Our Morning...

Our morning began a tad earlier than usual today, thanks to our menagerie.  Race (our border collie) was curled up tightly on our bed, between Debbie and I.  His nose was resting on my arm.  Maka Lea (our cutest little cat) was tucked up in a fold of the blanket behind the crook of Debbie's knee.  Mo'i (one of our field spaniels) was in his usual place, under the blankets down by Debbie's feet.  Miki (our youngest field spaniel) was lying on my feet.

This was the setup when the fun began.

It started with Miki at about 1 am, who decided to crawl up the length of my body, snuffling right into my face, his tail wagging like mad.  You could almost hear him saying “Get up! Get up! It's time to play!”  Then Race decided he was jealous of the attention Miki was getting, and he started nipping playfully at Miki, and generally getting rowdy.  This was more than Maka Lea could take, so he started acting all grumpy – whacking away at any passing limb.

Debbie and I gave up any hope of sleeping until some reasonable hour (like 3 am).  We turned on the light and saw Maka Lea blinking furiously, and still grumpy.  We hissed at Race, which always gets him frantically playful, trying to kiss our faces to make us stop hissing (we have no idea why he does this!).  Miki left in disgust, then came back because he was jealous of the attention being paid to Race.

Mo'i just slept through it all, even when Miki and Race stepped on him.  That's our Mo'i...

We got up.

Sigh...

Despotism Made Easy...

Interesting reading...

Super-Weapon for Infantrymen is Now in Afghanistan...

The XM25 rifle fires 25mm (about 1 inch) diameter rounds that explode behind or over cover hiding enemy soldiers.  It's a game-changer that has the potential to revolutionize infantry warfare – and very much to our troops' advantage, since our current enemies are unlikely to be able to duplicate (or even understand) the technology.

Combat trials of this weapon system have begun, and the initial reports are very positive.  The weapon is at least as effective as advertised, and is unexpectedly easy for our troops to pick up and use.

The Taliban just got some bad news.

The video below explains how the XM25 works, and here's more information.

Excellent Investment Advice...

Before Google's IPO, they engaged several finance experts to come in and educate their millionaires-to-be about investment.  One expert's advice:

...Stanford University’s William (Bill) Sharpe, 1990 Nobel Laureate economist and professor emeritus of finance at the Graduate School of Business. Sharpe drew a large and enthusiastic audience, which he could have wowed with a PowerPoint presentation on his “gradient method for asset allocation optimization” or his “returns-based style analysis for evaluating the performance of investment funds.” But he spared the young geniuses all that complexity and offered a simple formula instead. “Don’t try to beat the market,” he said. Put your savings into some indexed mutual funds, which will make you just as much money (if not more) at much less cost by following the market’s natural ebb and flow...

The same advice was delivered by multiple investment experts.  For about ten years now, it's what I've been doing (though I'm using ETFs instead of mutual funds, but same idea).  I'm happy with the results.  I know lots of people who are not happy with the results of their attempts to beat the market...

Think the TSA is a Pain Now? Just You Wait...

John Fund of the WSJ:

...But if you think TSA is dysfunctional and unpopular now, wait until it unionizes. This month, the Federal Labor Relations Authority ruled that 50,000 TSA personnel will be allowed to vote on whether or not to join a union with full collective bargaining rights. The American Federation of Government Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union are already gearing up their campaigns to win over the screeners.

After 9/11, Congress wisely decided to forbid TSA employees from coming under union work rules out of fear that it could compromise security. Imagine if every change in procedures had to be cleared with union shop stewards. While it is not easy to fire TSA personnel now, just think how difficult it will be to remove bad employees if they are covered by union job protection agreements...

Read the whole thing...