Back in the Saddle

We are back, a day late but ready to go, thank you Cartoon Network, Ernest Hemingway, Bryan Ashton, and Ted Striphas for filling in for us while we were on holiday.

School starts this week, 94 students this term ranging from sophomores and juniors to a 55 year old M.B.A. student. What a wonderful experience it is teaching, to interact with students is simply the best. If only the faculty meetings could be as pleasurable.

CALIFORNIA POLITICS - Political shakeup looms in California, for decades now, Democrats and Republicans here have experienced statewide politics as an interminable waiting game, thanks to a gang of 70- and 80-somethings from the Bay Area who have dominated government for a generation. ... Rising stars in both parties have come and gone, but the state's chief power players have remained the same: Jerry Brown, California's 76-year-old governor ... [and] two senators - Barbara Boxer, 73, and Dianne Feinstein, 81 ... [and the] most prominent member of the congressional delegation, 74-year-old House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi ... Democrats here - along with a few tenacious Republicans - say there's a palpable sense that a changing-of-the-guard moment is approaching. It has already begun in some places, with the retirements of several long-tenured federal lawmakers and the defeat of 16-term Democratic Rep. Pete Stark in a 2012 primary.

ENGINE OF CHANGE - Google celebrated its 10th birthday as a public company last week. What began as merely a search engine has grown into an all-pervasive business behemoth. Take, for example, how a simple Google search for a hotel has changed. Just a few years ago, a user looking for a hotel room on the Google site was shown 10 text links to online travel agencies and hotel operators and his or her money usually went there. Now Google displays reviews, photos and an offer to book a room on the first results page of your search. The company has become less a Web index and more an Internet destination. But as Google builds out its own content, it risks its standing as a neutral arbiter of Web material and could potentially alienate advertisers. "All the value add is going to Google and everyone else becomes a commodity," said a former executive of an online travel agency.

APPLE HITS RECORD HIGH - Apple shares closed above $100 last week, beating their previous high after almost two years, as investors anticipate the launch of new products including wearable devices and a payments service in the coming months. After touching $100.68 in mid-afternoon trading, just shy of its intraday high two years ago, Apple closed at $100.53, which after adjusting for June's seven-for-one stock split tops September 2012's record closing price of $100.30. ... Analysts said the return to its peak marks an endorsement for Tim Cook, Apple's chief, and his growing team of executives including former Burberry boss and new retail head Angela Ahrendts.

However, the new momentum may also be fueled by opportunist traders buying in ahead of what iTunes chief Eddy Cue has called Apple's best new slate of products in 25 years. Apple stock often rallies in the lead-up to a new product launch, only to fall back once the new gadget goes on sale. It remains to be seen if Apple can conclusively break past $100 per share, which has previously proven to be a point of resistance for traders.

42 - Watch President George W. Bush get (surprise) dunked by Laura for the ice bucket challenge on the "Today" show after getting challenged by his daughter Jenna: http://on.today.com/1qsocVO

THE GAME PLAN - As video games become a spectator sport, Amazon just bought the world's largest arena. The e-commerce giant has agreed to buy Twitch, a popular Internet video channel for watching and broadcasting people playing video games, for about $970 million in cash.  Though little-known outside the world of tech and gaming, Twitch is the fourth-largest source of U.S. Internet traffic, behind Netflix, Google and Apple. To put the popularity of gaming into context, we note that 32 million people watched the championship of the game "League of Legends" on various streaming services last October—more than the series finales of television shows "Breaking Bad," "24" and "The Sopranos" put together.

RINK RATS POLL - The majority of 15-17 year-olds cannot change a tire.

BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes and thoughts this week to: Ben Bradlee (93), Warren Buffett (84), Elliot Gould (76), Carla Gugino (43), Sen. John McKain (78), Lou Piniella (71).

LABOR DAY WEEKEND MENU – Ellie Krieger’s Lobster Roll

Ingredients

1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek-style yogurt or 2/3 cup regular, plain nonfat yogurt

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 stalk celery, finely chopped

1 tablespoon chopped scallion greens (about 1 scallion)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 pound cooked lobster meat or cooked shrimp, cut into 1/3-inch pieces (about 2 1/2 cups)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 whole-wheat hot dog buns

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

If using regular yogurt, place it in a strainer lined with paper towel and set the strainer over a bowl. Let the yogurt drain and thicken for 20 minutes.

