Twelfth Son of the Lama

Home Hockey

2012-01-31T12:55:00.003-05:00

Minnesota may be cold, but it does come with some benefits. Even with the mild winter, the lake stay permenantly frozen. As such, it's fit for a skating rink, and cross country skiing (even though there is no natural snow anywhere else). The kids have taken to hockey pretty well despite the fcat they have never played before.

Our home-made rink:

Kids out x-country skiing on the lake:

You can deceive some of the people, most of the time

2012-01-30T13:27:00.003-05:00

From the Daily, "And the more one looks at the Buffett Rule, the more it looks like a solution in search of a problem.

Buffett says he pays around 17 percent tax on all his income, while his assistant for the past two decades pays more than twice as much, at 35.8 percent. That weird disparity — one that confuses even tax experts unless she makes $200,000 to $500,000 a year — would certainly strike many as unfair, not just a president trying to score political points during election season.

But their example shows how unwise it is to legislate from anecdotal evidence. The U.S. tax code overall is amazingly progressive. The rich pay much higher average effective rates than middle- or low-income folks. According to the Tax Policy Center, in 2010 the top 0.1 percent paid an average tax rate — including income and payroll taxes — of 30.7 percent, right at the Buffett Rule level. By contrast, middle-income voters — defined as those in the middle fifth of income distribution — paid just 12.8 percent. The bottom 40 percent of taxpayers had an average total tax rate of even less, just about 3 percent when you take into account various tax credits.

And if you look at the tax burden by amounts paid rather than tax rates, the system looks even more lopsided. In 2009, the top 1 percent paid 36.7 percent of federal income taxes as they earned 16.9 percent of adjusted gross income. And the richest of the rich, the top 0.1 percent, paid 17.1 percent of income taxes while earning 7.8 percent of adjusted gross income, according to the Tax Foundation. The bottom 50 percent pays just 2.3 percent of income taxes.

There are certainly some rich investors, such as Buffett or Republican presidential contestant Mitt Romney, who pay far less than 30 percent because their income is taxed at the preferential capital gains tax rate of 15 percent. And it’s those folks whom Obama is targeting with this new alternative minimum tax. But to achieve some level of “shared responsibility,” he’s effectively raising the tax on investment income to 30 percent — at least for those who make more than $1 million.

But why would that be a good idea?"

You want to debate whether dividends, capital gains and carried interest tax treatment should change? By all means, let's begin. But to promote higher taxes because it's "fair" or "not fair" is bogus, and using an example that is not at all real-world applicable, is complete populist deception.

Profits for the People

2012-01-10T17:41:00.002-05:00

Reported in the Wall Street Journal today - "The Federal Reserve turned $76.9 billion of its profits over to the U.S. Treasury last year [2011], close to the record amount transferred to government coffers in 2010 amid gains generated in its expanding portfolio of securities."

Hmmm, profits made by the Fed due to "bailouts" put into the country's treasury. That's over $160 billion [billion with a B] the Fed has earned [not returned, EARNED] in profits over two years. Corporate handouts and sweetheart deals and bailouts. It's the best use of government funds the country has seen in three years!

New Year

2012-01-10T09:55:00.005-05:00

A whirlwind of Holiday activity. After enjoying a belated Christmas in Westchester, we spent New Year's Eve at Boston's family First Night Celebration for the third year in a row.

New Year's Day, Emily and I watched the Patriots secure homefield advantage against the Bills in Foxboro.

Our flight home was tough. After connecting thru Atlanta (from Providence), we didn't return home until 1am.

Love my birthday present (which I had a little more than a hand in picking out), but unfortunately, it can't be used for a while. I think I'm switching to celebrate my HALF birthday going forward. Surfs Up!

The Bostonians

2011-12-07T17:39:00.004-05:00

The week of Thanksgiving we did a few compulsatory Boston activities:

Visited the Patriots Hall of Fame at Gillette Stadium.

City view from the top of the Custom House

Make way for those ducklings. They aren't really ducklings anymore...

Christmas is here

2011-12-05T09:28:00.001-05:00

No, I can not acknowledge Christmas before Thanksgiving is over, unlike most of the retail outlets of this country these days.

We picked out our tree in October, and cut it down December 3rd, and put it up Dec 4th.

1927-2011

2011-12-01T12:30:00.003-05:00

Sadly, I write that my Dad passed away Early Friday morning [Nov 18]. I flew to Boston Tuesday night when it was clear the end was near. As a family, we had a great 4 days with him in October when he was still highly functional. See my facebook profile, that was taken the last day.

On Wednesday, all 5 kids were there and he was pretty cognitive and we all had or chances to speak. By Thursday, he was mostly out of it and clearly struggling. He passed a 4am with my Mom at his side.

His last words, with most of us there, were to his beloved hospice nurse, who asked how he was. He responded, ok...with faith. Touching and fitting.

Link

Thomas A. Moore, 84
November 19, 2011

SOUTH YARMOUTH — Thomas A. Moore of South Yarmouth, formerly of Waban, died November 18, 2011, at the age of 84. Beloved husband of Mary L. (DeRusha) Moore for 60 years.

Devoted father of Thomas A. Moore Jr. and his wife Sylvie Martin-Moore of South Yarmouth. Paul G. Moore and his wife Donna Gerhauser of Scotch Plains, N.J., Mary A. Hurley and her husband Paul of Naples, Maine, Daniel J. Moore and his wife Fiona of Needham and William H. Moore and his wife Alison of Mound, Minn.

Brother of Ralph Moore of Murphy, N.C., Catherine Carlin of Springfield and the late William Moore and Claire Oppel.

Loving grandfather of 9 grandchildren. Also survived by many nieces and nephews.

Late retired treasurer of William Carter Company of Needham. Former trustee of Carroll Center for the Blind. He received his BA from Boston University and MBA from Babson College. WWII Navy veteran.

Expressions of sympathy may be made in Thomas' memory to the YMCA Campus, Burgess and Hayward Scholarship Fund, 79 Coddington St. Quincy, MA 02169.

Open letter to Thomas A. Moore, Sr.

2011-11-11T12:02:00.004-05:00

Dear Dad,

I sit here a thousand miles away a full year younger than the age you were when you had me. That thought is mind boggling to me as I reflect over the last 42 years. There aren't many who are given the chance, nay - the opportunty, to say thank you to the ones that have loved them their whole lives. And with that I say, thank you.

I am proud of who I have become in what is hopefully my mid-life. But a large degree of the credit is yours. I am the man, the husband, the father that I am because of my respect and admiration of you. Your dedication to our family, your faith, your constant support of me individually are all idol worthy.

Today is Veterans Day, and I can't help but recall your early patriotic call. Too young, in theory, to serve in the WWII effort didn't stop you from packing your things (or just a toothbrush, if I recall the story correctly) and joining the Navy. "Dinty" Moore may not have made it out of the Carribbean due to the war's end, but your dedication to serve demontrates the value of honor in life.

Unlike many people today, you worked at the same company my entire life. You had a daily routine that showed dedication and consistency. As a small child, I loved visiting your office. You were respected and influential. I can vividly recall one specific day when I was sitting in your office and you were on the phone working with the banks moving millions of dollars around to fund your company's business with a single phone call. That was a day where I looked at the man behind the desk and said - I want to do this, and finance became my calling.

Your work ethic was instilled in me early. I understood the value of a dollar, and the value of education. By the sixth grade I struggled in the less than structured public education system. Despite having left the hardship of just putting the education expenses of three other private school tuitions behind you, you recommitted to sending me to private school. Although not my favorite decision at the time, it's the one individual decision that probably most shapped the rest of my life. Although it wasn't much in the scheme of things, you required me to commit 50% of every dollar I earned from the time I was 12 to go towards my own education. I may have hated turning over all those Christmas tips from the paper route, and it probably contributed to the value of only a few textbooks, but it created something in me that lasted a lifetime.

Work wasn't the most important thing in your life by any stretch. Despite your tireless dedication to your work, you made it home for supper each night. Maybe its more legend than reality, but it's a feat that still amazes me to this day. You drove me to school every day. You made basketball games and cross country meets. We attended scores of great sporting events together, and had vacation moments that I will always treasure.

Throughout life your steady, quiet nature was a subtle, but driving force. I may not share your calm level-headedness, but such a temperment was reassuring. If you were mad, I knew it and learned from it. It was a stable environment that fostered being both inquisitive and opinionated, yet tolerant. Your faith was a guiding force throughout that, and your love of God and the Church were heartening. The way you have handled the last few months has been inspiring. I can not imagine a more honorable and healthy way. Your amazing dedication to assisting Mom in the face of your own battle is worthy of story telling. But being the centerpoint of the story is not you. You view it as your humanly duty, just like you did the day you left Springfield with just the toothbrush. You've raised a family that understands the need to care for each other, and understand that what you view as your duty will dutifully be carried on.

I am lucky to have thousands of lasting great memories of our time together, and even further lucky to have zero bad ones. I was unfortunate not to know either of my grandfathers. In earlier years, as health waxed and waned, I worried my children would not know some of theirs. Thankfully that is not the case. You have created wonderful memories for them as well - and for that we are all lucky.

May God be with you,

Your loving son,
Bill

Movember

2011-11-02T16:24:00.001-04:00

November (a.k.a Mo-vember for people who grow mustaches in respect for mens health issues) is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness month. Get aware. But then again its also Native American Heritage Month, COPD Awareness month, National Novel Writing Month, Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month, American Diabetes Month, Lung Cancer Awareness Month, National Homeless Youth Awareness Month, Crohn's & Ulcerative Colitis Awareness Month, National Pomegranate Month, and International Drum Month - so you might be busy.

Mobility

2011-10-31T09:53:00.004-04:00

I've posted numerous times about the flaws in income inequality analyses. Most assume that people stay at the same income level. Particularly, it assumes that the same 1% are always making the most money. When they aren't. Just one stat from teh exhibit below - 5% of those in the top quartile were in the LOWEST quartile six years later, while 2% in the lowest quartile were in the top. Here is someone else's take:

From Carpe Diem:
We hear a lot these days about "increasing income inequality" and "stagnating household income," but those discussions rarely include what is probably the most important factor when it comes to income over time: income mobility. In fact, even if: a) income inequality was increasing over time, and b) median household income was stagnant over time, those outcomes wouldn't necessarily be a problem if there was significant income mobility. Reason? If there is substantial movement of households over time from lower-income to higher-income quintiles, households may only be earning the median household income for a short period of time on their way up to a higher quintile.

In other words, it's more likely that most households are "typical" or at the "median" level" only temporarily on their way to a higher income group. The fact that median household income might be stagnant over time seems far less important than what happens as households exceed median income and move up to a higher-income category. In the case of significant income mobility over time, wouldn't households actually benefit from increasing income inequality over time if that allowed them to earn higher incomes relative to the median or low-income quintiles once they arrived at one of the top two quintiles?

Most of those complaining about income inequality and stagnating income seem to statically assume that households or individuals stay in the same income group (by quintile, or the "top 1%," "top 10%," bottom 50%, median income, etc.) forever, with no movement over time. If we assume that you're stuck in the bottom income quintile for life, or even earn the median household income for life (both highly unrealistic), then the concerns about rising income inequality or stagnating median household income have greater strength. But with dynamic movement over time in the income of households and individuals, the "problems" of income inequality and stagnating income seem much less important, and might even be "non-problems."

Thomas Sowell offers this key insight (emphasis added):

“Only by focusing on the income brackets, instead of the actual people moving between those brackets, have the intelligentsia been able to verbally create a "problem" for which a "solution" is necessary. They have created a powerful vision of "classes" with "disparities" and "inequities" in income, caused by "barriers" created by "society." But the routine rise of millions of people out of the lowest quintile over time makes a mockery of the "barriers" assumed by many, if not most, of the intelligentsia.”

