Georgia vs. Louisiana State

Tomorrow the Georgia Bulldogs will go up against a very respectable opponent in LSU which will decide the Southeastern Conference Championship in Atlanta. Here in Las Vegas the odds makers have made LSU the favorite, by 2 points, which is quite close. I expect the Dawgs to win this one. Don't ask me why, but I feel a big upset in my bones. I'm going to a casino tonight and foolishly act upon my hunch.

How 'bout them DAWGS?!!!

In Las Vegas

Bugsy's dream city in the Mojave

I've been holed up here in Las Vegas since Sunday and will be departing Saturday. This trip is mostly about shopping, relaxing and doing research for a local travel book I'm working on. To tell you the truth I am becoming quite fond of this burg.

Some observations:

People here don't know very much about the larger whole of their city. When I call stores and ask them what part of town they are located in many frankly don't know. The best answer came from a lady who answered the phone at the Wal-Mart Supercenter on Eastern Ave. who told me that she lived across the street and had no idea where in Las Vegas they were located. She said she didn't drive and everything she needed was located in the shopping center where she worked. Many people are new to the area and may not know much about the greater mass of metropolitan sprawl beyond their small quadrant of daily existence. Others could simply care less.

I am located at the southern end of the valley at the very end of Las Vegas Blvd. which then turns into old U.S. 91 and roughly parallels I-15 and the Union Pacific tracks to the California state line. A mere 12 miles south on this road and you suddenly are in the most exquisitely beautiful and empty Mojave desert country you could possibly imagine. I took a side road to a quarry and ended up in a wide empty playa sink ringed by the McCullough Mountain wilderness area. The only sounds were from Southwest Airline jets high above making their final approaches to McCarran Airport, a mere 5 minutes away by 737. This is a city of striking contrasts from urban to wilderness in seconds flat.

Capitalism and customer service are king in this town and I like the way people do business openly and freely in a state dedicated to the exchange of goods and services unfettered by government interference. Nevada is one of the last great bastions of laissez faire economics in the USA. I've personally bought FIVE pairs of shoes!

There are lots of people who live and work here who feel no compulsion whatsoever to speak English. I say "good on ya mates". Who needs that stifling language of imperialism with all of its confusing idioms? Que pasa amigo?

Every store, whether it be Korean, Hispanic, Armenian or thrift has the most corny and oppressively cheesy Christmas music that only a place like Las Vegas could pipe into every store simultaneously. To be honest I absolutely love every freaking chord! Let's hear it for Steve and Edie singing "it's the mooost wonderful time of the year!"

Thanks giving for the year just past

In no particular order:

Grilled chicken over apple & hickory

Buckethead

Camping with Sharon

Georgia football

Vanessa

My fossil collection

Smitty

Wilma's peppers

The Bagwhan & Cubby

Silence and colors of home

Manti Temple

Predictions from the Bagwhan on Thanksgiving

Here are the Thanksgiving predictions of the Bagwhan:

o.k. holiday special from T.B.
let's get back on track:

thursday:
akron should kill kent
give the 14

friday:
colorado pays back nebraska
give the 14

saturday:
houston should hammer rice
give the 17

3 big favs
fingers crossed
TB

The airport is crowded

Here comes the local news with their annual "the airport is crowded story". Well why on earth is that the case? Have tickets suddenly become much cheaper? Are people all choosing to go on vacation at the same time? Do they know something the rest of us don't? I think it is imperative that you send a reporter out to the main terminal and let us all know how "crowded the airport is." I for one need to know.

No I DON'T support the troops

I'm getting sick and tired of this incessant nattering about the need to "support our troops" in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is especially noxious here in southern Utah where a disproportionate amount of National Guard troops have been placed into full-time front line combat for extended tours of duty. They have un-wittingly been drafted to fight in a war that has nothing whatsoever to with protecting Utah or even the United States for that matter. This bloody invasion makes us all much less safe in every respect imaginable, especially in the way that it corrupts the moral framework in each of our souls. It is a rotten cancer that threatens us with its insidious nihilism and blatant blood lust.

