Catching up

A few things have been on my mind the last few days...

Auto Bailout

Yeah, I'm a bit late in saying something about this.  There are a couple of things that I think we should all keep in mind:

1.  This bailout and all of the others that have and will happen are LOANS!  I don't know why people keep getting all upset and say that the government is taking ownership in these companies.  That's simply not true.  This "bailout" would be a loan that would be paid back likely within 5 years (assuming things get better for the companies receiving money).  We need to worry less about the government ownership than we do whether or not the government needs to be stepping in at all.  Which brings me to..

2.  The auto companies can go bankrupt and still be in business.  Bankruptcy does not mean that you close your doors tomorrow.  We all probably know someone whose gone through bankruptcy.  And what did they have to do?  They had some of the things they owed money on taken away from them and they had to start over.  The same would happen to GM, Ford, and Chrysler.  If you ask me, this should have happened a LONG TIME AGO.  How many brands does GM have that are either redundant or unprofitable.  Heck, for you folks living in and around Memphis, how many GM related car dealerships are there around here?  And how many Toyota, Honda, and Nissan dealerships are there?  I think there is something to be said about that.  There is a LOT of fat that needs to be cut out from these American car companies.  If the government gives them a loan, we are just prolonging the inevitable.  Just like with all of the other loans.

Sports talk

I'll start with the NFL.  Wow, what a great season this has been so far.  Quite a few surprises.  Of course, I'm still happy that the Giants are doing as well as they are.  And that Eli continues to improve, especially in leadership.  They are definitely going to be in the playoffs, but I'll not say they are definitely Super Bowl bound.  Last year proved that anything can happen in the postseason.  I think their main competition will end up being the Cowboys.  As for the AFC, it's going to be really close.  The Titans probably needed their loss Sunday more than they will admit publicly.  I think it's between them and the Patriots, and then the Colts or Jets as spoilers.  You can't ever count Brett Favre out if he's in the playoffs.  Again, it's been a great year.  Can't wait to see how it all plays out.

Next, College Football.  Yet another year that the BCS is going to be a disaster.  If Alabama loses to Florida, there will be a ton of one-loss teams expecting to play for the championship.  This is a good thing though.  I guarantee a playoff system is being discussed way more seriously than it ever has before.

And finally, I have to pick on the Memphis Tigers basketball team a little bit again.  I didn't watch any of the game the other night, but the news yesterday morning was that they continued to miss their free throws.  Coach Cal, was losing a championship not enough?  I don't know that many are expecting the Tigers to make it as far as they did last year, but they CANNOT WIN if they won't fix this problem.

Facebook

I've had several people tell me that Facebook was cool and that I should sign up.  But I've for the most part avoided most of the social networking stuff, so I never signed up.  Well, my wife Beverly signed up on it a week or so ago and liked it quite a a bit.  Which finally got me interested enough to sign up.  If you are on Facebook and aren't in as my friend yet, either search for me (Daniel Riley in Horn Lake, MS) or put a comment here on how to add you and I'll do so.  I'm sure there is a way to post a link to my profile here or something, but I can't access Facebook from the computer I am on right now.  I'll look into adding a more permanent link on this blog somewhere.

 

I hope all of you have a great Thanksgiving.  Be sure to take a moment to thank God for all that you have.