Merry Christmas Eve y'all. . .

Hey Everyone,

I wanted to send my best wishes to everyone in the holiday season and a happy new year. I'll be back in January to blog.

-Erik

Christmas and Gremlins and Tarsiers! Oh, my!

Follow me if you can on my inspiration for this week's post. I wanted to do something to celebrate the Christmas, and I found that inspiration while I was listening to NPR today about A Wonderful Life? Not In Every Holiday Classic which featured "timeless scenes set at the holidays," which of course would include a gremlin in a blender. Makes you feel like Christmas, right? Ok, maybe not. But since we're on the subject of gremlins, I was reminded of my trip to the Philippines and what I think is the closest to what you'll find as a real-life gremlin, the TARSIERS! Which, brought me back around to this article from MSNBC that talks about "Real-life Furbys rediscovered" and if you remember Furbys were THE hot gift several Christmases ago. I still have mine. So, in the Christmas spirit enjoy a few photos of Tarsiers and Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

1/20/09 - 33 days and counting

There’s been 3 things on my mind this week: Unemployment Benefits Pay, Ponzi ‘Bernie’ Madoff, and the Illinois Governor.

This week has been full of negative news. To put a positive spin on it, all my investments I’ve made since September this year are up and Obama is 33 days away from becoming our 44th president.

The reason I write about unemployment benefits is because unemployment levels are increasing in the rocky economic times. Where does the money come from? Bush signed an extension of unemployment benefits but did you know that the funds are managed by state agencies, not the Federal Government? Where does the money come from? I’m not sure, if you know you can post a comment and let us know. Some states have 6 months of funds left, some are better off. Where does the money come from?

The SEC should be fined for not catching Mr. Madoff. They should track down all the money that he ‘managed’ and take it back and spread it proportionally to the investors who were swindled. In a perfect world that would happen. Apparently Mr. Ponzi, eh, uh, I mean Mr. Madoff is out of prison on $10 million bail. Where’d he get $10 million? Crime pays. They should take everything he has, and everything he’s given to relatives and friends.

Yahoo! Finance has been back to their bi-polar ways. Don’t read the headlines, just read the articles.

This week’s Disgraced Politician of the Week is Rod Blagojevich. Step down you punk ass. He’s the epitome for everything that is wrong with our leadership. What happened to honesty? You’re reaction to this situation is one of two: you’re either indifferent, or angry, either way I bet you just chalked it up to another government scandal. . . sadly, you’re right. Am I the only one who’s mad as hell about our lack of leadership situation? Let’s hope Obama has his shit together.

Monday Morning Back Up Quarterback

The NFL playoff picture becomes a bit more clear after this week of games:

Exciting Finishes: Bears over Saints in OT, Chargers beat Chiefs with an on-side kick and a Rivers' TD drive, Jets win on a fumble returned for a TD versus the Bills, Atlanta triumphant in overtime at home against the Bucs, and the Steelers win their division on a reviewed TD pass from Big Ben.

Awful Games: Bay Area football is put in check by the AFC East, Carolina rolls a terrible Denver team (that will win the AFC West), Bengals/Redskins is unwatchable, The Cowboys dominate a team that once was thought to be the best in the league but no looks awful (NY Giants), and the Vikings put one nail in the coffin of the Bears by beating the Cards.

That's about all for the NFL. I'm less and less interested as I realize the Bears won't be going to the post-season.

The Yankees Have Cash to Burn-ett: Don't you hate lame sports story titles that think they are clever? Me too- I apologize for just typing one moments ago. The Yanks have now spent $243 million on CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett. That's $60.75 million per initial. If I was a Yankees fan, I'd be half pumped, and half worried that the Brewers wrecked CC's arm and that AJ's was never fixed to begin with. We'll see how it goes...

BREAKING NEWS: Reggie Theus is out as Sacramento Kings coach. I didn't think he was doing a bad job with what he had to work with, but I've also heard the team was very disorganized and management did not like that. I imagine a coach should be pretty hands-on with a young team, so maybe it's a good move. You know what's not a great move? Firing Rick Adelman. Oops!

Solice in a time of Greed

You might look to religion to find greater meaning in life, or solace in a time of grief. Just about 3 minutes ago I had a moment of enlightenment. My moment of enlightenment is well overdue, after many days of deep thought and reflection, I was listening to a tech ticker video online about what capitalism's role in society is. I think they hit the nail on the head here. Let's talk about why you invest in the marketplace of businesses. It's simple. Not so your money grows, compounding until the day you need to rely on it. Not so you have a 'break in time of need' fund. Not so your blood pressure can stay at healthy levels. The whole premise of investing in Wall Street is to put your money in the hands of a greedy, unethical, immoral person who is willing to do anything to make you a buck. I have moral limitations which limit my money's ability to compound. If I invest in Company X, I am trusting the CEO and senior management to do anything they have to do, including but not limited to laying people off, reducing benefits, eliminating annuities, and/or breaking contracts, to give themselves large bonuses and make me money. The largest argument/complaint in the news these days is how large the bonuses for CEOs are. The only reason this is an issue is because of the immoral actions of these CEOs, if they had corporate accountability they wouldn't even be asking about bonuses. It will be interesting to see in 5 years if anything will actually change.

If you look at historical employment lengths at companies over the last 40 years you will notice turn-over rates have increased. This is because companies have not fulfilled their responsibilities to society of creating and providing jobs which pay fair and livable wages. When companies reintegrate those goals into their companies is when things in the economy will look better. Proper treatment by the company to its employees creates loyalty within its workforce. We're seeing the beginnings of capitulation on behalf of the Senior Management Monopoly on American workers. I relate it to the cereal industry. A few years back the government had to implement stringent regulations on the cereal industry because companies weren't competing, they collectively raised prices. It's a lack of competition between companies to pay their workers livable wages. Corporate management has squeezed their workers and raped the coffers of the companies which are built on the backs of the hard-working staff level employees. Does capitalism work? I think it does for awhile, until you need some government intervention to defend Joe the Plumber.

I blogged a few weeks back about John Thain, the former CEO of Merrill Lynch. On Monday he had the balls to ask for the $10 million bonus that he was DUE, then on Tuesday he retracted his request after some public grumblings. John Thain is a ball-less pussy. Have we raised a generation of ball-less pussies? I guess we'll have to see how many more CEOs ask for bonuses this year. If he truly thought requesting a bonus was the right thing he would have fought for it. On the other hand, $10 million would pay for 200 employees at $50k a year salary. Does John Thain really think his productivity in the past year was worth more than 200 other employees combined? Possibly he thought so, but obviously he wasn't sure about it. Pussy.

This quite possibly was my most confusing and disjointed blog yet. Now back to the title. . . If I could offer some solace in a time of greed, what would it be, you ask? Government is the only entity that can fairly reallocate monies within a society. I'm not talking about hand outs, I'm talking fair taxes giving relief to those who need it. I'm looking forward to the greatest president in my lifetime to take office this January, mark my words. That's my solace.

Monday Morning Back-Up QB

Sorry I've been so lazy... well, actually, I'm not that sorry. I've been busy!

Week 14 of the NFL: I have to be honest, I didn't watch a ton of the games- and for good reason. I won't watch the Bears because they literally are 0-"every time I watch them." I couldn't watch the Giants/Eagles, Niner/Jets, or Steelers/Cowboys because none of the games really entertained me. Some were interesting if you're a fan of those teams, but overall they were very boring, slow paced games. Same with Ravens/Redskins on Sunday night. I will say this though, NorCal talk radio is going to be on fire today with people thinking the Niners are on their way back to greatness. For example:

A caller on Murph & Mac (KNBR 680) called up this morning with a metaphor- I'll paraphrase: I see a strong correlation with history and the Niners. Coach Singeltary is General Lee and Mike Martz is Stonewall Jackson -

[Murph interrupts- "The only problem I see is that Confedercy ended up losing." - caller continues]

Hold on there buddy! WE ran out of men! I'm not saying it wasn't a good thing the North won, but that was "The War of Northern Aggression."

Awesome. What have we come to in the Bay Area? Honestly, keep on holding to that metaphor, buddy. There's no way the Niners are going to end up winning this war.