In a bowl, stir together the thickened or Greek-style yogurt, mayonnaise, celery, scallion and lemon juice. Fold in the lobster meat and season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Chill until ready to use. Just before serving, open the hot dog buns and brush the inside with olive oil. 

Heat a grill pan over moderately high heat and grill the bread, cut side down, until toasted, about 3 minutes. Fill each with 3/4 cup of the lobster mixture and serve immediately.

Per Serving: Calories 340; Total Fat 14 g; (Sat Fat 2g, Mono Fat 5 g, Poly Fat 6 g) ; Protein 29 g; Carb 25 g; Fiber 3 g; Cholesterol 85 mg; Sodium 720 mg

Excellent source of: Protein, Niacin, Vitamin B12, Copper, Magnesium, Manganese, Phosphorus, Selenium, Zinc

Good source of: Fiber, Vitamin B6, Calcium, Iron, Potassium

VINNIE – Vin Scully to return to Dodgers booth for 66th season, broadcasting legend Vin Scully is returning for a 66th season of covering Dodgers baseball in 2015. The news was announced in the middle of the second inning of last Tuesday night's 8-4 win over the Braves on the Dodger Stadium video board. ... Fans -- the first 40,000 of which received a Vin Scully 65th Anniversary Talking Microphone -- reacted by giving the American sports icon a standing ovation. ... Scully's 65 years of broadcasting Dodgers games marks the longest tenure in his field.

SPORTS BLINK - USA Today preseason college football top 25: 1. Florida State ... 2. Alabama ... 3. Oklahoma ... 4. Oregon ... 5. Auburn ... 6. Ohio State ... 7. UCLA ... 8. Michigan State ... 9. South Carolina ... 10. Baylor ... 11. Stanford ... 12. Georgia ... 13. LSU ... 14: Wisconsin ... 15. Southern California ... 16: Clemson ... 17. Notre Dame ... 18. Arizona State ... 19. Mississippi ... 20. Texas A&M ... 21. Kansas State ... 22. Nebraska ... 23. North Carolina ... 24. Texas ... 25. Washington.

SPORTS BLINK - Cowboys worth more than $3 billion [a record], tops in NFL: For the eighth straight year, the Cowboys are worth the most of all 32 NFL franchises, according to Forbes. They're valued at $3.2 billion; only Real Madrid at $3.4 billion is worth more among global franchises. Dallas posted the NFL's highest revenue, $560 million, and operating income, $246 million. That was far ahead of second-place New England, worth $2.6 billion and with $428 million in revenues, $147 million in operating income. But the Patriots had the biggest increase since last year, up 44 percent in value. Dallas was up 39 percent. The average NFL franchise value for 2014 is $1.43 billion, the highest in the 17 years the business magazine has tracked professional football.

RINK RATS NCAA FOOTBALL 2014 CONFERENCE PICKS:

ACC – Florida State Seminoles           

Big 12 – Oklahoma Sooners

AAC – Cincinnati Bearcats                 

Big Ten – Michigan State Spartans

Pac 12 – UCLA Bruins                     

SEC – Alabama Crimson Tide

Independents – Notre Dame              

BCS Champs – Florida State over UCLA

Ivy – Harvard Crimson                      

SCIAC – Redlands Bulldogs

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PICK OF THE WEEK – When Georgia State and Abilene Christian kick off Wednesday night in the Georgia Dome, the 2014 FBS college football season will officially begin. It’ll kick into higher gear on Thursday and hit its stride on Saturday with games spread throughout the weekend. We are off and running with another season of NCAA Div-1 College Football, who will The Swami like this year?

Saturday, 8/30, 9:00 PM ET, ESPN #14 preseason ranked Wisconsin Badgers vs. #13 ranked LSU Tigers. A big inter-conference tilt; we like the Tigers to win and cover the spread of five points, 28 – 21.   Season to date (0-0).

THE SWAMI’S WEEK TOP PICKS –

(NCAA, Aug. 28) South Carolina Gamecocks 32 Texas A&M Aggies 21

(MLB, Aug. 30)  Los Angeles Angels 4 Oakland Athletics 3

Season to Date (41 - 36).

JACK ASS OF THE MONTH – The adjunct group at a University, we cannot name, who propose to bill their College for services like a consultant. Ridiculous on many fronts, especially comparing Adjunct instructors to consultants…I need a drink!

Next week, words and quote of the month plus NFL preseason picks.

Until Next Monday, Adios.

