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1. Climb more stairs.
2. Eat more food.

Hey, I'm just trying to be realistic! If I really go all out on #1 then #2 is going to happen anyway. ;)

2013 was a rough year for me. For two straight years I stuck to the plan. I climbed a minimum of 20 extra flights of stairs each and every day. Our cat died in the spring of 2013 and some weight started going back on. Like many, I eat more when I'm feeling down. I stuck to the plan just the same though.

In July of 2013, I seriously sprained my ankle. It happened at a rest stop 250 miles from home. I drove the rest of the way and then went straight to the emergency room. Based on its current condition and the swelling, they gave me the talk about how fractures aren't so bad. Fortunately, it wasn't fractured. It was an extremely bad sprain though. It prevented me from doing any climbing at all for months (unless one counts hobbling around the house on crutches), which completely took out the entire summer's hiking season. The lack of activity also put a nail in my weight loss coffin. Needless to say, I was feeling down. Sigh.

Speaking of injuries, our dog Honey has been through many surgeries in the past year or so (to the tune of $12,000+ in various vet bills, liver surgery being the biggest). Her most recent surgery was to have several teeth removed. That was just a few weeks ago. They broke while she was playing with her soft toys. Yeah, soft. Even the vet can't understand how she did that. She said her teeth were really strong and hard to extract, what was left of them anyway. It's a mystery within a conundrum. She's doing excellent right now though and if asked, she'd definitely say the medical attention was worth it. They believe she can live out her normal lifespan.

So anyway, hopefully much of that bad news is now behind me. I've got some pent-up climbing demand and I intend to put it to work. I've been planning to make 2014 a banner year. Midlife crisis? I don't think it is but I would not swear to it in court, lol. I was a bit discouraged recently because my ankle still isn't back to 100% (nearly 6 months later). I slowed down my pace considerably in recent weeks and my ankle is doing pretty well in response. Surprisingly, my legs are holding up great. I did several marathon sessions recently as a test. The forced rest has not hampered my leg strength to a noticeable degree.



The past few months were spent climbing enough to reset the time on the stair climber to a nice starting point in preparation for 2014 (much of it at 50 feet per minute in 5 minute sprints). That's 0 months, 18 days, 0 hours, and 0 minutes of climbing since I purchased it roughly 14 years ago (minus a trivial amount of time that was on it when I bought it new).

I'm going to climb at a consistent 25 feet per minute in 2014. It's a leisurely pace that I can maintain fairly indefinitely. I would have set the pace higher if not for my ankle, but it will be plenty sufficient for what I intend to do. It's definitely enough to make me sweat, especially at the one hour mark (700+ calories per hour at my present weight).

50 miles of vertical is my minimum goal. It will take me 10,560 minutes. That's exactly 7 days and 8 hours of exercise. I'll need to average roughly 30 minutes per day (slightly more than that to cover when I'm potentially sick or out of town of course).


Or bust! That's the minimum time I wish to see a year from now. You won't be getting any updates between now and December 31, 2014. No record keeping this time. I'm letting the climber do the work. I promise to make every effort to post its time on that day (the exception being anything outside of my control), and that should be reason enough to keep me motivated. I like games and this is definitely a game now. This game starts at midnight! This is in addition to any hiking/climbing I do in the real world next summer (and I plan to do plenty).

As a side note, I would not consider doing this had I not turned climbing 20 flights of stairs each and every day into a nearly permanent habit (ankle injury notwithstanding) several years ago. Baby steps for the win.

It is also my intent to make climbing 20 flights of stairs each and every day a permanent habit again. Seems odd to use the "again" word, but it is the best I can do. Would you believe that I actually asked the nurse in the emergency room if I could simply scoot up the stairs on my butt 20 times per day just to keep the habit going? She told me no! The ankle needs to remain elevated and get rest! Seriously. (I'm fairly sure she thought I was nuts for asking. I just really didn't want to end the streak! Hahaha!)

And lastly, Happy New Year!! May prosperity flow like warm slop to pigs on a cold frosty morning! Bliss! Or something like that anyway. Feel free to come up with a better analogy. ;)

I heard on CNBC that the DJIA had its best year since 1995. It was theorized that perhaps the market would continue to behave like the late 1990s.

The following scatter chart shows the 10-year treasury yield vs. the DJIA in 1995.


Click to enlarge.

As interest rates fell consistently, the stock market rose consistently.