If I don't support the mission, how can I possibly support the troops?

It all reminds me of the demoralized and frozen German soldiers on the Russian front in the brutal winter of 1941-42. Clothing drives were held throughout Germany because the Nazis had not allocated winter clothing for their troops. Hitler arrogantly believed that they'd already have conquered Russia by the late fall of '41 and thus would not need to provision the army for winter. The German people were then asked to support their troops with donations of blankets, boots, socks and coats, even though they knew in their hearts that they were in a futile fight against a country that had not attacked them and was about to bring utter ruin to their Reich in one of the biggest counter-offensives in world history. Most Germans, by then despised the war and were weary and weak, but by God they supported their troops!

I refuse to buy into this way of thinking and never will. You always reap what you sow.

After U.S. troops failed to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, which had been the Bush administration's primary reason for invading Iraq, one of the president's alternative rationales for his war has been the so-called magnet rationale. It goes like this: Even though we failed to find WMDs in Iraq, we'll make Iraq the central front in the war on terrorism by making U.S. troops a magnet that will attract the terrorists to attack U.S. soldiers in Iraq rather than people in the United States.

But the magnet rationale raises an important question: Why is it moral to use an innocent country for such a purpose, especially when the targeted country is going to be thrown into chaos and destruction and tens of thousands of citizens of that country are going to be killed and maimed in the process?

This is obviously the latest ruse to cover the truth about the most hostile and violent invasion of an innocent civilian population since Vietnam. My support will always be in the form of a wish that all of the soldiers come home now and never be dispatched to a foreign country again.

I think the jig is up

Another dead American soldier killed yesterday on a highway outside Baghdad.

Albert Einstein once said that, "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits."

It is now slowly beginning to dawn upon the huddled masses of sheeple, of these United States, that their federal government has stupidly and arrogantly led them into a costly horrific war in an extremely dangerous part of the world. The fact that it has taken so long for this notion to sink in can be laid at the feet of a number of factors not the least of which is several generations of public schooling that has rendered our nation one of the stupidest on earth. What did you think would happen when you took children away from their parents at an early age and drilled them in state worship and obedience to authority figures?

This unjust war is not new to U.S. history. Since the Civil War the federal government has been one of the most consistently active tyrannies on the world stage. Starting with Reconstruction and the systematic slaughter of native tribes by the U.S. military in the 19th century, on through the brutalizing conquest of the Philippines, Hawaii and other Pacific island nations at the dawn of the 20th century, to be followed by disastrously aggressive involvements in World War 1, World War 2, Korea, Latin America, Vietnam, Iraq 1, and the currently active invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq 2, this corrupt empire has been one mean mutha! And don't forget about the current saber rattling directed towards Iran, Syria and North Korea.

In fact, the only time the United States was actually attacked (on the conquered and colonized island of Oahu) was by Japan, who did preemptively strike in an early application of the "Bush Doctrine". After all, the U.S. WAS developing "weapons of mass destruction," which it could have used and eventually DID use against Japan.

I'm glad Congressman Murtha finally stood up last week and said enough was enough. Let's hope that this starts the ball rolling for the biggest cut and run since Vietnam.

The empire is bankrupt and it's time to fold your cards Mr. Bush. You have lost and lost decisively. All that is left for you to do is attend your trail for war crimes. I want a front row seat.

It may be a Merry Christmas after all.

Denver will defeat Dallas on Thanksgiving

Champ Bailey (former GA Bulldog) will have a big game.

I'm going out on the proverbial limb here and predicting that the Denver Broncos will defeat the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day by the score of 37-14. What a wunderbar turkey day present that will be for the many millions of Cowboy haters scattered across the fruited plain.

The Broncos are also going to the Super Bowl, against whom I'm not yet sure. Stay tuned.

