James Harrison lives in a cartoon universe

The thing you have to remember about James Harrison, the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ commissioner crunching linebacker, is that he watches cartoons. Lots of cartoons. “Cartoons 24/7,” he claimed at the Super Bowl a few years ago.


And which are his favorites?

” ‘Adult Swim,’ ‘Family Guy,’ ‘American Dad’ … or I can go old school with ‘Bugs Bunny,’ ‘Daffy Duck’ and a little bit of ‘Pink Panther.’ Depends on what time it is and what is on.”

With his Looney Tunes comments in the August issue of Men’s Journal, Harrison officially has become a cartoon character. Let’s face it, He always has been a little Daffy, but some of the cracks he made about the NFL commissioner make you wonder if, on some level, he isn’t playing Tom to Roger Goodell’s Jerry or maybe Sylvester to the commish’s Tweety Bird.

The magazine piece, by the way, is titled, “Confessions of an NFL Hitman” and features a picture of Harrison, arms folded across his brawny chest, holding an FN Five-Seven pistol and a Smith and Wesson 460 V revolver (both from his personal collection). So right away you think: This must be some kind of homage to Yosemite Sam.

Then his gums start flapping, and another thought crosses your mind: If he really were a cartoon character, he’d probably be voiced by James Earl Jones.

At various times in the article, Harrison calls Goodell a “crook” (perhaps he had Snidely Whiplash in mind), a “devil” and a “dictator.” (I am stumped about this last one, unless he was inspired by Bugs Bunny’s spoof of Hitler, “Herr Meets Hare.”)

But Harrison does not stop there. Oh, no. Once he gets going, All-Pro pass rusher that he is, there’s no telling who he’ll blindside. He is like the Tasmanian devil, a veritable tornado of trouble.

He seems to relish the role, too. In fact, when the interviewer turned on his tape recorder, you can almost envision Harrison breaking out in song:

Overture, curtain, lights!

This is it. We’ll hit the heights!

And oh, what heights we’ll hit!

On with the show, this is it!

But back to the Men’s Journal story. When Harrison is not savaging Goodell, he’s ripping teammates Ben Roethlisberger and Rashard Mendenhall for their blunders in the Steelers‘ Super Bowl loss to the Green Bay Packers. That’s not being much of a “Family Guy,” is it? Here’s what he says about Big Ben, who threw 2 damaging 1st half interceptions.

In San Francisco Saggy pants arrest decried by protestors

Outrage erupted on the steps of City Hall on Tuesday as nearly two hundred people called for charges to be dropped against college football player Deshon Marman, a San Francisco native who is accused of resisting arrest after a confrontation over his sagging pants on a US Airways flight last month.

Speakers said while the protest was not meant to endorse low hanging pants as a fashion choice, they believe the 20 year old Marman was targeted because he is a young black man. That contention is underscored, speakers said, because a white man was previously allowed to travel on US Airways wearing purple lingerie.

The Rev. Amos Brown said from the podium, “You say you want the pants pulled up, we say, pull up justice in America.”

Donna Doyle, Marman’s mother, said she was contacted by US Airways and offered a free flight to see her son, but she declined. Doyle said she was offended that the company did not apologize.

US Airways spokesman Andrew Christie said the company is in open communication with Brown and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People regarding the case, but declined to elaborate. Christie said US Airways wants to do what it can to help Marman “land on his feet” and maintain his full football and academic scholarship at the University of New Mexico.

San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said Tuesday he would possibly make a decision today on whether he will file charges against Marman. One report said no charges will be filed.

Marman was arrested on suspicion of battery on a police officer, resisting arrest and trespassing June 15 after a member of the flight crew at San Francisco International Airport asked him to pull up his pajama pants. According to Marman’s attorney, he told the fight attendant his hands were full and he would take care of it when he got to his seat on the Albuquerque, N.M.bound flight.

When he sat down, police said the flight captain argued with Marman for ten minutes about the pants and told him to leave the plane. When Marman was arrested, he allegedly scuffled with San Francisco police officers and injured one of them.

After Tuesday’s rally, protesters attended the Board of Supervisors meeting where Supervisor Malia Cohen introduced a resolution to address the incident and ask for US Airways to apologize.

Cohen said after the rally, “It is bulls--, and you can quote me on that.”

Christie said if The City decides to ask for an official apology, none will be offered.

Forex Trading in the Same Position Sizes

New forex traders are usually advised to use the same position size. It is good for beginners for several reasons. But do seasoned forex traders still keep this habit? Do position sizes grow with experience? Do they change according to the type of the position?


Fixed position size for new bies


New forex traders should trade with the same position size, preferably a small one. For example, 10,000 EUR/USD would be a good start. Keeping the same position size is excellent for documentation and education. By maintaining a consistent size, as well as a consistent pair and a consistent strategy, the new trader can get used to the market more easily, compare his trades, and learn a lesson at the end of the day.

Changing the position size just adds confusion in this fast market, when they're busy learning so many things. Less parameter in the equation will help a new trader focus on the important material.


A different story for seasoned traders

For seasoned traders, this is not the case. A trader that I know keeps his position size consistent for six months, and then reevaluates the market, his assets and risk, and adjusts his position size. The new position size will accompany him for many months. Another forex trader has position sizes that vary from 100,000 to 300,000, sometimes depending on his mood at the moment.
When he has high confidence, he risks more money, and when he is not sure, the position size is smaller. He usually uses the bigger lots for range trading when the expected profit and loss are small. When he trades breakouts, the position size is smaller but the stop loss and take profit points are bigger.
The exact numbers also depend on the currency pairs in play.


Test it first & Thinking of a change

If you are used to a fixed size, and you consider moving to something else, this habit change will have a stronger impact than you think. It is not always easy to adapt yourself to new position sizes.