Mark Byron

Five Over

One of the classic verses a good hunk of the Peanut Gallery can probably quote is from Romans 12:2 "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." However, there are times where we conform to the world's standards.

One example that comes to mind comes from driving. We're legally supposed to follow the speed limits, but traffic flows generally at five miles over the limit, at least. On most urban expressways with a 55MPH speed limit, you're a traffic hazard if you're going 55 (have fun trying to go back, Senator Warner); likewise, the poor sole going the 45 speed limit on Man O' War (our southern main drag in Lexington) will be passed with extreme prejudice.

So, the norm is to click things in at five miles over the speed limit. The local gendarmes will ignore you and you fit in just fine. Even though it's technically illegal, it's the norm. The legalist screams that you're breaking the law, but the realist hollers back that the cop car just buzzed past you on New Circle going 63 or so as you went 60 in the 55 zone; if you were in the wrong, you'd see his bubble-gum-machine go off behind you.

There are times where a middle-class lifestyle seems the materialism version of five-over-the-speed limit morally. We can get buy with less that what we spend, but we start to hear the cries of "legalism" in our heads if we start to scale back to a poorer-person's level of spending. We could live nicely without cable TV, but would be out of the loop if we did, even if we would free up about $500/year or so for some other good work.

I often struggle to figure out what creature comforts and nice things are things that God wants me to have; they may not be the minimalist life of a monk or a commune-dweller, but they are valid adjustments to being a part of American culture and being able to witness to fellow Americans. They may be mild luxuries on a worldly scale, but they are the moral equivalent of the five-over rule on the highway.

It's not easy figuring out what's valid and what's decadent. Or, as we ponder Independence Day and it's patriotism, of what's honest love of our freedom and democracy and what's a unhealthy love of our country at the expense of the rest of the world.

I'm blessed that I can gripe about $4 gas and not having to worry about paying for it, or the car it's going into; most people couldn't afford either. I'm blessed to gripe about a less-than-lightning-quick broadband provided by the apartment complex's captive cable company; most people don't have that. I'm blessed to be in a church were some people grumble about the pastor who got ousted a year before I got there; in many places, they wouldn't either have a church or even be allowed to go to one if one existed.

It's those blessings of freedom and economic security (even in a someone insecure economy, the big picture needs are taken care of) that we can dwell upon today. We're blessed to have those "five-over" debates over what becomes decadent and what's just enjoying the blessings that God has given us.

The A Tee and Pee National?

"Finchem kicks off PGA tour's new drug testing program" is the hypertext headline. I don't think "kick off" is the right verb, for commish Finchem he and all his players will be, shall we say, POed.

Anyone tested at the AT&T National will have an escort on the elevator to the third floor, where the testing takes place in a two-room suite behind a locked door. One side of the room has a large cooler with non-carbonated drinks.

Gotta prime the pump.

The other side is where a player registers, washes his hands and goes into the bathroom with an inspector to provide a urine sample.

As my wife would say, WTMI, waaaaay too much information.

Putting the Lid on the Punchbowl, Euro-style

Interesting news out of Europe, where the European Central Bank raised its main lending rate 25 basis points (or a quarter-percent for the non-finance-geeks) from 4% to 4.25%. The ECB is the analog to the Federal Reserve for the countries using the Euro. They're having to fight off inflation, which is at an Euro-era record of 4%.

In the short term, that will put pressure on the dollar, as short-term investors will tend to move money out of the US and into higher-yielding Euro-denominated stuff. However, the high inflation in the Eurozone will tend to help the dollar regain its footing, if the US can keep its inflation below European levels.

The problem with raising interest rates is that it tend to slow down the economy. In a era where the EU elites are trying to push through the current Lisbon Treaty round of reforms, having the ECB be an economic bogey-man if Europe goes into a recession might not be great for EU integration.

The Central Barvaria Chippewas?

Fellow Central Michigan alum Chris Kaman (now a LA Clippers center) is slated to make the Olympic team...the German Olympic team.

Kaman, whose great-grandparents were German, averaged 15.7 points and 12.7 rebounds last season with the Clippers.

My Grandpa Kraenzlein's parents were German immigrants, too, but I never thought I'd be eligible for German citizenship. Of course, if I were six inches taller and averaging a double-double in the NBA, I might consider checking into dual citizenship for some Olympic fun; however, I'm not sure if I could envision myself wearing something other than an American uniform in an Olympics.

The Seattle Browns and OKC Hedgehogs

The Sonics will get to move to Oklahoma City for next year after paying a $45 million ransom for buying out the last two years on their lease and a extra $30m "in 2013 if the state Legislature in Washington authorizes at least $75 million in public funding to renovate KeyArena by the end of 2009 and Seattle doesn't obtain an NBA franchise of its own within the next five years."

