Today I started a Wilderness First Responder course down in San Diego. This is the same training that most wilderness and backcountry guides recieve, and as I spend lots of time outdoors with some aspirations to maybe someday find a second career doing it, the course seemed to make sense.

The big lesson of the day came at the end of one of the outdoor simulations. One person (in this case me) is given a scenario to act out, and two others are asked to diagnose and deal with the problem.

After several increasingly difficult scenarios, this was the last one. Our instructor told us simply: "Lean up against a tree and complain about an upset stomach." Nothing else. No shock, no impairments to critical systems. Just a stomach ache.

After dealing with many scenarios involving problems with one or more major system, this came as a surprise to my colleages (along with all the other "responders") from our class. They insisted on checking pulse, breathing, examining for bleeding, etc. All the "responders" in the class who looked at this situation ended up trying to come up with something big to explain what was going on. And it's not surprising that they did. After all, we had spent the whole day dealing with initial examination and diagnosis of major life-threatening problems. Nobody was thinking about the small stuff.

The big lesson of the day is that when you're looking for something big you will usually find it, regardless of whether it is actually there.

Both longs and shorts in this market should probably keep that in mind. There are few big stories on either side of the market right now. Anybody who's claiming to see more is probably seeing what they're looking for, not what there actually is to see.

And on a side note, for a few more details about what I'm doing here (other than really enjoying hanging out in a class that is about 2/3 college-aged females), check out the Wilderness Medical Associates website.

The Star Wars mania has come to this: exploding lightsabers.
Two Star Wars fans are in a critical condition in hospital after apparently trying to make light sabres by filling fluorescent light tubes with petrol.

And while we're at it, there is apparently a down side to entertaining large groups of people who are in disguise.
Someone impersonating the Dark Lord of the Sith--i.e., a guy in a Darth Vader helmet--held up a movie theater in Springfield, Illinois, and made off with a Death Star-sized load of credits.

While at the same time, the FBI and DHS have nothing better to do than worry about pirated copies of Star Wars.
Elite Torrents, an invitation-only website for sharing pirated goods, received some unwelcome guests Wednesday: the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.

The following piece is fascinating, in that it highlights how much personal communication allows us to react far more effectively than we might if we waited for "official" news.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.06/start.html?pg=3

The impact of this is profound and seriously calls into question the government's appropriate role in managing emergencies. In fact, in a larger sense it calls into account the government's ability to control communication or action in any situation. The truth as relayed by thousands of individual interacting with each other is apparently far more powerful than any official word.

But in truth, there should be no surprise in this. In the fities, and even on into the sixties, the US government grappled with how to handle communications in the event of a nuclear attack on the US. The original plan called for communication by TV and radio, using a "highly trusted" newsman to deliver the message and issue instructions about evactuation and shelter procedures.

The plans never went far. Planners realized that people wouldn't be listening, they'd be panicing and trying to make their own way.

By 2001, the problem of panic disappeared. Inherent in the concept of panic is the idea that you don't know what's going on, and thus react unpredictably. In today's world, personal communication technology increasingly means that you won't be in a situation where you don't know what's going on. More often than not, you'll know as much as anybody, and possibly more than the officials far away. Panic is replaced by "reasoned flight." We take on the logic of a swarm of bees or of an open marketplace, with no clear leader, but nonetheless with a common direction and ability to adjust in real-time to new developments.

-btc

Many, maybe most people want to see the immigration debate as a black or white thing. This attitude spills over into everything. The victory of Antonio Villaragosa in yesterday's mayoral election for example, is being heralded as "hispanics finally making it."

What's lost in all this is that hispanics have been "making it" in the US for some time, regardless of whether or not they ever held the Los Angeles mayor's office. And more often than not, their stories are not the black or white faces of immigration that some would like to portray, but rather are somewhere in the middle, colored in all shades of grey.

Take the case of a young Mexican boy, orphaned at 8. At 13 he illegally crossed the border to Texas where he spent several years picking crops and hopping trains from one region to another. Eventually he got into boxing, then got out of it. At age 24, he obtained a fake birth certificate in Texas, making him apparently "legal."