Contrary to prevailing public opinion that households get stuck at a given income level for decades or generations, there is strong empirical evidence that households actually move up and down the economic ladder over even very short periods of time.

For example, recent research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis is summarized in the table above, based on income data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics that followed the same households from 2001 to 2007. The empirical results answer the question: For households that started in a given earnings quintile (20 percent group) in 2001, what percentage of those households moved to a different income quintile over the next six years? Short answer: a lot.

Cape Cod Beachs ARE open!

2011-10-28T07:49:00.009-04:00

Cape Cod is October is hardly the same as Cape Cod in July, but it's still Cape Cod. The kids had three days off school for teacher conferences, so we decided to visit family. Unfortunately, Sundae School was closed, but technically the beaches were still open.

The first day absolutely poured, but each subsequent day was better. The benefit of the bad early weather was "waves." We hit the East Coast of the Cape at Nauset Beach. The girls bodyboarded, and I tried my hand at surfing. With all the wake surfing I've done this summer, I know I can control a board once I'm up. However, getting up is more than half the battle. I didn't catch one wave standing up.

But we enjoyed ourselves nevertheless.

Occupy This!

2011-10-12T18:29:00.003-04:00

Oh, you “Occupiers” love a good story or theme, even if it’s complete BS.

Let’s look at how “Wall Street” or “Big Banks” have destroyed the economy.

The protesters and resulting media outlets like to discuss how the “99%ers” bailed out Wall Street and it cost us so much. Let’s set the facts straight. As per the NY Times, $550bn was committed in TARP funds to “bail out the banks.” $175mm was used for banking institutions. Of all the “Big Banks,” not only was the money returned, but the Treasury MADE Money on the transaction. In fact, in April 2009, a number of financial institutions TRIED to repay the TARP loans and were denied by the Obama administration. However, starting later in 2009, banks began repaying the funds. For example, Bank of America, which received $45bn, paid back the $45mm and paid $3bn in interest, or a 6.67% absolute return – well above the rate they borrow money from the Federal Reserve. Additionally, BofA had to grant Treasury warrants which they sold to “Wall Street.” As per the Washington Post, “The Treasury Department said Thursday that it sold its warrants to buy Bank of America stock for $1.54 billion, fetching a much higher price than what market analysts and federal officials expected.”

In August 2009, Slate wrote this, “As we approach the one-year anniversary of the Panic of 2008, it's clear that the actual cost of the TARP will be a fraction of the original $700 billion estimate and that taxpayers are even turning a profit from the central component of the package.” Less than a month later, the NY Times wrote, “Even as voters rage and candidates put up ads against government bailouts, the reviled mother of them all — the $700 billion lifeline to banks, insurance and auto companies — will expire after Sunday at a fraction of that cost, and could conceivably earn taxpayers a profit.”

The banks that have not yet repaid TARP – mostly local community banks – hardly would be classified as “Fat Cats,” but rather George Baileys (or at least the modern versions).

The Treasury wasn’t alone in its bailout funds. The Fed acted in a number of capacities also to stabilize markets. I haven’t tracked it closely, buy in the fiscal year 2009, they made a profit of $45bn on their stabilizing activities. I can only imagine they made more in 2010.

Yet, TARP will likely lose money and cost the taxpayers billions. The source of that loss, the bailout of GM and Chrysler – An action the Bush administration opposed, but the Obama administration approved. Per CNN, GM and Chrysler received $80bn in TARP funds. How much has been paid back? $2.1bn. Instead, the US government owns 32% of GM, which in total is worth only $37bn at today’s prices. Chrysler went bankrupt. I don’t see anyone hanging signs at plants in Michigan asking for the scalps of Detroit’s finest businessmen.

Did a number banks play a role in the actions that lead to the actual need for TARP? – sure. Were they sinister and evil-minded in general? – hardly. Were there bad apples that used shady practices? – Always and everywhere. Were they the only ones, or even the root cause? – No. Was “Main Street” caught up in a greed bubble as it related to housing? – A wholehearted YES. Were some of those practices created in “Washington?” – Absolutely.

I won’t get into all of it here, but read what I wrote in 2008:
Low interest rates and easily available, cheap corporate credit were allowing companies (even ones with shaky balance sheets) to refinance and borrow at low rates. Stock valuations were high, and returns on bonds were quite low. On top of that, low volatility in the market reduced risk premiums on traditionally risky investments. Basically, proper returns on investments were becoming harder and harder to come by. Traditional institutional investors (pension funds, mutual funds, endowments, banks and hedge funds) sought new ways to improve their returns. It can be accomplished two ways: leverage or increase risk - or a combination of both.

Wall Street, as it always has, stepped up to create products that were in high demand. They expounded upon an idea called securitization. Essentially, a securitization pools a bunch of assets together and chops them up into different tranches. The theory involves a diversification risk. The highest tranches are the safest in that they take the last losses. It was a huge hit - higher returns from riskier assets but with less risk. Wall Street firms repackaged all kinds of assets: home mortgages, commerical mortgages, high yield bonds, investment grade bonds, airplane leases, etc. Wall Street was the conduit, not the originator. These firms are underwriting the securities on behalf of other institutions including the government sponsored entities, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. I don't want to blast the securitization process completely. Securitizations work - they provide higher returns with less risk if held through maturity. ..

Investors, seeking higher yields, were not only gobbling up these securitized bonds under the impression they couldn't lose, but they were suplementing their returns by adding leverage (using borrowed money to purchase securities). Those with the best cost of capital yielded the greatest advantage in these securities…

Bubbles and Panics are systematic problems. Wall Street is not without fault, but this is not a "Wall Street Fat Cat"-created problem. It began with the average American, was fueled by Congress mandating a need to subsidize low income home ownership, and its subsequent risks were highly underestimated by investors who were seeking better return for their institutional clients, who collect and allocate money for average Americans.

(http://sonofthelama.blogspot.com/2008/10/politico-b-s.html)

The systematic housing bubble used a willing Wall Street as the vehicle to propagate itself, but it was fed by everyday people, all across the country.

As noted in the Wall Street Journal today by Peter Wallison, one of the government’s Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission members, “the narrative that came out of these events—largely propagated by government officials and accepted by a credulous media—was that the private sector's greed and risk-taking caused the financial crisis and the government's policies were not responsible. This narrative stimulated the punitive Dodd-Frank Act—fittingly named after Congress's two key supporters of the government's destructive housing policies. It also gave us the occupiers of Wall Street.”

If any of these “occupiers” think JP Morgan, Citibank or Bank of America is responsible for their problems now, they are sorely mistaken. The fact that they have student loans they can’t afford, or don’t have high paying jobs being thrown at them, is not the fault of these institutions. “Wall Street” does not determine higher education tuitions. If anything, these institutions make getting student loans viable. “Wall Street” doesn’t determine who gets a job. If anything, they provide capital to the economy that allows companies to have funds for which to grow and expand and thus CREATE jobs. Every one of those “Occupiers” has a cell phone, an iPod, a digital camera, a social media account and pumped-up kicks that were each created because we have a capitalist system that finances those companies and allows them to grow. Additionally, those “Wall Street” banks are creating and managing mutual funds and 401(k)s by identifying the right investments and putting money to work so that when Social Security completely collapses under its own weight, today’s workers won’t be destitute.

History doesn’t repeat, it rhymes. The individual John Pierpont Morgan (JP, himself) was demonized in the late 1890s, early 1900s. He was rich and envied. He was accused of market manipulation because he dominated corporate finance. At the height of Morgan's career during the early 1900s, he and his partners had financial investments in many large corporations and were accused by critics of controlling the nation's high finance. In both 1895 and 1907, the U.S. was struck by panics almost crippling the American economy. Major New York banks were on the verge of bankruptcy and there was no mechanism to rescue them. Historians have attributed the actions by J.P. Morgan personally as what saved the market and the economy. However, that never stopped enemies of finance from publicly flogging him and his business. In 1912, he was berratted in front on Congress. In 1920, a group of financial anarchists blew up a bomb on Wall Street loaded with 100 pounds of dynamite and 500 pounds of cast- iron slugs in front of J.P. Morgan headquarters. The bomb was aimed at the financial institutions related to postwar social unrest, labor struggles and anti-capitalist agitation in the United States. Thanks for keeping the industrial revolution alive – here’s a bomb for ya!

It was wrong in 1920 and still is today. Yet today we still blame “Finance” for our problems. The world, and Europe in particular, is gasping because governments spent beyond their means. Social programs, welfare states, giving away better jobs because people “deserved it,” state mandated wages and inflations were funded with debt that many of these countries could not reasonably afford. If we follow the path that many of these “Occupiers” espouse, we’ll be right behind Europe.

They should look to Washington as to where their tax dollars are being spent. If they think “green jobs” and tax rebates are getting the country back to work – by all means, keep supporting it. If they think robbing the “rich” is going to grow GDP and stimulate the creation of new jobs – by all means, fight for it. It’s wrong, but at least it’s a rationale discussion.

I saw a shirt today with a slogan that I now love. I could agree with you, but then we’d both be wrong.

2011-10-12T11:59:00.000-04:00

Blinded me with Science!

2011-10-10T09:53:00.004-04:00

Katie's science project - An oxygen molecule.

Pics

2011-10-04T16:27:00.005-04:00

Fall is upon us

You mean you haven't picked out your Christmas tree yet?

Morning Surf Club

2011-09-27T13:15:00.006-04:00

The season is winding down, but three of the four unofficial members of the morning surf club took to the waves Sunday morning. I took Katie and Emily along. Dave, the patriarch of this surfing group, is the one who is perfecting the paddle-in. Brian, the jet-setting executive, needs to pick his spots to practice, but is perfecting the Stand-Up Board. Finally, I make an appearance on the smaller board. Johnny, our regular fourth, was doing what he does best - partying up at a Wedding in San Diego :)

This video says "A Moore Production" at the end, and it truly was. Katie did all the videography, and I edited it together.

Soccer

2011-09-26T17:51:00.000-04:00

Pic from one of the other parents at Katie's soccer game.

Gas and Oil

2011-09-21T18:19:00.003-04:00

I had a discussion with someone about this a few weeks ago. They were arguing that "big oil" was skimming off the consumer because when oil rose, the price of gas rose, but when oil fell, the price of gas wasn't.

Here's the problem, and thus the falacy. The U.S. news media (financial media as well as main stream) quote the price of oil based on West Texas Intermediate Crude (WTI). However, less than 20% of U.S. refiners and distributors have product based off WTI. Rather, most of the world, and much of the U.S. receive product based off Brent Crude. There has been a large divergence of Brent and WTI over the last two years (+/-) that is related specifically to an oversupply of product in a place called Cushing, OK. Financial contracts on WTI oil are settled in oil located at these storage facilities. Becuase there has been too much supply at these local storage facilities in Oklahoma, "the price of oil" has declined. However, Brent hasn't seen the same decline. New world demand for oil has outpaced supply, and thus Brent prices are not down nearly as much.

If you look at the following graph, note how NY gas prices have moved lock step with Brent Crude prices over the past year, whereas WTI has declined significantly.

Sunset on the Lake

2011-09-20T16:56:00.004-04:00

As the summer comes to a close, it is appropriate that I post some recent photos of Lake Minnetonka sunsets. [sigh]

Jealous?

2011-09-20T16:54:00.002-04:00

Katie's Birthday

2011-09-20T16:47:00.004-04:00

It was busy days surrounding Katie's birthday, so we spread it around. Rather than a party, she had five friends over for swimming, tubing, and a camp out in the backyard. We had her birthday dinner on the Sunday before her birthday at the Cheesecake Factory (her choice), but saved the cheesecake birthday cake for the day of - 30th Anniversary Cake, for anyone who cares - it was delicious.

Irony, n.

2011-09-12T15:36:00.003-04:00

Irony, n. - A combination of circumstances or a result that is the opposite of what is or might be expected or considered appropriate.

