Thursday

We have the remnants of Hurricane Gustav over us today. Needed rain. Although this was the first day in six weeks that I had scheduled a round of golf. Maybe a Tuscan red night. The very warm days of last weekend are gone, and we have the feel of Fall.

.

I was among the millions who watched the Palin speech last night. I'm still not convinced that she is out of the vetting woods. The adage that you don't tick-off reporters whose employers buy ink by the barrel is still relevant (although most of the new media uses electronic distribution methods). Provided that she survives any further disclosures, the campaign for the White House could be interesting.

.

The Cubs are in a bit of a bother. Five straight losses. At home. Two top pitchers with arm problems. Quiet bats. Are they far enough ahead to not worry?

.

4 and I had a fine evening at The Airliner Tuesday. It could be come a regular date. I was the oldest guy there.

.

Another big down day in the market today. Very little good news and bad fundamentals. Oil down, the Dollar up, but lots of uncertainty in the Financials. And lots of housing inventory. A slowing of the world's economy. I suspect that there will be more bad news to come. Cash is not a bad place to be.

.

(These dots between paragraphs is my response to the Blogger system not letting me put a line between paragraphs. Software gremlins.)

.

3 reports from Boston that she has fought a persistent computer virus on her office-owned laptop for several days now. Most of us have experienced something like that in our computer histories. A few years back, I opened an innocuous looking message (not the attachment) from a client, and it proceeded to infect our local Network, and was sent automatically to my Contacts list. Which infected several other Networks. It was not an "inappropriate" email. But insidiously effective. And not easily "scrubbed" from our system. Very embarrassing.

.

Here's another PC debate: does the LPGA step out of bounds by requiring players to speak English? I fall more on the side that says, yes, they ought to have some facility with the language. I'm not of a mind that players should be suspended if they don't comply, but the economics of their tour suggests that the subject should be ignored. The pro-am's that produce a lot of money for the events rely on local amateurs to fork up $3,000-$5,000 (or more) for the privilege to play a Wednesday round with one of the pros. If I'm paying that kind of money to play with a player who can't even talk to me, the experience is a little hollow.

.

The NBA stepped up a few years back and instituted a dress code for players. There was some grousing, but David Stern made it stick, and now you just don't see the players show up for a game or a team-sponsored event in 'hood garb. The LPGA is comprised of non-unionized, independent contractors, and they don't have the administrative leadership of a David Stern, so its not a direct comparison. But the economic principles do apply.

.

Have a great evening.

.

BCOT