Lets go Mets!

My Mets played their first spring training game yesterday and it was a good game to be a mets fan. Jose Reyes homered from both sides of the plate batting in the 3 hole, Beltran homered and the mets won comfortably 9-0 so that was good. (Obviously it means nothing- other than Jose will slump trying to hit for power) But its nice to have baseball back- I love the NCAA tournament and the regular season even has been very entertaining (though its a bit hard to say that there is any one really 'elite' team) But baseball is back! More steroid issues aside its just a comfort sport, its daily ebb and flow are something no other sport can capture, over a 162 games every day is a mini-battle and we look for keys on how that game might shape the rest of the season- and no other sport does that. Plus fantasy baseball is a daily challange which admittedly I'm not great at (I did pull out one championship out of three leagues ON THE LAST DAY OF THE SEASON, it was my first day in first all year- on the last day)
Overall though it marks the 'official' begining of spring and warm weather, and I think that I'm ready for it. Play Ball! and have a great weekend!

The importance of being Earning

In a lightly reported story the first rumble of the dangers of the economic situation rolled through yesterday in Bangladesh some border patrol guards mutinied and took over their compound because of shrinking pay and reported possible bouncing checks. Maybe the government thought that the border patrol would be somehow a good group to shortchange- but cheating people with weapons is usually a bad idea. In any event the government then sent in tanks and promised amnesty so the siege ended but it sets a dangerous precedent. This is the first case of armed insurrection against a government- a government that is clearly in some form of economic distress during this economic downturn. We can hope this situation doesn't deteriorate where their credit doesn't dry up. (This is why Hilary was sweet talking China- they buy our debt) should it dry up in Bangladesh there will be rabid hyper inflation as the government prints money to try and pay its bills. Civil unrest will follow and the sparks of war might fly again. At that point the stakes get a little higher. Lets hope it doesn't reach that point.

Not bad Mr. President, but not great.

Watching the President last night I was struck by one thing right off the bat; he is very comfortable in the position he is in. He is a good speaker and shows passion in the right places, and clearly by how long the applause was (it was too long) at the beginning there is a great deal of love for him and a great deal of hope. I thought the overall speech was good- admittedly I'm not a huge fan of his policies, but he is my president too even if I'm not fawning over his every word. To me though the frustrating part of this - and this is spillover from an ongoing disagreement with Dave over the stimulus bill. I know great things are planned for this money (and their had better be some big things that do get done seeing how much it was) but when the president stood up there last night and says he's creating jobs, I can not get excited about paving a road, stringing up power lines, or building a house. (All jobs btw that when the money dries up the jobs do too- these are not permanent jobs but in my opinion band-aids, much like the new deal jobs) I heard no mention of money available for technology startups, for high technology- something (anything) that benefits me or my friends or co-workers. Great 57 policemen kept their job in MN thanks to the bailout by this bill while 49 people lost their job at my work because they didn't work for the government. All 43 thousand people in the Dept of Education deserve to keep their jobs? They each are that important? The same department that the President said has failed? I'm not saying that government should save everyone; that's unreasonable, but drawing that line is difficult. I just felt that for all the promise of leading technology again there was nothing to support that. All said though it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. I just hope it instills some confidence- we need that far more than petty politic-ing.

BTW was anything funnier than the Pelosi-in-the-Box behind the President? She was jumping up mid sentence to be first one up.

Prime Time take II

I remember when Dion Sanders first hit the big time during an age where the two sport player was still mildly popular we had PrimeTime. I always thought of him as an overrated football player- I think I witnessed him make one open field tackle ever. But no doubt he had wheels and eye for the ball. As a baseball player he was able to cover the outfield well, but only a so-so hitter. Of course this compares to Bo Jackson who I think was easily the best 2 sport player outside of Jim Thorpe. For a short few years Bo know sports. I still remember the All Star Game where Tony Larussa batted him leadoff to 'send a message' He blasts the ball straight out over the center field wall, it was awesome. Unfortunately his career was cut short on a sideline run in a first round playoff game when he fell on his hip; and never recovered. But for that shooting star moment we had a truly remarkable athlete.
Tonight (again) President Obama goes before a struggling nation, the economy reeling, the stock market in the tank, and millions of frustrated Americans looking for hope- we really need him to hit this one straight over the wall. To do this he has to do two things- fight fears about deflation (or worse hyper inflation) while at the same time provide some hope and confidence. I hope he can- my savings and holdings can't take much more of this. And its starting to go beyond an inconvenience.

I'm not the only one...

So I saw this yesterday and felt a little justification for my feelings, and the reasons against it seem much stronger than those for it. Basically this proposed bill says if you don't pay your mortgage you get a rate reduction, if you still don't pay it don't worry the Government will bail you out. Please note in this bill there is no distinction between CAN'T and WON'T- after all how could they really tell? And I too don't want to pay someone else's mortgage yet- I don't even have my own!

