Is anyone talking about inflation rearing it's head again?

I'm just wondering out loud here - is anyone else is seeing the possibility for inflationary times ahead. Imagine this:

1. increased deficit spending,
   
2. means more treasuries being sold, particularly to overseas investors looking for a safe haven,
3. when their economies start to turn around they pull their investments out of the the US to invest in their own countries
4. creating a wave of selling treasuries
5. pushing prices down and interest rates up
6. the ripple effect of rising interest rates means increased cost of money for businesses,
7. thus putting new pressure on the business sector to raise prices to cover the cost of higher interest rates,
8. and again raising the possibility of another, albeit shorter recession after the economy does a "dead-cat bounce".

Just wondering if anyone else is connecting the dots like this. And what do you invest in during inflationary times? - Gold and land according to friends of mine.

Today marks the beginning of the return of the swallows!

Today marks the traditional date that the swallows return to the Old Mission at San Juan Capistrano in California. This miracle of bird migration occurs every year as the mission itself becomes home to thousands building their mud nests in the tiniest of crevices. While their numbers are not as large in the city proper as in the past, it is still something to see and quite a local event. Here's more on the return of the swallows.

The mission is 6th of 21 missions built by Franciscan monks, initially led by Father Junipero Serra. Stretching up the California coast starting in San Diego, the missions are supposed set a day's walk apart. Another thought is that they are a day's horseback ride apart. Click here for more on California's missions.

Happy St. Patrick's!!! Raise a Guiness!!!

Time to put on yer green and raise a pint!!! This year is also the 250th anniversary of Guiness. Check out their website to find out more http://www2.guinness.com/en-US/Pages/thebeer-draught.aspx.

While it's not the same as being around the "green hills of home", at least we get to have a pint of the finest beer in the world! And for those that haven't been to the Emerald Isle, it tastes even better in Ireland (if you can imagine that)!

Erin Go Braugh!!! Ireland Forever!!!

Won't catch me down at the Old Courthouse

Recently, Janet Rowland, a Mesa County Commissioner, announced that she thinks that county staff should be allowed to carry guns while on the job. The perceived need is because the bad guys have guns so the staff should be ready at any moment to defend themselves.

Since it's so dangerous at the county building that the staff needs guns, it's probably best to stop hand delivering property taxes and car registration fees and instead send them by mail. If more people do that then maybe they could reduce their staff if other county residents follow this practice. Downtown must be really scary. Maybe we should stop going to restaurants downtown too because those same gun totin' bad guys are bound to be in the area all the time. And what about the Farmer's Market in the summer - it's gonna be open season on all those people that are not carrying a weapon, so that's too dangerous too. Forget the Avalon, shopping or looking at all the Art on the Corner pieces too. You could be a target.

While this post is meant to be a little tongue-in-cheek, you can see where fear will take you. Tell your county commissioners that there are other solutions to ensuring safety in the county's workplace. Otherwise we run the risk of unnecesary violence from unpracticed, untrained members of our community: our friends and our neighbors.

With the recent shooting in a church on the Front Range, will there be a similar call to be armed during Sunday services, in places that are meant for peace?

And to be clear, yes we have a right to "bear arms", but can't this all come with a little common sense? And by the way, read the all of the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights and make sure you understand that bearing arms is allowed only in the context of forming a "well-regulated militia". Is there a militia in Mesa County? Just wondering.

Are we still in the "wild, wild West"?

Remember the character James West in the TV series "The Wild, Wild West"? With sidekick Artemis Gordon, they were like James Bond and "Q" of the 19th century western United States fighting all kinds of enemies. Why? Because it was wild! And it was "out west"!

Al Roker from the Today Show (love you guys, really...) was referring to a weather system on this morning's show about how a storm was going to coming onshore "out west". From someone who was born and have lived "out west" all of my life, I'm just sick and tired of easterners referring to the western half of the United States as "out west" like we're still fighting in saloons, riding horses and mining for gold. Don't you people travel?

Yes, I realize that 3/4 of the US population is east of the Rockies and that national TV has to address the bulk of their audience, but isn't it possible that national media types can refer to the weather system affecting "the west coast" instead of "out west? Is it necessary to continue using a tired reference to a part of the nation that has most of the iconic National Parks, natural resources, great outdoors, picturesque vistas and open spaces?

I'm sure that anyone from the east will sit back and dismiss the whiners "out west". You can just hear it. Too sensitive - big babies - buck up - man up, blah, blah, blah. Sometimes someone has to say enough. It's bad enough that you don't care about the sports world west of the Mississippi, but we can live with that.

Bottom line: it's the 21st century and the western half of the country is still part of the United States and we don't refer to you as "out east". We're just asking for a little respect.