"One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer"

As we sort through holiday catalogs, internet email ads, newspaper ads, it is obvious most families have little money to spend on holidays this year. Too bad our local, state and federal governments are not this disciplined in their holiday spending. If we would listen to the Federal Reserve and Mr. Alan (it is time to just get out) Greenspan we should max out our credit cards. Rink Rats suggestion, hang on to your money, you will need it in 2011 when it is really going to get ugly; invest in bonds that have 0% interest, stocks are overvalued, housing will continue to slide, and unemployment will remain very high. One solution, follow Mr. Thorogood – “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer”.

Speaking of holidays, anyone want to venture a guess when the adult contemporary station goes all-Christmas in Southern California? It has to be just a matter of days. Several stations around the country have already gone full-blown holidays.

This holiday season instead of buying the latest warfare video game, how about giving to your local food bank, give blood, give your time to a local school or church, and think not of yourself but others.

FED HAS TO ACT BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE WILL - LA Times' report: There were the usual kind words and olive branches extended post-election day. But nothing could hide the fact that the two parties have deep and abiding differences on nearly every issue. ... The composition of the House and Senate may have changed, but not Washington: The place may be more polarized than ever. That could make it exceedingly difficult to accomplish anything of great magnitude between now and the next presidential election in November 2012. The clearest indication of the growing partisan gap was last week's rout of the Blue Dog caucus, a group of moderate and conservative Democrats who urged the party to adopt a more business-friendly and fiscally conservative agenda."

A MONETARY "HAIL MARY"? - WSJ: "Many outside the Fed, and some inside, see the move as a 'Hail Mary' pass by ... Bernanke. He embraced highly unconventional policies during the financial crisis to ward off a financial-system collapse. But a year and a half later, he confronts an economy hobbled by high unemployment, a gridlocked political system and the threat of a Japan-like period of deflation, or a debilitating fall in consumer prices. The Fed left open the possibility of doing more if growth and inflation don't perk up in the months ahead. The $75 billion a month in new purchases of Treasury debt come on top of $35 billion a month the Fed is expected to spend to replace mortgage bonds in its portfolio that are being retired."

ELECTION NIGHT TV - "Broadcast nets behind Fox on election night" - AP: "Fox News Channel came out on top during the one hour of midterm election coverage when the three broadcast networks and the cable news channels competed head-to-head. The Nielsen Co. said Thursday that Fox had 6.94 million viewers during the 10 p.m. hour Tuesday. NBC was second with 6.27 million, followed by CBS with 5.86 million and ABC with 5.53 million. CNN had 2.59 million viewers during that key hour and MSNBC had 2.04 million. ... ABC said the 6.79 million viewer average for its entire 90-minute election telecast beat NBC and CBS. CBS, whose evening news broadcast with Katie Couric is a perennial third-place finisher, touted its defeat of ABC at 10 p.m."

FED BREAKS TABOO - WSJ: "The Federal Reserve will print money to buy nearly as much U.S. Treasury debt in the next eight months as the U.S. government will issue. ... In normal times, this is one of the great taboos of central banking because it is seen as a step toward spiraling inflation and because it risks encouraging reckless government spending. The central bank is betting these aren't normal times. Financial markets last week responded warmly to the Fed move, but outspoken critics of the policy issued full-throated critiques. ... Thomas Hoenig, president of the Kansas City Federal Reserve and the lone dissenter in Wednesday's decision, said in an interview Thursday that he worried the Fed would be too slow to reverse the policy and that would cause new problems. 'Leaving it in there longer than-in hindsight-we will think was appropriate, will create the next series of problems, whatever those are,' he said. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his allies argue that today's economy is too weak and banks too reluctant to lend to generate much inflation."

Dear Rink Rats:

I recently attended a dinner honoring an individual who is retiring after many years as President of an institution. The dinner was well attended with supporters of this individual and the institution. As the evening came to a conclusion, with the long winded speeches coming to an end it was time to acknowledge the individual. My question: is it mandatory to stand and applaud this individual? Is it proper to just sit and applaud? Can you recommend a proper and respectful action?

- Puzzled

Dear Puzzled:

It depends on how many Vice Presidents work under him or her at the institution. The higher the number of Vice Presidents the less we are obligated to stand and applaud. It should be obvious to anyone who has common sense, the efficiency of an organization is determined by the number of upper and middle managers it has. Has this individual administered the institution’s management properly? Only you can decide.

BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes and thoughts this week to Troy Aikman (44), Traci Attman … a very special lady, Vice President Joe Biden (68), Prince Charles (62), Bo Derek (54), Larry King (77), Carrie Lewis … one of a kind, Stan Musial (90), Gary Player (75), Martin Scorsese (68), Sam Waterson (70).

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PICK OF THE WEEK – Saturday 11/20, they don’t get any bigger on the west coast, #6 Stanford Cardinal (9-1) @ California Bears (5-5), 3:30 PM ET, Prime Network. Stanford is 8 point favorites, give the points and pick Stanford and the next Michigan football coach, Jim Harbaugh.
Season to date (9-2).

SMALL COLLEGE PICK OF THE WEEK – Saturday 11/20, the road begins to the D-III football championship, the playoffs begin. Our game this week is a battle to settle a score. #17 Cal Lutheran Kingsmen (8-1) travel to #12 Linfield Wildcats (8-1), 3:00 PM ET, Bravo. The Kingsmen beat Linfield in week #1 but the Northwest Conference champ will win this rematch, 35-31.
Season to date (8-2).

NFL PICK OF THE WEEK – Sunday 11/21, Detroit Lions (2-7) @ Dallas Cowboys (2-7), 1:00 PM ET, Fox. The Lions are much better than their 2-7 record indicates and the Cowboys are coming off a big win against The Giants. Detroit is 7.0 point underdogs, take the points and pick The Lions to win in Dallas.
Season to date (4-6).

IN MEMORY – A correction to last weeks’ memorial to Sparky Anderson. He was not the only manager to win a World Series title in both leagues: Sparky Anderson - 1975 and 1976 Cincinnati Reds, 1984 Detroit Tigers and Tony LaRussa - 1989 Oakland Athletics, 2006 St. Louis Cardinals. Thank you Mr. H.

SPORTS BLINK – Congratulations to one of our favorites the Bonita High School Bearcats for finishing their regular season (9-1). Now it is on to the CIF playoffs.

NHL - The NHL's three stars for October were the Lightning's Steven Stamkos, Bruins' Tim Thomas and Avs' Chris Stewart. What no Red Wings?

Recipe of the Month: Pomtini

The combination of tart and sweet is a recipe for a party in anyone’s mouth, a great cocktail to celebrate the holidays.

1 ½ oz Vodka (we prefer Ketel One)
1 oz Juice – Pomegranate
1 ½ oz Juice – Grapefruit
½ oz Juice – Lime
½ oz Sugar – Syrup

Combine all ingredients in a mixing cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with orange twist or mint sprig.
“На здоровье (Na zdarov'e)”

Next week, what is a lame duck?

Until next Monday, Adios.

Claremont, CA
November 15, 2010