If you stop reading there, he sounds like a poster-child for those who want to see the immigration from one specific point of view.

But read on.

He used his newfound "legal" status to join the Merchant Marine, of all things. He was halfway between Hawaii and California on December 7th, 1941.

After the outbreak of war, he left the Merchant Marine. Not to flee the war by returning to Mexico -- which he could have done -- but rather to join the Army at Fort Sam Houston Texas (Eisenhower's first base) just a few months later.

He was wounded in the fighting immediately after D-Day. Later, he single-handedly killed over 100 German soldiers in order to protect his company's withdrawl during the Battle of the Bulge. For that effort, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. The citation read:

On his own initiative, he carried his heavy machinegun from Company K's right flank to its left, in order to protect that flank which was in danger of being overrun by advancing enemy infantry supported by tanks. Occupying a shallow hole offering no protection above his waist, he cut down a group of 10 Germans. Ignoring enemy fire from an advancing tank, he held his position and cut down 25 more enemy infantry attempting to turn his flank. Glancing to his right, he saw a large number of infantry swarming in from the front. Although dazed and shaken from enemy artillery fire which had crashed into the ground only a few yards away, he realized that his position soon would be outflanked. Again, alone, he carried his machinegun to a position to the right rear of the sector; enemy tanks and infantry were forcing a withdrawal. Blown over backward by the concussion of enemy fire, he immediately reset his gun and continued his fire. Single-handed he held off the German horde until he was satisfied his company had effected its retirement. Again he loaded his gun on his back and in a hail of small arms fire he ran to a point where a few of his comrades were attempting to set up another defense against the onrushing enemy. He fired from this position until his ammunition was exhausted. Still carrying his gun, he fell back with his small group to Krinkelt. Sgt. Lopez's gallantry and intrepidity, on seemingly suicidal missions in which he killed at least 100 of the enemy, were almost solely responsible for allowing Company K to avoid being enveloped, to withdraw successfully and to give other forces coming up in support time to build a line which repelled the enemy drive.

After WWII, he served two tours of duty in Korea and upon his retirement from the military, he went to work for the Veteran's Administration, managing the needs of his fellow veterans.

Sgt. Jose M. Lopez (ret.), illegal immigrant and Medal of Honor recipient, died Monday at the age of 94. He was buried with full military honors at the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-joselopezobit18may18,1,1784760.story

And here's why. A friend works for a known publication. She's been advertising for a new open position. Here's what she finds:

• 2 emails from people allergic to capital letters or punctuation ("i would like to apply for this position because i am a big fan of your publication")
• 1 email from guy whose subject line is "the sun shines mighty" (wtf?)
• 1 email from a guy who needs to change his interview time that uses the word "wilt" (as in "please let me know when that wilt be")

This doesn't even begin to address issues with the individual resumes.

Needless to say, if these guys were working in jobs that could be outsourced to India, that would have already happened. Until we deal with educational issues like this, everything else we do about outsourcing and global competition is a complete waste of time and money.

-btc

I got to go to the LA premiere of the last Star Wars film last night, as well as a fantastic after-party at the Hammer Museum in Westwood. In a nutshell, I think this is the best since The Empire Strikes Back, which has always been the favorite.
Lucas has returned to the much darker feel of Empire, which is the last one that didn't feature a whole lot of comedic relief or cute cartoonish creatures.

