Mississippi State Rep. Andy Gipson (R.), the man who denounced gays by quoting from the famous biblical passage on homosexuality found in Leviticus (20:13), has refused to retract his remarks. Mr. Gipson wrote this morning on his Face Book page, “To be clear, I want the world to know that I do not, cannot, and will not apologize for the inspired truth of God's Word. It is one thing that will never 'change.'"

Good for Mr. Gipson. We are all getting tired of pusillanimous, limp-wristed Republican politicians, conservative voters, and religious leaders who speak up against the gay menace in this country, but then back down the minute there is the slightest peep of a protest from liberals.

The US economy is on the road to recovery, right? That’s what all the economists and financial analysts say. Unemployment has dropped down to 8.3%, unemployment claims are now at a level last seen in 2008 before the economy fell off a cliff, almost all the TBTF banks have just passed the recent Fed stress tests and are now allowed to use their excess capital to pay dividends and buy back their stocks, inflation is tame if you go by official government statistics (especially core inflation that the Fed loves to look at because it removes the effects of food and oil price increases), and finally all major economic indicators are flashing green lights.

Here was Rush Limbaugh at the opening of his radio show yesterday, commenting on the controversy that arose over his describing a young woman who testified before a Congressional committee a "slut" and a "prostitute".

Oh, yeah, I'm gonna deal with this. I'm gonna deal with it. I think this is hilarious. Absolutely hilarious. The left has been thrown into an outright conniption fit!... The reaction that they are having to what I said yesterday about Susan Fluke -- or Sandra Fluke, whatever her name is -- the Georgetown student who went before a congressional committee and said she's having so much sex, she's going broke buying contraceptives and wants us to buy them. I said, "Well, what would you call someone who wants us to pay for her to have sex? What would you call that woman? You'd call 'em a slut, a prostitute or whatever."

The time-honored advice brokers have always given their investment clients is to “diversify, diversify, diversify!” It’s the basic law of investment – Investment 101 you might say – never put all your eggs in one basket. Which is why it is so odd to see the CEO of one of the largest investment funds in the world –BlackRock – insist that his customers ignore this basic rule and invest everything they have in equities.

CEO Laurence D. Fink says that we are living in a “New World” where it is impossible to earn a decent return on traditional bonds or other conservative investments. He’s right about that; Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has made it clear he intends to keep interest rates at zero percent through at least the end of 2014. Maybe this New World is a welcome relief for borrowers, many of whom are desperate to reduce their debts, or at least the interest cost on their debts if they can refinance at lower rates.

I'm really terrible at this kind of introduction, I'd rather just get on with the job and let people decide from there, but there you go - It's still polite to introduce myself.

Firstly, though, I would like to wish Sean-Paul all the luck in the world in his future endevours. I first got to know him back in 2005 when we both lived in San Antonio and I first started reading The Agonist. He's one of the good people as far as I am concerned, intelligent and approachable, and I'd like to thank him publicly for recommending me as his successor.

It was while hanging out on The Agonist's comment pages that I got to know some of the Agonistas still around today. Tina and Lex are old friends now both here and at discussion groups or in comments at my own original blog, Newshoggers.com, while I fondly remember JPD and I debating the question of Iranian nukes and possible looming war here some years ago now. Others like Actor212, Cliff and Ian Welsh, I've known for years as the authors of their own blogs.

So, I bid you all adieu. If you're so inclined I can be found here opining on things not political. And you can always find me updating my photos from some other strange out of the way place on the globe, or even just around Texas, at Flickr.

Until next we meet, with hope, as we trudge the road of happy destiny.

In 2002 I created The Agonist and I've been here ever since. It's been a wild ride. We've been through three wars: Afghanistan Iraq and Libya. We've been through three presidential elections, 2004, 2008 and now this one in 2012. We've seen five midterm congressional elections. And more media cycles and mini-scandals and real scandals than I can possibly remember. We've been though four technology iterations, Blogger, Word Press, Scoop and Drupal. We've had over 20,000,000 unique visitors and too many page views to count. We've seen one massive financial crisis and have hosted some of the best writers on the Internet, including Don Henry Ford, Michael Collins, Stirling Newberry, Ian Welsh and Numerian. And we have an editorial team that has been an absolute pleasure to work with: Rick, Tina, Nate, Lex, Moley and Raja. You guys and gals are the best. I traveled and posted stories and photographs from countless countries, including two epic personal journeys, across the Silk Road in 2003 and the Spice Route from 2008-2009. And in the course of my travels I have had the distinct pleasure of meeting many of you in person.

If someone had told me in 2002 that I'd still be blogging ten years later I'd have laughed. And yet, here we are. You know, it's been real. It's been fun. And many times it's been real fun.

But it's time to move on. I'm ready to buckle down and focus more on my long form writing and soon I will return to graduate school. I'm going to need all the mental space possible. Short form blogging precludes that.

So, on February 1, 2012 I will step down as Editor in Chief of The Agonist. That's the bad news.