UGA alumni at the 2005 Pro Bowl

Champ Bailey, Marcus Stroud and Hines Ward

No Exit

He can't escape.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Irked by a reporter who told him he seemed to be "off his game" at a Beijing public appearance, President George W. Bush sought to make a hasty exit from a news conference but was thwarted by locked doors.

At the end of a day of meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao and other Chinese officials, Bush held a session with a small group of U.S. reporters and spoke at length about issues like religious freedom, Iraq and the Chinese currency.

The final reporter he called on critiqued Bush's performance earlier in the day when he stood next to Hu in the Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square to deliver a statement.

"Respectfully, sir -- you know we're always respectful -- in your statement this morning with President Hu, you seemed a little off your game, you seemed to hurry through your statement. There was a lack of enthusiasm. Was something bothering you?" he asked.

"Have you ever heard of jet lag?" Bush responded. "Well, good. That answers your question."

The president then recited a list of things of that he viewed as positive developments from his Beijing meetings, including cooperation on North Korean nuclear disarmament and the ability to have "frank discussions" with his Chinese counterpart.

When the reporter asked for "a very quick follow-up," Bush cut him off by thanking the press corps and telling the reporter "No you may not," as he strode toward a set of double doors leading out of the room.

The only problem was that they were locked.

"I was trying to escape. Obviously, it didn't work," Bush quipped, facing reporters again until an aide rescued him by pointing to him toward the correct door.

I found it to be wickedly symbolic that the Chinese had locked the door on this idiotic dolt of a despot who represents the single biggest threat to world peace and stability in our time. I hope that this is a harbinger of things to come. This simpering weasel will be easy enough to corner and then I hope the payment for his crimes will be swift and severe. That goes for Count Cheney too!

Sic semper tyrannis!

Let's hear it for Auburn and the SEC!

Auburn cheerleaders

The scrappy and resourceful Auburn Tigers are playing some of the best college ball in the nation and deserve to be praised for their ability to defeat both Georgia and Alabama in the last two weeks. The SEC is again, by far, the best football league in the land! NFL eat your heart out!

It looks like it will be a showdown between LSU and Georgia for the championship. I fear playing those guys because they are really, really good. I just hope my Bulldogs can beat Georgia Tech next week for goodness sakes. They are a team that has already beaten Auburn and Miami!

I wonder how long Texas or USC would remain undefeated if they played an SEC schedule? Look at their opponents and decide for yourself.

By the way, has anyone stated where the Sugar Bowl will be played this year?

The Bagwhan's pick o' the week

The Bagwhan says to pick Green Bay to win on Monday Night.

Brett says: "Thank you Bagwhan!"

Some shots from the journey to SLC

Fillmore, Utah

In an attempt to curry favor with the President of the United States in the 1850's towards the goal of obtaining statehood, the Mormon leadership of the Utah territory drew up the boundaries of a very large county in the middle of uninhabited desert country and named it in honor of then current president Millard Fillmore. They used his first name for the county, Millard, and his last name as the county seat, Fillmore.

Old Territorial Capitol Building in Fillmore

Not content with that gesture alone they then decided to place the territorial capital in Fillmore because it was in the very geographic center of Utah. Both gestures went largely unnoticed by President Fillmore and the capital was soon restored to Salt Lake City because no one in the legislature was willing to travel to this bleak windswept corner of nowhere. Utah did not become a state until 1896, after the renouncing of polygamy by the LDS church.

Buckethead performing at Egos on State Street

I stayed with a person who lives in the Avenues section of Salt Lake City, which is located on the hilly benches above downtown. I was told it was originally where the Catholics decided to build to get away from the Mormons below in the valley. It contains one of the most amazing collections of vintage housing stock I have ever seen in the United States, with a variety of architectural styles and sizes spanning the past 150 years.

Gorgeous Prairie style home on 11th Ave.