A few fairly random obersvations:

• While Hayden Christensen (as Anakin/Darth Vader) obviously plays a pivotal role, it is fortunate that much of his role is action-focused. He's even worse than Kenau Reeves when it comes to any sort of serious dialogue. Sadly, most of his serious dialogues occur in scenes between himself and the wonderfully-talented Natalie Portman (Padme), which means that many of her scenes end up being drawn out and awkward. Her role in this film is very emotional, and she really could have used a stronger male lead to play against.
• Met a really nice woman, and got a date!
• The absence of JarJar Binks from anything more than a cameo role at the end was a very wise choice.
• I got a date!
• I was surprised at how well the movie held me, despite the fact that the basic plotline has been well known and understood since sometime in 1980. While the past two films gave us new plotlines leading up to this climax, we've all known for a long time where it was going: Anakin turns to the dark side, joins the new emperor, helps hunt down the Jedi, fathers twins whose existence is hidden from him after their mother's death in childbirth, and is almost killed by Obi-Wan Kenobi in a battle that leaves him permanently scarred and forced to exist in his dark helmet and life-support suit. Lucas throws in just enough new plot twists to keep you riveted, while waiting for the inevitable to happen.
• Rocks, Yoda does.
• The climax of the movie: the death and rebirth of Anakin as Darth Vader, the birth of the twins and the death of Padme is almost as well done as the climactic baptism/execution scene in the Godfather. Almost.
• Sadly, Billy Dee Williams has not aged well.
• Going to a party sponsored by Belvedere is not a good idea on a "school night."
• Geroge Lucas doesn't like George Bush.
• Did I mention that the woman I met has a wonderfully Natalie Portman-esque smile? (Think of her in "Garden State.") And that I got a date?
• Jimmy Smits, as Senator Organa of Alderaan, is a nice though minor addition to the cast.
• Mark Hamill really is a bit too short to be a stormtrooper.
• I can't wait for my date!
• Additional thought, circa Sunday May 15: As I've thought about it and discussed it elsewhere, it's occured to me that I was being overly harsh with Hayden Christensen. The truth is, that he plays the most complex character in the entire series. Unfortunately, the part is both poorly written and poorly directed. Lucas does fine with the various two-dimensional characters that populate the Star Wars saga, but the young Darth Vader seems a bit beyond his abilities. Chritensen doesn't come across all that well in large part because of the insipid dialogue and ridiculous situations the script foists on him. For better or worse, going from confused young Jedi to child-murdering master of evil was something that deserved a bit more than three minutes of screen time and a lot more character development. Personally, I think they would have done just fine if some aspects of the development of Darth Vader and the extermination of the Jedi were just left out of this movie entirely. After all, there's a good 20 years between the end of this episode and the beginning of the next, leaving plenty of room to imagine how things develop after Anakin becomes Vader. Merely alluding to where the emperor is going to take Vader next would have been quite sufficient, and would have allowed for a far more believable central character.
• That said, he's still poorly cast.
• Date appears to be set for Wednesday.

-btc

[Edited by BelowTheCrowd on Sunday May 15]

There's a new menace out there. Perhaps not all that new, but still annoying as hell, and something that online information sources really need to do something about.

It's the "automatic email notification" for all sorts of garbage that I really don't need to know about right away. And it's getting worse.

There are lots of information sources that I subscribe to. Some of them are things that I like to monitor very closely. Others are things that I monitor only occasionally. But all too often, the owners of this information act as if everything they put out at any time is necessarily of immediate desire to me.

The Wall Street Journal does this well. They give me a choice of the kind of notifications I want to receive, including the option of receiving only subscription-related notifications. I receive a couple of things a day from them.

Marketwatch does this less well. I subscribe to Herb Greenberg's pay service on their site because I find the information useful, and well worth including in my research. However, it's hardly a "real time" trading service that requires me to receive an immediate notification. Realistically, I'm going to go over to the Marketwatch website if and when I have time.

TheStreet.com and its various sub-entities are purely evil about this stuff. Jim Cramer will sometimes make half a dozen minor portfolio adjustments or comments each day. As I subscribe to his portfolio service, every single one of them generates yet another email that is dumped into my inbox. But really, I don't get a chance to read most of them until much later, and aren't likely to act on any of them unless they conform to my own research anyway. And all that takes some time. I'm quite happy to review their website once or twice per day and add each new set of entries to my thinking.