But here's the great news: I am supremely excited to announce that Steve Hynd, formerly of Newshoggers, will now lead us.

I will remain an active member and will continue to post here from time to time (fear not, Friday Catblogging will live on). But Steve will take up day to day management of the site and posting and answering queries and generally doing everything I did, except I'm certain he'll do it better.

A site like this certainly takes on a great deal of the ethos of its creator. That ethos, I hope, has been open-mindedness, a willingness to listen and to learn from others. I have all the confidence in the world that Steve is all of that, but more so, I am certain he will mold The Agonist into a better, more thoughtful, timely and global place.

For the story behind the day read here. Make sure to double click the link as sometimes it hangs.

The world is running out of money. If money is credit, and credit relies on confidence, there is not enough confidence in the financial system to supply the world with the money it needs. Since the initial credit crisis struck in 2008, credit and money have been withdrawn from the system in such staggering amounts that international trade can no longer grow. The world’s central banks are playing a rear guard action by acting as lender of last resort to banks that no longer trust each other and have stopped lending in the interbank market. As liquidity flows out from the system, the rottenness that has corrupted the foundations of global finance is now exposed for all to see.

We took the kids down to the national park today. It was as splendid as ever, if seriously drought stressed, more so than I have ever seen. Funny thing about the desert: if you'd never seen it before you probably wouldn't know it was drought stressed, but if, like me, you have, you'd notice the difference.

Regardless, it was a fantastic day. The series today starts here. The full series is here.

Enjoy!

We visited Marfa and the surrounding area today. We are off to Big Bend National Park tomorrow, which will be an all day trip, posting tomorrow is doubtful.

Today's photos, about 50, begin here. The full set can be found here.

Also, for those of you who have asked to see a photo of The Brunette, there is one available on my Facebook page.

Enjoy!

I had a great day with The Brunette and her kids. We spent the day in the Fort Davis Mountains. We'll do a Star Party at the McDonald Observatory tomorrow night.

There are close to 100 photos. The full set can be found here and the beginning photo starts here.

Enjoy!

I was nine years old at the time. We were in school one morning when our teacher was called away. This was a very unusual occurrence. We sat quietly waiting, and when teacher returned, she was crying and shaking uncontrollably. All of us were worried and confused – teacher had never acted this way before. In fact we had never seen any emotion from her at all. “What has happened, teacher?”, someone called out. Sobbing, she replied – “Children, Great Teacher has died!”

It was as if you pushed a button in the room. Instantaneously all of us burst into tears, with many of us wailing “What is going to happen to us? Who is going to take care of us? How will we live?” It never occurred to any of us that our parents or some responsible adult would take care of us. From the moment we were aware of the outer world, we understood that all that was good, beautiful and intelligent in the world came from Great Teacher.

I was trying to think of ways that we could remember the basic tenets of the Occupy movement so that when people ask what we stand for we can more easily recall them. In this way we don’t spend time arguing over the things that are being yelled at us (lazy, socialist, get a job, bums, etc.) and keep the conversation about what is really important.

What I thought we could use to help us is our hands as we do with our hand signals together with some easy to remember mnemonic devises. My idea started with the convenient fact that we all have ten fingers. This can be the beginning reminding ourselves first that we have ten basic tenets.

Life is resuming a normal pace after my surgery two weeks ago. My right arm is also improving and most of my pre-accident movement has returned to normal, although at times it is a bit painful. One thing I know for certain: my boxing days are over and I doubt I'll ever be able to hit a baseball or softball as I once could. Time will tell. My stitches come out today, which means I will no longer have to shower with saran wrapped around my shoulder. The oddest part of it isn't the pain, it's the strange feeling of having a titanium plate above my pectoral muscles. There is nothing fun about realizing one is mortal and not forever 19 years-old, but I digress.

Those days in the hotel in Medan before returning home were rough. Father had to return to Toba to gather our things and was delayed an extra twenty four hours because the ATM at Toba was out of cash. The painkillers the hospital in Medan gave me were adequate to the task, but there was still an exceptional amount of pain. Getting out of bed was excruciating. Try it when you have a shattered collar bone (the doc here in Austin told me there were six shards in my shoulder when he reconstructed the bone) and two cracked ribs. Eating was a trial. Sneezing or coughing was a searing jolt of pain.

All of this was ameliorated by the kindness of the staff at my hotel--and the kindness of Sumatrans in general. Rarely in all of my travels have I encountered a more generally kind and thoughtful people. One of the staff even drew an uncanny portrait of me. Everyone, and I mean every single human being I encountered from the first moments in the village clinic in Ambarita to the day we flew out of the airport in Medan, was exceptional. While the same holds true to a lesser degree in Malaysia and Taipei the contrast between the moment I arrived in Los Angeles and Indonesia was just absolutely exceptional. I'm still trying to digest and better understand what it is about the American character that makes people so mean spirited when they see an injured or handicapped person, but it is what it is. Eyeopening, if a bit heartbreaking.

If you are ever in Medan, Indonesia, I highly recommend the Hotel Grand Antares. And for $35 a night? It cannot be beat. I do not, however, recommend getting injured--there is nothing fun about that.