The following is a list of tax breaks that will be ended or limited to pay for the jobs bill, according to the White House:

- Limit on itemized deductions ($200,000 individuals, $250,000 families)
- Carried interest would be treated as "ordinary income" rather than at capital-gains rate
- Oil- and gas-company tax breaks
- Corporate-jet depreciation would change

Mr. Obama's plan will end about $467 billion of tax breaks over 10 years, said White House Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew. The president has previously proposed ending the tax breaks, but has faced stiff resistance from Republicans. … The White House disputed the notion that raising taxes on the wealthy would hurt growth. The measures to pay for spending "are spread out so that there aren't negative impacts," said White House press secretary Jay Carney. … Mr. Lew said he thinks most Americans would easily end tax breaks for oil and gas companies and hedge-fund managers to spur growth. … "That is not a hard choice for most Americans, if the choice is creating, you know, economic growth and jobs, or tolerating the results of many years of inequities in the tax code," Mr. Lew said.

I think we ought to end tax breaks on White House Budget Directors. I think most Americans would support that. I also think most Americans would support tax increases that don’t raise their own taxes.

"This is the bill that Congress needs to pass—no games, no politics, no delays,"

President Obama said without hinting at the slightest bit of irony:

The White House is also taking a gamble that Republicans are willing to budge on taxes after getting bruised, politically, over a tough budget fight in the summer. … By choosing to end the tax breaks, the White House is likely setting itself up for a fight with Republicans. Over the summer, Republicans said they wouldn't end tax breaks amid concerns doing so as the U.S. is coming out of a recession would hamper the recovery.

180 Complete

2011-08-29T21:38:00.002-04:00

You've seen the epic 180 fail video. Here's the follow up:

That's sum drawing...

2011-08-29T10:16:00.011-04:00

We attended the great Minnesota Get Together, a.k.a. the Minnesota State Fair on Sunday. It's always quite a spectacle. This year's Fair had a unique twist for us. Each of the girls' school's art department submitted a drawing to be judged at the Fair. We received notification that each of them had won a ribbon. Items from across the state were displayed in trophy cases inside the Education pavilion.

Emily won a Third Grade - 1st place ribbon for her drawing of a futuristic city.

Katie won a third place ribbon for fifth graders for her skeleton drawing.

As you can see, there are five skeletons each painting a picture.

Both drawings were at an awkward angle inside the case. However, the girls will get their picture back (plus the ribbon), and I will take a better picture at that time.

Other fun stuff at the Fair including seeing a new born calf, and eating things on a stick - Emily has Pizza on a stick, and Katie was Big Fat Bacon on a stick.

Even Moore Randoms

2011-08-14T20:02:00.007-04:00

Lunch at Lafayette

Our Monday sign that did not make it on TV (that we know of). Carl Crawford did not, in fact, toss her a ball...

However, Wednesday's game, we hit up batting practice. Josh Reddick did roll a ball to Emily across the dugout. Thanks Josh!

Sitting in our seats

Katie, Alison and our friends sat across the diamond from us. That is Katie holding her sign up with friend from NY, Anna.

Rest...

Some Randoms

2011-08-14T19:25:00.005-04:00

Emily and a couple of her soccer teammates. Emily really stepped up in Soccer this year.

Katie and a few of her Soccer teammates. Full size field and 11 players, Katie's soccer was no longer "rec" league. She did well, especially considering she is playing up for her age.

Emily and a couple of friends.

WWA National Wakeboard Championships. Next Jr. Girls Champ?

Uptown Art Fair. Here is Moore Art.

Emily and I went to Twins/Red Sox along the first row LF foul line. Unfortunately, no foul balls came are way. The Red Sox did win tho!

The Four Moores

2011-08-14T18:47:00.005-04:00

Beautiful Sunday morning. Lake was glass at 8:30am. All four Moores hit the lake on wakeboards. Katie took her longest run ever, Emily went outside the wake and Alison on her first session ever was up pretty quickly.
Good jumping weather. Completed two 180s.

Emily is a natural.

Katie who always stuck with Skiing, really figured it out today.

A couple of failed attempts resulted in the knowledge used to string together a great run.

Victory!!

The water adventures continued when friends came over and we dialed the boat up perfectly for wake surfing, and finally tubing. Good day indeed!

Dumm Ass

2011-08-12T11:03:00.009-04:00

Film creator Michael Moore has to be one of the scumiest humans on the planet. The guy is a walking oxymoron. A multi-millionaire capitalist who makes a living decrying capitalism. That alone makes him a hypocrite. However, his Twitter post above shows his ignorance, stupidity, and anarchist motivation all in one.

So, let's dissect this post. He is unhappy that S&P wasn't proactive enough in 2008 to downgrade AAA securities to their true credit measure, and that lack of professional integrity led the economy into ruin. As he sees it, innocent investors were buying AAA rated paper without understanding the risk. They only downgraded the securities after their demise was a foregone conclusion.

HOWEVER, now, he is unhappy that S&P can't be bullied into maintaining a AAA rating on securities that do not deserve such a credit measure, and instead acted proactively to get ahead of the issue before it was a foregone conclusion. Otherwise, innocent investors would be buying U.S. Treasury securities on the understanding that they were completely risk-free, when in fact, the economics suggested they were not.

Hmm, which is it?

Yet, that is the least despicable part of the Tweet. Disregarding his illogical conclusions, his solution is even more preposterous and socially appalling. His solution is to ARREST the CEO of a public and independent entity for allowing his firm to do their job. S&P's free market (not government sponsored) service is to provide their OPINION on the safety and surety of debt instruments for the benefit of investors. EVEN IF a downgrade of the U.S. Treasury securities isn't warranted, is that how we handle disagreement here, by sending CEOs to jail for allowing their company to express it's opinion which also happens to be their responsibility?

This isn't Russia [Danny]. Is this Russia? This isn't Russia.

180 Fail

2011-08-08T00:17:00.002-04:00

On Friday morning, I landed a heel-side 180 wakeboard jump. Basically, it is turning into the wave using my heels (so a left turn for me), hitting the jump, spinning the board, and land facing the opposite direction (otherwise known as "switch").

I spent the weekend trying to re-create it, and didn't land it once. Sunday, I taped it to see what I might be doing wrong. You benefit from the folly of my falls. BTW, no wakeboarders were hurt or injured in the making of this video. Although they look painful, the falls were pretty tame, and I wear a helmet.

Lazy Sunday afternoon

2011-07-31T22:36:00.002-04:00

Possibly because we attended the 2011 WWA National Wakeboard Championships on the Mississippi River on Saturday in downtown Minneapolis, interest in wakeboarding was high this weekend. Even Alison made it into the lake twice, including one attempt on waterskis - a first for both things (1. into the lake, and 2. waterskis).

Emily has wakeboarded before. Katie has waterskied, but not wakeboarded. Today, they each took a run. Obviously Emily's experience allowed a longer run.

Singing in the Rain

2011-07-25T13:32:00.015-04:00

After waiting close to 2 years for the concert to arrive, U2 finally played TCF Stadium in Minneapolis this past weekend. The show was originally scheduled for June 2010, but then lead singer Bono hurt his back and all bets were off.

The concert was the first outdoor stadium concert in 33 years. It was only fitting that it poured rain for close to 75% of the show. To quote from the review in the Star Tribune, "the drizzle eventually turned into a deluge, and Bono and the band played on, getting pelted by the downpour, along with 60,000 jubilant fans." Well, 59,999 maybe. Alison enjoyed the show, but "jubilant" wouldn't be the description. Everything else is true. Every time the rain appeared to slow, it ratched up again, getting heavier and harder. I've been less wet in the shower.

The show was great. I've seen U2 four or five times dating back to the Joshua Tree Tour in 1987 (one of my first concerts) held at the old Foxboro Stadium. The best show was the ZooTV Tour where I watched the performance from the field at Wembley Stadium in London. With general admission tickets, my friend and I squirmed our way to something near the third row.

This show ranked among the best I've seen. The rain made it interesting and entertaining, but the music was excellent. What shocked me most is that the rain didn't interupt the music even though they have next to no cover from the rain.

The last time I saw U2 (in 2005 at Madison Sq. Garden), Bono's voice was a bit shot at the end of the tour. He couldn't hit any of the higher, longer notes. In this case, Minneapolis was one of the last stops of the tour leg; yet, his voice sounded vibrant.

The set list was solid with old and new hits alilke. What many of U2's younger fans may not comprehend is the transformational leap they made between Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby, and just how amazing that was. In 1989, U2 was at the top of the world, a legendary band. The put out a simultaneous album/movie for goodness sake (Rattle & Hum) which easily could have been their "Jump the Shark" moment. They could have been like the Rolling Stones and played Rolling-Stone songs until they died and been multi-billionaires. Instead they COMPLETELY changed how they played music, and in turn how music was played. Truly amazing and ballsy.

There aren't many bands that transition from one music genre to another. When "their" sound ends, they usually disappear for a while, and then play 10 years of reunion tours. The fact that these guys were the definition of 1980s rock, and then release Achtung Baby in like 1991-ish, which was soooo different, so much edgier, is what make them one of the best bands of all-time, I think.

Main Set: Even Better Than the Real Thing, The Fly, Mysterious Ways - Rain, Until the End of the World - Anthem, I Will Follow, Get On Your Boots, I Still Haven't Found, Stand By Me, Stuck in a Moment, Beautiful Day - Space Oddity, Can't Stand the Rain - Elevation, Pride, Miss Sarajevo, Zooropa, City of Blinding Lights - Singing in the Rain, Vertigo, Miss You-I'll Go Crazy (remix)-Raindrops Keep Falling-Discotheque-Life During Wartime-Psycho Killer, Please - Sunday Bloody Sunday, Scarlet, Walk On

Encore(s): One - Purple Rain, Hallelujah - Purple Rain - Where the Streets Have No Name - Singing in the Rain, Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me, With or Without You, Moment of Surrender - Singing in the Rain

I recorded these on my phone

I put my camera away when the rain started. Here is a great YouTube post from someone right in front of the stage:

Perfect.

Fireworks in style

2011-07-18T09:44:00.003-04:00

The town had a "Spirit of the Lakes" festival this weekend. Nothing special, but they did have a nice fireworks show Saturday night. Our neighbor is a collector and dealer of old, restored wooden boats. He took us out on the classic POSH to watch the fireworks.

It was a real treat watching the fireworks in high style.

Click here for the history of the boat.

Fourth fun

2011-07-06T15:45:00.012-04:00

Despite traveling issues, I had a nice weekend celebrating the 4th in NY. Alison and the girls spent three great days on Cape Cod, but failed to take any pictures.

I flew in Thursday night, and on Friday had an opportunity to tour the floor of the New York Stock Exchange - something I have never done before. Although the Friday before the 4th was hardly action-city on the floor, it was interesting to see them ring the opening bell.

The rest of the weekend was spent in Westchester including long stays at the golf club. I got severely sunburned after falling asleep at the pool on Saturday (wear lots of sunscreen, kids!) which hampered by golf playing ability. The kids - well lathered in sunscreen - spent hours upon hours at the pool.

Emily has been practicing doing flips on the trampoline at home, and I convinced her that it was much easier off the diving board. After some hesitant flips, she spent the rest of the weekend flipping out.

Monday night we secured a sweet spot to watch the Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular. High above Time Square, we watched the five barge fireworks show on the Hudson river from a friend's office conference room. It was a great view, and the perfect way for us to watch. Emily and I like fireworks, but Katie doesn't like the noise, and Alison is happy to have our own bathroom. Perfect.

We spent the night in a Manhattan hotel, and I headed back to Minneapolis Tuesday morning - well after a 3 hour delay, I think it was still morning.

Life imitates art...well Airplane II is hardly art

2011-06-23T10:51:00.002-04:00

From a broker friend:

Scene from Airplane II:

Elaine the stewardess tells the passengers: "We're off course by a tad. In space terms a tad is 1mm miles." No reaction by the passengers.