MLB Hot Stove Update: I'm truly addicted to checking updates on baseball signings. It's truly great if the team you root for has the ability to go out and make big moves. It feels like winning the World Series when your team makes a big trade. Oh wait- I have no idea what that actually feels like so I can't be saying such silly things. But what I will say, is the Cubs don't really have an excuse to not get Jake Peavy. Here's how:

- Trade Jason Marquis to the Mets. Preferably for Aaron Heilman, but if not, just take whatever prospect and have the Mets eat a large portion of Marquis' salary.

- Next, swap Felix Pie for Garret Olson (Orioles). The O's have wanted Pie forever. They still think he's good. Take advantage of that. They took Sammy Sosa and Corey Patterson off your hands, I'm sure they will take another bust outfielder.

- Throw Garret Olson on his way to San Diego along with Sean Marshall, Ronny Cedeno, Josh Vitters, and Mike Hart. GM Kevin Towers wants five players in return for Peavy, so give him five players. He'd love to have those particular five players. You don't give up Jeff "I'm going to have to look up how to spell" Samardzija. You don't give up Mike "I hit pinch hit homers all day" Fontenot. You don't give up Micah "I won't play until Derrek Lee is gone, but I still hit .400" Hoffpauir. Heck, if Brian Giles would waive his no-trade clause, I'd even throw in some of these players to get him as well.

So what? I'm a greedy Cubs fan. But seriously, that trade would get it done- and with reasonable payroll. It's like I majored in Econ and should be a GM (well, at least one of those things is true.) I don't think that scenario is unrealistic, and if the Cubs end up getting Peavy, check out the framework- I bet it looks similar to the above.

The BCS - I hate the BCS. I'm not a fan and never will be. It disgusts me that Texas does not get a shot to at least redeem themselves against Oklahoma (in a tournament, perhaps?) Which is why I'm going to anger even myself when I say this- I think the two best teams are playing for the National Championship.

I understand that Texas beat them earlier in the season on a neutral field. Even when I was watching that game, it felt like Oklahoma was better. I actually think if they played 10 games, OU would win 8 out of 10 times. And you can definitely disagree with that, but we can't prove it because there is no tournament.

With that being said, does a tournament even solve anything? I've seen teams get upset in the NCAA basketball tournament that are clearly more talented teams than the eventual champions. Many underdogs can pull of a 3-14 or 4-13 upset and then immediately get bounced in the next game (e.g. Santa Clara (15) beat Arizona (2) in the first round of the 1993 tourney only to lose to Temple (7) in the next game.)

Maybe eliminating the tournament also sets up the ideal match-up. It eliminates all those great moments that everyone lives for where the underdog beats the powerhouse. No George Mason No Kent St. No Miami of OH. No Gonzaga.

Sorry, I can't jump on board with a system that eliminates those great moments. Regardless if these are the two best teams in College Football, they both have losses to Texas and Ole Miss (making them good, but not automatic championship game good). There should be a tournament where the winner EARNS their championship game participation by beating the other best teams in the nation.

Go Texas and USC. Blow out your Big 10 opponents (Ohio St and Penn St, repectively) and cause a massive problem for the BCS.

Phew! Sorry for being absent. I'll try to raise my game a bit in the coming weeks.

From Bush to the Jonas Brothers

I've been trying to decide who trashed the United State's economy. Through many hours of cogitating I think I've finally reached a verdict. After watching a total of 3 minutes of the American Music Awards, my conclusion on who has damaged the United State's economy is not George Bush, it's the Jonas Brothers. For those of you who know me, know that my alter ego is Erik Wayne (or Erik Watkins, depending on how you know me), lead singer of The Erik Wayne Campaign and later resurrected as The Campaign, and I believe that there is a correlation between popular music and the state of the nation. The more talent that the popular musicians have, the brighter our futures are. At this point in time I think it's safe to say that there is a dark cloud over the nation in the form of the Jonas Brothers, Miley Sirius, and every rapper out there except for Kanye West. Now you might say that it's a stretch that I blame everything on some teenagers who don't even know what the WSJ is (no offense to Sarah Palin). Here's my rationale: I believe music is a society's unifying factor which can right evil within it's leaders. When music stops unifying the masses to take action (a la RATM or Pearl Jam) and keep the government leaders honest, things are run amuck (a la the last 8 years and our pop stars from the last 8 years, you know they're not doing anything positive). People who have the power of the microphone and the crowds need to speak up and step into the leadership roles which they have put themselves in. Workaday citizens used to look up to Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Led Zepplin, James Taylor, Elton John, among others, to use their talent and expression for the betterment of society. We have done such a disservice to ourselves by promoting the Jonas Brothers and Miley to these high powered positions. Musicians like Bruce Springstein made a living representing the blue-collar worker and maintaining solace in hard times. Unfortunately there are few in the industry which do this, one being Kanye West. He's the only one who's not afraid to speak his mind, to say what he believes is right. The real danger is in not saying anything at all. I applaud John Legend for being passionate and active about helping our soldiers, U2 (though not a huge fan) for doing wonders in Africa, and Coldplay for doing whatever it is that they do (though it may be a PR stunt, not sure yet, at least they make it look like they're doing something). People used to ask me where the name of our band came from. Well, now you know, I'm revealing it right here, right now. The Campaign and The Erik Wayne Campaign is passionate about taking the music industry back to it's roots, back to when the songs meant something, back to when the musicians stood for a cause (I think there was a handful of times which TEWC actually got paid vs. playing for the fun of it, or charity), back to when the performers had talent (not technologically adjusted vocals and backing instrument tracks played from .mp3s - which by the way are terrible quality audio formats). The Erik Wayne Campaign will continue to write and perform songs as long as I'm alive because, "I refuse not to be heard, (from a new song by TEWC)." So batten down the hatches and lock up the coffers until talent and activism return to the popular music scene. There's a hunger for it, someone just needs to step into the position, TEWC? - Possibly. Oh, by the way, I blame George Bush for allowing popular music to become what it has, shit.

If you ask, yes I intentionally misspelled Miley's name, and if you don't know what WSJ, Pearl Jam or RATM is, please write a comment so that I can publicly chastise you for being clueless.

Vocabulary word of the Week: laconic
I’m a musician but not a laconic speaker, yet. This statement is also true.

One Lesson

Knowing when to worry and when to not. I’ve learned valuable lessons over my years of experience in my professional life, through booming times, and current bust times. I work in the land/construction/development design world. One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned is that you aren’t going to change a company. In other words, find a company that does what you want to do and that you think is going to give you opportunity to grow. For instance, if you are a Landscape Architect and you want to design golf courses, don’t go to work for a company that does housing development thinking that they’ll get work. Or, if you want to work internationally, work for a company that already has international projects. They must have a history of the types of projects, not ‘one on the way.’ I spent 3 years at a company that I thought was going to break onto the international scene but never did. I was wondering if they were just blowing smoke up my ass to get me to work there.

I may have learned this lesson too well. So well that I now don’t believe that companies are able to change. In a world driven by technology, you must be willing to accept change because the rate that the business environment is changing, you will need to stay abreast of current policies and procedures. I am a strong believer in career phases. Phase 1 you learn everything you can, Phase 2 you learn what’s good and what’s bad, Phase 3 you find the right company which provides you opportunity, Phase 4 you build your vault of works, Phase 5 you become selective and work on projects you feel warrant your abilities, Phase 5 you retire. Or something to that effect. I’m in between Phase 2 and Phase 3 right now. Being between Phases is no fun, and I’ve lost a lot of ambition because of it. I am a patient person and I know that that ambition will return, I’m just in no hurry and can enjoy life while I wait. I guess it’s a sign of maturity. Generation X is much different than previous generations because we all have ADD. If we don’t get the opportunity now and see change by 5p.m. this evening, we’re already looking to see who else is hiring and checking our options. I’m guilty of this, but I’ve become much more patient in recent years. How does this all relate to not worrying? I’ve learned as part of the purgatory between phases not to worry about things you have no control over. When Wall Street learns this lesson, they too will see things return to normalcy.

Vocabulary word of the Week: polemicist
I’m studying to get into a program which would make me a better polemicist and then ultimately a lawyer. This is a true statement.

Signs.

Enjoy a few of my favorite signs collected from various countries. 