Claremont, CA

August 26, 2014

#V-19, 228

College & Student Finances / The Internet of Words

It is that time of year where Rink Rats has a summer break: this is the final week of our three week hiatus, we welcome two guest bloggers. Enjoy, we will see you on August 25 with our regular Rink Rats.

How Colleges Can Help Students Navigate Their Financial Lives

Many colleges have started financial-literacy programs in recent years. In a guest post, Bryan Ashton describes a new requirement of students at Ohio State University. Mr. Ashton, assistant director for financial wellness, presented this topic at last months’ National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators’ conference, in Nashville. Too bad he represents THE Ohio State University.

Most people agree that students and young adults do not fully understand their own finances. While the notion of writing a check is becoming (understandably) even more foreign, concepts such as budgeting, compound interest, and saving seem beyond the grasp of many people. Study after study shows students are failing financial literacy with grades of D and F.

That pattern, combined with the important financial decisions that we ask students to make in pursuing an advanced education, has led to increasing interest in adding financial education to the curriculum in elementary and secondary schools and on college campuses. In recent years such literacy has been pitched as the silver-bullet solution to economic problems (think of some of the response to the housing crisis of the last decade). That thinking is beginning to infiltrate popular opinion in the discussion of student loans and increasing borrowing.

At Ohio State University, we do not see financial literacy as a silver bullet but rather as an institutional responsibility to inform our students.

We are in the process of phasing in a requirement that all students complete a financial-education program during their second year, through the Scarlet and Gray Financial Program in the Office of Student Life’s Student Wellness Center. The mandate combines online learning and a one-on-one meeting with a student coach. The coaches, who are trained to assist their peers with financial concerns, volunteer their time to help students understand their financial goals and current financial situation, and develop healthy financial attitudes and behaviors.

On a broader scale, the one-on-one interventions allow us to deliver not only education but also support and guidance during a time of need—for example, when a student is applying for an emergency grant or loan.

We believe in covering all aspects of financial literacy and focusing on more than just management of student-loan debt. Such a holistic approach includes providing financial coaching to students in moments of financial crisis, developing core financial education, and instilling the mindset of financial planning that will serve students well as they navigate the world of insurance, retirement planning, and debt management.

Our institution’s motto, “Disciplina in Civitatem” (“Education for Citizenship”), truly represents the philosophy behind our investment in financial education. The skills that we can teach students and the thinking that we can expose them to are essential for life at and beyond Ohio State.

My co-presenters are from the University of California at Berkeley and Indiana University, two campuses that provide a mix of structured online content, group workshops, and one-on-one coaching in their financial-literacy programs. Those institutions are developing a culture of affordability through changes in philosophy on their campuses.

At Ohio State we recognize that much more research is needed to provide an evidence base for financial-literacy programs. However, we feel very strongly that we need to prepare current students to become future consumers, understand long-term financial consequences of today’s decisions, and manage the debt that may come with obtaining a degree.

As the research base evolves, we hope one day to link those efforts more concretely to institutional priorities such as lowering borrowing and default rates. For now, instilling financial literacy as part of our outside-the-classroom experience has allowed us to begin to create a culture of financial responsibility across the campus.

The Internet of Words

Ten years ago, an odd request landed in my email inbox. It was a message from my sister, Anne, sent to me through a company called Friendster, prompting me to join her friend network. I puzzled over the missive for several minutes, trying to determine what she was asking me to do. Was this some new peer-to-peer file-sharing service, like Napster? Why would Anne want me, her sibling, to identify as a friend? We were close, but not that kind of close. And wasn’t I already part of her network? We shared the same parents, after all. I mulled over the message a little longer before hitting delete.

I was introduced to the phrase "social networking" in early 2006. Two years later I joined Twitter, following a brief courtship with the now-defunct microblogging service Jaiku. Shortly after that, I signed on to Facebook. By 2009, I was fielding follows and friends like a pro.

By then the puzzlement I’d felt at Anne’s Friendster request seemed quaint. The technology had moved on—MySpace and Facebook were then vying for dominance—and so had the language. Some observers still debated whether or not social-media friends were authentic ones, but the argument wasn’t nearly as heated as it had been a couple of years earlier. Along the way, "friend" morphed into a verb, like "Google." I couldn’t help but smile when a colleague’s spouse, new to Facebook, messaged that she hoped I’d "befriend" her. The word seemed antediluvian.