Also, the SuperSonics name and logos stay in Seattle, much as the Cleveland Browns name and logos stayed in Cleveland when the old Browns became the Baltimore Ravens; unlike the Browns, it appears that the franchise records will move to Oklahoma, so that Kevin Durant doesn't become the career scoring leader of the Oklahoma City Wildcatters (I don't know what their new nickname is yet) rather than Gary Payton.

It's interesting that the team's name is a bit of an anachronism. Back in 1967 when the team got started, Boeing was in the middle of building a competitor to the Concorde, thus the supersonic name, but the US pulled out of the SST race in 1971; it's an interesting factoid that the B-1 bomber borrowed from the Boeing SST design.

Maybe we can go with the OKC Hedgehogs, then they can have Sonic as their mascot.

The $400 Million Man

Eight years, $400 million dollars. No, Baron Davis had to settle for 5 and $65 mil with the Clippers. Rush Limbaugh's the one getting the real bongo bucks for re-uping with Clear Channel.

Earnings now pace him ahead of the annual salaries for network news anchors: Katie Couric, Brian Williams, Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer — combined!

One thing that comes to mind with that big figure is that he is on the air for three hours a day as opposed to a half-hour a day with the network anchors. Not only does he draw people in, he draws them in for big chunks of time.

I'm not sure how much of a factor this is, but people who follow Rush will have one of their car radio pre-sets dedicated to his channel; since most cars will have five or six pre-set buttons, being one of the select few for quick channel surfing will add to the value of his presence, as is having the radio set to his channel when you get back in the car.

For instance, if I had Rush on in the car when I get into campus at 2:30, the radio will still be on that channel at 9:45 when I head home, giving Michael Reagan (if memory serves) first crack at my ear until I change the station; if I was listing to Collin Cowherd or Mike Tirico on the ESPN channel on the way in, I get the Lexington Legends game on for a microsecond when I head home.

Here's my take on the Legends broadcasts-

I have no problem with baseball, but single-A baseball when I know none of the players has little appeal as a radio broadcast. Taking in a minor-league game is interesting; I've done it before and may do it again, but listening to a game is low on the list of things to listen to, just above radio NASCAR.

I'm not a Rush fan, for his knee-jerk conservatism and mean streak make him hard to listen to, but he does have a following, and earns $50 million a year for that following. He's have a better year than Baron Davis will and not have to fight Kobe for being king of his media market.

The Grand Tour, Pre-NBA version

If I recall correctly, college-age youth of the leisure class used to take a grand tour of Europe before heading off to college or careers. We may start to see 18 year old basketball phenoms do that as well.

Now that the NBA requires players to be a year out of high school before heading for the major-league hardwood, the norm for last two seasons was that the hot-shots that would have come straight out in years past get a year of college ball in before heading to the draft. So, last year, we saw Greg Odom take Ohio State to the title game rather than taking his game straight to the pros. This year,we got to see Michael Beasley, Derrick Rose and OJ Mayo get some March Madness airtime rather than gracing an NBA roster.

However, hot shot point guard Brandon Jennings is looking at spending his post-secondary "one and done" playing pro ball in Europe rather than spending a year under Lute Olson for tuition, room and board at Arizona. He's already gotten his away-from-home experience, having graduated from Oak Hill Academy, who plays a schedule looking more like Canadian junior hockey than a normal high school basketball schedule.

The top European leagues are now playing at a level above US college ball; the top level pro clubs in Europe can hang with NBA teams and occasionally win when they take on NBA clubs in the pre-season. Once you get past the language barrier (since the English don't play top-level ball yet), a young player might be better off going to Europe for his freshman one-and-done, both from a financial and developmental level.

The next step in that progression would be to see the player who might head to Oak Hill or other basketball prep mills might head over to Europe at 16 or 17. Tony Parker was playing pro ball in France at 17, so we could easily see an American kid or two who was tearing up the high school circuit get a better basketball education than Oak Hill could provide.

An Actual BBQ Effect Test...

...and it's not good for the most famous guest of the Hanoi Hilton-

While many are still deciding who should be president, by 52 percent to 45 percent they would prefer having Obama than McCain to their summer cookout, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo News poll released Wednesday.

Men are about evenly divided between the two while women prefer Obama by 11 percentage points. Whites prefer McCain, minorities Obama. And Obama is a more popular guest with younger voters while McCain does best with the oldest.

In the last two elections, Dubya had that BBQ factor won over both Gore and Kerry and Bill Clinton had both Bush pere and Bob Dole beat for the favored party guest; Nixon was probably the last President who'd have lost that fight and still won. For now, things seem to be breaking down on party lines.

It doesn't hurt that both candidates would actually be interesting dinner guests. Obama's diverse upbringing (going to grade school in Indonesia, for instance) and good legal training would make interesting conversation, as would McCain's "Navy brat" upbringing and career.

