Rick Ankiel

I attended the Cubs-Cardinals game at Wrigley Field on Monday. I have been completely unsurprised as the Cards continue to unravel in September. You can only keep a gaping wound closed with band-aids for so long. We have been plagued by injuries and poor starting pitching for most of the season and it is amazing that we have even had a whiff of the playoffs this year.

What I also found completely unsurprising at Wrigley on Monday was the lack of class on the part of the Cubs' fans. These fickle folks were ready to write off the season after a two-game losing streak last week and focus their attention to the Bears. Every time, Rick Ankiel, the comeback story of the year, came to the plate, chants of "steroids" echoed throughout the stadium. While Rick certainly still has some questions to answer regarding his use of HGH (human growth hormone) in 2004, I thought I'd raise some valid points:

— Ankiel's power is nothing new. As a 17-year-old in 1997, he hit a 450-foot homer in his final high school game, then was one of the top hitters for the U.S. Junior National team that summer. He played left field when not pitching and batted .387 with three homers, four doubles and 16 RBIs in a dozen games. Ankiel hit a three-run homer into the upper deck of the Toronto SkyDome.

— There is a difference between steroids and HGH. Author Will Carroll, who wrote "The Juice: The Real Story of Baseball's Drug Problems," summed it up in an interview Friday. "In 2004, Ankiel was rebounding from Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery," Carroll said. "And HGH really helps with recovery and healing. But HGH has absolutely no proven application in strength gain of the type that would help a baseball player."

— If Ankiel wanted to muscle up for a raw power grab, he could have juiced without hesitation in 2004, because steroids weren't officially outlawed by MLB back then. This meshes with Carroll's theory that Ankiel could have tapped into HGH as a healing agent.

Environmental Protection

I recently signed a petition which calls for BP, a British energy company, to stop dumping toxic waste into Lake Michigan, a.k.a. my backyard. Seems like a no-brainer, right?

After further research, this subject is actually much more complicated than I originally understood. In summary, BP received approval to expand an oil refinery in Whiting, Indiana, which would potentially increase pollution in Lake Michigan. After numerous protests, and more than 100,000 folks signing the petition, BP agreed on August 23rd to limit discharges to the lake. But the battle is not over. BP now is under scrutiny over its atmospheric emissions, but Indiana still has a permit allowing the company to increase pollution to the lake.

Two points come from this:

1. There is a great deal of hostility to polluting the Great Lakes.
2. There is a great deal of confusion over who is in charge of keeping the lakes clean.

This confusion comes from the fact that each state creates its own standards for water quality (which must be at least as stringent as those set by the EPA) and issues permits to regulate discharges.

Additionally, the Clean Water Act says that states cannot let pollution rise. However, it also provides a loophole in that a state may in some cases allow a facility to increase pollution if it is able to show that more filth is necessary to produce an important economic or social benefit.

Confusing enough? Politicians need to address this problem quickly.

Credit Cards

I know credit cards can be evil, but this might qualify for the worst of all time.

Ladies and Gentlemen, put your hands together for the Continental Finance MasterCard. This one is truly awful. Here are the details:

http://www.thetaoofmakingmoney.com/2007/08/31/486.html

* Account setup fee: $99

* Program participation fee: $89

* Annual fee: $49

* Account maintenance fee: $120 (charged @ $10/month)

* Purchase APR: 19.92%

* Authorized user fee: $30 (great! seems like $53 credit is a bit too much for a single person to handle)

* Credit limit increase fee: $25 (and you don’t even have to ask for it!) You need to call these people and ask them to stop; otherwise, they are automatically going to increase the limit by $100 each time and charge you the $25 fee.

* Internet payment fee: $4 for each authorized internet payment. I just don’t get this - why are people with bad credit charged for paying their bills online? .. probably to make sure that they don’t start paying their bills automatically or something?

Private Equity

You know you're near a peak when these are posted in phone booths:




http://www.financialarmageddon.com/2007/09/bells-are-ringi.html

Conan

Some funny words of wisdom from Conan O'Brien that are targeted at a high school graduating class but are relevant for everyone:

http://painstakinglydrafted.wordpress.com/2007/05/02/conan-obriens-graduation-speech/