The Internet of today looks a lot different than it did back in 2004, when 19-year-old Mark Zuckerberg introduced Thefacebook. YouTube wouldn’t launch for another year, and Twitter, a year after that—never mind the iPhone, released in mid-2007, or the Amazon Kindle, arriving later that year. The iPad landed in 2010, around the same time as Instagram and Pinterest. That was the year Wired magazine’s Chris Anderson pronounced the World Wide Web dead. Cause? The explosive growth of apps that, he claimed, had rendered Web pages and browsers obsolete. The web wasn’t quite 20 years old. Even print had enjoyed a longer run.

The language looks a lot different, too, having twisted, folded, and stretched in tandem with these changes. Until recently, "clouds" were just masses of water molecules aloft in the sky. Today they’re places to store vast troves of digital data. I remember when "platforms" were just mundane surfaces for standing on. Now they’re complex systems on which developers build suites of high-tech products and services. Words once confined to geekdom, like "algorithm," have crossed over into the mainstream. And usages are blurring. Upon ordering dinner at a restaurant, the waiter, who introduced himself as a "server," stated that he’d "get those ‘apps’ right out." I had to wonder, did I just download a meal from this guy?

Changes in the language are as much a part of the story of technology as innovative new products, high-stakes mergers and acquisitions, and charismatic corporate leaders. They bear witness to the emergence of new technological realities, yet they also help facilitate them. Facebook wouldn’t have a billion-plus users absent some compelling features. It also wouldn’t have them without people like me first coming to terms with the new semantics of friendship.

Were he still alive, the cultural-studies scholar Raymond Williams might have counted "friend," "cloud," "platform," "algorithm," "server," and "app" among today’s "keywords"—clusters of terms whose definitional shifts register where social change is "active and pressing." Keywords remind us of the degree to which the story of technology is a human one, grounded not only in the calculi of science and engineering but also in the welter of everyday talk.

If standard definitions haven’t kept pace with the practicalities of privacy in a social-media age, neither have dictionaries, the places where those definitions are sanctified and stored. Dictionaries change all the time, of course, and are therefore artifacts of a living language. Yet there’s always a sense in which they’re arriving late to the party. In early 2014, Merriam-Webster added these and other ostensibly new words to its roster: "hashtag," "selfie," "big data," and "social networking." You’d be hard-pressed to call any of them new. Dictionaries are dated by default.

Once the words "computer" and "calculator" referred to people, those who performed mathematical operations. (While today computers are strongly associated with men and male engineering, more often than not, those people were women, as the cultural-studies scholar Anne Balsamo has pointed out. In the early 1970s, "computers," machines, were sometimes marketed as "calculators." By the end of that decade, the two terms would cease being synonymous. Imagine explaining to someone living in the 1940s that computers were handheld devices with nanometer-sized transistors inside, with which one could shop or play Flappy Bird while making a wireless telephone call. There’s no reason to believe we’re living through semantic changes that are any less profound. Words are a significant part of the drama of the social-media age.

A few weeks ago, I sent a bunch of Yo requests out to my social-media friends. Yo might well be the reductio ad absurdum of messaging apps. It allows you to send the two-character communiqué—Yo—to anyone you’re connected to. You don’t even need to type it. Suddenly, Twitter has become the long form at 140 characters—never mind SMS, practically epic poetry at 160. None of my friends has joined me on Yo. One mistook my request for a sign I’d been hacked.

It could be their refusal to Yo stemmed from social-networking fatigue. It might also have had something to do with words. Critics have scoffed at Yo, calling it a "fad," "annoying," and questioning whether it allows for bona-fide communication. But they seem to be missing the point. Yo isn’t about what’s communicated. It’s more about the fact that two people are interacting at all.

That "ritual" view of communication, as the late historian of technology James W. Carey dubbed it, stresses how engagement through words and symbols can reaffirm social bonds, regardless of the content. It’s why we greet friends in passing with a casual "How ya doin’?" and expect little in return. By the same token, getting the brush off can send you into a tailspin. The ritual understanding of communication had fallen out of favor in the late 19th century, when electronic media helped legitimize the idea that "communication" meant the transmission of meaningful messages across space. Is all the hubbub surrounding Yo an indication we’re starting to come full circle?

New technologies disrupt, but they aren’t the singularly disruptive force some would have us believe. Many of their purported disruptions result from their entering into contexts where language shifts are already under way, causing friction. Social media didn’t alter the meanings of "status," "privacy," or what have you. The meanings were already transforming. Social media just helped make the changes more visible, and maybe accelerated them. That is why Williams called words "elements of … problems." He recognized the vernacular was no less an engine of change than technology.

