Tuesday Afternoon Cigar

Celebrating President-Elect Trump's stellar press conference with a My Father's cigar and some progress with Clancy's book, Executive Orders.

Bravo, Mr. President-Elect! 

UPDATED 1.12.17 10am:

Warm Day Cigar

To show how far behind I am with Ushanka posts, this photo was taken about a week ago when we had 50-degree weather.  Today's temperature is 10 degrees, so close, but no cigar...

I smoked a Rocky Patel Edge and continued my re-read of all the Tom Clancy books. 

I recently finished Debt of Honor and am now reading Executive Orders.  I'm in the post-Cold War books now, which means they are less dated.  But being pre-9/11, these books still read a bit naive.  Clancy makes an effort to qualify his statements about Islam, as in 'they're not all bad,' something that didn't stand out when I read these pre-9/11.

Different times, but still good reading.

Saturday Afternoon Cigar

I smoked a Palmetto that I recently picked-up in Charleston.  I'm still making my way through the Clancy books and am about 30% through #7, Debt of Honor.  Good stuff.

Sunday is probably the last day to order a Glorious Hat and get it in time for Christmas.  Orders of three hats or more ship Priority Mail, so orders as late as Tuesday AM should arrive on time.

Ayn Rand Fans

WP:  Ayn Rand-acolyte Donald Trump stacks his cabinet with fellow objectivists.

Despite this article being a hit-piece against my favorite author Ayn Rand and her fans (still bitter over the election?), it is news nonetheless that our President-Elect and many of his appointees are followers of Ms. Rand.

The president-elect said this spring that he’s a fan of Rand and identifies with Howard Roark, the main character in “The Fountainhead.” Roark, played by Gary Cooper in the film adaptation, is an architect who dynamites a housing project he designed because the builders did not precisely follow his blueprints. “It relates to business, beauty, life and inner emotions. That book relates to ... everything,” Trump told Kirsten Powers for a piece in USA Today.

I take issue with the title linking Rand's Objectivism with Trump and his appointees.  The author fails to make this connection.  One can enjoy the most perfect of books without adopting an author's religion, rejection of religion, ideology, or any other personal attribute.  Ms. Rand is my favorite author and I do not consider myself an Objectivist.

Perhaps columnist James Hohmann's smear of Ayn Rand is out of jealousy, in addition to the election results from last month.  I would assume all authors envy the fan-base of Ayn Rand, whose work has gained followers over seven decades.  Alas, some writers both make and change history.  Others just post noise to old-media websites to avoid working a real job.

My favorite book on the planet is Atlas Shrugged.  

My third favorite: The Fountainhead.  

A top ten: We the Living.

Book Review: The Road to Ruin

Book Review: The Road to Ruin: The Global Elites’ Secret Plan for the Next Financial Crisis, by James Rickards, 2016, 301 pages.

The Road to Ruin is Rickards’ fourth book.  I have read all four and I have learned plenty from each.  Consider this an abbreviated review, as nearly every page in my copy of The Road to Ruin is marked with notes.  

I recommend The Road to Ruin to anybody who has a financial interest in the future.  I think James Rickards is closer than most in his assessment of our current debt problems and possible scenarios of the pessimistic type.

The Road to Ruin, released this month, is an up-to-date, pre-election review of monetary policy and how said policy will trigger a financial crisis far larger than those “foreshock” crises in 1998 and 2008.  The author explains, from multiple perspectives of established monetary theories, the new complexity theory, and in practical terms how the crisis is predetermined and how it will be too large for the American government and the Federal Reserve Bank to contain.  

The next one will impact the globe.

You’ll get a review of policies and laws that have set the table for problems in our near future.  You may even see these as part of premeditated plan by global elites.  

You’ll review the two major “Foreshocks” that the author ties to the coming “Earthquake 2018” - the title of Chapter 6.  Chapter 4 was my favorite chapter.  The topic is the 1998 crisis, but what I liked was it was from the author’s personal experience in a firm that collapsed in that crisis.  He reported to the CEO and his story is one of great minds who didn’t see the flaws within their business model.  The collapse of Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM) almost brought down the US economy.  The author summarizes on P119: “The lessons of 1998 were not learned.”

