Due to technical difficulties, the original status update about Hugh Hefner's latest attempt at marriage has been cancelled.

"Life attracts life." ~ Paulo Coelho 
The Alchemist (Paperback)
Photo of Lobster Dinner by Peter Rimar in Jakarta, Indonesian (July 2009).

It is what it is?

Tea Party Socialists in North Dakota?
Read More...

Three Generations

Since the end of the Korean War, South Korean society has undergone a complete political, economic and social transformation. In 1953, after a brutal Japanese occupation and civil war, the country was on life support. Most Koreans lived in the countryside and worked the land. After just 50 years, South Korea has transformed itself into an industrial powerhouse in Asia. The country's largest automaker even built a $1.1 billion dollar auto assembly plant in Alabama.

This photograph of my wife's grandmother was taken in a farmhouse in 1983. The story of her rough life mirrors the transformation undergone by the country. When she was sixteen years old, she was forced into an arranged marriage.

My wife's great-grandparents traded a small plot of land & a cow for their son's new bride. Basically, she was treated as a piece of property.


During the Japanese occupation, the laws regarding marriage changed. While a woman could no longer be bought or sold, families still arranged marriages for their children. In the case of my wife's mother, she actually meet her new husband (my wife's father) on their wedding night. My mother-in-law had ZERO control over her future. Love was not a requirement for marriage.


In 1983, for the first time in my wife's family, a woman controlled who she married. In just three generations, a woman's status in Korean society changed forever.

One of my wife's favorite movies is "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." Why? Well, when we announced our engagement, her older brother attempted to stop the marriage. However, unlike two-generations before, he had no legal authority over his sister. Just like the movie, my brother-in-law invited dozens of Korean men home for dinner. When the movie came out, even my brother-in-law recognized his character as the Greek father.

OBSERVATION: Globalization has contributed to the rise of Islamic Fundamentalism. The dramatic changes for the status of women in Asia mirror the modern pressures currently underway in the Islamic World.


Century of Struggle:
The Woman's Rights Movement in the United States, Enlarged Edition (Paperback)

T-S-A stands for Touching Sensitive Anatomy?

Remember when Baloney had a first name?

Photo of Dried Pig Heads taken in Fenghuang, PRC (April 2009).
Photo by Peter Rimar.

Remember when school bus drivers were the only ones worried about No Child Left Behind and it only took twenty kilobytes for NASA to put a man on the moon?

Charles Barkley in Drag?

Toilet Maker Flushes Rush?

Whether someone loves or hates Rush Limbaugh, it's clear the $50,000,000 a year radio talk show host is being schooled on the economic fundamentals of the free market. Money will always reign king in the marketplace of ideas. And yes, "Freedom of Speech" has a price tag. Kohler joined Preparation H and pulled its advertisements from Rush's show. 

Picture of Urban Solar Energy?

Changsha, P.R.C. (October 2008)

"I went to a restaurant that serves 'breakfast at any time'. So I ordered French Toast during the Renaissance."
~ Steven Wright

"When I was a teenager in Iceland people would throw rocks and shout abuse at me because they thought I was weird. I never got that in London no matter what I wore." ~ Bjork

Shop window in Notting Hill, Lodon, England (March 2012).
Photo by Peter Rimar.

Is this really 2012?

Are all Italians in the Mafia? Is every Arab a terrorist? Did Timothy McVeigh's politically motivated Oklahoma City Bombing represent the views of Gulf War Veterans or NASCAR loving Christians? Did Rush Limbaugh's misogynistic comments about Sandra Fluke reflect the thoughts and feelings of all Republicans?

Believe it or not, there was a time when people actually blamed rape victims because of their choice of clothing. Something is seriously wrong with Geraldo Rivera. He's never fully recovered from The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults television fiasco back in 1986. Read More...

Miami Heat tribute to Trayvon Martin posted by LeBron James.

In the view of this blogger, so-called Christian Ministers preaching that gays and Muslims are somehow second class citizens is pornographic. Senator John McCain was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five and a half years. Tea Party fanatics posting tasteless comments on news reports featuring McCain is beyond political comprehension. His service to his country defines the very word Patriot.

At the end of the day, misguided hatred only breeds more hatred. And yes, young black and Hispanic men in this country are racially profiled by a small segment of the law enforcement community. Anyhow, the Trayvon Martin case is not about black and white, it's about doing the right thing for the right reasons. Why didn't the Sanford Police Department use the victim's cell phone to contact his family? Read More...

Update: Geraldo Rivera's Controversial Trayvon Martin Comments Inspire 'Geraldo In A Hoodie' Tumblr? Read More...

By the numbers?

Instead of accepting political talking points at face value, this blogger usually fact checks the raw numbers behind an issue or subject. One of the central themes of this election cycle is the negative impact of government regulations on job growth. Looking at the numbers released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on February 3, 2012, considering the financial meltdown in 2008 was directly connected to the housing sector (subprime mortgage lending), it's no surprise the overall employment numbers in the construction industry remains one of the weakest segments of the economy. Read More...

The most interesting numbers released in this latest report are on page 6. If government environmental regulations are killing jobs, it's a bit curious that the overall employment numbers for the mining and logging industry are at the highest levels in more than 12 years:

"Since a low in October 2009, mining employment has expanded by 172,000, with 10,000 jobs being added in January (2012)."
~ U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Additionally, since reaching a peak of 455,595 barrels in August 2006, how do Republicans explain the continued downward trend in U.S. imported crude oil and petroleum products under the Obama Administration?
Read More...
US licenses first nuclear reactors since 1978?
Read More...

