Sunday, November 11, 2007

Money for nothing, and your chicks for free I like this New York Times column by Ben Stein on the sub-prime mortgage "crisis." Lots of good points. He's wondering how people on the boards of directors of these banks didn't see this coming. Or--where is morality amongst all the greed? I have a lot of problems with this situation. There are the banks that rushed to make loans to people who couldn't afford them. Then there are the people who were thinking they were getting something for nothing by buying a house they couldn't afford with an eye toward flipping it (I'm sure in many cases) and making some money. Some probably figured they could walk away from the mortgage with little loss. Meanwhile, our governor in Ohio is trying to make a political issue out of it standing up for the "little guy." I'm not one of those "social Darwinist" conservatives (you know, survival of the fittest), but they all knew what they were getting into. They were all trying to get something for nothing. Let them all suffer as far as I'm concerned. (Anyone remember Dire Straights?) 5:05:26 PM    comment []

Soccer No posts Friday or Saturday. I had to get a bunch of stuff done Friday before I took off for Columbus and my state final match. It was a great game, by the way. Springfield Catholic Central defeated Gates Mill Hawkins 2-1 on a breakaway goal about 5 minutes into overtime. Taking nothing away from SCC who were great kids -- and talented -- but I'd have to say I've seldom seen as much class as I saw from Hawkins. Especially one player who is very good. As soon as the ball went in and they had lost, the player came running up to me, grabbed my hand and told me he wished I'd reffed all his games. Those compliments mean more to me than any others. It was a great game, and a great way to close the season. 4:53:03 PM    comment []

Rockwell This week I'll be at Rockwell Automation's Automation Fair. There should be a lot of smiling faces. It just announced fourth quarter and fiscal year results -- and they were good. Diluted EPS from continuing operations of $1.07 in the quarter, revenue growth of 15 percent in the quarter, segment operating earnings growth of 21 percent in the quarter, and return on invested capital increased by 2 points to 24 percent. I have lots of appointments Wednesday afternoon, but if you see me stop and say Hi. 2:30:29 PM    comment []