Rickards says the Fed does not see the next crisis coming because they are using outdated models, and relying on flawed theories, that fail to recognize the leverage aspects of derivatives and the bubbles created with debt.  He explains in detail what the Fed is missing as their only reference point to crisis is the depression rather than the near misses of 1998, 2008, and others.  

Learning the theories of monetary policy is not like riding a bicycle.  At least for me.  This is what I like about reading the Rickards’ books.  In each he explains the policies and history in detail.  This gives the reader the knowledge necessary to then understand the author’s criticisms and predictions.  In nearly every case, but not all, the author supports his conclusions and predictions.  You can click over to my Book Notes to see my questions for the author.  These are areas where I am still unclear.

For example, the author makes a convincing case to buy physical gold in preparation for the coming crisis.  Early in the book he says gold may spike to $10k/oz - a near 10x jump.  He warns gold will be unavailable when the price jumps.  And he warns the government may shutdown the banks and market exchanges to stop bank runs and equity selling.  Later, he offers a suggested portfolio, “to preserve wealth in the coming collapse” (P289).  A trigger for the jump will be an unexpected crisis (a snowflake preceding an avalanche) and the introduction of hyperinflation.  The portfolio suggests 10% gold and 30% cash.   My questions on these points include:  1) I understand holding cash is for using it to buy on dips, but the one asset that is spiking is the one investment that will be unavailable.  2)  Holding that much cash in an inflationary situation would likely lead to panic-buying. (It would for me.)  3)  Holding that much cash in a system that may be closed with no warning is risky.  4) Why not buy 40% physical gold now if you anticipate a 10x jump and closed banks?  

As I was reading The Road to Ruin I kept questioning the publication date.  Why not release after the election to include expectations of a Hillary administration or a Trump administration?  Having finished the book, I now think the publication date was a great idea.  First, the problems Rickard’s presents are mostly monetary in nature, rather than fiscal. So they are problems of a one-degree separation from the White House.  Second, The Road to Ruin could be seen as a manifesto for an incoming administration that knows there is a problem but only sees insiders to ask for help.  I genuinely hope the Trump transition team is considering Rickards’ advice.  Intended or not, I saw many suggestions in Road to Ruin that are quite similar to statements Trump made during his campaign.  A reason to be optimistic.

Read The Road to Ruin today if you want a complete and comprehensive assessment of current monetary shenanigans, risks in today’s economy, and tomorrow’s likely challenges.

Click here to see my questions for the author and 9 pages of selected quotes from the book.

I’ve added this book to the Ushanka Library at the left.

You can buy the book at Amazon.

The author’s blog. 

Tuesday Night Cigar

A Rocky Patel Sun Grown burned on one of the last warm nights of 2016.

I'm taking a break from my Clancy books.  I just finished #5, Clear and Present Danger.  Before starting Sum of all Fears, I wanted to read James Rickard's fourth book, Road to Ruin.  It was just released today.

I'm through Chapter One.  It is a summary of all the things the G20, IMF and Federal Reserve Bank are doing in preparation for the next crisis, and how none of those things address a saver's best interests.  'Play by the rules and put your money in the bank' may someday be seen as the worst advice ever.

New Book: Road to Ruin

James Rickard's newest book, Road to Ruin, will be available on November 15th.

I have pre-ordered the hardback.

I've been a fan of Rickards for a couple years now and I have read all of his books.  I've learned about monetary policy, precious metals investing, and global monetary risks from Mr. Rickards.  I've also read predictions in his books that came true later.  The most significant was his prediction of China's current growth problems that I read over a year before their market collapse in the summer of 2015 and again in January 2016.

Greg Hunter interviewed the author yesterday.  He answers:

1) What will a Trump win do to the markets?
2) Where will the liquidity come from in the next crisis?
3) Will the banks stay open in the next crisis?
4) How will inflation occur in a deflationary environment?
5) Why hasn't inflation occurred yet?

Amazon link to Road to Ruin.

Rickard's website.

Sunday Evening Cigar

A lot to celebrate here at the Hat Factory, so I selected a Rocky Patel Sun Grown for tonight's cigar.

The celebrations:

I spent the past two days with some of Ushanka's finest Comrades: the Alt-Right Dogs.
The Cubs finished the regular season with the best record in the MLB.
And Ushanka is celebrating its tenth year this month!

I'm reading Tom Clancy's Patriot Games.  I plan to re-read the full Jack Ryan series in the coming months.  I finished Red October a week ago.