On the plus side I like the idea that Obama's attorney general going after UBS looking into up to 52 thousand citizens with illegal offshore accounts and not reporting to the IRS, shame shame shame. I'd like to see those names released, and fines and jail time for all. Its time we stopped cracking down on the teflon elite who get away with this crap- Considering UBS paid 780 million to try and settle, you know there are probably billions stored away there- billions and therefore many millions of unpaid taxes. Cheats annoy me- especially those who do it not because its necessary- but because it could be done.

Enough of the angry, have a great weekend everyone!

Obama train out of control?

In spirit of the unfettered and supported spending frenzy that eventually led the US economy to this point, Pres. Obama yesterday unveiled a NEW plan to bail out homeowners. The cost? Oh another 80 billion dollars (with a B). Now I was one of those people who thought that the initial stimulus package was too big, to vague, and with too many mis-appropriations. Does 660 million dollars to revamp all the elevators in NYC sound like economic stimulus? Apparently Otis has a great lobbyist. Otherwise that's 660 million going to oh about 200 people and their companies bottom line. I'm slowly going through the BILL (here's the link ) all 407 pages of goodness and badness and absolute crap. How does one churn out 407 pages in only a few days anyway? One more point NYC got 5 billion, the budget shortfall this year is 4 billion. So how many jobs are you really going to create with 99 million? Very very few, that money is going towards debts- not as promised new jobs. Anyway as a financial conservative (and proud of it) I have serious issues with the bill; and the major one is that I don't think its going to do much- if anything. I firmly believe that we have set a dangerous (dare I say fatal) precedent of 'bailouts.'
If I may be so bold here's the analogy: You enter a casino but before you actually get to use the casino, here comes a richly dressed person (your banker) who you'd think has much more money than you and he says you need to pay up to play. OK fine you realize there are costs associated, so you pay, and then watch him take the money you just gave him and lay it on the craps table, where he proceeds to lose it spectacularly. He then comes back to you and says if you don't front him some money the bank will close. Now if its me, after what I just watched I take my money and go elsewhere- but not the government they continue to pour money down this leaky bucket, all the while devaluing my money.
So I ask: You just passed the biggest spending bill in the history of man, and two days later you have the gall to ask for another 1/10 of what you just got? Two Days? So now we have printed and borrowed all this money and we still want more to gamble with? There's a word out there called inflation, coupled with hyper means hyperinflation. All this so called lending money gets lent? that's what we have, back to double digit inflation numbers. Awesome. We had layoffs at work yesterday, clearly the stimulus plan benefited them, if companies don't believe it will help then its just one giant loss for the American taxpayer.

A-Roid and Yankees- so happy together

So I like a fool listened to the Aroid media circus yesterday thinking that perhaps I'd get some kind of answer that might ring true, maybe a little dirt, maybe some heartfelt apology but overall just to see him get grilled by the reporters who were just chomping on the bit to get at him. And then the Yankees ruined it; even before A-roid got to the mike it was announced 'no follow up questions' Honestly is there a more laughable phrase at a press conference? How is a reporter supposed to glean anything at all if they are limited to one question? And lets face it with only one question an answer can be glossed over to the point of being worthless or worse. It was worse than a farce. It was an unmitigated disaster- and oh-by-the-way (quote) "This should have answered all the questions and we can move forward."

I don't think so.

Rodriguez in the press conference in my opinion just sabotaged any chance of him making the hall of fame. Not only did he not answer any 'real' questions he introduces the mysterious 'cousin' tells us he -not pills but injected himself twice a month for THREE YEARS -BUT not only did they not know what they were putting in themselves, they didnt know how to do it, AND he detected no serious improvements outside of a mental placebo. Puleeeease maybe six months, but would you continue something for three years without seeing some result? I sure wouldn't. Then the excuses, 'I was young, I was stupid, I wish I got to go to college so I could grow up normally.' Believe me Alex there are millions on millions of people who wish they could have been you. You had more than enough money to pay somebody to tell you what/ how to take this crap.

He's not a HOF'er anymore, hes A-Roid, A-Fraud or worse. He was given three chances to come clean, (the first being never taken it to start with) then two laughable interviews/question sessions. Three strikes you're out. Those are the rules, its time they are enforced.