With all the attention paid to drawing the big dog, why is the little dog look like a bunch of boxes and triangles put together? Did they run out of time? (Hungary)

This sign is just before a curve in the road. What was so perilous around the corner, I never found out... (Bangkok, Thailand)

Why do the little girls have SUCH big bows? They look more like propellors or those hats wi

th the spinning thing on top. I do enjoy the fact that the man has a hat on. (Czech Republic)

In any language, this makes perfect sense. (Switzerland)

Anecdotal Blog a Day Late

Ok, so I'm a day late. The last two days on Wall Street have been mind boggling. Beginning with yesterday, Hank Paulson the Secretary of the Treasury decides that he doesn't want to use the $700 billion Bailout Package (renamed to the less insulting TARP). During his speech in which he broke the news that he was changing gears on the bailout package he cracked more one-liners than Mitch Hedberg. Are you kidding me? You've just admitted to the world that when you adamently pushed for the bailout package, you didn't know what you were talking about. I told you I knew the plan as it was, wouldn't work. Now his antidote is to purchase preferred stock as a way to infuse money into the banks. Too bad he's burned through almost half the money already. The result of the change of pace by Paulson was a big down day on Wall Street. I think fear finally set in on the street. Today, HUGE up day, let me repeat myself, HUGE. I don’t know the specifics but almost 1,000 point swing in the last hour of trading to end up 6.67%. If we would have seen a +6.67% day a year and a half ago people would have been very worried and confused. Now, we’re just relieved to see some green. I bought some GE last week, the dividend was approved by the board and is safe through 2009, which means if we have somewhat of a recovery in 2009 the dividend will not be cut in the near future. Other stocks that piqued my interest: PFE (Pfizer drug company), MO (Altria), and VZ (Verizon). . . all are looking very strong with very attractive dividends which I believe are fairly stable.

As bad as the banking sector is right now, it is still the best business to be in because the government will always bail you out, and you will always get your end of the year bonus. Want to know how the banks justify giving bonuses (their excuse this week)? They're latest claim is that the money was already set aside and allocated for end of the year bonuses, and that they need the money from the government to run day-to-day services. Anyone else see a problem with that?

In the spirit of my anecdotal blog I’m going to revel in Barack’s win and call him the Honorable Politician of the Week. . . again.

Monday Morning Back-up Quarterback

Who's excited for the 49ers to face the Cardinals tonight? Anyone? Seriously, somebody has to be excited... Really? No one?

Oh well. Let's talk about the rest of the league, starting with my favorite inconsistent team:

The Bears lose to the Titans in a frustrating game. So why is it that every time I watch the Bears on TV, they frustrate me? If they lost in a way that was less maddening, I swear I could deal with it. However, the Titans (who totally rely on the run) had 20 total rushing yards. 20! Yet Kerry Collins had 289 yards passing. Compare that to the 251 total yards the Bears earned on offense and you have a terrible football game. With Brian Griese throwing for over 400 yards against the Bears defense, and now Kerry Collins throwing for an effective 289 yesterday, the Bears have officially allowed two members of AARP to look like young Joe Montanas.

And I haven't even gotten to Sexy Rexy. I think I've been his biggest Bear fan supporter throughout the years. Guess what Rex? I'm off the bandwagon. I may have jumped off after your wagon began it's decent down a canyon, but at least I'm not hitting the ground with you. Rex looked good in the first drive, the proceeded to throw for no passing yards for the rest of the first half. Just terrible.

As far as the Titans go, I'm going to have to cheer for them to go undefeated now because I still hate the 1972 Dolphins. Especially Mercury Morris. When is that guy going to rear his ugly face on TV. Shove it Mercury. An 8-8 team today would destroy your Dolphins and their 13-0 regular season record (16-0 total.)

PS: Jevon Kearse's 9-0 jersey thing was pretty funny. Even I can appreciate that.

Giants are the team to beat in the NFC East - Thank goodness I'm not an Eagles fan as well. There's another frustrating team to watch. Donovan McNabb never seems to get the job done.
Whether he is losing NFC Championship games, throwing up in a huddle during the Super Bowl, or allowing his team to flounder in mediocrity- McNabb just doesn't seem like the championship caliber quarterback people once thought he could be.

The Raiders are going to get their NFL team status taken away. Seriously, they are that bad.

Other notes: Patriots are still pretty good without Tom Brady, the Lions are AWFUL, I can't believe the Colts beat the Steelers at home, the NFC North is lucky the NFC West exists, and the Jets are overrated.

It's also good to have the NBA back, except the Cavs have already proven that they are way better than the Bulls, and with the trade of Allen Iverson to the Pistons, the Bulls have no shot in that division this year. It's exciting to see Derrick Rose out there, but it is a buzz kill to know your team is an 8 seed at best. Oh well, let me sooth myself with memories of 6 championships from the 1990s.

Wining and Biking

In honor of the recent election, and our first African-American President, Barack Obama, today's travel adventure will take us to Africa. No, I haven't been to Kenya, but I have been to South Africa ! Your travel tip for the week is: If you're going to go wine tasting - try to find one that allows you to bike!

I enjoy visiting the various wineries around the world, but I can only taste a few before I'm done - so the mix of wine tasting and then biking allows me to taste at one stop, burn off the alcohol while biking and then taste a few more and not end up intoxicated by the end! (If that's your goal - then you can always ride in the van that follows all the bikers). A bonus is that the general terrain for wineries includes gentle rolling hills so you can get in a good workout and not have to work too hard. If you ever need to stop, the van in right there behind you. The scenery around most wine regions is beautiful, lush and provides a lovely backdrop to enjoy while moving slowly on a bike, instead of zooming by in a car. Biking really gives you a feel of the land and a greater appreciation for it. However, if you go to Japan, Coco Farm & Winery sounds like an awesome place to visit (and has a great story you can read about on their site), but it's not so great to bike since the vineyards are on hills that average a slope of 36 degrees! (aka: super steep).

Here are few photos of my adventures to Fairview Winery, Mont Rochelle and Middelvlei Estate.

Delicious wines and even better cheeses at Fairview!

Mont Rochelle is the first (of two) black African owned winery in South Africa.






Meddelvlei has huge dogs, miniature horses, donkeys, pigs, goats, tortoises - and my favorite because I didn't expect them - wallabies!!!

President Barack Obama

I write my blogs as they come to me and aren’t necessarily written on the Wednesday that I post them. Right now I sit here anxiously awaiting precincts to close and the media to report the winners. At the moment Kentucky went McCain (surprise), and Vermont went Obama. About 5 minutes ago it ran across my mind that McCain could actually win but I still feel deeply that the media is making this race closer than it really is so that their ratings are higher. I want to step aside for one quick moment and address my reasoning for the historic voter turnout. If there’s one thing that everyone in the United States can agree on, President Bush has motivated citizens to get out and vote. I honestly think G-Dub did a better job than anyone (including P-Diddy), at getting people to vote. Thank you.

I may have said this before but, if you think that the United States is in dire straights here’s why you need(ed) to vote for Obama. The more important race here is whether the Democrats can obtain 60 seats in the Senate. If they have majority, they can override any attempts to filibuster, therefore making it easier for them to pass legislation and help the country recover from the depths of dredgery (I just made up that word, so what). If the Democrats hold 60 seats in the Senate and McCain wins, he win undoubtedly be a lame duck president, unable to accomplish anything. That’s my quick anecdote of the situation. I think I heard it may take some time to get the final results on the Senate vote count.

Abomination is the best description I have for the bonus receiving bankers. Here’s why, and I think it’s a pretty damn good argument. . . Their argument for giving bonuses (after receiving assistance from government funds), “We need to give them bonuses to retain the best and brightest workers, or we may lose them to hedge funds and other private equity.”
My argument for “No Bonuses!” . . . Aren’t the “best and brightest” the ones who got the banking system in this dilemma in the first place??? Who are they kidding? If they want to leave and go work for a hedge fund, FINE! I say, go, be free, work for a hedge fund. If the hedge fund has any brains they won’t hire any of these bozos. Frustration, abomination, atrocity, criminal. . . how else can I describe it?

In honor of the elections this week I will not be having a Disgraced Politician of the week. I will be having the Honorable Politician of the week, and that is going to go to our next president. The precincts are still reporting at the time I write this so I will update it as I learn the news. (2 hours later) I think McCain is relieved that he was not voted the next President. At the moment the Democrats are 1 seat from having the all important 60, and they already control the House. If it’s change that the United States wanted, it’s change they’re going to get.