U/T: Matt Forney, for smuggling the New Glarus beer into Ohio from Wisconsin. 

Thursday Afternoon Cigar

Comrade Mikhail told me he tried a Nicaraguan cigar.  He said it was fantastic.  So I asked the cigar guy to recommend a Nicaraguan cigar based on my Rocky Patel Sun Grown taste.  He recommended two brands, one of which I tried today.  The New World by AJ Fernandez.  It was spectacular.

I am reading a new book, Victoria: A Novel of 4th Generation War by Thomas Hobbes. 

This was recommended by Comrade and author Matt Bracken and Western Rifle Shooters.  It is a fascinating story of post-collapse America.  I'll post a review here soon.

An old Army comrade of mine just texted me asking if I saw Trump today.  I didn't realize he was in Wilmington Ohio today - just an hour or so away.  His visit overlapped my game on a local par-3 course.  Rudolf Giuliani opened for Trump, and both speakers were on fire.  Here is the video (30mins):




Oh ya: the Cubs swept the Pirates too.

What an exciting year.  Cubs in October and Trump in November.  Can it really happen?

Zombie Book Recommendation - The Girl with All the Gifts

 
This photo from Imgur reminded me that I owe you a book recommendation! (Movie: Sean of the Dead)

I just added The Girl with All the Gifts, by M. R. Carey, to my Top Zombie Books post.  

Please excuse my abbreviated review.  You'll understand after you read the book.

The zombie apocalypse appears to have run its course.  The zombies are slowing down, or have stopped all together.  There are still threats: raiders, soldiers, scientists and more.  This is a survival story about a beautiful young girl and her school teacher.  It is a story of optimism and determination. 

Some of the finest writing ever.  Very creative.  What an adorable girl!  You will love this story.

As always, if you read it, let me know what you thought!

Book Review: NVSQVAM

Book Review: NVSQVAM, by Ann Sterzinger.  336 pages, 2nd Edition: April 2016.

I read the Kindle version.  Review date: August 21, 2016.

Question:  How dark can one go?  

Answer: Read NVSQVAM.

NVSQVAM, latin for “Nowhere”, is a story of depression, regrets, a fixation on bad memories and a habit for bad choices, compounded by alcoholism and selfishness squared.  It is a story about Lester, a PhD candidate and teacher’s assistant at Southern Illinois University who is married to a solid wife.  They have an exceptional smart child.  Lester is on the brink of success.  He is about to reach his academic and career goal.  But he finds, or creates, every reason not to cross the finish line.  For every step Lester takes forward, he takes five back.  For every up, he has five downs.

NVSQVAM has a 4.5 star rating at Amazon, no doubt for the quality of writing.  Sterzinger is an excellent story-teller.  You’ll read, and likely learn, plenty about the classics, life in rural Illinois, childhood in Wisconsin, and the struggles of graduate school.  You will see Lester experience more adult problems than you will ever see yourself.  And you’ll experience the thoughts and moods of a depressed man as he spirals.  Endlessly.  

Another oddity is Sterzinger’s use of footnotes-in-fiction.  Quite funny, they also help the younger reader, or the reader from outside the MidWest, understand the humor and sarcasm in the story.  I enjoyed these references having grown up in Illinois in the 70’s and 80’s, with plenty of time spent in Wisconsin.  I do not, however, have knowledge of the classics, which may be one reason I feel like I’ve missed something within the story.

I took three pages of notes.  But to share more would be to give too many spoiler hints.  One question I planned to answer was, “Who is the target audience for NVSQVAM?  My answer changed as I made my way through the story.  I suspected one outcome or another with each new development.  Now that I’ve finished the book, I don’t have an answer.

As of this review, there are two editions available.  The 2nd edition is available in paperback.  The author provided this to me in PDF, but I chose to read the Kindle version so I could mark pages and text.  The Kindle version is still the first edition.  The author tells me that the 2nd edition has some corrected typos.  I don’t remember more than one or two total, a nice surprise from an Amazon author.  One warning about the current Kindle version, however, is it is not edited for font size changes.  I enlarged the text and page breaks and hard-wired hyphenations appeared everywhere.  Hopefully that will be fixed when the Kindle version is updated.