Mormon Temple from the bluffs above City Creek

Buckethead lands briefly in Utah

Buckethead played a beautiful white Les Paul

I finally attended my first Buckethead show on Weds. night in a seedy smoke-filled dive in Salt Lake City called, of all things, Egos. It turned out to be one of the most thrilling music shows I have ever attended. The degree of musical virtuosity is spellbinding, not to mention the wide ranging repertoire of styles and compositions. Buckethead is truly a wonder to behold.

The encore began with a spirited instrumental cover of Hendrix's Foxy Lady followed by the most extraordinary rendition of Machine Gun I will probably ever hear in my life. I told Vanessa (my date) that it felt like Jimi's spirit was somewhere in the room while that guitar wailed out some of the most intense pulses of blues vibrations my skull has ever endured.

Afterwards I met the drummer, Pinchface, and told him about Jimi's spirit being present in the room and he said that he could feel Jimi looking down over the bandstand every time they performed that song. WOW!

A powerful night it was.

You must go to a Buckethead show if you can! He is a one of a kind phenomenon that must be seen and heard live to be believed.

It's still fun to hate America's Team

The glory years with the Plastic Man.

As a young man growing up in the territory of the Washington Redskins, I had a fanatical father who worshiped the Skins and imbued that mania into his impressionable oldest son---me. One of the basic tenents of this tribal religion was to develop a deep seated hatred of the cocky, computerized Dallas Cowboys and their haughty distant coach who was nicknamed "the Plastic Man" by former Dallas running back Duane Thomas, who later became a Redskin.

In stark contrast to the scrappy lunch pail type of football played by the Redskins of my youth, the Cowboys represented cold calculated statistically derived spread sheets and their silly sounding Doomsday Defense. Roger Staubach was a handsome quarterback hero out of the Naval Academy while our quarterbacks Billy Kilmer and Sonny Jurgenson were pot-bellied drunks with way more DUI's than Super Bowl trophies. The match-up was always a big affair in both Texas Stadium and RFK, with the intensity of partisan feeling among the home crowds approaching a religious fervor.

The NFL no longer has that same level of heated intensity but I think that many people around the country still probably dislike the Cowboys more than any other team excepting maybe the Yankees and Lakers. These are teams that we love to hate.

I can't say that I'm happy that they defeated the Eagles by the skin of their teeth this fine Monday evening in November.

A hero passes on

Peter Drucker (1909-2005)

One of my personal heroes, Peter Drucker, has passed away at the ripe old age of 95. The following obituary by Gary North contains a number of links about this remarkable man and his common sense based ideas. He will be missed.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north415.html

Why pick on Wal-Mart?

Free and voluntary transactions work best.

Why are so many people against this very efficiently run company that has done more for poor people than any other institution in the world? By providing low prices to its customers it helps make life easier for those on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder. No government program will ever achieve what Wal-Mart accomplishes every single day through its ability to deliver goods and services at rock-bottom prices to a wide variety of customers.

Wal-Mart makes my life easier because I spend less on items I previously paid more for prior to the opening of their Cedar City outlet. Their stores are well lit and have helpful cheerful employees. I enjoy saying hello to the store greeter and will occasionally partake of a double-cheeseburger and coffee at the in-store McDonalds while leisurely reading the paper. Does this sound like the spawn of Satan?

Wal-Mart would go out of business tomorrow if their customers stopped coming in the door to buy things. Their success is only as current as their ability to satisfy the next customer. I don't buy everything at Wal-Mart but I do purchase a lot of the things that I need to sustain my everyday existence. I like the selection, prices and location and will remain a loyal customer as long as they provide the same level of excellence that I have known for the past 18 years of personal acquaintance with this corporation.

I shop at my 24-hour Wal-Mart Supercenter all the time and buy everything you could possibly imagine from celery and space heaters to shoes, mouthwash and birthday cards. Not to mention lighter fluid, potting soil, garden plants, my summer kiddy pool and prescription reading glasses from the optometry center. I also love shopping at Wal-Mart when I travel around the country because they are all laid out the same way and generally have the lowest prices on the stuff I need to get----all in one location.