Honorable Politician of the week:
President Barack Obama

Election Day Trend

Well, I know I missed the boat yesterday, but I literally worked 7am-9pm so hopefully I can be forgiven. But here's a quick stat that is pretty crazy:

For each of the last 17 elections, when the Washington Redskins win their last home game before the election the incumbent party will retain their seat in the White House. If they lose, the incumbent party will also find their way out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

So if you were watching Monday Night Football last night, you saw the Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Redskins and you already know that Barack Obama will be our next President. It should be interesting to see if this trend holds up.

Go out and vote- it really can make a difference.

The green fairy

For Halloween I dressed up as a fairy. In honor of fairies, today's travel blog (which is becoming more of a weekend blog than a Friday blog) is on the green fairy - aka: absinthe, and one country in which it was easily procured by a traveling companion - Budapest, Hungary. While this capital is called Budapest, it's really two cities joined together. On one side of the river is the city Buda and on the other side is Pest. Connecting the two cities are a couple of lovely bridges, my favorite being the chain bridge, which does, in fact, look like a huge bicycle chain! On the day we were there, it was a special celebrations with balloons strung up along the length of the bridge, street performers, puppets, music and all around festivities. Once crossed the river from Buda into Pest (or was it Pest into Buda) then we climbed some big hills and visited ornate palaces and castles. I highly recommend cruising the streets here, blending into the townspeople and escaping the general backpacker's circuit of Europe. I did find some amazing travelers here and ended up staying in Budapest longer than planned, but overall, I saw fewer tourist here than in other parts of Europe.

Once we had cruised around Budapest for a bit, my friends and I set off for Revfulop and Lake Balaton, in search of a lively place for a party. Somehow we ended up in a cute small town that had only three restaurants. All pizzerias. We had a lovely relaxing time, but if you're looking for a wild night, I'd recommend you go elsewhere. If you're looking for absinthe, anywhere in Hungary will do. But now, a few years after I was there, it appears that absinthe is available in many more locations - though word on the streets is that its composition is not the same as it was in past years and won't make you go crazy. But don't take my word for it, take a bottle, add some sugar, light it up and decide for yourself!

Merill Lynch Exposed

I’ve been contemplating whether I should expose the lavish corporate party that Merrill Lynch held on October 3rd of this year, just 2 weeks after they were forced to sell out to Bank of America. So I have a 3 part blog this week, Merrill Lynch Exposed, Regulation, and The Direct Market Connection to Republian and Democratic Presidents, among the weekly updates.

The lavish corporate party was held at Starr Pass Resort in Tucson, Arizona. I was there, by coincidence. My beautiful fiancé and I had decided to do a “date night,” and I had wanted to see the resort that was on the outskirts of the town I lived in. I’ll let the news channels dig up the specifics on what the lavish party included but I wanted you to know who broke the story (if it breaks at all). Merrill Lynch didn’t go bankrupt, but they might as well have. Here’s an excerpt from Wikipedia.org (my favorite information website).

Three days later, the company froze hiring and revealed that they had charged almost $30 billion in losses to their subsidiary in the United Kingdom, exempting them from taxes in that country.

Bloomberg reported in September 2008 that Merrill Lynch had lost $51.8 billion in mortgage-backed securities as part of the subprime mortgage crisis.

Mr. John Thain, the former CEO of Merrill Lynch, by the way, to make a point, to highlight, “Based on a formula by the Associated Press, in 2007 Thain was the best-paid CEO among the S&P 500 companies, receiving $83.1 million,” (according to his page on Wikipedia.org). He killed that company, and most of shareholder value. Mr. Thain’s pay is 0.16% of the $51.8 billion in losses. Now that may not seem like a big percentage but when you think that his salary is 1/10th of almost 2% of the total losses for which he presided over, that makes me mad. Everyone hears about what Warren Buffet is saying and doing because he has a history of world-class level investing returns, so what about the bad ones? Well, Mr. John Thain is now a big whopper at Bank of America and he’s in charge of a few things. So, if I can give you any investment advice in this article it would be. . . DO NOT BUY BANK OF AMERICA STOCK.

It makes me mad as hell that Big Whoppers can drive age-old companies into bankruptcy but have no repercussions. This is why we need more regulation. Regulation protects the investor because obviously the boards do not. I think that the fact that John Thain works for ANYONE now is proof enough that the boards do not protect the investor. Regulation can come in a number of ways but most likely this time it will come in more transparency. The Bush theory on regulation is that there should be none, and that businesses should be trusted. I’m willing to say that theory didn’t work and that Joe The Plumber is paying the price. I’m going to say this, and I hope it’s true, Bush is the worst president of our lifetime. I hope it’s true because that means the worst is almost past us. So I didn’t have much to say about regulation but let’s just agree that there needs to be more. The segue from here is to show the historical market returns for Democratic and Republican presidents.

There’s no particular reason, but I’m choosing to start with the year 1953.

REPUBLICAN
1953-1961: DOW Industrial Average +101%
President: Dwight D. Eisenhower
Vice President: Richard Nixon

DEMOCRAT
1961-1963: DOW Industrial Average +6.4%
President: John F. Kennedy
Vice President: Lyndon B. Johnson

DEMOCRAT
1963-1969: DOW Industrial Average +44.2%
President: Lyndon B. Johnson
Vice President: Hebert Humphery

REPUBLICAN
1969-1974: DOW Industrial Average -10.1%
President: Richard Nixon
Vice President: Spiro Agnew

REPUBLICAN
1974-1977: DOW Industrial Average+19.8%
President: Gerald Ford
Vice President: Nelson Rockefeller

DEMOCRAT
1977-1981: DOW Industrial Average +0.0%
President: Jimmy Carter
Vice President: Walter Mondale

REPUBLICAN
1981-1989: DOW Industrial Average +129%
President: Ronald Regan
Vice President: George H.W. Bush

REPUBLICAN
1989-1993: DOW Industrial Average +46%
President: George H.W. Bush
Vice President: Dan Quale

DEMOCRAT
1993-2001: DOW Industrial Average +214%
President: Bill Clinton
Vice President: Al Gore

REPUBLICAN
2001-2009: DOW Industrial Average -21.6%
President: George W. Bush
Vice President: Dick Cheney

Tally:
REPUBLICANS: +264.1%
DEMOCRATS: +264.6%

My numbers are by no means scientific. My prediction is that after Obama’s 8 years in office, the Democrats will have a big lead on the Republicans. Stay strong and invest for the long term!!!

On the Political front:
My current Election Prediction ticker: Obama/Biden ticket by 16% - STILL (since my Oct. 1st call)
My prediction for the elections. . . “no more fear mongering.”

Disgraced Politician of the Week
This week’s honor goes to Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens. He’s the longest serving Republican in Alaskan government, the newest being Palin. Senator Stevens is famous for wanting to censor the internet, satellite radio, and premium TV channels. So what he’s saying is that he’s all for guns, but not for freedom of speech. His home renovations came from an oil field research company, of which he did not claim on his taxes. Also, “In September, The Hill reported that Stevens had "steered millions of federal dollars to a sportfishing industry group founded by Bob Penney, a longtime friend". In 1998, Stevens invested $15,000 in a Utah land deal managed by Penney; in 2004, Stevens sold his share of the property for $150,000.” Glad he got caught, he’s a scumbag, shithead.

Monday Evening Back-up Quarterback

Sorry for the lateness of this blog. The Bears had a bye week this week so I was not as interested in the NFL this week. HOWEVER- Mike Singletary had the best post game news conference of the year. I liked it so much, I'm posting it now:



My fantasy football team won because the Reggie Wayne Campaign was completely unproductive tonight. I was up 7 points, so if he had caught a touchdown, I most likely would've lost. 3 catches for 29 yards is a beautiful stat line.

The Phillies/Rays game was postponed tonight, so the World Series will not be decided tonight. They will resume tomorrow and play the game from the 6th inning with a 2-2 score. I guess it's better to decide the World Series during regular weather, but it was fun to watch them roll around in the mud for an inning-and-a-half.

