheet that I held, only the faint outlines of the process remained.

Reading the text, it became clear that it was an acceptance speech that someone would give if they were nominated to be our president. There was nothing odd in the speech, at least not compared to its delivery method. Its gist seemed relatively mainstream, full of solemn platitudes and promises. The only hint that I could find for any political motivation to manufacture such a document was at the very bottom of the page and in the tiniest font imaginable. It explained that this speech was an amalgamation of Barack Obama’s 2008 and Mitt Romney’s 2012 party convention’s acceptance speeches. I’m still wondering what sort of message this person was trying to convey. I mean, a lot of work went into this project. Maybe when the temperature gets above freezing again, I’ll ask them. I’m also left to wonder, hasn’t this person heard of the Internet? In 2016, Obama will not be running again for president, but just this week Romney announced that he is going to make a third try for election. This was in response to Jeb Bush’s gathering momentum in his attempt to be the third President Bush. As if, the first two Bush presidencies were such rollicking success stories. Isn’t there a law against third terms? Still, there is the alternative of another Clinton. It seems strange to me that the gene pool for president has dwindled so much.

I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I’ll get on my knees and pray
We don’t get fooled again
– The Who, “Won’t Get Fooled Again”

Team America – LA Style

Posted on December 19, 2014 by RegenAxe

Dan at the Los Angeles Gun Club

This photo of Dan was taken by one of his friends when they visited the Los Angeles Gun Club’s range last weekend. It is located close to Dan’s studio. He was going for a Frenchman look with his attire, like Pepé Le Pew. Two visiting Austrians wanted to experience something American. So why not shoot something? They rented three guns, a Winchester that Dan is seen holding. This one was his favorite of the three. I’m thinking The Rifleman, but I’m sure that that is a TV references too old for Dan. The others were a revolver and an AR-15 that had been re-chambered to accept pistol rounds. Also in attendance was a couple that was no longer a couple. The woman chose a full torso target and aimed for a very sensitive spot near the bottom of the silhouette. She wanted to mess with her ex. According to Dan she had a tight grouping. Think Lorena Bobbitt goes to the gun range.

Also in LA news, even crowding out the Pope’s landmark deal between the US and Cuba this week, has been Sony’s, The Interview, debacle. Seth Rogen and James Franco have apparently come up emptier than a North Korean villager’s lunchbox with their assassination comedy about the rotund ruler Kim Jong-Un. According to a friend of Dan’s who saw the LA press screening of The Interview, it was a movie not worth banning.

America, F— Yeah!

Gas Wars

Posted on December 3, 2014 by RegenAxe

Stellar Jay at Nepenthe

Remember those pre-gas crises price wars that would sometimes occur. Two gas stations on opposite corners would go toe-to-toe with each other in a gas war. It was fun to drive through those intersections every day, because each new day would bring a lower gas price. I image that post OPEC these gas wars do still occur, but not with the same frequency or ferocity as before. That is until the local gas war graduated to one of global dimensions. A worldwide gas war is now being fought between OPEC, or more specifically Saudi Arabia and North Dakota, by which I mean fracking. Fracking has greatly increased US oil production, given us greater energy independence then we have enjoyed in decades and lowered the global price of oil, albeit not without a serious environmental impact. All the while OPEC and other energy producers have continued to leave their spigots wide open. In just a few years crude oil prices have plummeted by a third and continue to freefall. When oil was running $100 per barrel, fracking was highly profitable, but fracking is expensive. It is estimated that this technique has a breakeven point of $75 a barrel. Prices are currently running $67. As in any gas war both sides suffer and eventually one side breaks. Either the frackers go from boom to bust or OPEC knuckles under. Not all members of OPEC are well positioned to weather this price war. So far, this war is all goodness to us consumers. We pay less at the pump, this nationally translates into a free $75B tax cut and for the first time in ten years economists are forecasting a 3% US GDP growth in 2015. Like WW II was to the Great Depression, this gas war maybe to the Great Recession. This time, no blood was spilled, just oil.

I have bet twice on oil and it looks like I’ll lose twice. In 2011, I bought a Prius when oil was high. That old adage, buy low, sell high, now comes to mind. I also bet on high gas prices with the Perma-Bear. Back in 2008, when the economy was tanking, he bet that gas would hit $2 a gallon and I bet that it would hit $5 first, here in Saint Louis. We each agreed that the loser would pay for a gallon of gas. Those 2.5:1 odds were just too tempting. A few years ago, when gas was flirting with $5, I had to remind him of our bet. He remembers it now though. Today, I filled up at $2.37 and another guy paid $2.25. A friend of a friend analyzes oil prices for the Air Force and predicts that gas in Saint Louis will hit $2 a gallon in a month. I fully intend to pay off my wager, but with quickly deflating gas prices, I wonder how quickly I should do that. In 2008, I was working daily with the Perma-Bear, now not so much. If I could duck him for a week or two, or even a month, would my debt fall from $2 to $1.75, or even $1.50? After all, I’m still making car payments.