---

Full Disclosure: Ann Sterzinger and I have been FB Comrades for a couple years now.  I met her through Comrades Matt Forney and Aaron Clarey.  

I’ve added NVSQVAM to the Ushanka Library at the left with a link to this review.

You can buy NVSQVAM at Amazon - here.

Ayn Rand Fans

I enjoyed this 7-min video by Liberty Pen today.  You see grown men who share the same childhood memory with the same heavy nostalgia: when they read Atlas Shrugged.



Every person I've met who has read Atlas Shrugged says the same thing: how old they were when they first read the book.  And if you read the book out in public, say at a Starbucks, people will come up to you and ask how you like it.  And yes, they will tell you how old they were when they read it.

Atlas Shrugged is the best book I have ever read.  It was sad to turn each page in the 1100-page book knowing that it would eventually come to an end.

I came to Atlas Shrugged, and Ayn Rand's other work, in my late 40's.  I can't imagine life had I not read it, and I regret having read it so late.

Atlas Shrugged and a couple of her other books are listed in the Ushanka Library at the left.

Book Review: Reconnaissance Man

Book Review: Reconnaissance Man, by Aaron Clarey, July 2016, 202 pages.

I read the paperback version of this book.  Review date: August 17, 2016.

Reconnaissance Man (RC) is Clarey at his finest.

P34:

Truth be told, becoming a “Reconnaissance Man” is a completely new idea and is simply the advice I’d give to my younger self were I to do it all over again.

Clarey merged his advice for young men with his love of travel and the outdoors in RC.  And he builds on his excellent advice books, Enjoy the Decline and Bachelor Pad Economics (links to my reviews).  RC also builds on his book, Worthless, which I have not read.

P39:  

...while you can’t control other people or the environment, you can CHOOSE which environment and people you interact with.

His argument: K-12 and most 4-year degree programs do not prepare young adults for careers and career success.  Ideally before college, young adults should consider a series of reconnaissance trips over the course of 2 years or more, within the United States, to find exciting places to live.  Do the reconnaissance as he prescribes, with self-learning activities along the way, and the young adult will learn what career field(s) for which they are ideally suited.  Last, identifying the best places and career fields will, in turn, help the young adult learn more who he or she is.

P48:

...you will be well ahead of your peers in the game of life.

Embark on the Clarey Reconnaissance, and the young adult will avoid the “unrecoverable life regrets” that modern society and K-college is taking so many today.

P28-29:  

In immediately going to college, as well as planting your roots in an area that is merely convenient, you almost guarantee you’ll be:

Living in an area you don’t want to.

Working a job you hate.

Constantly pining to do something else, elsewhere.

While tragically not even knowing what else is out there, so you don’t even know what you’re missing out on in the first place.

RC is a road-trip education book.  It is targeted to young adults 14 and up, with the opportune age being 14-16 when one can start planning and saving.  While he targets all young adults, I’d steer this more to young men as the recon trips will be adventurous, lonely, and both physically and emotionally demanding.  In truth, this book is for the 5% of that age group who have the courage and determination to embark on a 2-year, self-supervised and demanding assignment.

In addition to the concepts, Clarey helps the reader narrow their recon area with categories that include climate, taxes, outdoor activities and employment opportunities.  Even a teenager who reads RC yet never leaves the house will be better for it, as RC is an outline of priorities, advice and lessons learned.

If you know of any young adult 14 or over who has shown evidence of work ethic, follow-through and an independent streak, give them this book.  It may be the greatest gift they will ever receive.

---

Full disclosure: Clarey is a comrade, and I am a fan.

I’ve added RC to the Ushanka Library book list at the left.

You can buy RC at Amazon - here.

Tuesday Afternoon Cigar

Smoking a Rocky Patel Sun Grown on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River, slightly East of Cincinnati.

Thanks to Rocky Patel's high nicotine content I was able to multi-task.  I'm still reading the Kindle version of Ann Sterzinger's NVSQVAM.  I also printed out Ol Remus' latest post.  And last, I started Comrade Aaron Clarey's latest, Reconnaissance Man.

Sunday Afternoon Cigar

Rocky Patel Edge (blue label).

Still reading Comrade Ann Sterzinger's NVSQVAM.

Sunday Afternoon Cigar

My last Rocky Patel Sun Grown.  I'll have to raid the Glorious Hat petty cash this week...