"The bumps you feel are asteroids smashing into the hull of our space ship." No reaction.

A passenger asks: "Are you telling us the whole truth."

Elaine: "Not exactly. We're also out of coffee."

Pandemonium ensues.

Greece next week:

PM says, "My fellow Greeks, we are bankrupt." No reaction.

"We got into the EU by lying and cheating. We should not have been allowed into the EU." No reaction.

"Going forward we are going to have to live a life of hard work, paying taxes, and being upstanding citizens who don't cheat or steal from the government and our lenders."

Pandemonium ensues.

Wha..what??

2011-06-21T14:47:00.006-04:00

At least those in the audience at the DNC event know what's up.

Transcript from White House on President remarks at a DNC event:

"THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you, everybody. Please have a seat, have a seat.

It is wonderful to see all of you. I've got a lot of friends in the room here. People who knew me before anybody could pronounce my name. (Laughter.) People who knew me before I had gray hair. (Laughter.) It is wonderful to see those of you who’ve been friends for a long time, and it’s wonderful to see new friends here as well.

What I'd like to do is to make some very brief remarks at the top and then have a chance to take a few questions, because that will give us a chance to http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhave a dialogue, and you might have some suggestion that we haven’t thought of. "

blah, blah, blah... but then this:

"As a consequence of that swift, decisive, and sometimes difficult period, we were able to take an economy that was shrinking by about 6 percent and create an economy that is now growing, and has grown steadily now over many consecutive quarters. Over the last 15 months we’ve created over 2.1 million private sector jobs. (Laughter.) "

My repeat from the OFFICIAL White House transcript: "(Laughter.)"

For real. Click here for the official release.

Romneycare

2011-05-12T13:15:00.000-04:00

Last summer, the family met Mitt Romney at a book signing event. Very personable guy, and we really enjoyed meeting him. I keep telling the kids, "you met the future President of the United States." The response back usually involves some sort of dubious skepticism. Well, apparently the Wall Street Journal thinks the same way:

CLICK HERE

I've always given Romney as pass on Universal Healthcare in Massachusetts. He was a Republican governor of a very liberal state. I know, I lived there for 22 years. He gave, "the people" what they wanted. He pitches it that way - sort of. Romney credits letting states decide for themselves. Very Jeffersonian of him. However, in my opinion, he misses the mark. He needs to use the above WSJ Editorial to his advantage.

Romney has been opposed to Obamacare since prior to introduction. He was on the anti-passage train at least as early as the Tea Party. He's criticised for his flip flopping opinion on the topic. However, he needs to make this stance:

"I'm opposed to universal healthcare not only because its a states' rights issue [which he believes it is], but rather, I've tried it and IT DOESN'T WORK." He shouldn't been running from Massachusetts failed universal health initiative. He should embrace it. "I was convinced about the effectiveness universal healthcare by a panel of experts who told me it would work, enough so that I supported its legislation. However, I now have firsthand knowledge - It failed. Vote for me, and I'll make sure it doesn't do to the country what it's doing to Massachusetts."

This message should be supported and approved by Romney for President 2012

Home Owner x2

2011-05-09T15:27:00.005-04:00

We have contracted to buy a house here. Won't close for another month, but have gone through inspection and such already.

It's in the same town we already live in, but is a lakefront property - as opposed to "lake access" which we have as renters. Praying for a nice Summer.

The house is a little further south & west than we originally planned, but it's in a decent neighborhood which is rare around the lake. The kids will be able to ride their bikes, there is a park down the street and they will be able to go to the same schools.

If the Gov't just used Google...

2011-05-02T16:29:00.001-04:00

Good riddance

2011-05-02T15:11:00.007-04:00

And justice for all.

I have to admit, I thought he was dead long ago, but no one could prove it. I'm glad we had the satisfaction of Navy SEALS taking him out - even if years too late. I only pray he knew who was in the compound.

Mobility

2011-04-13T10:10:00.003-04:00

There was a blog post related to a Treasury Dept study that emphasizes a fact that I have highlighted for a long time.

When people (mostly on the Left) discuss income inequality, they refer to a group they call the "rich." However, one of the biggest flaws is that the "rich" are hardly ever the same group of people over time. Income mobility moves people in and out. New entrepreneurs, businessmen/women and sports athletes change the makeup of the super-rich time and again. Those that made fortunes in one year, may not make it in another. Note the Dept of the Treasury report:

" Income mobility of individuals was considerable in the U.S. economy during the 1996 through 2005 period with roughly half of taxpayers who began in the bottom quintile moving up to a higher income group within ten years.
About 55 percent of taxpayers moved to a different income quintile within ten years.
Among those with the very highest incomes in 1996 — the top 1/100 of one percent — only 25 percent remained in the group in 2005. Moreover, the median real income of these taxpayers declined over the study period.
The degree of mobility among income groups is unchanged from the prior decade (1987 through 1996).
Economic growth resulted in rising incomes for most taxpayers over the study period: Median real incomes of all taxpayers increased by 24 percent after adjusting for inflation; real incomes of two-thirds of all taxpayers increased over this period; and median incomes of those initially in the lower income groups increased more than the median incomes of those initially in the high income groups. "

So comparison of income classes year over year, needs to be taken with a grain of salt because they aren't the same people. So the "rich get richer" isn't accurate. It's the 1% of the highest income earners earned more than their counterparts in earlier years.

Soon to shred

2011-04-10T10:19:00.003-04:00

Emily's birthday today. We got her a wakeboard. Originally slated as a Christmas gift, we determined it cruel to give such a gift when use of it would be five months away. With the snow gone and talk of "ice-out" dates, near-term use seems more reasonable in April.

Happy Birthday, Em.

Quote of the Day

2011-04-07T08:52:00.001-04:00

"Democrats immediately began attacking Paul Ryan's budget proposal. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz said that it was literally a death trap for seniors, while Pelosi claimed the GOP's spending cuts would starve the elderly. But remember what Schultz was saying about toning down our rhetoric just a couple months ago? And how Obama lectured Republicans last year about not scaring seniors?" Laura Ingraham.

Dance the night away

2011-03-27T16:22:00.002-04:00

Katie participated in a 2-time per week, multi-week, after-school dance program. Both girls participated in the four-day dance camp run by the High School Dance Team, the Hawkettes (the high school mascot is the White Hawks). In the first all-company dance, Katie is in the back whereas Emily is in front.

Untitled from Bill Moore on Vimeo.

Progressive

2011-03-25T12:24:00.005-04:00

Tax rates. For those that claim the infamous "rich" don't pay their share (click to enlarge):

Out of OECD countries, the richest 10% is the U.S. take down the 3rd largest percentage of all income at 33.5%. We trail only Italy and Poland. Other developed countries are not materially different, but lower - U.K. @ 32.3%, New Zealand 30.3%, Germany 29.2%, Japan 28.1%. France is among the lowest at 25.5%. I would argue that the U.S. is so high because of the outlier effect. The top .01% of income generators in the U.S. generate huge amounts of money, and that effects the group as a whole. That's not such a bad thing for two reasons, 1. that is what our capitalist system is based on, and 2. those in the top 10% is a constantly varying population pool. The ability of participants in a capitalist system to migrate between income brackets is a good thing - it is the American Dream. As Milton Friedman said many times (and I'm paraphrasing), the capitalist system isn't a perfect system, but it's the system that has made the most societal advancements and largest increases in communal prosperity of any economic system in the history of the world.

The first column above shows that same population pool's percentage contribution of the overall tax burden. The U.S. tops the list at 45.1%. So the largest earners in the U.S. generate 33.5% of the income, but pay 45.1% of the taxes. There is no OECD country in the world where the highest earners pay a larger share of the taxes. The only other country in the 40s is Italy, a country (like Greece) known to "tax" people without effective collection. The U.S. has the greatest burden of taxes to income at 1.35x.

California Dreamin'

2011-03-20T14:52:00.039-04:00

We just returned from our Spring Break touring of the Southern California coast.

We flew into LAX and spent the night in Marina Del Ray. Our room view in the morning was a bit hazy, but the hills can be seen in the background and the Pacific Ocean to the left (click on any picture below to enlarge).

We spent the morning walking Venice Beach. Baywatch was there to protect us.

Although the morning started off hazy, the girls enjoyed playing on the pacific beach.

Including a few races.

Venice Beach is an interesting place. Explaining who all the people pushing "medicinal marijuana" were was interesting. Some unique signs:

From Venice Beach we spent lunchtime at the Santa Monica Pier.

We watched a filming of Nickelodeon's game show, Brainsurge. Interesting, but slow. Made us wonder if Wheel of Fortune had so much stop and go to accommodate taping. The losers went down the soapy Brain Drain slide, while the winners got slimed. Not sure anyone wins.

Our stay next took us to Beverly Hills. Although the hotel was nice and comfy, our view was the side of a building. We spent the next few days exploring the touristy spots of Beverly Hills and Hollywood.

On Rodeo Drive, we hit all the famous high end shops including a stop into Harry Winston's. The exclusive jewelery boutique, which supplies celebrities with their award show jewelry, is filled with gorgeous diamonds and other stones. We were the only patrons in the small shop, but were accompanied by two salespersons and two security personnel. When one salesperson asked if we were visiting, and where from, Alison paused, thought about answering, "Minnesota," looked around at the setting and calmly replied, "New York."

We made the 50 minute drive up the 101 to Simi Valley and the newly renovated Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. There was interesting stuff for both the kids and the adults. Included in the exhibits is the 707 used as Air Force One. Retired after Reagan to make way for the new 747, this plane served Reagan, Carter, Ford and Nixon.

Well?

One of the exhibits was a full replica of Reagan's Oval Office. However, since flash photography was not allowed through most of the Library, pictures were most blurry.

The Library is set upon the beautiful hills of Simi Valley.

We took a tour of the famous Warner Brothers' Studios. The "VIP" tour included a golf cart ride through the backlot with famous filming locations for a number of movies and TV shows. Additionally, we saw a number of features in the "front lot" where the studios are located. Although most shows were on hiatus while we were there, we were taken to the set for "The Big bang Theory."

The General Lee from the Dukes of Hazzard:

The entrance to "Chicago's" L train from the TV show ER:

Scooby Doo's Mystery Machine van:

A generic "anywhere" backlot set:

We toured the Prop House with a number of both common and "historical" props. The Prop House also included a full set from the filming of TV series "Friends." Central Perk was the famous set most often used on the show. After viewing the set, we asked if we could take pictures sitting on the couch.

The tour also included a stop at the WB museum, but we weren't allowed to take pictures there. At the time we were there, they were filming for the upcoming Clint Eastwood/ Leonardo DiCaprio film, J. Edgar. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the tour, our group of 36 was divided into 3 groups of 12. One of the other groups got a chance to see Clint, who walked right past their cart. Whether he said anything or not in unknown to us.

While in Hollywood, we arranged a horseback riding trip through the Hollywood Hills. It was actually a horseback ride I had taken almost 20 years prior when I went to L.A. for Spring Break in college. The hour ride walked us up and around the grounds between the Hollywood sign and the Griffith Observatory.

Speaking of the Griffith Observatory, we visited the L.A. landmark that has a great view of the city, and the distinction of being a filming spot for Rebel Without a Cause with James Dean.

From L.A., we headed down the 405 past Long Beach to Newport Beach. The Marriot Vacation Club resort sat high above the California coast. Although not on the beach, it allowed a beautiful view of the Pacific including a couple great sunsets.

The Newport Coast was the only place the kids really got an opportunity to swim, and the pools were terrific.

Although the hotel was in Newport Beach, we spent most of our time outside the hotel in Laguna Beach.