Ted Striphas is an associate professor of communication and culture at Indiana University at Bloomington. He is the author of  The Late Age of Print: Everyday Book Culture From Consumerism to Control (Columbia University Press, 2009).

Next Week: College Football Preview and the Jack Ass of the Month.

Until Next Monday, Adios.

Claremont, CA

August 18, 2014

#V-18, 227

A Short Story

It is that time of year where Rink Rats has a summer break: the next two weeks we will have a Short Story by Ernest Hemingway and a guest blogger. Enjoy, we will see you on August 25 with our regular Rats.

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place

BY ERNEST HEMINGWAY

It was very late and everyone had left the cafe except an old man who sat in the shadow the leaves of the tree made against the electric light. In the day time the street was dusty, but at night the dew settled the dust and the old man liked to sit late because he was deaf and now at night it was quiet and he felt the difference. The two waiters inside the cafe knew that the old man was a little drunk, and while he was a good client they knew that if he became too drunk he would leave without paying, so they kept watch on him.

"Last week he tried to commit suicide," one waiter said.

"Why?"

"He was in despair."

"What about?"

"Nothing."

"How do you know it was nothing?"

"He has plenty of money."

They sat together at a table that was close against the wall near the door of the cafe and looked at the terrace where the tables were all empty except where the old man sat in the shadow of the leaves of the tree that moved slightly in the wind. A girl and a soldier went by in the street. The street light shone on the brass number on his collar. The girl wore no head covering and hurried beside him.

"The guard will pick him up," one waiter said.

"What does it matter if he gets what he's after?"

"He had better get off the street now. The guard will get him. They went by five minutes ago."

The old man sitting in the shadow rapped on his saucer with his glass. The younger waiter went over to him.

"What do you want?"

The old man looked at him. "Another brandy," he said.

"You'll be drunk," the waiter said. The old man looked at him. The waiter went away.

"He'll stay all night," he said to his colleague. "I'm sleepy now. I never get into bed before three 'clock. He should have killed himself last week."

The waiter took the brandy bottle and another saucer from the counter inside the cafe and marched out to the old man's table. He put down the saucer and poured the glass full of brandy.

"You should have killed yourself last week," he said to the deaf man. The old man motioned with his finger. "A little more," he said. The waiter poured on into the glass so that the brandy slopped over and ran down the stem into the top saucer of the pile. "Thank you," the old man said. The waiter took the bottle back inside the cafe. He sat down at the table with his colleague again.

"He's drunk now," he said.

"He's drunk every night."

"What did he want to kill himself for?"

"How should I know."

"How did he do it?"

"He hung himself with a rope."

"Who cut him down?"

"His niece."

"Why did they do it?"

"Fear for his soul."

"How much money has he got?" "He's got plenty."

"He must be eighty years old."

"Anyway I should say he was eighty."

"I wish he would go home. I never get to bed before three o'clock.What kind of hour is that to go to bed?"

"He stays up because he likes it."

"He's lonely. I'm not lonely. I have a wife waiting in bed for me."

"He had a wife once too."

"A wife would be no good to him now."

"You can't tell. He might be better with a wife."

"His niece looks after him. You said she cut him down."

"I know." "I wouldn't want to be that old. An old man is a nasty thing."

"Not always. This old man is clean. He drinks without spilling. Even now, drunk. Look at him."

"I don't want to look at him. I wish he would go home. He has no regard for those who must work."

The old man looked from his glass across the square, then over at the waiters.

"Another brandy," he said, pointing to his glass. The waiter who was in a hurry came over.

"Finished," he said, speaking with that omission of syntax stupid people employ when talking to drunken people or foreigners. "No more tonight. Close now."

"Another," said the old man.

"No. Finished." The waiter wiped the edge of the table with a towel and shook his head.

The old man stood up, slowly counted the saucers, took a leather coin purse from his pocket and paid for the drinks, leaving half a peseta tip. The waiter watched him go down the street, a very old man walking unsteadily but with dignity.

"Why didn't you let him stay and drink?" the unhurried waiter asked. They were putting up the shutters. "It is not half-past two."

"I want to go home to bed."

"What is an hour?"

"More to me than to him."

"An hour is the same."

"You talk like an old man yourself. He can buy a bottle and drink at home."