I'm reading Comrade Ann Sterzinger's book, NVSQVAM.  I'll be posting a review here shortly.

Firing On All Cylinders

Comrade Matt Forney is on fire.  His hard work over the years with his books, articles, blogging and podcasting is starting to pay off.  His good work covering the Iowa Caucus, where I joined him for a couple days, has paid off with more sponsored trips to the political conventions later this month.

You'd be smart to follow Matt's work this election year.  He's a hell of a better resource than the MSM, or those right-wing media sources polluted with NeverTrump types.  But don't take my word for it.  Twitter just suspended Matt's account.

Check out these two recent articles, and his latest podcast with Comrade Bernard Chapin!

RightOn:  The Anti-Trump Riot in Chicago and the Rising Tide of Leftist Violence

While Trump’s Chicago rally is the only one he’s had to cancel under threat of civil unrest, the Leftist violence at his events has only gotten worse. In Albuquerque, they were smashing down the doors; in Orange County, they were roughing up anyone wearing a “Make America Great Again” T-shirt; in San Jose, they were attacking pregnant White women and actively hunting people down (with the tacit approval of the Democratic mayor and Mexican police chief). And now, we have #BlackLivesMatter assassins gunning down cops and the media cheering them on.

Donald Trump is far from perfect, but helping elect him president is important not just because of what he advocates, but what he represents. Trump is a symbol. As a unabashedly masculine, successful businessman who raised equally successful children, Trump embodies many of the qualities that made America great. Not only does his nationalist platform run counter to the Left’s global program of multiculturalism, degeneracy and economic exploitation, Trump possesses the charisma and force of will to accomplish his goals, a far cry from the cuckservatives in Congress who get rolled by the Left over and over.

Return of Kings:  Google’s Anti-White Sketch Of The Juno Mission Team Shows How Evil The Company Has Become Examples of their leftist, anti-white bias

RightOn: This Alt-Right Life (podcast)

[Bernard Chapin, on Cultural Marxists, 11:45 mark]  ...why I have so many videos with "Cultural Marxism" in the title.  Because it drives them insane.  They cannot handle hearing that.  I have a couple people that used to just follow me around.  One of them even admitted to being a Marxist.  And this is in the middle of saying 'you don't really understand Marxism.' 

You're a Marxist and you're googling 'Cultural Marxism.'  Why are you even here?  You're here trying to confuse people.  That's not going to work on my channel.  She's not going to fool anyone on my channel.  But that's what they're trying to do.  They're terrified of that [being correctly labeled as a Cultural Marxist].  Because it is such an obvious connection. 

You just take out the 'Proletariat' and you replace it with 'blacks, gays, who-knows-what.'  And you take the oppressor class, or the 'Bourgeoisie,' the 'Capitalists,' or the people who had capital, and you replace that with 'white male' and that's all that they're doing.  They're just running the same stuff.  The same dialectical nonsense.

Bernard Chapin's YouTube Channel.

My Latest Article: FBI

American Thinker published my latest article today. 

FBI Resignations: Where Are They?

In this episode, Karl shares a story and offers advice to the 150 FBI agents who worked on the Hillary email crimes, only to have the rug pulled out from under them by political appointees FBI Director Comey and Attorney General Lynch.

My post on the story.

Quote of the Day

Comrade, author and Glorious Hat model, Ann Sterzinger shares the following on FB:

Here's a generalization of Vox Day's "SJWs always lie" principle: Anyone who thinks of arguments as a win/lose activity rather than a learn/learn proposition isn't worth the time you'll spend arguing with them, because since "winning" is more important to them than the truth, they inevitably resort to lying and bad arguments, and then you wind up wasting your time arguing with crazy bullshit. It can be entertaining from time to time, but unless you can shut them down quickly (which isn't that likely when you're dealing with someone who will resort to anything to "win"; even after they've obviously lost they're going to keep flailing) it's kind of a waste of life.
Unfortunately, those people are 98 percent of the Internet.

This applies to arguing with Bitter Cruzingers too.

My December review of SJWs Always Lie.

In the Mail: Breaking Stalin's Nose

Comrade Oleg at The People's Cube just recommended Eugene Yelchin's 2013 book, Breaking Stalin's Nose.  I just ordered my copy, and am looking forward to reading the illustrated book about a young boy growing up in the Soviet Union.

The author: