Monthly Archives: October 2005

Sociological implications of the 2005 World Series

Posted on by
2

Cubs v White Sox2.jpgSo, it’s the Stros versus the Chicago White Sox in the 2005 World Series. Houstonians know Chicago well, as the Cubs are fierce National League Central Division rivals of the Stros, most recently responsible for knocking the Stros out of a 2003 National League playoff spot on the final weekend of the regular season. We long-suffering Houstonian sports fans in general — and Stros fans in particular — tend to remember those things for awhile.
However, the rivalry between the Stros and the Cubs pales in comparison to the rivalry among Chicagoans between supporters of the Cubs and White Sox, a rivalry that cuts across generations and class lines. Former Chicagoan (and Cubs fan) Larry Ribstein recently passed along the following excerpt from a John Kass-Chicago Tribune article that describes the Cubs-White Sox rivalry from the perspective of a Cubs fan:

As per your offer asking Cubs fans to beg for a chance to sit with you in your seats at Sox Park: I’m absolutely astounded that you think any Cubs fan would want to sit amongst greasy pork-butchers, filthy plumbers and inebriated truck drivers watching the laughable White Sox.

Continue reading →

Miers on business

Posted on by
Reply

Harriet Miers2.jpgLarry Ribstein notes in this post that, based upon Harriet Miers‘ investment track record, it may be a mistake to presume that she will be as adept on business-related issues as a Supreme Court Justice than a proven Judge such as, say, Edith Jones would be. But Professor Ribstein shares my view that we should wait to evaluate Ms. Miers’ performance in the Judiciary Committee hearing before deciding whether to support her nomination, although he wryly notes:

I’m still reserving judgment until I see Miers’ performance in the Senate. But, then, I’m still expecting Ernie Banks to some day lead the Cubs in the World Series.

Gordon Smith shares Professor Ribstein’s skepticism of Ms. Miers’ track record on business-related issues.

Selling socially responsible ice cream

Posted on by
Reply

benandjerryscone.jpgStephen Moore is a senior economics writer for the Wall Street Journal and a member of the WSJ’s editorial board. He also enjoys ice cream, and he has written this clever OpinionJournal piece about the socially-responsible nonsense that Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream spews while selling its quite good — but unhealthy (i.e., socially irresponsible) — ice cream. He describes a recent tour that he took of the ice cream maker’s factory in Vermont:

The tour itself is a 30-minute propaganda campaign explaining why the company’s founders, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, deserve the Nobel Peace Prize for their unwavering commitment to the environment and economic justice.
Meanwhile, their factory is a monument to the efficiencies of capitalism and technological progress: Several dozen giant computer-operated machines churn out hundreds of thousands of cartons a day. I half expect the massive energy-gulping freezers to be solar-paneled or powered by green-friendly windmills, but no, they use lots and lots of conventional electricity. It turns out that if you want really good ice cream, you just have to tolerate a little more global warming. That’s a trade-off that I personally am willing to make.

Continue reading →

Wilma!

Posted on by
Reply

Wilma.jpgThis is getting very monotonous.
Hurricane Wilma moved toward Mexico’s popular Cancun resort Wednesday as an extremely dangerous category 4 storm that has already become the most intense hurricane to form in the Americas since such storms began being recorded over a century ago. The National Hurricane Center in Miami warned that Wilma would be a significant threat to Florida by the weekend and could hit the western coast of Florida as at least a category 3 storm. About the only good thing about the storm’s projected path is that it is far enough south at this point that it would probably not cause much additional damage to the Katrina and Rita-ravaged Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production facilities.

Continue reading →

Peaches, Baby!

Posted on by
6

Roy O15.jpgRoy O — simply the best pitcher ever developed within the Houston Astros system — brought home the bacon. The Stros are going to their first World Series.
Since moving to Houston in 1972, I’ve been following the Stros for the past 33 years, the last 20 as a season ticket holder. Both of my teenage sons are lifelong Houstonians who have been attending Stros games with me since they were toddlers. Immediately after Jason Lane clutched that final out, my boys and I hugged each other and laughed about our experiences over the years with the Stros as we watched the players celebrate on the Busch Stadium field.
That special moment made every one of those Stros games that I have watched during the past 33 years worth every minute.

But Mr. Bork, what do you really think about the Miers nomination?