I hate flying and rarely do I have anything good to say about carriers, domestic or international. But, if you are ever in South East Asia and are looking for cheap, quality, on time air travel you can do no better than Airasia.com. The service was impeccable. The planes are all new Airbus jets. The flight attendants kind and helpful. The ease of check in and purchase unreal. The destination list is also superb. Highly recommended.

A quick mega-thanks to Lex for going above and beyond guest blogging in my absence! And another thanks to all the diarists who wrote in my absence as well! Much appreciated!

Traveling with a physical disability gives one a unique window on a society's mores and values. Often we are taught that places in Asia are less compassionate than the US. This is not true. But traveling with a physical disability--even a temporary one--also gives one insights into the quality of a place's transportation infrastructure. Malaysia and Taiwan are cleaning our clocks on everything from infrastructure to manufacturing. Having endured more than 48 hours of travel from Kuala Lumpur via Taipei to Los Angeles with a shattered collar bone and broken rib brought it home to me. All of their public investments are paying off. Mass transit is highly effective. Highways are clean, smooth and without potholes, this in places that get lots and lots of rain. Airports work and are incredibly efficient. But when I got to Los Angeles? It was a mad house of disorganization.

Also, the TSA seemed to go out of their way to make life miserable for me, forcing me to remove my sling--a sling of cloth and plastic rings mind you that had made it through the TSA x-ray detector with no problems while on my body--and run it through the x-ray machine on its own. They were rude and didn't care that I was in serious pain. They were unhelpful with my shoes, which are a bitch to tie one-handed. Then, the flight from LA to Austin the airline people seemed to go out of their way to make my life miserable. I had to request a supervisor's supervisor in order to pre-board due to physical disability.

All of this in contrast with the kindness of the South East Asians. Sometimes I can't help but to think we live in a culture that actively likes to cause pain to those already hurting.

. . . or collar bone is broken in three places. I'm scheduled for surgery Monday morning. It's going to be a few more days yet until we return to regular blogging. My apologies. It is good to be home, however. I'd post the photo of the x-ray but I can't get the doc's office to forward it. But this is a pretty good approximation of what mine looks like.

Also, sometime tomorrow I'll post the full last set of photos, some of which are hilarious, with the right context. Dad even shot a few videos, too, so there will be plenty of laughter, as well.

Apropos of Numerian's post on Greece and our discussion on the value of work and differing cultural perceptions of what, exactly, work is, I offer you this photo:

The above man is no doubt working hard, but so is this guy. And what about these folks? And how about this lady? Or these ladies? All three of them run shops dedicated to the tourist trade. If I wanted something they would jump up and serve me, but right then they are playing. Is that work? Is it work when an American is sitting at her desk Facebooking until her boss runs by and she pretends to work?

Or how about this lady? It's seven in the morning in this photo. Is she working?

Work takes many forms and here at Toba no one is lazy, no matter the languid pace of life here. It's the same in Greece and pretty much every where else.

The last two days worth of photos begin here and are interspersed with my Dad's photos.

As usual the full set can be found here.

Enjoy your Friday and your weekend!

So, I know not all of you will appreciate the bird photos, but hey, I like the birds. Call me a freak, I don't mind. Thus far I have seen 24 new species of birds on this trip. Actually more, but I've only gotten decent photos of 24. If you are so inclined you can see the photos of birds from this trip beginning here and move forward. The big winner, thus far for me, has been the Coppersmith Barbet which I saw this morning. He's the one pictured above. My full set of world birds can be found here, with birds from a far afield as Ethiopia and Texas.

Enjoy!

No, really! I've completely forgotten. It took a few days but Toba hasn't changed. I hope it never does.

Lots of new photos here and moving forward. The full set, as always, can be found here. Enjoy!

Stock markets around the world reacted with horror this week to the news that Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has ordered that the terms of a proposed EU rescue package worth €130 billion should be voted on by the Greek people in a national referendum. The Nikkei, the German DAX index, the French CAC-40, and the Dow Jones Industrial index all ended the day down 2% or more. The euro took a pummeling on the foreign exchange markets.

Global leaders involved in the Greek rescue talks expressed shock and disappointment that the Greek government would throw into jeopardy the carefully-constructed rescue plans that required approval from all 17 EU governments. The White House press secretary, speaking on behalf of the President, urged Greece to accept the bailout terms as soon as possible. It was US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner who first recommended to the EU leadership that it significantly expand its bailout fund from €440 billion to as much as €2 trillion in order to calm global financial markets.

Now let’s step back a minute and consider how ludicrous this all is. The Greek Prime Minister proposes that the Greek people, who have borne the burden of one austerity package after another each time Greece has approached the EU for help, at long last get to have a say in these discussions. Politicians everywhere express dismay and surprise that any politician, especially one on the receiving end of the bailout talks, would even consider allowing the people to at long last have a vote in these decisions. Financial markets plummet on the news. Since when did democracy become the enemy of good governance in democratic countries?