I welcome the usual shibboleths that are hurled at this company, like the decline and death of poor old Main Street (I say good riddance to the smelly old hardware store and the dingy outdated pharmacy), the low wages paid to its employees and the exploitation of foreign workers in the so called Third World. Why is Wal-Mart so easily portrayed as evil and exploitive when it clearly derives its wealth from people who voluntarily purchase products at its outlets and from others who willingly sell goods to them at an agreed upon price? How is any of this bad? Is there a flaw in my logic? What am I not getting that is evil about this arrangement?

On the other hand I am often deemed extreme by others for calling the U.S. government evil because they confiscate their wealth illegally and un-Constitutionally and then proceed to use this stolen booty to kill and maim thousands of innocent people around the world. Is there a better use for the word evil than the current edition of the U.S. federal government? Nothing quite so abhorrent or aggressive since Nazi Germany has appeared on the world stage, and yet Wal-Mart is a devil in disguise for satisfying their customers. Huh?

How is that nobody screams about K-Mart, Target or Costco? It seems to me that the intellectual elite have a much easier time putting down a place where the under-class shops. How come these same crusaders aren't screaming about those evil giants Toyota, Fed Ex or Starbucks? What gives? Ain't our store good 'nuff for ya'll? Why it's just us niggers, spics & white trash saving some money on chitlins, Pringles and Wonder Bread.

Shucks ain't nuthin' wrong wiff dat!

"Attention Wal-Mart Associates: keep up the good work!",

From a satisfied customer.

Sunset and moonrise over Utah---a two'fer

Beam me up Scotty

Today the dusk contained intensely chromatic beauty on both the eastern and western horizons simultaneously. In Utah we literally feast on beauty.

Moonrise

The moon in my camera.

Georgia loses to Auburn

Kenny Irons scores a touchdown for Auburn in the 1st quarter

As much as I hate the fact that the Bulldogs lost to Auburn, for the second year in a row, I still want to testify loudly that the Southeastern Conference puts on some of the finest sporting spectacles since the days of Imperial Rome. In addition to this magnificent match-up in Athens---LSU beat Alabama in a squeaker at Tuscaloosa and South Carolina upset Florida. What a day of football! The following article is from Friday's Miami Herald which pointed out an interesting fact about the history of the Georgia-Auburn game.

ATHENS, Ga. - There's plenty of things that stand out in the Auburn-Georgia rivalry, but one tidbit caught Russ Tanner's eye: Heading into the 109th game between the Deep South's oldest rivals, they are separated by one measly point.

That's right. Through all those years, through all the thrilling finishes and occasional blowouts, Auburn has scored 1,619 points on the Bulldogs, while Georgia has countered with 1,618 points against the Tigers.

"It's amazing how long these teams have been playing each other," said Tanner, Georgia's senior center. "It's crazy how close and how tight it's been."

The funny thing is that the final score of today's game was 31-30, so now Georgia is a whole two points behind until next year. Ain't the universe a strange and wondrous place?

Habanero Heaven

November surprise

My friend Wilma, the organic farmer, called to tell me that because there had not yet been a hard frost in southern Utah she had more habanero peppers growing on her vines than she knew what to do with. In fact this coming Tuesday (11/15) will break the all-time record for a frost-free fall in Salt Lake City, with no immediate end in sight.

So here in November I'm presented with more peppers than I harvested in all of September and October combined. There will be plenty of hot chili peppers for holiday gifts this year. Put in your orders now if you think I might forget you.

Some heat for the winter

Nebraska

Mrs. Larson's frozen cows

Chapman, Nebraska

I was at work last night when the prediction from the Bagwhan came in. So belatedly, this fine Saturday in November, I proclaim on behalf of his holiness:

let's open up a big can of whup ass and go with the NEBRASKA CONHUSKERS
they are laying 6 points to the hurting kansas state wildcats

Good luck kiddies!