Borrowing money from the Chinese

One of my favorite complaints from politicians (Mike Huckabee, in particular) has been about the recently passed (in the House, anyways) Economic Stimulus Package. I keep hearing about how we are going to "BORROW $150 BILLION FROM THE CHINESE!!!!" Seriously, let's all ease up a little bit. Several things bother me here.

First, the implications that because it is THE CHINESE!!!! we have to be particularly worried. Would it generate the same political soundbite if we said "We're borrowing $150 billion from the British?" That's what I thought. Enough with the China bashing

Second, unless I'm mistaken, the "tax rebates" (see below) will be paid by the U.S. Treasury, not the Chinese. They will be paid by the government's favorite tactic, deficit spending. The government will issue $150 billion in new bonds on the open market which will be repaid in 10 or 30 years by our children and grandchildren in the form of taxes. (Note: while I have little problem with running a large trade deficit, I am not a fan of large government deficits.)

Calling these "rebates" is dumb. Most people getting them are getting back as much or more as they paid in taxes. Ugh. Call them "gifts" or "the dole" or "our children's future" or whatever--just not rebates.

Next, these rebates are a joke. Seriously. I remember the last time we got these things. I used it to buy new brakes for my car. $150 billion is a little over 1% of GDP. Nothing to sneeze at, but can the government really not come up with a better use of $150 billion? How about working to eliminate poverty or find a cure for cancer? How about giving Western Oregon its timber money back so I can have a decent library? Scholarships for high-performing University students? Anything but giving Joe Blow $300 so he can have a booze party!

Anyways, if you feel passionately, call or e-mail your Senator and tell them the stimulus package is a joke and to vote against it. We're not in a recession. If we were, this wouldn't get us out. We don't need the checks.

Now, if anyone is still awake, let's talk briefly about the trade deficit. I worry that sometimes we as a nation have the cart and the horse confused. The trade deficit represents foreign capital coming into the U.S. to fund investment opportunities that we as a nation cannot fund. Why? Because our savings rate is negative (as a nation and as consumers). This means the Chinese, and Japanese, and other nations invest their savings to fund US capital investments. In other words, these investors see the US economy as a good place to invest their money.

Allow me to ask a rhetorical question. Would you rather US banks have so much extra capital that they were investing in Chinese and European companies, thus creating jobs abroad, or have foreign banks investing in US companies creating jobs here in the U.S.? I personally prefer the latter.

I know this is a gross oversimplification of trade deficits. I'm sure I've left out some valid concerns. But I'm sick of politicians beating up the Chinese just because we are running a huge trade deficit with them. If it weren't China, it would be some other country. Why? Because the U.S. economy is still a good place to invest.

I never thought I'd say this...

Today I actually like something about college football more than the NFL. Impossible, you say? Well, just for today I'm going to give some props to the wacky BCS system.

Tonight, the hopes of the Cleveland Browns and all their fans rested on the shoulders of Jim Sorgi. If you are a casual NFL fan, you are excused for asking if he is a player on the Browns (he's not). In fact, he is the backup quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts. But wait, didn't the Colts play the Titans, not the Browns?

Indeed they were. However, the Cleveland Browns had won their game earlier today and had a playoffs spot clinched if the Colts could beat the Titans tonight. However, the Colts had nothing to play for. They had clinched their second seed weeks ago and regardless of tonight's outcome, no change would occur in their playoff seeding. So, they did exactly what they had the incentive to do. They played their starters for about 15 minutes and then brought in the scrubs. Enter Jim Sorgi. Sorgi played reasonably well, but he played with the second and third team players against a first team defense for the Titans.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not criticizing the Colts. What they did was in their best interests. However, it doesn't make it any more bearable for the Browns. Almost certainly, if the Colts had played their best players, they could have beat the Titans. As it was, they only lost by 6 points. Browns fans should be upset--the fact that the Colts didn't put forth their best effort to win cost them a playoff spot.

In some wacky way, the BCS system takes care of this. If a team wants to win a championship, they can't take any game lightly. Could you imagine if the Colts were a college team playing the last game of the regular season, with a chance at playing in the BCS title game on the line? No way would they have their second team playing at all.

This does happen in all major sporting leagues. Teams clinch their playoff position and take a few games off. However, the teams on the bubble occasionally suffer. Browns fans, tonight I feel your pain.

A great sunset

Mrs. floporama convinced me to drive her to the coast last weekend. While we were there, we saw one of the most amazing sunsets ever. Here's the picture. Enjoy!

The Mitchell Report

So, the long-anticipated Mitchell report came out today. As promised, it implicated many many major league players as having bought or used steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs. ESPN was kind enough to post a .pdf version of the report here. For an easily formatted list of players it mentions, click here.

I've decided to read the 400 page report. Luckily, there is enough material in footnotes that it is a fairly quick read. I'm about halfway through already.

What I've learned so far:
1. Steroids was a big problem in baseball (duh)
2. It is no longer as big a problem, now that there is testing and severe penalties (duh)
3. Human Growth Hormone is now the drug of choice, since there is no urine test for it
4. The MLBPA is about as crooked as a union could be. If the Mitchell report had been a government sanctioned investigation with subpoena powers, we would know even more. Except that MLBPA would have fought every subpoena and the investigation would be another 5 years from being released.
5. Tony LaRussa is a dill weed. I never liked him before, especially after his DUI, but he is just a weasel. If I get more ambitious, I'll detail why i dislike him so much in a future post.