Besides all that, here's a non-sports story. Leaving my future in-laws place tonight, I was driving down Madison Ave in Carmichael, CA. I was being tailgated by a beat up Ford sedan. I tapped my breaks a couple times, but they would not stop. We finally got to a light where they wanted to turn left and they shot ahead of me and screeched their brakes at a red light (that I'm not sure they saw initially.) I shot them a bad glance, and they were giggling. I debated reporting their license plate number, but low and behold there was a Highway Patrol car right behind me once the other car had gone left.

I figured he would head that direction, but NO. He stuck right behind me, basically tailgating me as well. He drove behind me for about 3 blocks, then went around me and cut me off to get ahead of me. What kind of an alternate universe is this?! I'm getting tormented by stupid drivers, one of which is supposed to lay down the law. The Highway Patrol in that area is awful and they need to seriously get re-trained as to how to uphold the law.

Other headlines:

NBA starts this week
Titans rule, Colts drool
Saw V, really similar to Saw II through IV
Bay Area Football Worse Than Ever
Big Ben Destroyed By The Giants
Cowboys Beat Bucs, Prove Nothing
Heroes Is Still An Awful TV Show

Call if you're going to be late...

Today's travel tip is that if you're going to arrive at a location after dark, to make sure that the hostel/guesthouse/hotel knows exactly what time you're going to arrive. This lesson was learned the hard way in a cute little town I had heard about in Italy - Cinqueterre.

I heard about this collection of 5 little towns through recommendations of other travelers - but little did I know that the tourists nearly outnumbered the locals and that every room is booked every night. I made reservation online and when my friend and I arrived around 9pm, we found that the place was locked and the owner was nowhere to be found. Finally we reached him by phone and he said that he gave the room away because he thought we weren't showing up. Wasn't an online confirmation enough? With no room, we wandered town trying to find another place and ran into friends that we knew from college who were staying in the SAME GUESTHOUSE that we had booked and they offered to let us in and sleep on the floor. While tempted after learning there were no free rooms in town, we ended up cruising to a huge apartment owned by the guesthouse in the town of La Spezia a train stop away and spent the night there before returning the next night for a room in the town.

This town is adorable and set overlooking the ocean. When we were there it rained most of the time - but that didn't damper our spirits or plans. We still managed to eat our daily quota of pizza and gelato while there. We took a hike along the coast to visit all 5 little towns - though we still agreed that our small town of Riomaggiore was the best. We spent late nights visiting with other travelers in the local bars and we laid out on the huge boulders trying to sunbathe when the clouds broke. All in all, I recommend this as a stop, relax and eat - just don't come into town too late... or my mom always says - call if you're going to be late...

13 Days Until the Election, Many more until the Inauguration

Another Stimulus Package? Is that because the $700 Billion Bailout Package doesn’t do anything for the average person? I wonder. Was I right? I think so, so where’s my check? The frustration is setting in but nevertheless, we must maintain our investing strategies and believe in our government that they will bail out the upper class and their cohorts, and that in tern will help US investments. If you don’t make enough money to have investments, I’m sorry to leave you out but that’s what your government is doing for you.

We have less than 2 weeks until the next presidential election and I bet you’re still asking yourself who I am voting for? Still, the best candidate. While Barak has suspended his campaign to be with his ill grandmother, John McCain has filled in for him, reporting on Barak’s last moves this week. Here’s what I see. . .John McCain is somehow equating the notion of liking 2 baseball teams with political flip-flopping. I heard this morning that Senator Biden said in a speech months ago that if Barak was chosen as the candidate and eventually elected president he will be tested by terrorists within 6 months of his taking office. The Republican Party has moved that statement to the forefront of their campaign. My interpretation is, does that scare you? The Republicans are saying if you vote for Barak, it’s imminent that we will undergo another terrorist attack. I don’t know about you but I can’t have another 8 years of fear, I might just move to Europe. Since when were Americans so scared of everything? One last note on the elections, I also heard this morning that new voters account for approximately 11%, I am so glad that they’re not talking about the deciding vote being the grannies and granddaddies out there, I think that’s why McCain is so mad. The youth in America have more to lose than McCain and the other retirees.

Based on the last 6 presidential elections you would have thought that things in America were so cut and dry. You’re either Democrat or Republican. I’d like to highlight one thing to think about when you vote. . . It wasn’t always the way it is today. Electoral Map from 1924 (wikipedia)

On the Political front:
My current Election Prediction ticker: Obama/Biden ticket by 16% - STILL (since my Oct. 1st call)
My prediction for the elections. . . “no more fear mongering.”

Disgraced Politician of the Week
U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney, embroiled in an adultery scandal and a tight race for re-election, admitted last week to having at least two affairs but insisted he broke no laws and will not resign. The first-term Democrat conceded that one of the affairs began as he was running on a family values platform to replace Mark Foley. Why won’t our leaders and politicians just tell the truth? I don’t care that he had an affair, that’s his choice, but if he’s running on a ‘family values’ platform, I just don’t see how that’s honorable.

Sports News From the Weekend

It's a good thing I waited to make this entry because I can start by mentioning the 49ers coaching situation:

Mike Nolan is out, Mike Singletary is in: Mike Nolan's disastrous tenure as Niners' head coach is over. They've been a non-factor in the NFL for many years now, and Nolan has done nothing to change that. In fact, his manner of dodging questions at press conferences and making inept in-game decisions has only fueled the fire of the Niners' futility. Luckily, he's being replaced by one of my childhood heroes- Mike Singletary. If nothing else, this guy is going have awesome pregame and halftime speechs. I would hate to be a player making a mistake and have Singletary staring me down. Direct gaze from his eyes can make small woodland creatures scatter.

It is interesting that they did not choose Mike Martz to take over. He has been running the offense and is a more experienced (some vs. none) coach in the NFL than Singletary. I'm also surprised they did not wait until the end of the season. I feel like Mike Holmgren might be available to bring back to the Bay Area. The other option might be Bill Cowher, but he has no shot at the job because his name is not "Mike."

Raiders beat the Jets - The Raiders squeak out a victory over the Brett Favre led Jets. I couldn't help but cheer against them at the end because of head coach Tom Cable calling a time out right before the Jets kicked a possible game tying field goal. Jets kicker Jay Feely missed the kick, but got a re-do because of the Raiders calling timeout. He, of course, made the second kick and sent it into overtime. I wish teams would stop such shinanigans, but I know they won't.

Sebastian Janikowski ended up kicking a 57 yard field goal in overtime to with the game for the Raiders. I text messaged my friend, Phil, to congratulate him on the Raiders win and this is what he had to say: "F*** ya! They must have given [Janikowski] double the amount of blow than he normally does before a kick..." Truer words may have never been spoken.

The Rays are going to the World Series - That's cool. I like the players on the team. But come on, it's hard for me to take all of these expansion teams seriously. If the team didn't exist when I was born, I lose a little bit of interest if they make it to the World Series. D'Backs, Marlins, Rockies, Rays and I'll even throw in the Nationals. I can't believe the first four I named have won or at least gone to the World Series. As a Cubs fan, am I jealous? You bet I am. (Side note: How great would a Cubs/Yankees World Series have been in 2003? Can you say HIGHEST RATINGS EVER?)

So far the Pats are playing well and up 13-0 in the 2nd quarter. If Tom Brady was playing, this game would be over already.

Under Construction!

Don't worry- today I'm going to write the entry during Monday Night Football- we'll talk about the Rays, the Raiders, and other things that start with "R."

20,000 people, 95% women!

This weekend I will be taking on the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco. To prepare, I've been resting as much as possible and carbo-loading, which in my view, includes Chocolate Satin Pie from Marie Callendar's and lots of Halloween candy. There is the requisite pasta thrown in there as well and plenty of protein to start the week, but chocolate is a necessary part of the training regimen. For today's travel blog, I have a few fun spots in San Francisco and a bit of the marathon thrown in there too.