Including on St. Patrick's Day:

Although the water was about 60 degrees, three of us ventured in for a surfing lesson (Alison remained on land as "official photographer").
Katie:

Katie:

Emily:

I should not be photographed in a wetsuit, thank you...

Our final stop took us to San Diego. Upon arriving, we headed straight to the San Diego Zoo.

We ended the trip with a nice visit to San Diego's Historic Old Town for a nice Mexican dinner. Old Town is filled with restaurants and souvenir shops, including this one:

How's that for Synergies??

We returned to this:

It's close to Southern California... Sort of.

Civility

2011-03-07T11:30:00.001-05:00

I'm waiting...

Certificates

2011-03-03T17:51:00.003-05:00

I wouldn't label myself a "birther." I have no informed opinion on whether or not President Obama was actually born in Hawaii, or elsewhere. I don't think much about it. In fact, if push came to shove, I would say, yes, I think he was born there. However, I think it more than reasonable to request the official document considering "born in the United States" is a requirement for the job. Frankly, I'm surprised you don't have to produce that to get on the ballot. I can't just go to the state department and have them take my word, or produce alternate documents, and get a passport. I need a copy of my birth certificate. So demanding to see one from the highest government official, who is required to have it, seems reasonable to me.

The new Governor of Hawaii announced that he would retrieve it and produce it to show all who disbelieve to be crazy... until he announced that in fact, he couldn't find it, and even if he did, couldn't produce it without the consent of the individual. Whoops.

To quote a political blog, Ace of Spades, "If you act secretively, it is not crazy to imagine you have secrets." So, why doesn't Obama and/or the White House produce it? Is it to keep the aura of kookiness above the so-called birthers? To quote the same Ace of Spades, "this is what annoys me in the media coverage of this: They demand that Republicans swear on a stack of Bibles to affirm facts they have no knowledge of [it being false] while steadfastly refusing to ask the guy actually concealing the records which would end the controversy why, The Hell, he is continuing to conceal them... I, personally, am sick to death of hearing media sycophants demand that John Boehner affirm that Obama was born in Hawaii while not asking that Obama do the same." Good point.

So I heard one good hypothesis today. Maybe there is something politically embarrassing on it. I don't think Obama is a Muslim, but maybe the certificate says he is. Although raised a Christian, maybe his father filled it out and when it came to religion wrote, "Muslim." Maybe, it something else.

Weird. I just don't get it. We've been told you are crazy if someone believes in the conspiracy theory, but why. Because we say so!

All District Band

2011-03-02T00:26:00.007-05:00

Katie has been taking the flute as part of her music requirement. Sunday afternoon was the all-district Band concert. I've narrowed 2 1/2 hours down for you into 5 minutes and 17 seconds. You can thank me later, even though you missed the Cheesecake.

Lutsen

2011-02-28T23:37:00.007-05:00

As promised, a video from Lutsen. Once again, it was taken with the iPhone, so it will be easier to view in a larger format, CLICK HERE

Up North

2011-02-23T23:14:00.010-05:00

We traveled up North for the first time - hitting Duluth for a night and then two nights at Lutsen Mountain for some downhill. Although we know now where NOT to stay, that is a story for another time. Sking/snowboarding video also to follow. Meanwhile, here are a couple of pictures (click any picture to enlarge).

Duluth Lakewalk:

Skiing with Lake Superior below:

Our Condo's View:

Splitrock Lighthouse along the Northshore:

Baker XC

2011-02-23T21:02:00.012-05:00

The girls take cross country skiing as part of their gym class. We took a couple of hours to rent skis and tour Baker National Park. This is also the first video shot with my new iPhone (click the button with arrows next to the "Vimeo" logo to expand the picture).

Baker XC 2011 from Bill Moore on Vimeo.

Lafayette Dance

2011-02-23T20:06:00.004-05:00

On Super Bowl weekend, the girls and I attended the Father/Daughter Dance at the Lafayette Club on Lake Minnetonka. With a full band and a buffet dinner, it was quite an affair.

Katie was mostly content dancing with herself and friends. Emily made it clear that she wanted me out on the dance floor. Although cute, it was likely that she wanted me to pick her up and swing her around.

Free Draw

2011-02-18T12:48:00.006-05:00

Katie has an assignment regarding the Galapogos Islands. Part of the project included drawing a pictures. This is the picture she drew. No tracing involved. Both Alison and I were very impressed.

Mom away, Kids shall play

2011-01-30T18:15:00.005-05:00

One of Alison's Christmas presents was a "girl's weekend" away in Las Vegas. She went this weekend, and is apparently have good fun. We've made due here by doing some things that aren't necessarily her cup of tea.

Saturday, we sent snowboarding/skiing in the morning, and attended the Minnesota Timberwolves game.

The Wolves complied and actually played a pretty good game, which is a rarity around here.

Sunday, we visited SkyZone, a trampoline jumping center. It was sure fun, but I was pretty beat in the first eight minutes.

Oh Ricky

2011-01-24T14:00:00.003-05:00

The Golden Globes are boring. Even the attendees tends to get drunk at it, as they pretend to like the annoying reporters from international bureaus. It's a full week since Ricky Gervais made the ceremony modestly interesting by roasting the attendees' Hollywood brethren. It was funny. Not Tonight Show giggles funny, but really funny. He made fun of Angelina Jolie, Johnny Deep, Robert Downey Jr., Mel Gibson, Bruce Willis & Demi Moore, Charlie Sheen, Tim Allen and such. The fact that we are more than a week removed from the events, and the "Hollywood elite" are still fuming from it is both astounding and revealing. "I thought he was mean," says comedy producer/director Judd Apatow on Saturday. Had the jokes been about George Bush, Sarah Palin, her kids, Bill O'Reilly, Glen Beck, Catholic Priests, Rupert Murdoch or Wall Street CEOs, they would have been rolling in the aisles. Apparently it's o.k. to be mean spirited about others (especially if they are on the "other side"), but down right RUDE if you dare say it about actors!

Baby it's cold outside

2011-01-21T15:10:00.003-05:00

My car dash on the way to work. Yes that's negative 33.

Word.

2011-01-12T17:15:00.005-05:00

The Arizona shooting is a tragedy. But to link it with political talk is absurd. Despite long politically correct wait to judgement on the Ft. Hood shooter for fear of labeling him an Islamic Terrorist (when in FACT, that's exactly what he was), the media and the LOCAL SHERIFF!! were happy to label Jared Loughner a right-winged political extremist right out of the gate - with no evidence whatsoever. In this case, it becomes clearer everyday that Jared Loughner was NOT political at all, but rather just a plain ole nutbag. He wasn't incited by talk radio, or political commentary. He was crazy. Nevertheless, reporters still drop blame. Some still repeat the claim political division "wasn't the sole factor" in the shooting. No. No. It wasn't ANY factor.

From Ace of Spades - Political Blog. It's long, but accurate (and mildly edited):

Ahhh... Remember When The Left Thought Making Political Threats Was Pretty Darn Kewl?

Yes, I am old enough to remember those halcyon days, whatever halcyon means, I'm sure it means something good, when protesters could wave signs saying "KILL BUSH" and "I'M HERE TO KILL BUSH" and our media, so exquisitely sensitive towards any potential incitement, was altogether too distracted by the music of the wind playing in the flowers to notice.

But those were innocent days, when no one could ever get hurt or die, or at least no one of any particular political merit.

All kidding aside, I want nothing worse for Barack Obama than an unexpected retirement in early January 2013; and in fact I want no politician harmed by political violence. (Or anyone, for that matter.)

I was greatly upset by the Tucson shooting, and not just for the lives lost, but for the degradation of America. I don't want to live in that kind of tin-pot short-fuse banana non-Republic were people express their political opinions at pointblank-to-close range.

But the media let the left get away with murder -- or, more accurately, incitement to murder -- for eight long years and now they want to piously instruct us that we can't say socialist anymore?

Here's my rule, which is workable, because it's bright-line and nonpartisan: You cannot urge political violence, nor can you strongly imply that maybe some political violence would be a good thing.

That means all of these filth carrying "KILL BUSH" signs should have been arrested and tried, and the media should have pointed this out, because embarrassing a political movement is the only way to incite it to patrol its ranks for excesses.

But the media didn't, because they're in the tank for the left. Fine. That doesn't mean that we have to allow or accept such incitements now, from either side, but until the media confesses its own crime they do get to play referee or judge.

So urgings towards violence, and deliberately violent imagery, are out.

Here's what in: Socialist. It's allowed. I said so. The left says "You can't say that because it upsets people too much and that might provoke some into violence," and it's at this point I have to say, "Tough s**t. Life is chancy."

The most important political debate, had over the past 160 years, is about socialism, whether we go towards it or away from it, and it's absurd to posit we can no longer reference a worldwide 160-year-old political dispute because of worries that someone might get hurt.

Is the word an incitement? So it is. As they say, All ideas are incitements. That's the point of them. And you cannot sand down the edges of every idea into a safe, non-pokey rounded top and pad everyone in rubber suits. The word has too much value to suppress, for anyone's safety.

You know who agrees? The Democrats, the left, and the media, who threw around the left's version of "socialist" -- "fascist," "Nazi" -- all my life and never once seemed especially concerned that if someone took them seriously, that if someone really did think this or that person was a fascist or Nazi and therefore steering this country to fascism or Naziism, then that person might become animated enough to kill someone.

They toss out the word "murderer" like it's going out of style -- virtually everyone on the right is a "murderer," eventually. They never seem to consider that if someone takes them seriously, and believes actual murderers are setting this country's policies, that would require people to rise up violently against said murderers, wouldn't it?

Is that an incitement, then? Of course it is. The left's only defense is that no one takes them seriously, but that's not true. See the Discovery Channel Gunman, for example. Some people are so crazy and stupid they do take the left seriously.

They seem comfortable with the risks associated with this sort of strident political name-calling. I join them in that -- I am comfortable in this risk as well. It's a risk that has to be accepted.

Now, I don't like that the left constantly tosses out inciting words like "Nazi" and "fascist." I scold them for that, I buffoonize them for that. But I don't say they can't say those words, or that those words will lead to murder (even though they could!) Because I accept the idea of free speech enough to know that I have to accept the hateful rhetoric of the left.

As long as it's merely hateful, and merely tends towards incitement, and does not expressly, explicitly incite.

So that's the deal, left: Shut the F up and accept that "socialist" is a legitimate term to throw at you (because you are, in fact, socialist or at least socialist-curious) and stop whining about it just like we on the right do not whine about you using the word "fascist" to describe everything from Star Wars to over-baked chicken at Popeye's. You have your dirty words, we have ours. Deal with it already.

Here's what you also have to deal with-- martial metaphors. Like the kind Howie Kurtz scolds Sarah Palin about right before he notes she's "escalated her war with the press." After you, Alphonse. If the media can scrub all martial metaphors out of its usage for three straight months, I will then convince it even can be done; until then, I assume it can't. So if the media wants to make some point on this score -- lead by example.

It'll be tough. The day National Journal fretted about Palin's evil martial metaphors they had a dozen of them, and that was just in the headlines. But the media is so smart and educated 'n stuff I'm sure they can figure out how to do this, and then that will provide a good example for we rubes to follow.

And that's it. Yes, no inciting language. No inciting imagery. I agree 100%. I don't need to be convinced because I always was convinced.

Question for the media and Democrats: Were you always convinced? Or is this a revelation of more recent vintage?

[Picture of man holding sign, "Bush is the Disease. Death is the Cure."]

And if it is a revelation of recent vintage: Then who exactly are you, who discovered this was a problem just over two years ago, to lecture me, who's been talking about it for ten years?

And none of this is about incitement to violence. What it's about is incitement to political action, and the left doesn't like the words we're using because they're effective and therefore wants us to neuter our language and use less effective words.

Again: F Yourself.

On the point of political incitement, absolutely, I'm there, 100%.

