Friday, June 04, 2010
Paul McCartney - political commentator
There is something ironic, not merely sad, about all this oil going to waste in the Gulf and destroying the environment. Meanwhile, our President is venting his anger at BP (the nerve of that company to pay a dividend to its own shareholders with its own after tax earnings) but doing little or nothing, as far as I can tell, about the actual problem.
This is in keeping with his administration's so far perfect record of not actually doing anything to solve any problem. The best example is the so-called stimulus, which so far has mainly stimulated the unemployment rate. The latest jobs numbers told a classic story about the hiring of public sector workers (temps at that) to take the census while the private sector languishes. This is before next year's tax increases (because the Bush tax cuts expire) even take hold. In short, while our companies have reported decent 1st Q numbers, thanks to cost cutting, the recession's double dip is now emerging as the probable scenario. Apparently, the financial markets agree, as the May swoon extends and worsens in June. We now have one ugly market.
The only jobs available seem to be the ones Obama's people are offering to potential Democratic candidates who might pursue primaries against their favorite sitting Congressmen.
At least, according to that sage philosopher Paul McCartney, this President does know what a library is and how to spell one. I don't know how Paul came to know Bush 43 so well that he found out he didn't know those things, but apparently he did. While Paul is a revered artist and living rock legend, I am not so sure I would look to him for deep and profound insights of any kind either. After all, Paul was the Beatle who wrote all the silly love songs. Paul is also the purveyor of the infamous "Paul is Dead" hoax, the survivor of a truly messy and expensive divorce, etc. etc. In other words, unless he is telling you how to screw the girl behind the Hertz counter, I wouldn't put much stock in his advice about anything, especially politics.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There aren't many conservatives in the entertainment business, but we lost one the other day when the Easy Rider co star, Dennis Hopper died of prostate cancer. Though the highlight of his career was in that counter culture movie with Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson, I loved his performance in Hoosiers, a comeback film for him wherein he and the great Gene Hackman brought an inspiring sports story to life. A lot of guys can play the town drunk, but few can convey the pain of enforced sobriety for an alcoholic as effectively as Hopper did.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The other night, I attended a talk given by the youngish President of The Golf Channel, Page Thompson, at the Harvard Club. The Golf Channel is a Comcast subsidiary with great international growth prospects. Already, TGC programming is translated into Japanese and cablecast there. Can you imagine the potential audience in Korea, in India, in South America, in China?
It was a good night for me too. In the trivia contest, apparently I was the only person in the room who knew that the Women's Open will be at Oakmont this year, and that fact netted me a sleeve of Titlist Pro V's.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Mets returned to Queens tonight following a 2-4 road trip, bad, if not horrible, and the only redeeming feature of the week was the continuing struggles of the Phillies. Taking advantage was Atlanta, which had a lot of home games coming to them. Mike Pelfry continues to realize his potential and Jerry continues to lead the league in games blown by a manager. K-Rod is working on his blown saves statistic. What more is there to say, really?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
This post is a day late because my daughter wanted to watch the Celts-Lakers with me last night. When your young adult offspring is willing to spend a few hours with you, you don't pass up the chance. After all, between ages 14-25, your parents have to be the dumbest people in the world and it's pretty embarrassing to be around them. We enjoyed the game, had a beer or two, switching to the softball tournament on timeouts, and making lots of wisecracks about the announcers, officiating, etc. So my usual Thursday night posting time went by the boards.
Now I just wish pro b-ball wasn't so BORING!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Friday, the 28th, we bought 50 shares of AES preferred (AES.PR.C) at 42.20.
This week, Tuesday, we bought 300 shares of BOLT for the IRA at 8.62. This is a value buy, originally recommended by "Full Service Broker." Yesterday, we bought 1800 shares of Bank of Granite (GRAN), a true "zero buy," at 1.14. Somehow, this bank still stays out of the clutches of the FDIC. Of course we sweat out every weekend.
This is in keeping with his administration's so far perfect record of not actually doing anything to solve any problem. The best example is the so-called stimulus, which so far has mainly stimulated the unemployment rate. The latest jobs numbers told a classic story about the hiring of public sector workers (temps at that) to take the census while the private sector languishes. This is before next year's tax increases (because the Bush tax cuts expire) even take hold. In short, while our companies have reported decent 1st Q numbers, thanks to cost cutting, the recession's double dip is now emerging as the probable scenario. Apparently, the financial markets agree, as the May swoon extends and worsens in June. We now have one ugly market.
The only jobs available seem to be the ones Obama's people are offering to potential Democratic candidates who might pursue primaries against their favorite sitting Congressmen.
At least, according to that sage philosopher Paul McCartney, this President does know what a library is and how to spell one. I don't know how Paul came to know Bush 43 so well that he found out he didn't know those things, but apparently he did. While Paul is a revered artist and living rock legend, I am not so sure I would look to him for deep and profound insights of any kind either. After all, Paul was the Beatle who wrote all the silly love songs. Paul is also the purveyor of the infamous "Paul is Dead" hoax, the survivor of a truly messy and expensive divorce, etc. etc. In other words, unless he is telling you how to screw the girl behind the Hertz counter, I wouldn't put much stock in his advice about anything, especially politics.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There aren't many conservatives in the entertainment business, but we lost one the other day when the Easy Rider co star, Dennis Hopper died of prostate cancer. Though the highlight of his career was in that counter culture movie with Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson, I loved his performance in Hoosiers, a comeback film for him wherein he and the great Gene Hackman brought an inspiring sports story to life. A lot of guys can play the town drunk, but few can convey the pain of enforced sobriety for an alcoholic as effectively as Hopper did.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The other night, I attended a talk given by the youngish President of The Golf Channel, Page Thompson, at the Harvard Club. The Golf Channel is a Comcast subsidiary with great international growth prospects. Already, TGC programming is translated into Japanese and cablecast there. Can you imagine the potential audience in Korea, in India, in South America, in China?
It was a good night for me too. In the trivia contest, apparently I was the only person in the room who knew that the Women's Open will be at Oakmont this year, and that fact netted me a sleeve of Titlist Pro V's.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Mets returned to Queens tonight following a 2-4 road trip, bad, if not horrible, and the only redeeming feature of the week was the continuing struggles of the Phillies. Taking advantage was Atlanta, which had a lot of home games coming to them. Mike Pelfry continues to realize his potential and Jerry continues to lead the league in games blown by a manager. K-Rod is working on his blown saves statistic. What more is there to say, really?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
This post is a day late because my daughter wanted to watch the Celts-Lakers with me last night. When your young adult offspring is willing to spend a few hours with you, you don't pass up the chance. After all, between ages 14-25, your parents have to be the dumbest people in the world and it's pretty embarrassing to be around them. We enjoyed the game, had a beer or two, switching to the softball tournament on timeouts, and making lots of wisecracks about the announcers, officiating, etc. So my usual Thursday night posting time went by the boards.
Now I just wish pro b-ball wasn't so BORING!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Friday, the 28th, we bought 50 shares of AES preferred (AES.PR.C) at 42.20.
This week, Tuesday, we bought 300 shares of BOLT for the IRA at 8.62. This is a value buy, originally recommended by "Full Service Broker." Yesterday, we bought 1800 shares of Bank of Granite (GRAN), a true "zero buy," at 1.14. Somehow, this bank still stays out of the clutches of the FDIC. Of course we sweat out every weekend.