If you're in San Francisco to view or run the marathon this weekend you can expect 20,000 runners and 95% of them are women! Men are allowed to run, but the primary registrants are still women. If you are a man, would you want to run this marathon? If you did, you could expect a coat check at mile 2.5 so that you don't have to shiver in the pre-dawn hours while at the starting line, 3 stations with a Luna energy chew, 2 with a Luna energy bar, lots of drinks, a Ghirardelli Chocolate stop, a stop with oranges, a couple stops for ailing feet and when you finish there is the expected t-shirt (in a lovely technical fabric) but the highlight really is the firemen, in tuxedos, with silver platters you that hand you something to hang around your neck. No, it's not a medal. It's a Tiffany's necklace. With the blue box. Too cute. And then free massages after. At the expo before the race there are manicures, massages and spa services. Of course, there is that 26.2 miles (map) to be covered in the middle of all this (or 13.1 if you go for the half marathon), but with all this fun, it makes the pain go down a little easier.

While I will be running through Golden Gate Park, I'm not sure where the course takes us, though I hope it's past the bison. I was surprised the first time I found them while cheering on a friend, the amazing Heather Gibson, as she raced there, but I thought it was a great unexpected section of the park! Another cool place that we'll be near on our run is the wave organ. It's one of those locations that if you didn't know it was there you could walk past it a hundred times and miss it. It's out on the water and as the waves come in, the pipes make music. It's a pretty unique design and another place to sit and enjoy the sailboats and the water.

If you're in SF on Sunday, come and cheer me and my 20,000 fellow runners on!

Win Ben Stein's Money

Some people read the NY Times, some the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), some the SF Chronicle, some the Vacaville Reporter, and some Yahoo! news, you too should find your favorite columnist. If yours truely is your favorite columnist than read on my friends and I will continue to amuse you. I read most of the columns on Yahoo! Finance and that's where you will find my favorite columnists; Ben Stein, Robert Kiyosaki, and more recently Charles Wheelan.

My take on Ben Stein. . . I like Ben because he’s old. Being old has it’s benefits, he’s been around, seen a lot, and obviously the guy knows how to invest. I like Ben because he’s smart. Would you risk your daily pay on a TV show? I like Ben because he knows how political choices impact investments. And, last but not least, I like Ben because when it comes to investing, he’s a permabull. Because of his attitude towards investing he remains cool headed when emotions on Wall Street run high. One of my favorite adages is, “Cool heads will prevail.”

My take on Robert Kiyosaki. . . He wrote a book called “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” where he chronicles the choices that his two dad’s made in regards to investing. I have not read this book yet, and though I’m a fan of his, truthfully, honestly, I’m not lying to you. . . I probably won’t get around to reading his book. I like Robert because he knows the ins and outs of Real Estate investment. It is important to know basic real estate investing strategies and how that fits into your overall investment techniques and goals. I like Robert because he understands the indirect opportunities of investing (the positive consequences of investing in something that you may not have expected). While investing, most list the negative possibilities when taking a risk by investing your money. It is just as important to understand that not taking a risk (by investing your money) is just as costly a mistake. Robert Kiyosaki typically writes about the unexpected with his investments, which is valuable insight.

My take on Charles Wheelan. . . He wrote a book which I have not read. Infact, the only reason to which I’ve decided to include him is because I read an article he wrote a week ago which had such an impression on me that I decided he’s one of my new favorites. It’s a very good article http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/economist/111589 . I’ll put him on my watch list next to the crumbling banks.

Those are three of my favorite columnists which I trust to provide cool headed investment advice.

I still don’t believe that the Bailout Package is going to work. My opinion could partially be due to the fact that it’s called a Bailout Package and not exactly helping anyone. I want the American people to win, so I’m asking you to join me in a sedition against the banks. Here’s how it’s all going to go down. . . when the government bails banks out, the “credit freeze” will thaw, and banks will lend again. Here’s what we can do as a society to send a message to the banks, pay for everything with money that you’ve saved. It’s that easy. I realize that you have to borrow money to purchase a house and that’s the only thing that I will let you borrow money for. The banks in America have wronged you for too long, now it’s payback time. Live within your means and they will feel the pain!!! Pay your credit cards down, save money, earn some interest and buy only the things that you feel are worthy of your hard earned dollars. Viva Los Americans!

On the Political front:
My current Election Prediction ticker: Obama/Biden ticket by 16% - STILL (since my Oct. 1st call)
My prediction for the elections. . . “cool heads will prevail.”

This week’s Disgraced Politician of the Week is John Edwards. John Edwards lied about allegations that he had an extramarital affair even though it was true. The only reason that I bring him up is because had he won the Democratic Primary Election, things would look very different with less than a month left in elections. Palin would have been a shoe-in for vice president. If I were a Democrat, I would be extremely angry that John Edwards risked the most important election in our history just because he wouldn’t come clean. He’s a disgrace. If you’d like to know more, go here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards .

Squib Kicks

This week of NFL action had multiple games come down to last second field goals, touchdowns, and an overtime.

Bears/Falcons - This was a crazy game. To be honest, the Bears were completely outplayed and still almost won the game. They were as good at stopping the Falcons at third downs as Hugh Grant is at stopping himself from cheating on Elizabeth Hurley (and we know how that worked out.) Yet, Kyle Orton led the Bears down field and scored with 11 seconds left in the game. They squib kicked to the Falcons, which was as good of an idea as fourth installment of Indiana Jones. The Falcons subsequently got the ball on their own 45 yard line. With 6 seconds left, Matt Ryan completed a 25 yard pass to Michael Jenkins out of bounds with 1 second left on the clock. Jason Elam kicked a field goal and that was that. Game over, Bears.

As a side note, former Ravens coach, Brian Billick, was announcing the game and he called Kyle Orton "Kyle Boller" at least three times. I wonder if Billick wakes up out of a nightmare, sweaty, yelling "BOLLER!!!" I bet he does.

Houston/Miami - The Texans won their first game of the year by beating the Dolphins on a last second QB sneak by Matt Schaub. I didn't watch the game, but what the heck is up with QB's named "Matt" getting it done today?

Minnesota/Detroit - Vikings beat the Lions on a last second field goals. This leads to two questions: How the hell are the Vikings tied for first in the NFC North? (ANSWER: That division is awful.) AND How on earth did this game get decided on a last second field goal? (ANSWER: Both the Vikings and Lions are also awful, but the Lions are just a little bit more of a pathetic football team than the Vikings.)

Cowboys/Cardinals - Easily the best part of the game was when Cardinals' coach, Ken Wisenhunt, called timeout right before the Cowboys last second field goal. The Cards blocked the field goal and were running it back for a touchdown as the refs blew the whistle and informed everyone that the Cardinals had called timeout. Cowboys try again, and kicker Nick Folk makes the kick. For a split second, I actually wanted the Cowboys to win. That wore off quickly and I'm glad they lost on a blocked punt returned to the end zone. The Cardinals are for real (pause... NOT! Their division also is awful!)

Bay Area Teams - give me a reason to talk about you, and I will. Until then, you're out of the blog. Do something about it Al Davis or Mike Nolan.

Baseball is trucking along with the ALCS at 1-1 and the NLCS at 2-1 (advantage Phillies.) I really don't care who wins, I guess maybe the Phillies or Rays, but let's be honest, I can hardly watch baseball without seeing flashbacks of the Cubs kicking the ball all ove the infield. Ahhh... I just felt a shiver up my spine...

Apples and Wine.

Recently I celebrated my 28th birthday and decided to celebrate with a little trip to Apple Hill! I haven't been back there in years, but it was still as cool as I remembered. About 1 hour east of Sacramento, it is a collection of wineries, apple orchards, pumpkin patches and Christmas tree farms set in the foothills that are just beginning to change colors for fall.

High Hill Ranch is one of the classic stops and our starting point. The parking lots here are the apple orchards, which I found to be a bit odd to weave through the trees to find a suitable spot - but that being said, it was a great scenic, shaded spot and most organized. From there, we grabbed a blanket and our picnic lunch from the back of the car and set off to find a shady spot by the fish pond where we ate our sandwiches while enjoying the scenery and being entertained by the kids all around us, the trout pond and the caged wolf. Since we were right in the middle of all the vendors, some of our party supplemented their meal with some apple beer, which was really just some apple cider and Bud Light.