On the point of attempting to mau-mau Michelle Bachman for using the sort-of-really-good line "I want you armed and dangerous with facts about climate change"? Give me a break. That's golden. You don't like it just because you don't like her. If any lefty came up with that line, you'd be applauding it. And you're just claiming that's "inciting" because, unfortunately, she hasn't really incited anything, except people to vote against you.

Enough of the damn lies and enough of the stupid Matrix of Loughnerian fantasy.

Point is, I do believe that incitement 1) is dangerous and 2) is of very low expressive value anyway because who the wants to read the 1000ndth comment by an emotionally-unstable jackass talking about how what wonders he can work with his mighty penis-substitute rifle?

So I'm a bear on this issue.

Is the media? The media now deigning to lecture me about this?

If there is a climate of hate -- let's stipulate for one second that there is, just for the purposes of this question -- what did the media do about this before January 2009? Or do they claim it only happened after Obama was inaugurated?

'Cuz Zombie's blog has lots of photos -- photos the media suppressed and would not run, for fear of embarrassing the left and jeopardizing their precious liberal Democrats' political fortunes -- that says they're liars if they make that claim.

Posted by: Ace at 03:57 PM

Learn something new every day

2011-01-09T16:39:00.003-05:00

For my birthday, Emily and I went to Hyland Hills to learn how to snowboard. Never left the bunny slope, but it was fun.

Decision Points

2011-01-03T10:02:00.003-05:00

I'm a fan a George Bush, no doubt. I finished his book, Decision Points, over the weekend. It's a very good read, and I would recommend it to those who are NOT fans. He clearly outlines 15 or 16 major decisions made during his presidency, and justifies why and how he made the decisions. You may disagree with the politics, but understanding the rationale will help define the man. Those that rely on the media/Hollywood to define him are sadly sold short.

Katie's Silent Night

2010-12-24T22:01:00.001-05:00

Goodbye Friend

2010-12-19T19:17:00.007-05:00

Sad news was delivered Saturday when I found that my fraternity brother and college suite-mate had late stage lung cancer and after showing improvement in November had taken a turn for the worst. By that evening, I received an email that he had passed away.

Shady Kanfi, a Canadian, was a lifelong Montreal Canadians fan. Together with me, as a Bruins fan, we had a fun rivalry. Shady was smart and quick witted. He entered Babson a year after I did, but was part of my graduating class, finishing in three years.

My junior year, we (and two others) traveled on Spring Break to California. All we had were plane tickets and a rent-a-car. We traveled between Los Angeles and San Diego (and a quick jaunt to Tijuana) staying at local chapters of our fraternity. We housed at UCLA, Cal State Long Beach and San Diego State University. It was a terrific trip. By senior year, Shady had enough credits to be considered a Senior and with four other fraternity brothers we secured one of the coveted on-campus suites. It was an excellent year.

After college, Shady went back to Canada, and I to New York. After a couple of years, his email changed, and without things such as Facebook and Blogs, most of us lost touch with him.

In 2005, I had a blog that gave updates from some of our college fraternity brothers. I made this post:

See kids, watching a lot of TV can be useful:

Although Shady has failed to provide me his own update, I feel I know quite a bit more about him now. My wife, who is addicted to home make0ver shows, was watching TLC's Trading Spaces and I the Red Sox game on the nearby computer. Finally, after listening to babble of which colors to pick and what fabric matches, I finally get a glimpse of the "contestants" or
"home-owners." I lean over to my wife, and ask, "what is that guy's name?"

"Doug?" she replies citing one of the hosts. "No, the guy standing next to him..."

"Shady."

"Holy s***. I know him."

So, needless to say, I watched the rest of the show.

Shady, at the time of the show's taping, had been married for about 1 1/2 years to a woman he met through a friend at a New Year's Eve party. They had, again at the time of the taping whenever the hell that was, recently bought their first house (5 weeks prior).

The little Cannuck looks about the same, but for some hair moving from his head to his face.

Check your local listings....

I received the following reply comment:

Frankly I think you're being a little harsh on Shady. I think it shows great consideration on his part to have gone through the trouble of getting on American TV in order to update his friends in the US about what he's been up to lately.

Given that Shady has missed watching the Bruins lose to their Northern neighbours for quite some time, it is only reasonable to expect that he might have been a little too upset to stay in touch using regular means.

By the way, I caught the show in question and found your friend from college and his wife to be quite witty and charming. And what a wonderful house they have! Surely they must be leading a charmed and wonderful life.

- A completely unrelated and anonymous person

With the emergence of Facebook, we were able to trade jabs about the Bruins and Canadians yet again.

He went silent of late, and I often wondered why. I got news Saturday during dinner that, Shady "was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer in May of this year. He initially responded amazing well to an experimental drug, but that only lasted a few months. Around late summer he began to feel worse, and his oncologist switched him to another medication. Shady wrote that he began to feel better in early November, but has now taken a very serious turn for the worse." Our friend, Dan, was on his way to his hospital bedside. However, Dan didn't make it there in time. "I'm sorry to say that Shady passed away shortly before we arrived in Montreal this evening."

Shady was a great person. I don't know anyone that wasn't taken by his wit and charm. He was no dummy. I mentioned he graduated Babson in 3 years. He went on to get a Masters in International Relations from John Hopkins. If that wasn't enough, he was in the middle of getting his Ph.D. from McGill University, which expected to complete in 2012. He was truly leading a "a charmed and wonderful life." Unfortunately, this terrible disease ended it far too quickly - 8 days prior to his 40th birthday. Shady leaves a wife and two children, including a daughter that was born only months ago. Very sad.

I'll miss you buddy. Rest in peace. Go Habs.

Snow

2010-12-13T09:39:00.004-05:00

Although not sure it was classified as a blizzard, we had quite a snowy weekend. Minneapolis-St. Paul area received the most snow in a single December day since records began in the late 19th century. My guess is we got 15-16" between Friday night and Sunday morning. With the heavy winds, drifts were a big issue. Snow on our deck piled up such that it covered the lower parts of our dining room windows.

Basically, we barely left the neighborhood, and spent most of the time in the house, kids included. Fortunately, our two "events" this weekend were both neighbor parties.

Honking my horn

2010-12-13T08:40:00.002-05:00

Wednesday Dec 8 Blog Post:"we got the Dolphins next, there's an easy division win." Guess what buddy, your Jets are 10th overall, Dolphins are 11th. On that same weighted basis, Dolphins are 3 spots ahead of you! Good luck on that one.

Miami 10, J-E-T-S 6

New prediction: Jets will be fighting for their playoff lives in week 17, a game against the lowly (but revitalized) Bills.

Imagine

2010-12-08T17:52:00.001-05:00

Pats - Jets

2010-12-08T17:42:00.002-05:00

I could not be happier about a single football game that did not have Roman numerals following it. I was so sick of the Jets pre-game talk. The Jets are a 6-6 team masquerading as 9-3. Including the results of this past week, Football Outsiders ranks the Jets at best the 10th in football, and on a weighted basis (giving more weight to the nearest games, and less to the earlier games) are 13th. Their Estimated Wins (a statistic that emphasizes consistency in the most important specific situations: red zone defense, first quarter offense, and performance in the second half when the score is close the projects a number of wins adjusted to a league-average schedule) estimates that the Jets should be 7-5. FO also ranks the Jets defense 7th (10th weighted), and most of that is based on their ability against the run. The are below average against the pass.

So, it was quite satisfying to watch this past Monday Night Football game. It was only made better watching this:

Best line to be eaten later, "we got the Dolphins next, there's an easy division win." Guess what buddy, your Jets are 10th overall, Dolphins are 11th. On that same weighted basis, Dolphins are 3 spots ahead of you! Good luck on that one.

So great

2010-12-02T10:32:00.002-05:00

Ahead of the very interesting NE/NYJ matchup, this video shows just how great a coach Belichick is.

Love the exchange with Vinatieri at the end too.

V-Mart Closed

2010-11-23T15:12:00.003-05:00

Red Sox let Victor Martinez sign with the Tigers for a 4-year $50mm contract. No brainer in my opinion. Martinez was a short term solution to the Sox lack of power. There's no way Martinez was going to fit into the Sox scheme for the next four years. He's 33 now, and not likely catching for the next four years. I do like this little nugget out of ESPN:

"Martinez is a Type A free agent, meaning the Red Sox will receive the Tigers’ No. 1 pick (No. 19 overall) and a first-round “sandwich” pick (a pick that will come after the regular first round and before the second round). Next June’s draft class is anticipated to be very strong, and the ’11 draft may be the last in which the Sox will be able to employ their very successful strategy of paying above slot in later rounds for premium talent that dropped because of contract demands."

As an added benefit, maybe it means Varitek is coming back.

Student Council

2010-11-17T09:26:00.004-05:00

I forgot to mention, but Emily was elected Student council Rep for the third grade.

Click "Student Council" for link

Everyone note that Jerry Brown is not responsible!

2010-11-12T10:43:00.011-05:00

Political statement absurdities are always abundant. However, this statement recently caught my attention.

From Bloomberg:

"Nov. 12-- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, citing a $25.4 billion budget gap over the next 19 months, declared a fiscal emergency and called lawmakers to a special session next month to begin dealing with the problem.

Schwarzenegger, a Republican whose term ends in January, late yesterday ordered the session to start Dec. 6, the day newly elected legislators are sworn in....

By Jan. 10, Governor-elect Jerry Brown, a Democrat who will be sworn in Jan. 3, must propose a plan to erase the next year’s deficit... “This special session underscores the enormous challenges facing the state,” Evan Westrup, a spokesman for Brown, said yesterday in a statement. “While the governor-elect did not create this fiscal crisis, he and his transition team will continue the work they started after election day, collaborating with administration and department of finance officials, the legislative analyst’s office, legislators, and others to address California’s budget problems.”

Wow! Didn't create it, huh? Really? A man who's last two jobs were State Attorney General, and Mayor of Oakland since 1999 and doesn't take office until January 2011, didn't create the state's financial crisis? NO ****!?!?! Why? Why preface your official public statement with such an obvious fact, but for the ability to START your term telling everyone, "it's not my fault!"

Consider this my official statement (I unfortunately, do not have a spokesperson ... yet):

"While Mr. Moore is not a resident nor governing official of the state, and thereby in no way responsible for the California fiscal crisis, he will make every effort to stimulate the California economy when there."

Halloween & Couple other random

2010-11-08T20:40:00.005-05:00

Our "Zombie" Fairies - whatever that means

The neighborhood Trick or Treat crew

Emily's class pumpkins - we won it at Octoberfest

Leftover Disney picture

Katie's Sushi dessert - candy made with Rice Krispy treats, fruit roll-ups, Swedish fish, gummy worms and chocolate "soy" sauce.

Jobs for a brighter and more prosperous future

2010-11-05T09:04:00.003-04:00

Solyndra is a solar panel manufacturing company in California. One of the few remaining U.S. solar operations. As reported by the Oakland Tribune, "the company's fortunes sparkled in September 2009, when the Obama administration announced $535 million in taxpayer loans to finance construction of a new solar-equipment factory. In December 2009, the company filed for an initial public offering of its stock expected to raise $300 million. In May, Obama toured the Solyndra facilities in Fremont." He touted how he was visiting a facility that was, "actually doing extraordinary work of building up America." He also gave "credit to those in the back, who are building the facility so we can put more people back to work and build more solar panels." He follows on with, "It's here with companies like Solyndra are leading the way toward a brighter and more prosperous future... We need to build a foundation built on growth... Go back to making things...go back to exports. The engine will always be companies like Solyndra."

Grrrreeeeat. The problem here is that we can provide loans and grants (which BTW are very difficult to get) so that we can tout a "Green industry" that provides "jobs for our future," but we don't have economic policies and business policies that promote growth. My experience with one Massachusetts solar company is that the government loves to talk about green jobs and developing at-home technology manufacturing, but does very little about it.

