Service

VOLUNTEER – This time of year, after the holidays and in celebration of Martin Luther King, a call is made to serve. Volunteer your time to people and organizations that need your help but cannot pay for your services. Rink Rats has found the smallest contribution of your time can help: give blood on a by-monthly basis, coach youth sports teams, regularly recycle household items, maintain the area around your home or apartment, all these seem small but they all add to the quality of life around us.

Should you have the time or desire volunteer at your local senior citizens center, give your time to your local schools and universities, help at food banks and homeless shelters, and above all us just smile. When I walk down my local community street and receive a smile from a passerby it feels good, you all should do the same.

NEWSPAPERS – With the glorification of smartphone, itablets, Facebook and Twitter lately there is still nothing better and informative then reading your daily newspaper. Be it national and international news stories from the New York Times, Los Angeles Times or Wall Street Journal, to local news, newspapers offer greater detail and variety to your reading. Technology is a good thing, but to a point.

FED MAKES RECORD PROFIT - FT's Robin Harding reports: "The US Federal Reserve made a record profit of $80.9bn in 2010 and sent $78.4bn to the US Treasury as income poured in from its programme of quantitative easing. The figures show how the financial crisis has turned the Fed into the most profitable bank in history, earning income of $88.1bn in 2010 but paying only $2.7bn in interest and $4.3bn in operating expenses. ... From the Treasury's point of view, profits from the Federal Reserve have compensated for some of the other costs of the financial crisis, such as rescues for the auto industry."

PRESIDENT KENNEDY - To help mark the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy, David S. Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, and Caroline Kennedy, President of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, will unveil the nation's largest online digitized presidential archives [at the National Archives] ... The Digital Archive ... will be available to teachers, students, scholars, authors and the general public through any internet connection at www.jfklibrary.org. ... The Digital Archive includes over 200,000 pages, 300 reels of audio tape containing over 1,245 individual recordings of telephone conversations, speeches and meetings, 300 museum artifacts, 72 reels of moving images and 1,500 photos that have been digitized, described and loaded electronically.

THE BEST DONUTS – The best donuts in the world, outside of the Franklin Cider Mill in Franklin Michigan, are at the Donut Man, 915 East Route 66 in Glendora, California. Originally at this location as Foster’s Donuts, since 1975, they offer the best Maple Bars, Apple Fritters, and above all else Strawberry-filled donuts. Late night munchies, this is the place to go. Depressed with world events, the workplace, your sport teams, the Donut Man is the place to get back on the beam. On the Rink Rats ratings of 0 to 10, the Donut Man receives a 9, only the Franklin Cider Mill is better.

BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes and thoughts this week to Muhammad Ali (69), Mike Bossy (54), Kevin Costner (56), Jack Nicklaus (71), Michelle Obama (47), Dr. Laura Schlessinger (64), Joe Schmidt (79).

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PICK OF THE WEEK – Our College Football Pick of the Week season is now over; Rink Rats was an impressive 16-4 in major college football picks this past season, also in Small College picks Rink Rats was 12-3. Too bad this expertise did not carry over to the NFL.

NFL PICK OF THE WEEK – Season to date (6-13).

NFL CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS PLAYOFF WEEKEND
Sunday, January 23

NFC: 3:00 PM (ET) – Green Bay at Chicago (Fox-TV) The Packers are 3.0 point favorites, Rink Rats picks the Packers.

AFC: 6:30 PM (ET) – New York at Pittsburgh (CBS-TV) The Steelers are 3.5 point favorites, Rink Rats likes the Jets.

--The 2011 Pro Bowl (FOX, 7:00 PM ET) will be played on Sunday, January 30 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii, one week before Super Bowl XLV takes place at Cowboys Stadium in North Texas on Sunday, February 6 (FOX, 6:30 PM ET).

COLLEGE HOCKEY GAME OF THE WEEK – Friday 1/21, Boston College Eagles ranked #3 in the country (15-6) at #16 ranked Boston University Terriers (10-5-6), 7:00 PM ET, NESN. This intense rivalry continues in Bean Town, Boston College has been on a roll, we pick the Eagles at Jack Parker rink.
Season to date (0-2).

WORDS OF THE MONTH – exculpate \EK-skuhl-payt\, transitive verb: to clear from alleged fault or guilt; to prove to be guiltless; to relieve of blame; to acquit. “Each member is determined to exculpate himself, to lay the blame elsewhere.”

noticia, noun: news. ”Tengo una buena noticia que darte.”

Next week, our monthly finance update and our first Jackass of the month award for 2011.

Until next Monday, Adios.

Claremont, CA
January 17, 2011