Let's do the same chart for 2013.


Click to enlarge.

As interest rates rose chaotically, the stock market rose consistently.

Other than the added chaos and inverted interest rate trend, the two charts are nearly identical! You just need to be wearing rose colored glasses so that you cannot see my commentary in red easily. It also helps to look at one of the two charts using a rear view mirror. That way the image will reverse and the trends will therefore look much more similar. It's a small price to pay for optimism!

If 1996 through 1999 is any indication (using red smoke and mirrors), I think we can expect great things from 2014 through 2017. Yes!

Too much sarcasm? Seems fairly heavy this time.

Source Data:
St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart (1995)
St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart (2013)

Commentary by James Shott

Mobile, Alabama’s hometown TV station WALA FOX10 reports the following story, which contains comments that will leave most people scratching their head in disbelief.

An unidentified man who was shopping at the local Family Dollar store in Mobile saw a masked man pointing a gun at an employee and leading the employee toward the front of the store.

When he moved closer to investigate, he found the following: “He had the gun to his head. He had him on his knees,” said the man. “I drew my gun on him and I said 'Hey, don't move.' At that point he swung around and before he had a chance to aim the gun at me, I fired. I didn’t want to shoot him,” he said.

The gunman, 18-year-old Adric White, was not killed, and was transported to a local hospital where he was treated and is now recuperating in police custody at the hospital. A second young man, 19-year-old Tavoris Moss has been arrested as an accomplice to the Family Dollar robbery, although the FOX10 story did not explain the role he is accused of playing in the incident.

Court records show that Adric White was out on bond for robbing The Original Oyster House at gunpoint a little more than a month before the Family Dollar robbery, and records show the Baldwin County District Attorney's Office has now filed to have the bond in that case revoked.

Summarizing this incident, a young man out on bond for armed robbery was holding an employee of a retail establishment at gunpoint, and was challenged by a Good Samaritan with a gun, who then shot the young man when the Good Samaritan thought he was about to be shot.

Where this story gets really strange is in the reaction of Adric White’s family. The relatives of this young man who had already been charged in one armed robbery and was wounded in a second attempt to rob a store at gunpoint might reasonably condemn the young man’s behavior and be thankful that this wayward son is still alive and in relatively good condition, and therefore might be subject to rehabilitation. But that is not how at least some of his relatives reacted.

A female family member who did not want to be identified said the 18-year-old should have never been shot to begin with.

“If his (the customer’s) life was not in danger, if no one had a gun up to him, if no one pointed a gun at him - what gives him the right to think that it's okay to just shoot someone?” said the relative. “You should have just left the store and went wherever you had to go in your car or whatever,” FOX10 reported the relative as saying.

Apparently, judging from this relative’s comments she believes the victim in this scenario is the robber holding the employee at gunpoint, not the employee being held at gunpoint. And, the person who has done wrong is not the guy holding an employee at gunpoint during a robbery, but the Good Samaritan who thwarts a robbery and saves the employee from possible harm or death at the hands of the robber.

Where does such upside-down thinking develop? Is it a feature of only a relative few troubled minds, or is it far more widespread? Is it born in a soul convinced that he/she is entitled and therefore can do no wrong, or somehow is not subject to the laws governing our behavior? Is it a product of a failing culture that has not imparted basic American and human values to more recent generations?

Interestingly, FOX10 had interviewed Adric White’s parents, but the station reports that they later called the station and demanded the video not be aired. We are left to wonder whether they share the screwy morality of the relative whose sentiments were reported above.

For the record, the police emphasize that the Good Samaritan – whose name was not released, perhaps for his own protection – who shot the alleged robber was justified and broke no laws.

“[Criminals] tend to think that they are the only ones with guns," the Good Samaritan told FOX10. "I’ve been legally carrying my firearm for a little over four years now, and thank God I’ve never had to use it until, of course, last night. It just goes to show it's good to have a concealed carry [permit]. You never know when you’re going to need it.”

This story is sure to contribute to the fierce debate over gun control. It is a point in favor of the idea held by many of those who defend the constitutional right of Americans to keep and bear arms that the best way to combat a bad guy with a gun is the presence of a good guy with a gun. It shows that there may be positive results when law-abiding citizens are armed.

Whichever side of that argument you are on, we can all acknowledge that because of the behavior of this man legally carrying a gun, a robbery was thwarted and the perpetrator did not harm anyone.