Well, it was announced Wednesday that Solyndra (which dumped its IPO plans not long after Obama walked out their doors) is scrapping its expansion plans at that same Freemont facility (which was to provide 1,000 new jobs), is closing another U.S.-based factory, and laying off 250-350 workers.

Why? Because it can't compete with the manufacturers in China who can provide the same (or better) solar panels for substantially less cost.

So thanks for that.

People are Awesome

2010-10-26T16:42:00.005-04:00

Amazing video of some amazing things

Trip Summary

2010-10-26T15:22:00.002-04:00

We had a good (tiring) trip. This was our third time to Disney, so we have in down to an extent. Over four days, we hit Magic Kingdom three times with half days at each of Hollywood Studios, Blizzard Beach (water park), and Epcot. The kids were interested in getting autographs and pictures from all characters - EXCEPT princesses.

The kids are old enough that we were able to tackle some of the more daring rides. Katie started off timid. Although Space Mountain was her favorite ride last trip (in 2007), she was reluctant to ride it at the beginning. However, it turned around by the end. The last day, we rode Space Mountain three times. Other favorites included Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad, Mickey's Philharmagic, Peter Pan, Buzz Lightyear's [something], Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride.

Hollywood Studios was a bit of a disappointment. We felt that with the kids older, they would have more stuff to do. There was, in fact, very little to do. Emily and I LOVED the Aerosmith Rock and Roller Coaster (Katie wouldn't go). And neither one of them would do the Tower of Terror. The nightime show Fantasmic was the only real family highlight.

Epcot is... well, Epcot. Odd place. Lots of walking around. We had a nice lunch in France (only after finding the English pub had an hour and a half wait). There are a few fun rides there. Soarin - a virtual hand glider over a virtual California - is really cool. GM's Test Track was also fun with your open air car hitting 65 miles an hour. Finally Mission Space - a simulated rocket ship - was also an enjoyable experience (again - Katie passed). We ate dinner at Corral Reef - a seafood restaurant inside Epcot's aquarium. Something seemed wrong about that.

We have now been to Disney at three different times of year - April, August and now October. Although more crowded than we expected (lots of New Englanders with Red Sox, Celtics and Patriots gear), October was the best timing of the three. August and October had similar crowds, but it was 20-30 degrees cooler. April was a zoo.

Dis Pics

2010-10-25T19:23:00.009-04:00

Remembering back to August 2007...

And April 2006...

And away we go

2010-10-19T12:14:00.004-04:00

The kids have three days off for Teacher conferences. We had a timeshare week expiring in October. Consequently, we're off to Disney World.

We leave tonight, and unfortunately have to connect through Dallas. Direct flight ticket prices on Delta were just ridiculous. We'll spend four full days there, and the flight home Sunday morning (again through Dallas). The good news is that we used miles to fly and got a good deal - first class all the way.

We'll update the trip along the way as possible.

Fourth

2010-10-15T13:31:00.004-04:00

The Patriots picked up Deion Branch for a fourth round draft pick earlier this week. I've heard a certain school of thought on this. It basically goes, "Branch has fallen off the face of the earth and why bring him back other than for sentimentality, and a fourth round pick is a waste of a pick."

Let me ask you this, would you trade any of the following for Deion Branch - even if he was only slated as your third receiver?

1. Rich Ohrnberger - Offensive lineman who is currently on the practice squad
2. Jonathan Wilhite - back up CB
3. Kareem Brown - Released defensive lineman
4. Garrett Mills - Released TE
5. James Sanders - occasional starter at Safety

If the answer was yes to those names, you should be fine with Deion. Those were our fourth round picks from 2005 - 2009.

Great demonstrative tax article

2010-10-13T10:57:00.002-04:00

Harvard Econ Professor, Greg Mankiw, makes a great demonstrative case against higher marginal tax rates on the "rich." His NY Times OpEd, I Can Afford Higher Taxes. But They’ll Make Me Work Less, is a great (and easy) read. [Free registration required]

Click Here

Here's the gist of it (although the context of the article is good):

Suppose that some editor offered me $1,000 to write an article. If there were no taxes of any kind, this $1,000 of income would translate into $1,000 in extra saving. If I invested it in the stock of a company that earned, say, 8 percent a year on its capital, then 30 years from now, when I pass on, my children would inherit about $10,000. That is simply the miracle of compounding.

Now let’s put taxes into the calculus. First, assuming that the Bush tax cuts expire, I would pay 39.6 percent in federal income taxes on that extra income. Beyond that, the phaseout of deductions adds 1.2 percentage points to my effective marginal tax rate. I also pay Medicare tax, which the recent health care bill is raising to 3.8 percent, starting in 2013. And in Massachusetts, I pay 5.3 percent in state income taxes, part of which I get back as a federal deduction. Putting all those taxes together, that $1,000 of pretax income becomes only $523 of saving.

And that saving no longer earns 8 percent. First, the corporation in which I have invested pays a 35 percent corporate tax on its earnings. So I get only 5.2 percent in dividends and capital gains. Then, on that income, I pay taxes at the federal and state level. As a result, I earn about 4 percent after taxes, and the $523 in saving grows to $1,700 after 30 years.

Then, when my children inherit the money, the estate tax will kick in. The marginal estate tax rate is scheduled to go as high as 55 percent next year, but Congress may reduce it a bit. Most likely, when that $1,700 enters my estate, my kids will get, at most, $1,000 of it.

HERE’S the bottom line: Without any taxes, accepting that editor’s assignment would have yielded my children an extra $10,000. With taxes, it yields only $1,000. In effect, once the entire tax system is taken into account, my family’s marginal tax rate is about 90 percent. Is it any wonder that I turn down most of the money-making opportunities I am offered?

Eye on the Governor

2010-10-11T12:56:00.005-04:00

Dayton is a tax the rich populist. He's a disaster. Independent Horner is screwing things up for business-minded Emmer. I never understood the concept of the independent candidate. Almost by definition you help the guy who is LEAST like you, and split the most like-minded. Independent voters who have shown where their voting preferences lie need to step up and not throw away their vote.

Disappointment

2010-10-06T11:17:00.003-04:00

I hate the loss of Randy Moss. For all his lack of public relations ability, the guy is a constant threat on the field - even if this year has not exactly been his best. And as a bonus, Brady loves playing with him. His catch rate is down to 41%, and Football Outsiders ranks him as only the 44th best receiver this year. However, that doesn't take into consideration the fact that he sees quite a few double teams. The guy has the potential to be thrilling and explosive at any moment.

Maybe it was time. However, I'd rather see him in our uniform than someone elses - especially when that other uniform will be playing in Foxboro on Halloween. The Vikes play the Jets on Monday (will this be the first time a player has had back-to-back weeks on MNF?), and the Patriots are on bye. Inside the trading deadline, the timing couldn't have been better from a disruption point of view. Nevertheless, I would have rather seen him stay the remainder of the season and go somewhere else next year. NE would have received a 5th round compensation pick in 2012.

A friend of mine compared this trade to that of Nomar. I disagree. Nomar had to go to make the Red Sox a better team. I don't think Randy did. If you want to be optimistic, you could compare it to the Lawyer Milloy release in 2002. I'm not THAT optimistic.

I feel bad for Emily. Her Patriots jersey is #81 - Moss.

March, march, march

2010-10-04T11:30:00.004-04:00

Friday was Westonka High School Homecoming. They have a short (somewhat lame) parade prior to the football game against Orono. What is nice is that they incorporate the middle school and elementary schools into the activity. The Third Grade got to close out the parade with their kazoo band, while singing the fight song. Emily enjoyed it.

The video was taken with my cellphone, so not exactly the best:

Big Short

2010-09-28T09:10:00.002-04:00

Finished reading Michael Lewis' The Big Short. I've read many of his books, and really enjoy his writing style. This book is no different. Lewis focuses on a few smart, dedicated and especially odd investors who grappled with one of the greatest trades of all-time - short the subprime bubble. It is an in-depth look at the underpinnings of the financial crisis without getting too technical, and I would recommend it to all kinds of readers.

The underlying theme that impressed me most about the characters in the book was the dedication and commitment these people had to the trade, and the uphill battle most of them endured to keep it on. These people started shorting the subprime market as far back as 2005. It took 2-years to begin paying off - and pay off big it did. However, during that 2-year period each of these characters faced significant adversity from their investors - who all wanted them to unwind the trade!

John Paulson, the most famous winner in this trade, isn't covered in this book other than a few references. He probably didn't grant Lewis access. However, Lewis in more than one instance, insinuates that Paulson didn't come up with this trade alone. Rather, one of the characters in the book supplied him with the idea.

My boss during this period knew Paulson. They had worked together at Bear Stearns. When word came out in 2007 that Paulson had made a killing betting against subprime mortgages, my Boss berated himself (and tangentially us) for "not seeing it." We had long discussions about it when I was lucky enough to occasionally ride along during his daily car service. Without even a full understanding of how the trade worked, I would argue that it wasn't that easy, but he couldn't let it go. With more information now, it is even more apparent that we couldn't have pulled it off. As seen from this book, 1. you basically had to be introduced to this trade to even know it existed. Many of the securities that allowed you to go short were very esoteric; 2. you had to understand the nature of the trade, and dedicate significant analytical resources to know what you were shorting; 3. you had to be in the trade well prior to 2007 and stay in it!

The last point is the most salient. My boss was insistent after-the-fact that we should have been involved. However, to be "involved" meant putting this trade on in size in 2005 (or at least in early 2006) - and lose small amounts of money for the next 14-26 months straight. During that time, you had to endure investor complaints and threats that, "this isn't your area of expertise, you are wrong about this! Get out or give us our money back!" Even before reading this book, I knew from articles that Paulson's investors thought he was nuts! My boss (and particularly his partner) didn't have the stomach for that. They would have caved at the first investor letter. This trade would have been shuttered in the first six months, for sure.

20/20 hindsight is great for figuring out what you should have done. Having the fortitude and stamina to do it in real-time - and finish it out is something different altogether. The characters in The Big Short proved it, and it makes compelling reading.

Faulk!

2010-09-22T10:20:00.003-04:00

The Patriots 2nd half ineptitude continues. Very frustrating. However, the trend of Boston Sports injuries is even more concerning. The Red Sox never ending DL list - which in its own right probably fields an all-star team - has carried on to the Patriots.

The loss of Faulk is serious blow to our future 3rd down efficiency. Kevin is such a versatile threat, that a formation that includes Faulk can run almost type of play - screen, draw, run, pass. Last year's loss to Indy aside, Faulk is amazingly efficient.

Sad day for the Patriots if Faulk truly is out for the season.

Weekend not so bored

2010-09-19T22:49:00.003-04:00

A little Saturday morning boarding - 7:30am. Air was 47 degrees, water 61.

Puget Sound

2010-09-19T22:22:00.011-04:00

Although now three weeks ago, we had a nice mini-vacation to the San Juan Islands - north of Seattle. My friend, Peter, got married on Orcas Island. In addition to the wedding, we took a car tour of the island, drove to the top of Mount Constitution which had great views of the Puget Sound, Vancouver and the other San Juan Islands, and went on a whale watch.

We had some time to kill between our arrival at SEA-TAC and our flight out to Orcas. We grabbed a cab and spent a couple hours in Seattle's Public Market at Pike's Place.

We arrived in Orcas on a small 9-seat plane. It was a pretty incredible trip in.

Our whale watch was somewhat spontaneous. Because we couldn't get off the island when we originally intended, we had an extra day on our hands. Some whale watching ships have 40-60 people. Our small boat had 7. It was a nice set up.

Before catching the transient Orca whales, we surprised some seals.

There was a pack of five Orcas that we followed for close to an hour and a half.

Since the whales were spotted early in the day, a number of boats were on their trail.

Finally, on the way home we drove past a nature preserve island which had a large collection of American Bald Eagles. It was quite a site.