From there we returned our stuff to the car (a less than 5 minute walk) and then walked past the Fudge Factory (without stopping for chocolate - shocking, I know) and past the pumpkin past to the main event - winetasting at Madrona Vineyards. I had been recommended this place by a friend and it was delicious and charming! The place was packed, the varieties of wine list long and the building cozy. The winemaker was out, his hands stained with purple, and he explained how and why this winery served their reds before their whites. Very interesting and at the end of the tasting, I agreed that it was a good switch - one that I hadn't ever heard of before. If you're up there, try the Fiore if you like sweet wines - it tastes just like peaches! Theo, the local cat, was nowhere to be seen - but hopefully we'll run into him on one of the next trips up there. And there will be a next time - this place is wonderful!

From there some of our party went to Abel's which our group selected as the best pie place in Apple Hill, while others stayed in High Hill to buy bags full of apples (I picked up 5 pounds to dip in some homemade caramel I was going to make at home), apple fritters, apple pie and sample the apple cider before heading back down the hill.

By the end of the day I had my fill of apples, but after having been away for a week, I'm ready to head back but I haven't explored much except for those places listed above - any recommendations for other Apple Hill places to try out?

What now?

As the business and political writer I’ve been blessed with our current economic state. I’m a “big picture” kind of guy. So let’s start with the problem on Wall St. Confidence. You all know the picture on Wall Street, it’s dire. When average citizens have problems with confidence is where you have big problems. People save. Our country didn’t become the most prosperous country on earth because we saved. Am I encouraging living beyond your means? For my investment’s sake, “yes.” I personally wouldn’t live beyond my means though. The next round of pain will hit government agencies. Government makes money by the movement of money. When money doesn’t change hands because people are saving, banks are hoarding, and jobs are diminishing, the government’s coffers begin to wane. That will be the next round of pain and I’m predicting that it won’t be long seems how we’ve already allocated $700 Bil and have the largest deficit in our nation’s history, thank you Bush (you minimizing government spending Republican). Thanks for bankrupting our country like all those companies you bankrupted (notice that his Wikipedia page is devoid of any of that information).

The Bailout Plan is aimed at restoring confidence in the financial system of the United States. “Will it work,” you ask me. The answer is an emphatic, “NO.” Here’s why. It is not addressing the issue at its core, confidence in real estate values. President Bush came on today and said that it’s going to take time for the plan to work. Eventually confidence will be restored in the market but not because of the Bailout Plan. Nonetheless, like the amazing politician that he is (who else can bankrupt companies he’s worked for and still become president? - you have to admit, he’s a great politician) whenever the economy recovers, he will claim victory for the “Recovery Package.” But I digress. Why won’t the package work? To make a long story short, have you ever been in the line at the DMV? Our government is excellent at raising money, not spending it.

So what’s going to happen now? I hate to give a plain answer for a complex situation but, we’re going to have a flat to modest market for the next couple of years (hopefully) (more on that in a second), a rise in unemployment, pressure on businesses and “rough times.” So, the best you can do is maintain a positive attitude, ignore Wall Street, go about your life and let me report to you the trials and tribulations. Why do I say, “hopefully,” when referring to modest market gains for the next few years? THIS IS THE GREATEST TRANSFER OF WEALTH OUR GENERATION WILL SEE. The opportunities to invest in great companies at bargain level prices is, forgive the pun, PRICELESS! It not only goes for the market and 401k investing but real estate investing now. The risk is in failing to invest right now. Your money buys more now than it will in a year, guaranteed.

Now that my business rant is done, what about politics you say? Who am I voting for? I’m voting for the best candidate for the job, and you should too. What’s the biggest issue for me? We need to re-allocate the wealth to the middle class. A healthy middle class is a healthy country. Which party would do that? I can’t say at this time but haven’t I asked enough questions in this article?

My current Election Prediction ticker: Obama/Biden ticket by 16% - STILL (since my Oct. 1st call)

Debate Score:
McCain: 2
Obama: 2
Neither impressed me. Obama needs to ignore McCain’s attacks and focus on the answers of the questions. McCain needs to stop reporting on Obama’s career and focus on his own political record.

If anyone has some specific stocks they would like me to review just post them in the comment section and hopefully I will get to them the next time I post.
And, I’m going to add a Bit to my posting called, “Disgraced Politician of the Week.” This week’s Disgraced Politician of the Week is Karl Rove. The man who brought us George W. Bush. Karl recently had a link on the front page of Yahoo! that said he predicts a McCain win in November. If I were a Republican, I would be extremely angry that Karl Rove is still a republican public figure. He’s a disgrace. If you’d like to know more, go here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Rove .

The Week In Revew

Well, Sports Fans- I don't know what to say. The Cubs looked like a Little League team versus the Los Angeles Dodgers. I was awfully frustrated and disappointed with their performance. The fact is that the Cubs have scored 12 runs in their last 6 playoff games. They have not won a playoff game since they were up 3-1 in the 2003 NLCS against the Marlins. I had a lot of fun enjoying this season, but the end was anti-climatic. I don't have any other in depth analysis other than to say that "Next year is the year... it's always the year"

On to happier topics, the Bears dominated the Detroit Lions. Kyle Orton threw for over 300 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INTs. Go Bears.

The 49ers couldn't come through against the short-handed New England Patroits. The offense looked great initially, and looked like the Cubs' offense in the second half. No points=loss almost every time.

To be honest, I was a groomsman in my friend, Mike's wedding this weekend so I was not able to watch too much sports this weekend (including the Cubs final playoff game) but I'll end this with my two extremes picks of the week:

Most Impressive Performance: (besides the Dodgers who I will completely ignore) the Washington Redskins. Once again, I was sure they would let down this week (I picked against them in Week 2) and they played a GREAT game against the Eagles. They are making me a believer. You never know- we might be on a collison course for a Bears/Redskins playoff match-up.

Least Impressive Performance: (besides the team from the North Side of Chicago that I've already mentioned) the San Diego Chargers. This team is SOOOOOOOOO talented and Norv Turner is clearly not getting the optimal performance out of his players. They start slow EVERY game. The underacheive every game. LT is coming off as a powdy whiner. I like the Chargers, but I can't stay on the bandwagon if they keep choking in games they should win.

Basically, this was a depressing sports week for me, so it's hard for me to get very excited about much in the way of athletic contests. I will leave you with quick predictions:

World Series: Red Sox beat Phillies

Super Bowl: Dallas beats Steelers

NBA: Sacramento Kings make the 8 spot in the West (bold, ain't it.)

NASCAR: I'll pay attention the day Cole Trickle and Ricky Bobby show up and actually race in a race.

The cheapest place I've found in the world

With the economy as the lead story in news (along with of course, the Vice Presidential debates, but there's no shortage of bloggers discussing that topic), this week let me introduce you to the cheapest place that I've ever stayed and a lovely little spot in the world.

Consider for a future vacation a trip to Muang Ngoi, Nong Khiew (map) and Muang Ngoi Neua in Laos (rhymes with cow, sounds like l-ow, no 's'). But be ready to sit back and relax on a hard piece of wood for many hours to get there.

Muang Ngoi/Nong Khiew is accessible by boat or truck from the city of Luang Prabang (map). If you take the truck, you'll likely be riding with a rooster and depending on how full the truck is hanging off the back of it. The boat however, is extremely scenic, though it will take about nine hours to get there. And you may have to get out and push along the way when the water gets too shallow. Or if you need a break from sitting, the driver will stop a few times along the way and everyone will jump out of the boat for a bit of swim. All along the way, kids play in the water and squeal as when a boat approaches and then all wave frantically as the boat passes. I don't think the local fishermen appreciate the boatloads of loud tourists and roaring engines. Check out the map link above - this place is quite remote, but it's still on the backpacker trail and there are plenty of people around to meet and visit with from around the world.

The next town, Muang Ngoi Neua, is up the river and only accessible by boat. It was here in 2005 that I found my cheapest guesthouse in the world - $1.00 per room, or if you share, only 50 cents a person. (There have been those nights I've spent in parks, train stations and other free locations - but that's for another post) Every guesthouse and restaurant is frequented by local children who are often the translators with the tourists. They are extremely inquisitive and think nothing on sitting in your lap and checking out the random mementos that might be tied onto one's wrist or backpack and demanding they be taken off (in my case - it was a rubber chicken).Even here, there is still a strip of restaurants that serve food to the backpackers in town. One thing about small towns though, is that they are reliant on a generator and candles, so if the generator goes out, there goes all hope for a cold beverage. If the generator is working - drink up! While enjoying a meal in one of the restaurants you may notice a with drawings of UXO's or unexploded ordinances. This is a sobering reminder of the land mines that are still found in this area and a reminder to make a mental note to stay on marked paths.

