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This last week, Aaron had his 5th Grade class 3-day trip to White Pines Ranch in Oregon, Illinois. This is sort of a semi-working farm / ranch / outdoor education center that includes dorms, horseback riding, hiking, games, food, and other activities.
Aaron had a blast of course, and he took pictures... which have been uploaded here.
Enjoy!
It was a great year.
We had a rough start, to be sure. The first 12 minutes of the season opener were enough to put most Cubs fans in the intensive care unit.
But it was the year of TheRiot, Alfanso Soriano, Derek Lee, and Carlos Zambrano. It was the year we forgot about Sammy Sosa. Life was good at the Friendly Confines.
And so it ends with another year of "wait 'till next year".
You've probably seen the bumper stickers.
Ron Paul is a Republican congressman from Texas, running for President. But before you put "Tex" and "Ass" together and think "Bush", Mr. Paul is NOT the typical-mold Southern Republican.
The other interesting thing about Ron Paul: in the latest reporting quarter, he has ammassed about $5.3 million dollars in campaign funds, mostly collected from individuals via the Internet. In contrast, John McCain, a well known Presidential candidate, has raised about five million dollars.
So he's got that going for him.
I'm not sure yet if I'm endorsing him. He's a good Libertarian. I also like Biden (D), but I also like Fred Thompson (R). Frankly I don't think any of those three, Republican or Democrat, have a chance of getting elected. I think it's going to boil down to Clinton and Guliani. But I like to see some different candidates in the mix, getting people thinking about other issues.
So anyway, now you know who Ron Paul is. :)
The consumer confidence level is at an all-time low. The "Sub Prime" meltdown continues to roil the financial services industry. Every day in the paper and online you read that a recession is just around the corner. So it seems, from the media anyway, that we should all be packing in our financials and huddling out the inevitable recession.
Or should we?
On the other hand, the Dow Jones Industrial Average just closed today in record territory. Despite the "sub prime meltdown" and "credit crunch", mortgage rates are historically low and plenty of money is still readily available for well-qualified borrowers. Salaries are up, we're making more money than ever, and unemployment is at nearly zero. Gas prices are falling.
Even the weak dollar has it's upside... this make U.S. made goods cheaper than foreign imports. In fact, if the Big Three U.S. automakers had put any effort into designing cars that people want, they would be booming now too. The fact that the Big Three are all swimming in losses is more about lost opportunity and poor execution than economic factors.
I'm not saying a recession won't happen. It will. It always does. The economy is cyclical, and it is more of a question of "when" than "if". Here is my own uneducated, laymans view on how it will play out.
There will be some contraction, probably soon. We're near the peak, and once we go over, things will take a breather. But not for long. The same money that chased dot-com stocks in the late '90's chased mortgage-backed securities in the last five, and that money won't sit in gold and cash forever. Those baby boomer's have got to earn big returns on that money or they work until they're 80. So there will be a next Big Thing (tm), and all the loose capital will gravitate toward it, and the markets will rise once again, and everyone will forget how painful this correction was.
Now, if only I could get the financial media onboard with that prediction! :)