So, here is my dilemma. I love baseball. However, the Mitchell Report has given me even more disdain for what has been happening in baseball for the last 20 years or so. I'm more disgusted now than I was after the 1994-1995 lockout. And until there is a good, transparent testing system in place that includes HGH testing, I'll have no confidence in the game being clean.

I will defer my final judgement until I finish the Mitchell Report. However, it's a bad day to be a baseball fan.

Grandma

Yesterday Grandma had a stroke. She is a great lady and I hope she's not in pain. As of right now, her left side is paralyzed. She is unable to speak. The doctors cannot make a prognosis as to whether she will make a full or even partial recovery.

Grandma is not a young woman. She is in her late 80s. Recovery would probably include a lot of painful physical therapy.

I'm not sure how I feel. I don't want to lose my last surviving grandparent. She and I have had a special relationship for a long time. She spoils me terribly, even now when I'm in my 30s. When I have visited her home, I always knew I was loved.

I also don't want her to be in pain. And while I never felt like she complained too much, I know she's been miserable in her own way for quite a while. Many times when I've visited, she's told me how she wished she could walk better, because she always used to enjoy taking walks.

Grandpa's been gone for almost 15 years now. I'm sure that Grandma would love to join him in the great beyond.

Many of my friends (who I think are the only ones who look at this blog) have been the beneficiaries of Grandma's hospitality. Her house has been a convenient way station for trips to Las Vegas or Zion's National Park. If you have been touched by her kindness, please take a moment and say a prayer for Grandma Lub.

"Ocean in view! O! The joy!"

Since I had nothing better to do this weekend, I decided to spend a few hours making the drive to see the ocean. I hadn't been on the American coast of the Pacific ocean in several years, and I figured today, although rainy, would be a good day to see it again.

Even though Medford is actually only about 80 miles from the coast, to drive there you have to take a circuitous route that involves going into and out of California. The good news is the drive is everything a leisurely drive should be--winding roads over mountains, next to rocky cliffs, and full of some of the best views I've seen in a long time. See some of my pictures from the trip here.

The drive starts by taking the freeway from Medford to Grants Pass. As freeway drives go, this is a good one. Lots of verdant hills full of evergreen trees. Just enough windiness to keep things interesting, and not enough to make you sick of the turns.

Once you get off the freeway in Grants Pass, you see what is the ugliest part of the drive. Typical small town sprawl with supermarkets, fast food, and every other business to meet your needs. As you leave the town, you pass through a speed trap where you see 3 cops in 1/2 mile. Then, you are on your way.

I feel bad about it now, because I found the drive to be beautiful, but I'll ignore the stretch of the trip from Grants Pass to Cave Junction. It was great, but it's after you leave Cave Junction that things get really interesting. As I was scoping out the directions on google maps, I noticed a large amount of the California part of the trips was in "Smith River NRA." As it happens, NRA is not National Rifle Association here, but National Recreation Area. I have just two words for it--holy crap! The area is amazing. You have 10 miles of very winding roads as you follow the Smith River. Then, just as you get onto a faster part of the road, you start seeing redwood trees. Out of the blue. 10-12 feet in diameter. Right next to the road--literally. As in asphalt touching bark. It was just seriously amazing and beautiful.

It made getting to the point where I could see the ocean feel less impressive. But it was still pretty amazing, even if it was raining pretty good the whole time I was down on the beach. And of course, after I had been rained on for about 45 minutes and finally had gotten back in the car with dry clothes, it started to clear up.

Fortunately, the drive back was so amazing it made up for the rainy time I had on the beach. On my way to the coast, I had kept thinking, "sheesh there are a lot of creeks and rivers." So on the way back, I made a list of every body of water I passed. Here goes:

Pacific Ocean
Winchuk River
Gilbert Creek
Smith River
Rowdy Creek
Middle Fork (Smith River)
Hardscrabble Creek
Mary's Creek
Patrick Creek
Little Jones Creek
Siskiyou Fork
Knopki Creek
Elk Creek
West Fork (Illinois River)
Rough and Ready Creek
East Fork (Illinois River)
George Creek
Holton Creek
Lake Selmac
Deer Creek
Anderson Creek
Clear Creek
Butcher Knife Creek
Slate Creek
Waters Creek
Applegate River
Rogue River
Bear Creek

Okay, that's all of them. Mrs. Floporama and I will definitely be taking this trip again once she comes out here.

A little webcam fun

To try to alleviate the separation anxiety faced by mrs. floporama and myself, we decided to buy webcams. After purchasing the cameras with free two-day shipping (thanks, Amazon Prime!), they arrived today to be put to the test.

After a short setup, we were on our way. Since we got Microsoft webcams, we decided to try a video chat with Windows Live Messenger. The experience was a mixed bag. After a few minutes getting everything going, the connection was decent for a few minutes. Then it would crap out. Close the chat window and restart. This time there was a very annoying echo. Try again. Works for a few minutes, then freezes. Finally give up for the night.

All in all, it was a nice experience. It was great to see my wife's smiling face and also my lazy lazy cat. I wish the functionality were a little better, and I wonder how much of it has to do with the somewhat unreliable wireless network adapter on her computer. However, we will definitely be giving it another try. Slow video is better than no video, I always say.

Actually, I never say. In fact, until just now I've never said it. And come to think of it, I still didn't say it--I typed it. Okay, but now I did say it out loud. You'll have to take my word for it though, because I didn't record myself saying it. Which means, it may have never happened at all. If a guy says something in an empty apartment and nobody else hears him, does it make a sound? Also, I'm retarded. Kill this post now...