They Just Won’t Go Away

Posted on December 1, 2014 by RegenAxe

Ice Skaters at Steinberg Ice Rink

“They just won’t go away”, said FOX announcer, Joe Buck, of the Saint Louis Cardinals, after they had tied Game 6 of the 2011 World Series, for the second time. That game that series was a highpoint in recent Saint Louis history. I think that the same can now be said of this year’s Ferguson protests. We spoke with, actually listened to at length, to a black man that we have known since he was a boy. Dave and he have been friends for most of their lives. He is currently actively involved in the #Ferguson movement on multiple levels. He contributes both as an organizer and as a medic. As an organizer he seems keenly aware of the movement’s protest strategy and nonviolent goals and as a medic, he has been an eyewitness to this last week’s most violent confrontations. His recount of these confrontations are different from what we have seen in the media. He has always impressed me with his caring nature. I guess that is what has drawn him to this struggle, he cares. In his telling, he reminded me of a 60s Freedom Rider. His halting, deadpan explanations of events added a veracity, a sincerity to his telling that spoke truth. Joe Buck ended that Game 6 broadcast with his father’s statement, “We’ll see you tomorrow!” Yes we will, yes we will.

Rock-n-Roll Craft Show

Posted on November 29, 2014 by RegenAxe

Cherokee Lemp Historic District

In the world of retail, yesterday was Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year, but today is Shop Local Saturday, a day where conscientious shoppers eschew big box chain stores for the little shop around the corner. Originally, Anne wanted to go to the Maplewood business district and do some early Christmas shopping there. She was even onboard with cycling there, not that cycling to Maplewood would have given us many miles. Then I read in the paper that their big Christmas street party is the next weekend. So we tabled that idea for later.

Nat, one of our Facebook friends, did a shout out about the Rock-n-Roll Craft Show that she was doing on Cherokee Street. That sounded much better to me. After another cup of coffee, we mounted-up and headed-out. We rode through Forest Park and Tower Grove Park. We also rode through the Shaw neighborhood and South Grand, both scenes this week of demonstrations and violence in the aftermath of the Michael Brown grand jury announcement.

Everywhere was quiet, but none more than Tower Grove Park, which was eerily so. Tower Grove Park is sandwiched between the Shaw neighborhood and South Grand. We arrived safely at the Rock-n-Roll Craft Show, which featured live music and crafts for sale. Go figure. Anne went in to shop, while I waited outside with the bikes and all of the other people with Y-chromosomes. On the way home the weather really warmed up and both parks were full of people.

Flotsam, Jetsam and Ferguson

Posted on November 25, 2014 by RegenAxe

Flotsam

Well, that didn’t go all that well. I’m speaking of last night’s events in Ferguson. For weeks now, every elected official from Governor Jay Nixon (D) on down has been proclaiming to the public that come the grand jury announcement, law enforcement would be ready to deal with any violent unrest. I guess that that was just a bunch of hot air. Today, Nixon announced that he was going to send in 2,200 Missouri National Guardsmen. He is just a day late and many dollars in damage short.

Because of last night’s violence, Anne’s and many other Saint Louis area school districts had no classes today. My employer was not so inclined. I had to work. I was offered additional words of warning and asked to be especially careful during my commute, because much of last night’s violence occurred only a mile or two from where I work. The security guards were doing their part though. They were driving their menacing white Priuses around, with the rooftop yellow lights flashing all day. I guess that they have been promoted to the rank of mall cops for the duration.

I watched Saint Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch (D) read the grand jury’s decision last night. As an elected official, this is the kind of task that is best avoided. The decision, no matter what was decided, would upset part of his electorate. So, McCulloch foisted the decision off on to the jurors. He was there last night merely to present their decision to not indict. Except, that it is commonly known within the law enforcement community that any prosecutor worth his salt can get any decision he wants out of his grand jury and McCulloch has proven himself all too politically adept this year.

He has orchestrated the ouster of the sitting County Executive, Charles Dooley (D) and the election of his handpicked replacement, Steve Stenger (D) . Make no mistake, McCulloch got exactly the grand jury decision that he wanted and I hope that the voters remember this, because it was predominately black north county voters who elected his protégé.

Finally, to all of you who broke the law last night and turned a peaceful protest into a riot, all I can say is shame on you too. One man was killed and many injured. Dozens of business were looted, damaged and destroyed and for what? I understand that you are angry, but such violence does not help your cause. Violence like last night’s only makes it easier for the rest of the community to dismiss your very real grievances. Case in point, last night’s frantic and fear driven rush to the grocery store that I mentioned yesterday, has already returned to business as usual tonight. Saint Louis has adjusted to its new normal and will soon turn its back again on Ferguson and go back to business as usual. None of this is the way things could have been.

RegenAxe

Our Family Blog

Category Archives: Politics