The best part about a visit to these cities is all of the hammock time, the time wandering the (marked) trails, sitting out by river and just relaxing. Remove the bustling markets of Bangkok, the traffic, the large population and suddenly the world is a lot quieter. The sounds here are mostly of the children. Splashing around the water. Giggling at a picture of themselves taken by a tourist with a digital camera. A little girl proud of the tiny fish she caught.

If you have the patience, and a tough derriere, traveling is easy here.

Life is slower. There's often only one option of how to get from here to there, so there are less decisions. Buses don't often doesn't show up when they are scheduled. When that happens, sit back, relax and hope that the bus will come tomorrow. And it might or it might not. If not, there's still a beautiful land, laughing children and plenty of people to talk to. And maybe, if you're lucky, a cold beverage at the end of the day.

Arizona Debate School

Things have happened in the business and political world since my post a week ago. The largest bank failure to date occurred, our government denied the Bailout Bill that “cost” wall street $1.3 trillion paper money the next day, and the Vice Presidential Debate was scheduled for Thursday at 6p.m. PST.

I had a long explanation written regarding the Bailout Bill but I decided to scrap it and look at the larger picture. The Pros are saying, “don’t change your game plan, invest for the long run.” Meaning, don’t sell stock, don’t re-organize your portfolio, don’t flee to T-bills, and don’t cash out and buy gold. The very same people who are telling you this are the people who are pleading for the Bailout Bill and if it doesn’t happen, well, there might as well be a meteor hurtling towards the earth with no one to stop it but Steve Buscemi. I’d like to make 3 points based on that comment: 1.) stay invested, stay strong, now is the time to amass assets at cheap prices 2.) If the pros are telling us invest for the long term, and we all know the economy will recover as it always does, then why do we need the Bailout Bill? and 3.) I have two possible actors for the Steve Buscemi character, Ben Bernanke, Hank Paulson, now be free and go watch the movie.

So what do you do? STAY INVESTED, INVEST MORE THAN USUAL NOW, and don’t look at your statement’s bottom line. My safe STOCK investing idea for the moment? GE, MO, VZ

On the political front, Thursday is the Vice Presidential Debate at 6p.m. PST. I would like to know from someone who is voting the republican ticket in November to post 2 reasons why they are voting the way they are voting. I would like someone to explain to me their reasoning. Without telling you who I’m voting for I’ll try to sum up the debate with a couple bipartisan key points. Look I used everyone’s favorite word of the month, “bipartisan.” I’m going to use that word from now on to refer to anything that has to do with working together or cooperation, fun.

Biden must not shred Palin to pieces for fear of looking like a petulant egomaniac. Biden needs to focus on the topics and not act reactionary to Palin’s comments. This technique would allow him to introduce his ideals and political stances to the public while not coming off negative.

Palin is the public’s underdog. If she can control the pace of the debate it will work to her favor. She is probably more likely to show weakness, therefore, controlling the pace will allow her to stay within her comfort level. I’m not sure how much someone can learn at the McCain Arizona Debate Camp, but Palin needs to memorize hard facts; economical, political, and international relations. She needs to leave small town politics out of the debate and talk about the larger issues and how she is qualified to perform the duties of Vice President of the United States of America.

My current Election Prediction ticker: Obama/Biden ticket by at least 16%

Two final questions: Why is Dancing With the Stars the only show on television now? And, why is Monday Night Football not on NETWORK TELEVISION?

-Erik

A Case of the Mondays

Here are some recent current events in sports that interest me:

Cubs will play the Dodgers - Being a Northern Californian, I do enjoy watching an occasional Giants game. I'll cheer for them as long as they are not playing the Cubs. Because of this, I've also taken to the Giants hate for the Dodgers. It should be an interesting series, but I'm ready to enjoy playoff baseball in October for the second year in row. Now that I've seen the way things have shaped up, I probably would've rather the Cubs play the Mets, but whatever. You have to beat everyone to win the World Series, so let's do this.

NFL Week 4 - Wow, what a week! My first mistake came when I started Phillip Rivers over Drew Brees in Fantasy Football. Ouch, Brees had arguably the best week of any QB and Rivers tried to let the Raiders win their second game of the week (that seems like the only way the Raiders will win games is if the other team allows them to get the W.)

The Bears beat the Philadelpia Eagles on the Sunday Night Game of the Week. To be honest, I watched the last two minutes of the game because I had a show in Walnut Creek during the game. Coincidentally (or not if your superstisious) the Bears are 2-0 on days when they play on Sunday Night Football. They are also 2-0 when I play at Pyramid in Walnut Creek during the game and 2-0 when I wear a particular long sleeve t-shirt. They are 0-2 when I watch the game or put more effort into following the results, yet when my effort is going towards entertaining- they win. Well, I guess I need to put as much focus on the Bears as I do the Tyra Show, and they'll play better.

The Redskins upset the Cowboys in Dallas. They played a great game and I was especially impressed with the Redskins defense (besides their Prevent defense at the end of the First Half.) Great win. The NFC East is the toughest division in football.

Current undefeated teams left: Titans, Ravens, Giants and Bills. Odds of any of those teams winning the Super Bowl: 100 to 1

Well, Entourage was frustrating and now I'm watching Family Guy waaaaay too late at night. If there any requests for sports topics, leave it in the comments. Hey-ooooooooooooooooo!

Bienvenidos a Salamanca, Spain and Sandstone

The Plaza Mayor in Salamanca, Spain

Bienvenidos! I'm Jen Wong and here to provide you with a blog on traveling every Friday.

To begin, let's head to Salamanca, Spain, where I first caught the traveling bug, and a logical place to begin sharing my travel background and travel style.

In between my Senior (and before my Super Senior) year in college I applied for my first passport and headed for Salamanca to study for a month and then take on the Europe backpack circuit for two months.

Salamanca is about 2 1/2 hours northwest of Madrid and named one of two European Capitals of Culture for 2002. This meant incredible concerts (BB King! Manu Chao!) in the Plaza de Toros, special events, tourists and a freshly spruced-up city.

Salamanca's central streets, shops and outdoor dining

This place is gorgeous. It's nickname is the "Golden City" because of the golden sandstone architecture. The Plaza Mayor is often referred to as the most beautiful Plaza Mayor (main plaza) in Spain. If you've seen the movie Vantage Point, it was filmed here. To study here in the summer is to join the thousands of other international students at the Universidad de Salamanca - Spain's oldest existing University and one of it's most prestigious. Students bring a very lively and festive atmosphere to this college town. And a lot of bars.

More beautiful sandstone

As you may already start to notice, there are a lot of superlatives in this blog and there will be plenty more to come in this series of blogs.

After studying, I started traveling through Europe on the same route as many other backpackers, most who were traveling for further and longer (or so it seemed) than I. If they could do it, I could do it! After graduation I worked for about a year and a half before quitting my job and heading for New Zealand, Australia, Southeast Asia, Europe and a bit of the USA over the next eight months.

I came home ready to work, but soon decided that my traveling days weren't over yet. I headed back to the same job, with the understanding that I would soon take off again for five months to cruise around South America, Africa, Southeast Asia and China. After those big trips, my traveling has been limited to vacations of less than two weeks each and have been much closer to home.

Now for a bit about my traveling style. I buy a plane ticket from continent to continent and figure it out along the way. I bring with me a backpack that has room for things that I will inevitably purchase along the way. I always pack way too many shoes. I always pack a shirt from my college, UC Davis. (GO AGS!)

I usually travel solo, but I'm only alone if it's by choice. I often meet up with friends and family who come from the U.S. and will join me for one week to two months. I don't book a place to stay, if I even do that, until I'm just about ready to leave my current city. I like to try (most) local foods at least once.

I try to find the cheapest and safest way to travel from point A to point B on public transportation. I like to eat my way across a country. I will travel across the world for a great festival.

The more places I visit, the more places I want to go. I like most everywhere I travel to and if not, it's just because I wasn't there long enough to experience the place and the people.

Join me every Friday for a virtual trip, both near and far to kick off your weekend!