Sunday Morning Coming Down

On what planet do you spend most of your time? I was struck by this comment by Barney Frank(I'll miss him).  He was dismissing a comment by a constituent.  At least you knew where he stood most of the time.  It says something about the quality of the political discourse these days and where people are coming from.  The rightousness of people in the political field is off putting.  The chest thumping that has replaced policy making and governing and makes running for higher office something that would distress most political scientists.  Why should the most extreme members of each party have so much power in selecting candidates and setting policy limits. Unfortunately, the most of the analysis breaks down into a discussion of flip flopping versus a lamentation about the lack of leadership.  Add the impact of campaign money and fund raising 24/7 and gerrymandering is there any wonder we are in such a deep hole these days. ...

There are more than a few things I don't understand about occupy Wall Street and all the things it is and isn't.  But I think that there is enough corruption in government and it needs to be cleaned up and until it is the democratic process is in danger.  Some people are rightly confused about the role of government.  If you have lots of money you can get things inserted in the tax code that should benefit you, your company and get you access that most could only dream of.  This is not the only reason the 1% became the 1% but it sure explains how difficult it is for government to level the playing field. Wishing won't make it and camping out to dramatize the situation is not a long term solution either.  The hard work of electing people whose first goal is not getting reelected needs to be addressed. How will OWS deal with reapportionment?  Is their a way to get incumbants to be responsive if they are in districts where the 99% is divided 60% dem...

I'm getting amused.  The Broncos win again.  This time I'm not sure what to think.  TT would not have been my choice as firster for the Dolphins.  They need a quarterback but my excuse is that anybody that played for UF is suspect.  I went to the UM and some issues never die.  I'm happy for the success this guy has had as a QB.  Maybe he should be promoted to Congress.  If there is ever a sorrier group of folks who need a leader, he fits that bill.  Not sure what his degree from Gainesville was but he seems to be a hard worker and a relatively quick learner.

Local Public Broadcasting Station had the original Thin Man Movie on last night and I liked it.  I think I'm getting into the mystery genre a little bit.  Dick Francis, Arnuldar Indriasson, NCIS, Charlie Chan and now Nick and Nora Charles and their dog Asta? This was not the dark murder mystery with Gibbs and the crew providing closure, justice, or saving the country.  Nick seems to think that it is 5:00 somewhere and hanging around a fancy apartment in NYC is the place to be. I've been to places that Dick Francis wrote about.  Some day I'll get to Iceland and the road trips of the Honolulu Detective are something to dream about.  Gibbs visits West Virginia regularly. Using the dog for comedy is a good light touch and while the costumes always date these movies from the 30's and the characters are pretty much stock, this is not the SVU or CSI pulp that fills too many hours on TV.  The touch is lighter and let's you go to sleep without worring about ni...

The longest weekend of the year is half done.  Thursday morning included a last minute trip to Winn Dixie and the store and parking lot was busy at 7:00 AM.  The meal was quiet but good and there are plenty of leftovers.  Lunch for today and Sunday.  Friday was quiet but I still got up early, I spent some money but missed the crowds.  I might make more purchases this year on the internet and let them worry about shipping the stuff. Next week Gulfstream opens and the following week Hialeah park opens.  The season begins and I've studied enough.  Los Alamitos closes for a couple of weeks so I can go to bed early.

The biggest thing about much of the discussion about fiscal policy is the red herring of class warfare.  This is a complicated issue.  I've heard that celebrities that are celebrities for celebrities sake are the job creators for this country.  I know there is some truth to this statement.  Where would the E-Network and People Magazine be without the Kardashians.  There are so many choices for people and theoretically the market makes the decisions about winners and losers. There are some values that need to be considered along the way.  Equality of  opportunity is not the same as a guarantee of equality of outcome.  Efficiencies of scale make certain occupations worth more but I would like a real study whether CEO's are always worth 425 times what a worker makes.  Is a CEO worth $10,000,000.  Lot's of people scoff at movie stars, entertainers, sports figures and how much they make.  Once you become a celebrity executive...