What Tony Said

2010-09-02T10:29:00.004-04:00

Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has a new book out. I have seen a few clips from it. What particularly interests me are comments he makes about George W. Bush:

"One of the most ludicrous caricatures of George is that he was a dumb idiot who stumbled into the presidency," writes Blair. "No one stumbles into that job, and the history of American presidential campaigns is littered with the corpses of those who were supposed to be brilliant but who nonetheless failed because brilliance is not enough."

He continues: "To succeed in U.S. politics, or that of the U.K., you have to be more than clever. You have to be able to connect and you have to be able to articulate that connection in plain language. The plainness of the language then leads people to look past the brainpower involved. Reagan was clever. Thatcher was clever. And sometimes the very plainness touches something else: a simplicity that is the product of a decisive nature."

From Hot Air:
Detailing the close professional and personal relationship which developed between the two leaders in the wake of the 2001 terror attacks in the U.S. and during the build-up to the Iraq war in 2003, Blair writes that Bush was “very smart” while having “immense simplicity in how he saw the world.”

“Right or wrong, it led to decisive leadership… he sincerely believed in spreading freedom and democracy,” he writes in “A Journey;” which hit book stores in the UK on Wednesday…

“I was asked recently which of the political leaders I had met had most integrity. I listed George near the top. He had genuine integrity and as much political courage as any leader I ever met,” he writes.

The U.S. Media is quick to create caricatures of those they cover. SNL skits become public reality. I have always argued that George Bush had to be a man of greater intellect than he was portrayed. Yes, his speaking style seems hick, and he struggles with written speeches; however, too many men and women - very smart ones at that - were impressed with him, followed him, and went to battle for him. The saying goes, you can judge a man by the company he keeps. Smart people don't go to bat for bumbling idiots. Every account I have read of him by people who have worked directly for and with him, suggests he's a diligent, loyal character who grasps complex situations. He had a black/white approach to many an item and that bothers some; however, it shouldn't be misconstrued as idiocy.

His low key post-presidency despite the constant attacks he takes has been admirable. He was here in Wayzata last week to raise money for his library. No press, no speeches, no public communication. The only reason I even knew it existed is that we passed the event by car, and the chef of the restaurant we attended happened to be working the event. I Googled the event, as surely there would be some press piece announcing his arrival. Nothing. Zero.

A couple of months ago, Laura and George Bush attended the homecoming of some soldiers from Iraq. He made a surprise greeting of the troops, shaking all their hands, and chatting with many of them. Obviously it was a big PR function with lots of news media. Nope. The only images that emerged came from the returning soldiers putting pictures up on Facebook.

Words of wisdom

2010-08-24T09:51:00.003-04:00

Good words of wisdom from the blog, The Big Picture:

"One of the things we have harped on around here is the tendency for humans to be backwards looking in their sentiment.

The Recency Effect means we monkeys place disproportionate emphasis on recent stimuli or observations, regardless of worth or significance. Indeed, investors become bullish after they buy stocks, bearish after they sell them, as part of the self-rationalization process to justify their actions."

As I said to someone just yesterday, it's tough always striving to play the role of contrarian.

Jets...class act.

2010-08-19T13:53:00.004-04:00

I got Tyler, he's 3... LaKesha, she's 3 ... Jersey...3...

How can he possibly remember the playbook? His brain is filled with Baby names.

Number of the Day - 17

2010-08-13T13:17:00.006-04:00

17 ... 17 Blown Saves for the Red Sox this season. Only two teams have blown more, 40-75 Baltimore and 57-56 Florida Marlins. Yikes. Now, the Red Sox save percentage is 67%, which ranks them 16th out of 30 teams in baseball. Poor, but not terrible. The problem comes from too MANY save opportunities. The Yankees have 11 blown saves including the one from Mariano yesterday. However, since they often blow teams out, the Yankees only have had 39 save opportunities. The Red Sox have 51 - Fifty One! Nearly one out of every two games is a save opportunity. Papelbon has 6 blown saves this year, matching a high for the year for an entire season. We still have 46 some odd games to play. Although the number of save situations has placed the Red Sox in a difficult predicament, it hasn't lead to an overuse of their closer, Papelbon. His appearences are in-line with the other closers in the league. So what's going on with Pap, and what happens next year?

In the last two years, Papelbon's WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inn Pitched)has been elevated at 1.15 for both years. 2006, 7 and 8 were all under 1.0. Yet, 1.15 isn't terrible. In fact, among the American League closers, it's above average, but not dominant. Mariano Rivera is at 0.71, and hasn't had a season above 1.12 since his first year as a closer at 1.19. Still young and unproven, but Daniel Bard is at 0.86.

The killer has been Pap's ERA. At 3.65, it's almost twice that of last season, and the highest of his career by almost an entire run. He's given up six homeruns and 13 doubles year-to-date, both more than any other full SEASON. His strikeouts per 9 innings pitched is down by almost two. Opponents are only batting .209 against him, but those that hit him, hit him hard. Opponent Slugging Percentage is .379 (compare that to Mariano at a .156 average and .224 slugging). Some of the difference can be attributed to Pap is a fly-ball pitcher, whereas with his cutter Mariano is a ground-ball pitcher. When Mariano gets hit, it's more singles. When Pap gets hit, its for long-balls.

Papelbon is in his contract year. He wants to be paid like a dominant closer. He wants Mariano money. Pap makes slightly below $10mm. Tampa's Rafeal Soriano make $7.25mm; Cincinnati's Francisco Cordero, $11.25mm; The Met's Francisco Rodriguez, $12.1mm; and the seemingly ageless Mariano makes $15mm this year.

Gritty closers are hard to find but, outside of Mariano, don't tend to have long useful lives. Pap had three great seasons, and is currently in his second above average season. He isn't a dominant closer anymore. Closing the save 82% of the time doesn't cut it. Top closers are closing 90+%. Red Sox management is aware of these facts, and will unlikely pay him top dollar - because he isn't worth top dollar. Don't be surprised to see Daniel Bard in that role next year.

BTW, Pap make those saves like a dominant closer should, and the Red Sox are in the wild-card lead.

Those ski lessons sure have paid off

2010-08-11T23:41:00.005-04:00

The kids spent parts of 3 days learning to waterski at camp. They emerged with the ability and confidence to ski the length of the bay - as seen in the following quick video. It's a little longer than I'd like (3+ minutes), but I was having problems with my editing software. The camera is also just our little flip video, so it's not the highest quality.

The skis are currently connected. The next step will be to seperate them. However, that shouldn't be a problem since they seperated them already at camp.

Camp Pictures

2010-08-04T10:29:00.005-04:00

Kids move on to another week of camp. This week is Water Sports camp. For the most part, they learn to waterski. They happened to spend a fair amount of time yesterday on/in the water between swimming, skiing and canoeing. They deemed it, "the best day of camp yet."

Here are some pictures from earlier weeks:

Update

2010-08-02T19:43:00.003-04:00

Old boat is sold. All-in capital cost for use last year, storage over the winter and use this year = $400.

Say Goodbye to the Old, and Welcome the New

2010-07-29T11:01:00.004-04:00

We upgraded our boat yesterday. Given all the time we spend on the water and my insatiable desire to go wakeboarding and wake surfing, we purchased a newer Supra ski boat. Bought it on Craigslist - what a great service. I've purchased now two boats, a lift and a golf cart through Craigslist. Hopefully, I'll sell a boat and a car through it too.

The new is a 2003 Supra Launch SSV Gravity Games Edition. It's a great wakeboarding boat. It rides smooth, and creates a large wake due to the built in ballast system. Since its a V-drive inboard, the engine is in the back as opposed to the middle. Consequently, there is much more room on te deck. It also has the wakeboard tower to pull boarders and tubers, alike.

The old boat will be missed. It's a 1985 Supra, and was well worth the money I paid for it. Great entry level boat that taught us how to be boat owners. However, it has served its purpose, and is now on the market. I only listed it yesterday and have three people looking at it.

As part of this package deal, I'm selling our 1991 Porsche convertible. I've had that car longer than I've had the kids! I'll miss that too, but we NEVER use it. I'd much rather invest the capital in something we are getting a lot of use from.

Ready for Some Football?

2010-07-24T14:08:00.003-04:00

I've retired from active participation in Football Outsiders, and this year am not listed as an author. Nevertheless, it's great book that I still wish to promote:

http://www.amazon.com/Football-Outsiders-Almanac-2010-Essential/dp/1453671188/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279989316&sr=8-3

Ride 'em, cowgirl

2010-07-24T10:05:00.003-04:00

Katie and Emily have finished their first of two weeks of Horse Camp. When I say, "horse camp," it's not a full day of riding. They go to the local YMCA camp; however, for each week you sign up, you can sign them up for a specialty. In this case, they ride horses for an hour a day. Originally, they were scheduled for only one week, but liked it so much, we moved them into two. Katie is riding Bella, and Emily is rising Cash. It's unclear whether they will have the same horses next week.

My Kind of Town...

2010-07-16T22:20:00.009-04:00

We decided to meet in Chicago after Alison and the girls vacationed two weeks in New York. Although we only spent one full and two half days, we got a lot done and saw a bunch of interesting things.

We spent a good portion of Saturday with Alison's cousin Jay, his wife Becca and their 2 year old daughter Keelan at Navy Pier. From there, we went to see Blue Man Group. Alison and I had seen it in Boston years ago, but I thought it was just as good the second time around. The kids thought it hilarious. We ate dinner at Ditkas Steakhouse and called it a night.

Sunday morning we ate brunch atop the Hancock tower, traveled across town to walk the skydeck of the Sears building (now apparently called the Willis Tower), which included a "skywalk" with a glass floor. On the way back from Sears ...um... Willis, we saw them filming a scene for the upcoming Transformers 3.

Atop the Hancock

Skywalkers

On the Transformers set. PAs were running around telling the dozen or so amateur photographer, "no pictures." Um, last I know, you can't prevent me from taking a picture on a public sidewalk of a public street. Nice try.

Waking in Wayzata

2010-07-16T22:02:00.005-04:00

My new favorite thing is wakeboarding pre-work.

6am on the waves means three people can take 15 minutes of runs, and still be at work by 7:15-7:30.

Last week I did it three times, and this week twice. It's also been great because I've utilized my new activity to meet some new people, and ride their boats (which btw are WAY better than mine). Here is a clip from Wednesday.

Random Fact of the Day

2010-07-07T17:20:00.002-04:00

In 2008, U.S. Coal mines employed 85,679 workers. 23% of coal miners are union employees; however, only 18% of coal production is from union members. Shocking!

One might leap to the assumption that union workers are less productive because they are more focused on safety. Nope. Union workers were only minimally less productive in underground mines (the most dangerous kind) at 3.1 tons per employee per hour, vs. 3.2 tons. However, in surface mines (the significantly less dangerous operation), non-union employees were substantially more productive at 10.3 tons per employee per hour vs. 7.6 tons.

Our dear leaders at work

2010-06-25T10:36:00.002-04:00

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) on the Financial Reform Act:

"No one will know until this is actually in place how it works. But we believe we've done something that has been needed for a long time. It took a crisis to bring us to the point where we could actually get this job done."

Let's throw a bunch of populist ideas against the wall and see what sticks!

Soccer to me

2010-06-20T23:12:00.009-04:00

7 hours of soccer last weekend, 4 games this past week, and then a 2-day tourney over Fathers' Day.

Not much to this video either. Quick glimpse of U9 Soccer (2nd/3rd grade girls). Emily is #11 (Red) with the pony tail. Not a lot of World Cup-type action. Just lots of chasing the ball up and down the field. Her team hasn't won a game this year, but the competition has been tough. We play teams that practice all year together. Plus, Emily's team only has one third grader.

Katie's...

Katie's first time waterskiing

2010-06-20T22:43:00.003-04:00

This was from late May, but going through some old video...