Cross-posted from Observations

KARE 11 reports Letaija Cutler-Cain, 18, made her first court appearance on Monday on charges that she, along with a 17-year-old girl, brutally attacked Minneapolis mayoral candidate Mark Andrew outside of at Mall of America Starbucks last week. The girls allegedly used a metal baton to beat Andrew as he tried to chase after a man who stole his iPhone.


That man has not been arrested or charged but the investigation is ongoing.
According to court documents Cutler-Cain told police the three of them had checked out the Starbucks several times that day to determine if it was "sweet" meaning if customers had items there that they wanted to steal.

Cutler-Cain's bail was set at $25,000 with conditions that she has no contact with Andrew or her co-defendants.

The 17-year-old juvenile female was also charged Monday with two counts of aggravated robbery and one count of assault.

More here

WCJB reports detectives are investigating the death of a Marion County teacher and her husband. On Sunday a family friend who was babysitting the kids became concerned after not hearing from the father 31-year-old Dean Hamilton. That’s when the family friend took the children to their home on Northwest Water Oak Avenue to check if their parents were there. When the children searched the house, they found their mother and father dead inside the master bedroom.


"It’s the ultimate sin. It’s very selfish to do that to your loved ones," said neighbor Ken Wescott.

Wescott lives in the Rainbow Lakes area Just one block from where the couple was found dead.

Investigators with the Marion County Sheriff's Office said 32 –year- old Latalia Robinson and her estranged husband Hamilton both died from a gunshot wound.
"There was no force entry or anything else so we believe it was an act of domestic violence between the two of them,” said Capt. James Pogue with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.

Robinson was dead on the bed and Hamilton on the floor. During the investigation detectives discovered a semi-automatic pistol near the bed post in the master bedroom.
"I do believe he did own a gun because have heard shots from up there before,” said Wescott.

Detectives aren't calling it a murder suicide just yet, but most of the evidence proves it most likely is. The couple had been separated and Hamilton was staying with a family friend.

Court records show one of them filed fordivorce on November 26, 2013. Robinson was a biology teacher at West Port High School in Ocala. According to her Facebook page she started working here this year.

An Ocala Police report shows Hamilton showed up at West Port High School back in November. He was upset because he believed Robinson was seeing someone at the school.

Robinson asked him to leave, but before leaving Hamilton told an employee that he had a gun collection that a friend had locked up for him because he felt he may snap if he lost Robinson.

More here

Obama:  The Law Giver
Obama Giveth -- and -- Obama Taketh Away
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
*****************
 
All this time I have been laboring under the false impression that the Congress was constitutionally assigned the duty of making and changing (amending) law(s) for the country.

Silly me!  I am SO embarrassed!  Just shows how dumb a poor ole swamp rat like yours truly can actually be, I suppose.

Anyway, Mr. Obama has set me straight on that.  He has shown me that HE has the power to make law, and change law, and enforce law or -- choose NOT to enforce law -- as HE chooses.

Why, Mr. Obama has changed the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) some 19 or 20 times now (For more on Obama's changes to Obamacare visit politifact.com at: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2013/sep/25/tom-graves/rep-graves-says-obama-has-changed-aca-19-times/ ) all without any aid from the national legislature -- the Congress.

All things considered, one must ask WHY we even have a Congress?  Couldn't we save major bucks by just dissolving the Congress and have done with it?   I mean, heck, we've got Obama -- The Law Giver as our President!  What need have we of a Congress?

With Obama it is all give and take.  He gives -- AND -- he takes.  The man refuses to acknowledge his limitations under the constitution. He just ignores it in part or in whole -- as the notion strikes him.

This is not just wrong, gentle reader, this is ILLEGAL.

Playing fast and loose with the US Constitution, under normal circumstances, would get one placed UNDER the jailhouse!  No longer.

But these are not normal times.  We live now in a "post constitution era" in America. We find ourselves in the short-lived period between freedom and slavery.  Once a nation begins a slide into slavery the pace quickens and doesn't take very long to find an entire people clasped in the bonds of involuntary servitude.

I find it ironic that Obama, a black man,  is so intent on leading his people, white and black, into tyranny induced slavery in America.  There's something just plain vulgar about that.