"It's not the same."

"No, it is not," agreed the waiter with a wife. He did not wish to be unjust. He was only in a hurry.

"And you? You have no fear of going home before your usual hour?"

"Are you trying to insult me?"

"No, hombre, only to make a joke."

"No," the waiter who was in a hurry said, rising from pulling down the metal shutters. "I have confidence. I am all confidence."

"You have youth, confidence, and a job," the older waiter said. "You have everything."

"And what do you lack?"

"Everything but work."

"You have everything I have."

"No. I have never had confidence and I am not young."

"Come on. Stop talking nonsense and lock up."

"I am of those who like to stay late at the cafe," the older waiter said.

"With all those who do not want to go to bed. With all those who need a light for the night."

"I want to go home and into bed."

"We are of two different kinds," the older waiter said. He was now dressed to go home. "It is not only a question of youth and confidence although those things are very beautiful. Each night I am reluctant to close up because there may be some one who needs the cafe."

"Hombre, there are bodegas open all night long."

"You do not understand. This is a clean and pleasant cafe. It is well lighted. The light is very good and also, now, there are shadows of the leaves."

"Good night," said the younger waiter.

"Good night," the other said. Turning off the electric light he continued the conversation with himself, It was the light of course but it is necessary that the place be clean and pleasant. You do not want music. Certainly you do not want music. Nor can you stand before a bar with dignity although that is all that is provided for these hours. What did he fear? It was not a fear or dread, It was a nothing that he knew too well. It was all a nothing and a man was a nothing too. It was only that and light was all it needed and a certain cleanness and order. Some lived in it and never felt it but he knew it all was nada y pues nada y naday pues nada. Our nada who art in nada, nada be thy name thy kingdom nada thy will be nada in nada as it is in nada. Give us this nada our daily nada and nada us our nada as we nada our nadas and nada us not into nada but deliver us from nada; pues nada. Hail nothing full of nothing, nothing is with thee. He smiled and stood before a bar with a shining steam pressure coffee machine.

"What's yours?" asked the barman.

"Nada."

"Otro loco mas," said the barman and turned away.

"A little cup," said the waiter.

The barman poured it for him.

"The light is very bright and pleasant but the bar is unpolished, "the waiter said.

The barman looked at him but did not answer. It was too late at night for conversation.

"You want another copita?" the barman asked.

"No, thank you," said the waiter and went out. He disliked bars and bodegas. A clean, well-lighted cafe was a very different thing. Now, without thinking further, he would go home to his room. He would lie in the bed and finally, with daylight, he would go to sleep. After all, he said to himself, it's probably only insomnia. Many must have it.

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place is a short story by American author Ernest Hemingway, first published in Scribner's Magazine in 1933 and also included in his 1933 collection Winner Take Nothing.

DRIVING THE WEEK - There are no economic reports out today, but the latest figures on producer prices, retail sales, and industrial production are among the numbers set to be issued later in the week.

At an economic conference today in Sweden, Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer said the U.S. and global recoveries have been "disappointing" so far and may point to a permanent downshift in economic potential. A slowdown in productivity and a decline in labor force participation are among the factors holding back growth, he added.

Until Next Monday, Adios.

Claremont, CA

August 11, 2014

#V-17, 226

Cartoon Edition

It is that time of year when Rink Rats has a summer break: the next three weeks we will have our annual cartoon edition, and two guest bloggers. Enjoy, we will see you on August 25 with our regular Rats.

BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes and thoughts this week to: Richard Belzer (70), Sidney Crosby (27), Sam Elliott (70), Issam Ghazzawi …the best Professor at the University of La Verne, Brett Hull (50), Kevin Gallagher …famous for liking ice cubes in beer, Tom McGuire …put Scotia, New York on the map.

THE SWAMI’S WEEK TOP PICKS:

Major League Baseball Game of the Week – Saturday August 9 (7:10 PM ET): Washington Nationals (60-49) at Atlanta Braves (58-54), a battle for National League Eastern Division first place, Atlanta 5 The Nats 2.

2014 Season to date (41-36)

MARKET WEEK - U.S. stock investors look for better fortunes this week, after the biggest weekly drop for the S&P 500 index in more than two years put the benchmark index at a two-month low. The Dow Jones industrial average has fallen in seven of the past eight sessions, while the Nasdaq has fallen in six of seven sessions.

Until Next Monday, Adios.

Claremont, CA

August 4, 2014

#V-16, 225