None of the "offender" information providers see a problem. None of them have any mechanism by which I can turn off these unwanted notifications. The only advice I have received is perhaps to use a "dummy" email account to send it all to. That solution works fine -- except that it means I'll also miss some other notices that perhaps I DO want to get, and certainly it means I'll miss the critical subscription notices that show up every year or so.

The result of this is that I have built up an increasingly complex set of email rules that cause about 90% of my "subscription spam" to be deleted unread. Roughly another 8-9% of my this stuff is filtered into seperate folders where I can review it later without clogging my inbox. My primary inbox is reserved for important communications.

Of course, this doesn't address the problem of what happens when I go away for a week and don't check my email at all. The stuff inevitably piles up on my server where it takes up space needed to store email that I want. While real spam is filtered out before it even gets onto my own email server, the "subscription spam" sits there taking up space until I access my email and a tool on my desktop sorts it out.

I am increasingly taking this into account when deciding what services to subscribe to. As far as I'm concerned, there's no excuse for anybody sending me emails that I don't need, regardless of whether or not I subscribe to their online service. Those who consider my subscription a "carte blanche" to bombard me with unwanted notices will find themselves lower and lower on the list.

Our City of LA mayoral runoff election will take place next week.

Don't get me started on why, in an age of declining participation, the City of LA sees a need to hold this election on a different date from every other election, thus ensuring that the smallest possible number of voters participate. Or why they can't finally just institute an "instant runoff" system and spare us the trouble of having to vote for mayor twice, thus ensuring that even a smaller percentage will actually be heard. I just don't understand this at all.

However, this being L.A., there's got to be a bit of comedy in this somewhere. My voting location? Life Guard Headquarters Garage, 2300 Ocean Front Walk.

I wonder if David Hasselhof will be there to take my ballot?

-btc

A while back I noted that Wells Fargo (WFC) had begun to advertise home equity lines of credit on the "splash screens" at their ATMs. The kicker was something to the effect of "Access the equity in your home right here, anytime!" I saw this as just another bit of evidence that all that refinancing is in fact just being used to prop up spending, NOT as the real-estate cheerleaders claim, for productive investment. And of course this observation gave a totally new relevance to the term "Housing ATM."

Today I noticed that Wells Fargo has gone a step farther, or lower, depending on your point of view. The current campaign is to convince you to take a cash advance against your upcoming salary direct deposit.

This puts them directly in competition with all variety of "payday loan" shops and other sleazy businesses who offer such services, primarily to unsophisticated borrowers in low-income communities. These outfits, like publically held Cash America (CSH), Dollar Financial (DLLR) and Ace Cash Express (AACE) along with many privately-held companies, have all but replaced loansharks for many purposes in many communities.

While those services have always been an unfortunate staple of life in disadvantaged communities, the current campaign by Wells Fargo in my area suggests that they see demand in Santa Monica and Brentwood as well. Further evidence that even the affluent are increasingly living from paycheck to paycheck. And hardly good news for the economy or the market.

-btc

I've been sick this past week and not really able to write much. In fact, it's been tough to even keep my balance, the ear infection was so bad.

Apparently, somebody got bored while I was in bed.

You can spend a small fortune on cat toys, cat furniture, scratching posts and all manner of other cat amusements only to find that fuzzy-face would prefer to shred a roll of toilet paper or carry around a piece of string all day long.

Can't live without them though.

-btc

Ka-Boom, Redux

Perhaps an answer to the issue of the exploding toads mentioned the other day.

DeLorean parking included

Personally I can't recommend anybody going to this event. I attended a few months ago and it really wasn't all that big a deal.

Khaaaaaaan!!!

While some of us are actually sorry to see the last of the Star Trek spinoffs leave the air, we must remember the impact it's had on our culture. Or something like that. Anyway, this site memorializes one of the best examples of overacting in the history of modern cinema. It also clearly demonstrates the impact of cheap domain names and web hosting on people's ability to waste time.

Vermin, darkness and boils are next

We've already got the German frog thing going on (OK, frogs, toads, what's the difference???), but now Bangladesh comes along with their own contribution, just in time for the end of Passover.