The Obama administration is proving to be more corrupt that the Grant, the Harding, or the Nixon administrations.  I was not around for the first two, but I lived every minute of the Nixon administration  and I can tell you the American people never sensed a threat to their freedom from Nixon as they do from Obama.

When Nixon's party, the Republican Party,  realized the enormity of his misdeeds, they quickly formed a committee and paid Nixon a visit and read him the riot act.  They told him, flat out, that he was going to be impeached and the Congress WOULD find him guilty and he WOULD be removed from office in disgrace, unless, he resigned -- and resigned immediately.  Nixon resigned and managed by doing so to save SOME face and enough dignity to gracefully exit the White House while staff and a few members of his administration stood clustered near the helicopter LZ looking on in tears.

It was a trying time for the republic, but we survived and the constitution proved, once again, its value and worth as a foundation document and the protector of freedom.

On December 31st, 2012, the non-partisan Judicial Watch released its annual "Most Corrupt Politicians in Washington List." On that list were:  President Obama and key members of his Democrat cabinet like Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, disgraced Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, and UN Ambassador Susan Rice.  They were among the top ten names on the list.  That was last year.  We can hardly wait for this years list to be released.  Judicial Watch is a public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption.  You may see the entire list at: http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-announces-list-of-washingtons-ten-most-wanted-corrupt-politicians-for-2012/

Let's see.  Right now, Americans are attempting to deal with a host of Obama administration scandals:  The NSA scandal, the IRS Scandal, the Navy Seal scandal, the Benghazi scandal,  and the Fast and Furious Scandal. 

Then there is Obamacare. 

Obama and his minions have trashed the constitution.  Mr. Obama claims to be a constitutional scholar, indeed, taught constitutional law in college.  Obama taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School for twelve years!  Seems to me that with that sort of background he should know better!

In an article at Front Page Magazine, Arnold Ahlert says the following:  "Perhaps the most contemptible effort in that regard is President Obama’s transparently unconstitutional effort to suspend various parts of the Affordable Healthcare Act. How Americans feel about that piece of legislation is irrelevant. What’s relevant is that Congress passed the law, including the part that calls for its implementation beginning on Jan. 1, 2014, and the president signed it. There is no Constitutional way the president can simply choose to ignore sections of a law he doesn’t like, or go around Congress completely when they won’t kowtow to his agenda.

Yet that’s precisely what Obama and other administration officials have done. In 2012, the president unilaterally decreed that the same DREAM Act rejected by Congress 18 months earlier would be implemented for the children of illegal aliens. He also gutted part of the Welfare Reform Act of 1996, in clear violation of the statute. Obama is still ignoring a ruling by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals and federal appeals courts in D.C. and Philadelphia, all of whom ruled his “recess” appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) were unconstitutional." --  SOURCE:  http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/arnold-ahlert/just-how-corrupt-is-the-obama-administration/   (We strongly recommend you read this article in its entirety.)

Let's cut to the chase. There is a serious shortage of intestinal fortitude in Congress today.  There is a palpable lack of guts within the ranks of the GOP in the House of Representatives.  A Bill of Impeachment ought to be introduced, voted on, and passed in the House ASAP. 

Having said that, please understand that I am not so foolish as to believe that the US Senate, controlled by the President's own party The Democratic Party) , therefore by Obama, himself, will find him guilty.  But this administration's corruption needs to be documented, publicly, and made a part of the historical record of the country for future generations.  With the phalanx of protection the Mainstream Media has thrown up around their president, the ONLY way that will happen is -- through impeachment.

In the meantime, things in America are only going to get worse.

Every time Obama gets away with a violation of the constitution, it emboldens him, it becomes easier for him to so it again and again.  I am concerned Congress has already waited too long. I suspect many in Congress fear an uprising of civil unrest (riots) among the black population of the country should they impeach Obama.  Then so be it.  NOTHING should get in the way of doing the RIGHT thing. 

Impeaching Obama IS the right thing to do. The rape of the constitution must be ended.

J. D. Longstreet

A colorful year came to its end and before we welcome 2014 I chose to highlight most of my favorite 2013 looks, you have any favorites?
I couldn't be more thankful for this 2013 year! I met wonderful people, I enjoyed, I learned, I smiled, I cried and now I look forward to 2014.
I want to wish you all a fantastic new year and thank you for following along, all the comments and constant suppport. It was a pleasure to have you by my side and to read all your comments.
Thank you for everything and let's start another colorful adventure together in 2014!