Posted on by
1

Bork.gifRobert H. Bork, whose own nomination to the Supreme Court generated the verb “to bork” in American political lexicon, lays the wood to President Bush’s nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court in this Opinion Journal piece, which includes these gems:

There is, to say the least, a heavy presumption that Ms. Miers, though undoubtedly possessed of many sterling qualities, is not qualified to be on the Supreme Court. It is not just that she has no known experience with constitutional law and no known opinions on judicial philosophy. It is worse than that. As president of the Texas Bar Association, she wrote columns for the association’s journal. David Brooks of the New York Times examined those columns. He reports, with supporting examples, that the quality of her thought and writing demonstrates absolutely no “ability to write clearly and argue incisively.”

Continue reading →

Continental’s quarterly earnings report

Posted on by
Reply

Continental Airlines logo.jpgHouston-based Continental Airlines announced yesterday a modest third-quarter profit despite high fuel costs, parleying lower labor costs with increased revenue from its international flights and higher fares. Nevertheless, Continental announced that it expects to post a “significant loss” for the fourth quarter and that it will lose money for the full year. With various U.S. airlines currently operating in chapter 11, it is expected that combined losses in the U.S. airline industry this year will exceed $5 billion. For its part, Continental said that it had “sufficient” cash and projected cash flows through 2006.
Talk about a tough business. Announce a quarterly profit, reiterate that the company will lose money for the year, and offer that the company might be able to stay out of the tank for another year. And that’s considered a relatively rosy quarterly earnings report within the industry. So it goes in the U.S. airline industry, which is in dire need of a huge shakeout at a time when it remains difficult to put an airline out of its misery.

Income tax panel announces overhaul proposals

Posted on by
2

tax simple2.gifIncome tax simplification is a recurring subject on this blog, so I took notice of this NY Times article regarding yesterday’s announcement that President Bush’s tax-overhaul panel had agreed to offer two alternatives to the present tax code — one alternative that essentially streamlines the current income tax and a second, bolder alternative that would replace it with a progressive tax on consumption. Although both proposals would do away with the deduction for state and local taxes, limit the current deduction for home-mortgage interest and tube the unpopular alternative minimum tax, the two plans differ in their approach to taxing business.
Both proposals will be included in the panel’s final November 1 report to the Treasury Department, and the report is expected to be the framework for legislative proposals regarding overhauling the tax code next year. The income tax that the panel approved in principle yesterday is based on the following basic framework:

Continue reading →

Rubbing salt in the wound

Posted on by
2

St-Louis-Albert-Pujols-and-Houston-pitcher-Brad.jpgAfter enduring a day of painful memories of Stros previous heartbreaking playoff losses in the final game of the 1980 NLCS, the Game Six of the 1986 NLCS, and Game Seven of last season’s NLCS, my old friend and former Houstonian Dr. Jim Bob Baker of Temple, Texas passes along the following on the heels of Houston’s latest sporting disaster:

I was just over at the physicians’ lounge at the hospital before coming back to the office to finish some things up. ESPN SportsCenter was on the TV there. As an aftermath of the Astros’ loss last night, ESPN graciously also showed highlights from:

The University of Houston’s loss to Joe Montana and Notre Dame in the 1979 Cotton Bowl;
The University of Houston’s Phi Slamma Jamma losing to Jim Valvano and North Carolina State on a tip-in at the buzzer in the 1983 NCAA National Championship Game;
The Houston Rockets‘ 1997 Game Six Western Conference Final playoff loss to Utah on John Stockton’s last-second 3 pointer;
The Houston Oilers’ 1991 NFL playoff loss to Denver on John Elway’s last minute 98 yard drive;

and last but not least:

The Oilers’ 41-38 overtime loss to Buffalo in the 1993 NFL playoffs after leading at halftime 35-3.

Thanks for the memories, ESPN.

Bill Simmons also has this humorous piece on special Houston sports fiascos. And Brian Goff notes that, if you are going to pitch to Pujols in that situation at all, breaking pitches are not the way to go. Finally, it took 24 hours for lifelong Houstonian Mike Falick to gather himself sufficiently to write this post on the latest Houston sports fiasco that he has endured.

KPMG serves up more sacrificial lambs

Posted on by
Reply

kpmg logo32.jpgAs KPMG LLP attempts to survive as a going concern after cutting a deal with the federal government to avoid a criminal indictment in connection with its controversial tax shelter practice, the firm served up 10 additional criminal defendants for the Justice Department to indict, including the firm’s former chief financial officer and its former Associate General Counsel. Here are the previous posts on the KPMG tax shelter saga.
Federal prosecutors had a federal grand jury in New York yesterday charge the 10 defendants and the nine previous ones in a superceding indictment (copy here, courtesy of the TaxProf blog) with at least 39 counts of tax evasion and a single count of conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service. Three of the defendants are also charged with obstructing government investigations, and 17 of the 19 defendants are former KPMG tax professionals.

Continue reading →