Sometimes it makes no sense to have replays of certain shows.  Newspapers and News Shows might be interesting as history but if you are replaying a show from a couple of weeks ago it is neither history or entertaining.  Unless you live under a rock you may already know who won the football game being discussed.  Sometimes it is just better to go forward and watch something new or listen to music or read a book. Maybe we ought to look for something other than NBA Basketball.  I'm rooting for the Heat to start up again.  But I'm not convinced that there will be a season this year because I think this lockout has a personal nature that the owners want to teach the players something?  This is kind of stupid because owners listen to agents who convince players that they are worth the millions of dollars they are asking for because of the percent of revenue CBA that exists.  Socialism of this sort is fraught with a whole bunch of problems because at the ma...

Lately I've caught a few of the Dan Patrick on the Radio/ TV Shows.  I think he has some interesting guests but I think he drops too many names and is more than a little bit full of himself.  The genre needs some help.  He could do a little more given his exposure. 

Thursdays and Fridays I have a little job for which I'm paid.  Employment these days is a good thing even if it doesn't pay all the bills.  If it contributes to paying down fixed costs after covering marginal costs the only thing to worry about are the opportunity costs.  In other words unless you have something better to do you should go to work.  The NBA season seems to be in doubt.  I have not missed them, although being in Miami I guess we have more to lose than some of the other places where basketball is played.  I follow sports on the radio and I'm not sure which of the parties I have any sympathy for. Will the players be hurt by the lockout.  The answer is a definite yes.  However I'm struck by the image of Michael Jordan as one of the hardline owners who think the players are not worth 60, 50, 49, or 47% of the revenue generated by playing games.  There is something wrong with this picture.  I thin the issue is simply...

Walker Evans and James Agee worked on this book about the people of the first great depression in the 30's.  Pictures and words of poverty, the dust bowl, and a time before the current social safety net. A TIME MAGAZINE parody of the situation in 2006 was the "desperate plight of the merely rich to keep up with the new super rich.  An investment banker is upset to realize that he makes less than a former colleague who runs a hedge fund and less than an outfielder for the Mets who hit .260.  Or the women disturbed that she delivers her kids to the Country Day School in a 2006 Escalade rather than a 2007 Porsche Cayennes. It costs a lot of money to support this kind of lifestyle and like the New York Times said I guess we are having a revolt of the fairly wealthy and a second front in class warfare. Are these people the job creators?  I think they have just set a new level of conspicuous consumption fueled by low tax rates and working the system rather than ...

NPR, Morning Joe, and an interview with his daughter.  This guy has a good PR man.  He is able to communicate as well as any politician I have ever listened to whether I believed him or not.  I think he has some good ideas and was lucky to get out before congress became the joke it has become.  I also think he does not have the problem of the current president where everyone else is against what they were previously for.  Electoral results yesterday showed the steamrolling of bargaining rights has slowed and there are some reasons for belief that the country may be swinging back to the middle. Joe Paterno and Penn State University hopefully learned a lesson about mandatory retirement.  FSU learned about it a year or so ago.  The situation they face now is of their own doing.  This situation has been going on for a long time and the university has been way too loose in the way they have handled this sick situation.  Had Joe Pa retired at age...

The line from Casablanca from Captain Renault being shocked about gambling at Rick's applies to Miami and Florida.  There has always been a lot of gambling in Miami and the fact that we might be a destination gambling site soon is just a natural progression.  Lots of places would love to be a gambling destination if they could get away with it.  A really big resort type casino would suck some money out of other businesses.  It only makes sense if it really brings a lot of new people to Miami.  Sort of like having a year round Superbowl, Boat Show, Orange Bowl or something else that keeps us humming.  The existing slot machine warehouses currently give locals a place to go and bored tourists in the area a place to spend a few hours in the evening.  Maybe to location of the Genting Property will bail out the Arsht Center and bring some high rollers to baseball games in the summer as well, and a few construction jobs along the way will certainly help in t...