McCain's going to have to win it on the issues, which isn't a bad thing, since the other side can't grouse about you winning it with charm. However, it's a lot easier when the other side sends up a oak tree in a three-piece suit to run against your good-ol'-boy. No such luck this time.

Catch a Falling Starbucks

Interesting news from yesterday; Starbucks is slated to shutter 600 stores, just under 10% of its total 7100 stores. Starbucks may well have over-expanded, as many growing retailers will sometimes grow too fast and have to retrench.

However, $4/gallon gas makes $3.50/cup lattes problematic in people's budgets. The econ prof keeps screaming that Starbucks' joe is a luxury good that people with reduced buying power will look to do without. The rise in gas prices has put a modest squeeze on budgets, a previous post posited that a 31% rise in gas prices would make buying power go down 1.6%. Methinks that the average Starbucks denizen would be even more sensitive than average, being in their cars more (I have no good data on that, but the stereotypical white-collar java junkie is on the road more than blue-collar folks), so the buying power recession may hit a soccer mom or salesman harder than the rest of us.

Is that enough to shutter 600 Starbucks? Probably not. Overexpansion probably did quite a bit, as did McDonald's move to have their own line of upscale brews. However, the buying power recession (not in GDP mind you, it's still mildly positive) caused by those high gas prices causing us to trim budgets elsewhere may have helped push a few Starbucks over the edge.

The Grass is Always Greener on the Other Side of the Border

Here's a Canada Day shoutout to our friends north of the 49th.

I wound up taking a North American history exam from the Globe and Mail, and made 10-10 on both Canadian and American sections. There were a couple where I knew the answers by process of elimination; it wasn't that I knew the right answer, but that I knew the other three answers were wrong. For instance, I knew that Harriet Beecher Stowe was American and that Jane Austin and Cherie Blair (I don't recall her being an author, but she's British either way; she's Tony Blair's wife) were British, thus leaving the unknown-to-me Suzanne Moodie as the Canadian author.

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On to a more meaty topic. Drudge linked to this study, where Canadians were asked of their most admired North American politicians, listing Clinton, Obama, McCain and the four major Canadian party leaders. Obama wound up winning, edging out Conservative PM Steven Harper 26%-21% with Hillary getting 16%. The rest of the Canadian party leaders followed, with the NDP's Jack Layton getting 9%, the Bloc Quebecois' Gil Duceppe getting 6%, Liberal boss Stephane Dion getting 5%. John McCain brought up the rear at 3%.

Who's getting more bad press, McCain or Dion? Iraq is even more of a dog in Canada than it is in the US, and McCain is likely associated with his support of the war, leading small-c conservatives north of the board to stick with Harper rather that lust after southern leadership.

Dion seems to be hitting rock bottom; even though the Liberals go toe-to-toe with the Conservatives in national polls (they were down 36-30 to the Tories in a Ipsos poll in June, but such things bobble around parity as of late), Dion gets little love from his fellow Canadians.

One disadvantage that Dion has is that he's had to actually run a parliamentary party rather than a presidential campaign; Dion gets poor marks in many quarters for his courteous abstention policy, having most Liberals not vote on key pieces of legislation and allowing the Conservatives to have a majority rather than forcing new elections where the Grits would lose seats. No guts, no glory, no votes in the poll.

In addition, Dion is far from the most charming party leader I've seen; he comes across as more of a technocrat. Not bad for a policy wonk or a mid-level cabinet minister, but a bit uninspiring as a party leader.

On the other hand, Obama and Clinton haven't had to vote on the hot button issues of the day in Canada or lead a party. Canadian votes can extrapolate how the charismatic Yanks would run things without getting disappointed on how Obama would deal with Quebec or how Clinton would deal with health care or how either would deal with the US; since they're blank slates from a Canadian perspective, they haven't done anything to tick Canadians off yet.

For Obama, he hasn't had much of an American record to tick Americans off, either. His voting record, a rather down-the-line liberal one, hasn't got much press. What get coverage is his skin tone, "Change You can Believe In" and the third-to-half billion dollars worth of change Obama can believe in as he skips federal funding for the general, a first for the post-Watergate system.

Canadians know Stephane Dion and prefer Obama. The average American thinks Stephane Dion is Celine's brother and prefers Obama. Neither know Obama that well... yet.

GAFCON-A Study in Headlines

Here's a variety of headlines on the GAFCON this weekend; somehow, that sounds like something that you'd expect to see Klingon outfits at rather than priestly robes.

BBC-"Anglican Conservatives Form Group." Sticking with the basics.

NYT-"Anglicans Face Wider Split Over Policy on Gays." You have to watch out for those wide splits; they got Larry Craig in trouble.

Lastly, the most descriptive headline from ESPN-"Church Returns from DL." The problems with Gene Robinson had knocked the Anglican community around, but the folks at GALCON seem to have gotten the confession section of the Anglican church back in action.

For more serious coverage, here's some good coverage from Chris Johnson and from Get Religion.