Undoubtedly, there are too many government regulations. It would be refreshing for this blogger if the politicians, particularly the Republicans, would throw this avid blogger a bone and specifically pinpoint which regulations needs to be changed, dramatically altered or thrown out with the bureaucratic bath water.

When it comes to the rising price of gasoline, Americans need to remember that the emerging markets in China and India will continue to impact global oil supplies.
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"Without music, life would be a mistake." ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Peterborough, United Kingdom (March 2012)
Photo by Peter Rimar

My Dog Is On The Roof? I Love Cars?

In 50 years, how will future historians and political scientists judge the impact of social-networking and unlimited Super PAC money on the ideological battles being waged in 2012 and beyond?


"Few businessmen are capable of being in politics, they don't understand the democratic process, they have neither the tolerance or the depth it takes. Democracy isn't a business." ~ Malcolm Forbes

Still Lost in Translation?

Photograph of an actual menu in a traditional English restaurant taken in Peterborough, England (March 2012):

Street Scene in Fenghuang, China (April 2009)

"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer." 
~ Frank Zappa

Google It?



Greatest Moment in Television History?

All in the Family: Fan Favorites DVD

Street Scene Outside of Parliament, London, England (March 2012).

...wanderlust...

"The mother art is architecture. Without an architecture of our own we have no soul of our own civilization." ~ Frank Lloyd Wright

How to Survive a Zombie Pandemic?

Did you known that Spam, the most popular canned precooked meat product in Hawaii, has a 10 year shelf life?

Read More...

Kings Cross Train Station, London, England (March 2012).
Photo by Peter Rimar.

The Foundation for Rational Economics and Education?

If a passing visitor spends more than just a few seconds looking at the various images uploaded on this blog, it's evident that this blogger has flown around the world and back again. I've physically walked on the streets of Baghdad, Kabul, Sarajevo, and Mogadishu. I've lived and worked in Alaska, China, South Korea, Italy and Germany. I've vacationed in Berlin, Prague, Bangkok, Jakarta, and Ho Chi Minh City.

It's difficult to summarize 50 years of a life of traveling in a single post. Each uploaded image has its own story and adds just another piece to this complex puzzle called 'life'.

A beautiful sunrise. A busy street corner. A smile shared.

In 2012, the events of 9-11 are already starting to feel like a lifetime ago. However, like a lot of folks, this blogger sill vividly remembers the day itself.

I was listening to a local radio station while driving across Austria. Then, the announcer broke into the music and started talking about New York City. While I cannot speak German, I immediately knew something big had occurred back in the United States. When I finally reached a television in Germany, and the tragedy unfolded before the eyes of the world, my first thought was, "our country is going to war".

Which brings this blogger to the central theme of this post: Among other things, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights did not create traffic lights or crosswalks. The U.S. Constitution did codify slavery into public law and rejected the voting rights of women, but this blogger will leave that particular political rant "for another day".

Ron Paul raises campaign cash to 'end the TSA'?
Read more...


To quote Benjamin Franklin, a man with more personal baggage than Newt Gingrich,"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." What if the TSA had existed prior to 9-11? How different would our shared world be today? The following NBC story aired on July, 20, 2004:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The events of 9-11 illustrated how a lack of oversight in screening passengers had real economic consequences for the global economy. For those that actually remember the 1970s, believe it or not, there are reasons why governments around the world became involved in monitoring and enforcing aviation safety and security. Can you say "Entebbe"? Additionally, the U.S. Constitution created a system of government guided by the principals of the "rule of law" and NOT a country void of any form of social or economic accountability. And yes, "Liberty" comes with an actual price tag: A New Perspective on Cost of War.

Congressman Ron Paul is a soap seller. In the view of this blogger, his 2012 candidacy is NOT about what's in the best interest of the country. Paul is running for President to pave the way for his son's continued political career. The taxpayers put food on his table. Politics is the family business. That's why he repackaged himself as a Republican. He's attempting to permanently interject his misguided, 18th Century inspired, Social-Darwinistic, fantasy island idiotology into the GOP brand name.


His latest run for the White House is no different than Mitt Romney's father running for President in 1968. Or better yet, the four generations of public service by the Kennedy Clan as well as the two previous Bush Administrations (with Jeb waiting in the wings).

As far as this candidate's latest money-bomb targeting the TSA, what Congressman Paul lacks in social empathy, he more than makes up for with his record of political futility.

According to a story researched and published by the Washington Post the day after Christmas, "of the 620 measures that Paul has sponsored, just four have made it to a vote on the House floor. Only one has been signed into law." Perhaps it's just me, but something is seriously wrong with this picture. Read More...

Instead of working to fix a problem, or advocating a more responsive, efficient and effective government, Ron Paul's solution to each and every issue is a verbal ax. This man is the perfect Presidential candidate for the Twitter Generation. 140 characters of text is about all the candidate can handle. 

Suggested Reading:
Glass-Steagall Act
The Marshall Plan

Does anybody know the phone numbers to Rush Limbaugh's pharmacists?

I had a sudden urge to wear a polyester, wild print disco shirt with bell bottom pants. Thankfully, it passed rather quickly...

Mr. Lee singing "Man in the Mirror"

July 2009

Seoul, R.O.K.

Possible definition of "hypocrisy"?

"A syndicated conservative talk radio host raging against the so-called mainstream media is like a convicted arsonist filing a class action lawsuit on behalf of the victims of defective smoke detectors." ~ Self

"People who don't travel cannot have a global view, all they see is what's in front of them. Those people cannot accept new things because all they know is where they live." ~ Martin Yan

Stonehenge, England (March 2012)