The great Xbox adventure

So I finally caved and made the choice I probably should have made a while ago; and bought the Xbox360, in fact I bought 2... and then returned one. Of course after months and months of waffling back and forth I found a deal at FYE for an Elite model, which is the highest level xbox, for 399 with a 150 rebate. Ok so I go there and they have them in stock check 1, then I see it, however it didn't have the two free games that the previous bundles had been put with, so that was the first strike, now I wasn't depending on playing that completely through both but it was kind of something I was banking on- the games are kinda expensive. But I grit my teeth and after sitting on it for about ten minutes pulled the trigger and bought it. This of course was followed by instant buyers regret followed by Timea exasperatedly telling me to stop feeling bad about it considering I was bugging her about for months! So yeah I had come to grips with it, and bought Halo 3 on the way home fantastic! ready to play, then I checked slickdeals- and of course, the Pro version with the 2 games plus a Tom Clancy game for 213, no rebate required. Great. So of course no serious buyers regret is consuming the rest of the day, and night, and next morning. Then I check and I can return it, and so I did, but first I bought the Pro version, so for about 45 minutes I owned two Xboxes. Now I just can't wait for it to arrive. I'm hoping for Wednesday- it seems like a long time to wait. However, I can read the Halo 3 book! Fun times!

The great divide...

So I was contemplating the other day about the great divide between the classes in this country and how it is dividing- not becoming a ladder where you can simply slowly advance. It is more like a difficult ascent up a cliff where sometimes the only way to move up is not to slowly creep up, but literally launch yourself up and hope you can grab the handhold to pull yourself up without falling. The analogy even holds for the rope, its safer to have a rope/restraining device in case you fall but that same rope is at sometime slow you down and could hinder you when you least want it to. Its that juvenile promise "You can be anything you want." But I just don't know I feel that way anymore....my dreams of professional sports have been reduced to beer league softball- and thats just the start.

My life has pretty much to this point been a slow and cautious climb- I haven't really made one of those jumps yet, but I think I'm getting there. Obviously buying a house is a small one, getting married is another. But I still consider myself stuck in the middle class- I feel important enough in my job and I certainly like it enough not to leave any time soon. But I just wonder is it all worth it? I mean I'm almost done with my masters- but does that even mean much anymore? Do I need the MBA? do I want to do that and then what? Do I instantly become a CEO (would I even want to be one?), I don't think so, I'd need to make the jump to a high position at a start up or small company first where security is far from assured, but that seems to be the necessary jump- that or start my own company and that requires everything thrown at it and risking everything. These are big choices, and to put it honestly I think I'm happy enough in my niche to never try, and that makes me disappointed. I forget who or where I saw it and apologize if I butcher it but the line was "Nothing is more disappointing than when good people do nothing" My problem is that I really want to change the world, I'd like to help people and yet I don't know how to start. How do you enter politics without selling your soul? Can you? I'm just not willing to take a leap yet, and that- that is the most disappointing part.

Great Funny New Music

If you haven't yet heard The Lonley Island you really need listen to this (caution explicit lyrics): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7yfISlGLNU

They are the guys who do all the music on Saturday night live, think Dick in box, or Natalie Portman's rap, and they have made a real album. Think Flight of the Conchords but a step further. Its really all about the lyrics and randomness that make it funny. Sometimes everyone needs a good laugh. For a second song here's one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pXfHLUlZf4&NR=1

Its just impressive how polished the songs are considering that the lyrics are just hilarious and nonsensical. (Moreover that they actually have music videos)

I apoligize that this isn't much of a blog, but I don't care =P
Enjoy!

Awesome weekend

So this past weekend was excellent we went up with friends to upstate NY, I got some really great skiing in Saturday and skied on less than ideal conditions Sunday, but it was still skiing. And the whole trip was fantastic. Timea has greatly improved and is starting to actually enjoy skiing a bit which is awesome. I really had a great time and honestly its a bit of a letdown being back at work this morning. I'll try and post some pictures shortly (once I get a media card reader) of the trip. Including a primer on how to move 8 people a couple miles in one shot with with 3 snowmobiles (hint it includes a very large tube) Stay tuned!

How not to drive a car.

1)Out of control
2)At excessive speeds (see 1)
3)Weaving in and out of lanes at excessive speeds (see 1)

I say this in both a little bit of jest but also in a lot of seriousness. Travelling home last night going South on the Merrit parkway traffic came to standstill. Now the Merrit is a weird road, its a 2 lane (per direction) parkway, where people drive very fast, yet it winds around curves and hills, has no breakdown lane and litterally no where to pull off in case of emergencies. It also encourages some terrible driving habits. Anyway this is the second time in about 2 months that I've seen it where NO cars were coming from the other direction which was a bad sign; and bad for me because as mentioned being as skinny a road as it is, the other side is often i) either part of the accident or ii)used for cleanup

So eventually I get to where there are flashing lights everywhere, (the Northbound side was not going to go anywhere for a while) and there is ice (from the firetruck) everywhere even in my lane, then I saw the wreck, and its like everything goes out of you. It was what was left of an Acura SUV, I say this because the only thing that looked like anything was a tire that must have been ejected when the car started rolling. The rest of the object on the wrecker was a smoldering burned out blackened mass of twisted metal. This goes back to my original points; this accident took place on one of the few straightaways on the Merrit, therefor to flip a car to get it to roll required excessive speeds and turning violently. I just hope and pray that there wasn't anyone else in the car outside of the driver. I dont see anyway that anyone could walk away from that. Its a terrible thing a car wreck, a life snuffed out that quickly for what? getting somewhere a couple minutes earlier? Is it ever worth that risk? I don't think so.

