triggering Action Potential

Baseball season outlook

Quit picking the Cubs to win! Please! I have read, for many years now, that during the preseason, the Cubs look like the Chosen Ones to play in the World Series (and even win it). But it hasn't happen. Cubs roster looks good on paper. It looks good in an EA Sports video game. But in reality, that's it (well, it does sell tickets and make money.) Even playing in the weakest division in the league, the Cubs won't make it past the playoffs. It's not the curse. I don't believe in the curse.

I mean, just look at the Yankees lineup--looks good on paper, in video games, in fantasy baseball, but they can't win in October.

so, please, I implore you to stop picking the Cubs. With 162 games in the regular season, a lot could happen. I predict Cubs will make wildcard by losing in the one-game playoff (after blowing a 10 game lead in September), and get swept in the NLCS.

Spend like you have it!!

That's the American Mantra when it comes to money. And when you don't have it, you move on to, "buy now, pay later."

It's sure biting us in the buttocks, at least for many of us whom lack the know-how of a good financial management. It is sad, because you can't take a course on personal finance management in school; you'll have to pay for it for some money-robbing fat cats to tell you.

In this economic state, it's a lesson to many people that you can't spend the money you don't have, and living within one's mean is very important. I made the same mistakes during my college years, dropping cash like cow dungs. It was so easy--you'd think you'll make back the money the next month. It's hard to live a life as a young 20s when you see your friends or strangers partying and buying up the latest electronics. Peer pressure.

Missing the big picture.

That's why this Tax Rebate/Stimulus Package is so ironic-- because on one hand, the government wants the consumers to spend the money, to put more liquidity into the markets. On the other hand, the government wants to enforce the idea that savings is a good idea for long term. So I'm caught between a rock and a hard place: should I spend the money to help stimulate the economy or should I save it in case the economy tanks and I need it for some emergency? At this point, seeing how the economy is tanking and gas prices rising, I'm putting my money away for a rainy day.

Legal vs illegal

It's a great debate, whether to legalize several currently illegalities. Top two examples are marijuana/addictive drugs and prostitution. To break down in pure economic terms, it actually makes more cents (senses) to legalize marijuana and prostitution because then they can be federally regulated, instead of federally sought after. A lot us act irrationally and tend to like activities that are "illegal" or "forbidden." We enjoy the rush of not getting caught. So psychologically, once marijuana usage can be documented and becomes widely available, where is the rush of getting some Mary Jane while you're looking behind your back? Making something illegal also means that someone will try to be a smart ass and bend the rules--ie criminals. Perhaps marijuana and prostitution don't have the strong backing of say, firearms, alcohol, or the tobacco companies, where these three have also caused many sad stories, but at least the government has some regulation and is collecting taxes from them.

Of course, it is also about morals and protecting those who are innocent bystanders. Paying money for sex?! Sure, it is the oldest profession in the human history, but there are health-related issues and consequences that result from rampant sex. Legalize marijuana could lead to widespread usage and more problems than now. but the truth is: we are already dealing with these issues and spending the money and efforts, how's that different than making it legal and have more control over it than let some Joe Chill be the boss?

again, we are irrational thinkers. We sometimes just don't choose the best course of action, because that's how we wanted it.

5 years!

Wow, I just realized that I have been blogging for almost to 5 years now. How time flies. March of 2003 was when it all started.

Economic Stimulus Package--Stimulating everything except the economy

The tax rebate. The lasting memory of Pres. Bush that the US citizens should remember--the money that he gives to promote growth and stimulate the economy out of recession.

As the name suggests, rebates are never as good as they sound. With the increasing oil prices and the drop in the US dollar, just how much will that $600 rebate check be worth when May comes around? probably very little buying power left in that $600. In fact, it'll be better for the US government to subsidize the oil/gas prices so that all consumer goods (especially grocery and everyday necessities) do not continue to increase in price. Indirectly, Bush is giving away the $152 billion of US money to the oil-producing countries--stimulating their economy and wallet sizes instead of the US markets. I hear many people will use that money to pay down debt, save it in the bank, or pay for gas, milk, wheat, etc, anything other than spending it outright. What makes this increase in oil price interesting is that the wealthy class is getting more wealthy and the poor/middle class is getting poorer. The contrast is more obvious.

I'm getting stimulated alright--all fired up about the recession that we're heading toward and we keep on hearing denials from the heads of government, and have done nothing effective to stop it. It's funny how WWII brought the US out of the Great Depression, and yet this war on terrorism is doing exactly the opposite--taking US towards depression. With so much money already spent on the war, one can't help but wonder the good deed that those money could have been used for.