Conflicted

I have a real back and forth with our new President, some days I really like him and some days I really question his judgment. By the same token there's probably someone who sees him the same way but reversed; and perhaps that is as it should be. He is my president, but many other peoples as well, if everything I agreed with then for me its great but then he’s not doing his job elsewhere for other people (who don't have same beliefs/needs I do).

This thought was compounded today when he(Obama) announced plans for essentially a salary cap on corporate execs in firms that are receiving a bailout. Initial thought before I read the article (the title was ''Maximum wage' for execs' which sounded a little scary to me. (Maybe a lot socialist)) Now I have railed on executive pay and bonuses for a while now as it seriously bothers me- especially when the companies are requesting massive amounts of 'bailout' money, and yet I thought it was a dangerous precedent limiting pay in a 'free-market' My thoughts; if you earn it, you should make it. Now in 99.99% of cases CEO's do not 'earn' it, but if the company makes money the employees are happy, and the shareholders are happy, I can't say much. However, if you force a fire sale on stock, lose billions in equity, and then say you deserve a massive bonus, I say go fry. Sooooo after reading the article I'm totally for it- its for companies receiving bailout money that must cap salary. My problem with this is it should be for entire compensation total- not just salary. (example Steve Jobs made $1 salary, yet almost 8 million in compensation a couple years ago) To get back to my point without belaboring it too much, when a company receives a bailout it is no longer a free market case- it has debts to the American taxpayer and as such restrictions should not only be put in place but all spending should be accurately reported, and corporate jets and vacations need to be axed. I would have thought that obvious, but apparently it wasn't. Go get 'em Barack!

The Obama Stimulus

....is (apperantly) Don't Pay your Taxes! Geitner, Kennedy, Richardson, now Daschle! Perhaps this is a cheap shot but seriously.... Anyone in the cabinet pay their taxes? Hands please... yes theres one, two, good job Hilary, three.... Is the American taxpayer really going to buy this trillion dollar package of actual taxpayers money headed by people trying to cheat on their taxes? I'm sorry- if anyone out there common person is audited they don't get to say 'I'm sorry' and all is forgiven. It doesnt work that way. Yet here is the rally wacky part; say one of them had a steamy affair with a call girl (ala Elliot Spitzer) then that person is immediatly told to resign and disspear lest they be a stain on the government. WHAT? That has absolutely nothing to do with his public work- nor does it show a penchant for stealing (which is what not paying your taxes is) yet these people get off with not even a slap on the wrist. I have a serious problem with that. Mr. President you pledged to us a campaign of change and decency and honesty. Have some backbone and stand up for what you promised (at least the principles) The errors of both Geitner and Daschle were so blatant, so obvious no one could have 'mistakenly' not paid those bits of tax. They should be gone. Now. They are not the 'best' choice anymore, that ended when they tried to cheat the same people they now control their money. Change? Currently its change for the worse.

SuperBowl Thoughts

I was really emotionally drained after the superbowl yesterday; even a bit of a letdown today still. I had a lot of energy into rooting for the Cards, for no other reason than I just really despise the Steelers, and the Cards are a real feel-good story. They also have a bunch of players you like to root for. Kurt Warner is the ultimate good guy; humble to a fault and just a really nice story of everyone giving up on you (multiple times) and not only doing well but excelling. Larry Fitzgerald is just on another world as far as talent; and he seems grounded enough to be a really good guy in the NFL. On the other side you have thugs like Harrison who punches a guy on the ground and then throws him like a rag doll. Really classy. He should have been ejected; no question. He WILL be fined... honestly the NFL needs a policy like baseball, fights or other outside the rules issues need to be addressed. He should be suspended several games next year. Otherwise whats a fine? (As Plaxico so aptly showed) Hines Ward is another guy I wouldn't mind seeing getting T'd off on. Is there a cheaper player out there? I haven't seen them. Maybe (another class act) Suggs will 'put a hit out on him' next year. Can't say I'd be upset.

Anyway I'm still proud of the Cards, they had a great run; I think they should have won it, but they certainly showed the 'experts' that they belonged there. And that is the more important part.